Instrument panel device for vehicles

Claim 1

An instrument panel device for a vehicle having a passenger compartment, a front wind shield fitted at the front end of said passenger compartment, a passenger's set placed in said passenger compartment, and an air conditioner for conditioning the air of said passenger compartment, comprising a base panel member having high rigidity, said base panel member being dimensioned to have substantially the same width as said passenger compartment, panel plate means attatched to said base panel member for defining therewith a defroster duct space, a wide flow duct space, and an air control duct space all adapted for the distribution of controlled air from said air conditioner, said defroster, wide flow, and air control duct spaces communicating with said passenger compartment through a defroster outlet directed toward said front windshield, a wide air outlet extending substantially over the entire width of said base panel member, and a plurality of spot air outlets directed toward said passenger's seat, respectively, said wide air outlet being formed in said base panel member, changeover means for alternatively selecting the distribution of said controlled air between said wide flow duct space and said air control duct space, a first partition wall separating said defroster duct space and said wide flow duct space from each other, a second partition wall separating said wide flow duct space and said air control duct space from each other, and said first and second partition walls forming integral parts of said base panel member; said changeover means comprising a communication part formed in said second partition wall for intercommunication between said wide flow duct space and said air control duct space, and damper means for closing and opening said communication part; said panel plate means having a hopout member fitted therein and arranged accommodatable in and exposable out of said air control space, one of said spot air outlets being formed in said hopout member, said damper means being interlocked with said hopout through a link mechanism such that said damper means opens said communication port formed in said second partition wall when said hopout member is accomodated in said air control duct space and closes said communication port when said hopout member is exposed out of said air control duct space.