JP7628030B2 - Armrest for vehicle door - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to an armrest for a vehicle door.

In general, the doors of vehicles such as automobiles are fitted with armrests having a rest portion on which the occupant can rest their arms. Some armrests also have a pull handle portion that extends from the rest portion toward the front of the vehicle, and this pull handle portion can be grasped by the occupant's fingers from the passenger compartment side to open or close the door.

The armrest of the vehicle door in the following Patent Document 1 has a rest portion and a pull handle portion that extends from the rest portion toward the front of the vehicle. A door switch unit is disposed in front of the pull handle portion.

JP 2009-214702 A (FIG. 1)

In the armrest of Patent Document 1, the only part that an occupant can grasp with their fingers is the pull handle portion that extends in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle. As a result, when opening or closing the door, the angle at which the occupant's fingers can approach the pull handle portion to grasp it and the direction of the occupant's fingers grasping the pull handle portion are restricted, making it difficult to open or close the door. Also, when an occupant rests their arm on the rest portion while in the car, the occupant places their fingers on the door switch unit or points them toward the passenger compartment from the door switch unit, meaning that there is no fixed place to place their fingers, resulting in insufficient comfort.

The present invention has been made to solve at least one of the above problems, and an armrest for a vehicle door according to one aspect of the present invention comprises:
An armrest for a vehicle door having a rest portion and a pull handle portion extending from the rest portion toward the front of the vehicle,
A grippable member that can be grasped by the fingers of an occupant extends in the vehicle width direction and spans between the tip of the pull handle portion and the door trim.

According to the above configuration, the occupant can grasp not only the pull handle portion but also the gripped member. This makes it easier to push and pull the door to open and close, improving the operability of opening and closing the door when the occupant gets in and out of the car. In addition, when the occupant rests their arm on the rest portion while in the car, they can grasp the gripped member with their fingers, so they have a fixed place to place their fingers, improving the comfort of the occupant while in the car.

Preferably, the rest portion and the gripped member are fixed to the door trim.
According to the above configuration, the gripped member serves to fix and stabilize the pull handle portion to the door trim. Because the armrest is fixed to the door trim, when the armrest is pushed or pulled, the door trim also moves together, suppressing distortion of the door trim. The rigidity of the door trim is increased, and the armrest and the gripped member can also serve as reinforcing members for the door trim.

This invention provides an armrest with a pull handle that improves the ease of opening and closing a vehicle door.

1 is a perspective view of a door trim of a vehicle door to which an armrest according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached, as viewed from the front of the vehicle compartment side. 1A is an enlarged perspective view of a main portion of the armrest as viewed from the front of the vehicle compartment, and FIG. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the door trim and the armrest. 1A and 1B are perspective views of a gripping member that is bridged between the pull handle portion of the armrest and the door trim, where FIG. 1A is a view from the front of the vehicle interior, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the mounting structure of the armrest to the door trim, taken along line VV of FIG. 2(B). 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the mounting structure of the armrest to the door trim, taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 2(B).

One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. For ease of understanding, Figs. 1 to 5 and 6 show the front-rear direction of the vehicle, Figs. 1 and 2(B) to 5 show the cabin side and the outside of the cabin in the vehicle width direction, and Fig. 5 etc. show the up-down direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, an armrest 20 is attached to the door trim 10, which is an interior material of an automobile (vehicle) door 1, near the middle in the vertical direction on the passenger compartment side, and a bottle holder 2 is provided in front of the armrest 20.

The door trim 10 is formed by assembling an upper trim 11, a mid-front trim 12, a mid-rear trim 13, and a lower trim 14 together, and is shaped like a plate. A part or the entire surface of the door trim 10 facing the passenger compartment may be covered with a skin 15 (Figure 5).

The mid-front trim 12 and mid-rear trim 13 are positioned below the upper trim 11, with the mid-front trim 12 protruding forward from the upper trim 11. The lower trim 14 is formed in a C-shape and occupies the area below the mid-front trim 12 and mid-rear trim 13, and the area in front and above the protruding part of the mid-front trim 12.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the lower piece 14a of the lower trim 14 protrudes toward the vehicle cabin relative to the mid-front trim 12 and the mid-rear trim 13, and the bottle holder 2 is disposed between the lower piece 14a and the mid-front trim 12. As shown in Figure 5, the lower piece 14a is provided with a cylindrical mating protrusion 14b that protrudes toward the outside of the vehicle cabin. A screw-threading hole 14c is formed in the mating protrusion 14b.

As shown in FIG. 1, the rear upper edge of the lower piece 14a of the lower trim 14 serves as an armrest support 14d that supports the armrest 20 from below. As shown in FIG. 3, the armrest support 14d has two locking holes 14e at the front and two locking claws 14f at the rear, spaced apart.

As shown in FIG. 1, the armrest 20 extends in the front-rear direction of the vehicle and has a wide rear rest portion 21 and a narrow front pull handle portion 22. An occupant can rest their arm on the rest portion 21 and can grasp the pull handle portion 22 with their fingers when opening or closing the door 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, the armrest 20 comprises an armrest core material 30, a grip core material 40, and a pull handle core material 50. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a bar member 60 (grasped member) is provided so as to span between the pull handle portion 22 of the armrest 20 and the mid-front trim 12.

The armrest core material 30 is made of a resin injection molded product, and has a wide portion 31 that corresponds to the rest portion 21, and a narrow portion 32 that corresponds to the pull handle portion 22. A cushioning material (not shown) is placed on the wide portion 31, and the cushioning material and the upper surface and peripheral surface of the armrest core material 30 are entirely covered with a skin 23 (Figs. 5 and 6).

As shown in FIG. 6, the underside of the narrow portion 32 is provided with a plurality of cylindrical mating protrusions 33 that protrude downward. In this embodiment, three mating protrusions 33 are provided at intervals in the front-rear direction, with the two in the front having threaded holes 33a provided as tapping holes and the one in the rear being provided as a welding boss.

The grip core material 40 constitutes part of the pull handle portion 22 of the armrest 20, and is disposed below the narrow portion 32 of the armrest core material 30, on the outside of the vehicle compartment, as shown in FIG. 3. The grip core material 40 has a vertical wall portion 41 that faces the mid-front trim 12 and mid-rear trim 13 of the door trim 2. The surface of this vertical wall portion 41 facing the outside of the vehicle compartment is designed to be grasped by the fingers of an occupant gripping the pull handle portion 22.

The upper end of the vertical wall portion 41 is provided with a flange portion 42 that protrudes toward the vehicle interior. The lower end of the vertical wall portion 41 is provided with a plurality of hook projections 43 that protrude toward the vehicle interior and are spaced apart in the front-rear direction; in this embodiment, three hook projections are provided. These hook projections 43 are used to assemble the grip core material 40 and the pull handle core material 50.

The pull handle core material 50 also constitutes part of the pull handle portion 22 of the armrest 20, and is disposed below the narrow portion 32 of the armrest core material 30, on the vehicle interior side. The pull handle core material 50 has a vertical wall portion 51 that faces the vertical wall portion 41 of the grip core material 40, and a flange portion 52 that protrudes from the upper end of the vertical wall portion 51 toward the vehicle interior side. Three fitting holes 53 are formed in the flange portion 52 to correspond to the fitting protrusions 33 (Figure 6) of the armrest core material 30.

As shown in Figures 3 and 6, a concave rib 54 is formed between the passenger compartment side surface of the vertical wall portion 51 of the pull handle core material 50 and the underside of the flange portion 52. In this embodiment, two concave ribs 54 are formed at a distance in the front-rear direction. As shown in Figure 3, a locking claw 55 is provided on the underside of the bottom of each concave rib 54. The locking claw 55 is used to attach the pull handle core material 50 to the lower trim 14.

At the lower end of the vertical wall portion 51 of the pull handle core material 50, three hook pieces 56 are provided corresponding to the hook protrusions 43 of the grip core material 40. The tip of each hook piece 56 projects to the outside of the vehicle cabin. When the grip core material 40 is assembled to the pull handle core material 50, as shown in FIG. 6, the flange portion 42 of the grip core material 40 is positioned above the flange portion 52 of the pull handle core material 50, and each hook protrusion 43 of the grip core material 40 shown in FIG. 3 is hooked onto each hook piece 56 of the pull handle core material 50.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 , the bar member 60 (grasped member) has a bridging portion 61 , a shielding portion 62 , and a connecting portion 63 .
The bridge portion 61 is in the form of a bottomed cylinder that opens toward the passenger compartment, and as shown in Fig. 4B, a cylindrical fitting protrusion 61b is provided on the surface of the bottom 61a of the bridge portion 61 facing the passenger compartment outside, and two fitting protrusions 61b are provided in this embodiment. Each fitting protrusion 61b has a screw thread hole 61c and is provided as a tapping hole. The bottom 61a and the fitting protrusion 61b are provided corresponding to the fitting recess 12a and the fitting hole 12b formed in the lower part of the mid-front trim 12 shown in Fig. 3, respectively.

As shown in Figures 2(A) and 4(A), the bottom surface 61d of the cylindrical portion of the bridge portion 61 protrudes toward the vehicle interior and forms the bottom surface of the tip of the pull handle portion 22 of the armrest 20.

As shown in FIG. 4(B), the shielding portion 62 is a curved plate that is convex upward in the front-to-rear direction. As shown in FIG. 2(B), the shielding portion 62 covers the gap between the mid-front trim 12 and the mid-rear trim 13 and the lower trim 14 that protrudes toward the passenger compartment. The front side of the shielding portion 62 forms part of the peripheral wall of the bottle holder 2.

As shown in FIG. 4(A), a fixed piece 62b having a fitting hole 62a formed therein is provided on the passenger compartment side of the front side of the shielding part 62. The fixed piece 62b and the fitting hole 62a are used to attach the bar member 60 to the lower trim 14. As shown in FIG. 4(B), a support piece 62c is provided on the passenger compartment side of the front side of the shielding part 62, and is used to support the rear edge of the mid-front trim 12.

As shown in FIG. 4, the connecting portion 63 has a vertical wall portion 63a that connects the outer peripheral surface of the opening side (vehicle compartment side) of the bridging portion 61 and the end portion of the shielding portion 62 on the vehicle compartment side. A fixed flange portion 63b that protrudes toward the vehicle compartment side is provided at the upper end of this vertical wall portion 63a, and a fitting hole 63c is formed in the fixed flange portion 63b. The fixed flange portion 63b and the fitting hole 63c are used to attach the bar member 60 to the armrest core material 30 and the pull handle core material 50.

Next, the mounting structure between the bar member 60 and the armrest core material 30 and the pull handle core material 50, and the mounting structure between the bar member 60 and the door trim 10 will be described in order.
6, the three mating protrusions 33 provided on the narrow width portion 32 of the armrest core material 30 are fitted into the corresponding mating holes 53 in the pull handle core material 50. At this time, the fixed flange 63b of the bar member 60 is disposed below the flange 52 of the pull handle core material 50, and the front two mating protrusions 33 are further fitted into the mating holes 63c of the fixed flange 63b. The pull handle core material 50 is also assembled to the grip core material 40.

Tapping screws 3A are attached to the screw holes 33a of the two front mating protrusions 33, which are screwed in while forming female threads. In this way, the fixed flange 63b of the bar member 60 is fixed to the flange 52 of the pull handle core material 50 and the narrow portion 32 of the armrest core material 30. The fitting protrusion 33 on the rear side, which serves as a welding boss, has its tip 33b expanded in diameter by melting and welded to the flange 52 on the periphery of the fitting hole 53, and the narrow portion 32 of the armrest core material 30 and the flange 52 of the pull handle portion 50 are fixed.

The locking claw 55 of the pull handle core material 50 shown in FIG. 3 is locked into a locking hole 14e in the armrest support portion 14d of the lower trim 14. The locking claw 14f of the armrest support portion 14d is locked into a locking hole (not shown) formed in the wide portion 31 of the armrest core material 30. The wide portion 31 of the armrest core material 30 is fixed to the mid-rear trim 13.

Next, a mounting structure between the bar member 60 and the door trim 10 will be described.
5, the fitting protrusion 14b provided on the lower piece 14a of the lower trim 14 is fitted into the fitting hole 62a of the fixing piece 62b of the bar member 60, and a tapping screw 3B is screwed into the screw hole 14c of the fitting protrusion 14b. In this way, the fixing piece 62b of the bar member 60 is fixed to the lower piece 14a of the lower trim 14.

As shown in FIG. 5, the bottom 61a and the mating protrusion 61b of the bridge portion 61 of the bar member 60 are fitted into the mating recess 12a and the mating hole 12b of the mid-front trim 12, respectively. In this state, a tapping screw 3C is screwed into the threaded engagement hole 61c of the mating protrusion 61b from the outside of the vehicle compartment. This fixes the bridge portion 61 of the bar member 60 to the mid-front trim 12. At this time, the support piece 62C of the shielding portion 62 supports the rear edge of the mid-front trim 12.

According to this embodiment, when opening or closing the door 1, the occupant can grasp not only the pull handle portion 22 of the armrest 20 but also the bar member 60. This facilitates the pushing and pulling of the door 1, improving the operability of opening and closing the door when the occupant gets in and out of the vehicle.
In addition, when a passenger rests his/her arm on the rest portion 21 while riding, the passenger can grasp the bar member 60 with his/her fingers, so that the position of the fingers is fixed, thereby improving the passenger's comfort while riding.

Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the bar member 60 is fixed to the narrow portion 32 of the armrest core material 30 and the pull handle core material 50 which constitute the pull handle portion 22 of the armrest 20, and is also fixed to the mid-front trim 12 and the lower trim 14. In other words, the bar member 60 fixes the pull handle portion 22 to the door trim 10, and stabilizes the pull handle portion 22.
Furthermore, since the wide portion 31 of the armrest core material 30 is fixed to the mid-rear trim 13 and the lower trim 14, the armrest 20 is fixed to the door trim 10. As a result, when the armrest 20 is pushed or pulled, the door trim 10 moves together with the armrest 20, suppressing distortion of the door trim 10. In other words, the rigidity of the door trim 10 is increased, and the armrest 20 and the bar member 60 can also function as reinforcing members for the door trim 10.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
In the above embodiment, the door trim 10 is illustrated as being divided into four trim members: an upper trim 11, a mid-front trim 12, a mid-rear trim 13, and a lower trim 14. However, the door trim 10 may be composed of a single trim member or multiple trim members other than four.

This invention can be applied to arm rests in vehicle doors.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Door 2 Bottle holder 3A, 3B, 3C Tapping screw 10 Door trim 11 Upper trim 12 Mid-front trim 12a Fitting recess 12b Fitting hole 13 Mid-rear trim 14 Lower trim 14a Lower piece of lower trim 14b Fitting protrusion 14c Screw-in hole 14d Armrest support portion 14e Locking hole 14f Locking claw 15 Cover 20 Armrest 21 Rest portion 22 Pull handle portion 23 Cover 30 Armrest core material 31 Wide portion 32 Narrow portion 33 Fitting protrusion 33a Screw-in hole 33b Tip portion 40 Grip core material 41 Vertical wall portion 42 Flange portion 43 Hook-up projection 50 Pull handle core material 51 Standing wall portion 52 Flange portion 53 Fitting hole 54 Concave rib 55 Engagement claw 56 Latch piece 60 Bar member (gripped member)
61 Bridge part 61a Bottom part 61b Fitting convex part 61c Screw threading hole 61d Bottom part 62 Shielding part 62a Fitting hole 62b Fixed piece part 62c Support piece 63 Communication part 63a Standing wall part 63b Fixed collar part 63c Fitting hole

Claims (2)

An armrest for a vehicle door, which is attached to a door trim having a plurality of trim members, comprising:
A rest portion;
A pull handle portion extending from the rest portion toward the front of the vehicle;
a gripping member that is separate from the pull handle portion, has one end fixed to a tip end of the pull handle portion, extends in the vehicle width direction, spans the door trim, and can be grasped by the fingers of an occupant;
Equipped with
The armrest of a vehicle door , wherein the other end of the grippable member is fixed to one of the plurality of trim members, and the rest portion is fixed to another trim member . 2. The vehicle door armrest according to claim 1,
An armrest for a vehicle door , characterized in that the grippable member has a portion that forms the underside of the tip of the pull handle portion and a portion that is positioned on the back side of the surface of the tip facing toward the outside of the vehicle compartment.

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