Undercover for instrument panel

Abstract

To suppress, in a vehicle in which a vehicle-side connector is fastened to an undercover for an instrument panel, a deformation of the undercover due to a load applied to the vehicle-side connector when a connected-device-side connector is pulled out from the vehicle-side connector while suppressing an increase in cost of the vehicle.SOLUTION: An undercover for an instrument panel includes: an undercover main body 2; a vehicle-side connector 3 fastened to the undercover main body 2; and a bracket 6 fastened to an instrument panel reinforcement 5. The undercover main body 2 is provided with a protrusion 23 that protrudes backwardly. The bracket 6 is provided with an engaging portion 61 placed under the protrusion 23. When the undercover main body 2 is assembled with a vehicle body from the lower side, the protrusion 23 can be placed at the upper side of the engaging portion 61 while avoiding an interference with the engaging portion 61. When a load that obliquely pulls the vehicle-side connector 3 backwardly and downwardly is applied thereto, the protrusion 23 is engaged with the engaging portion 61.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an undercover that covers the underside of an instrument panel of a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses an OBD (On-Board Diagnostics) connector fixed to a vehicle. The vehicle is equipped with a computer called an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) for controlling the engine and various devices. The OBD connector is connected to the ECU via a cable. By connecting a connection device such as a scan tool to the OBD connector, diagnostic information can be obtained from the ECU to the connection device, and faults and defective parts of the vehicle can be identified.

[0003] The OBD2 connector is a connector with a standardized shape that has been upgraded from the OBD connectors that had different shapes depending on the car manufacturer. In Japan, OBD2 connectors have been mandatory for new cars manufactured after 2009. Furthermore, for new cars manufactured after October 1, 2021, vehicle inspections after October 1, 2024 will be mandatory for diagnostic tests in which a connected device is connected to the OBD2 connector. Therefore, it is expected that there will be more opportunities to connect and disconnect the connector on the connected device side to the OBD2 connector fixed to the vehicle in the future. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2022-162734 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The OBD2 connector is locked by inserting the connector of the connected device straight in to connect it. The connector of the connected device cannot be removed from the OBD2 connector unless the lock is released. However, when an operator who is not familiar with connecting and disconnecting the connector of the connected device tries to remove the connector of the connected device, he or she may not know how to release the lock and may pull the connector in an unlocked state, which may cause a large load to be applied to the OBD2 connector. Therefore, if the OBD2 connector is fixed to the undercover that covers the bottom of the vehicle's instrument panel, there is a possibility that the undercover will be deformed due to the load applied to the OBD2 connector when trying to remove the connector of the connected device.

[0006] One possible way to prevent such deformation of the undercover is to increase the rigidity of the undercover by making the metal bracket larger or by increasing the thickness of the undercover body, but taking such measures would increase the cost of the vehicle.

[0007] Therefore, the present invention aims to suppress deformation of the undercover body due to the load applied to the vehicle side connector when the connection device side connector is unplugged from the vehicle side connector, while suppressing an increase in the cost of the vehicle, in a vehicle in which the vehicle side connector is fixed to an undercover that covers the underside of the instrument panel. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The undercover for an instrument panel according to the present invention comprises an undercover main body that is disposed in front of the driver's seat or passenger seat of the vehicle and covers the underside of the instrument panel, a vehicle side connector that is fixed to the undercover main body and can connect a connection device side connector by inserting the connection device side connector diagonally forward and upward, and a bracket that is fixed to an instrument panel reinforcement that supports the instrument panel, wherein the undercover main body is provided with a protrusion that protrudes toward the rear, and the bracket is provided with an engagement portion that is located below the protrusion, such that when the undercover main body is assembled to the vehicle body from below, the protrusion can be inserted above the engagement portion while avoiding interference with the engagement portion, and when a load that is pulled diagonally backward and downward is applied to the vehicle side connector when the connection device side connector is removed from the vehicle side connector, the protrusion engages with the engagement portion, thereby suppressing deformation of the undercover main body. Effect of the Invention

[0009] The present invention, in a vehicle in which a vehicle side connector is fixed to an undercover covering the underside of an instrument panel, can suppress deformation of the undercover due to the load applied to the vehicle side connector when the connection device side connector is unplugged from the vehicle side connector, while suppressing increases in vehicle costs. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing an undercover of an instrument panel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure as viewed from the rear of a vehicle. [Diagram 2] 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an undercover of the instrument panel according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, an undercover 10 for an instrument panel according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3. The arrows FR, UP, and RH shown in the following drawings indicate the front direction (travel direction), the upward direction, and the rightward direction of the vehicle, respectively. The opposite directions of the arrows FR, UP, and RH indicate the rearward direction, the downward direction, and the leftward direction of the vehicle, respectively. Hereinafter, when the directions of front-rear, left-right, and up-down are simply used, they refer to front-rear in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, left-right in the left-right direction of the vehicle (vehicle width direction), and up-down in the up-down direction of the vehicle, unless otherwise specified.

[0012] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an undercover 10 as seen from the rear of the vehicle. The undercover 10 is disposed in front of the passenger seat, and covers the underside of an instrument panel 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the undercover 10 extends downward from the rear end of the instrument panel 1, and is disposed in a position facing the feet of an occupant sitting in the passenger seat. The instrument panel 1 is provided with an airbag built-in portion 11 in which an airbag for the passenger seat is built in. The airbag built-in portion 11 is disposed in front of the passenger seat.

[0013] 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the undercover 10 includes an undercover main body 2 and a vehicle-side connector 3. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the undercover main body 2 is provided with an inclined surface 21, and a through hole 22 is formed in the inclined surface 21. As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle-side connector 3 is fixed to the undercover main body 2 by being fitted into the through hole 22. Note that the vehicle-side connector 3 is omitted in FIG. 1. Also, the through hole 22 is arranged in a position that is hidden in the shadow when viewed from the rear as shown in FIG. 2, but in FIG. 1, a part of the undercover main body 2 is omitted in order to make it possible to understand the position of the through hole 22 when viewed from the rear.

[0014] The vehicle-side connector 3 is an OBD2 connector. As shown by the arrow V1 in FIG. 2, the connection device connector 4 can be connected to the vehicle-side connector 3 by inserting the connection device connector 4 diagonally forward and upward. When the connection device connector 4 is inserted into the vehicle-side connector 3, it is locked, so the connection state of the connection device connector 4 to the vehicle-side connector 3 is maintained unless the lock is released. By connecting the connection device connector 4 to the vehicle-side connector 3 in this manner, diagnostic information can be obtained from the ECU mounted on the vehicle to the connection device. When removing the connection device connector 4, the connection device connector 4 can be removed from the vehicle-side connector 3 by pulling the connection device connector 4 diagonally backward and downward with the lock released.

[0015] Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the undercover 10. As shown in Fig. 3, the undercover 10 includes a bracket 6 fixed to an instrument panel reinforcement 5. The instrument panel reinforcement 5 is a substantially cylindrical metallic reinforcing part extending in the vehicle width direction, and supports the instrument panel 1. An undercover fixing bracket 7 is fixed to the instrument panel reinforcement 5. The undercover fixing bracket 7 is disposed to the left of the bracket 6. The left end of the undercover main body 2 is fixed to the undercover fixing bracket 7 with a bolt 8.

[0016] As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the undercover body 2 is provided with a protruding portion 23 that protrudes toward the rear. The bracket 6 is provided with an engaging portion 61 that protrudes toward the front. The engaging portion 61 is disposed below the protruding portion 23 of the undercover body 2. When the undercover body 2 is assembled to the vehicle body, the undercover body 2 is moved from the bottom to the top as shown by the arrow V2 in Fig. 2, and the left end of the undercover body 2 is fixed to the undercover fixing bracket 7 with the bolt 8. In the undercover 10, the length of the protruding portion 23 protruding toward the rear and the length of the engaging portion 61 protruding toward the front are small. Therefore, when the undercover body 2 is assembled to the vehicle body, the undercover body 2 is moved upward slightly forward of the assembly position of the undercover body 2, so that the protruding portion 23 of the undercover body 2 can be inserted above the engaging portion 61 while avoiding interference of the protruding portion 23 with the engaging portion 61.

[0017] When the connection device side connector 4 is pulled from the vehicle side connector 3 without accidentally releasing the lock, a load is applied to the vehicle side connector 3, pulling the connection device side connector 4 diagonally backward and downward, as shown by the arrow V3 in FIG. 2. When such a load is applied to the vehicle side connector 3, the protrusion 23 of the undercover main body 2 engages with the engagement portion 61 of the bracket 6, and the bracket 6 suppresses the deformation of the undercover main body 2. Therefore, the undercover 10 can suppress the deformation of the undercover main body 2 due to the load applied to the vehicle side connector 3 when the connection device side connector 4 is pulled from the vehicle side connector 3. In addition, the undercover 10 can suppress the deformation of the undercover main body 2 by providing the protrusion 23 on the undercover main body 2 and the engagement portion 61 on the existing bracket 6, and therefore can suppress the increase in the cost of the vehicle compared to a method of suppressing the deformation of the undercover main body 2 by means of increasing the thickness of the undercover main body 2 or increasing the size of the bracket.

[0018] <Supplementary explanation of the embodiment> The undercover of the instrument panel of the present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and may be implemented in various forms within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the vehicle-side connector fixed to the undercover may be a connector other than the OBD2 connector. Also, the undercover to which the vehicle-side connector is fixed may be an undercover disposed in front of the driver's seat, not an undercover disposed in front of the passenger seat. [Explanation of symbols]

[0019] 1 instrument panel, 2 undercover body, 3 vehicle side connector, 4 connection device side connector, 5 instrument panel reinforcement, 6 bracket, 7 undercover fixing bracket, 8 bolt, 10 undercover, 11 airbag built-in portion, 21 inclined surface, 22 through hole, 23 protrusion, 61 engagement portion.

Claims

[Claim 1] An undercover main body that is disposed in front of a driver's seat or a passenger seat of a vehicle and covers an underside of an instrument panel; a vehicle-side connector that is fixed to the undercover body and into which a connection device-side connector can be connected by inserting the connection device-side connector obliquely forward and upward; a bracket fixed to an instrument panel reinforcement that supports the instrument panel, A protruding portion protruding rearward is provided on the undercover body, The bracket is provided with an engagement portion disposed below the protrusion, When the undercover main body is attached to the vehicle body from below, the protrusion can be inserted above the engagement portion while avoiding interference with the engagement portion, An undercover for an instrument panel, characterized in that when a load is applied to the vehicle side connector diagonally rearward and downward when the connection device side connector is unplugged from the vehicle side connector, the protrusion engages with the engagement portion, thereby suppressing deformation of the undercover main body.

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