JP3865864B2 - Vehicle foot protection device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a foot protection device for a vehicle that protects a passenger's foot in the event of a collision.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In vehicles such as automobiles, in general, a toe board surface that rises diagonally forward from the floor surface is provided at the front lower part of the passenger compartment so that the occupant's feet can be placed on the toe board surface with the heel part placed on the floor surface. ing. Also known is a footrest that is placed on the toe board surface in an upwardly inclined posture so that an occupant's feet can be placed on the footrest.
[0003]
By the way, the vehicle body in the front part of the passenger compartment may be deformed at the time of a frontal collision, and an impact may be applied to the occupant's feet via the floor surface or the toe board surface. For this reason, it is also known that the pad material for shock absorption is laid on the floor or toe board surface, but the pad material cannot be made too thick due to space, cost, weight, etc. There was also a limit.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In view of the above points, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus capable of reliably protecting a foot against an impact from a vehicle body at the time of a collision.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is characterized by comprising means for lifting the heel portion of the occupant's foot placed on the floor surface of the passenger compartment away from the floor surface at the time of collision.
[0006]
In this way, if the heel part of the foot is flipped up, the foot is lifted from the floor surface or toe board surface, and the foot is protected against an impact from the floor surface or toe board surface.
[0007]
Here, various means can be considered as the means. One of them is a spring member that flips up the heel of the occupant's foot, and a spring receiving member that engages the vehicle body and holds the spring member in a compressed state. It is to be disengaged. Moreover, you may provide the airbag which expand | swells at the time of a collision and jumps up the heel part of a passenger | crew's leg | foot. In addition, a footrest arranged in an inclined posture in which the occupant's feet are placed on the front and an actuator that pushes up the rear portion of the footrest at the time of a collision may be provided, and the heel portion of the foot may be flipped up by pushing up the rear portion of the footrest.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
With reference to FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a floor panel constituting a floor surface 1 a of a vehicle compartment of a vehicle such as an automobile, a toe board 2 rising obliquely forward from a front end of the floor panel 1, and upward from an upper end of the toe board 2. The dashboard 3 is extended, and the toe board 2 and the dashboard 3 constitute a front plate portion of the vehicle compartment so that the occupant's feet a can be placed on the toe board surface 2a of the toe board 2 on the vehicle side. ing.
[0009]
At this time, the heel portion b of the foot a is placed on the floor surface 1 a at the front end of the floor panel 1. Therefore, a recess 1b is formed at the front end of the floor panel 1, and the spring member 4 is accommodated in the recess 1b. And the cover-plate-shaped spring receiving member 5 which covers the hollow 1b is provided, the spring receiving member 5 is engaged with the floor panel 1 which is a vehicle body, and the toe board 2 in the engaging claw 5a on the back surface, and the spring member 4 is compressed. keeping.
[0010]
In this case, the portion of the floor surface 1 a on which the heel portion b of the foot a is placed is constituted by the spring receiving member 5. At the time of a frontal collision, the toe board 2 is deformed rearward as shown in FIG. 1B, and the engagement claw 5a is broken by an impact caused by the deformation, and the engagement of the spring receiving member 5 with the floor panel 1 and the toe board 2 is released. . Then, the spring member 4 extends and the heel portion b of the foot a is flipped up via the spring receiving member 5. In this state, the foot a floats from the floor surface 1 a and the toe board surface 2 a, and thus the foot a is protected against an impact from the floor panel 1 and the toe board 2.
[0011]
In the first embodiment, a coil spring is used as the spring member 4, but an elastic body such as rubber may be used.
[0012]
FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment, in which a recess 1c is formed in the floor panel 1 slightly before an accelerator or brake pedal 6, and an air bag in which a gas generator 7a is built in the recess 1c. 7, the recess 1 c is covered with a lid plate 8, and the portion of the floor surface 1 a on which the heel portion b of the foot a of the occupant operating the pedal 6 is placed is constituted by the lid plate 7.
[0013]
At the time of a collision, the gas generator 7a is actuated by a signal from a collision sensor (not shown), and the airbag 7 breaks through the cover plate 8 and bulges on the floor surface 1a. As shown in FIG. The heel part b is flipped up, the foot a is lifted from the floor surface 1a and the pedal 6, and the foot a is protected from impact as in the first embodiment.
[0014]
In addition, in 2nd Embodiment, although the leg | foot a which operates the pedal 6 is protected, an airbag is accommodated in the hollow 1b in the thing of 1st Embodiment, and the leg which does not operate a pedal is also protected by an airbag. be able to.
[0015]
FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment. In this embodiment, a footrest 9 is arranged on the toe board surface 2a in a forwardly inclined posture so that an occupant's foot a can be placed on the footrest 9. The footrest 9 is supported so as to be tiltable rearwardly with the pivot 9a at the front portion as a fulcrum. Further, a cylinder-type actuator 10 that extends by ignition of internal gunpowder at the time of a collision is provided, and the rear portion of the footrest 9 is pushed up by the extension operation of the actuator 10.
[0016]
According to this, at the time of a collision, the heel portion b of the foot a is sprung up as shown in FIG. 3B by pushing up the rear portion of the footrest 9 by the actuator 10, and the foot a is against the impact from the floor panel 1. Protected. Further, when the footrest 9 is fixed to the toe board 2, the footrest 9 rises from the inclined posture of the front ascending due to the rearward deformation of the toe board 2 at the time of collision, and the angle formed by the occupant's foot a and the shin is reduced. However, in the third embodiment, since the footrest 9 is tilted in the direction approaching the horizontal posture by pushing up the rear part, it is possible to prevent the angle between the foot a and the shin from decreasing.
[0017]
In the third embodiment, the actuator 10 is directly connected to the footrest 9, but the rear portion of the footrest may be pushed up by an actuator via an interlocking mechanism such as a cam or a link.
[0018]
【The invention's effect】
As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the foot can be reliably protected against the impact from the vehicle body at the time of collision.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1A is a cutaway side view showing a normal state of the first embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a cutaway side view showing a state of the collision. FIG. 2A is a normal side view of the second embodiment. A cut-away side view showing the state, (B) a cut-off side view showing the state at the time of the collision. [FIG. 3] (A) a cut-off side view showing the normal state of the third embodiment, (B) a state at the time of the collision. Cutaway side view showing the symbol 【Explanation of symbols】
1a Floor surface 4 Spring member 5 Spring receiving member 7 Air bag 9 Footrest 10 Actuator

Claims (4)

A vehicle foot protection device comprising means for flipping up a heel portion of a passenger's foot placed on a floor surface of a passenger compartment at the time of a collision so as to be separated from the floor surface .   The means includes a spring member that flips up the heel portion of the occupant's foot, and a spring receiving member that engages with the vehicle body and holds the spring member in a compressed state. The vehicle foot protection device according to claim 1, wherein the engagement is released.   2. The vehicle foot protection device according to claim 1, wherein the means is configured by an airbag that inflates at a collision and jumps up a heel portion of a passenger's foot.   2. The vehicle foot protection device according to claim 1, wherein the means includes a footrest disposed in a tilting posture in which the occupant's foot is placed on a front-up slope and an actuator that pushes up a rear portion of the footrest at the time of a collision. .

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