JP2001018736A - Front bumper louver structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance aerodynamic performance and to uniformize the introduction of cooling air into a radiator. SOLUTION: A bumper louver 8 is mounted in an opening 3 bored in the position of a front bumper 1 facing the lower part of a radiator 5 by avoiding a bumper beam. A baffle plate 10 formed integrally with the bumper louver 8 is provided in a rearwardly tilted condition. Cooling air entering the opening 3 can be guided by the baffle plate 10 toward the center portion of the radiator 5. Thus, the radiator can be appropriately cooled, and since the opening is covered with the baffle plate as seen from the front of the vehicle body, a Cd value can be enhanced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

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

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an automobile having a radiator such as an engine received in a front portion of a vehicle body, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 324206, a radiator grill or a bumper grill is provided at the front to introduce cooling air to the radiator while preventing damage due to stepping stones or the like.

[0003]

On the other hand, a design in which the hood surface is bent so as to lower the front portion of the vehicle body as much as possible in order to improve aerodynamic performance is considered. In such a case, a front grill (radiator grill) is required. The vertical width, which is the vertical direction of the vehicle body, is reduced. In that case, the amount of cooling air introduced from the bumper grill may be increased, but there is a limit to widening the opening while ensuring the necessary functions of the bumper.

The cooling air introduced from the front grill hits the upper part of the radiator, and the cooling air introduced from the bumper grill hits the lower part of the radiator.
There is a possibility that the amount of cooling air for the central portion of the radiator may be insufficient. However, when the opening for introducing the cooling air is enlarged, there is a problem that the Cd value is deteriorated and the aerodynamic performance is impaired.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve such problems and improve aerodynamic performance and achieve equalization of the introduction of cooling air to the radiator, the present invention relates to a front end. The bumper (1) is provided with an opening (3) that opens to a position facing the lower part of the radiator (5) received at the front part of the vehicle body, and the opening (3) is provided at the center of the radiator (5). A bumper cover (8) integrally having a wind guide plate (10) provided obliquely so as to guide the cooling wind toward the vehicle and shield the opening (3) when viewed from the front of the vehicle body.
Was provided.

According to this, the cooling air entering the vehicle body can be guided toward the center of the radiator from the opening facing the lower portion of the radiator, and even if the opening is provided at a position facing the lower portion of the radiator. The cooling effect of the radiator can be prevented from lowering, and the Cd value can be improved because the opening is shielded by the air guide plate when viewed from the front of the vehicle body.

A plurality of vertical bars (3a) are provided in the opening (3), and the bumper cover (8) is attached to the vertical bar (3a) by being engaged with the vertical bars (3a).
a) and the wind guide plate (10) integrally formed so as to cross the vertical bar (8a).
0) has a substantially V-shaped cross-section only in the vicinity of the vertical bar (8a) and is connected to the vertical bar (3a) at both free ends thereof. The vertical bar is located on the downstream side of the cooling air with respect to the end, so that the rectification effect is improved as compared with the case where it is located on the upstream side. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the rigidity of the air guide plate from being lowered by projecting the front projecting end of the air guide plate forward.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to specific examples shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a front bumper 1 and a bumper cover 2 of an automobile to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of a front part of the vehicle body including the front bumper 1. As shown in FIG. 1, an opening 3 that is elongated in the vehicle width direction is provided in the center of the front protrusion of the front bumper 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, an opening 3 is provided at the back of the front bumper 1 on the rear side of the vehicle body, and the top and bottom and left and right extending from the front projecting surface 1a of the front bumper 1 to the opening 3 are provided. The opening area is reduced from the front protruding surface 1a side to the opening 3 by the respective wall surfaces. The opening in the front protruding surface 1a of the front bumper 1 is configured to be much larger in the vehicle width direction.

As shown in FIG. 2, a radiator 5 is provided behind the front bumper 1 below the front end of the hood 4 of the vehicle body. The cooling of the radiator 5 is performed by cooling air introduced from the body side opening 6 between the upper end of the front bumper 1 and the front end of the bonnet 4 and the opening 3 opening at a position facing the lower part of the radiator 5. Done.

The radiator 5 is housed between the vicinity of the front end of the hood 4 and the vicinity of the lower end of the front bumper 1, as shown in FIG. The part and the lower part are covered by a front bumper 1. The air introduced from the body side opening 6 hits the upper part of the radiator 5 as cooling air, but the air introduced from the opening 3 is guided as cooling air to the central part and the lower part of the radiator 5. There is a need.

Further, in order to secure a bumper function, a bumper beam 7 extending in the vehicle width direction is received in an upper portion inside the front bumper 1 (on the body side) as shown in FIG. Therefore, since the opening 3 is provided at the lower part of the front bumper 1 avoiding the bumper beam 7, the cooling air introduced therefrom is directed toward the center of the radiator 5 (located upward from the opening 3). It is desirable to guide.

According to the present invention, a louver for guiding toward the center of the radiator 5 is provided in the opening 3.
A bumper cover 8 is attached to the opening 3. In the illustrated example, the bumper cover 8 is fixed to the front bumper 1 with three screws by mounting screws 9 as shown in FIG. 1 and is detachable.

A plurality of vertical bars 3a are formed in the opening 3 by integral molding when processing the front bumper 1. A plurality of vertical bars 3a are formed in the bumper cover 8 so as to cover the respective vertical bars 3a in a mounted state. The vertical bars 8a are provided, and a plurality (three in the figure) of air guide plates 10 extending across the vertical bars 8a are provided.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the baffle plate 10 has a V-shaped cross section near the vertical bar 8a, and has a substantially V-shape so that its sharp portion protrudes forward of the vehicle body.
Only the two free ends of the character are integrated with the vertical bar 8a. Therefore, the baffle plate 10 is
a and is connected to the vertical rail 3a. And the air guide plate 10
As shown in FIG. 5, between the vertical bars 8a, the lower side of the laid-down V-shape is cut off, and the slope extending inclining to the rear side of the vehicle body by the upper-side portion of the laid-down V-shape is formed. Is formed.

Thus, in the baffle plate 10 having a plate shape between the vertical bars 8a, the front protruding end is largely projected forward with respect to the vertical bar 8a, so that the rectifying effect of the baffle plate 10 is reduced. The influence of the vertical bar 8a can be minimized. In addition, the rigidity of the support portion of the air guide plate 10 in such a case is reduced by connecting the two free ends of the V-shape to the vertical bar 8a to support the triangular two points. Accordingly, the rigidity of the support portion is high, and the support rigidity of the air guide plate 10 can be increased.

The bumper cover 8 in the illustrated example is screwed at three places as described above, but is formed in a shape that can temporarily fix the vertical bar 8a before screwing. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the vertical bar 8a has a V-shaped cross-sectional shape that covers the vertical bar 3a from the front side of the vehicle body, and has a rear end of the vertical bar 3a at one free end of the V-shape. Has an engagement piece 8b which can resiliently engage with an appropriate position. Therefore, the vertical bar 3a is received in the vertical bar 8a, and the vertical bar 8a is received.
The vertical bar 3a is sandwiched in the front-rear direction between the V-shaped groove bottom and the engagement piece 8b as shown in FIG.
a can be engaged with the vertical bar 3a, and by temporarily fixing the bumper 3a as described above, the fixing operation of the bumper cover 8 can be easily performed.

As described above, the bumper cover 8 attached to the front bumper 1 allows the air flow from the front of the front bumper 1 shown by a solid line in FIG. Air guide plate 10
2, a part of the cooling air is guided toward the center of the radiator 5 by the baffle plate 10 as shown by the wavy arrow in FIG. Therefore, the cooling air can also be applied to the central portion of the radiator 5 which is the rear portion of the bumper beam 7, and the cooling air can be supplied to the radiator 5 by averaging the entire area of the radiator 5 and cooling the radiator 5. Efficiency is improved.

In addition, when viewed from the front of the vehicle body, the opening 3 is substantially shielded by the air guide plate 10 of the vehicle body when viewed from the front of the vehicle body. Since the amount of air entering inside decreases, the Cd value can be improved as compared with the case where only a bumper grill is provided in the opening as in the conventional example. This shielding state does not need to be a complete shielding state, and may be such that the inside of the vehicle body can be partially seen from the front. Even if the amount of air entering the body decreases, the flow velocity increases due to the rectifying effect of the baffle plate 10, so that the cooling effect of the radiator 5 does not decrease. In addition, the level of the average wind speed was improved by averaging the overall wind speed distribution.

The optimum Cd value can be obtained by using the inclination θ of the air guide plate 10, the length L of the air guide plate 10 in the air flow direction, and the pitch (interval) P of each air guide plate 10 as parameters. Is determined together with the cooling effect. For example, the cooling effect is emphasized in a vehicle type supplied to an area where relatively high-speed traveling is relatively small, and the Cd value is emphasized in a vehicle type supplied to an area where relatively high-speed traveling is relatively large. , The above values should be determined.

In the illustrated example, the bumper cover 8 is formed separately from the front bumper 1 and is attached to the front bumper 1. However, according to the present invention, the wind guide plate 10 having the above-mentioned inclination angle is attached to the front bumper. May be formed integrally, and the bumper cover may be provided integrally with the front bumper 1. The effect in this case is the same as above.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, even if an opening is provided at a position facing the lower part of the radiator in the front bumper, the cooling air can be guided toward the center of the radiator by the baffle plate. In addition, the radiator can be appropriately cooled, and the Cd value can be improved because the opening is shielded by the air guide plate when viewed from the front of the vehicle body. Also, the front protruding end of the baffle plate is made to protrude forward with respect to the vertical bar to minimize the influence of the vertical bar to improve the rectifying effect of the baffle plate. By connecting to the vertical rail, it is possible to prevent the rigidity of the air guide plate from being lowered by projecting the front projecting end of the air guide plate forward.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing a front bumper and a bumper cover of an automobile to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of a front part of a vehicle body.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a main part of the bumper cover.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary top view of a main part of a bumper cover.

FIG. 5 is a side view of an essential part taken along line VV of FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 front bumper 3 opening 3a vertical bar 5 radiator 8 bumper cover 8a vertical bar 10 wind guide plate

Claims (2)

[Claims] An opening is provided in a front bumper so as to open to a position facing a lower part of a radiator received in a front part of a vehicle body, and cooling air is guided to the opening toward a center part of the radiator and a front surface of the vehicle body A front bumper cover structure, wherein a bumper cover integrally having a baffle plate obliquely provided so as to shield the opening as viewed from above is provided. 2. A plurality of vertical bars are provided in the opening, and the bumper cover is attached to the vertical bar and attached to the vertical bar, and the guide bar is integrally formed so as to cross the vertical bar. The wind guide plate has a substantially V-shaped cross-section only in the vicinity of the vertical bar, and is connected to the vertical bar at both free ends. The front bumper louver structure described in.