Dashboard Crossmember Bracket Offset Airbag Housing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The presence of a front passenger airbag in vehicles reduces the usable volume of the passenger compartment and storage space, compromising passenger comfort while maintaining safety.
Innovation Solution
A dashboard infrastructure with a stirrup-based coupling interface that offsets the airbag box, creating a storage compartment by maintaining the airbag at a distance from the transverse bar, allowing for additional storage space without interfering with the airbag's deployment or installation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the safety box containing the airbag is installed directly on the transverse bar of the dashboard, then the safety function is ensured, but the usable storage volume of the dashboard is significantly reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The stirrup structure introduces a vertical dimension to the mounting arrangement by extending downward from the transverse bar. This allows the safety box to be positioned below the dashboard plane while the storage compartment occupies the space between the stirrup and the dashboard, effectively utilizing vertical space to resolve the volume conflict.
Solution Approach 2:
The stirrup acts as an intermediary structure between the transverse bar and the safety box. It provides the necessary support for the safety box while creating a defined space between itself and the dashboard that can be utilized for storage, thus mediating between safety requirements and storage needs.
2Area of stationary object
If the safety box is mounted close to the dashboard surface, then the dashboard size is reduced, but the storage capacity is eliminated
Solution Approach 1:
By extending the stirrup vertically downward from the transverse bar, the design creates a three-dimensional storage space beneath the dashboard surface. This allows the dashboard to maintain a compact external dimensions while providing substantial internal storage capacity through the vertical space utilization.
3Volume of stationary object
If the stirrup offsets the safety box from the transverse bar, then storage space is created, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting structure is segmented into distinct functional elements: the transverse bar for primary support, the stirrup for safety box mounting and space creation, and the resulting storage compartment. This segmentation allows each element to perform its specific function efficiently while maintaining overall structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The stirrup structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it mounts the safety box, creates storage space, and provides structural support. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional separate components, thereby limiting the increase in structural complexity despite the added functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention concerns an infrastructure (1) of a vehicle dashboard, said infrastructure (1) comprising a crossmember bar (2) that is provided with at least one fixing clamp (3, 4) designed to fix said bar (2) to the body of the vehicle, a safety housing (5), intended to contain an Airbag® inflatable impact protection cushion, and a coupling interface (6) for fastening the safety housing (5) to the bar (2), the coupling interface (6) comprising a bracket (10) that is provided with at least one support section (11) receiving the safety housing (5), and at least one foot (13) that rests on the bar (2) and holds the support section (11) at a distance from said bar so as to provide, between the safety housing (5) and the bar (2), a storage space (14) that houses a glove compartment (15).