Motor vehicle knee impact element in absorbent foam

摘要

The impact element is made up of a section (10) fitted to and partly covering the steering gear housing (5) plus side sections (20,30) directly adjoining the section. The housing section is composed of a sheet metal support part (12) and an energy-absorbing foam part (10') fitted to the section and covered in plastics (13), the two side sections being fixed to a bearer tube (4) across the vehicle. Each side section has an angular shape and is fixed to the tube by angle bracket (15). Each side section is also traversed by several recesses in the transverse plate of the vehicle and also grooved lengthwise to stand open to the cladding of the instrument panel (18). The side sections in turn are covered by the deformable cladding of the panel extending to the steering gear housing section between the sections.