Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Seiji Yokota

Junichi Harada

Katsuhiko Emori

Takakuni Kanaya

Isao Kudo

Tomoki Matuzawa

A front body section of a vehicle which is provided with a front-side member and a crush box. The crush box includes a front section and a rear section, which are disposed in front of the front-side member so as to be axially aligned and connected thereto. An upper plate, a lower plate, an outer plate, and an inner plate, all of which form the front section, are prepared so as to provide a lower level of total plastic characteristic, when under load, than those plate members which form the rear section. The crush box thereby exhibits a total plastic characteristic, when under load, in two stages.

Front body structure

A steering shaft assembly for automotive vehicles comprises an upper shaft mounted thereon with a steering wheel, a lower shaft rotatably supported in place within a column tube and telescopically connected to the upper shaft in such a manner to permit axial adjustment of the upper shaft, and a lock mechanism for releasably fastening the upper shaft to the lower shaft in its adjusted position, a pair of stopper elements respectively integral with the upper and lower shafts to be abutted against each other when the upper shaft is moved downward over a predetermined stroke, an annular tapered projection integral with one of the shafts, and a single shock absorber element of elastic material in the form of a short sleeve member coupled with the other shaft and located between the stopper elements. The shock absorber element is formed at one end thereof with an annular tapered portion to be resiliently coupled over the annular tapered projection by abutment with the stopper elements.

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Nagoya, Japan

Seiji Yokota