JP2006076371A - Body shell for vehicle and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide high fitting strength while maintaining a mono-coque structure as much as possible and provide high manufacturing efficiency. <P>SOLUTION: A body shell for a vehicle is made to the mono-coque structure of light weight with high durability by adopting a front pillar inner 31 in which a roof side rail 31a and a front pillar 31b are modulated (integrated). Rigidity in assembling can be outstandingly enhanced by further adopting a corner reinforcement 35 directly bonded to three members of a front header 22, a corner gusset 32 and the front pillar inner 31. As the manufacturing step of the body shell 10, a method is easily realized, in which a roof assembly 20 and a body inner assembly 30 are sub-assembled in parallel respectively and thereafter, both modules 20, 30 are gross-assembled. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle body shell and a method for manufacturing the same.

  In general, a vehicle body shell is composed of a roof panel that forms the top of the vehicle body, a front header that is disposed in front of the roof panel in the vehicle direction, and is fixed to the lower surface of the roof panel. The roof side rails arranged on both sides of the roof panel in the vehicle width direction so that the parts are connected, and the front end constituting the window structure of the vehicle body, with the upper end connected to the facing position of the roof side rail and the front header With pillars.

In order to increase the connection strength of the front header, the roof side rail, and the front pillar, conventionally, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, an extension portion is integrally formed on the roof side rail, or Patent Document 2 is disclosed. As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-209, a reinforcement for connecting the three of the front header, the roof side rail, and the front pillar is provided.
JP-A-6-127433 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-180878

  In recent years, in response to a demand for a monocoque structure, the front pillar and the roof side rail are being manufactured as a module integrated with the entire length of the vehicle body (referred to as “front pillar inner” in this specification). When such a module product is integrally formed, a member that protrudes in the vehicle width direction is formed with respect to a member that is long in the vehicle body direction. Therefore, when the front pillar inner is employed, it is necessary to separately provide a corner gusset for connecting the front header and the front pillar inner.

  On the other hand, from the viewpoint of production efficiency, in the manufacturing process of the body shell, a roof assembly in which the roof panel and the front header are integrated is manufactured in advance, while the body inner assembly in which the front pillar inner and the corner gusset are integrated is described above. A method of manufacturing in parallel with the roof assembly and grossly assembling both of them is employed. In the case of adopting such a construction method, it is necessary to secure the welded portion of each part in a state where the roof panel as the outer member is covered, and there is a problem that the connection strength cannot be sufficiently maintained. It was.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a vehicle body shell capable of obtaining high assembly strength while maintaining a monocoque structure as much as possible, and a manufacturing method thereof. The challenge is to do.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a roof panel that forms an outline of a ceiling portion of a vehicle body, a front header coupled to a lower surface of the front portion of the roof panel, and front portions coupled to both sides of the front header. The roof side rails arranged on both sides of the roof panel in the vehicle width direction, the front pillar inner in which at least a part of the front pillar constituting the window structure of the vehicle body is integrated, and the front pillar inner A corner gusset connected to the header, and a corner reinforcement arranged at the rear of the front header, the corner gusset, and the front pillar inner, and directly coupled to the three parties. It is a vehicle body shell.

  In this aspect, since the front pillar inner in which at least a part of the roof side rail and the front pillar is modularized (integrated) is employed, a lightweight and highly durable monocoque structure can be obtained. Furthermore, even when such a front pillar inner is adopted and the corner gusset is configured as a separate member, it is arranged at the rear part of the front header, corner gusset, and front pillar inner, and is directly coupled to these three members. Since the corner reinforcement is adopted, the rigidity at the time of assembly can be dramatically increased.

  Furthermore, the corner reinforcement is arranged at the back of the three parts of the front header, corner gusset, and front pillar inner, and is configured to be directly coupled to these three parts. Even when the roof panel and the front header are subassembled, the front pillar inner and the corner gusset etc. are integrated to subassemble the body inner assembly, and each subassembly is assembled in a gross manner. Is located at the rear of the front header, corner gusset, and front pillar inner, and is directly coupled to these three, so the process can be realized without any problem. become.

  In a preferred aspect, the header joint portion where the front header and the corner reinforcement are joined is located inward in the vehicle width direction than the portion where the front header and the corner gusset are joined, and the corner reinforcement The inner coupling portion where the ment and the front pillar inner are coupled extends rearward in the vehicle body direction relative to the header coupling portion. In this aspect, since the line connecting the header connecting portion and the inner connecting portion is intertwined with the line connecting the front header and the front pillar inner, the front header, the corner gusset, and the front pillar inner are the corners. The reinforcement is combined in a truss shape, and the bonding strength can be further increased.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a roof assembly process for manufacturing a roof assembly in which a roof panel constituting an outline of a ceiling portion of a vehicle body and a front header coupled to a front lower surface of the roof panel are integrated, and the front The roof side rails arranged on both sides of the roof panel in the vehicle width direction so that the front parts are connected to both sides of the header, and the upper end part is connected to the facing position of the roof side rail and the front header, so that the window part of the vehicle body A step of manufacturing a front pillar inner integrated with a front pillar constituting the structure, and a body inner assembly step of manufacturing a body inner assembly by integrating a corner gusset connecting the front pillar inner to the front header; And a body-inner gloss assembly process that combines both assemblies. The body inner assembly step includes a step of integrating a corner reinforcement coupled to both the corner gusset and the front pillar inner, and the body inner gloss assembly step couples the front header to the corner reinforcement. It is the manufacturing method of the vehicle body shell characterized by including the process to do. In this aspect, since the roof assembly including the roof panel and the body inner assembly including the front pillar inner can be manufactured in parallel, the production efficiency is improved. Further, the manufactured body inner assembly is integrated with a corner reinforcement that is coupled to both the corner gusset and the front pillar inner, and the front header is coupled to the corner reinforcement. Therefore, the corner reinforcement is directly coupled to the three of the front header, the corner gusset, and the front pillar inner, and constitutes a rigid reinforcing structure. As a result, the assembly strength of the front corner portion of the produced body shell is dramatically increased.

  As described above, according to the present invention, since the corner reinforcement that constitutes a rigid reinforcement structure that is directly coupled to the front header, the corner gusset, and the front pillar inner is employed, The production efficiency is high, and there is a remarkable effect that high assembly strength can be obtained while maintaining the monocoque structure as much as possible.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a body shell 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  Referring to FIG. 1, body shell 10 includes a roof assembly 20 and a pair of left and right body inner assemblies 30 in advance. These assemblies 20 and 30 are manufactured in parallel, and then assembled and assembled in a glossy manner. Since the remaining members of the body shell 10 not included in the modules 20 and 30 and the assembling method thereof are the same as those in the prior art, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the roof assembly 20 according to the embodiment of FIG.

  With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the roof assembly 20 is an integrated body of a roof panel 21 and a front header 22 coupled to the front lower surface of the roof panel 21.

  The roof panel 21 has an exterior surface 21a that becomes the surface of the ceiling of the vehicle body, and a rectangular frame-shaped attachment portion 21b that extends to the outer periphery of the exterior surface 21a. The exterior parts of the vehicle body are welded to form the outer shell of the ceiling portion of the vehicle body.

  The front header 22 is a structure that extends along the width direction of the roof panel 21 as a whole, and has a bottom portion 22a that is smoothly curved so that the center side protrudes forward, a front and back of the bottom portion 22a, and extends over the entire longitudinal direction. Flange portions 22b and 22c are formed.

  The bottom portion 22a is a bowl-shaped member having a predetermined depth in cross section, and a predetermined working space is formed between the flange portions 22b and 22c by the end wall portion 22d. ing. A working hole 22e for inserting and removing a welding device (not shown) is opened at a proper position in the bottom 22a.

  The flange portions 22b and 22c are for increasing the strength. In particular, the rear flange portion 22c undulates up and down to form a ridge line 22f (see FIG. 8), thereby providing rigidity. Yes.

  3 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing the left side of the pair of left and right body inner assemblies 30 according to the embodiment of FIG.

  As shown in the figure, the body inner assembly 30 includes a monocoque front pillar inner 31, a corner gusset 32 welded to the front pillar inner 31, and a corner reinforcement welded to the corner gusset 32 and the front pillar inner 31. 35 is integrated.

  The front pillar inner 31 is a known press-molded product in which the roof side rail 31a and the front pillar 31b are integrated, and the outer wall is extended upward and outward in the vehicle width direction as a whole. The roof side rails 31a are arranged on both sides in the vehicle width direction of the roof panel 21 so that the front portions are connected to both sides of the front header 22 of the roof assembly 20, and are welded to the lower surface of the roof panel 21 during later-described gloss assembly. Is. The front pillar 31b is continuous with the roof side rail 31a through a corner portion 31c bent downward from the front, and constitutes a window structure of the vehicle body. The front end portion of the front header 22 faces the corner portion 31c in the vehicle width direction and is integrated via a corner gusset 32. In the illustrated example, the front pillar inner 31 is integrated with the center pillar 31d, the rear pillar 31e, and the side sill reinforcement 33, as in a known configuration (see FIG. 1).

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the corner gusset 32 according to the embodiment of FIG.

  Referring to the figure, a corner gusset 32 projects from a body portion 32a that bulges along the undulation of the inner wall of the corner portion 31c of the front pillar inner 31, and protrudes substantially perpendicularly from the body portion 32a. This is a sheet metal press-molded product integrally having a front portion 32b extending inward in the width direction. As shown in the figure, flange portions 32c are formed on both the front and rear sides of the front portion 32b of the corner gusset 32 so that the proximal end side protrudes upward and the distal edge sides extend away from each other. The flange portion 32c extends from the front end portion of the front portion 32b to the boundary portion with the body portion 32a. The flange portion 32c causes the front portion 32b to have a bowl-like cross-sectional shape along the lower surface of the front header 22. ing. Further, in the illustrated example, a rectangular work hole 32d is formed at a substantially central portion of the front portion 32b, and the body portion 32a and the front pillar inner are formed by a welding device (not shown) for inserting and removing the work hole 32d. 31 corner portions 31c are welded. In the present embodiment, the one in which the corner gusset 32 is fixed to the front pillar inner 31 (the corner reinforcement 35 is not yet coupled) is temporarily referred to as a body inner intermediate 34.

  Next, the corner reinforcement 35 will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the corner reinforcement 35 according to the embodiment of FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a main part of the body inner assembly 30 in which the corner reinforcement 35 is coupled to the front pillar inner 31. It is a perspective view shown.

  Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the corner reinforcement ment 35 is a sheet metal press-molded product having a substantially L shape in plan view. At one end portion of the corner reinforcement 35, a header receiving portion 35a that receives the tip corner portion of the front header 22 of the roof assembly 20 is formed. A rail receiving portion 35 b that receives the roof side rail 31 a of the front pillar inner 31 is formed at the other end of the corner reinforcement 35. Each of the receiving portions 35a and 35b is formed in a generally flat shape, and arc welding holes 36a and 36b are formed in the center thereof. A gusset receiving portion 35c that undulates along the lower surface of the corner gusset 32 is formed continuously between the receiving portions 35a and 35b. When the corner gusset 32 is joined, the gusset receiving portion 35c is substantially flush with the upper surface of the front portion 32b of the corner gusset 32 and the header receiving portion 35a. It undulates so that the part 35b may become substantially flush. Therefore, at the time of assembly, the front header 22 is coupled to the header receiving portion 35a and the corner gusset 32 in a surface contact state, and the front pillar inner 31 is connected to the rail receiving portion 35b and the corner gusset 32. On the other hand, they are coupled in a surface contact state. The gusset receiving portion 35c is formed with a recess 35d that opens a portion where the corner gusset 32 and the front header 22 overlap (see FIG. 11). An inner peripheral side edge 35e of the corner reinforcement 35 is raised in a bowl shape, and is routed in the front header 22 to define an accommodation space for the rail wire harness WH (see FIG. 9).

  Next, the manufacturing process of the body shell 10 described above will be described. FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram showing the main part of the manufacturing process of the body shell 10 according to the embodiment of FIG.

  Referring to the figure, when manufacturing body shell 10, roof panel 21 and front header 22 constituting roof assembly 20, and front pillar inner 31, corner gusset 32, and corner constituting body inner assembly 30 are provided. Manufacturing processes (steps S1 to S5) for manufacturing the reinforcements 35 are performed in parallel with other previous processes (step S6).

  Through these manufacturing steps, the roof panel 21, the front header 22, the front pillar inner 31, the corner gusset 32, the corner reinforcement 35, and the like described in FIGS. 2 to 5 are manufactured.

  Subsequently, the process for manufacturing each module 20 and 30 is performed in parallel.

  First, in step S11, in the line for manufacturing the roof assembly 20, the roof panel 21 and the front header 22 are positioned, and both are joined by welding to manufacture the roof assembly 20 (see FIG. 2).

  On the other hand, in the process of manufacturing the body inner assembly 30, first, the body inner intermediate body 34 (see FIG. 4) is manufactured by welding the corner gusset 32 to the front pillar inner 31 in step S21. In this welding process, the front pillar inner 31 and the corner gusset 32 are temporarily assembled, a welding device (not shown) is inserted through the work hole 32d of the corner gusset 32, the welding portion is sandwiched, and energized to perform spot welding between the two. I try to give it. Next, in step S22, the corner reinforcement 35 is welded to the manufactured body inner intermediate body 34 to manufacture the body inner assembly 30 (see FIG. 6). In this welding process, the body inner intermediate body 34 and the corner reinforcement 35 are temporarily assembled. First, the corner gusset 32 and the corner reinforcement 35 are spot-welded, and then, from the hole 36b of the corner reinforcement 35. Arc welding is performed on the corner reinforcement 35 and the roof side rail 31 b of the front pillar inner 31. As a result, the corner reinforcement 35 is directly coupled to the front pillar inner 31 and the corner gusset 32.

  Finally, in step S30, the respective modules 20, 30 are welded.

  Specifically, a welding device (not shown) is inserted into the work hole 22e of the front header 22, spot welding is performed at an appropriate position between the front header 22 and the corner gusset 32, and then a hole 36a of the corner reinforcement 35 is formed from the back side. The corner reinforcement 35 and the front header 22 are coupled to each other by arc welding. As a result, the corner reinforcement 35 is also directly coupled to the front header 22.

  Thus, in this embodiment, the roof assembly process (step S11) for manufacturing the roof assembly 20 in which the roof panel 21 and the front header 22 are integrated, the process for manufacturing the front pillar inner 31 (step S3), the body A body inner assembly process (steps S21 and S22) for manufacturing the inner assembly 30 and a body inner gloss assembly process (step S30) for connecting both the assemblies 20 and 30 are provided. The body inner assembly process includes a corner Including the step of integrating the corner reinforcement 35 coupled to both the gusset 32 and the front pillar inner 31 (step S22), and the body inner gloss assembly step (step S30) includes the front header 2 The includes the step of attaching to the corner reinforcement 35. Therefore, in this embodiment, the roof assembly 20 including the roof panel 21 and the body inner assembly 30 including the front pillar inner 31 can be manufactured in parallel, so that the production efficiency is improved. Further, the manufactured body inner assembly 30 is integrated with a corner reinforcement 35 coupled to both the corner gusset 32 and the front pillar inner 31. Since the header 22 is coupled, the corner reinforcement 35 is directly coupled to the three of the front header 22, the corner gusset 32, and the front pillar inner 31, thereby forming a rigid reinforcing structure. As a result, the assembly strength of the front corner portion of the produced body shell 10 is dramatically increased.

  After the body inner gloss assembly process (step S30) is completed, the remaining post-process (step S7) is completed, whereby the body shell 10 is completed.

  8 is an enlarged perspective view showing a main part of the body shell 10 manufactured by the process of FIG. 7, FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 8, and FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 11 is a view taken in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 8, and FIG. 12 is an enlarged view of FIG.

  With reference to FIGS. 8 and 12, by the above-described process, the corner reinforcement 35 is formed with the front header 22 and the front pillar inner by two arc welding points PA and another two spot welding points PS. 31 and the corner gusset 32 are directly coupled to each other. In the present embodiment, the header joint portion J1 where the front header 22 and the corner reinforcement 35 are joined is a vehicle more than the portion J (shown only in FIG. 12) where the front header 22 and the corner gusset 32 are joined. The inner coupling portion J2 that is located inward in the width direction and is coupled to the corner reinforcement 35 and the front pillar inner 31 extends rearward in the vehicle body direction from the header coupling portion J1. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the straight line L1 connecting the header connecting portion J1 and the inner connecting portion J2 is in a straight line with the straight line L2 connecting the front header 22 and the front pillar inner 31, so the front header 22, the corner gusset 32 and the front pillar inner 31 are coupled in a truss shape by the corner reinforcement 35, and the coupling strength can be further increased.

  As described above, the body shell 10 of the present embodiment employs the front pillar inner 31 in which the roof side rail 31a and the front pillar 31b are modularized (integrated). A structure can be obtained. Further, even when such a front pillar inner 31 is employed and the corner gusset 32 is constituted by a separate member, the corner rain that is directly coupled to the three of the front header 22, the corner gusset 32, and the front pillar inner 31 is provided. Since the force 35 is adopted, the rigidity at the time of assembly can be dramatically increased.

  Further, the corner reinforcement 35 is configured to be directly coupled to the three of the front header 22, the corner gusset 32, and the front pillar inner 31, so that the roof panel 21 is manufactured as a manufacturing process of the body shell 10. And the front header 22 are sub-assembled, while the front pillar inner 31 and the corner gusset 32 are integrated to sub-assemble the body inner assembly 30, and the sub-assemblies 20 and 30 are gloss-assembled (see FIG. 7). The corner reinforcement 35 is directly coupled to the three components of the front header 22, the corner gusset 32, and the front pillar inner 31, so that the process can be realized without any trouble. To do Possible to become.

  Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the corner reinforcement 35 that is directly coupled to the front header 22, the corner gusset 32, and the front pillar inner 31 and constitutes a rigid reinforcement structure is employed. The production efficiency is high, and there is a remarkable effect that high assembly strength can be obtained while maintaining the monocoque structure as much as possible.

  The above-described embodiments are merely preferred specific examples of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments.

  For example, in the manufacturing process in the above-described embodiment, steps S21 and S22 are conceptual and do not impede continuous execution. Therefore, the corner gusset 32 and the corner reinforcement 35 may be temporarily assembled to the front pillar inner 31 at the same time and continuously welded. In that case, it is possible to complete all spot welding processes by once inserting the welding device into the working hole 32d.

  It goes without saying that various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

It is a perspective view showing a schematic structure of a body shell according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a disassembled perspective view of the roof assembly which concerns on embodiment of FIG. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing a left side of a pair of left and right body inner assemblies according to the embodiment of FIG. 1. It is a perspective view which shows schematic structure of the corner gusset which concerns on embodiment of FIG. It is a perspective view of the corner reinforcement which concerns on embodiment of FIG. It is a perspective view which expands and shows the principal part of the body inner assembly which couple | bonded the corner reinforcement with the front pillar inner. It is a process flow figure showing the important section of the manufacturing process of the body shell concerning the embodiment of FIG. It is a perspective view which expands and shows the principal part of the body shell manufactured by the process of FIG. It is AA cross-section schematic of FIG. It is a BB cross-sectional schematic of FIG. It is C arrow line view of FIG. It is an enlarged view of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Body shell 20 Roof assembly 21 Roof panel 22 Front header 30 Body inner assembly 31 Front pillar inner 32 Corner gusset 35 Corner reinforcement J1 Header joint part J2 Inner joint part L1 Straight line L2 Straight line

Claims (3)

A roof panel that forms the outer shell of the ceiling of the vehicle body;
A front header coupled to the front lower surface of the roof panel;
The front side rail is arranged on both sides of the roof panel so that the front part is connected to both sides of the front header, and at least a part of the front pillar constituting the window structure of the vehicle body is integrated. With Pillar Inner,
A corner gusset for connecting the front pillar inner to the front header;
A vehicle body shell, comprising: a corner reinforcement disposed at a rear portion of the front header, the corner gusset, and the front pillar inner and coupled directly to the three parties. The vehicle body shell according to claim 1,
The header joint portion where the front header and the corner reinforcement are joined is located inward in the vehicle width direction than the portion where the front header and the corner gusset are joined, and the corner reinforcement and the front pillar The vehicle body shell is characterized in that the inner coupling portion to which the inner is coupled extends rearward in the vehicle body direction from the header coupling portion. A roof assembling process for manufacturing a roof assembly in which a roof panel constituting an outline of a ceiling portion of a vehicle body and a front header coupled to a front lower surface of the roof panel are integrated;
Roof side rails arranged on both sides in the vehicle width direction of the roof panel so that the front parts are connected to both sides of the front header, and upper ends of the roof side rail and the front header are connected to opposite positions, Producing a front pillar inner in which a front pillar constituting the window structure is integrated;
A body inner assembly process for producing a body inner assembly by integrating a corner gusset connecting the front pillar inner to the front header;
A body inner gloss assembly process for joining both assemblies,
The body inner assembling step includes a step of integrating a corner reinforcement coupled to both the corner gusset and the front pillar inner,
The body inner gloss assembling step includes a step of coupling a front header to a corner reinforcement, and a manufacturing method of a vehicle body shell.

Images