JP2003220971A - Mounting structure of steering beam to car body - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it easy to mount a steering beam to a car body. <P>SOLUTION: A car body side bracket 40 (first connecting member) is provided on both sides of the car body 10. A beam side bracket 50 (second connecting member) is also provided on both ends of the steering beam 30. In the case of mounting, a pair of supporting boards 42, 43 of the car body side bracket 40 is clamped with a pair of supported boards 52, 53 by sliding the beam side bracket 50 toward the front of the vehicle. A connected board 56 of the bracket 50 is connected abutting against a connecting board 46 of the bracket 40 in this state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure for mounting a steering beam on a vehicle body of a vehicle, and more particularly to a mounting structure suitable for a steering beam modularized integrally with an instrument panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a vehicle is provided with a steering beam for supporting a steering shaft. For example, the left end of the steering beam is adapted to be hooked on the left side of the front side of the vehicle body.
In this hooked state, the right end is bolted and fixed while horizontally supporting the steering beam, and then the left end is bolted and fixed. As a result, the steering beam can be attached to the vehicle body.

[0003]

On the other hand, in some cases, an instrument panel is integrally attached to the steering beam in advance and is modularized. Electrical instruments such as instruments and car audios are attached to the instrument panel. So, as mentioned above,
Even if the left end of the steering beam is hooked on the left side of the vehicle body, it takes force to support the module horizontally,
It was not easy to tighten the bolts in that state.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to a structure for attaching a steering beam extending in the vehicle width direction to a vehicle body. First connecting members are provided on both sides of the vehicle body. The first connecting member is
A pair of upper and lower support plates (supporting portions) and a connecting plate (first connecting portion) are integrally provided. The first connecting member is preferably formed of sheet metal and fixed to the vehicle body by bolting or welding. Second connecting members are provided at both ends of the steering beam. The second connecting member integrally has a pair of upper and lower supported plates (supported portions) and a connected plate (second coupling portion). It is desirable that the second connecting member is formed of sheet metal and is welded and fixed to a steel pipe-shaped steering beam. It is preferable that the connecting plate and the plate to be connected are perpendicular to each other in the vehicle width direction, and further, it is preferable that the connecting plate and the plate to be connected are arranged at end portions of the connecting members on the vehicle rear side. When the steering beam is mounted on the vehicle body, the steering beam is slid forward of the vehicle so that one of the pair of support plates and the pair of supported plates sandwiches the other, thereby reducing the load of the steering beam. It is supported and prevented from rotating. In this state, the plate to be connected is butted against the plate to be connected.

Here, it is preferable that the pair of supported plates of the second connecting member sandwich the pair of support plates of the first connecting member from above and below, and the upper supported plate and the upper supported plate are supported. It is desirable that the plates be horizontal and extend in the vehicle front-rear direction. Further, the lower support plate of the first connecting member inclines upward toward the rear of the vehicle, and the lower supported plate of the second connecting member horizontally extends in the vehicle front-rear direction, It is desirable that the support plate is applied to the front portion of the vehicle from below. It is desirable that the upper supported plate projects forward of the vehicle from the lower supported plate.

The steering beam is modularized integrally with the instrument panel, and one of the instrument panel and the vehicle body is provided with a fitting projection protruding in the vehicle front-rear direction, and the other is provided with the fitting projection. And a length along the vehicle front-rear direction of the upper supported plate of the second connecting member is larger than the amount of insertion of the fitting convex portion into the receiving hole, the upper supported plate. It is desirable that insertion of the fitting protrusion into the receiving hole be started after the plate is placed on the upper support plate of the first connecting member.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 8 shows a vehicle 1, and FIG. 1 shows a part of the vehicle 1 according to the main part of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, a vehicle body 10 of a vehicle 1 is provided with a toe board 11, an engine room 10a is arranged on the front side of the toe board 11, and a vehicle room 10b is arranged on the rear side thereof. There is. An instrument panel-steering beam integrated module 20 is provided in the front portion of the vehicle interior 10b.

FIG. 2 shows the module 20 before it is mounted on the vehicle body 10. As shown in the figure and FIG. 8, the module 20 includes a steering beam 3
0 and the instrument panel 21. The steering beam 30 is made of a steel pipe and extends in the vehicle width direction (the direction orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG. 2).

The instrument panel 21 is made by injection molding a resin such as polypropylene (PPG) containing glass fiber or polypropylene (PPF) containing filler, and extends in the vehicle width direction so as to cover the steering beam 30. The steering beam 30 and the instrument panel 21 are connected via a bracket 22. The bracket 22 also serves as a storage box for a car audio 23 described later.

The instrument panel 21 incorporates various equipment such as a car audio 23, an air conditioner unit 24, and an air conditioner operation panel 25. The car audio 23 is arranged on the upper side of the steering beam 30, the air conditioner operation panel 25 is arranged on the rear side of the steering beam 30 (the side of the vehicle compartment 10b), and the air conditioner unit 24 is arranged on the steering beam 3 side.
0 is arranged on the lower side and the front side (engine room 10a side). In this way, the steering beam 30 is arranged in the middle of the module 20 so as to be surrounded by various equipment.

As shown in FIG. 1, a positioning pin 21a (fitting protrusion) is provided on the upper side of the instrument panel 21.
Is horizontally projected toward the front of the vehicle. The positioning pin 21a is in the vehicle width direction (direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG. 1).
A plurality of them are provided separately. These positioning pins 21
The tip of a has a positioning hole 13a formed in the vehicle body 11.
(Reception hole).

On the front side plate of the air conditioner unit 24, a plurality of pipes 24a (fitting convex portions) are horizontally projected. These pipes 24a are passed through pipe insertion holes 11a (reception holes) formed in the toe board 11 of the vehicle body 11. And it is connected to the pipe 12 arranged in the engine room 10a.

A structure for supporting the module 20 on the vehicle body 10 will be described. FIG. 3 shows a main part of the vehicle body 10 before the module 20 is attached. FIG. 8 and FIG.
As shown in, vehicle body side brackets 40 (first connecting members) are provided on both sides of the vehicle body 10. (Note that
In FIG. 3, the left side of the vehicle body 10 is arranged along the plane of the drawing, and the bracket 4 attached to this left side is arranged.
0 is shown. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, beam-side brackets 50 (second connecting members) are provided at both ends of the steering beam 30. The module 20 is supported by the vehicle body 10 by connecting the brackets 40 and 50 to each other. The details will be described below.

As best shown in FIG. 5, the vehicle body side bracket 40 is made of sheet metal and has a support portion 41.
And a pair of fixing plates 45 and a pair of connecting plates 46. The support portion 41 includes a pair of upper and lower support plates 42 and 43,
A vertical abdominal plate 44 connecting the support plates 42, 43
And have a U-shaped cross section. Upper support plate 42
Is horizontal. On the other hand, the lower support plate 43 is inclined so as to incline upward toward the vehicle rear side. As a result, the distance between the edges of the upper and lower support plates 43, 44 on the vehicle rear side is smaller than the distance between the edges on the vehicle front side.

The pair of fixing plates 45 extend vertically from the edges of the support plates 42, 43 on the side of the vehicle body in a vertical direction along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. These fixing plates 45 are bolts 4
It is fixed to the vehicle body 10 by 9.

The pair of connecting plates 46 extend vertically along the vehicle width direction and are connected to the edges of the fixing plates 45 on the vehicle rear side. A gap 40a is formed between the upper coupling plate 46 and the edge of the support plate 42 on the vehicle rear side. Similarly, a gap 40b is formed between the lower connecting plate 46 and the edge of the support plate 43 on the vehicle rear side. The upper edge of the lower connecting plate 46 is located at substantially the same height as the vehicle front side edge of the support plate 43 (see FIG. 1).

Next, the beam side bracket 50 will be described. The beam-side bracket 50 is formed of sheet metal, and includes a supported portion 51 and a pair of connected plates 56. The supported portion 51 includes a pair of upper and lower supported plates 52,
It has 53 and a vertical abdominal plate 54 that connects the supported plates 52, 53, and has a U-shaped cross section. Abdominal plate 5
The vehicle rear side of No. 4 is welded to the end of the steering beam 30. The edge of the abdominal plate 54 on the vehicle front side is obliquely cut so as to project upward.

The upper and lower supported plates 52, 53 are horizontal and extend in the vehicle front-rear direction. As the abdominal plate 54 is cut off obliquely, the upper supported plate 52 projects toward the front of the vehicle from the lower supported plate 53. Supported plate 52,
The length of 53 in the vehicle front-rear direction is determined by the positioning pin 21a.
Is sufficiently larger than the amount of insertion into the hole 13a and the amount of insertion of the pipe 24a into the hole 11a. These supported plates 52, 53
The space between them is the support plate 4 of the bracket 40 on the vehicle body side.
It is almost the same as the distance between the edges of the vehicle front side of Nos. 2 and 43.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, the upper supported plate 52 is passed through the gap 40a of the vehicle body side bracket 40 and placed on the upper surface of the upper support plate 42. on the other hand,
The lower supported plate 53 is passed through the gap 40b and is applied to the edge of the inclined lower support plate 43 on the vehicle front side from below. As a result, the pair of supported plates 52, 53 sandwich the pair of supporting plates 42, 43 from above and below. As a result,
The steering beam 30 and thus the entire module 20 are stably supported by the vehicle body 10 via brackets 50 and 40.

The pair of connected plates 56 of the bracket 50 are
It extends vertically from the edges of the supported plates 52, 53 on the vehicle compartment 10b side (rear side) along the vehicle width direction. The connected plate 56 is applied to the connecting plate 46 of the vehicle body side bracket 40 from the vehicle rear side. Then, they are connected by bolts 59. Since each bracket 40, 50 is made of sheet metal and has a relatively simple shape, it can be easily and inexpensively manufactured.

A method of mounting the module 20 on the vehicle body 10 in the above structure will be described. The vehicle body side brackets 40 are attached to both sides of the vehicle body 10 in advance. Then, the module 20 is put into the vehicle interior 10b. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the beam side brackets 50 at both ends are provided.
Is opposed to the vehicle body side bracket 40. In that state, the module 20 is translated in front of the vehicle. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, the beam side bracket 50
The upper and lower supported plates 52, 53 of the vehicle body side bracket 40
Can be inserted into the gaps 40a and 40b, respectively. At this time, the support plates 42, 43 of the vehicle body side bracket 40
The distance between the rear edges of the vehicle is the beam side bracket 5.
Since it is smaller than the distance between the supported plates 52 and 53 of 0, the inserting operation of the beam side bracket 50 can be performed easily and quickly. Moreover, since the upper supported plate 52 projects forward of the vehicle from the lower supported plate 53, first insert the supported plate 52 into the gap 40a, and then insert the supported plate 53 into the gap 40b. Therefore, the inserting operation can be further facilitated.

The upper supported plate 52 of the beam side bracket 50 can be placed on the upper surface of the upper side support plate 42 of the vehicle body side bracket 40. As a result, a part of the load of the module 20 can be carried by the vehicle body 10 via the bracket 40, and the burden on the operator can be reduced.

Thereafter, the module 20 is further slid forward of the vehicle using the support plate 42 as a guide. Then, eventually, the lower supported plate 53 of the beam side bracket 50 comes into contact with the vehicle front side edge of the lower side support plate 43 of the vehicle body side bracket 40 from below. As a result, the pair of supported plates 52 and 53 of the beam side bracket 50 sandwich the support plates 42 and 43 of the vehicle body side bracket 40 from above and below. As a result, the load of the module 20 is applied to the vehicle body 1
Not only can it be shared by 0, but module 2
It is also possible to prevent 0 from rotating under its own weight, and the burden on the operator can be further reduced. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the pipe 24a of the air conditioner unit 24 can be easily aligned and inserted into the hole 11a of the toe board 11 without requiring much force,
Further, the positioning pin 21 of the instrument panel 21
The a can be easily aligned and inserted into the positioning hole 13a of the vehicle body 11. By this insertion operation, the module 20 can be accurately positioned with respect to the vehicle body 10.

Thereafter, the module 20 is further slid forward of the vehicle. As a result, as shown in FIG. 1, the positioning pin 21a is completely fitted into the hole 13a of the vehicle body 10, and the front side plate of the air conditioner unit 24 abuts the toe board 11 of the vehicle body 10. The pipe 12 is fitted and connected to the pipe 24a protruding from the toe board 11 toward the engine room 10a.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 7, at the same time when the air conditioner unit 24 hits the toe board 11, at the same time as the connected plate 56 of the beam side bracket 50.
Hits the connecting plate 46 of the vehicle body side bracket 40, and the bolt holes 46a and 56a of these plates 46 and 56 are aligned. In this state, the module 20 is stably supported by the vehicle body 10 via the brackets 40 and 50. Therefore, the operator can pass the bolt 59 through the bolt holes 46a and 56a and tighten the nut with a nut (not shown) without supporting the module 20 by himself.
As a result, the connecting work between the connecting plates 46 and 56 can be performed easily and surely, and thus the module 2
0 can be easily attached to the vehicle body 10.

The module 20 includes a steering beam 3
0 and the instrument panel 20 are integrated, it is not necessary to separately attach the steering beam 30 and the instrument panel 20 to the vehicle body 10, and the work time can be shortened.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but various modifications can be made. For example, the support portion 41 of the vehicle body side bracket 40 may sandwich the support portion 51 of the beam side bracket 50. Car body 1
0 may be provided with a fitting protrusion and the module 20 may be provided with a receiving hole.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the steering beam can be stably supported on the vehicle body by sandwiching the supporting plate and the supported plate,
The plates to be connected can be easily and surely connected, and by extension, the work of attaching the steering beam to the vehicle body can be easily performed. By sandwiching the support plate of the first connecting member from above and below by the supported plate of the second connecting member, the upper supported plate can be placed on the upper supporting plate, and further the horizontal upper supporting plate can be used as a guide for the upper side. The supported plate and thus the steering beam can be slid forward of the vehicle. By inclining the lower support plate of the first connecting member toward the rear of the vehicle, the second connecting member can be easily inserted into the first connecting member. By modularizing the steering beam integrally with the instrument panel, the assembly work can be facilitated and the work time can be further shortened. Further, by making the length of the upper supported plate of the second connecting member larger than the insertion amount of the fitting convex portion, the upper convex support plate is placed on the upper supporting plate and the fitting convex portion is received in the receiving hole in a stable state. The position can be adjusted, and the burden on the operator can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a main part of a vehicle according to the present invention with an instrument panel-steering beam integrated module attached to a vehicle body.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the module.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the vehicle body.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a stage in which the module is being attached to the vehicle body.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a vehicle body side bracket and a beam side bracket.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an initial stage of an operation of inserting the beam side bracket into the vehicle body side bracket.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a stage after the beam side bracket has been inserted into the vehicle body side bracket.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the vehicle.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 10 Vehicle body 11a Pipe insertion hole (reception hole) 13a Positioning hole (reception hole) 20 Instrument panel-steering beam integrated module 21 Instrument panel 21a Positioning pin (fitting convex part) 24a Pipe (fitting convex part) 30 Steering Beam 40 Vehicle Side Bracket (First Connecting Member) 42 Upper Support Plate 43 Lower Support Plate 46 Connecting Plate 50 Beam Side Bracket (Second Connecting Member) 52 Upper Supported Plate 53 Lower Supported Plate 56 Connected Plate

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Kazuyoshi Nakano             2-1-1 Taoyuan, Ikeda-shi, Osaka Daiha             Tsu Industry Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tsuyoshi Nishimura             330 Yura, Ota City, Gunma Shigeru Industrial Stock Association             In-house F term (reference) 3D003 AA11 AA18 BB02 CA05 CA06                       CA07 DA09

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A structure for attaching a steering beam extending in the vehicle width direction to a vehicle body, comprising: a first connecting member integrally provided with a pair of upper and lower support plates and a connecting plate; A pair of supported plates and a second connecting member integrally provided with the connected plates and provided at both ends of the steering beam, wherein the steering beam is slid forward of the vehicle during the mounting. One of the support plate and the pair of supported plates sandwiches the other,
With this, the load of the steering beam is supported and rotation is prevented, and in this state, the plate to be connected is brought into contact with and connected to the connecting plate, whereby the structure for mounting a steering beam on a vehicle body. 2. The pair of supported plates of the second connecting member,
The pair of support plates of the first connecting member are sandwiched from above and below, and further, the upper supported plate and the upper support plate both extend horizontally in the vehicle longitudinal direction. The structure for mounting a steering beam on a vehicle body according to claim 1. 3. A support plate on the lower side of the first connecting member is inclined upward toward the rear of the vehicle, and a support plate on the lower side of the second connecting member is horizontal and extends in the vehicle front-rear direction. The structure for mounting a steering beam on a vehicle body according to claim 2, wherein the steering beam is extended and is applied to a portion of the lower support plate on the vehicle front side from below. 4. The steering beam is modularized integrally with an instrument panel, and one of the instrument panel and the vehicle body is provided with a fitting protrusion protruding in the vehicle front-rear direction, and the other is fitted with the fitting beam. The receiving hole of the fitting convex portion is provided, and the length of the upper supported plate of the second connecting member along the vehicle front-rear direction is larger than the insertion amount of the fitting convex portion into the receiving hole, The vehicle body according to claim 2 or 3, wherein insertion of the fitting convex portion into the receiving hole is started after the supported plate is placed on the upper supporting plate of the first connecting member. Steering beam mounting structure.