JP2003246278A - Front pillar structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a front pillar structure in which the movement of a dashboard to the rearward of a vehicle can be suppressed by reducing the rotation of a dash side member at an impact input time from the forward of the vehicle by improving the rigidity of an entire front pillar. <P>SOLUTION: The front pillar structure comprises a dash side panel 7 arranged at the forward of the vehicle of a front pillar 2, the dash side members 11, 12 arranged at the compartment inside and a compartment outside of the panel 7, a front pillar brace 15 arranged in the pillar 2, so that a closed space S is formed of the brace 15 and the inner wall of the pillar 2. <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 of front pillars provided on both left and right sides of a front part of a vehicle body of a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as shown in FIG. 7, a dash panel 53 for partitioning an engine room 51 and a vehicle interior 52 is provided in the front portion of a vehicle body, and the dash panel 53 has right and left ends. A dash side panel 55 that separates the vehicle interior 52 and the vehicle exterior 54 is provided along the vehicle up-down direction and the front-rear direction. The dash side panel 55 serves as a pillar inner of the front pillar 56 at the rear of the vehicle, and the front pillar 56 is provided outside the pillar inner panel.
A side body outer panel 57 and a hinge reinforcement 58, which are pillar outers, are attached.

Moreover, a dash side inner member 59 is attached to the upper surface of the dash side panel 55 and at a height position which is the forefront of the dash panel 53. When a shock is input from the front of the vehicle, the portion where the dash side inner member 59 is installed receives a large load from the front of the vehicle due to the engine and other front body structure moving to the rear of the vehicle. If the dash side panel 55 in this part is deformed by bending load,
Since the dash panel 53 largely moves rearward of the vehicle, the dash side inner member 59 is additionally provided in the conventional structure in order to suppress the deformation of the dash side panel 55.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional structure, when an impact force is applied from the front of the vehicle to the front of the vehicle body, the dash side inner member 59 itself does not actually deform, and the dash is not deformed. Side panel 55
However, the entire dash side inner member 59 may rotate toward the vehicle interior 52 side. When the central portion of the dash panel 53 is moved to the rear of the vehicle by the engine or the like as a cause of the entire dash side inner member 59 rotating, the front portion of the dash side panel 55 is pulled toward the vehicle interior 52 side, and a bending load is applied. Occur. This bending load deformed the front portion of the dash side panel 55 before the addition of the dash side inner member 59, but is transmitted to the pillar inner portion of the front pillar 56 by the addition of the dash side inner member 59. It was Therefore, the dash side panel 55 of the pillar inner is dented,
Because it will rotate. As a result, the dash panel 53 which is the purpose of installing the dash side inner member 59.
The effect of suppressing the rearward movement of the vehicle was not sufficiently obtained.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to improve the rigidity of the entire front pillar and to reduce the rotation of the dash side member when an impact is input from the front of the vehicle. An object of the present invention is to provide a front pillar structure capable of suppressing the movement of the dash panel to the rear of the vehicle.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, in the present invention, a dash side panel is disposed in front of the front pillar of the vehicle, and the interior side of the dash side panel and the interior of the vehicle. A dash side member is provided on each of the outdoor sides, and a brace is provided in the front pillar, and the brace and the inner wall of the front pillar form a closed space.

Further, in the present invention, the dash side member on the vehicle interior side and the brace are arranged at the same height position in a side view. Further, in the present invention, the dash side member inside and outside the vehicle and the brace are arranged at the same height position in a side view. Further, in the present invention, the brace has a convex portion that protrudes from the outer surface of the inner wall of the front pillar toward the inner surface, and is arranged in a state of contacting at least the front surface, the rear surface, and the outer surface of the inner wall of the front pillar. Moreover, the convex portion of the brace has a surface close to the inner surface of the inner wall of the front pillar. Further, in the present invention, the dash side members inside and outside the vehicle are arranged at substantially the same position in the vehicle front-rear direction.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will now be described in detail based on the illustrated embodiments.

1 to 6 show an embodiment of a front pillar structure according to the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, front pillars 2 having a closed cross-sectional shape extending in the vertical direction of the vehicle body are provided on both left and right sides of a vehicle body front portion 1 in the drawings. Further, a dash panel 5 that partitions an engine room 3 for accommodating an engine body, auxiliary machinery, etc. and a vehicle interior 4 in which a driver or the like gets in is disposed in the front part 1 of the vehicle body. At the vehicle front position of the front pillar 2 at both left and right ends of the vehicle, dash side panels 7 that partition the vehicle interior 4 and the vehicle exterior 6 are provided along the vehicle up-down direction and the front-rear direction.

The dash side panel 7 constitutes a pillar inner of the front pillar 2 at the rear of the vehicle,
On the outer side thereof, a side body outer panel 8, which constitutes a pillar outer of the front pillar 2, a hinge reinforcement 9, and a first front pillar reinforcement 10 are attached in order from the exterior 6 to the interior 4. Then, the side body outer panel 8, the hinge reinforcement 9 and the first front pillar reinforcement 10
Are so formed that they can be overlapped with each other, and the openings thereof are formed in a substantially U-shaped cross-section facing toward the vehicle compartment 4 side and can be joined to each other by spot welding.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a dash side inner member 11 and a dash side outer member 12 are disposed on the vehicle interior 4 side and the vehicle exterior 6 side of the dash side panel 7, respectively. The dash side inner member 11 is attached to the vehicle interior 4 side of the dash side panel 7 at a height position that is the forefront of the dash panel 5, and the front side is joined to the dash side panel 7 and the rear side. Is the second front pillar reinforce 1
It is joined to the dash side panel 7 of the pillar inner via the 3. Also, the dash side outer member 12
Is attached to the exterior 6 side of the dash side panel 7 and the side body outer panel 8, the front side is joined to the dash side panel 7, and the rear side is joined to the side body outer panel 8. Moreover, the dash side inner member 11 and the dash side outer member 12 are arranged at substantially the same position in the vehicle front-rear direction. In addition, in FIG. 2, a third front pillar reinforce 14 is disposed below the first front pillar reinforce 10 and between the dash side panel 7 and the first front pillar reinforce 10. There is.

On the other hand, inside the front pillar 2,
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, a front pillar brace 15 which is a feature of the embodiment of the present invention is arranged, and a closed space S is formed by the brace 15 and the inner wall of the front pillar 2. That is, the brace 15 is located between the dash side panel 7 and the first front pillar reinforce 10, and the brace 15 is located inside the dash side inner member 11.
It is arranged at the same height position as the dash side outer member 12 in a side view, and is attached by welding so as to partition the closed cross section in the front pillar 2.

Therefore, the brace 15 has a convex portion 16 which projects from the outer surface of the inner wall of the front pillar 2 toward the inner surface while reducing its diameter, and the front side is provided around the convex portion 16. Except for this, a wide flange 17 is formed to project. The brace 15 is arranged so as to be in contact with at least the front surface, the rear surface, and the outer surface of the inner wall of the front pillar 2, and the front and rear portions thereof are joined to the hinge reinforce 9 directly or through the flange 17, and the upper and lower portions thereof are joined. Is joined to the first front pillar reinforcement 10 via a flange 17. Moreover, the convex portion 16 of the brace 15 has a flat surface 16a close to the inner surface of the dash side panel 7, which is the inner wall of the front pillar 2. For this reason, the convex portion 16 of the brace 15 is formed by deep drawing or the like to a size that allows it to be as close to the dash side panel 7 as possible.

In the front pillar structure according to the embodiment of the present invention, the flat surface 16a of the convex portion 16 is formed inside the front pillar 2 at the height position where the dash side inner member 11 and the dash side outer member 12 are mounted as much as possible to the dash side panel. 7, the front pillar brace 15 is arranged while forming a closed space S with the first front pillar reinforce 10 of the front pillar 2, and the flange 17 of the brace 15 is attached to the hinge reinforce 9 or the first front pillar. It is obtained by joining the reinforcements 10 to each other by welding and then joining other panels and members to each other by welding (see FIGS. 1 and 3).

In the front pillar structure according to the embodiment of the present invention, the dash side inner member 11 is disposed on the vehicle interior 4 side of the dash side panel 7 whose rear side constitutes the pillar inner of the front pillar 2, and the dash side panel 7 is provided. Dash side outer member 1 on the outside 6 side
2 are arranged, and the front pillar brace 15 is provided at the same height position as the dash side inner member 11 and the dash side outer member 12 in the front pillar 2.
Since the closed space S is formed by the brace 15 and the inner wall of the front pillar 2, the brace 15 of a small component directly reinforces a necessary portion without impairing the degree of freedom of the peripheral structure. You can

Therefore, according to the front pillar structure of this embodiment, when an impact force is input from the front of the vehicle, even if the surface of the dash side panel 7 tries to be recessed by the dash side inner member 11, the added brace 15 is added.
The inner side of the dash side inner member 11 is less likely to be supported, and the dash side inner member 11 is less likely to rotate. Along with that, the entire front pillar 2 is subjected to bending load (torsion load).
However, since the entire cross section of the front pillar 2 is reinforced by the added brace 15 and the rigidity is enhanced, the bending load is dispersed over the entire cross section of the front pillar 2, and the dash side panel in the front pillar 2 is received. It is possible to suppress the deformation of 7, and as a result, it is possible to suppress the movement of the dash panel 5 to the rear of the vehicle.

Further, the front pillar brace 15 of the embodiment of the present invention has a convex portion 16 protruding from the outer surface of the inner wall of the front pillar 2 toward the inner surface, and at least the front surface, the rear surface and the outer surface of the inner wall of the front pillar 2. Is placed in contact with the flat surface 16a of the convex portion 16
Is a dash side panel 7 on the inner wall of the front pillar 2.
Since it is arranged close to the inner surface of the vehicle, it is possible to suppress deformation of the front pillar 2 that occurs when a shock is applied from the front of the vehicle. In addition, in the front pillar structure of the present embodiment, since the brace 15 is attached to the hinge reinforce 9 and the first front pillar reinforce 10 by welding, there is no need to make a large change in the assembly procedure. Good workability can be maintained.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention. is there. For example, front pillar brace 15
The shape of can be appropriately changed according to the cross-sectional shape of the front pillar 2.

[0019]

As described above, in the front pillar structure according to the present invention, the dash side panel is arranged in front of the vehicle of the front pillar, and the dash side members are provided inside and outside the dash side panel. In addition to disposing a brace in the front pillar and forming a closed space between the brace and the inner wall of the front pillar, it is possible to improve the rigidity of the entire front pillar. The rotation of the dash side member when a shock is input from the front can be reduced, and the movement of the dash panel to the rear of the vehicle can be effectively suppressed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a vehicle to which a front pillar structure according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied, and is a perspective view of a front pillar on the front right side from a passenger compartment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing components forming the front pillar of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a front pillar and peripheral components according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which a front pillar brace is attached to the front pillar of the embodiment of the present invention, in which a part of the components is removed and the vehicle is viewed from the right rear side from the inside of the vehicle.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the front pillar brace in the front pillar according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a mounted state of the front pillar brace, in which a part of the components is removed and the vehicle is viewed from the front right side.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the front pillar brace in the front pillar according to the embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the back side.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional front pillar and peripheral components.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 vehicle front 2 front pillar 3 engine room 4 vehicle interior 5 dash panel 6 Outside the car 7 Dash side panel 8 Side body outer panel 9 Hinge Reinforce 10 1st front pillar reinforce 11 Dashside inner member 12 Dash side outer member 13 2nd front pillar reinforcement 14 Third Front Pillar Reinforce 15 front pillar brace 16 convex 17 Flange S closed space

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A dash side panel is arranged in front of a vehicle of a front pillar, dash side members are arranged inside and outside the dash side panel, and a brace is provided in the front pillar. A front pillar structure characterized in that a closed space is formed between the brace and the inner wall of the front pillar. 2. The front pillar structure according to claim 1, wherein the dash side member on the passenger compartment side and the brace are arranged at the same height position in a side view. 3. The front pillar structure according to claim 1, wherein the dash side member inside and outside the vehicle compartment and the brace are arranged at the same height position in a side view. 4. The brace has a convex portion that protrudes from the outer surface of the inner wall of the front pillar toward the inner surface, and is arranged in contact with at least the front surface, the rear surface, and the outer surface of the inner wall of the front pillar. The front pillar structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the convex portion of the brace has a surface close to an inner surface of an inner wall of the front pillar. 5. The front pillar structure according to claim 1, wherein the dash side members inside and outside the vehicle are arranged at substantially the same position in the vehicle front-rear direction.