JP2002347653A - Structure of apron upper member - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve strength of connection between an apron upper member and a front pillar without substantially increasing weight. SOLUTION: A rear end of a closed section 16 of the apron upper member 10 pierces a closed section 28 of the front pillar 20. In the pierced part, a longitudinal wall 26A of a front pillar outer part 26 is welded to a rear part 12M of a longitudinal wall 12F of an apron upper member outer part 12 along lines (welds P), which have a specified spacing vertically and run along a direction extending between the front and rear of the vehicle, externally along the width of the vehicle by laser welding. A longitudinal wall 12B of the apron upper member outer part 12 and a flange positioned below the longitudinal wall 12B are welded to a rear part of a longitudinal wall 14A of an inner panel 14 along respective lines, which run along the direction extending between the front and rear of the vehicle, internally along the width of the vehicle by laser welding.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an apron upper member structure, and more particularly to an apron upper member structure in which an apron upper member of a vehicle such as an automobile is connected to a front pillar.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an apron upper member structure in which an apron upper member of a vehicle such as an automobile is connected to a front pillar is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-34921.
No. in the official gazette.

As shown in FIG. 9, in this apron upper member structure, a side wall portion 100A of a front pillar reinforcement 100 is connected to an inner side surface of a side wall portion 102A of a front pillar outer panel 102 in a vehicle width direction.
1 is welded by spot welding. Further, a flange 104A of the cowl top side upper panel 104 constituting a part of the apron upper member is welded to the vehicle width direction outer side surface of the side wall portion 102A of the front pillar outer panel 102 at a joint point S2 by spot welding. Also, by bringing these connection points S2 and S1 closer together, deformation of the connection between the apron upper member and the front pillar is suppressed.

[0004]

However, in such an apron upper member structure, in order to sufficiently transmit the load from the front of the vehicle to the door belt line portion, the connection strength between the apron upper member and the front pillar is increased. The cowl top side upper panel 104, the front pillar reinforcement 100, and the front pillar outer panel 1
02 may be made thicker, but if the thickness of each member is made thicker, a significant increase in weight is caused.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an apron upper member structure capable of improving the connection strength between an apron upper member and a front pillar without a large increase in weight.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a rear end portion of an apron upper member having a closed cross section extending in a vehicle front-rear direction has a front end having a closed cross section extending in a vehicle vertical direction. Connected in a skewered state inside the pillar,
The joint between the apron upper member and the front pillar is laser-welded.

Accordingly, the rear end of the apron upper member having a closed cross-section structure extending in the vehicle front-rear direction is skewed into a front pillar having a closed cross-section structure extending in the vehicle vertical direction. Since the joint with the pillar is laser-welded, the connection strength between the apron upper member and the front pillar can be reduced without a significant increase in weight compared to the case where the apron upper member or the front pillar is thickened and reinforced. Can be improved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the apron upper member structure according to the first aspect, a rear wall portion extending in a vehicle width direction is formed at a rear end of the apron upper member. And

Therefore, in addition to the contents described in claim 1,
The rear wall formed at the rear end of the apron upper member and extending in the vehicle width direction can prevent the rear end of the apron upper member from collapsing in cross section.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the apron upper member structure according to any one of the first and second aspects, the joint between the apron upper member and the front pillar is line-welded by laser welding. It is characterized by.

Therefore, in addition to the contents described in any one of the first and second aspects, the joint between the apron upper member and the front pillar is line-welded by laser welding.
Intrusion of water, sound, and the like from the joint can be prevented.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the apron upper member structure according to the first aspect, the joints on both sides in the vehicle width direction are connected to each other by instrument panel reinforcement.

Therefore, in addition to the contents described in claim 1,
Since the joints between the apron upper members on both sides in the vehicle width direction and the front pillars are connected by instrument panel reinforcement, when a load is applied to the apron upper members from the front of the vehicle, the rear portion of the apron upper members will be connected to the vehicle width. Movement in the direction can be suppressed. As a result,
The load can be effectively transmitted to the door belt line.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of an apron upper member structure according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the drawings, an arrow FR indicates a forward direction of the vehicle, an arrow UP indicates an upward direction of the vehicle, and an arrow IN indicates an inward direction of the vehicle width.

As shown in FIG. 1, an apron upper member 10 according to the present embodiment is provided in a pair of right and left sides (apron upper members on the right side of the vehicle are not shown) along the front and rear of the vehicle at the upper portions at both ends in the vehicle width direction at the front of the vehicle. Have been. Further, an opening 24 is formed in a portion of the front pillar 20 that corresponds to the height of the belt line 22A of the front side door 22 at the front wall portion 20A.

As shown in FIG. 4, the apron upper member 10 includes an apron upper member outer 12 that constitutes an outer portion of the apron upper member 10 in the vehicle width direction, an inner portion of the apron upper member 10 in the vehicle width direction, and a front pillar 20. And an inner panel 14 integrally forming an inner portion in the vehicle width direction. The apron upper member outer 12 has a U-shape with an opening directed inward in the vehicle width direction, and a vertical wall portion 12B extending upward from the vehicle is sandwiched between inner ends of the upper wall portion 12A in the vehicle width direction. , A flange 12C extending inward in the vehicle width direction is formed. In addition, lower wall 12D
A flange 1 extending downward from the vehicle is provided at the inner end in the vehicle width direction.
2E is formed.

On the other hand, a flange 14B extending inward in the vehicle width direction is formed at the upper end edge of the vertical wall portion 14A of the inner panel 14, and this flange 14B and the flange 12C of the apron upper member outer 12 are formed. Is line-welded (welded portion P) by laser welding from the flange 12C side. Also, the vertical wall portion 14 of the inner panel 14
A flange 12E of the apron upper member outer 12 is line-welded (welded portion P) to the lower end edge 14C of A by laser welding from the flange 12E side. Therefore,
The apron upper member 10 has a closed section structure having a closed section 16 extending in the vehicle front-rear direction.

As shown in FIG. 2, a front wall 12G extending inward in the vehicle width direction is formed at the front end of the vertical wall 12F of the apron upper member outer 12. A flange 12H is formed at an inner end in the vehicle width direction toward the front of the vehicle. The flange 12H is line-welded to the front edge 14D of the vertical wall 14A of the inner panel 14 by laser welding.

A rear wall portion 12K is formed at the rear end of the vertical wall portion 12 of the apron upper member outer 12 so as to extend linearly inward in the vehicle width direction rearward. A flange 12L is formed at the inner end in the vehicle width direction toward the rear of the vehicle. This flange 12
L is line-welded by laser welding to the rear portion 14E of the vertical wall portion 14A of the inner panel 14, and an instrument panel reinforcement mounting hole 32 is formed at this joint.

As shown in FIG. 3, the front pillar 20
Is a front pillar outer 26 that forms an outer portion of the front pillar 20 in the vehicle width direction, and an apron upper member 10.
And the inner panel 14 integrally forming the vehicle width direction inner portion of the front pillar 20 and the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction of the front pillar 20, and has a closed cross section structure having a closed cross section 28 extending in the vehicle vertical direction. .

As shown in FIG. 1, a rear portion of the closed section 16 of the apron upper member 10 is inserted into a closed section 28 of the front pillar 20 through an opening 24 formed in the front pillar 20. It is connected in a skewered state.

As shown in FIG. 3, the vertical wall portion 26 of the front pillar outer 26
A is a vertical wall portion 12F of the apron upper member outer 12
And is line-welded (welded portion P) along the vehicle front-rear direction at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction by laser welding from the outside in the vehicle width direction. Further, in the skewered state, the vertical wall portion 12B and the flange 12E of the apron upper member outer 12 are joined to the rear portion 14E of the vertical wall portion 14A of the inner panel 14, respectively. Line welding (weld portion P) is performed along the vehicle longitudinal direction by welding.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vertical wall 26A of the front pillar outer 26 and the apron upper member outer 1
A door hinge mounting hole 30 is formed at the joint between the second vertical wall portion 12F and the rear portion 12M. At the rear end of the vertical wall portion 26A of the front pillar outer 26, a rear wall portion 26B that extends linearly inward in the vehicle width direction and rearward is formed. Further, the rear wall portion 26B of the front pillar outer 26 has an inner end in the vehicle width direction.
C is formed, and a flange 26D is formed at the rear end of the vertical wall portion 26C. The flange 26D is welded to a flange 14F formed at the rear end of the vertical wall 14A of the inner panel 14.

As shown in FIG. 5, the door hinge mounting hole 3
0 is formed as a pair at predetermined intervals in the vehicle front-rear direction, and a vertical wall portion 12F of the apron upper member outer 12 is formed.
A weld nut 34 is disposed coaxially with the door hinge mounting hole 30 on the inner surface of the rear portion 12M in the vehicle width direction. Also, the instrument panel reinforcement mounting holes 32
Are formed at a predetermined interval in the vehicle vertical direction, and a pair of flanges 12L of the apron upper member outer 12 are formed.
A weld nut 36 is disposed coaxially with the instrument panel reinforcement mounting hole 32 on the outside surface in the vehicle width direction.

As shown in FIG. 6, a pipe-shaped instrument panel reinforcement 40 extending along the vehicle width direction is disposed between the front pillars 20 on both sides in the vehicle width direction (the front pillar on the left side of the vehicle is not shown). And a reinforcement bracket 4 having a triangular plate-shaped mounting portion 42A at both ends of the instrument panel reinforcement 40.
2 is fixed.

As shown in FIG. 7, a reinforcement bracket 42 opposing an instrument panel reinforcement mounting hole 32 formed at a joint between the flange 12L of the apron upper member outer 12 and the rear portion 14E of the vertical wall portion 14A of the inner panel 14. Are formed with mounting holes 44, respectively. A bolt 46 is inserted into the mounting hole 44 and the instrument panel reinforcement mounting hole 32 from the inside in the vehicle width direction, and the bolt 46 is screwed to the weld nut 36. Therefore, the flange 12L of the left and right apron upper member outer 12 and the inner panel 14
Of the vertical wall portion 14A is connected to the rear portion 14E by the instrument panel reinforcement 40.

Reference numeral 50 in FIGS. 2 and 7 indicates a fender panel.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the rear end of the closed section 16 of the apron upper member 10 is skewed to the closed section 28 of the front pillar 20. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the vertical wall portion 26 </ b> A of the front pillar outer 26
Is line-welded (welded portion P) to the rear portion 12M of the vertical wall portion 12F of the apron upper member outer 12 along the vehicle front-rear direction at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction by laser welding from the outside in the vehicle width direction. The vertical wall portion 12B and the flange 12E of the apron upper member outer 12 are line-welded to the rear portion 14E of the vertical wall portion 14A of the inner panel 14 along the vehicle front-rear direction by laser welding from the inside in the vehicle width direction. P). As a result, the connection strength between the apron upper member 10 and the front pillar 20 can be improved without a significant increase in weight as compared with the case where the plate thickness of the apron upper member 10 or the front pillar 20 is increased and reinforced.

In this embodiment, since the respective welded portions are line-welded by laser welding, it is possible to prevent water, sound and the like from entering from the joined portions.

In this embodiment, the rear wall portion 1 extending along the vehicle width direction is provided at the rear end of the apron upper member 10.
Since 2K is formed, when a load is applied to the rear end of the apron upper member 10 by the rear wall 12K,
Cross section collapse of the rear end of the apron upper member 10 can be suppressed. As a result, when a load acts on the apron upper member 10 from the front of the vehicle, the load can be effectively transmitted to the belt line 22A of the front side door 22.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the flange 12L of the apron upper member outer 12 is used.
The left and right joints between the inner panel 14 and the rear portion 14E
When the load is applied to the apron upper member 10 from the front of the vehicle due to the connection by the instrument panel reinforcement 40, the rear wall portion 12K of the apron upper member outer 12 retreats, and the rear wall portion 26B of the front pillar outer 26 retreats, The load hits the inner wall portion 22B of the facing front side door 22, and the load can be effectively transmitted to the belt line 22A of the front side door 22. In addition,
In the comparative example shown in FIG. 8 (the left and right joints are not connected by the instrument panel reinforcement 40),
Since the rear wall portion 12K of the apron upper member outer 12 moves in the vehicle width direction (the direction of arrow A in FIG. 8), the load cannot be effectively transmitted to the belt line 22A of the front side door 22.

In the above, the present invention has been described in detail with respect to a specific embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and various other embodiments are included within the scope of the present invention. It is clear to a person skilled in the art that is possible. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the inner panel 14 integrally forms the inner portion of the apron upper member 10 in the vehicle width direction and the inner portion of the front pillar 20 in the vehicle width direction. The inner part in the vehicle width direction and the inner part in the vehicle width direction of the front pillar 20 may be formed by different members.

In the above embodiment, each of the welded portions between the front pillar outer 26, the apron upper member outer 12 and the inner panel 14 is formed by wire welding. May be opened and welded.

[0036]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a rear end portion of an apron upper member having a closed sectional structure extending in the vehicle front-rear direction is skewered into a front pillar having a closed sectional structure extending in the vehicle vertical direction. Since the connection between the apron upper member and the front pillar is made by laser welding, the connection between the apron upper member and the front pillar can be improved without a significant increase in weight.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the apron upper member structure according to the first aspect, a rear wall portion extending along the vehicle width direction is formed at a rear end of the apron upper member. In addition to the effects described in (1), there is an excellent effect that the cross section collapse of the rear end portion of the apron upper member can be suppressed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the apron upper member structure according to any one of the first and second aspects, the joint between the apron upper member and the front pillar is line-welded by laser welding. In addition to the effects described in any one of 1 and 2, there is an excellent effect that water, sound, and the like can be prevented from entering the joint.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the apron upper member structure according to the first aspect, the joining portions on both sides in the vehicle width direction are connected by instrument panel reinforcement. Thus, there is an excellent effect that the load can be effectively transmitted to the door belt line portion.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an apron upper member structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed obliquely from the front outside of a vehicle.

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

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an apron upper member structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed obliquely rearward and outward from the vehicle.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the apron upper member structure according to the embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the obliquely rear inner side of the vehicle.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7-7 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing an apron upper member structure according to a comparative example of the present invention at the time of deformation corresponding to FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a conventional apron upper member structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Apron upper member 12 Apron upper member outer 14 Inner panel 16 Closed section of apron upper member 20 Front pillar 22 Front side door 22A Belt line of front side door 26 Front pillar outer 28 Front section closed cross section 32 Front panel reinforcement attachment Hole 40 Instrument Panel Reinforcement

Claims (4)

[Claims] An apron upper member having a closed cross-sectional structure extending in the vehicle front-rear direction, and a rear end portion of the apron upper member having a closed cross-sectional structure extending in the vehicle vertical direction connected in a skewered state; An apron upper member structure, wherein a joint between the apron and the front pillar is formed by laser welding. 2. A rear end portion of the apron upper member,
The apron upper member structure according to claim 1, wherein a rear wall portion extending along the vehicle width direction is formed. 3. The apron upper member structure according to claim 1, wherein a joint between the apron upper member and the front pillar is line-welded by laser welding. 4. The apron upper member structure according to claim 1, wherein the joints on both sides in the vehicle width direction are connected by instrument panel reinforcement.