JP2001001943A - Vehicle body structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase the rigidity of a bumper, to recycle a shielding cover used to protect accessories provided in a bumper from water, mud splash and chipping, and to suppress an increase in man-hours for work when mounting the shielding cover and the number of parts, in view of problems of a vehicle body, especially, the supporting structure of the bumper. SOLUTION: This vehicle body structure is provided with a supporting structure of a bumper 1 integrally formed out of at least a bumper side 1A, a bumper center 1B, and a bumper A cover. A shielding cover 2 shielding an area between the accessories of the bumper 1 and a wheel house H is mounted on the inside of the bumper side 1A of the bumper 1, the upper and lower ends of the shielding cover 2 are integrally supported by a vehicle body panel and the bumper side respectively, and the shielding cover 2 is formed out of a recyclable engaging means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a vehicle body structure, and more particularly to a bumper support structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A bumper provided to protect a body body and lamps at the time of contact or collision has a soft facia type structure in which a bumper center, a cover for shielding a bumper, a bumper side, an apron and a grill are integrally formed. Some (for example, Sankaido Publishing,
"Automobile body" P186). By the way, in recent years, bumpers projecting from the vehicle body surface have been contributing to the improvement of aerodynamic characteristics around the wheels. Specifically, the bumper side is continuously connected to the surface of the fender to provide a flash surface. In addition to this, a structure is employed in which the lower surface of the apron is bent inward to prevent air from getting into the wheel house. On the other hand, inside the bumper side, a shielding cover is provided to protect the fog lamps and turning lamps etc. installed on the bumper from water and mud that flips up with the rotation of the wheel and further from chipping. A structure that separates the inside of the wheel house and the inside of the bumper side by a cover may be adopted (for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 60-224).
No. 75).

[0003] For example, the structure shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is used for the shielding cover. FIG. 3 is an external view showing a bumper having a structure in which the above-described bumper center, bumper cover, bumper side, apron and grill are integrally formed. In FIG. 3, a fog lamp B is mounted on a bumper side A1 of a bumper A. Bumper side A1,
The upper edge is integrated with the fender C by fastening or the like, and inside the radiator panel side member D integrated with the side of a radiator support member (not shown) as shown in FIG. On the other hand, a shielding cover E whose upper end is attached by a clip or the like is provided.

[0004]

The shielding cover E disposed in the bumper side A1 is made of a sheet metal member, and its upper end is integrated with the radiator panel side member D to form a so-called cantilever. The lower end corresponding to the free end is likely to vibrate under the influence of vehicle body vibration, which may generate noise. Moreover, since the shielding cover E is formed of a sheet metal member,
In the case of discarding, separation work is required, and the work for reuse becomes large. For this reason, there has been a problem that it is difficult to make a recycled product for environmental protection, which has been increasingly required in recent years, in terms of cost. In addition, the bumper side A1 has a lower lower surface rigidity because the upper edge is merely attached to the fender C, and the lower surface skin A
There is a possibility that the battery may be easily deformed due to the inability to secure the durability when an impact acts on 1A. Further, as a structure for mounting the shielding cover E, as disclosed in the above-mentioned publication, a bracket serving as a mounting mediating member for a vehicle body panel or a fender is prepared, and the bracket is integrally mounted by fastening the bracket. As a result, the number of man-hours for assembling work is extremely increased, so that the assembling cost is increased, and the number of parts and the weight are easily increased.

An object of the present invention is to increase the rigidity of the bumper and to reduce the amount of equipment installed in the bumper from water, mud splashing and chipping, in view of the above-mentioned problems in the conventional vehicle body structure, particularly in the structure of supporting the bumper. Make it possible to reuse the shielding cover used to protect it,
An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle body structure having a configuration capable of suppressing an increase in the number of work steps and the number of parts when providing the shielding cover.

[0006]

In order to achieve this object, according to the present invention, there is provided a vehicle body structure having at least a bumper supporting structure integrally formed with a bumper side. A shielding cover for shielding between the bumper equipment and the wheel house is provided, and the shielding cover is integrally supported at each of the upper and lower ends by the body panel supporting the bumper and the bumper side. It is characterized by having.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the shielding cover and the supporting portions of the vehicle body panel and the bumper side are fitted into fitting portions formed on the vehicle body panel and the bumper side. It is characterized by being integrated by an engaging member made of a flexible member that can be contracted and deformed.

The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the shielding cover has a bending portion between the upper and lower ends.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the upper and lower ends of the shielding cover are integrally supported by the vehicle body panel and the bumper side, the shielding cover is provided on the bumper side with respect to the vehicle body panel side. It can be used as a support member for supporting the part. Thereby, the same result as when the bumper side is integrated with the vehicle body side can be achieved, and the rigidity of the bumper side, particularly, the skin portion can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the shielding cover and the vehicle body panel and the support portion of the shielding cover and the bumper side use an engaging member made of a flexible member that can be contracted and deformed when inserted. By simply inserting the engaging members into the fitting parts on the vehicle body panel side and the bumper side, the equipment can be protected from water, mud splash and chipping from the wheel house side, and the rigidity of the bumper side Thus, a supporting structure that enhances the performance can be obtained.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, even when an impact force is applied to the bumper side from below, the impact force can be absorbed by the bending portion, and the effect on the body panel side can be reduced. it can.

[0012]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining a bumper support structure which is one of the vehicle body structures according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. The bumper side 1A, which is one of the components, is formed integrally with the bumper center 1B. Although not shown, the bumper side 1A has an upper edge portion integrally attached to a fender (not shown), and a wheel house (for convenience, indicated by reference numeral H in FIG. 1). ), A shielding cover 2 is arranged in front of the front panel.

In this embodiment, the shielding cover 2 is provided so as to be provided when equipment such as the fog lamp (not shown in FIG. 1) shown in FIG. 3 is provided on the bumper side 1A. And constitutes a shielding wall for partitioning between the equipment and the wheel house H. That is, the shielding cover 2 is made of a resin molded product that can be abutted against the radiator panel side member 3 which is one of the vehicle body panels.
Polypropylene (PP), which has relatively high rigidity and good moldability and is recyclable, is used. The upper portion of the shielding cover 2 is formed in a shape parallel to the surface of the radiator panel side member 3 and is formed in such a size that the influence of water, mud splashing and chipping from the wheel house H does not reach the equipment. I have. Following this upper part, the lower part
Bracket 2 having an end parallel to skin flange 1A1 formed by bending the lower surface of bumper side 1A inward.
A is configured to be positioned against the surface of the skin flange 1A1.

The upper and lower ends of the shielding cover 2 are supported by the facing radiator panel side member 3 and the display flange 1A1 of the bumper side 1A. That is, the radiator panel side member 3 and the skin flange 1A1, which face the upper and lower ends of the shielding cover 2 with the bending portion 2C interposed therebetween, have through holes 3A, 1A2 constituting a support portion, as shown in FIG. Support holes 2B and 2A1 are formed at positions corresponding to the through holes on the side of the shielding cover 2, respectively.

The support holes 2B, 2A1 and the through holes 3
An engagement member 4 as a member for supporting the shielding cover 2 is inserted into A and 1A2. That is, the engaging member 4 is configured by a clip having a flexible conical tip and a head having a large-diameter portion at an end of a small-diameter portion connected to the tip portion. Hole 3
A, 1A2 and the supporting holes 2B, 2A1 are contracted and deformed when inserted into the supporting holes 2B, 2A1, and can be maintained in a state where the leading ends protrude from the respective holes.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1A3 denotes a bumper skin arch flange facing the wheel house H.

Since the present embodiment has the above configuration,
When the bumper 1 is assembled to the vehicle body, the shielding cover 2 is attached. The shielding cover 2 has upper and lower ends facing each other so as to be parallel to the radiator panel side member 3 and the skin flange 1A1, respectively, and through holes 3A, 1A formed at the facing positions.
When the support holes 2 and the support holes 2B and 2A1 are positioned, the engagement member 4 is inserted into each of the holes. Thus, the upper and lower ends of the shielding cover 2 can be mounted on the vehicle body by a simple operation of merely inserting the engaging member 4 and without requiring any other parts for mounting the shielding cover 2 such as brackets. The radiator panel side member 3 corresponding to the panel side and the bumper side 1A are integrally supported. As a result, the shielding cover 2
Can shield between the wheel house H and the equipment in the bumper 1 so that water, mud splash and chipping from the wheel house H do not affect the equipment, and both upper and lower ends are supported. As a result, the influence of the vehicle body vibration is reduced, and the generation of vibration and noise is reduced. Moreover, since the skin flange 1A1 located at the lower portion of the bumper side 1A is integrated with the shielding cover 2, the bumper side 1A is firmly held on the body panel side via the shielding cover 2. Thus, the rigidity of the skin flange 1A1 is increased, and the durability against impact from below can be improved. That is, the shielding cover 2 and the skin flange 1A1 have a relationship of complementing each other in strength, and the skin flange 1A1 is increased in rigidity against impact from below by the shielding cover 2, and the shielding cover 2 is The vibration is suppressed by 1A1.

On the other hand, when the shielding cover 2 is applicable as a part to be replaced during repair or the like, the shielding cover 2
Will be removed. At this time, the shielding cover 2
Is a target part to be discarded, but can be recycled depending on its material, and can be used again as a molding material to contribute to environmental protection.

According to the above embodiment, the skin flange 1A1
Bracket 2 of shielding cover 2 having a shape to be mounted on
A allows the positioning of the through hole 3A and the support hole 2B on the radiator panel side member 3 side only by abutting against the skin flange 1A1, so that the insertion position of the engaging member 4 can be adjusted without any special procedure. This also makes it possible to shorten the work time and reduce the number of work steps. Further, since the skin flange 1A1 is enhanced in rigidity by the shielding cover 2, the thickness can be reduced, whereby the weight increase of the bumper 1 can be suppressed and the fuel efficiency can be improved. .

[0019]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the upper and lower ends of the shielding cover are integrally supported by the vehicle body panel and the bumper side, respectively. A shielding cover can be used as a support member for supporting the bumper side with respect to the vehicle body panel side, which results in the same result as when the bumper side is integrated with the vehicle body side, and improves the rigidity of the lower surface of the bumper side Can be done.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the support member of the shielding cover and the vehicle body panel and the supporting portion of the shielding cover and the bumper side are formed by using an engaging member made of a flexible member capable of contracting and deforming at the time of insertion. Therefore, the engagement member is simply inserted into the engagement portions on the vehicle body panel side and the bumper side side. Further, the engagement member, the shielding cover through which the engagement member is inserted, and the existing vehicle body panel and bumper are inserted. The shielding cover can be installed without requiring any mounting parts other than the side. As a result, it is possible to obtain a structure for protecting the equipment from water, mud splash, and chipping from the wheel house without increasing the number of parts and the number of work steps.

According to the third aspect of the invention, even when an impact force is applied to the bumper side from below, the impact force can be absorbed by the bending portion, so that the influence on the vehicle body panel side is reduced. It is possible to reduce it.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a bumper support structure, which is one of vehicle body structures according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a main part of the bumper support structure shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an external view for explaining a conventional example of a bumper support structure.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken in the direction indicated by reference numeral (4) in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bumper 1A used for the bumper support structure which is one of the vehicle body structures 1A, A1 Bumper side 1A1 Skin flange 1A2 Through hole 2 Shielding cover 2A Bracket 2A1, 2B Support hole 2C Refractor 3 Radiator equivalent to one of the vehicle body panels Panel side member 3A Through hole 4 Engagement member

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle body structure having at least a bumper support structure integrally formed with a bumper side, wherein a shielding cover for shielding between the bumper equipment and a wheel house is provided inside the bumper side of the bumper. A body structure wherein the shielding cover is integrally supported at upper and lower ends by a body panel supporting the bumper and the bumper side. 2. A support portion between the shielding cover, the vehicle body panel, and the bumper side is capable of contracting and deforming when being inserted into a fitting portion formed on the vehicle body panel and the bumper side. The vehicle body structure according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle body structure is integrated by an engagement member made of a flexible member. 3. The vehicle body structure according to claim 1, wherein the shielding cover has a bending portion between the upper and lower ends.