Passenger compartment of a motor vehicle

A passenger compartment of a motor vehicle, in particular a passenger automobile, is provided having a dashboard, which has a lower cover connected thereto, and having a carpet laid out in the foot well of the vehicle, which is situated raised up from the foot well floor in the area of a forward front wall of the vehicle. In this passenger compartment, the carpet is provided with at least one molded-on support for the forward area of the cover of the dashboard in its raised area. A simple, and also secure mounting of a lower cover for a dashboard, which is rapid to mount, is provided in this way in a motor vehicle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to German Patent Application No. 102007052589.5, filed Nov. 3, 2007, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technical field relates to a passenger compartment of a motor vehicle, in particular a passenger automobile, having a dashboard, which has a lower cover connected thereto, and having a carpet laid out in the foot well of the vehicle, which is situated raised up from the foot well floor in the area of a forward front wall of the vehicle.

BACKGROUND

The design of a passenger compartment for a motor vehicle is well-known in particular for passenger automobiles. The lower cover of the dashboard is exclusively fastened to the dashboard itself. The fastening is performed in the front and rear areas of the cover, each in relation to the orientation of the vehicle in the travel direction during forward travel.

Because of the existing quality requirements, foot wells of vehicles are typically designed having carpets. In addition, insulation may be provided to optimize the noise behavior in the vehicle interior. In vehicles which are provided with a central tunnel, the carpets of the foot wells are raised up laterally on the central tunnel.

Actuation pedals are located in the foot well of the driver. The disadvantage is often to be noted here that the carpet, which is to be fastened behind the pedals and is slotted for this purpose in the area of its upper end, detaches and catches between the pedals. To prevent this, a separate fastening of the carpet is to be provided in this area, for example, using separate clips. This requires an increased component and mounting outlay.

In view of the foregoing, at least one object is to specify a mounting of a lower cover for a dashboard in a motor vehicle which is simple and also reliable and rapid to mount. In addition, other objects, desirable features, and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.

SUMMARY

The at least one object, and other objects, desirable features, and characteristics, is achieved in a passenger compartment with a carpet that has at least one molded-on support for the forward area of the cover of the dashboard in its raised area.

In the passenger compartment according to an embodiment of the invention, the mounting of the forward area of the cover of the dashboard is thus performed on the molded-on support of the carpet in its raised area. It is thus not necessary to connect the cover to the dashboard in the forward area thereof. Accordingly, the cover is preferably only connected to the dashboard in its rear area. The connection is performed there using clip connections, for example. This forward loose support of the cover of the dashboard on the carpet allows the mounting of the vehicle to be significantly simplified in this area.

It is viewed as especially advantageous if the upper end of the carpet projects in its raised area beyond the lower level of the fastened cover of the dashboard. The fastening of the carpet under the dashboard in the foot well area is achieved via the carpet excess toward the cover of the dashboard. In addition, this prevents the carpet from catching and the pedals. Furthermore, a rattle-free support of the cover situated below the dashboard is achieved by the molded-on supports in the carpet. This support and the fastening of the carpet in the foot well are preferably achieved during the mounting of the carpet. The carpet extension may be guided automatically, in particular over the shape of an insulation of the inner front wall of the foot well. This carpet extension engages in the gap between cover and front wall directly behind the cover of the dashboard and thus prevents it from falling back into the foot well or into the area of the pedals. As soon as the final position of the carpet is reached, the cover of the dashboard also lies at the intended installation height. Falling, sinking, or creeping of the panel (over a long time) into the foot well is also prevented by the molded-on support.

An additional insulation, which is attached to the top of the cover of the dashboard, may fulfill by excess the tolerance compensation, for example, of the dashboard to the insulation of the inner front wall, also to the console or other panel parts, and thus ensure that the overall system is implemented as acoustically tight.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the application and uses. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theory presented in the preceding summary and background or the following detailed description.

The foot well1, which is delimited at the front by a front wall2and toward the passenger foot well by a console3, and on the bottom by the foot well floor12, is shown for a passenger compartment of a passenger automobile.

A carpet4is laid out in the foot well. This carpet rests on the floor12, furthermore, it is raised in the area of the front wall2and the console3as well as the exterior side of the foot well (not relevant in the present case). The carpet4is stiffened by insulation material (not shown) connected thereto. The carpet4has a raised area5adjacent to the front wall2, in whose upper end area the carpet is provided in the exemplary embodiment with two molded-on supports6, which are directed into the foot well. The carpet4is lengthened slightly upward between these two supports6. The corresponding carpet extension is identified by the reference numeral7.

The dashboard (not shown) is situated in the transverse direction of the passenger automobile. This is closable in the area of its lower opening using a cover, in particular for noise reasons. Only this cover8is shown inFIG. 2. The dashboard (not shown) is located above this cover.

This cover8is mounted in its forward area on the supports6of the carpet4and is connected in its rear area to the bottom side of the dashboard. For this purpose, the cover8is provided at the front with two projections9, which rest on the supports6and accommodate the carpet extension7between them. In the rear area, the cover8is provided with multiple clip connections10for the catch connection to complementary receptacles on the bottom side of the dashboard.

In addition, for the purpose of optimizing under the aspect of noise insulation, the cover8is provided on its top side with insulation11.

For the carpet4laid out in the foot well1, the cover8is laid out having its projections9on the supports6and the two projections9are thus additionally positioned laterally between the carpet extension7. The clip connections10of the cover8are then engaged with the complementary receptacles on the bottom side of the dashboard by pivoting the rear end of the cover8upward. In this way, the cover8is positioned securely and noise-optimized in relation to the carpet4and the dashboard. In this installation position, the essentially flatly designed cover8is oriented horizontally. The cover8rests loosely on the supports6of the carpet4in its forward area. The carpet extension7is positioned and retained by the design of the cover8in such a way that the carpet4is prevented from falling back in this area into the foot well or into the area of the pedals of the foot well1. The relatively stiff implementation of the carpet4in the area of the molded-on supports6also contributes thereto.

Instead of the described mounting of cover8having insulation11and carpet4, according to a variant, the possibility exists of mounting the carpet4last. In this case, the cover8is mounted together with the dashboard. For this purpose, the cover8is connected via the clip connections10to the dashboard in the area of the rear end of the cover8. The dashboard is mounted. Subsequently, the carpet4is laid out, the supports6of the carpet4contacting the projections9of the cover8, so that the cover8rests loosely on the supports6of the carpet4. Concretely, the cover8, which is only connected to the dashboard using the clip connections10, is positioned inclined somewhat downward before the mounting of the dashboard at the front, so that when the carpet4is laid out, the carpet extension7may be guided without further measures between the cover8and a front wall2. When the carpet4is laid out, because of contact of supports6of the carpet4and the projections9of the cover8, it is pivoted somewhat upward and the carpet extension7is thus retained between the cover8and a front wall2. The cover8is brought into its planned height position by reaching the final position of the carpet4.