The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-107501, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drawer apparatus adapted to be disposed in an instrument panel or a rear center arm rest of a vehicle.
2. Related Art
A drawer apparatus for vehicle such as a cup holder or a storage compartment for small things (hereinafter, referred as xe2x80x9cvehicular drawer apparatusxe2x80x9d) comprises a case and a drawer member. The case is installed in an interior member. The drawer member is disposed in such a manner as to slide in and out of the case. JP-A-2000-62512 discloses a vehicular drawer apparatus which can restrain the fall of a drawer member from a case when a large magnitude of impact energy is applied to the drawer member.
FIG. 12 shows a longitudinally sectional view of the vehicular drawer apparatus. As shown in the figure, a vehicular drawer apparatus 100 comprises a case 101 and a drawer member 102. In addition, the drawer member 102 comprises a reciprocating portion 103 and a rotating portion 104. FIG. 13 shows an enlarged view of a circled portion shown in FIG. 12. As shown in the figure, a first stopper 105 is provided in such a manner as to protrude downwardly from an upper bottom wall of the case 101. In addition, a second stopper 106 is provided in such a manner as to protrude upwardly from an upper bottom wall of the reciprocating portion 103. Furthermore, a projection 107 is provided in such a manner as to project upwardly from an upper bottom wall of the rotating portion 104.
When the drawer member 102 is drawn out of the case 101, the second stopper 106 comes into engagement with the first stopper 105 in the drawn-out direction. This position is the drawn-out position of the drawer member 102. Here, in the event that a large magnitude of impact energy is applied in the drawn-out direction, the second stopper 106 sinks under the first stopper 105, and there is caused a risk that the engagement between the first stopper 105 and the second stopper 106 fails, leading to a further risk that the drawer member is dislodged from the case 101.
However, at the drawn-out position, the projection 107 pushes up the second stopper 106 due to the rotation of the rotating portion 104. Namely, the second stopper 106 engages with the first stopper 105 while being supported by the projection 107 from below. Due to this, the risk that the second stopper 106 sinks under the first stopper 105 is small. Thus, in the vehicular drawer apparatus 100, the dislodgement of the drawer member 102 from the case 101 is restrained only by a locking mechanism comprising the first stopper 105 and the second stopper 106. In addition, impact energy is absorbed solely by the locking mechanism.
Incidentally, the impact energy absorption amount of the locking mechanism is obtained by a product of an impact energy F required for deformation and a deformation amount S. In the vehicular drawer apparatus 100 disclosed in the aforesaid Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication, the impact energy absorption amount E is secured by increasing the impact load F required for deformation. Due to this, the locking mechanism is required to have a relatively high strength. To be specific, a relatively high rigidity is required for engagement between the first stopper 105 and the second stopper 106. In addition, in order to restrain the disengagement of the two stoppers, the first stopper 105 and the second stopper 106 themselves need to be prepared of materials having relatively high Young""s modulus. The vehicular drawer apparatus of the forgoing Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication becomes expensive due to these reasons. Additionally, in the event that an excessively large impact energy is applied to the drawer, it is difficult to absorb the whole impact energy only by the locking mechanism.
The invention has completed a vehicular drawer apparatus in view of the situations. Consequently, an object of the invention is to provide a vehicular drawer apparatus which can absorb energy even in the event that an excessively large impact energy is applied while no high strength is required.
(1) With a view to achieving the object, according to the invention, there is provided a vehicular drawer apparatus a vehicular drawer apparatus comprising a case installed in an interior member and a drawer member disposed in such a manner as to slide in and out of the case, the vehicular drawer apparatus being characterized in that at least one of the case and the drawer member has an energy absorption device for absorbing an impact energy applied to the drawer member in a direction in which the drawer member is drawn out while deforming the impact energy.
Namely, in the vehicular drawer apparatus according to the invention, the energy absorption device is disposed in at least one of the case and the drawer member. The impact load F required to deform the energy absorption device is set relatively low. In addition, the deformation amount S of the energy absorption device is set relatively large. Then, the required impact energy absorbing amount E is secured. In other words, the energy absorption device absorbs impact energy by deforming itself in a stepped manner.
The energy absorption device is preferred to deform easily to some extent. Due to this, the energy absorption device is required no high strength. Consequently, the vehicular drawer apparatus according to the invention becomes inexpensive. In addition, from the viewpoint of the structure of the vehicular drawer apparatus, it is relatively easy to secure a certain deformable area in the drawer member in a direction in which the drawer member is drawn out. Due to this, in the event that an excessively large impact energy is applied to the vehicular drawer apparatus, the whole impact energy can be absorbed when the energy absorption device is deformed sufficiently. Consequently, according to the vehicular drawer apparatus of the invention, a risk is small that the drawer member is dislodged from the case.
(2) Preferably, the energy absorption device is constructed as a graded energy absorption device which requires a small impact load to effect a deformation in an early impact stage and requires a large impact load to effect a deformation in a late impact stage. The graded energy absorption device is set so as to deform with ease in the early impact stage and then to deform gradually with difficulty as the impact applied becomes larger in the late impact stage. Here, in case the energy absorption device is difficult to deform in the early impact stage, the deceleration of the drawer member to the case becomes large. Namely, the drawer member that has started to move due to the impact is restricted by the energy absorbing member and decelerates drastically. This may cause a risk that a large impact load is momentarily applied to the drawer member and/or the case, whereby a defect is caused in the drawer member and/or the case.
In contrast, in case the energy absorption device is easy to deform in the early stage of impact, the deceleration of the drawer relative to the case becomes smaller. Consequently, according to the construction, the drawer member and the case can be protected against impact.
(3) Preferably, the energy absorption device may be constructed as a buckling device for absorbing an impact energy through buckling failure. The bucking device absorbs impact energy by allowing the buckling device itself to buckle and fail when an impact is applied thereto. According to the construction, impact energy can be absorbed in a stepped manner by suitably adjusting the size, number and configuration of the buckling device. Additionally, the absorbing amount of impact energy can be adjusted.
(4) Preferably, the energy absorption device may be constructed as a crushing device for absorbing an impact energy through compression failure. The crushing device absorbs impact energy by allowing the crushing device itself to be crushed at the time of impact. According to the construction, impact energy can be absorbed in a stepped manner by suitably adjusting the size, number and configuration of the crushing device. Additionally, the absorbing amount of impact energy can be adjusted. Furthermore, a relatively large crushable zone can be secured by disposing the crushing device. In other words, it is easy to set such that the whole of the crushing device crushes uniformly. Due to this, according to the invention, impact energy can be absorbed effectively.
(5) Preferably, the energy absorbing deice may be constructed as a plurality of projections disposed in the case, wherein the drawer member has a striker which aligns with the plurality of projections in the drawn-out direction, and wherein when an impact energy is applied to the drawer member the striker causes the plurality of projections to fail sequentially so that the impact energy so applied to the drawer member is absorbed in a stepped manner. Namely, according to the construction, the striker disposed on the drawer member causes the projections disposed in the case to fail sequentially to there by absorb impact energy. According to the construction, impact energy can be absorbed in a stepped manner with the relatively simple construction.
(6) Preferably, the projection that is the closest to the striker among the plurality of projections is served to determine the drawn-out position of said drawer member. In other words, according to the construction, the determination of the drawn-out position of the drawer member is effected by the positioning projection which is one of the projections. In the event that impact energy is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, the positioning projection does not fail even if the striker comes into to abutment therewith. As this occurs, the positioning projection is used to determine the drawn-out position of the drawer member. In contrast, in the event that impact energy exceeds the predetermined value, the positioning projection fails when the striker comes into abutment therewith. As this occurs, the positioning projection is used to absorb the impact energy. According to the construction, the positioning projection functions not only to determine the position of the drawer member but also to absorb impact energy. Due to this, there is no need to dispose separately a member for positioning the drawer member. Consequently, according to the construction, the number of components does not have to be large.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds