JP2000177651A - Front body structure of vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a front body structure of a vehicle that is a light weight, easy to assemble with less number of parts and has high strength while attempting to lower cost. SOLUTION: A first cross member 2 is coupled almost horizontally between a pair of side members 4, 5 in right and left arranged in the front of a vehicle and extended along a longitudinal direction. A second cross member 3 is installed swelling downward to the lower part of the vehicle than the first cross member 2. A space 8 is formed between the first cross member 2 and the second cross member 3. The first cross member 2 and the second cross member 3 are formed integnally by a sheet metal in order to constitute a front end cross member 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a front body structure of a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A front end cross member is connected to front end portions of a pair of side members disposed on both sides of a vehicle and a center member disposed between the side members. The front end cross member has a central portion that is greatly expanded below the side members in order to secure a ventilation passage for a cooling device such as a radiator, an oil cooler, or an intercooler, and to connect with a center member. There is something. In addition, in order to secure the strength of the energy absorption characteristics of the vehicle body in the event of an offset collision of the vehicle, the front ends of the side members are connected substantially horizontally by a cross member, and the collision load applied to one side member is reduced by the other. There has been proposed a technique for increasing the amount of energy absorption by increasing the deformation resistance when transmitted to a side member and deforming the side member.

[0003]

In a front structure of a vehicle body having a front end cross member whose central portion is expanded downward with respect to the position of the side member, the side members are horizontally connected by the front end cross member. It is difficult to efficiently transmit the impact applied to one side member to the other side member at the time of an offset collision. In order to secure the strength of the vehicle body that can cope with an offset collision while securing the connection of the air flow passage and the center member to the cooling device, a cross member that connects the side members substantially horizontally is required. If the cross member is provided separately from the front end cross member, there are various problems that the number of parts and the vehicle weight increase, assembling becomes complicated, and a plurality of dies are required, resulting in an increase in cost. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a front body structure of a vehicle which is lightweight, has a small number of parts, is easy to assemble, and has high strength while achieving low cost.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a pair of left and right side members disposed at a front portion of a vehicle and extending in the front-rear direction are connected substantially horizontally. A front member in which a first cross member and a second cross member that is expanded toward the vehicle lower side than the first cross member and forms a space between the first cross member and the first cross member are integrally formed by sheet metal. Since the end cross member is provided, the number of parts is smaller than in the case where the first cross member and the second cross member are separately provided, and the number of joints between the first cross member and the second cross member is reduced.
The weight of the entire front cross member can be reduced, and assembling is easy, so that the cost can be reduced. Further, since the front end of the side member can be connected substantially horizontally by the first cross member, the impact load at the time of the offset collision can be efficiently transmitted to the side member that is not on the collision side, and the strength can be increased.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the front body structure of the vehicle according to the first aspect, the front end cross member is connected to the outer panel and the outer panel to form a closed cross section between the outer panel and the outer panel. Since the front end cross member is formed, the strength of the front end cross member can be increased.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A front body structure of a vehicle shown in FIG. 1 has a front end cross member provided at front ends 4a, 5a of a pair of left and right front side members 4, 5 extending in the front-rear direction of the front of the vehicle. 1 are welded to both ends 1a and 1b. The front side members 4 and 5 have their base side 4b,
The lower part of 5b is connected with the under cross member 7. One end 6a of a center member 6 that supports an engine, a transmission, and the like (not shown) from below is fixed to the under cross member 7. The center member 6
It is arranged substantially at the center between the front side members 4 and 5. The base ends 4b and 5b of the front side members 4 and 5 and the one end 6a of the center member 6 may be connected to a known dash panel or the like instead of the undercross member 7.

[0007] The front end cross member 1 includes a first cross member 2 disposed substantially horizontally between the front side members 4 and 5, and a bulging portion extending downward from the first cross member 2 toward the vehicle. The second cross member 3 forming the space 8 between the first cross member 2 and the first cross member 2 is integrally formed by sheet metal. The first cross member 2 has a function of a reinforcement for increasing the strength of the vehicle body, a function of a mounting portion for a bumper (not shown), and a function as a bumper reinforcement for mainly receiving a load at the time of a collision. The second cross member 3
The front end 6b of the center member 6 is connected to the lower surface of the central portion 3a of the first cross member 2 below. Above the first cross member 2, a lamp support panel and a front end upper panel (not shown) are arranged. As shown in FIG. 2, the second cross member 3 is disposed behind the first cross member 2.

The space 8 takes in air into an engine room 20 formed behind the front end cross member 1. A cooling device 9 is mounted on the rear side of the second cross member 3 via a bracket 15 so as to face the space 8. Examples of the cooling device 9 include an intercooler, an oil cooler, and a radiator.

The front end cross member 1 includes an outer panel 10 and an inner panel 11, as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, unequal thickness steel plates are used for the outer panel 10 and the inner panel 11. Outer panel 1
0 and inner panel 11 are front side members 4 and 5
In order to increase the thickness in the vicinity of the joint with the steel plate, the respective steel plates are molded from unequal thickness steel plates. Both ends 10a, 10b of the outer panel 10 are formed in a substantially U-shaped cross section into which the front ends 4a, 5a of the front side members 4, 5 can be inserted, and project in the vehicle width direction from the center 10c of the outer panel 10. It is established. At both ends 10a and 10b, a plurality of working ports 13 for welding work are respectively formed. In a central portion 10c of the outer panel 10, an opening 8a forming the space portion 8 is formed long in the vehicle width direction, and upper and lower portions of the opening 8a are formed in a substantially U-shaped cross section. A plurality of openings 12 are formed in the front surface 10d of the outer panel 10 located above the openings 8a in the front-rear direction, and serve as an intake for traveling wind while reducing the weight of the outer panel 10.

The inner panel 11 has a cross-sectional shape that forms a closed cross-section between the inner panel 11 and the outer panel 10 except for a part thereof when the inner panel 11 is connected to the outer panel 10 in an overlapping manner. Notches 3a and 3b are formed at portions of the inner panel 11 facing the both ends 10a and 10b, and are formed so as to have an open cross section when the inner panel 11 is connected to the outer panel 10 by overlapping. At the edge of the notch 3a, a mounting flange 3c,
3d has a mounting flange 3e on the edge of the notch 3b.
3f are formed, respectively, and constitute a connecting portion to the front side members 4 and 5. Inner panel 1
1, an opening 8b is formed at a portion facing the opening 8a, and the space portion 8 is formed by overlapping and connecting the outer panel 10 and the inner panel 11. A plurality of openings 14 are formed in the inner panel 11 located above the opening 8b in the front-rear direction, so that the running wind passing through the opening 12 can be passed while the weight of the inner panel 11 is reduced. I have.

The assembly of the front end cross member 1 will be described. Outer panel 10 and inner panel 1
1 is press-molded into a desired shape, the molded panels are superimposed, the flanges of the panels are welded, and the panels are integrated to form the front end cross member 1 as an assembly.

As shown in FIG. 2, the front side members 4 and 5 are engaged with the notches 3a and 3b, and the front ends 4a and 5a of the front side members 4 and 5 are both end portions 10a having a U-shaped cross section. , 10b, and the front edges 4d, 5d of the inserted front side members 4, 5 are joined to the inner surface 10e of the outer panel 10, respectively. A welding device is inserted from each working opening 13 to weld the inner side surfaces 4c, 5b of the front side members 4, 5 to the mounting flanges 3c, 3e, and to attach the bottom surfaces 4e, 5e of the front side members 4, 5 to the mounting flange 3d. , 3f, and the front end cross member 1 is attached to the front side members 4, 5 at the front end 4
a, 5a, and the second cross member 3 and the front end 6b of the center member 6 are welded.

As described above, the first cross member 2 made of sheet metal is used.
And the second cross member 3 are integrally molded, so that the number of parts can be reduced, the weight can be reduced, and the outer panel
Since the front end cross member 1 can be formed only by joining the two members of the inner panel 11 and the inner panel 11, the number of assembling steps is small and the work is easy. In addition, since the press molding dies can be used for the outer panel and the inner panel, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

Next, the operation at the time of an offset collision will be described. When a collision load F at the time of an offset collision is applied to the front side member 4, the cross section of the first cross member 3 is crushed and the collision load is transmitted to the front side member 4, and the first cross member 2 and the second cross member The collision load is transmitted to the front side member 5 via the member 3. For this reason, it is possible to increase the amount of energy absorption by increasing the deformation resistance when one side member is deformed. Further, by reducing the weight of the front end cross member 1, the front portion of the vehicle body can be reduced in weight. Therefore, pitching that occurs when a load moves in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, and turning moment when turning in the left-right direction of the vehicle. This also leads to a reduction in the ride quality and a good ride comfort, and the turning performance can be improved.

Although the present embodiment has been described using the one provided with the center member 6, it is of course possible to use it without the center member 6. Can be.

[0016]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the number of parts is smaller than in the case where the first cross member and the second cross member are separately provided, and the joint between the first cross member and the second cross member is provided. Therefore, the weight of the entire front cross member can be reduced, and the assembling becomes easy, so that the cost can be reduced. Also, since the front end of the side member can be connected substantially horizontally by the first cross member, the impact load at the time of the offset collision can be efficiently transmitted to the side member that is not on the collision side, and the vehicle body strength can be increased.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the front end cross member is composed of the outer panel and the inner panel which is connected to the outer panel to form a closed cross section between the outer panel and the outer panel. The front end cross member can be manufactured with a small number of parts molded from a press die, and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a front body structure of a vehicle showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a front end cross member.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a front end cross member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Front end cross member 2 1st cross member 3 2nd cross member 4,5 A pair of side members 4a, 5a Front end part of side member 8 Space part 10 Outer panel 11 Inner panel

Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Koji Shibata 5-33-8 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (72) Inventor Hajime Gumi 77 Ijino, Okayama Pref. 72) Inventor Shoji Sanada 77, Ijino, Soka City, Okayama Prefecture, Kyoei Kogyo Co., Ltd. BB01 CA02 CA09

Claims (2)

[Claims] A first cross member disposed at a front portion of the vehicle and connected substantially horizontally between a pair of left and right side members extending in a front-rear direction; A front vehicle body structure for a vehicle, comprising: a front end cross member provided integrally with a second cross member that forms a space between the first cross member and a first cross member. 2. The front body structure of a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the front end cross member includes an outer panel,
An inner panel which is connected to the outer panel to form a closed cross section with the outer panel.