JP2006035878A - Front pillar structure for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To demonstrate a sufficient durability at the time of a front collision or to an impact load from a front wheel during traveling, and to guarantee a sure opening/closing operation of a doorway sliding door. <P>SOLUTION: This front pillar structure for automobile is equipped with a reinforcement panel 2 which is arranged in a closed cross section of a front pillar 1, forms an approximate U-shape cross section, and extends in the vertical direction, and a semi-container-like bulkhead 3 which has approximately the same height as an upper member 61 which extends from the front pillar 1 forward in the vehicle longitudinal direction, and is provided on the upper end section of the reinforcement panel 2. The front pillar structure for automobile is also equipped with a semi-container-like reinforcement panel 5 which is provided on the lower end section of the reinforcement panel 2 at a position where a rocker panel 7 extending in the longitudinal direction on the lower edge of an opening of an automobile is connected with the front pillar 1, and a semi-container-like bulkhead 4 which is provided in the reinforcement panel 2 between the bulkhead 3 and the reinforcement panel 5 which are positioned on the top and the bottom. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a front pillar structure of an automobile, and more particularly, to a front pillar structure that exhibits sufficient durability against a shock load from a front wheel during a frontal collision or traveling.

  FIG. 5 is a side view of a front side body panel of a vehicle having a conventional front pillar structure as viewed from the inside of the vehicle. In FIG. 5, the front pillar 1 ′ constituting the front edge of the entrance / exit opening VO is formed by joining the pillar outer panel 11 and the pillar inner panel 12 at both side edges 111, 121, 112, 122 as shown in FIG. 6. It has a hollow closed cross-sectional structure extending in the vertical direction. A rear reinforcement panel (hereinafter referred to as an R / F panel) 81 having a substantially U-shaped cross section and a substantially L-shaped cross section are disposed in the rear half (right half of FIG. 6) of the internal space of the front pillar 1 ′. R / F panels 82 are arranged in the vertical direction. One side edge 811 of the R / F panel 81 is joined between the side edges 112 and 122 of the pillar outer panel 11 and the pillar inner panel 12. One side edge 821 of the R / F panel 82 is joined to the pillar inner panel 12. The lower end of the R / F panel 81 is connected to the R / F panel 93 in the rocker panel 9 shown in FIG. 7 constituting the lower edge of the entrance / exit opening VO. The rocker panel 9 has an inner panel 91 and an outer panel 92 that have a closed cross-sectional structure.

The entrance / exit opening VO is opened and closed by a front door 10 whose front edge is rotatably supported by hinges (not shown) provided at the upper and lower positions of the front pillar 1 ′. An R / F panel 101 is provided in the front door 10 in the front-rear direction along the lower edge of the window opening. When the door 10 is closed, the R / F panel 101 is connected to the front pillar 1 as shown in FIG. It is in a state of being spanned between the center pillar 62. The upper member 61 extends from the front pillar 1 ′ toward the front fender panel, and the R / F panel 81 in the front pillar 1 ′ on the line connecting the upper member 61 and the R / F panel 101 in the door 10 is illustrated in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, a load transmission panel 83 is constructed by joining both ends to the front and rear side walls 812 and 813 of the R / F panel 81. The impact load input to the upper member 61 at the time of a frontal collision of the automobile is received through a path from the R / F panel 101 in the door 10 to the center pillar 62 through the load transmission panel 83 in the front pillar 1 ′. Further, the impact load from the traveling front wheel is received exclusively by the rocker panel 9. Patent Document 1 shows an example of a reinforcing structure of a front pillar.
6-42542

  By the way, when the front door that opens and closes the entrance / exit opening is changed from a conventional hinged door to a sliding door that can secure a large opening area, the sliding door is provided to be movable in the front-rear direction. If an impact load at the time of a forward collision is input, the amount of deformation of the sliding door becomes excessive, and opening and closing may be difficult. Further, if the impact load from the front wheels is directly input to the rocker panel and the guide rail provided here is deformed, there is a possibility that it is difficult to open and close the slide door.

  Therefore, the present invention solves such a problem, and exhibits sufficient durability against a shock load from a front wheel during a front collision or traveling, and ensures a reliable opening / closing operation of the entrance / exit sliding door. An object of the present invention is to provide a front pillar structure that can be used.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a reinforcement panel (2) disposed in a closed cross section of the front pillar (1) and extending in the vertical direction with a substantially U-shaped cross section, and the front pillar (1) A semi-container-shaped first reinforcing member (3) provided at the upper end of the reinforcement panel (2) at substantially the same height as the upper member (61) extending forward in the vehicle longitudinal direction, and a lower edge of the opening of the automobile A semi-container-like second reinforcing member (5) provided at the lower end of the reinforcement panel (2) at a position where the rocker panel (7) extending in the front-rear direction is coupled to the front pillar (1); A semi-container-shaped third reinforcing member (4) provided in the reinforcement panel (2) between the first reinforcing member (3) and the second reinforcing member (5) located at .

  In the present invention, when the impact load at the time of frontal collision of the automobile is input to the front pillar through the upper member, the impact load is reliably received by the first reinforcing member in the front pillar, and the sliding door that opens and closes the entrance / exit is opened. Transmission is prevented. This prevents the sliding door from being deformed and ensures its reliable opening and closing operation. Further, even when an impact load is input from the front wheel to the front pillar during traveling, the impact load is reliably received by the third reinforcing member and the second reinforcing member provided at the intermediate portion and the lower end portion in the front pillar, Transmission to the rocker panel located at the lower edge of the entrance / exit is prevented. Thereby, the guide rail provided in the rocker panel is prevented from being deformed, and a reliable opening / closing operation of the sliding door is ensured.

  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 front pillar structure of the present invention, it exhibits sufficient durability against a shock load from a front wheel during a frontal collision or traveling, so that a reliable opening / closing operation of the entrance / exit slide door can be performed. Can be guaranteed.

  FIG. 1 shows a side view of a front side panel of an automobile having a front pillar structure of the present invention as viewed from the outside of the vehicle. In FIG. 1, the entrance / exit opening VO is opened / closed by a sliding door (not shown). As shown in FIG. 2, the front pillar 1 constituting the front edge of the entrance / exit opening VO connects the pillar outer panel 11 and the pillar inner panel 12 to each other. It has a hollow closed cross-sectional structure that is joined at both side edges 111, 121, 112, and 122 and extends in the vertical direction. A reinforcement panel (R / F panel) 2 is provided in the space of the substantially lower half (FIG. 1) of the front pillar 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the R / F panel 2 is formed in a substantially U-shaped cross section and is located along the inner surface of the pillar outer panel 11, and both side edges 21 and 22 are both side edges of the pillar outer panel 11 and the pillar inner panel 12. It is joined between 111, 121, 112, 122, and is extended in the up-down direction.

  The R / F panel 2 is provided with a bulkhead 3 that is a first reinforcing member, a bulkhead 4 that is a third reinforcing member, and an R / F panel 5 that is a second reinforcing member at the upper end portion, the intermediate portion, and the lower end portion, respectively. It is. The bulkhead 3 located at the upper end is located at substantially the same height as the upper member 61 (FIG. 1) extending from the front pillar 1 toward the front fender panel, and is provided with a width slightly smaller than the front-rear width of the front pillar 1. As shown in FIG. 3, it is formed in a semi-container shape having a substantially U-shaped cross section in a vertical plane, its bottom wall 31 is close to the upper end plate surface of the R / F panel 2, and the opening edges 32 and 33 are pillars. It is joined to the inner panel 12. The bulkhead 4 is provided with a width slightly smaller than the front-rear width of the front pillar 1, and is formed into a semi-container shape having a substantially U-shaped cross section in a vertical plane as shown in FIG. 2 and the opening edges 42 and 43 are joined to the pillar inner panel 12.

  The R / F panel 5 is provided with a width close to the front-rear width of the front pillar 1 and is formed into a semi-container shape having a substantially U-shaped cross section in the vertical plane as shown in FIG. While being joined to the lower end plate surface of the panel 2 and the lower end plate surface of the pillar outer panel 11, the opening edges 52 and 53 are joined to the lower end plate surfaces of the pillar inner panel 12 and the pillar outer panel 11, respectively. On the bottom wall plate surface of the R / F panel 5, a rocker panel 7 having a substantially U-shaped cross section formed with a recessed portion 71 that is recessed horizontally in the vehicle interior is joined at both opening edges 72 and 73. The lower opening edge 73 extends downward and is joined to the lower edge of the pillar outer panel 11 together with the opening edge 53 of the R / F panel 5. A guide rail 74 that opens downward is fixed to the lower surface of the top wall of the recessed portion 71. At the lower edge of the entrance / exit VO, as shown in FIG. 4, the depth of the recessed portion 71 of the rocker panel 7 is shallow, and the upper and lower opening edges 72 and 73 are joined to the panel 13 continuing to the pillar outer panel 11. Yes.

  In such a front pillar structure, when an impact load at the time of a frontal collision of the automobile is input to the front pillar 1 through the upper member 61, the impact load is a semi-container shape provided at the upper end portion of the R / F panel 2 in the front pillar 1. Is surely received by the bulkhead 3 and is hardly transmitted to the sliding door that opens and closes the entrance / exit VO. This prevents the sliding door from being deformed and ensures its reliable opening and closing operation. Further, when an impact load is input from the front wheels to the front pillar 1 during traveling, the impact load is applied to the semi-container-shaped bulkhead 4 and R provided at the intermediate and lower end portions of the R / F panel 2 in the front pillar 1. / F panel 5 is surely received and hardly transmitted to the rocker panel 7 located at the lower edge of the entrance / exit VO. Thereby, the guide rail 74 provided in the rocker panel 7 is prevented from being deformed, and a reliable opening / closing operation of the sliding door is ensured. In particular, when a sliding door is used to open and close the entrance / exit VO, the rocker panel 7 needs to be provided with a guide rail 74, so the effective sectional area of the rocker panel 7 is reduced. It does not occur.

It is the side view which looked at the front part side panel of the motor vehicle provided with the front pillar structure which shows one Embodiment of this invention from the vehicle outer side. FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 1. It is the side view which looked at the front part side panel of the motor vehicle provided with the front pillar structure which shows a prior art example from the vehicle inner side. FIG. 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 5. FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 5.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... Front pillar, 2 ... Reinforcement panel, 3, 4 ... Bulkhead, 5 ... Reinforcement panel.

Claims (1)

A reinforcement panel disposed in a closed cross section of the front pillar and extending in a vertical direction with a substantially U-shaped cross section, and the reinforcement panel having substantially the same height as an upper member extending forward from the front pillar in the vehicle front-rear direction. A semi-container-shaped first reinforcing member provided at the upper end of the vehicle and a rocker panel extending in the front-rear direction at the lower edge of the opening of the automobile is provided at the lower end of the reinforcement panel at a position where it is coupled to the front pillar. A semi-container-like second reinforcing member, and a semi-container-like third reinforcing member provided in the reinforcement panel between the first reinforcing member and the second reinforcing member positioned above and below. Car front pillar structure.

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