Housing unit mounting structure

Abstract

A vehicle 1 comprises: a housing unit 10 that has a case 40 and a lid 50 displaceably engaged with one another, and houses an airbag between the case 40 and the lid 50, said housing unit 10 being mounted in a mountable / dismountable manner to a mounting section 20 that is positioned along the vehicle width direction within a vehicle cabin; protruding parts 43a, 44a that extend in a mounting direction from both vehicle width direction sides of the case 40; guiding support sections 23, 24 that are provided to the mounting section 20, guide the protruding parts 43a, 44a during mounting of the housing unit 10, and support the protruding parts 43a, 44a; attachment sections 26, 27 in which locking holes 26a-26e, 27a-27c are formed in both vehicle width direction sides of the mounting section 20; and anchor sections 52, 53 that are provided to both vehicle width direction sides of the lid 50 and are locked and anchored to each of the locking holes.

Description

Mounting structure of accommodation unit

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a mounting structure for a housing unit that houses an airbag.

[0002] In a vehicle, an airbag is installed in the passenger compartment as a safety device for the occupants. For example, a knee airbag for protecting the knees of an occupant is stored in a storage unit in a folded state, and the storage unit is attached and fixed to a mounting portion of the passenger compartment (such as an instrument panel or a cross member).

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-98892

[0004] The above-mentioned storage unit has a case and a lid that are arranged to sandwich the airbag, for example, and the case and the lid are engaged with each other so that they can be displaced. When attaching the storage unit to the attachment part, it is desirable to attach the case and the lid separately, but since the case and the lid are displaced, the installation work of the storage unit becomes difficult.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of these points, and aims to improve the ease of attachment of a storage unit in which a case and a lid are displaceably engaged with each other.

[0006] In one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an installation structure for an accommodation unit having a case and a lid that are displaceably engaged with each other and that accommodates an airbag between the case and the lid, the installation structure comprising: an accommodation unit that is detachably attached to an installation part that is arranged along the vehicle width direction within the vehicle cabin; extension parts that extend in the installation direction from both sides of the case in the vehicle width direction; guide support parts that are provided on the installation part and guide the extension parts when the accommodation unit is installed and support the extension parts; an installation part in which locking holes are formed on both sides of the installation part in the vehicle width direction; and fixing parts that are provided on both sides of the lid in the vehicle width direction and are locked by locking into each of the locking holes.

[0007] The lid may cover the case, and the extension portion may extend from the case so as to be exposed through the lid.

[0008] The guide support portion may have an insertion hole through which the extension portion is inserted.

[0009] In addition, the fixing portion may include a first protrusion that engages with the locking hole to position the lid relative to the mounting portion, and a second protrusion that engages with the locking hole to fix the lid to the mounting portion.

[0010] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to improve the attachability of a storage unit in which a case and a lid are displaceably engaged with each other.

[0011] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an attachment structure of a storage unit 10 according to one embodiment. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which the lid 50 of the storage unit 10 in Fig. 1 has been removed. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which the storage unit 10 is attached. Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which the storage unit 10 is attached.

[0012] <Mounting structure of storage unit> A mounting structure of a storage unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. In the following, the mounting structure of a storage unit mounted on a vehicle will be described as an example.

[0013] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an attachment structure of a storage unit 10 according to one embodiment. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the storage unit 10 of Fig. 1 with a lid 50 removed. The vehicle 1 is a large vehicle such as a truck. In the vehicle 1, the storage unit 10 is attached to the front of the cab, which is the passenger compartment. As shown in Fig. 1, the vehicle 1 has the storage unit 10 and an attachment portion 20.

[0014] The accommodation unit 10 accommodates an airbag. The accommodation unit 10 accommodates the airbag in a folded state. In this example, the accommodation unit 10 accommodates a knee airbag for protecting the knees of an occupant. The accommodation unit 10 has a case 40 that accommodates the airbag therebetween and a lid 50, and the lid 50 covers the case 40. The lid 50 is located in a position facing the knees of the occupant, and the case 40 is located at the rear.

[0015] The case 40 and the lid 50 are engaged with each other by engaging means so as to be displaceable relative to each other. For example, the upper and lower parts of the case 40 are engaged with the lid 50 via hooks. When the storage unit 10 is not attached to the mounting part 20, the case 40 and the lid 50 are in a state in which they can move relative to each other.

[0016] The mounting portion 20 is a portion to which the accommodation unit 10 is detachably mounted, and is arranged in the vehicle interior along the vehicle width direction (X direction in FIG. 1 ). The mounting portion 20 is composed of, for example, an instrument panel 21 and a cross member (not shown). The instrument panel 21 is a resin panel on which, for example, meters are arranged. The cross member is a component that forms the framework of the vehicle interior, and various components are fixed to it.

[0017] As described above, when the case 40 and the lid 50 are displaceably engaged, it is difficult to position the storage unit 10 when mounting the storage unit 10 to the mounting portion 20. In particular, it is difficult to confirm the position of the case 40, which is hidden by the lid 50, making it difficult to position the case 40. In contrast, in this embodiment, as will be described in detail later, when mounting the storage unit 10, the case 40 is first guided and positioned relative to the mounting portion 20, and then the lid 50 is fixed to the mounting portion 20, thereby improving the ease of installation of the storage unit 10.

[0018] The details of the mounting structure of the accommodation unit 10 (case 40 and lid 50) to the mounting portion 20 will be described below with reference to Figures 1 to 4. The configurations of the case 40, lid 50, and mounting portion 20 related to the mounting structure will be described below.

[0019] 3 and 4 are schematic diagrams illustrating the state when the accommodation unit 10 is attached. For ease of explanation, most of the instrument panel 21 in FIG. 1 is omitted from FIGS. 3 and 4. The case 40 is made of metal. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the case 40 has a main body 42 and brackets 43 and 44.

[0020] As shown in Fig. 2, the main body 42 is disposed along the vehicle width direction. The brackets 43, 44 are attached to both longitudinal sides of the main body 42. As shown in Fig. 2, the brackets 43, 44 are attached so as to be located above the main body 42. The upper portions of the brackets 43, 44 are located closer to the lid 50 than the portion where the bracket 43 is attached to the main body 42.

[0021] 3 and 4, the brackets 43, 44 are provided at their upper ends with protruding pieces 43a, 44a, respectively. The protruding pieces 43a, 44a are elongated and extend in the mounting direction of the accommodation unit 10. The protruding pieces 43a, 44a are provided at positions exposed from the lid 50 that covers the case 40 (positions corresponding to the recessed portions 51 of the lid 50).

[0022] The protrusions 43a, 44a are supported by the guide support portions 23, 24 of the mounting portion 20. The guide support portions 23, 24 are made of metal in this example and are, for example, brackets connected to a cross member. The guide support portion 23 has an insertion hole 23a through which the protrusion 43a passes, and as shown in FIG. 1, the insertion hole 23a supports the guide support portion 23. Similarly, the guide support portion 24 has an insertion hole 24a through which the protrusion 44a passes, and the insertion hole 24a supports the guide support portion 24.

[0023] When the accommodation unit 10 is mounted in the mounting direction A (FIG. 3), the protruding pieces 43a, 44a of the guide support portions 23, 24 are inserted into the insertion holes 23a, 24a, thereby guiding the accommodation unit 10 (specifically, the case 40). This makes it possible to position the case 40 at a desired position.

[0024] The lid 50 is made of resin in this example. The lid 50 has fixing portions 52, 53 on both sides in the longitudinal direction (X direction) that are fixed to the mounting portion 20. The fixing portion 52 is located at one end in the longitudinal direction, and the fixing portion 53 is located at the other end in the longitudinal direction. The fixing portions 52, 53 are engaged and fixed to the attachment portions 26, 27 formed on both sides of the mounting portion 20 in the vehicle width direction.

[0025] As shown in Figure 4, the fixing portion 52 has a plurality of locking projections 52a to 52e. The locking projection 52a is engaged with the locking hole 26a of the mounting portion 26 to position the lid 50 in the vehicle width direction. The locking projections 52b to 52e are arranged in the short direction of the lid 50 and are engaged with the locking holes 26b to 26e of the mounting portion 20 to fix one end of the lid 50 to the mounting portion 20. Hooks are formed at the tips of the locking projections 52a to 52e to be hooked into the locking holes 26a to 26e, respectively.

[0026] 3, the fixing portion 53 has a plurality of locking protrusions 53a to 53c. The locking protrusions 53a to 53c are arranged in the short direction of the lid 50 and lock into the locking holes 27a to 27c of the attachment portion 27, thereby fixing the other end of the lid 50 to the attachment portion 20. The locking protrusions 53a to 53c have hooks formed at their tips that hook into the locking holes 27a to 27c, respectively. In this embodiment, the locking protrusion 52a corresponds to the first protrusion, and the locking protrusions 52b to 52e and 53a to 53c correspond to the second protrusions.

[0027] The procedure for attaching the accommodation unit 10 to the mounting portion 20 will now be described. First, the accommodation unit 10 is prepared, with the airbag accommodated between the case 40 and the lid 50. The case 40 and the lid 50 are engaged with each other so as to be displaceable relative to each other.

[0028] Next, when mounting the housing unit 10 in the mounting direction A (see FIG. 3 ), the projecting portions 43 a, 44 a of the case 40 are inserted into the insertion holes 23 a, 24 a of the guide support portions 23, 24 to guide the case 40. At this time, the worker can see the projecting portions 43 a, 44 a and the insertion holes 23 a, 24 a through the recessed portion 51 of the lid 50. Thereafter, the projecting portions 43 a, 44 a are supported by the insertion holes 23 a, 24 a, thereby positioning the case 40. At this time, the fixing portions 52, 53 of the lid 50 are not in contact with the mounting portion 20.

[0029] Next, with the case 40 positioned, the accommodation unit 10 is further moved in the mounting direction A until the locking protrusion 52a of the lid 50 is locked into the locking hole 26a. This positions the lid 50 in the left-right direction. Thereafter, the locking protrusions 52b to 52e of the lid 50 are locked into the locking holes 26b to 26e, and the locking protrusions 53a to 53c are locked into the locking holes 27a to 27c, thereby fixing the lid 50 to the attachment portions 26, 27 of the mounting part 20. This completes the installation of the accommodation unit 10 to the mounting part 20.

[0030] <Effects of this embodiment> In the above-described embodiment, the accommodation unit 10, in which the case 40 and the lid 50 are displaceably engaged with each other, has protrusions 43a, 44a extending from the case 40 in the mounting direction A and supported by the guide support portions 23, 24, and fixing portions 52, 53 that are engaged with and fixed to the locking holes 26a-26e, 27a-27c. As a result, when the accommodation unit 10 is mounted to the mounting portion 20, the case 40 is first positioned by the protrusions 43a, 44a of the case 40 being guided by the guide support portions 23, 24. Thereafter, with the case 40 positioned, the lid 50 is fixed to the mounting portion 20 via the fixing portions 52, 53. This makes it easier to attach the accommodation unit 10 to the mounting portion 20, even if the case 40 and the lid 50 of the accommodation unit 10 are configured to be displaceable with respect to each other.

[0031] The present invention has been described above using embodiments, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention. For example, the specific embodiments of distribution and integration of devices are not limited to the above embodiments, and all or part of them can be configured by functionally or physically distributing and integrating them in any unit. Furthermore, new embodiments resulting from any combination of multiple embodiments are also included in the embodiments of the present invention. The effects of new embodiments resulting from the combination combine the effects of the original embodiments.

[0032] This application is based on a Japanese patent application (Patent Application No. 2018-108096) filed on June 5, 2018, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0033] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to improve the attachability of a storage unit in which a case and a lid are displaceably engaged with each other, and this is useful in improving the attaching work of the storage unit.

[0034] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 vehicle 10 storage unit 20 mounting portion 23, 24 guide support portion 23a, 24a insertion hole portion 26, 27 mounting portion 26a to 26e, 27a to 27c locking hole 40 case 43a, 44a protruding piece portion 50 lid 52, 53 fixing portion 52a to 52e, 53a to 53c locking projection

Claims

1. Housing unit mounting structure; the assembled mounting structure includes: a housing unit comprising a gate and cover that are movably interlocking and formatted to accommodate the airbag between the gate and cover; a housing unit that is removablely mounted on a mounting section positioned inside the vehicle along the width of the vehicle; extension sections that extend in the mounting direction from both sides of the case along the width of the vehicle; guide supports provided on the mounting section and formatted to guide the extension sections during housing unit mounting and support the extension sections; mounting sections where locking holes are created on both sides of the mounting section along the width of the vehicle; and mounting sections provided on both sides of the cover along the width of the vehicle, and locked and secured to each locking hole.

2. Housing unit mounting structure as per claim 1, in which the cover encloses the case, and the extension sections extending from the case are exposed from the cover. 3.The housing unit mounting structure under any of the claims 1 or 2, in which the guide support includes the insertion hole into which the extension is inserted; 4. The housing unit mounting structure under any of the claims 1 to 3, in which the mounting part includes the first extension which is locked to the locking hole to position the cover relative to the mounting part, and the second extension which is locked to the locking hole and secured to the mounting part;