Patent ID: 7128339

Claim:
A vehicle knee bolster installation for an automotive vehicle comprising: a bridging plate adapted to extend across a space accommodating a vehicle steering column, said bridging plate positioned facing a driver's knees; a pair of spaced apart knee impact absorber structures each attached to said bridging plate on either side of said steering column and interposed between said bridging plate and fixed vehicle structure forward of said steering column space; each of said knee impact absorber structures comprising a front and a back wall each generally planar and extending generally vertically, said front wall attached to said bridge plate, a curved top wall connecting upper ends of said front and back walls; and a curved bottom wall connecting bottom ends of said front and back walls, and a curved intermediate web connecting said front and back walls at an intermediate location thereof; a vertical stabilizer web located between said front and back walls and extending across the width thereof connecting said curved top wall and said carved intermediate web to form two crush cells to restrain excessive bulging and collapse of said top wall and intermediate web thereof upon impact; and, said curved top wall and intermediate web double curved, each having separate curved portions between said vertical stabilizer web and said front and back walls respectively.