GB2046183A

GB2046183A - Wing Construction of Automotive Vehicles

Info

Publication number: GB2046183A
Application number: GB8007097A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Nissan Motor Co Ltd
Current assignee: Nissan Motor Co Ltd
Priority date: 1979-03-01
Filing date: 1980-03-03
Publication date: 1980-11-12
Also published as: GB2046183B; JPS55125875U; DE3007760C2; FR2450190A1; DE3007760A1; FR2450190B1; JPS5839965Y2

Abstract

The wing has a panel section (42) made of a plastics material, and an inner protector section (44) integral therewith and made of the same plastics material. The inner protector section (44) is securely connected to a portion (48) of the vehicle body so as to protect the inner surface of the wing panel section and its vicinity from mud splashes and stones flung by a rotating wheel, thereby rendering unnecessary many parts normally required for this purpose and improving the rigidity of the wing panel section. A mud guard may also be integrally formed. The plastics material has a high mechanical strength e.g. R-RIM (Reinforced Reaction Injection Moulding) polyurethane resin or SMC (Sheet Moulding Compound) polyester. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Wing Construction of Automotive Vehicles This invention relates in general to a wing construction of an automotive vehicle, and more particularly to an improvement in the wheel housing of the wing construction.

A main object of the present invention is to provide an improved wing construction, which is simple in construction and easy to produce.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved wing construction, which does not require many parts and for improving the rigidity of the wing panel.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved wing construction, by which the assembly process of the construction is simplified improving operating efficiency in its production, whereby the production cost of the wing construction can be decreased compared with that of a conventional wing construction.

A still further object of the present invention to provide an improved wing construction, which is of one piece plastics material so that the external appearence of the wing construction is improved.

A wing construction of an automotive vehicle, comprising: a wing panel section made of a plastics material; and an inner protector section made of the same plastics material as the wings panel section and formed integrally with the wing panel section, the inner protector section extending generally toward the longitudinal axis of the vehicle body and securely connected to a portion of the vehicle body so as to protect the inner surface of the wing panel section and its vicinity from mud splashes and stones flung by a rotating wheel.

In the accompanying drawings:- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional wing construction of an automotive vehicle; Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken in the direction of arrows substantially along the line Il-IlofFig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the wing construction according to the present invention; Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken in the direction of arrows substantially along the line IV--IV of Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 4, but showing a modified form of the construction according to the present invention.

A conventional wing construction of an automotive vehicle will be explained hereinafter with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 which show a front wing construction. The wing construction is composed of a front wing panel 10 formed of sheet metal. The panel 10 is provided with a wheel opening section 1 2 communicating with a wheel housing 14 in which a front wheel WO is locatable. A peripheral portion of the wheel opening section 12 of the wing panel is bent inside of the wheel housing 14 to form a flange portion 1 Oa, by which the rigidity of the panel 10 is improved.The panel 10 is connected at its upper side portion 1 Ob to an upper reinforcement member 1 6 of a valence panel 18 defining an engine compartment (not shown) using bolts 1 8 and nuts 20 as shown in Fig. 2. Additionally, the panel 10 is connected at its front bottom portion 1 Oc to a support member for a radiator core for heat-exchanging engine coolant though not shown, and at its rear bottom portion 1 Od to a front pillar to which a front side door is connected or to a dash side panel by using bolts and nuts though not shown, so that the wheel WO is located in the wheel housing 14.

Now, if any panel member is not disposed around the wheel, stones flung by the wheel may strike against the inner wall of the panel 10 and/or mud and water may be splashed onto the inner wall of the panel 10 during vehicle cruising.

Furthermore, the splashed mud and water are soaked into a connection section of the upper side portion 1 Ob and the upper reinforcement member 1 6 and into a connecting section of a lower portion of the upper reinforcement member 1 6 and the valence panel 18, so that both the connecting sections become rusty. In this regard, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an inner protector 22 is secured to the flange portion 1 Oa of the wing panel 10 using bolts 24 and nuts 26 as seen in Fig. 2.The inner protector 22 is in general made of plastics or aluminium and formed into the curved shape to surround the outer periphery of the wheel WO. Additionally, a mudguard member 28 is attached to the rear bottom portion 1 Od of the wing panel 10 as shown in Fig. 1 in order that the mud splashed is prevented from adhering onto the surface of the front pillar and side sill of the automotive vehicle.

As will be appreciated, since the rigidity in the vicinity of the wheel opening section 12 of the panel 10 is insufficient with only the flange portion 1 ova, the panel 10 is in general secured at its portion lying in front of the wheel opening 12 to the valence panel 18 using a stay member 30.

However, the above-mentioned conventional wing construction has encountered a problem in that many parts are required for solving the above-mentioned splashed mud problem and for improving the rigidity of the wing panel 10. This unavoidably increases not only production costs of the vehicle but also production processes, reducing operational efficiency in production.

In view of the above, this invention contemplates overcoming such problems encountered in the conventional wing construction by providing a one piece wing construction made of plastics material in which a wing plate section is formed integrally with an inner protector section.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4, there is shown a preferred embodiment of a wing construction of an automotive vehicle in accordance with the present invention. While this invention is applicable to various wing constructions, the description will be directed only to a front wing construction 40 for the purpose of simplicity of illustration. The front wing construction 40 comprises a front wing panel section 42 made of a plastics material having a high mechanical strength, for example, R-RlM (Reinforced Reaction Injection Moulding) polyurethane resin or flexible SMC (Sheet Molding Compound Polester). The above-mentioned R-RlM is prepared by mixing glass fiber into RIM which is not yet reinforced, in order to increase the rigidity thereof.It is to be noted that the front panel section 42 is formed integrally with an inner protector section 44 which functions to protect the inner surface of the wing panel and its vicinity from mud splashed and/or stones flung by a rotating front wheel W,.

The inner protector section 44 extends from a portion 46 of the wing panel section 42 defining a wheel opening (no numeral) for maintaining the front wheel W1, generally toward the longitudinal axis (not shown) of the vehicle body. The inner protector section 44 is provided with a plurality of portions 44a at which the inner protector section 44 is directly secured to a valence panel 48 or hood ledge panel 48 of the vehicle body using bolts 50 and nuts 52 as shown in Fig. 4. The valence panel 48 defines an engine compartment though not shown. The inner protector section 44 is curved so as to surround the periphery of the front wheel W, and defines a wheel housing 54 in which the front wheel W1 is locatable, in cooperation with the valence panel 48.

The upper portion of the wing panel section 42 is securely connected as usual to an upper reinforcement member 56 of the valence panel 48 by bolts 58 and nuts 60 as seen in Fig. 4. The front bottom portion 42h of the panel section 42 is securely connected to a support member for a radiator core (not shown) for heat-exchanging an engine coolant. The rear bottom portion 42c of the panel section 42 is securely connected to a front pillar to which a front side door is movably connected or to a dash side panel of the vehicle body using bolts and nuts though not illustrated.

A mud guard section 62 made of the same plastics material as the wing panel and inner protector sections is formed integrally with the inner protector section 44 and located near the rear bottom portion 42c of the wing panel section 42. The mud guard section 62 extends below or generally vertically relative to the vehicle body, beyond the level of the rear bottom portion 42c of the wing panel section 42, in order that the mud splashed by the front wheel W, is prevented from being attached or adhered onto the rear bottom portion 42c of the panel section 42, the front pillar and side sill (not shown) extending along the lower periphery of the front side door.

While only a wing construction has been described and shown such that the inner protector section 44 extends from a portion 46 defining the wheel opening as indicated in Fig. 4, it will be understood that the inner protector section may be extended from another portion of the wing plate section other than the abovementioned portion 46 as shown in Fig. 5 in which the inner protector section 44r of the wing plate section 42' is cylindrical and extends generally perpendicularly toward the longitudinal axis (not shown) of the vehicle body. By virtue of this construction, a molding for plastic injection molding becomes easy to be drawn out along the inner protector section 44', as compared with the construction shown in Fig. 4, contributing to the simplification of the construction of the mold.

As will be appreciated from the above, according to the present invention, since the inner protector section 48 is formed integrally with the wing plate section 42 and extends from the vicinity of the wheel opening to be secured to the valence panel of the vehicle body, the rigidity of the wing panel in the vicinity of the wheel opening can be increased to an appreciable extent. Accordingly, stays for securely connecting the wing plate to the vehicle body can become unnecessary and be omitted, the stays being unavoidably required in a conventional wing construction as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 for the purpose of reinforcing the wing plate.

Additionally, production can become easier since such a troublesome operation of connecting a separate inner protector member to the wheel opening section 46 of the wing panel can be omitted. In this connection, this can remove a disadvantage that a connecting portion of the inner protector and the wing plate can be seen so as to detract from its external appearance.

Claims

1. A wing construction of an automobile vehicle comprising: a wing panel section made of a plastics material; and an inner protector section made of the same plastics material as said wing panel section and formed integrally with said wing panel section, said inner protector section extending generally toward the longitudinal axis of the vehicle body and securely connected to a portion of the vehicle body so as to protect the inner surface of said wing panel section and its vicinity from mud splashes and stones flung by a rotating wheel.

2. A wing construction as claimed in Claim 1, further comprising a mud guard section made of the same plastics material as said using panel section and formed integrally with said inner protector section, said mudguard section functioning to prevent mud splashed by the wheel from attaching onto the vehicle body.

3. A wing construction as claimed in Claim 1, in which said inner protector section extends from a portion of said wing panel section defining a wheel opening for accommodating the wheel.

4. A wing construction as claimed in Claim 1, in which said inner protector section is curved and extends generally toward the longitudinal axis of the vehicle body.

5. A wing construction as claimed in Claim 1, in which said plastics material is reinforced polyurethane resin.

6. A front wing construction of an automotive vehicle, comprising: a front wing panel section made of a plastics material and securely connected to a reinforcement member of a valence panel of the vehicle body; and an inner protector section made of the same plastics material as said wing panel section and formed integrally with said wing panel section, said inner protector section being securely connected to said valence panel, said inner protector section extending generally toward the longitudinal axis of the vehicle body and securely connected to said valence panel so as to protect the inner surface of said wing panel section and its vicinity from mud splashes and stones flung by a front wheel (W,).

7. A front wing construction as claimed in Claim 6, further comprising a mudguard section made of the same plastics material as said wing panel section and formed integrally with said inner protector section, said mud guard section extending generally vertically relative to the vehicle body so as to prevent mud splashed by the front wheel from attaching onto the vehicle body.

8. A front wing construction as claimed in Claim 6, in which said inner protector section extends from a first portion of said wing panel section defining a wheel opening for maintenance of the front wheel.

9. A front wing construction as claimed in Claim 8, in which said inner protector section extends from a second portion other than a portion of said front wing panel section defining a wheel opening, said inner protector section being curved and extending generally toward the longitudinal axis of the vehicle body.

1 0. A front wing construction as claimed in Claim 6, in which said plastics material is reinforced polyurethane resin.

11. A wing construction as constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, Figs. 3, 4 or 5 of the accompanying drawings.