JP2000219163A - Body structure of automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively reinforce a frame member by mounting a pipe member for reinforcing the frame member in a closed cross-section of the frame member over a range of at least a kick-up part of the frame member along the frame member. SOLUTION: A front half of a pipe member 5 is welded and bonded to both of a front frame 1 and a wheel apron 3, a part corresponding to an inclined part of a kick-up part 1a of the pipe member 5 is welded and bonded to both of the front frame 1 and a dash panel 12, and an approximately horizontal rear part of the pipe member 5 is welded and bonded to both of the front frame 1 and a floor panel 4. When the front frame 1 is reinforced by the pipe member 5, a number of parts for reinforcement can be reduced, a structure can be remarkably simplified, the weight of parts for reinforcement can be remarkably reduced, and the rigidity and strength can be remarkably improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle body structure, and more particularly to a vehicle body structure in which the number of parts is reduced to reduce the weight and increase the rigidity of the vehicle body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A vehicle body structure generally includes a front body structure, a floor structure, a side body structure, a cowl structure, a rear body structure, a roof structure, and the like. In the parts of the vehicle body structure particularly requiring rigidity and strength, frame members (a pair of left and right front frames, a pair of right and left rear frames) made of a slightly thick plate material forming a closed cross section in cooperation with the body panel are provided. A frame, a plurality of cross members, etc.).

The front frame forms a closed section in cooperation with a wheel apron as a vehicle body panel, and the rear frame forms a closed section in cooperation with a rear floor panel as a vehicle body panel. Here, in order to reinforce the frame member, a plurality of reinforcing members are provided inside the frame member. The reinforcing member is formed by press-forming a slightly thick plate member, and is welded to the reinforcing member. Is formed, and the connection flange is spot-welded to be welded to the frame member. The frame member is connected to a suspension support member for front and rear suspensions and an engine mounting subframe for mounting an engine.

On the other hand, JP-A-8-337182, JP-A-9-150752, JP-A-10-95364, JP-A-10-95365, JP-A-9-30345, JP-A-10-13950 and JP-A-10-13950 192238 No., etc., to form a closed-section frame by hydroforming,
A technique of forming a body frame with the closed-section frame is described. As shown in FIG. 13, the hydroform is made of a pipe material 50 such as steel or light metal by using an upper mold 51 and a lower mold 5.
This is a technique of forming a closed-section frame 54 by accommodating it in a molding die 53 composed of the components 2 and 2 and performing expansion molding by fluid pressure.

[0005]

In the conventional vehicle body structure, in a structure in which a reinforcing member composed of a plurality of plate members is incorporated in a frame member forming a closed cross section together with a vehicle body panel, the reinforcing member is constituted by a slightly thick plate member. However, since the structure is welded through the joint flange, the number of parts for reinforcement is large, the structure becomes complicated, and the weight of the reinforcing member increases,
The production cost becomes high, which is disadvantageous in reducing the weight of the vehicle body.

Although the above-mentioned publication discloses a technique for producing a frame member using a closed-section frame formed by hydroforming, the frame member is effectively formed by using a closed-section frame formed by hydroforming. No technique for reinforcement is described. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle body structure of an automobile capable of reliably increasing the rigidity of the vehicle body while reducing the number of parts and reducing the weight of the vehicle body.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle body structure including a vehicle body panel, and a frame member extending in a front-rear direction along the vehicle body panel and forming a closed cross section including the vehicle body panel. In the vehicle body structure, the frame member includes a kick-up portion in which the height of the front and rear portions is changed, and is arranged along the frame member at least in a range of the kick-up portion in a closed cross section of the frame member. A pipe-shaped member is attached.

In the closed section of the frame member, a pipe-shaped member for reinforcing the frame member is attached at least over the range of the kick-up portion of the frame member and along the frame member. Thus, the frame member can be effectively reinforced. That is, since the pipe-shaped member has a closed-section structure and is excellent in rigidity and strength, it can be considerably thinned, and can be easily welded to the frame member, so that the number of parts for reinforcing the frame member can be reduced, The structure can be simplified, the weight of the member for reinforcing the frame member can be reduced, the manufacturing cost can be reduced, and the weight of the vehicle body is also reduced.
In the case where a curved portion of the frame member, such as a kick-up portion, is reinforced by a reinforcing member made of a conventional plate material, a plurality of reinforcing members are combined and reinforced, and the number of parts is reduced. In many cases, the structure becomes complicated.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle body structure comprising a vehicle body panel, and a frame member extending in a front-rear direction along the vehicle body panel and forming a closed cross section including the vehicle body panel. A pipe-shaped member is provided along the frame member within a closed cross section of the frame member, and the pipe-shaped member is joined to both the vehicle body panel and the frame member. Since it has the same configuration as the first aspect of the invention except for the configuration of the kick-up portion, it basically has the same operation as the first aspect. Moreover, since the pipe-shaped member is joined to both the body panel and the frame member, the pipe-shaped member can be firmly welded to the frame member and the body panel without providing a joining flange to the pipe-shaped member. The rigidity and strength of the frame member can be reliably increased via the member.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automobile body structure.
Alternatively, in the invention according to the second aspect, a subframe is provided in the vehicle, and the subframe is attached to at least a pipe-shaped member. Since the pipe-shaped member has excellent rigidity, the sub-frame can be firmly attached, and various accessories can be attached via the sub-frame. Other effects are the same as those of the first or second aspect.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle body structure.
In the invention, the vehicle is provided with a suspension, and the suspension is attached to the pipe-shaped member via the sub-frame. External force acting on the suspension can be supported by the pipe-shaped member via the subframe.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle body structure.
In any one of the above inventions, the vehicle body panel is a member formed by press forming, and the pipe-shaped member is a member formed by hydroforming. A pipe-shaped member can be easily formed by storing a metal pipe material in a molding die and forming the pipe material with a hydroform that fills the inside of the pipe material with high-pressure fluid pressure. Since the frame-shaped member is excellent in rigidity and strength even if it is thin, by reinforcing the frame member with this pipe-shaped member, the rigidity of the frame member can be secured and the weight of the vehicle body can be reduced. Become. In addition, the same operation as any one of the first to fourth aspects is achieved.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Cars (equivalent to vehicles)
Has a front body structure, a floor structure, a side body structure, a cowl structure, a rear body structure, a roof structure, and the like. As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of left and right front frames 1 (corresponding to frame members) as important strength members are disposed in the front body structure, and as important strength members in the rear body structure. Left and right pair of rear frames 2
(Corresponding to a frame member) is provided. First, the front frame 1 will be described, and then the rear frame member 2 will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, each front frame 1 is disposed on the left and right sides of the lower part of the engine room in the front-rear direction. A 1/3 portion is integrally formed in a step-down shape, and a kick-up portion 1a having a height of front and rear portions changed in a middle portion of a rear portion of the front frame 1 as shown in the figure, and has a substantially crank shape in a side view. Is formed.

The front frame 1 is made of a steel plate material having a thickness of about 2 to 4 mm and formed into a groove shape in cross section. The rear approximately 1/3 portion has a groove shape that opens upward. About 2/3 of the front side of the front frame 1 forms a closed section including the wheel apron 3 in cooperation with the wheel apron 3 (corresponding to the body panel), and about 1/3 of the rear side of the front frame 1 In cooperation with the lower part of the board 12 and the floor panel 4 (corresponding to a vehicle body panel), a closed cross section including them is formed.

Joining flange 1b of front frame 1
Are integrally welded to the wheel apron 3, the lower part of the dashboard and the floor panel 4 by spot welding at appropriate intervals. In addition, wheel apron 3,
The dashboard 12 and the floor panel 4 are each formed of a steel plate material having a thickness of about 1 to 2 mm that is press-formed.

As shown in FIG. 2, each front frame 1
Is provided along the front frame 1 with a steel pipe-shaped member 5 (thickness of about 1 to 3 mm) for reinforcement, and this pipe-shaped member 5 is at least in the area of the kick-up portion 1a. And the state before and after it. That is, the pipe-shaped member 5 is provided over substantially the entire length excluding the front end portion of the front frame 1. The pipe-shaped member 5 is, as shown by black circles in FIGS.
The front frame 1, wheel apron 3, dashboard 12 and floor panel 4 are joined by spot welding at a plurality of locations.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 7, the front half of the pipe-shaped member 5 is welded to both the front frame 1 and the wheel apron 3 to form the kick-up portion 1 a of the pipe-shaped member 5. The portion corresponding to the inclined portion is welded to both the front frame 1 and the dash panel 12, and the substantially horizontal rear end portion of the pipe-shaped member 5 is
It is welded to both the front frame 1 and the floor panel 4.

Since the pipe-like member 5 is formed by a forming method commonly called "hydroform", the cross-sectional shape at each position can be freely changed within the front frame 1 as shown in FIGS. It can be set to any shape suitable for the shape of the groove or other requirements. That is,
As shown in FIG. 4, the pipe-shaped member 5 has a substantially inverted trapezoidal cross section near the wheel house, and has a substantially rectangular cross section as shown in FIGS. At the position corresponding to the portion 1a, a substantially octagonal cross section is formed as shown in FIG. 6, and at the rear end portion, a mountain-shaped cross section is formed as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, through holes 5a penetrating vertically are formed in the upper and lower walls of the pipe-shaped member 5, and bolts 6 inserted into the through holes 5a are screwed into the screw portions 6a. Is provided so as to protrude below the front frame 1, and an engine mounting sub-frame (not shown) for mounting and supporting the engine is connected by the bolts 6.

The pipe-shaped member 5 is a member formed by hydroforming a steel pipe material, and includes a wheel apron 3, a dash panel 12, and a floor panel 4.
And the like are members formed by press-forming a steel plate material.
When the pipe-shaped member 5 is formed by hydroforming, it can be formed by storing a pipe material in a predetermined mold and filling the pipe material with high-pressure oil pressure. Therefore, from one continuous pipe material
A pipe-shaped member 5 having a shape as shown in FIG. 7 can be easily and inexpensively formed. Moreover, when the front frame 1 is reinforced by the pipe-shaped member 5, the number of parts for reinforcement is reduced and the structure is reduced as compared with the case where the front frame 1 is reinforced by using a plurality of conventional reinforcing members made of a plate material. The simplification is remarkable, the weight of parts for reinforcement is remarkably reduced, the rigidity and strength can be greatly improved, and the weight of the vehicle body can be reduced.

Next, the rear frame 2 will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, the rear body structure of the automobile includes:
A pair of left and right rear frames 2 extending in the front-rear direction is provided. These rear frames 2 are on the lower surface side of a rear floor panel 7 and a trunk floor panel 8 (these correspond to body panels and are formed by press-molding a plate material). And a closed section including the rear floor panel 7 and the trunk floor panel 8 is formed. Each rear frame 2 is made of a steel plate material having a thickness of about 2 to 4 mm which is press-formed in a groove shape in section.
Each rear frame 2 has a shape that is inclined upward in a slow stepwise manner along the shape of the rear floor panel 7 and the trunk floor panel 8, and a pair of joining flanges 2a is formed at the upper end of each rear frame 2. Then, it is welded to the rear floor panel 7 and the trunk floor panel 8 via these connection flanges 2a.

As shown in FIGS. 9 to 12, the closed section of each rear frame 2 includes a steel pipe-shaped member 9 for reinforcement.
(Thickness of about 1 to 3 mm) is disposed along the rear frame 2. However, the pipe-shaped member 9 is provided over substantially the entire length excluding the front end portion and the rear end portion in the closed cross section of the rear frame 2. This pipe-shaped member 9 is joined to the rear frame 2 and the floor panels 7 and 8 by spot welding at a plurality of locations, or is fixed to the rear frame 2 by bolts and nuts 13 as shown in FIG. The opening 9a on the upper surface of the pipe-shaped member 9 is a working hole formed for inserting a nut or a tool during assembly.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, through holes 9b penetrating in a vertical direction are formed in upper and lower walls of the pipe-shaped member 9 at a plurality of positions in the length direction of the pipe-shaped member 9. A bolt 10 is inserted into the through hole 9b from above, and a screw portion thereof projects below the rear frame 2, and the sub frame 11 is attached to the rear frame 2 and the pipe-shaped member 9 by the bolt 10, so that the vehicle is mounted on the vehicle. The provided suspension is connected to the rear frame 2 and the pipe-shaped member 9 via the sub-frame 11.

As shown in FIG. 11, a plurality of beads 9c are formed at appropriate intervals on the lower left and right sides of the rear end of the pipe-shaped member 9 so as to be easily deformed in the event of a collision from behind. ing. Like the pipe-shaped member 5, this pipe-shaped member 9 is also formed by hydroforming, and about 3/4 of the front side of the pipe-shaped member 5 fits in the groove of the rear frame 2 as shown in FIG. The rear section of the pipe-shaped member 5 has a hexagonal cross section that fits into the groove of the rear frame 2 as shown in FIG.

In the rear frame 2 and the pipe-shaped member 9, since the pipe-shaped member 9 is formed by hydroforming, the pipe-shaped member 9 having a shape as shown in FIGS. It can be easily formed at low cost. Moreover, when the rear frame 2 is reinforced by the pipe-shaped member 9, compared to the case where the rear frame 2 is reinforced by using a plurality of conventional reinforcing members made of a plate material,
Reducing the number of parts for reinforcement, greatly simplifying the structure,
The weight of parts for reinforcement can be significantly reduced, the rigidity and strength can be greatly improved, and the weight of the vehicle body can be reduced.

Next, a modified embodiment in which this embodiment is partially modified will be described. 1) The pipe-like members 5, 9 may be provided on other frame members other than the front frame and the rear frame, which form a closed cross section including a body panel cooperating with various body panels. 2) Depending on the difference in rigidity and strength in each part of the body,
For example, pipe-shaped members 5, 9 or alternative pipe-shaped members are integrally formed by hydroforming from a continuous pipe material obtained by welding and joining a plurality of pipe materials having different wall thicknesses and materials to secure necessary and sufficient rigidity. You may make it. In addition, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0028]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the frame member extends over at least the area of the kick-up portion of the frame member within the closed cross section of the frame member extending along the vehicle body panel and forming a closed cross section including the vehicle body panel. along,
Since the pipe-shaped member for reinforcing the frame member is attached, the frame member can be effectively reinforced with one pipe-shaped member. That is, since the pipe-shaped member has a closed-section structure and is excellent in rigidity and strength, it can be considerably thinned, and can be easily welded to the frame member, so that the number of parts for reinforcing the frame member can be reduced, The structure can be simplified, the weight of the member for reinforcing the frame member can be reduced, the manufacturing cost can be reduced, and the weight of the vehicle body is also reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a pipe-shaped member is provided along the frame member within a closed cross-section of a frame member extending along the vehicle body panel and forming a closed cross-section including the vehicle body panel. Is joined to both the vehicle body panel and the frame member, so that it has the same configuration as the first aspect of the invention except for the configuration of the kick-up portion, and thus basically has the same effect as the first aspect.

Moreover, since the pipe-shaped member is joined to both the body panel and the frame member, the pipe-shaped member can be firmly welded to the frame member and the body panel without providing a joining flange to the pipe-shaped member. Thus, the rigidity and strength of the frame member can be reliably increased via the pipe-shaped member.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the pipe-shaped member has excellent rigidity and strength, the sub-frame can be firmly mounted, and various accessories can be mounted via the sub-frame. The other effects are the same as those of the first or second aspect. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the suspension is mounted on the pipe-shaped member via the sub-frame, external force acting on the suspension can be supported by the pipe-shaped member via the sub-frame. The other effects are the same as those of the third aspect.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the vehicle body panel is a member formed by press forming, and the pipe-shaped member is a member formed by hydroforming, but a metal pipe material is placed in a forming die. The pipe-shaped member can be easily formed by forming it with a hydroform that accommodates and fills the inside of the pipe material with high-pressure fluid pressure. Even if the pipe-shaped member with a closed cross-section is thin, it has rigidity and strength. By reinforcing the frame member with this pipe-shaped member, the rigidity of the closed cross-section formed by the vehicle body panel and the frame member can be significantly increased, and the weight of the vehicle body can be reduced. it can. Other effects similar to those of any one of the first to fourth aspects are exhibited.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a vehicle body structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a front frame.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of a rear frame.

9 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view of a rear end portion of a pipe-shaped member for reinforcing a rear frame.

12 is a sectional view taken along line XII-XII of FIG.

13A is a front view of a molding apparatus for performing molding by hydroforming, FIG. 13B is a cross-sectional view of a molding die and a pipe material, and FIG. 13C is a molding die and a pipe in a state after expansion molding by fluid pressure. It is sectional drawing of a raw material.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Front frame 1a Kick-up part 2 Rear frame 3 Wheel apron 4 Floor panel 5, 9 Pipe-shaped member 7 Rear floor panel 8 Trunk floor panel 11 Subframe

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle body structure comprising a vehicle body panel of a vehicle and a frame member extending in a front-rear direction along the vehicle body panel and forming a closed cross section including the vehicle body panel, wherein the frame member has a height of a front and rear part thereof. A modified kick-up portion, wherein a pipe-shaped member disposed along the frame member over at least the range of the kick-up portion is attached within a closed cross section of the frame member. Body structure. 2. A vehicle body structure comprising: a vehicle body panel of a vehicle; and a frame member extending in the front-rear direction along the vehicle body panel and forming a closed cross section including the vehicle body panel. A body structure of an automobile, wherein a pipe member is provided along the frame member, and the pipe member is joined to both the vehicle body panel and the frame member. 3. The vehicle body structure according to claim 1, wherein a subframe is provided on the vehicle, and the subframe is attached to at least the pipe-shaped member. 4. The vehicle body structure according to claim 3, wherein a suspension is provided on the vehicle, and the suspension is attached to the pipe-shaped member via the sub-frame. 5. The automobile according to claim 1, wherein the body panel is a member formed by press molding, and the pipe-shaped member is a member formed by hydroforming. Body structure.