JP2005335579A - Body front structure of automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To positively support a suspension tower by a front pillar without lowering the efficiency of conveyance and assembly. <P>SOLUTION: Acting force to a vehicle rear part applied to the suspension tower 7 is received by the front pillar 3 through a bracket 61 in a cowl panel 6, a brace 5 and a gusset 2 connected in series with one another in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle. A means for temporarily connecting the brace 5 to the gusset 2 is provided, and in the temporarily connected state, the brace 5 can be moved and adjusted within a fixed range in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle with respect to the gusset 2. The temporary connecting means is composed of an elliptic mounting hole extending in the moving-adjusting direction, and a clip mounted into the mounting hole. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle body front structure of an automobile, and more particularly to an improvement of a suspension tower support structure.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of a front body structure of an automobile. 7, the suspension tower 7 is positioned in front of the cowl panel 6, and the front end of a bracket 61 attached to the cowl panel 6 in the vehicle front-rear direction is joined to the rear end of the suspension tower 7 as shown in FIG. ing. The rear end of the bracket 61 is welded to the standing wall 62 of the cowl panel 6 by a flange portion (not shown). In FIG. 7, a substantially rectangular plate-like brace 5 is disposed behind the cowl panel 6 in the vehicle front-rear direction, its front end is bolted to the cowl panel 6, and its rear end is at the front edge of the gusset 2. It is fixed integrally by welding. The gusset 2 has a structure that is commonly used on the left and right sides of the vehicle. The gusset 2 has an open container shape in which the entire circumference of the bottom plate 21 of a substantially right triangle is surrounded by side walls 22, 23, and 24. Bolts are fixed and open toward the inside of the vehicle.

The gusset 2 is provided with the side walls 22 and 23 along the substantially orthogonal short sides facing forward and downward, respectively, and an unillustrated instrument panel reinhose is formed in the recessed portion 241 of the side wall 24 facing obliquely upward along the oblique side. The end of the ment is fitted and fixed by the holder. The action force applied to the suspension tower 7 toward the rear of the vehicle is received by the front pillar 3 from the bracket 61 via the cowl panel 6, the brace 5 and the gusset 2. Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle body front structure in which a brace is used to improve the coupling strength between a suspension tower and a front pillar.
JP2000-219158

  By the way, in the conventional vehicle body front structure described above, the brace 5 and the gusset 2 are integrated by welding for the convenience of transportation to the production line and assembly. On the other hand, since the position of the standing wall 62 of the cowl panel 6 fluctuates back and forth due to an assembly error of the body and the like, a weld bolt 621 is erected on the surface of the standing wall 62 of the cowl panel 6 as shown in FIG. The front end flange 52 is connected to the upright wall 62 by an appropriate gap d for absorbing errors, and is joined by nut tightening. However, such a structure often causes poor tightening at the front end portion of the brace 5 and is inefficient in transmitting the acting force (arrow in FIG. 7) applied to the suspension tower 7 to the front pillar 3. There was a problem of lack of certainty of tower support.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle body front structure that can reliably support a suspension tower with a front pillar without reducing the efficiency of transportation and assembly. To do.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, the action force to the rear of the vehicle acting on the suspension tower (7) is applied to the bracket (61) and the brace of the cowl panel (6) coupled in series with each other in the vehicle longitudinal direction. (5) and means (1, 531) for temporarily joining the brace (5) and the gusset (2) in the vehicle body front structure received by the front pillar (3) via the gusset (2). The brace (5) can be adjusted in a predetermined range in the vehicle front-rear direction with respect to the gusset (2) in the provisionally coupled state. The “temporary coupling means” is provided in the brace (5), and is attached to the gusset (2) through the oval mounting hole (531) extending in the movement adjustment direction and the mounting hole (531). The clip (1) can be used.

  In the present invention, even if there is an assembly error of the body, the brace in the temporarily coupled state can be moved and adjusted with respect to the gusset in the vehicle front-rear direction so that the front end can be closely integrated with the rear end of the bracket. After that, the main force of the suspension tower is efficiently transmitted to the front pillar by main coupling of the brace and the gusset. And since a brace and a gusset are integrated in the temporary coupling | bonding state, the convenience of conveyance or an assembly | attachment is not impaired.

  In addition, the code | symbol in the said parenthesis shows the correspondence with the specific means as described in embodiment mentioned later.

  As described above, according to the vehicle body front structure of the present invention, the suspension tower can be reliably supported by the front pillar without reducing the efficiency of transportation and assembly.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of a front body structure of an automobile. Its basic structure is the same as the conventional one already described, and the same reference numerals are given to the same parts. In FIG. 1, the suspension tower 7 is located in front of the cowl panel 6, and the front end of a bracket 61 provided in the cowl panel 6 in the vehicle front-rear direction is joined to the rear end of the suspension tower 7 as shown in FIG. ing. The rear end 611 of the bracket 61 rises in contact with the front surface of the standing wall 62 of the cowl panel 6, and the bolt 521 is integrally formed with the front end flange 52 of the brace 5 positioned in contact with the rear surface of the standing wall 62 via the standing wall 62. Are bound by. The brace 5 is a substantially rectangular plate-like body, and as shown in FIG. 1, is disposed behind the cowl panel 6 in the vehicle front-rear direction, and the rear end is coupled to the gusset 2 with a structure to be described later. As shown in FIG. 3, the brace 5 is formed with a rib 51 extending in the longitudinal direction in the upper half of the plate surface, and a reinforcing plate 9 in which a rib 91 extending in the longitudinal direction is formed in the lower half of the plate surface. Joined at the upper and lower edges, the lower half of the brace 5 has a cylindrical closed cross-sectional structure in which a space S1 extending in the longitudinal direction is formed. As a result, the brace 5 is improved in rigidity in the longitudinal direction, and the transmission of the acting force from the suspension tower 7 described later is favorably performed.

  The gusset 2 has a structure that is commonly used on the left and right sides of the vehicle. The gusset 2 has an open container shape in which the entire circumference of the bottom plate 21 of a substantially right triangle is surrounded by side walls 22, 23, and 24. Bolts are fixed and open toward the inside of the vehicle. The gusset 2 is provided with the side walls 22 and 23 along the substantially orthogonal short sides facing forward and downward, respectively, and an unillustrated instrument panel reinhose is provided in the recessed portion 241 of the side wall 24 facing obliquely upward along the oblique side. The end of the ment is fitted and fixed by the holder.

  4 is a perspective view of the brace 5 and the gusset 2 as seen from the back side, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line V-V in FIG. The rear end portion 53 of the brace 5 is positioned along the bottom surface 21 of the gusset 2, and the fitting type clip 1 is attached to the plate surface of the rear end portion 53 at two upper and lower portions. As shown in FIG. 6, the mounting holes 25 and 531 of the clip 1 are formed with a circular hole 25 slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the shaft portion of the clip 1 on the bottom surface 21 of the gusset 2, while the rear end portion of the brace 5 An oblong mounting hole 531 extending in the front-rear direction (left-right direction in FIG. 6) is formed on the 53 plate surface.

  With such a structure, when the brace 5 is sandwiched between the head of the clip 1 and the gusset 2, the brace 5 is relative to the gusset 2 in the front-rear direction within the formation range of the oval mounting hole 531. It can be moved (arrow in FIG. 5). Therefore, the brace 5 is moved in the vehicle front-rear direction so as to absorb the assembly error of the body, and the brace 5 and the gusset 2 are coupled so that the front end flange 52 is in contact with the rear surface of the standing wall 62 of the cowl panel 6 without a gap. Thereafter, the front end flange 52 of the brace 5 is integrally joined to the rear end 611 of the bracket 61 with the bolt 521 with the upright wall 62 interposed therebetween as described above (FIG. 2), and then the rear end of the brace 5 from the gusset bottom surface 21. The mounting holes 54 (FIG. 4) provided at three locations through the plate surface 53 are inserted into bolts protruding from the inner panel 31, and the gusset 2 is fixed to the inner panel 31 of the front pillar 3 with nuts. In addition, since the brace 5 and the gusset 2 are integrated even in the temporarily coupled state, the transportation and assembly facilities are not impaired.

  According to such a structure, even if there is an assembly error of the body, the front end flange 52 of the brace 5 is closely integrated with the rear end 611 of the bracket 61, so that the acting force applied to the suspension tower 7 ( 1) is efficiently transmitted to the front pillar 3 and received there.

It is a perspective view of the body front part structure showing one embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing along the II-II line of FIG. It is sectional drawing along the III-III line of FIG. It is the perspective view which looked at the brace and gusset from the back side. It is sectional drawing along the VV line of FIG. It is a front view of a mounting hole. It is a perspective view of the conventional vehicle body front part structure. It is sectional drawing along the VIII-VIII line of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... clip, 2 ... gusset, 3 ... front pillar, 5 ... brace, 531 ... mounting hole, 6 ... cowl panel, 61 ... bracket, 7 ... suspension tower.

Claims (2)

In the front structure of the vehicle body in which the acting force acting on the suspension tower is received by the front pillar via the bracket, brace, and gusset of the cowl panel coupled in series with each other in the vehicle longitudinal direction. A body front structure of an automobile, characterized in that means for temporarily coupling the brace and gusset is provided, and the brace can be moved and adjusted with respect to the gusset in a certain range in the vehicle longitudinal direction in the temporarily coupled state. 2. The automobile according to claim 1, wherein the means for temporarily coupling includes an oval mounting hole provided in the brace and extending in a movement adjusting direction, and a clip that passes through the mounting hole and is mounted on the gusset. Body front structure.

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