JP2003252234A - Front body structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce bending moment of a side member at the time of collision by reducing the vertical offset amount of the side member on both front and rear sides of a kick part. <P>SOLUTION: A recessed part 42 for preventing the interference with a rack and pinion steering gear box 44 is formed in the side member 10 on the lower surface side of the front part 12 thereof. The front part 12 of the side member 10 is disposed on the lower side of the rack and pinion steering gear box 44 disposed on the side member 10 on the forward lower part of a kick part 16 along a vehicle lateral direction. Accordingly, the vertical offset amount H of the side member 10 on both front and rear sides of the kick part 16 is small, and a rise angle θ of the kick part 16 at a rear end P is small. <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 vehicle body front structure, and more particularly to a vehicle body front structure which constitutes a skeleton of a vehicle body such as an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an example of a vehicle body front portion structure that constitutes the skeleton of the body front portion of a vehicle such as an automobile is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-191945.

As shown in FIG. 4, in this vehicle body front structure, a front suspension member 101 is provided at a kick portion 100A of a pair of left and right side members 100 provided along the vehicle front-rear direction. The front suspension member 101 is a pair of left and right side member parts 10.
2, 104 and these side member portions 102, 104
Is formed in an I-shape by a rack housing portion 106 that connects the two. The rack housing portion 106 forms a rack housing of the steering gear box, and the rack housing portion 106 is formed on the lower side of the cylindrical portion 108 and And a reinforcing portion 110 having a predetermined width in the direction.

[0004]

However, in such a vehicle body front portion structure, as shown in FIG. 5, the front suspension member is provided below the front portion 100B, which is a portion in front of the kick portion 100A of the side member 100. Since 101 is provided, the front portion 100B of the side member 100 and the rear portion 100C, which is a portion behind the kick portion 100A, are largely offset in the vertical direction (offset amount H), and the rear portion of the kick portion 100A. The rising angle θ at the end P is large. As a result,
When a load F acts on the side member 100 from the front due to a vehicle front collision or the like, the bending moment M increases, the side member 100 is easily broken, and impact energy cannot be absorbed reliably and effectively.

In view of the above facts, an object of the present invention is to obtain a vehicle body front structure capable of reducing the vertical offset amount of the side member before and after the kick portion and reducing the bending moment of the side member at the time of collision.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a front part structure for a vehicle body, wherein a pair of left and right side members are provided along the front-rear direction of the vehicle body and formed with kick parts, and a kick in the side member. A rack-and-pinion steering gear box arranged along the vehicle width direction at the front lower part of the section, and an interference prevention means for preventing interference with the rack-and-pinion steering gear box formed on the side member, It is characterized by having.

Therefore, the side member is provided with interference preventing means for preventing interference with the rack-and-pinion steering gear box, so that the side member is disposed in the lower front portion of the kick portion along the vehicle width direction. The front portion of the kick portion of the side member can be disposed below the rack and pinion steering gear box. As a result, the vertical offset amount before and after the kick portion in the side member can be reduced, and the bending moment of the side member at the time of collision can be reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle body front structure according to the first aspect, there is provided reinforcing means for connecting portions of the side member before and after the interference preventing means to each other.

Therefore, in addition to the contents described in claim 1,
By connecting the portions of the side member before and after the interference prevention means to each other by the reinforcing means, it is possible to reliably reinforce the portion of the side member whose cross-sectional area is reduced and strength is weakened by forming the interference prevention means.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION One embodiment of a vehicle body front structure according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the figure, an arrow FR indicates a vehicle front direction, and an arrow UP indicates a vehicle upward direction.

As shown in FIG. 2, a pair of left and right side members (also referred to as side rails) 10 of the present embodiment are arranged in the vicinity of lower ends of both ends of the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction along the vehicle front-rear direction. Further, the front portion 12 of the side member 10 is offset in the vehicle upward direction with respect to the rear side base portion 14, and between the front portion 12 and the base portion 14 of the side member 10,
A kick portion (also referred to as a kick-up portion) 16 is inclined downward toward the rear of the vehicle.

Further, between the left and right side members 10,
A plurality of cross members 20, 22, extending in the vehicle width direction,
24 are provided. In addition, the left and right side members 10
A suspension member 30 is installed on the kick portion 16 of the suspension member 3, and the suspension member 3 is provided on the front side of the kick portion 16 of the left and right side members 10.
Two are erected.

Although not shown in the drawings, a well-known front suspension is disposed on these suspension members 30 and 32.

As shown in FIG. 1, a bumper reinforcement 40 extending in the vehicle width direction is provided at the front end portion 10A of the side member 10. Further, the front portion 12 of the side member 10 is formed with a semicircular recess 42 as a side view as an interference prevention means from the vehicle lower side. The rack and pinion steering gear box 44 passes through the recess 42 in the vehicle width direction.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the side member 1
The front portion 12 of the side member 10 can be arranged downward while securing a gap 46 between (the lower surface of) the front portion 12 of 0 and the rack and pinion steering gear box 44.

Further, in this embodiment, the side member 10
The front and rear parts of the recess 42 are connected to each other by the suspension member 32 which also serves as a reinforcing means.

Reference numeral 50 in FIG. 1 indicates a drive shaft which is arranged between the suspension member 30 and the suspension member 32 along the vehicle width direction.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the recess 42 for preventing the interference with the rack and pinion steering gear box 44 is formed on the lower surface side of the front portion 12 of the side member 10, so that the side The front portion 12 of the side member 10 is located at a lower position with respect to the rack-and-pinion steering gear box 44 arranged in the lower front portion of the kick portion 16 of the member 10 along the vehicle width direction, in the present embodiment, the drive shaft. It can be arranged at substantially the same position as 50.

As a result, since the vertical offset amount H before and after the kick portion 16 of the side member 10 can be reduced, the rising angle θ at the rear end P of the kick portion 16 is reduced.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the bending moment M is reduced when the load F is applied to the side member 10 from the front due to a vehicle front collision or the like. Therefore, the side member 10 is unlikely to break, and the impact energy can be reliably and effectively absorbed. Further, the mass and the cost can be reduced as compared with the configuration in which the side member using a large number of reinforcing members is hard to be broken.

Further, in this embodiment, since the front and rear portions of the recess 42 of the side member 10 are connected to each other by the suspension member 32, the formation of the recess 42 reduces the cross-sectional area and weakens the strength. The part of the side member 10 can be reliably reinforced.

In the above, the present invention has been described in detail with respect to specific embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and various other embodiments within the scope of the present invention. It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that For example, in the side member 10 of the above embodiment,
As shown in FIG. 1, on the front portion 12 of the side member 10,
Although the semicircular recess 42 is formed from the vehicle lower side as an interference prevention unit in a side view, the interference prevention unit is not limited to the recess 42, and other configurations such as holes and cutouts may be used. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, a through hole 60 is formed in the front portion 12 of the side member 10 as an interference preventing means, and the inside of the through hole 60 is used for the rack and pinion steering gear box 4
4 may pass in the vehicle width direction. In this case, in order to prevent the cross-sectional area of the portion of the side member 10 where the through hole 60 is formed from decreasing and the strength of this portion from decreasing, the through hole 60 in the side member 10 is prevented.
The outer peripheral portion 62 is bulged in a circular arc shape in the vertical direction of the vehicle to serve as a reinforcing means.

Further, in the above embodiment, the side member 1
The front and rear parts of the recess 42 of 0 are connected to each other by the suspension member 32 which also serves as a reinforcing means.
The reinforcement means is not limited to the suspension member 32, and the front and rear portions of the recess 42 of the side member 10 may be connected to each other by a dedicated reinforcement means such as reinforcement.

[0026]

According to the structure of the vehicle body front portion of the present invention as defined in claim 1, a pair of left and right side members are provided along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body and formed with a kick portion, and a front lower portion of the kick portion of the side members. Since the rack-and-pinion steering gear box arranged along the vehicle width direction and the interference preventing means for preventing the interference with the rack-and-pinion steering gear box formed on the side member, the kick in the side member is provided. This has an excellent effect that the vertical offset amount before and after the portion can be reduced and the bending moment of the side member at the time of collision can be reduced.

The present invention according to claim 2 is the vehicle body front structure according to claim 1, which further comprises reinforcing means for connecting the front and rear portions of the interference preventing means of the side member to each other. In addition to the effect, there is an excellent effect that the portion of the side member provided with the interference prevention means can be reliably reinforced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a vehicle body front structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the vehicle body frame to which the vehicle body front structure relating to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is applied, as seen obliquely from the front of the vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing a vehicle body front structure according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional vehicle body front structure.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing a conventional vehicle body front structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Side Member 12 Front Part of Side Member 14 Base Part of Side Member 16 Kick Part of Side Member 32 Suspension Member (Reinforcing Means) 42 Recess of Side Member (Interference Preventing Means) 44 Rack and Pinion Steering Gear Box 46 Gap 60 Through Hole ( Interference prevention means) 62 Outer peripheral portion of through hole (reinforcing means)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A pair of left and right side members arranged along the vehicle body front-rear direction and having a kick portion, and a rack and pinion arranged along the vehicle width direction at a lower front portion of the kick portion of the side members. A vehicle body front structure, comprising: a steering gear box; and an interference prevention unit formed on the side member to prevent interference with the rack and pinion steering gear box. 2. The vehicle body front structure according to claim 1, further comprising reinforcing means for connecting front and rear portions of the side member to the interference prevention means to each other.