JP2004322837A - Front structure of vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem that a bumper reinforcement moves back at a collision of a vehicle, and a radiator unit held by a side member interferes with the bumper reinforcement to damage a capacitor and a radiator, in a front structure having the radiator unit including the radiator at the back of the bumper reinforcement. <P>SOLUTION: The radiator unit 2 is fixed to the bumper reinforcement 1 by a mounting member 10 or directly. Otherwise, the radiator unit 2 is mounted to a crash box 3, and at the collision of the vehicle, the bumper reinforcement 1 and the radiator unit 2 are moved back while a first space S<SB>1</SB>between the bumper reinforcement 1 and the radiator unit 2 is maintained as it is. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle front structure in which dimensions are maintained between a bumper reinforcement and an air conditioner condenser and a radiator at the time of a vehicle collision.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A front structure in which a radiator unit including at least a condenser for an air conditioner, a radiator, a radiator support, and a shroud with a fan motor is provided in front of the engine of the vehicle.
The radiator unit is supported on the vehicle body by bolting a radiator support to a bracket fixed to a side member.
[0003]
In the front structure of the actual vehicle, a first space is provided between the bumper reinforcement and the condenser, and a second space is provided between the radiator unit and the engine, and the radiator unit is provided for the bumper reinforcement and the engine. It prevents contact due to vibration during driving.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2001-219869
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When a vehicle collides, the load acting on the bumper reinforce deforms the bumper reinforce and the crash box (disposed between the bumper reinforce and the side member), and the condenser or radiator of the radiator unit in which the bumper reinforce is held by the side member Approach and eventually interfere, damaging the condenser and radiator.
[0006]
To prevent such an accident, it is conceivable to increase the first space between the bumper reinforcement and the condenser to prevent interference with the bumper reinforcement and the condenser, but this unnecessarily increases the front overhang. This is not preferred.
[0007]
Damage to the condenser or radiator caused by the interference of the bumper reinforcement with the condenser or radiator results in the replacement of the condenser or radiator. Condensers and radiators are expensive components and increase the economic burden on users in the event of an accident.
[0008]
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-described disadvantages of the related art.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention basically employs a means for fixing a radiator unit to a member that moves rearward in the event of a vehicle collision, in order to solve the above-described problem.
[0010]
The adoption of this means means that the radiator unit follows the bumper reinforce even if the bumper reinforces the load due to the collision of the vehicle and the first space between the bumper reinforce and the radiator unit remains unchanged. It is secured and there is no interference between bumper reinforcement and condenser or radiator.
Securing the first space makes the second space between the radiator unit and the engine smaller, and in some cases, causes interference between the shroud constituting the radiator unit and the engine. However, replacement due to damage to the shroud is less expensive than replacement of condensers and radiators, and the user's economic burden is small.
[0011]
According to the present invention, a radiator unit provided in a space behind a bumper reinforcement extending in a vehicle width direction of a vehicle and in front of an engine and provided with at least a condenser and a radiator support for holding a radiator is moved rearward in a vehicle collision. A front structure of a vehicle is provided, which is fixed to a moving member.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
The front structure of the vehicle has a radiator unit 2 behind a bumper reinforcement 1 extending in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle. The bumper reinforcement 1 is fixed to a side member 4 via a crash box 3.
[0013]
The radiator unit 2 is located in front of an engine (not shown) and has a radiator support 5. The radiator support 5 made of an aluminum alloy extruded shape or a steel material is formed of a U-shaped support lower 6 in a front view and a U-shaped support upper 7 in a plan view.
The radiator support 5 holds the condenser 8 for the air conditioner and the radiator 9, and further holds a shroud (not shown) with a fan motor, and constitutes the radiator unit 2.
[0014]
The bumper reinforcement 1, the radiator unit 2, the crash box 3, and the side members 4 have known structures. Between the front surface and the radiator unit 2 after the bumper reinforcement 1 second space S ₂ is ensured between the first space S _1, the radiator unit 2 and the engine (see Figure 2).
[0015]
Please refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. The radiator support 5 is fixed to a rear surface of the bumper reinforce 1 and is fixed to a mounting member 10 having a channel shape in section extending along the opposite side of the radiator support 5.
The length of the mounting member 10 is not particularly limited, but is larger than the vertical dimension of the bumper reinforcement 1. The cross-sectional shape of the mounting member 10 is not limited to the illustrated example.
In the example shown in FIG. 2, the side of the radiator support 5 is fixed to the bumper reinforcement 1 via the mounting member 10, but the bottom of the radiator support 5 may be fixed to the bumper reinforcement 1 via the pair of mounting members 10. Good.
[0016]
Please refer to FIG. When the vehicle collides and the load F acts on the bumper reinforce 1, the crash box 3 is crushed and the bumper reinforce 1 retreats. Since the radiator unit 2 is fixed through a mounting member 10 to the bumper reinforcement 1, a radiator unit 2 retracts with the bumper reinforcement 1, a first space S ₁ keeps the dimensions of the front collision. For this reason, the bumper reinforcement 1 does not interfere with the radiator unit 2.
Retraction of the radiator unit 2 is to reduce the second space S ₂ not interfere with the engine. On the other hand, even if the shroud of the radiator unit 2 interferes with the engine, the damage amount does not increase.
[0017]
In the example shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the opposite side of the radiator support 5 is directly bolted to the bumper reinforcement 1.
In this embodiment, the bumper reinforcement 1 retreats by the vehicle collision, since the radiator unit 2 also follow this retraction, the first space S ₁ is maintained, there is no interference with the bumper reinforcement 1 and the radiator unit 2.
[0018]
6 and 7, the opposite side of the radiator support 5 is bolted to the side of the crash box 3. The crash box has a pair of upper and lower flanges 11 along the side of the radiator support 5, and these flanges 11, 11 are fixed to the side of the radiator support 5 using bolts 12, 12.
In this example, crushed crash boxes 3 by a vehicle collision, the bumper reinforcement 1 is retracted, as a first space S ₁ is there may be some smaller, the radiator unit 2 is retracted together with the bumper reinforcement 1, a bumper Reinforce 1 does not interfere with radiator unit 2.
[0019]
According to the present invention, in the event of a vehicle collision, the radiator unit retreats together with the bumper reinforcement and maintains the space therebetween, so that there is no interference of the bumper reinforcement with the radiator unit.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a front structure according to an example of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of mounting a radiator support according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a state at the time of a vehicle collision in the example shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an example in which a radiator support is directly attached to a bumper reinforcement.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VV in FIG.
FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an example in which a radiator support is fixed to a crash box.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 bumper reinforcement 2 radiator unit 3 crash box 4 side member 5 radiator support 8 condenser 9 radiator 10 mounting member 11 flange

Claims (4)

A radiator unit, which is arranged in a space behind the bumper reinforcement extending in the vehicle width direction and in front of the engine and has at least a condenser and a radiator support for holding a radiator, is fixed to a member that moves rearward in the event of a vehicle collision. A front structure of a vehicle, characterized in that: The vehicle front structure according to claim 1, wherein the moving member is a bumper reinforce or a member directly attached to the bumper reinforce. The vehicle front structure according to claim 1, wherein the moving member is a crash box between the bumper reinforcement and the side member. 4. The vehicle front structure according to claim 2, wherein the radiator support constituting the radiator unit is fixed to the moving member.

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