Structure of absorbing impact energy using interior material of automobile

A structure for absorbing impact energy using a pillar garnish arranged on the inside of an inner panel of a pillar of a vehicle body, said pillar including the inner panel and an outer panel and having two flange joint portions formed by joining respective flanges of the inner panel and the outer panel together in an overlapped state, and being formed to have a closed structure in cross section taken along a first imaginary horizontal plane, comprising:

• an energy absorbing space defined between said inner panel and said pillar garnish;
• and
• a non-metallic energy absorber formed separately from said pillar garnish and mounted on one of said inner panel and said pillar garnish so as to be arranged in said space, said energy absorber having at least one longitudinal rib extending in the longitudinal direction of said pillar, said longitudinal rib having a pair of side surfaces extending between said inner panel and said pillar garnish, and a plurality of lateral ribs extending in a transverse direction to said side surfaces of said longitudinal rib, at least said lateral ribs being inclined to said inner panel and said pillar garnish in a second imaginary plane extending substantially parallel with one of said side surfaces of said longitudinal rib,
• wherein at least either of a pair of lateral ribs located adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction and a pair of lateral ribs located adjacent to each other in the transverse direction of said longitudinal ribs are arranged so as to be inclined in said second imaginary plane such that one rib has an inclination extending upwardly from the inner panel side to the pillar garnish side while the other rib has an inclination extending downwardly from the inner panel side to the pillar garnish side.

A structure for absorbing impact energy using a non-metallic interior material arranged on the inside of a panel of a structural member of a vehicle body, comprising:

• an energy absorbing space defined between said panel and said interior material;
• and
• a non-metallic energy absorber formed separately from said interior material and mounted on one of said panel and said interior material so as to be arranged in said space, said energy absorber having at least one longitudinal rib extending in the longitudinal direction of said structural member, said longitudinal rib having a pair of side surfaces extending between said panel and said interior material, and a plurality of lateral ribs extending in a transverse direction to said side surfaces of said longitudinal rib, at least said lateral ribs being inclined to said panel and said interior material in a first imaginary plane extending substantially parallel with one of said side surfaces of said longitudinal rib,
• wherein said longitudinal rib and said lateral ribs have joint portions in each of which said longitudinal rib and each said lateral rib are joined, and wherein at least one of said joint portions is formed so as to have a joint area different from that of other joint portions.

A structure for absorbing impact energy using a non-metallic interior material arranged on the inside of a panel of a structural member of a vehicle body, comprising:

• an energy absorbing space defined between said panel and said interior material;
• and
• a non-metallic energy absorber formed separately from said interior material and mounted on one of said panel and said interior material so as to be arranged in said space, said energy absorber having at least one longitudinal rib extending in the longitudinal direction of said structural member, said longitudinal rib having a pair of side surfaces extending between said panel and said interior material, and a plurality of lateral ribs extending in a transverse direction to said side surfaces of said longitudinal rib, at least said lateral ribs being inclined to said panel and said interior material in a first imaginary plane extending substantially parallel with one of said side surfaces of said longitudinal rib,
• wherein said interior material has a plurality of welding portions integrally provided thereon, and
• wherein said energy absorber has a plurality of mounting seats, each mounting seat facing a said welding portion and having a hole through which said welding portion is inserted for fusing to weld together said interior material and said energy absorber.