Structural instrument panel carrier assembly

A structural instrument panel carrier for mounting instrument panel components in a motor vehicle body between pillars located at a Juncture of passenger and engine compartments, comprising:

• a structural instrument panel carrier of one-piece plastic construction having upper and lower generally vertical back panels that extend transversely across a motor vehicle body for attachment to pillars located at opposite sides of the motor vehicle body,
• a generally horizontal shelf panel that interconnects the upper and lower back panels and that extends rearwardly toward the passenger compartment for supporting instrument panel components,
• the upper back panel having a central opening for a modular instrument panel component,
• the lower back panel having an opening for a steering column assembly that is laterally spaced from the central opening of the upper panel,
• the shelf panel and the lower back panel each having a portion that spans the central opening in the upper back panel, and
• a pair of vertical walls at the sides of the central opening in the upper back panel that are connected to respective ends of the upper panel defining the central opening and to the shelf panel that spans the central opening to increase the torsional rigidity of the cross beam.

A structural instrument panel carrier for mounting instrument panel components in a motor vehicle body between pillars located at a juncture of passenger and engine compartments, comprising:

• a structural instrument panel carrier of one-piece thermoplastic construction having upper and lower generally vertical back panels that extend transversely across the motor vehicle body for attachment to the pillars,
• a generally horizontal shelf panel that interconnects the upper and lower back panels and that projects rearwardly of the back panels toward the passenger compartment for supporting instrument panel components,
• the upper back panel having a central opening for a HVAC module,
• the lower back panel having an opening for a steering column assembly that is laterally spaced from the central opening of the upper panel,
• the shelf panel and the lower back panel each having a portion that spans the central opening in the upper back panel,
• a pair of vertical walls at the sides of the central opening in the upper back panel that are connected to respective ends of the upper panel defining the central opening and to the portion of the shelf panel that spans the central opening to increase the torsional rigidity of the cross beam,
• the upper back panel having an upper section and a lower section that are interconnected by a rib that projects rearwardly of the sections to support instrument panel components and to support a glove box in cooperation with the shelf panel, and
• the upper section of the upper back panel having a second rib that extends forwardly of the upper section toward the engine compartment for supporting air ducts and a plurality of air passages that extend through it for distributing air from air ducts supported on the second rib into the passenger compartment.