Passenger compartment side collision protection assembly

[0002] This application claims the priority of German application 198 39 519.1, filed in Germany on Aug. 29, 1998, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.

[0003] The invention relates to a passenger compartment of a vehicle body having two laterally spaced vehicle doors, at least one longitudinally displaceable vehicle seat between the doors and side collision protection devices in the form of laterally extending reinforcing elements integrated in the vehicle doors and seat.

[0004] In such passenger compartments, known for example from German Patent Document DE 28 16 318 C2, with a protective device in the event of a side crash, unavoidable spaces exist between the reinforcing elements that are caused by the lengthwise displaceability of the vehicle seats and the pivotability of the vehicle doors. In a side crash, the reinforcing elements abut one another by their impact plates in the direction transverse to the lengthwise axis of the compartment, said spaces having first to be eliminated by the deformation of structural parts in a side crash before the “crash-locked” reinforcing elements act as a unit on the passenger compartment structure and act as continuous cross members to accept the forces from the side and transmit them to the entire body.

[0005] In a known vehicle seat (European Patent Document EP 0 470 413 A1), the protective device has a safety element located in the seat, said element being moved approximately horizontally into an operating position automatically from its resting position inside the seat by a device in case of danger. In the operating position, the safety elements extend up to parts of the vehicle that laterally abut the seat, for example the door sills or the center column, and abut them.

[0006] In a likewise known vehicle seat (German Patent Document DE 295 09 229 U1), the protective device comprises side protection telescopes built into the front seats, said telescopes being extended when the seat belt is put on, with the telescopes abutting the inside walls of the body on one side and abutting one another on the other side, forming a continuous cross member that stiffens the passenger, compartment in the transverse direction. Each side protection telescope in one embodiment consists of two threaded rods that can be screwed by their ends into internally threaded sections of a threaded sleeve with opposite thread pitches. The threaded sleeve is caused to rotate by a worm wheel.

[0007] A goal of the invention, in a passenger compartment of the species recited at the outset, is to improve the protective device for protecting the vehicle occupants in a side crash in such fashion that the reinforcing elements are crash-locked no later than the beginning of the lateral deformation of the passenger compartment in a crash, and form a continuous cross member to accept the forces.

[0008] This goal is achieved according to the invention by providing a passenger compartment of the above noted type, wherein at least one of the reinforcing elements exhibits an increasable length such that precollision gaps between the reinforcing elements are automatically closed by at least one collision responsive actuator operable to lengthen the at least one of said reinforcing elements so that all reinforcing elements between a respective pair of side doors operably abut one another during side collision absorbing conditions.

[0009] The passenger compartment according to preferred embodiments of the invention has the advantage that in the event of a crash, as a result of the actuator being triggered by suitable sensors, a continuous cross member is formed immediately from the individual reinforcing elements with impact plates located therebetween, said members accepting the forces from the crash side and transmitting them to the entire body and hence to the opposite side as well. Thus, at the moment of the crash, as a result of the elongation of at least one reinforcing element, all the spaces between the reinforcing elements and the impact plates are abruptly eliminated, so that before any body deformation begins, all of the reinforcing elements and impact plates abut one another in the transverse direction with no gaps.

[0010] Advantageous designs of the vehicle body according to the invention with advantageous embodiments and improvements on the invention are described herein and in the claims.

[0011] Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0012] FIG. 1 is a schematic view which shows a portion of a cross section through a passenger compartment of a vehicle body with a built-in vehicle seat in a rear view and an integrated protective device constructed according to preferred embodiments of the present invention, and shown in a condition before a side collision;

[0013] FIG. 2ais an enlarged view of section II in FIG. 1 showing a reinforcing element of the protective device in a precollision absorbing condition;

[0014] FIG. 2bis an enlarged view of section II in FIG. 1 showing a reinforcing element of the protective device in a collision absorbing condition;

[0015] FIGS. 3 and 4 show the same view as FIG. 1 with the protective device modified in each case according to other preferred embodiments of the present invention;

[0016] FIG. 5 shows the same view as FIG. 4 with the protective device shown activated in a side collision;

[0017] FIG. 6ashows the same view as in FIG. 2aof a reinforcing element according to a further embodiment disposed in a precollision energy absorbing condition;

[0018] FIG. 6bshows the FIG. 6areinforcing element in a collision absorbing condition;

[0019] FIG. 7ais a schematic part sectional view of a reinforcing element constructed according to another preferred embodiment of the invention, and depicted in a precollision condition; and

[0020] FIG. 7bis an enlarged partial view of the reinforcing element of FIG. 7a,depicting its operation and condition for absorbing side collision forces.

[0021] In FIG. 1, a passenger compartment of a vehicle body is shown schematically in cross section and partially up to the central plane of symmetry 10 of the passenger compartment. The vehicle floor 11, left vehicle door 12, and center console 13 mounted centrally on the body floor can be seen in the passenger compartment. A left vehicle seat 14, the driver's seat for example, is located between vehicle door 12 and center console 13, of which seat only the back 15 and the headrest 16 can be seen in FIG. 1. Vehicle seat 14 is mounted lengthwise displaceably on body floor 11 and can be locked in any lengthwise displacement position. The guide rails fastened to body floor 11 for this purpose are marked 17 in FIG. 1. To complete the cross section of the passenger compartment, FIG. 1 can be completed by adding the right-hand compartment half symmetrically to central plane 10 so that in the same way, a right-hand vehicle door 12 and a right-hand vehicle seat 14, for example the passenger seat, are provided.

[0022] To protect seat users against life-threatening injuries in the event of a side collision, a protective device assembly 20 is provided that has a plurality of reinforcing elements extending transversely to the central plane 10 of the passenger compartment. One reinforcing element 21 is integrated into each vehicle door 12, one reinforcing element 22 is integrated into each vehicle seat 14, and one reinforcing element 23 is integrated into the center console 13. Impact plates 24 are located at the ends of the reinforcing elements 21 that face one another, so that in each case, in the spaces between each vehicle door 12 and each vehicle seat 14 on the one hand and each vehicle seat 14 and the center console 13 on the other, two impact plates 24 are located opposite one another at distances a1 and a2. While the reinforcing elements 22, 23 in the vehicle seat 14 and in the center console 13 are provided with impact plates 24 at each end, the reinforcing elements 21 in the vehicle doors 12 are fitted with impact plates 24 only on the inner ends and abut the doors by the outer ends.

[0023] Reinforcing elements 21-23 are designed as profiles made of high-strength material, metal or KEVLAR for example to save weight, and provided with the necessary ribs and reinforcements. It is understood that the design of the reinforcing elements 21, 23 and impact plates 24 described above as being integrated into vehicle door 12 and into center console 13 as separate parts is not absolute. Instead, the reinforcing element 21 can be designed with impact plate 24 as part of the design of a vehicle door 12 in the form of reinforcing panels, so that an impact zone is produced which extends as part of the door structure over at least the length of the seat adjustment travel and hence offers the desired protection in every seat adjustment position. The impact area of the impact zone need not be identical to the surface of the door panel but can be located further down so that in the event of a side collision involving destruction of the door pocket for example, the reinforcing element 22 with impact plates 24 in vehicle seat 14 comes to rest against the impact zone in vehicle door 12.

[0024] The same is true of center console 13. Here it would be possible to make the center console 13 as a built-in part with a high-strength structure made of ribs, reinforcements, etc., which conducts the forces further in the event of a side collision. Alternatively, the center console 13 can be provided within certain zones on its side flanks with massive reinforcements that form the impact plates 24, said reinforcements taking the lengthwise and vertical adjustment of vehicle seat 14 into account. The two reinforcements are connected with one another by a frame or the like in such fashion that the forces are conducted further. In addition, reinforcing element 23 with impact plate 24 can be formed in center console 13 as a rigid structure secured by the center tunnel to the floor pan, with the center console 13 located above as a cover.

[0025] If, for design reasons, the reinforcing elements 21 and 23 designed as described above with impact plates 24 in vehicle doors 12 and in center console 13 are not made flat in the vicinity of their impact zones but with “sloping” contours instead, joints are advantageously provided between the reinforcing elements 22 in vehicle seats 14 and their impact plates 24, said joints then permitting optimum support of the impact plates 24 in the diagonal impact zones of a vehicle door 12 and center console 13.

[0026] While the reinforcing elements 21 and 23 are designed with impact plates 24 in vehicle doors 12 and center console 13 and extending in the direction of the width of the vehicle with a fixed length, the reinforcing element 22 in the two vehicle doors 12 by contrast is designed so that it can be elongated to a maximum length. This maximum length is dimensioned so that all of the gaps a1, a2 that are present in the pre-collision state of the passenger compartment between the reinforcing elements 21-23 and impact plates 24 disappear as a result of the increase in length at the moment of a side crash. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the length of the reinforcing element 22 in the left vehicle seat 14 increases at the moment of the crash by a sum a1+a2, so that the impact plates 24 of the three reinforcing elements 21-23 abut one another without any gaps.

[0027] To produce such an increase in length, reinforcing element 22 in each vehicle seat 14 has a toggle lever 25 made of two lever arms 251, 252 in the shape of a V, said levers being connected together pivotably movably in toggle joint 253. The ends of the two lever arms 251, 252 facing away from toggle joint 253 are connected by joints 254, 255 with the two sections 221, 222 of reinforcing element 22. The axes of joints 253-255 are aligned parallel to one another and run perpendicularly to the plane of the drawing in FIG. 1. The length of the two lever arms 251, 252 and of the toggle angle a enclosed by the two lever arms 251, 252 (FIG. 2a) are adjusted to one another in such fashion that when toggle lever 25 is extended (FIG. 2b), in which position the two lever arms 251, 252 and their sections 221, 222 are flush with one another, the gaps a1 and a2 between impact plates 24 disappear and therefore all the impact plates 24 abut one another without gaps and all the reinforcing elements 21-23 to the left and right of the central plane of symmetry 10 form a continuous cross member.

[0028] To activate protective device 20 in a side crash, an actuator 26 is integrated into vehicle seat 14, said actuator, when activated, exerting a compressive force on toggle joint 253 of toggle lever 25 which moves toggle lever 25 into its extended position. This actuator 26 can be designed as a pneumatic or pyrotechnic drive and is triggered by suitable sensors in a side collision so that it drives the toggle lever 25 explosively into its extended position and locks it there so that it cannot be pushed back into the original position.

[0029] In FIGS. 2aand 2b,toggle lever 25 is shown enlarged in detail, in FIG. 2ain the pre-collision state and in FIG. 2bin its extended position at the moment of the side collision. The two lever arms 251, 252 in the embodiments shown are designed asymmetrically in such fashion that in the extended position, force transmission does not take place via joints 253-255 but via all six surface pairs 27-32 that abut one another in the direction of the flow of the force. Two surface pairs 27, 28 and 31, 32 are formed between a rod section 221 or 222 and a lever arms 251 or 252 and two surface pairs 29, 30 are formed between the two lever arms 251 and 252. The individual surfaces of surface pairs 27-32 are designated in FIG. 2aby 271, 272 and 321, 322. In the event of a collision, when toggle lever 25 is in the extended position, the supporting surfaces rest flat against one another. The shape of the lever, extended or curved for example, and the number and size of the surface pairs are determined by the design and are shaped to suit requirements.

[0030] With a greater lengthwise displaceability of vehicle seat 14 on guide rails 17, it is advantageous to make the reinforcing elements 22 in vehicle seat 14 in pairs. The two reinforcing elements 22 of each pair then run parallel to one another at a distance and are fastened at their ends jointly to an impact plate 24. As a result, even in extremely different displacement positions of the two vehicle seats 14, in the event of a side crash a rigid cross member is produced between the two vehicle doors 12 which cannot bend in a lengthwise direction. Impact plates 24, as shown on the reinforcing element 23 provided in center console 13, can be integrated into the vehicle doors 12, and the vehicle seat 14 can be covered by the respective upholstery so that the interior of the passenger compartment in the pre-collision state presents an aesthetically pleasing appearance that is not disturbed by technical design elements. A tear seam is then provided in the vehicle seat 14 for the reinforcing element 22 whose length is variable in the seat upholstery in the vicinity of each impact plate 24, said seam, when the toggle lever 25 is moved into its extended position, tearing in a specified manner and thus permitting impact plate 24 to emerge from the seat upholstery.

[0031] The modified protective device 20A in the passenger compartment shown schematically in FIG. 3 differs from the protective device 20 described above in that the reinforcing element 22A integrated into vehicle seat 14A is made as a continuous constant-length profile with endwise impact plates 24A and the reinforcing elements 21A and 23A provided in the vehicle doors 12A and center console 13A are designed as length-variable reinforcing elements with toggle lever 25A and actuator 26A. In addition, the design and operation are the same as described in FIG. 1 so that the same parts have been given the same numbers with a suffix “A”. Unless otherwise indicated the above description of FIG. 1 for these similarly numbered parts applies.

[0032] The additional embodiment of a protective device 20B for a side collision within a passenger compartment, shown in FIG. 4, differs from the two protective devices 20 and 20A described above in that all the reinforcing elements 21B, 22B, and 23B are provided with a toggle lever 25B and an actuator that drives the toggle lever 25B into its extended position, so that in a side collision, all the reinforcing elements 21B, 22B and 23B increase their lengths. In the event of a collision, all the toggle joints 25B move into their extended positions and are latched therein, as shown in FIG. 5. As is also made clear in FIG. 5, all the gaps that exist in the pre-collision state and are marked in FIG. 1 by a1, a2 disappear when the toggle levers 25B are in the extended position, so that all the impact plates 24B abut one another without gaps and the entire protective device 20B forms a rigid continuous transverse member between the two vehicle doors 12B that receives the forces on one side and transfers them to the passenger seat structure and also to the opposite side. In FIGS. 4 and 5, similarly operating parts as in FIGS. 1, 2a,2band 3 have similar reference numbers, with suffix “B”. Unless otherwise indicated, the above description for similarly numbered parts in these and other figures apply.

[0033] FIGS. 6a,6band FIGS. 7a,7bshow schematically two additional embodiments of a reinforcing element with an actuator, in this case the reinforcing element 22 (22C″, 22D″) is integrated into vehicle seat 14 with actuator 26 (26C, 26D).

[0034] In FIGS. 6aand 6b,reference numbers, with suffix “C,” refer to similarly operating parts with the same reference numbers in the other Figures. Unless otherwise indicated, the above description for similarly numbered parts in the other Figures apply.

[0035] In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6aand 6b,all of the elementary sections 221C and 222C of reinforcing element 22C″, by contrast with the embodiments according to FIGS. 1-5, are not continuously connected with one another by the toggle levers but are arranged individually and at intervals below a driving and locking body 34C which is displaceable by actuator 26C transversely to elementary sections 221C, 222C and thus forces the elementary sections 221C, 222C away from one another by sloping surfaces 341 and 342 until it is flush with them and lies between them, and supports them against one another (locking). As is not shown, the two elementary sections 221C, 222C are guided axially displaceably in guides and have their ends facing one another abutting the sloping surfaces 341 and 342 of the drive and locking body 34C. In FIG. 6a,reinforcing element 22C″ is shown with driving and locking body 34C before the action of actuator 26C and in FIG. 6bit is shown following the response of the actuator 26C.

[0036] In FIGS. 7aand 7b,reference numbers, with suffix “D,” refer to similarly operating parts with the same reference numbers in the other Figures. Unless otherwise indicated, the above description for similarly numbered parts in the other Figures apply.

[0037] The embodiment of reinforcing element 22D″ sketched schematically in FIGS. 7aand 7bhas the advantage of a small volume. A tubular guide profile 35D in the embodiment is secured in the vehicle seat 14 and accepts axially displaceably the two elementary sections 221D and 222D of reinforcing element 22D″. Between the two elementary sections 221D and 222D, a pyrotechnic charge 36D for example is located as the actuator 26D, said charge expanding in both directions when ignited, and thereby driving both elementary sections 221D, 222D outward, so that the two impact plates 24D abut the impact plates 24 of the other reinforcing elements 21 and 23 in the vehicle door 12 and the center console 13. In this position of the elementary sections 221D, 222D, the sections are locked in guide profile 35D (FIG. 7b) so that all the reinforcing elements 21, 22, and 23 are locked by impact plates 24D. As indicated only schematically in FIGS. 7aand 7b,which show the reinforcing element 22D″ before and after the operation of actuator 26D, elementary sections 221D, 222D are locked for example by the fact that a lock 37D that passes radially through guide profile 35D by the force of a locking spring 38D designed as a compression spring for example, abuts the circumference of each elementary section 221D and 222D and, in the displacement position of elementary sections 221D and 222D, engages shapewise an opening 39D made radially in the jacket surface. Lock 37D is designed so that it accepts and conducts away the forces that develop in a side collision.

[0038] The foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting. Since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to persons skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.