JP2001063625A - Cross member of vehicle body - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure sufficient strength and also improve attachment and detachment workability of auxiliary machines during manufacture and maintenance. SOLUTION: Each ends of a cross member 1 of a vehicle body are coupled to brackets 3 fixed on inner faces near right and left center pillars 2 via coupling means (nut numbers and bolts 8) capable of repetitive attachment and detachment. By this, attachment and detachment workability of auxiliary machines during manufacture and maintenance is improved because the cross member 1 can be easily removed from the vehicle body as needed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cross member of a vehicle body for connecting the vicinity of right and left center pillars.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In most two-seat vehicles, the inner surfaces of left and right center pillars are connected by a cross member in order to increase the torsional rigidity of the vehicle body and to suppress deformation of the cabin upon a side collision. In general, a conventional cross member is directly connected to a center pillar inside panel, which is a member for securing rigidity of a vehicle body side surface, by welding.

[0003]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional construction, the cross member fixed in the trunk room is used for mounting auxiliary equipment in the trunk room in the production line, or during maintenance. It could be an obstacle to the work of attaching and detaching the kind.

[0004] The present invention has been devised to solve such problems of the prior art, and its main objects are as follows.
An object of the present invention is to provide a cross member of a vehicle body configured to ensure sufficient strength and not to reduce the workability of attaching and detaching accessories during manufacturing and maintenance.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a cross member (1) of a vehicle body is fixed to a bracket (3) fixed to an inner surface near left and right center pillars (2). On the other hand, the respective ends are connected to each other via connecting means (nut member 6 and bolt 8) which can be repeatedly attached and detached. According to this, since the cross member can be easily removed from the vehicle body as required, the workability of attaching and detaching the auxiliary equipment during manufacturing and maintenance can be prevented.

Particularly, the cross member is made of a hollow material, the bracket is joined to the inner surface of the cross member, and the cross-sectional shape of the joint surface of the cross member with the bracket is trapezoidal with a narrow upper side. According to the feature, the workability of attaching and detaching the cross member to and from the bracket can be improved.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The cross member 1 according to the present invention has its ends connected to a bracket 3 fixed to the inner surface of the vehicle body in the vicinity of the left and right center pillars 2 (see FIG. 1).

As shown in FIG. 2, the bracket 3 is formed of a plate material so that the cross-sectional shape of the joint surface with the cross member 1 is trapezoidal with a narrow upper side. The ear plate 4 bent to the fixed end side is fixed to the inside panel 5 forming the side wall of the passenger compartment by spot welding.

On the other hand, the cross member 1 is formed in a hollow shape by extrusion molding, and has a trapezoidal cross section having a narrow upper side. The lower wall of each end is partially cut off (a portion indicated by an imaginary line in FIG. 2), and the cross member 1 is cut.
By covering each end of the bracket 3 from above, the inner surface of the bracket 3 is joined to the outer surface of the bracket 3. In this manner, by making the cross-sectional shape of the joint surface of the cross member 1 with the bracket 3 a trapezoid having a narrow upper side, the workability when mounting the bracket 3 on the bracket 3 from above is enhanced.

A nut member 6 is fixed to a key portion of the bracket 3 by caulking. The cross member 1 has a hole 7 at a position corresponding to the nut member 6. By screwing a bolt 8 into the nut member 6 through the hole 7, each end of the cross member 1 is connected to the bracket 3. That is, the cross member 1 is connected to the bracket 3 via a repetitively detachable connecting means such as a bolt / nut.

The front wall WF of the cross member 1 is bent stepwise. Depressed surface 1a generated by this bending
By fixing the same nut member as above to
An upper edge of a partition (not shown) separating the cabin and the luggage compartment is joined to the recessed surface 1a, and a bolt is screwed into a nut member so that the partition can be fixed to the cross member 1. . according to this,
Since the joint surface of the partition is depressed, the bolt head does not protrude.

A flange 9 extends rearward from the lower end of the rear wall WR of the cross member 1. The flange 9 is bolted to the bracket 3 at both ends and is also used as a support for a front edge of a luggage shelf (not shown) on which a load is placed. In other words, this flange 9
If the same nut member as described above is fixed to the key point and the luggage shelf is bolted, the luggage shelf can be independently and repeatedly removable.

The height of the cross member 1 is set so as to function as a stopper for preventing the articles placed on the luggage shelf from falling into the passenger compartment.

If the joint of the inside garnish (not shown) attached to the inside panel 5 is aligned with the end of the cross member 1, only the cross member 1 can be detached without removing the inside garnish. .

In particular, in the case of a two-seat vehicle, when a large load is applied from the side of the vehicle body at the time of a collision or the like, the amount of deformation of the front side of the center pillar 2, which is the opening surface of the door, becomes larger.
It is considered that a larger buckling stress acts on the front side of the cross section of the cross member 1. Therefore, as described above, the cross-sectional shape of the front wall WF is made more complicated than that of the rear wall WR, and the front wall thickness is made larger than that of the rear wall WR, so that an increase in weight is minimized. The optimization of the stress distribution can be attempted after the suppression.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, the cross member can be removed as necessary, so that auxiliary equipment can be mounted in the trunk room on the production line, or the trunk room can be removed during maintenance. The cross member does not hinder the work of removing auxiliary equipment from the vehicle. That is, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a cross member that can secure sufficient strength and that does not reduce the workability of attaching and detaching auxiliary devices during manufacturing and maintenance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a joint of a cross member and a vehicle body according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a joint between a cross member and a bracket.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cross member 2 Center pillar 3 Bracket 6 Nut member 8 Bolt

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cross member for a vehicle body, wherein each end of the bracket is fixedly connected to a bracket fixed to an inner surface in the vicinity of the left and right center pillars through removably connectable connecting means. 2. The cross member is made of a hollow material, the bracket is joined to the inner surface of the cross member, and the cross-sectional shape of the joint surface of the cross member with the bracket is trapezoidal with a narrow upper side. The cross member for a vehicle body according to claim 1, wherein: