Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Nhk Spring Co., Ltd.

Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.

Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai Rika Denki Seisakusho

Takeaki Kato

Osamu Fukawatase

Koichi Suzuki

Hiroyuki Tajima

Hiroyoshi Yamaguchi

Takuya Nezaki

Takahiko Sato

Tadanori Hisamoto

Shinichi Horibata

Toshimasa Yamamoto

Makoto Sekizuka

Akiyoshi Nagano

Tomonori Nagata

Masakazu Hashimoto

Yasuho Kitazawa

Hitoshi Takamatsu

Kiyoka Matsubayashi

Shigekazu Imanaka

Satoshi Mikutsu

Haleh Ghalambor

An active knee bolster () and a knee bolster (), whose accommodated positions are different, are mounted within an instrument panel () along a curved configuration of a wall portion () of the instrument panel () which, in a vehicle transverse direction, is convex and concave in a vehicle body longitudinal direction. At a time of a vehicle body collision, a main body () of the active knee bolster () moves from an accommodated position to a leg restraining position, and a leg restraining position of the active knee bolster () and a leg restraining position of the fixed-type knee bolster () become equal positions in the vehicle body longitudinal direction. In accordance with this invention, legs of an occupant can be reliably protected, and degrees of freedom in designing a vehicle interior wall such as the instrument panel or the like are improved.

Occupant leg protecting device for vehicle

In a knee protection system according to the present invention, a knee protection panel is driven from a standby position surrounded by an interior member to the vehicle rear side to a knee-protecting position in front of the knees of an occupant by a drive mechanism when the vehicle is crashing, whereby the knees moving forward are protected by the knee protection panel thus driven. The drive mechanism includes a holding portion for holding the knee protection panel in such a manner that the knee protection panel is moved rearward. Engagement portions are provided, respectively, at locations where the holding portion and the knee protection panel connect with each other in such a manner as to be brought into engagement with each other. These engagement portions are brought into engagement with each other when the holding portion is moved rearward due to the activation of the drive mechanism in such a manner as to prevent displacement of the knee protection panel relative to the holding portion while moving the knee protection panel rearward, as well as allowing the knee protection panel to be displaced vertically and horizontally relative to the holding portion prior to the activation of the drive mechanism. With the knee protection system according to the invention, the knee protection panel can be disposed at the standby position so as to have a visually attractive break with the surrounding interior member, without deteriorating mounting work efficiency.

Knee protection system

A pinion of a pretensioner is provided at a side of a torsion shaft, which side is opposite a side connected integrally to a spool via a sleeve. A base lock of a lock mechanism is connected to the pinion. Due to the lock mechanism operating, a leg plate side end portion of the torsion shaft is locked. In this way, due to operation of the pretensioner, the pinion, which is connected to a rotating portion of a sleeve, also is locked by the locking mechanism. Therefore, a piston of the pretensioner is not lowered, and internal pressure of a cylinder does not affect deformation of the torsion shaft.

Webbing retractor

The invention provides a vehicular shock absorbing body which absorbs a shock by a grid-like rib formed on a support plate portion and can inhibit a load point at an initial stage and a terminal stage, in a load&#x2014;displacement (F-S) curve of the vehicular shock absorbing body. A shock absorbing body () used for absorbing a shock in a vehicle and made of a synthetic resin, is provided with a support plate portion (), and a shock absorbing portion () formed in a grid shape on the support plate portion () by a plurality of thin ribs (), and plastically deforming at a time of applying a shock load so as to be absorbable a shock energy. A notch (a leading end side notch)is formed between grid crossing points () in the thin rib () from a leading end side, and a notch (a root side notch)is formed from a root side of the grid crossing points () so as to include the support plate portion (), thereby inhibiting a load point from being generated at an initial stage and a terminal stage in the F-S curve.

Vehicular shock absorbing body

An actuator of an active knee bolster is provided with a drive force generation device and a one way lock mechanism that is disposed in a vicinity of an operation end of the drive force generation device. The one way lock mechanism is configured such that, if attempted movement of a piston member in an inward insertion direction occurs, respective engagement portions are moved to a taper portion by urging force of a spring, whereby the engagement portions are abutted against an external periphery surface of the piston member such that the piston member and the engagement portions are fixed. Accordingly, as a result of the one way lock mechanism, a main body of the active knee bolster that has been moved to a restraining position cannot return in a vehicle forward direction, and thus it is possible to generate a substantial lower limb restraining force that restrains a lower limb of an occupant.

Occupant protection apparatus for a vehicle

A passenger protection apparatus for a vehicle according to the invention has an excellent effect in that lower limbs of the vehicle occupant can be successfully held even during a frontal offset impact or an oblique impact. The passenger protection apparatus includes a pair of active knee bolsters provided in an instrument panel or at a vicinity thereof, each bolster being capable of restraining a corresponding lower limb of a passenger; a detector which, at a time of a collision, can detect a direction thereof; and a controller which, in accordance with the detection, can control the active knee bolsters independently from each other.

Passenger protection apparatus for a vehicle

Growing community of inventors

Aichi-ken, Japan

Takeaki Kato