JP2006069374A - Automobile hood - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automobile hood capable of being provided with required rigidity and excellent design property of appearance while ensuring light weight property as a whole. <P>SOLUTION: The automobile hood is characterized in that it comprises an inner, i.e., a main rigid member substantially spread over the whole surface of the hood and bearing required rigidity; a foam material arranged on an upper surface of the inner and having a lower surface formed to match with the upper surface of the inner and an upper surface formed flat; and a decoration plate made of resin arranged on the upper surface of the foam material so as to cover the whole surface of the hood. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an automobile bonnet, and more particularly, to an automobile bonnet that has both necessary rigidity and excellent surface design while maintaining a light weight as a whole.

  A metal automobile bonnet is usually composed of a single plate outer that forms a design surface of the surface, and an inner that is arranged on the back side thereof, for example, a stiffener structure with a hat-shaped cross section is arranged in a mesh shape. The inner is configured as a main rigid member that bears the rigidity required for the bonnet. In addition to the function as a design surface, the outer is generally required to have an appropriate surface feeling (a characteristic having locally appropriate surface bending rigidity), and is appropriate so that the feeling of discomfort does not occur. A thick metal plate is used. For example, in the case of aluminum, a plate having a thickness of about 1 mm is used from the viewpoint of workability while preventing the feeling of discomfort from occurring.

  In recent years, FRP-made automobile bonnets are being developed for the first purpose of weight reduction, and various structures have been proposed mainly for the purpose of improving the strength and rigidity of necessary parts (for example, In this case, normally, an outer made of FRP is configured as a main rigid member, and the inner is partially arranged for the purpose of reinforcing the insufficiently rigid portion of the outer made of FRP. By having an outer made of FRP, it is generally possible to configure a bonnet having a higher rigidity than that made of metal. However, in the case of such an FRP bonnet, it is difficult to obtain a clean surface such as a metal outer, and there is a problem that it takes time and effort to finish a smooth design surface.

On the other hand, a resin plate can be considered as one that can form a design surface with a good surface and that can be molded with a mold, so that it can be easily manufactured. Such a surface resin plate is an outer plate having a relatively small area. Although it is used for parts, when it is applied to the outer of a bonnet, it is not used for a large-area part such as a bonnet because it is required to have a bevel feeling equivalent to that made of aluminum. In addition, since the resin plate is insufficient in properties such as its elastic modulus, it is difficult to constitute a single main rigid member like an FRP outer.
JP 2003-146252 A

  Therefore, the object of the present invention is to pay attention to the problems in the conventional FRP bonnet and the background regarding the resin plate that has not been applied as the outer of the bonnet in spite of being able to easily form a good design surface. Another object of the present invention is to provide an automobile bonnet capable of combining the required rigidity and the excellent surface design while ensuring the lightness of the vehicle.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an automobile bonnet according to the present invention includes an inner part that is spread over substantially the entire surface of the bonnet and serves as a main rigid member that bears the rigidity required for the bonnet, and a lower surface that is disposed on the upper surface of the inner part. A foam material formed on a surface having a shape along the upper surface of the foam and having a smooth upper surface, and a resin decorative plate arranged on the upper surface of the foam material so as to cover the entire surface of the bonnet. It consists of what is characterized by.

  In the automobile bonnet according to the present invention, the inner can be made of metal, but in order to ensure the light weight as a whole and efficiently achieve the necessary rigidity as a whole with a thin plate structure. Is preferably made of FRP.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said inner consists of a member which has a corrugated undulation, By this, high rigidity can be achieved efficiently, although it is small thickness.

  The foam material (foam material) can be molded using a mold. Therefore, even when the inner is made of a member having corrugated undulations, the lower surface of the foam material can be easily and accurately formed into a surface with a shape along the upper surface of the inner, and the foam The upper surface of the material can be easily and accurately formed on a smooth surface so that the decorative board disposed on the upper surface can be satisfactorily provided. That is, this foam material is arranged between the inner and the decorative board so that the shapes thereof are along each other.

  The said decorative board does not bear rigidity, and should just be able to form the design surface with the beautiful surface, for example, can use the sheet material of a thermoplastic resin. This decorative board is supported by the upper surface of the foam material on the back surface side.

  The inner material and the foam material do not need to be joined (adhered), but are preferably sufficiently adhered to effectively exhibit rigidity characteristics structurally. On the other hand, the foam material and the decorative plate may be bonded (adhered), but in order not to exert the influence of thermal deformation of the foam material on the design surface, both are simply bonded without being bonded. It is preferable to have a structure that only has.

  In such an automobile bonnet according to the present invention, a main structure that secures the rigidity required for the bonnet is established on the entire inner surface, and the decorative plate forms a smooth and clean design surface. Is configured so as not to be deficient in the surface feeling due to being lined with the foam material arranged on the back surface side, and not to cause a feeling of discomfort in the surface feeling. And especially by using the corrugated inner made of FRP, both rigidity and light weight can be achieved efficiently. As a result, the rigidity required as a whole is achieved while the light weight is ensured as a whole, and the good design of the surface and the appropriate feeling of feeling are achieved.

  Thus, according to the bonnet for automobiles according to the present invention, the inner layer as the main rigid member, the foam material in which the upper and lower surfaces are formed in a predetermined shape, and the resin-made decorative board on the surface side are laminated in order. Since the structure has a novel basic configuration that is not present, an automobile bonnet that has all of the targeted lightness, required rigidity, clean design surface, and appropriate surface feeling can be obtained.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an automobile bonnet according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an entire hood for an automobile. The bonnet 1 extends over substantially the entire surface of the bonnet 1, and an inner surface 2 serving as a main rigid member that bears the rigidity required for the hood 1, and the upper surface of the inner 2 The foam material 3 has a lower surface formed in a shape along the upper surface of the inner 2 and the upper surface formed in a smooth surface, and the upper surface of the foam material 3 is disposed so as to cover the entire surface of the bonnet 1. It consists of a resin decorative board 4. That is, in the state assembled as the bonnet 1, for example, it has a cross-sectional structure as shown in FIG.

  In this embodiment, the inner 2 is configured as an FRP inner, and is configured as a member having corrugated undulations. The FRP constituting the inner 2 is not particularly limited, and various types as described below can be applied, but in order to efficiently achieve the necessary rigidity, carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) should be used. Is preferred. This FRP inner 2 can be configured with a single-plate structure of FRP, but if you want to achieve higher rigidity, you can also make a sandwich structure with a core material interposed between FRP skin plates It is.

  A lower surface 3 a of the foam material 3 is formed in a shape along the upper surface 2 a of the inner 2. The foam material 3 in which the lower surface 3a is thus formed on a corrugated undulating surface along the upper surface 2a of the inner 2 and the upper surface 3b is formed on a smooth surface is a molding die having a mold surface having a predetermined shape. By using it, both the upper and lower surfaces can be molded accurately and easily. The thickness of the foam material 3 is not particularly limited as long as such upper and lower surfaces can be formed, but in order to make the decorative board 4 have an appropriate feeling of beveling and to prevent the feeling of being uncomfortable, a comparison is required. It is preferable to have a certain level of thickness although it is considered to be thin. For example, it is preferable to have a thickness in the range of about 10 to 50 mm, especially about 35 mm. The material of the foam material is not particularly limited, and for example, a foam material made of a polymer material such as polyurethane, acrylic, polystyrene, polyimide, vinyl chloride, or phenol can be used. Among these, polyurethane can be molded by means such as injection foaming, and is suitable for obtaining an uneven shape of the inner. Acrylic can be molded by means such as heat molding, and is suitable for obtaining the shape of the outer design surface. Further, the foam material is not limited to one type of material, and a plurality of materials can be combined utilizing the characteristics of formability of the foam material. For example, an acrylic foam is disposed on the outer side, and a polyurethane foam is disposed on the inner side.

  As the resin-made decorative board 4 arranged on the front side, a thermoplastic resin can be used. For example, a thermoplastic resin sheet having a predetermined thickness can be applied. The decorative board 4 does not itself bear the rigidity of the bonnet, but is supported by being backed by the foam material 3, and may be thin as long as an appropriate feeling can be achieved. A thickness of about 3 mm, particularly a thickness of about 2 mm is suitable. The material of the decorative board is not particularly limited, and may be so-called engineering plastics such as polyamide and polycarbonate, and ABS, polypropylene, a polymer alloy of ABS and polycarbonate, and the like can be used.

  In the bonnet 1 configured in this manner, the necessary rigidity as a bonnet is efficiently exhibited by the FRP inner 2 configured as a corrugated plate-like member, and the gap between the inner 2 and the decorative plate 4 is efficiently achieved. By the foam material 3 interposed between the two, the decorative board 4 is supported substantially from the back side substantially over the entire surface, an excellent design surface by the decorative board 4 is maintained, and a desirable feeling of beveling is ensured. It is configured so that a sense of incongruity does not occur. Since the main rigid member is the inner 2 made of FRP, it is possible to reduce the weight of the bonnet as a whole.

  Further, if the FRP inner 2 and the foam material 3 are joined to form a substantially integrated member, the rigidity required for the entire bonnet can be ensured more efficiently. Furthermore, if the foam material 3 and the decorative plate 4 are structured such that they are simply in contact with each other without being bonded, the thermal deformation of the foam material 3 can be absorbed at the boundary between the two, and the thermal deformation of the foam material 3 is achieved. Can be prevented from appearing on the design surface of the decorative board 4.

  The FRP in the FRP inner 2 refers to a resin reinforced with reinforcing fibers. Examples of the reinforcing fibers include inorganic fibers such as carbon fibers and glass fibers, Kevlar fibers, polyethylene fibers, and polyamide fibers. Reinforcing fibers made of organic fibers can be mentioned. From the viewpoint of easy control of surface rigidity, carbon fiber is particularly preferable. Examples of the FRP matrix resin include thermosetting resins such as epoxy resins, unsaturated polyester resins, vinyl ester resins, and phenol resins, and polyamide resins, polyolefin resins, dicyclopentadiene resins, polyurethane resins, and the like. These thermoplastic resins can also be used. In addition, as the core material when the sandwich structure is adopted for the FRP inner 2, an elastic body, a foam material, and a honeycomb material can be used, and a foam material is particularly preferable for weight reduction. The material of the foam material is not particularly limited, and for example, a foam material of a polymer material such as polyurethane, acrylic, polystyrene, polyimide, vinyl chloride, or phenol can be used. The honeycomb material is not particularly limited, and for example, aluminum alloy, paper, aramid paper or the like can be used.

1 is a schematic exploded perspective view of an automobile bonnet according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows an example of a cross-sectional structure of the bonnet of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automotive bonnet 2 Inner 2a Inner upper surface 3 Foam material 3a Lower surface of foam material 3b Upper surface of foam material 4 Resin decorative board

Claims (7)

  An inner hood that is spread over substantially the entire surface of the bonnet and serves as a main rigid member that bears the rigidity required for the bonnet, and a lower surface is formed on the inner upper surface and the lower surface is formed along the inner upper surface, and the upper surface is a smooth surface. An automobile bonnet comprising: a formed foam material; and a resin decorative board disposed on the upper surface of the foam material so as to cover the entire surface of the bonnet.   The automobile bonnet according to claim 1, wherein the inner is made of FRP.   The automobile bonnet according to claim 1, wherein the inner is made of a member having corrugated undulations.   The automobile bonnet according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the foam material is formed by using a mold.   The automobile bonnet according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the decorative plate is made of a sheet material of a thermoplastic resin.   The automobile bonnet according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the inner and the foam material are joined.   The automobile hood according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the foam material and the decorative board are simply in contact with each other without being joined.

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