JP2002205663A - Front structure of car body - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the front structure of a car body, which absorbs striking energy effectively in the case of head-on collision of an automobile. SOLUTION: In the front structure of a car body provided with a cowl upper 15, which is arranged in the front section of the car body, steering support member 5 arranged with space from the cowl upper 15 in the rear of the cowl upper 15, a stiffener 11 for connecting the cowl upper 15 and the steering support member 5, and a knee bolster 3, which is mounted on the steering support member 5, the stiffener body 21 of the stiffener 11 is provided with a plate 23 working as a shock absorbing section. The plate 23 is provided with a mounting section for the cowl upper 15 and a mounting section for the stiffener body 21, which are offset from each other, and may be provided with a bending section B.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a front structure of a vehicle body, and more particularly to a shock absorbing structure of a stiffener provided in a four-wheeled vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 10, a cowl upper 105 is disposed above a dash upper 103 in a front portion 101 of a vehicle body, and a steering support member 107 is disposed behind the cowl upper 105. Between the cowl upper 105 and the steering support member 107.
7 are provided. As shown in FIG. 11, a horizontally long plate 111 is joined to the front end of the stiffener 109, and mounting holes 113, 113 for mounting to the cowl upper 105 are formed at both left and right ends of the plate 111. Have been. The mounting holes 113 are provided at substantially the same height position as the center of the diameter of the stiffener main body 115, that is, substantially on the same straight line.

Therefore, when the vehicle has a frontal collision, as shown in FIG. 10, the impact load f input to the cowl upper 105 is directly transmitted to the stiffener body 115 via the plate 111, so that the steering The support member 107 is deformed and the knee bolster 11 fixed to the steering support member 107
7 could be shifted from the original position.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a front structure of a vehicle body that efficiently absorbs the impact energy of a vehicle in the event of a frontal collision. .

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a cowl upper provided at a front portion of a vehicle body to achieve the above object.
A front part of a vehicle body comprising: a steering support member disposed at a distance behind the cowl upper, a stiffener for connecting the cowl upper and the steering support member, and a knee bolster attached to the steering support member. In structure
The stiffener has an impact absorbing portion.

In one aspect of the present invention, the shock absorbing portion is a support member that connects the stiffener body and the cowl upper, and the support member has a mounting portion to the cowl upper and a mounting portion to the stiffener body. And are arranged offset. Further, in another aspect of the present invention, a bent portion is provided between the mounting portion of the support member to the cowl upper and the mounting portion to the stiffener body.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A front structure of a vehicle body according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an instrument panel 1 disposed on the front side in a vehicle cabin. A knee bolster 3 is provided on the back side (front side) of the instrument panel 1 as shown in FIG. The steering support member 5 to which is attached is provided.

The steering support member 5 is
It is formed in a pipe shape having a substantially rectangular cross section, and is disposed along the vehicle width direction. 2, a knee bolster member 7 is disposed below the steering support member 5 on the driver's seat side located on the right side of FIG. Have been. The knee bolster 3 includes a knee bolster inner 3a disposed inside in the vehicle width direction and a knee bolster outer 3b disposed outside in the vehicle width direction. Each knee bolster 3a, 3b It is formed in a shape that is bent so as to protrude to the side. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the steering support member 5 is provided with a cowl upper stiffener bracket 9 that extends diagonally forward. Is attached.

As shown in FIG. 3, a cowl top 13 and a cowl upper 15 are provided at the front end of the instrument panel 1, and a closed section 14 is formed by the cowl top 13 and the cowl upper 15. The cowl upper 15 is provided with a stiffener mounting piece 17 extending downward. Further, between the stiffener attachment piece 17 and the cowl upper stiffener bracket 9, a stiffener 11 for connecting the both 17, 9 is provided. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the stiffener 11 includes a substantially cylindrical stiffener main body 21 disposed in the front-rear direction, and a plate 23 joined to a front end of the stiffener main body 21.
And a bracket 25 disposed at the rear end of the stiffener main body 21.

The plate 23 has an upper mounting surface 31.
, A step surface 33 at the center, and a joint surface 35 at the lower part. The mounting surface 31 extends in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axial direction of the stiffener main body 21 and is mounted on the stiffener mounting piece 17. The step surface 33 extends along the stiffener main body 21, and the joining surface 35 extends in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axial direction of the stiffener main body 21 and is joined to the front end of the stiffener main body 21.
By bending one plate, the mounting surface 31, the step surface 33, and the joining surface 35 are formed integrally. Further, a mounting hole 37 is formed in the mounting surface 31, and the center of the mounting hole 37 and the center of the diameter of the stiffener body are separated by an offset distance L,
The center of the mounting hole 37 and the center of the diameter of the stiffener body 21 are formed so as not to be located on the same straight line. Further, the step surface 33 and the vicinity thereof are connected to the mounting surface 31.
B which is not located on the same plane as
(See FIG. 5), and the length W of the step surface 33 in the front-rear direction can be changed as appropriate.

The bracket 25 has flanges 41, 41 standing on both sides thereof, and is bent so that a lower portion protrudes rearward. This lower end lower surface 43
The lower end surface 43 is attached to the cowl upper stiffener bracket 9 by the bolt 45.

Next, the operation and effect of the front structure of the vehicle body will be described. First, in the initial stage of a collision when the vehicle has a frontal collision, as shown in FIG. . In the plate 23, when the impact load F is input to the mounting surface 31 as shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), when the step surface 33 of the bent portion B is deformed, the impact load F is absorbed in the bent portion B.
Therefore, the joint surface 35 of the plate 23 does not move in the front-rear direction at the initial stage of the collision, and the steering support member 5 and the knee bolster 3 (see FIG. 3) are maintained at the original positions.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, in the late stage of the collision, the driver is pushed forward, and the knee enters the knee bolster 3. The load P from the knee is input from the steering support member 5 to the stiffener 11. Here, as shown in part C of FIG.
When the load P is input to the first plate 23 from the rear side, the load P is absorbed by the plate 23, so that the steering support member 5 is not deformed even in the late stage of the collision.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes and modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention. For example, in the embodiment, the offset L and the bent portion B are provided on the plate 23, but may be provided on the bracket 25 or the stiffener main body 21. Further, if the shape of the bent portion B is a shape that deforms when the loads F and P are applied and absorbs the loads F and P,
The shape is not limited to the shape described in the above embodiment, and various modes can be adopted.

[0015]

According to the present invention, the cowl upper provided at the front of the vehicle body, the steering support member provided at a distance behind the cowl upper, and the cowl upper and the steering support member are connected. In the front structure of the vehicle body including the stiffener and the knee bolster attached to the steering support member, the stiffener is provided with a shock absorbing portion. The deformation of the steering support member can be prevented, and the knee bolster can be held at an appropriate position.

In one aspect of the present invention, the shock absorbing portion is a support member that connects the stiffener body and the cowl upper, and the support member has an attachment portion to the cowl upper and an attachment portion to the stiffener body. Since the support member between the attachment portion to the cowl upper and the attachment portion to the stiffener main body is deformed, the impact energy can be efficiently absorbed.

Further, in another aspect of the present invention, a bent portion is provided between the mounting portion of the support member to the cowl upper and the mounting portion to the stiffener main body. The amount of impact energy absorption can be easily changed by adjusting the deformation amount by appropriately changing the position and the position.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an instrument panel provided in an automobile having a front structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an internal structure of the instrument panel according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a stiffener according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a vehicle body front structure at an early stage of a collision.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a front portion of a stiffener in an early stage of a collision.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a change in a front portion of a stiffener in an early stage of a collision.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a vehicle body front structure in a late stage of the collision.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing a conventional vehicle body front structure.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a conventional stiffener.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 instrument panel 3 knee bolster 5 steering support member 7 knee bolster member 9 cowl upper stiffener bracket 11 stiffener 13 cowl top 15 cowl upper 17 stiffener mounting piece 21 stiffener body 23 plate 25 bracket 31 mounting surface 33 step surface 35 bonding surface 37 mounting Hole 41 Flange 43 Lower end face 45 Bolt 47 Driver 49 Knee L Offset distance B Bend

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3D003 AA01 AA05 BB02 CA05 CA07 CA09 DA08 DA09 DA10 3D044 BA07 BA14 BB01 BC07 BC21 BC28 BC30

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cowl upper provided at a front portion of a vehicle body, a steering support member provided at a distance behind the cowl upper, a stiffener for connecting the cowl upper and the steering support member, A front structure of a vehicle body including a knee bolster attached to the steering support member, wherein a shock absorbing portion is provided on the stiffener. 2. The shock absorbing portion is a support member that connects the stiffener body and the cowl upper, and the support member has a mounting portion to the cowl upper and a mounting portion to the stiffener body offset. The front structure of a vehicle body according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The front structure of a vehicle body according to claim 2, wherein a bent portion is provided between the mounting portion of the support member to the cowl upper and the mounting portion to the stiffener body. .