Mounting structure of knee airbag device and electric power steering drive motor

A mounting structure of a knee airbag device and an electric power steering drive motor, the mounting structure comprising:

• a knee airbag device including, disposed at a lower outer peripheral face side of a steering column within a column cover covering a rear end side of the steering column which is supported by an instrument panel reinforcement member extending inside an instrument panel along a vehicle width direction, a knee airbag in a folded state and an inflator capable of supplying gas to the knee airbag, configured such that when the gas supply is received the knee airbag is capable of inflating and deploying from within the column cover toward a side of a knee portion of a driver;
• a drive motion in an electric power steering device, attached to the steering column as a drive source for power assisted steering and mounted at a vehicle front direction side with respect to the instrument panel reinforcement member, which is an opposite side to the side of the knee airbag device;
• the steering column comprising a telescopic mechanism capable of adjusting a front-rear position of a steering wheel within a specific range, and an impact-absorbing mechanism capable of absorbing impact by contracting within a specific stroke range when a load of a specific value or greater is input from a steering wheel side to an axial direction front side;
• the inflator being provided substantially parallel to an axial line of the steering column, at a position on a movable side when the steering column contracts due to the impact-absorbing mechanism;
• and
• the drive motor being disposed in a region so as not to interfere with the inflator when the steering column contracts due to the impact-absorbing mechanism when in a state in which the front-rear position of the steering wheel is positioned at the furthest forward position due to the telescopic mechanism.