| 摘要 |
A knee bolster installation for an automotive vehicle includes a bridge plate extending across a space receiving a steering column in front of the driver's knee or a glove box in front of a passenger's knees and having a knee impact absorber structure attached behind each end of the bridge plate. Each knee impact absorber structure has diverging front and back walls having a curved top wall and a curved generally horizontal intermediate web extending between the front and back walls, and a curved bottom wall connecting the lower end of front and back walls together. A generally vertical stabilizer web connects the top wall and intermediate web together to restrain bulging when crushed to avoid horizontal collapse thereof during deformation. Offset openings in each of the top wall, intermediate web, and bottom wall form wider curved strips at the inside adjacent the steering column space so that the front of the outside ends of the knee installation absorber structures are inclined away from the steering column space when deformed by knee impact. The knee installation absorber structures are either extruded and the openings thereafter cut into the top wall, intermediate web and bottom wall, or formed from a flat strip of material into which openings are cut prior to forming the strip. |
