Patent Application
20140191533
The present invention relates to vehicle interior trims, particularly, to vehicle interior trims that are placed on a vehicle interior side of each vehicle structural member and which a passenger might contact during a possible vehicle impact.
Conventionally, major vehicle structural members defining a vehicle interior of a vehicle are doors and side panels, etc. Typically, a roof panel as vehicle panel is placed above the doors and the side panels. Pillars are provided as supporting members for supporting the roof panel. Most of these vehicle structural members are made from metal plates (e.g., steel plate). Accordingly, vehicle interior trims are equipped on interior sides of the vehicle structural members in order to cover the vehicle structural members and constitute an inwardly facing surface of the vehicle interior. The vehicle interior trims correspond to the vehicle structural members, so that door trims and side panel trims are placed on the interior side of the doors and the side panels of the vehicle, respectively. Pillar trims are placed on the interior side of the pillars of the vehicle. A headliner is provided on the interior side of the roof panel of the vehicle.
These vehicle interior trims have a role as a design surface for making the inwardly facing surface of the vehicle interior smooth in addition to covering the vehicle structural members. They are typically made from a combination of synthetic resins and fiber materials, etc. Since a passenger might collide against the vehicle interior trims during vehicle impact, they are preferably shaped to absorb impact forces from the passenger during vehicle impact in order to protect the passenger. For example, Patent Documents 1-5 disclose techniques as examples of vehicle interior trims each having such shock absorbing configuration.
Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose techniques relating to a shock absorber for a vehicle, which is formed in a hollow shape by blow molding of thermoplastic materials. The shock absorber for the vehicle of Patent Document 1 has a concave-shaped rib that is inwardly bent, and its method absorbs shock due to the plastic deformation of the concave-shaped rib. Similarly, the shock absorber for the vehicle of Patent Document 2 has concave-shaped ribs that are inwardly bent and a groove-like rib connecting the concave-shaped ribs. Similarly, its technique for absorbing shock due uses the plastic deformation of both ribs. Patent Document 3 discloses a configuration for a shock absorber for absorbing impact forces from the passenger during vehicle impact disposed between a vehicle structural member and a vehicle interior trim placed on an interior side of the vehicle structural member. Patent Document 4 discloses, with respect to a trim placed on an interior side of a vehicle structural member, a shock absorbable trim having a plurality of flat-plate ribs arranged in a lattice pattern on a surface to be attached to the vehicle structural member. Patent Document 5 discloses a trim placed on an interior side of a vehicle structural member and having a shock absorption portion with an air conditioning duct.
With respect to the shock absorbers for the vehicle, which are disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is necessary to form the rib(s) at a position whereby they can absorb impact forces from the passenger during vehicle impact. However, since there might be a wide variety of movements of the passenger colliding against the vehicle structural members during vehicle impact, it is not easy to decide the position of the trim. In addition, such shock absorbers are configured as separate members housed in the trim covering the vehicle structural member. Problems arise due to the large number of components. Such numerous materials make total weights heavy and manufacturing costs high. With respect to the technique disclosed in Patent Document 3, since its absorption member is configured as separate members from the trim similar to Patent Document 1, there are problems that because the number of structural members is large, its weight becomes heavy and its material cost becomes high. With respect to the technique disclosed in Patent Document 4, it is necessary to form the rib at an effective position in order to adequately absorb the impact forces from the passenger during vehicle impact similar to Patent Document 1. However, since there might be a wide variety of movements of the passenger colliding against the vehicle structural member during vehicle impact, it is not easy to decide the position of the trim. Additionally, since the lattice-shaped ribs are formed on the attachment surface, the entirety of the structure becomes complex. So, there are problems that production costs becomes high and its weight becomes heavy. With respect to the technique disclosed in Patent Document 5, since the shock absorption portion doubles as air conditioning duct, it is necessary to meet two requirements for both air conditioning duct and shock absorber. The arrangement of both such features may prove difficult.
Accordingly, with respect to the vehicle interior trim that is placed on the interior side of the vehicle structural member and that the passenger contacts during vehicle impact, there have been requirements for providing the vehicle interior trim being inexpensive, light weight and being capable of adequately absorbing impact forces from the passenger during vehicle impact.
In order to solve the above-described problems, the vehicle interior trim of this disclosure has the following means.
In a first aspect of this disclosure, the vehicle interior trim is a member that a passenger might contact during vehicle impact and is placed on an interior side of a vehicle structural member. This vehicle interior trim has a main body part formed in a hollow shape and made from thermoplastic synthetic resins. The main body part is configured such that an exterior surface thereof has an attachment surface to be attached to the vehicle structural member and a design surface inside a vehicle, which are joined together. In addition, the main body part is formed in a bag-like construction restricting the flow of internal gas to the outside, and thus can distribute and absorb impact forces from the passenger during vehicle impact by using internal pressure of the main body part.
According to the above-mentioned configuration, the vehicle interior trim has the main body part formed in a hollow shape and made from thermoplastic synthetic resins. Since this main body part is formed in a hollow shape, it is able to reduce its weight. In addition, the main body part is configured such that its exterior surface has the attachment surface attached to the vehicle structural member and the design surface inside of the vehicle, which are joined together. That is, the main body part doubles as a conventional trim member constituting the design surface and also has a role as shock absorber for absorbing impact forces from the passenger during vehicle impact. This can make the number of members small and thus reduce material cost. The main body part is formed in the bag-like shape restricting the flow of the internal gas to the outside and distributes and absorbs the impact forces from the passenger during vehicle impact by using the internal pressure of the main body part. In a conventional shock absorber, since there is a wide variety of movement of the passenger colliding against the vehicle structural member during vehicle impact, it is not easy to decide a position of the conventional shock absorber configured to absorb the impact forces from the passenger during vehicle impact. Meanwhile, this main body part is configured as a hollow structure and is formed in the bag-like construction restricting the flow of the internal gas to the outside. Pressure of the internal gas evenly acts outwardly at all regions of an exterior surface of the main body part. Accordingly, whichever place of the main body part in the bag-like shape the passenger collides against during vehicle impact, it is able to adequately absorb the impact forces. That is, whole area of the design surface of the main body part is formed as surface capable of absorbing shock. Compressibility of gas is suitable for shock absorption very well. When the impact forces from the passenger act on the main body part, the impact forces are distributed by using the flow of the internal gas. So, it is able to adequately absorb the impact forces from the passenger during vehicle impact furthermore.
In a second aspect of this disclosure, the vehicle interior trim according to the first aspect is further modified such that the exterior surface of the main body part has at least one vent allowing the internal gas to flow outside when the impact forces from the passenger act on the main body part during vehicle impact.
According to the above-mentioned configuration, it is desired that at least one vent allowing the internal gas of the main body part to flow outside is formed as configuration to restrict the flow of the internal gas of the main body part to the outside. This can further absorb the impact forces when the impact forces from the passenger act on the main body part of the vehicle interior trim during vehicle impact by utilizing the flow resistance of the internal gas of the main body part, which flows through the vent toward the outside.
According to the above-described configurations, it is able to achieve lighter weight, lower cost and adequately absorb the impact forces from the passenger during vehicle impact with respect to the vehicle interior trims that a passenger may contact during vehicle impact and is placed on the interior side of the vehicle structural member.
Hereafter, embodiments for carrying out this disclosure will be described by reference to the drawings.
At first, a configuration of the vehicle interior trim according to the first embodiment will be described by reference to
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
This pillar trim 30 (vehicle interior trim) is made from thermoplastic synthetic resins and is integrally molded. by blow molding. This pillar trim 30 (vehicle interior trim) includes a main body part 32 formed in a hollow shape. With respect to an exterior surface of the main body part 32, an attachment surface 32a (to be attached to the vehicle structural member) and a design surface 32b inside of the vehicle are positioned in an opposing manner to each other and are integrally molded in a hollow three-dimensional structure. This hollow-shaped main body part 32 is made from thermoplastic resins and is formed in a bag-like construction configured to restrict the flow of internal gas to the outside. In outer edges of the attachment surface 32a and the design surface 32b of the main body part 32 are stacked and are joined in order to form the closed cross-sectional structure.
Materials having high mechanical strength, which include, for example, polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene, styrene (co)polymers such as polystyrene and ABS resin, polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate and polyamide, are used as thermoplastic synthetic resins for this pillar trim 30 (vehicle interior trim). Average wall thickness of the pillar trim 30 (vehicle interior trim) is, in light of provision of soft feeling of its surface and mechanical strength, preferably between 0.3 mm and 3.2 mm. When the thickness is below 0.3 mm, its mechanical strength is insufficient. While, when the thickness is above 3.2 mm, it is not able to provide a soft feeling to its surface.
[With Regard to the Method of Production of the Pillar Trim 30 (Vehicle Interior Trim)]
As mentioned above, blow molding will be exemplified and described with respect to molding of the pillar trim 30 (vehicle interior trim) formed in the hollow shape. Although blow molding is shown here, the method is not limited to blow molding. The pillar trim 30 (vehicle interior trim) of this disclosure only has to be made from thermoplastic synthetic resins and formed in the hollow shape. It can be molded by gas injection or can be formed in the hollow shape by stacking and joining plate-shaped members made from thermoplastic synthetic resins. A shape of the pillar trim 30 shown in
As shown in
As shown in
In this manner, the pillar trim 30 (vehicle interior trim) according to the first embodiment has a main body part 32 that is made from thermoplastic synthetic resins and is formed in the hollow three-dimensional structure. Since this main body part 32 is configured in a hollow shape, its weight can be reduced. The main body part 32 is configured such that its outer surface has an attachment surface 32a to be attached to the A-pillar 10 (vehicle structural member). It is also joined to the design surface 32b facing the vehicle interior. That is, the main body part 32 acts as a shock absorber for absorbing impact forces from the passenger during vehicle impact and doubles as the design surface 32b for conventional vehicle trim. This makes the number of components smaller and thus can decrease production cost. The main body part 32 is formed in a bag-like shape restricting the flow of internal gas to the outside, and is configured to distribute and absorb the impact forces from the passenger during vehicle impact due to internal pressure of the main body part 32. In a conventional shock absorber, there are a wide variety of movements of a passenger colliding toward a vehicle structural member during vehicle impact, and thus it is not easy to determine a position of the conventional shock absorber for absorbing the impact forces from the passenger during vehicle impact. Meanwhile, this main body pan 32 is configured in a hollow shape and is formed in a bag-like shape restricting the flow of the internal gas to the outside. Since pressure of the internal gas generally acts evenly on all positions of the outer surface of the main body part 32 outwardly, it is able to appropriately absorb the impact forces despite whichever position of the main body part 32 in a bag-like shape that a passenger collides with near the vehicle structural member during vehicle impact. That is, substantially the entire surface of the design surface 32b of the main body part 32 is configured to be capable of absorbing shock. And, compressible nature of gas is suitable for shock absorption very well. When the impact forces from the passenger act on the main body part 32, the impact forces are distributed due to the flow of the internal gas. In this way, it is able to properly absorb the impact forces from the passenger during vehicle impact.
Conventionally, in order to give a soft feeling to a surface of the design surface 32b of the trim member, the design surface 32b is covered with the surface member such that a pad layer such as polypropylene foam or polyethylene foam is sandwiched therebetween. Meanwhile, since the pillar trim 30 (vehicle interior trim) is configured in the hollow shape, it is able to give a moderately soft feeling to the design surface 32b. Consequently, if the surface member 33 is directly attached to it, the soft feeling of the surface is not impaired. In addition, since the pillar trim 30 (vehicle interior trim) according to this embodiment is configured as a bag-like construction (in other words, closed cross-sectional structure) restricting the flow of the internal gas to the outside, it is able to achieve high rigidity.
Next, a pillar trim 130 (vehicle interior trim) according to a second embodiment of this disclosure will be described by reference to
Meanwhile, in the second embodiment in which the above-described configuration. has been changed, the pillar trim 130 (vehicle interior trim) may have the below described features.
As shown in
Additionally, although the first and the second embodiments have been described as examples of this disclosure, the vehicle interior trim of this disclosure is not limited to the embodiments and other various embodiments can be carried out.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-174523 | Aug 2010 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2011/064043 | 6/20/2011 | WO | 00 | 2/1/2013 |
