1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an instrument panel including an instrument panel body having a front wall on an inner side of a vehicle interior, an opening part formed in the front wall, and a glove compartment provided on a back side of the opening part in the instrument panel body.
2. Description of Related Art
An instrument panel as described above conventionally has a structure as disclosed in JP 9-207680 A. Specifically, a bracket extends toward the inside of a vehicle interior from an instrument-panel support member located on a back side of an instrument panel body. The bracket is fixed to a middle portion, in a front-rear direction, of a cover panel that covers an upper portion of an article storage part. A striker-bracket, which includes a striker for engaging with an engaging portion of a glove compartment, is fixed to the bracket and to an upper surface of the cover panel.
Moreover, multiple ribs are formed at an opening part that is formed in a front wall of the instrument panel body. The ribs engage with a front end portion of the cover panel.
In the conventional structure described above, the striker-bracket is fixed to the bracket. Accordingly, for a large instrument panel that is long in a vehicle front-rear direction, the bracket must be long in the vehicle front-rear direction so that the striker can engage with the engaging portion of the glove compartment. For this reason, the support of the striker by the instrument-panel support member tends to be unstable.
Additionally, the opening part formed in the front wall of the instrument panel body merely has the multiple ribs formed to engage with the front end portion of the cover panel. Accordingly, as a glove compartment is larger, the rigidity of the opening part is reduced, making it difficult to maintain a constant gap at a joint between the opening part and the glove compartment.