| 摘要 |
960,795. Motor vehicle controls. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION. Jan. 17, 1963 [Jan. 22, 1962], No. 2074/63. Heading B7H. [Also in Division H2] To prevent injury from the control knobs on the instrument panel should the occupants of a motor vehicle be thrown forward due to its sudden retardation, the control knobs are each carried upon a shaft supported movably in a housing so that upon an impact force, the knob is moved into the housing. As shown in Fig. 1, the control knob 10 is carried upon a shaft 12 and the housing 14 comprises a guide assembly 24 and a bezel 18 having a disc portion 31 supporting the shaft 12 and a portion 30 of a weakened crosssection which breaks upon the knob 10 receiving an impact, the knob entering the housing 14. The shaft 12 has a portion 28 of weakened section, or an insert of flexible material, which yields if the knob receives a lateral force. As shown in Fig. 3, an electric switch mechanism is contained within a plunger 34 slidable within a barrel 32 integral with the instrument panel 26 and held in place by a resilient ring 50 extending round a grooved forward section 46. A plastic disc 40 is located within a groove 44 in the barrel 32 and supports a pair of spring contacts 38 and terminals 42, the contacts 38 being engaged by a pair of switch terminals 36, the switch being actuated by a knob 10 supported upon a shaft 58. Upon impact, the disc 40 is wrenched from the groove 44 and the switch slides within the housing, Fig. 4. In a modification, the housing may be made of a resilient material and the disc 40 may be of rigid material. The edge of the disc 40 is inclined to facilitate its return into the groove. The terminals 36 and contacts 38 may be formed as a pair of integral units. In another modification, shown in Fig. 6 in the position after impact, the barrel 14 has a closed end 52 in which are formed apertures 54 in which the spring contacts 38 are normally located between beads 56 on one side of the aperture and a pair of conductors on the other, thereby holding the switch in place until it is disturbed by impact into the position shown. |
