Center console for the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a center console (1) for a motor vehicle passenger compartment, comprising an internal shell (10) and at least one trim part (6) intended to at least partially cover the internal shell (10), said at least one trim part (6) forming, with an external wall (101) of the internal shell (10), an internal cavity (14) inside the center console (1), wherein the internal shell (10) has several ribs (103, 104) protruding from said external wall (101), said ribs (103, 104) dividing the internal cavity (14) into a plurality of peripheral chambers (140), at least one of the peripheral chambers (140) being at least partially filled with an acoustically absorbent material (11).

Description

[0001] Central console for the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle

[0002] The invention relates to a central console for a motor vehicle passenger compartment. The invention also relates to a motor vehicle equipped with such a central console.

[0003] The passenger compartment of a motor vehicle generally includes a central console arranged between two seats, in particular between the driver's and passenger's front seats of the vehicle, and which serves in particular as a storage space and / or support for various control buttons.

[0004] In some vehicles, provision is made to integrate a ventilation device into the console, so as to be able to send air into the passenger compartment of the vehicle from an air inlet located under the dashboard to one or more air outlets directed towards the rear of the vehicle. This type of ventilation device may take the form of an air circulation duct formed inside the center console, this air circulation duct extending from an air inlet positioned at a front portion of the center console to an air outlet positioned at a rear portion of the center console. However, the circulation of air inside the air circulation duct has the disadvantage of generating noise pollution which may disturb the passengers of the vehicle.In some vehicles, an additional air propellant is sometimes integrated behind the rear panel of the center console to accelerate the airflow towards the rear passengers. This type of additional component also generates noise pollution that passes through the center console. Finally, noise pollution found in the center console can come from the gearbox or from noise coming from the engine and / or the floor of the vehicle (driving noise for example).

[0005] The invention therefore aims to propose a central console which does not have the aforementioned drawback. In particular, the invention aims to propose a central console which makes it possible to limit the noise pollution generated by the passage of air inside an air circulation duct formed inside the central console but also those generated by the gearbox or by the noise coming from the engine and the floor of the vehicle.

[0006] To this end, according to a first aspect, the invention relates to a central console for a motor vehicle passenger compartment, comprising an inner shell and at least one trim piece intended to at least partially cover the inner shell, said at least one trim piece forming with an outer wall of the inner shell an internal cavity inside the central console, in which the inner shell has several ribs projecting from said outer wall, said ribs dividing the internal cavity into a plurality of peripheral chambers, at least one of the peripheral chambers being filled at least partially with an acoustically absorbent material. Thus configured, the central console of the invention makes it possible to limit the noise pollution generated towards the passenger compartment of the vehicle due to the presence of the acoustically absorbent material arranged between the trim piece and the inner shell.

[0007] According to other features, the central console of the invention comprises one or more of the following optional features considered alone or in all possible combinations:

[0008] - the external wall comprises at least one zone provided with a hole, said at least one zone being intended to form a Helmholtz resonator with one of the peripheral chambers which is at least partially filled with an acoustically absorbent material.

[0009] - the external wall comprises at least one zone provided with several holes, said at least one zone being intended to form a broadband device of the silencer type with one of the peripheral chambers which is filled at least partially with an acoustically absorbing material.

[0010] - said hole or holes have(s) a substantially circular section with a diameter between 4 mm and 7 mm.

[0011] - said hole or holes cover(s) an area of ​​between 3% and 7% of the total area of ​​said at least one zone.

[0012] - the acoustically absorbing material is chosen from polymer foams, non-woven materials made of polyester fibers and fibrous materials made of glass fibers.

[0013] - some ribs have a wavy profile.

[0014] - some ribs have a straight profile.

[0015] - said at least one covering part is fixed to the internal shell by a vibration welding process.

[0016] - said at least one covering part is fixed to the internal shell by clipping.

[0017] - the central console comprises at least one air circulation duct, said at least one air circulation duct being formed partially by the internal shell and partially by said at least one trim piece.

[0018] According to another aspect, the invention relates to a motor vehicle equipped with a central console as defined above.

[0019] The invention will be better understood upon reading the non-limiting description which follows, given with reference to the attached figures.

[0020] - Figure 1 is a perspective view of a central console according to the invention.

[0021] - Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of a first embodiment of the central console of Figure 1, before its assembly.

[0022] - Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the center console according to the first embodiment, after its assembly. - Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of a second embodiment of the center console of Figure 1, before its assembly.

[0023] - Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the central console according to the second embodiment, after its assembly.

[0024] - Figure 6 represents acoustic signal absorption curves for two examples of central console according to the invention and, in comparison, the acoustic signal absorption curve of a central console according to the prior art.

[0025] - Figure 7 represents acoustic signal absorption curves for several examples of central console according to the invention, and, in comparison, the acoustic signal absorption curve of a central console according to the prior art.

[0026] In the present invention, the terms front and rear refer to the front and rear directions of the vehicle, respectively. The terms upper and lower refer to upward and downward orientations, respectively. The terms inward and outward refer to inward and outward orientations of the vehicle, respectively.

[0027] With reference to Figure 1, there is shown a central console 1 of a motor vehicle passenger compartment. This central console 1 has a generally elongated shape, similar to a parallelepiped or forming part of a parallelepiped. It has in particular an upper face 2 on which is arranged a covering piece 9 forming an armrest, a lower face 3 opposite the lower face 2 and intended to be fixed on the floor of a motor vehicle passenger compartment, a front face 4 intended to be fixed under the dashboard of the vehicle, and a rear face 5 intended to face the rear seats of the vehicle. Around the console 1 are arranged covering pieces 6, 7, 8 which surround an internal shell 10 (not visible in Figure 1) on which said covering pieces 6 to 8 and the covering piece 9 are fixed.

[0028] In the embodiment shown in Figures 2 and 3, the inner shell 10 comprises an outer side wall 101 and an inner side wall 102 oriented opposite to the outer side wall 101. The inner side wall 102 has a specific profile making it possible to define a hollow space 13 in the inner shell 10, said hollow space 13 serving as a storage space for the console 1. The outer side wall 101 is provided with a first series of ribs 103 substantially parallel to each other and having a corrugated profile and a second series of ribs 104 substantially parallel to each other and having a vertical orientation, said ribs 103, 104 being intended to be fixed on a corresponding inner side wall 61 of the covering part 6 by means of a vibration welding process.The use of a corrugated profile advantageously increases the contact surface of said ribs 103 and, as a result, makes it possible to stiffen the welding attachment of the covering part 6 to the internal shell 10. As shown in FIG. 3, after assembly of the assembly part 6 on the internal shell 10, an internal cavity 14 is created inside the central console 1, said internal cavity 14 being delimited, on one side, by the internal side wall 61 of the covering part 6 and, on the other side, by the external side wall 101 of the internal shell 10. This internal cavity 14 is divided into a plurality of peripheral chambers 140 by the ribs 103, 104.

[0029] Furthermore, the outer side wall 101 has a specific profile making it possible to define a channel 12 with a U-shaped section, said channel 12 opening, on one side, onto a front open end (not visible) and, on the other side, onto a rear open end 12a, and being closed on its face open towards the outside by the inner side wall 61 of the trim piece 6 so as to form an air circulation duct in the console 1, said air circulation duct 12 opening at its front end onto the front face 4 and at its rear end 12a onto the rear face 5. Thus configured, the central console 1 allows air circulation from an air supply source arranged under the dashboard to an aerator directed towards the rear passengers.

[0030] As explained above, this air circulation but also the mechanical noises of the gear lever, the parasitic noises, the noise coming from the engine or the floor can generate noise nuisances perceptible to a human ear, in particular in the frequency range which is useful for speech intelligibility and which is between 0.5 kHz and 4 kHz. To attenuate this noise nuisance, the solution generally used consists of covering an area of ​​the inner side wall 102 of the inner shell 10 with an acoustically absorbing element formed, for example, of polymer foam. This solution, however, proves to be unsatisfactory because the acoustic waves generated by the central console are only effectively absorbed by the acoustically absorbing element to the extent that they are directed towards the latter. As a result, the acoustic waves directed towards the outside of the central console are slightly attenuated.

[0031] To solve this problem, the solution of the invention consists in placing an acoustically absorbing element 11 between the internal side wall 61 of the covering part 6 and the external side wall 101 of the internal shell 10 before their assembly. This acoustically absorbing element 11 may be made of polymer foam, a non-woven material made of polyester fibers, or a fibrous material made of glass fibers. In the example shown in Figure 2, the acoustically absorbing element 11 has a shape substantially complementary to that of a peripheral zone 110 (shown in dotted lines in Figure 2) of the internal shell 10, said peripheral zone 110 being delimited by several ribs 103, 104 and by an upper peripheral wall 121 of the channel 12.At the time of assembly, the covering part 6 and the internal shell 10 are brought closer to each other, until the top of the ribs 103, 104 located in the peripheral zone 110 comes into contact with the internal side wall 61 of the covering part 6. The acoustically absorbing element 11 is then positioned in the internal cavity 14, being progressively compressed between said internal side wall 61 and the top of said ribs 103, 104. This compression will result in a cutting of the acoustically absorbing element 11 such that a series of segments 111 of acoustically absorbing element is formed, each of the segments 111 being arranged inside one of the peripheral chambers 140.

[0032] Thus configured, the central console 1 will effectively attenuate the noise generated during the passage of air in the air circulation duct, as analyzed further below.

[0033] The embodiment shown in Figures 4 and 5 differs from that shown in Figures 2 and 3, in that the external side wall 103 of the internal shell 10 is provided with several through holes 15 connecting some of the peripheral chambers 140 with the hollow space 13. Thus, each hole 15 forms a Helmholtz resonator with one of the peripheral chambers 140. Each hole 15 may have a substantially circular section whose diameter will be, for example, between 4 mm and 7 mm. The holes 15 may in particular cover an area between 3% and 7% of the total area of ​​the peripheral zone 110. The choice of the diameter of the holes 15 and their surface distribution will depend on the frequency ranges for which it is desired to attenuate the noise pollution.

[0034] In another configuration of the invention (not shown), it will be possible to make at least one peripheral chamber 140 communicate with the hollow space 13 by means of several through holes 15. In this case, said peripheral chamber 140 will form a wide-band device of the silencer type for which the acoustic attenuation will not be concentrated on a reduced frequency range, but will cover a wider frequency range.

[0035] A possible configuration could consist of one or more bridge-type ribs, serving as mechanical reinforcement between two areas to be reinforced or bonded, surrounding a single peripheral chamber 140, said peripheral chamber 140 being filled with an acoustically absorbing element 11 and communicating with the hollow space 13 via several through holes 15.

[0036] The diagrams in Figures 6 and 7 represent the variations in the absorption coefficient of acoustic signals (on the ordinate) as a function of the frequency of the waves (on the abscissa) for several examples of a central console according to the invention and for a comparative example of a central console of the prior art. This diagram is based on theoretical calculations in which the absorption coefficient is calculated using commercially available calculation codes. For all examples, the acoustically absorbing element is formed from a polyurethane foam with a density of 27 kg / m 3. For the comparative example of the prior art center console, the acoustically absorbing element covers the inner side wall of the inner shell. Example 1 corresponds to the embodiment of Figure 3 and Examples 2 to 5 correspond to the embodiment of Figure 5, in which the holes 15 cover, respectively, an area equal to 3%, 4%, 5% and 7% of the total area of ​​the peripheral zone 110.

[0037] It is therefore found that the central console of the prior art has an absorption coefficient of less than 0.05 in the frequency range from 1000 Hz to 4000 Hz. On the other hand, in examples 1 to 5 according to the invention, a clear increase in the absorption coefficient is observed, in particular in the frequency range from 1000 Hz to 4000 Hz. In particular, in examples 2 to 5, the absorption coefficient is greater than 0.2 in the frequency range from 1000 Hz to 4000 Hz.

[0038] Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the attached drawings. Modifications remain possible, in particular from the point of view of the constitution of the various elements or by substitution of technical equivalents, without departing from the scope of protection of the invention.

[0039] In particular, in other embodiments of the invention, the acoustically absorbing element may comprise pre-cutouts, said pre-cutouts being arranged so as to form a pre-cut pattern substantially identical to the pattern which is formed by the ribs 103, 104 of the internal shell 10 during its assembly with the covering piece 6 in the first and second embodiments described above. In this case, the fixing of the covering piece 6 on the internal shell 10 may be carried out by clipping.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. Central console (1) for a motor vehicle passenger compartment, comprising an inner shell (10) and at least one covering piece (6) intended to at least partially cover the inner shell (10), said at least one covering piece (6) forming with an external wall (101) of the inner shell (10) an internal cavity (14) inside the central console (1), characterized in that the inner shell (10) has several ribs (103, 104) projecting from said external wall (101), said ribs (103, 104) dividing the internal cavity (14) into a plurality of peripheral chambers (140), at least one of the peripheral chambers (140) being filled at least partially with an acoustically absorbent material (11).

2. Central console (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the external wall (101) comprises at least one zone (110) provided with a hole (15), said at least one zone (110) being intended to form a Helmholtz resonator with one of the peripheral chambers (140) which is filled at least partially with an acoustically absorbent material (11).

3. Central console (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the external wall (101) comprises at least one zone (110) provided with several holes (15), said at least one zone (110) being intended to form a broadband device of the silencer type with one of the peripheral chambers (140) which is filled at least partially with an acoustically absorbing material (11) 4. Central console (1) according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that said hole (15) or said holes (15) have(s) a substantially circular section whose diameter is between 4 mm and 7 mm.

5. Central console (1) according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that said hole (15) or said holes (15) cover(s) a surface area of ​​between 3% and 7% of the total surface area of ​​said at least one zone (110).

6. Central console (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the acoustically absorbent material (11) is chosen from polymer foams, non-woven materials made of polyester fibers and fibrous materials made of glass fibers.

7. Central console (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that certain ribs (103) have a wavy profile.

8. Central console (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that certain ribs (104) have a rectilinear profile.

9. Central console (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said at least one covering part (6) is fixed to the internal shell (10) by a vibration welding process.

10. Central console (1) according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that said at least one covering part (6) is fixed to the internal shell (10) by clipping.

11. Central console (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises at least one air circulation duct (12), said at least one air circulation duct (12) being formed partially by the internal shell (10) and partially by said at least one trim piece (6).

12. Motor vehicle equipped with a central console (1) according to one of the preceding claims.

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