Patent ID: 6601902
Filing Date: 2003-08-05
Classification: B60H,B60K,B60R,B62D

Abstract:
A vehicle cockpit in a motor vehicle having a length and a width and a rear passenger area and a forward engine compartment divided by a front wall, a front windscreen above the front wall and a bodywork including a box section coupling the windscreen to the front wall, a cross member spaced rearwardly into the rear passenger area from the box section, the box section and the cross member lying in a common horizontal plane and defining a horizontal space therebetween extending over the width of the vehicle, the cross member together with the box section forming a closed structural system in said horizontal plane, a structural planar profiled member deformable on frontal impact, in an energy absorbing manner, having a front edge and a rear edge, the structural planar profiled member having an upper surface and a lower surface and having a width that extends over the width of the vehicle substantially occupying the horizontal space defined between the box section and the cross member and lying in said horizontal plane therewith, the rear edge of the structural planar profiled member coupled over the width of the structural planar profiled member to the cross member and the front edge of the structural planar profiled member coupled over the width of the structural planar profiled member to the box section to constitute thereby a part of said closed system that is used for energy absorption the structural planar profiled member defining a plurality of parallel stiffening ribs extending widthwise that are deformable to produce the energy absorption in chronological succession, the structural planar profiled member constituting a mounting platform, and a plurality of cockpit functional and operating elements mounted on said structural planar profiled member.