This application claims priority from European Patent Application No. EP08425084.4, filed Feb. 12, 2008, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
German patent application DE3932909A1 includes the features of the preamble of claim 1 and describes a dashboard of a motor vehicle comprising two glove box compartments, which are arranged one above the other and are provided with respective doors which are upwardly and, respectively, downwardly pivotable to open the glove box compartments.
The doors are held closed by a closing mechanism borne on a support structure arranged in a fixed position between the two glove box compartments. The closing mechanism comprises, for each door, a relative latch, which is movable between an engaged position, in which the door is held in the closed position, and a disengaged position, in which the door is released.
The latches can be fastened in the engaged position, either together or separately, by operating a key lock, which is also borne on the support structure between the two glove box compartments.
The known solution described above falls short of being satisfactory, in that the dimensions of the closing mechanism and the position in which the closing mechanism must be arranged on the dashboard between the two glove box compartments constitute constraints which are extremely limiting for the design of the space in the two glove box compartments and the design of the external profile of the dashboard and of the doors in terms of their aesthetical appearance. In particular, the outer edge of the doors must be appropriately shaped so as to define a recess to allow access to the lock and to the buttons that control the release of the latches.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a glove box assembly for a dashboard of a motor vehicle, which overcomes the drawbacks described above in a simple and cost-effective manner.
According to the present invention a glove box assembly for a dashboard of a motor vehicle is produced, said assembly comprising:
a first and a second glove box compartment adjacent to one another;
a first and a second door movable between an open position and a closed position to open/close, respectively, said first and second glove box compartments; closing means comprising:
a first and a second manually operable control element;
a first and a second retaining device, which hold said first and, respectively, second door in the closed position and are releasable by manually operating said first and, respectively, said second control element to open said first and, respectively, second door;
characterized in that said first and second control element are borne on said first door; and in that it comprises transmission means for transmitting a release command from said second control element to said second retaining device when said first door is in the closed position.
In order to better understand the present invention, a non-limiting preferred embodiment thereof will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
In
The door 11 comprises a wall 15 which delimits the compartment 3 when the door 11 is in the closed position. The door 11 also comprises a module 16, which is joined to the wall 15 in a fixed position and externally with respect to the compartment 3 and comprises a wall 17 opposite the wall 15, so as to define a cavity 18.
The wall 17 defines an opening 19 engaged by two control elements, which constitute part of the module 16 and are defined respectively by a lever 20 and a button 21 comprising respective manually operable plates 20a,21a.
The lever 20 comprises two appendices 22, which are fixed with respect to the plate 20a, extend in a cantilevered fashion into the cavity 18 and are pivotally connected to the wall 17 about a horizontal axis 23, so that the lever 20 is pivotable between a home position and a raised position (not illustrated). The button 21 is arranged above the lever 20 and is releasably connected to a portion 24 that is fixed with respect to the wall 17. The button 21 is guided by the portion 24 to slide along an axis 26 from a home position to a retracted position towards the wall 15. When the lever 20 and the button 21 are arranged in the home position, the plates 20a and 21a are flush with one another and with the edge of the opening 19.
A coil torsion spring 27 (
With reference to
The rods 33 are joined to the wall 17 so as to slide in opposite directions to one another along the axis 34 between an engaged position and a released position. In the engaged position, the latches 35 protrude laterally with respect to the wall 17 and engage respective side retaining seats (not illustrated), fixed with respect to the wall 5, to hold the door 11 in the closed position; in the released position, the latches 35 are retracted leaving the side retaining seats free so that the compartment 3 can be opened.
The internal ends of the rods 33, i.e. opposite the latches 35, are defined by respective rectilinear portions 38, which are parallel and spaced with respect to one another and are pushed by respective springs 39 towards the engaged position with respect to the wall 17.
The device 32 also comprises a rotor 40, which is joined to the wall 17 so as to rotate about an axis 41 perpendicular to the axis 34 and intersecting the axis 34. The portions 38 of the rods 33 are diametrically opposite and tangent with respect to the axis 41, and are coupled to respective articulated joints 42 defined by radial teeth of the rotor 40.
The device 32 is operated directly by the lever 20. In particular, the motion is transmitted from the lever 20 to the rotor 40 by means of two appendices 43,44 supported in a tangential direction with respect to the axis 41. The appendix 44 is defined by a radial tooth of the rotor 40, while the appendix 43 extends in a fixed position from a rear face of the plate 20a, and pivots downwardly about the axis 23 when the plate 20a is raised by the user (in the anti-clockwise direction in
With reference to
With reference to
The device 58 comprises a stay 69 defined by an arm, which is essentially tangential with respect to the axis 64 and comprises an end 70 which is fixed to the support element 61 and an opposite end 72. The arm 69 is elastically flexible along a plane parallel to the axis 64 between a non-deformed condition and a deformed condition. In the non-deformed condition, the end 72 is adjacent to the support element 61 and defines a shoulder against which a radial tooth 73 of the disk 62 rests tangentially, to hold the disk 62 in the engaged position against the action of an elastic element (not illustrated). In the deformed condition, the end 72 is at a distance from the support element 61 so that the disk 62 is free to rotate towards the disengaged position under the action of its elastic element.
The arm 69 is bent into the deformed condition simply by pressing a control portion 74 that protrudes from an intermediate portion of the arm 69. The control portion 74 thus defines a button, is fixed with respect to the arm 69, extends essentially along the axis 26 through an opening 75 obtained in the support element 61 and in the portion 60, and faces and is adjacent to the tip of the rod 30 (
When the pressure on the control portion 74 is released, the end 72 rests on an axial face 76 of the tooth 73, in a manner that is not illustrated. When the door 12 is moved back into the closed position, the keeper 65 rests against a radial tooth 77 of the disk 62, exerts a tangential pushing action with respect to the axis 64, thus making the disk 62 rotate towards the engaged position (in the clockwise direction in
As mentioned previously, the door 12 can also be opened when the door 11 is closed and hides the control portion 74, by manually pressing the button 21, which causes the arm 69 to bend via the transmission defined by the control portion 74 and by the rod 30.
The lock 50 can be used to lock the doors 11 and 12 in the closed position, by turning the key of the lock 50 by 90°. In the locked position, the element 52 blocks the lever 20 (since the appendix 53 engages the shoulder 55 and prevents the lever 20 from turning towards the outside) and at the same time blocks the button 21 (since the appendix 54 opposes the retraction of the button 21, thus preventing the activation of the control portion 74).
From the description above it is apparent that the assembly 2 allows the outer edge of the doors 11, 12 and the shape of the compartments 3,4 to be designed in an extremely flexible manner, in that both the controls defined by the lever 20 and by the button 21, and preferably also the lock 50 with the locking element 52, are arranged on the door 11. In particular, the portion 60 does not need to be directly accessible when the doors 11, 12 are in the closed position.
Moreover, the cavity 59 between the compartments 3,4 only houses the device 58, and not the device 32 and/or the lock 50 with the element 52, and is therefore relatively small. Moreover, the transmission defined by the rod 30 and by the control portion 74 is simple and not particularly bulky and allows the compartments 3,4 to be kept close to one another.
Moreover, the assembly 2 is relatively simple to assemble, in that the module 16 and the device 58 can be assembled in advance and mounted on the walls 15 and, respectively, 5.
Lastly, it is clear that modifications and variations may be made to the assembly 2 described and illustrated herein without departing from the scope of the present invention, as set forth in the appended claims.
In particular, the command sent via the button 21 to the device 58 could be transmitted using transmission means other than the rod 30 and the control portion 74; and/or the device 32 could also be fixed with respect to the wall 5; and/or the lock 50 could be borne on a portion of the wall 17, instead of on the control element 20; and/or the releasing of the device 32 could be controlled by means of components other than the appendices 43,44 described above.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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08425084.4 | Feb 2008 | EP | regional |