JP2006248346A - Body structure in sliding door vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a car body deformation by a load input at the time of a side surface collision from occurring by increasing the strength of a combined section so that a bracket rail side and a brace center can be combined in such a manner that a bead terminal formed at the brace center and the bracket rail side may surely form a closed cross section when both parts are combined. <P>SOLUTION: An extension member 3 which is extended into the cabin side from a side rail in order to house an upper arm of a sliding door is formed to have a width larger than the width of the brace center. At the same time, recesses 4a and 4b which are formed on the extension member and the brace center 4 are combined in a manner to form the closed cross section. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a body structure in a sliding door vehicle.

  Conventionally, in a sliding door vehicle, in order to maintain the strength of the door opening and the strength in the left-right direction of the vehicle body, a special skeleton structure has been adopted around the door opening. As an example of a body structure in such a sliding door vehicle, one described in Patent Document 1 can be given.

The body structure described in this document increases the strength of a door frame with a large opening area of a vehicle without a center pillar, and this structure suppresses deformation of the door frame even in the event of a collision. The sliding door can be opened and closed.

  Moreover, the following body structures etc. are also known as prior art other than the said patent document. In general, in the vehicle as shown in FIG. 5, the upper portion of the center pillar is coupled to a brace center disposed inside the roof panel in order to maintain the strength of the vehicle body in the left-right direction. This coupling state will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the brace center coupled to the upper part of the center pillar with the rail side outer omitted, and FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the center pillar upper part and the brace center. 8 and 8 are a plan view and a cross-sectional view of the coupling portion.

In the figure, 101 is a rail side outer, 102 is a rail side inner, 103 is a bracket rail side attached to the rail side inner, and 104 is a brace center.
The bracket rail side 103 has a guide function for storing the upper arm of the slide door, and also has a function for connecting the brace center 104 to a side member such as a rail side inner or a rail side outer. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the rail side 103 is formed in a shape (extension portion) that extends greatly inside the vehicle body. The extension portion is formed with a guide hole 103a for storing the upper arm of the slide door.
By the way, the extension portion 103 and the brace center 104 are conventionally joined by spot welding or the like in a state where they are overlapped as shown in FIG. 8, and this structure maintains the strength of the center upper portion of the vehicle body. It has become.

However, the following problems have been revealed in the body structure.
That is, the brace center 104 is generally configured as a plate state in which an appropriate number of beads 104a and 104b are formed in the central longitudinal direction in order to increase the strength, as shown in FIG. 8A-A cross section. The brace center 104 is fixed by appropriate means (for example, spot welding) in a state where the end portion of the brace center 104 is overlapped with the bracket rail side 103.

  By the way, at present, in the above-described coupling structure, the coupling between the bracket rail side 103 and the brace center 104 is in a coupling state as shown in FIG. 8, and in this coupling state, the strength of the bead portion is taken into consideration. However, there is room for improvement in the coupling structure. More specifically, the bead 104a, 104b formed on the brace center 104 is such that only one bead 104a forms a closed cross section with the bracket rail side 103 as shown in the BB cross section in FIG. The other end of the remaining bead 104b is detached from the bracket rail side 103 and remains in an open cross section. For this reason, the strength of the bead portion at the corner is not fully utilized, and there is still room for improvement in strength.

  Therefore, the present invention connects the bracket rail side and the brace center so that the bead terminal portion formed on the brace center and the bracket rail side always form a closed cross section when the two are coupled. The purpose is to improve the strength and prevent deformation of the vehicle body due to load input at the time of a side collision.

  For this reason, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is that an extension member extending from the side rail to the inside of the vehicle in order to store the upper arm of the slide door is formed with a width greater than the width of the brace center, and the extension member and the brace center are formed on the extension member. The body structure of the sliding door vehicle is characterized in that the formed recesses are combined to form a closed cross section. The extension member extending inward of the vehicle is configured as a bracket, which is a body structure for a sliding door vehicle.

  According to the present invention described above, when the extension part of the bracket rail side and the brace center are overlapped with each other, the bead end formed on the brace center is always overlapped with the bracket rail side so as to form a closed cross section. In addition, since it is coupled by appropriate means such as spot welding, the strength of the coupling portion can be improved. This structure also prevents the brace center from breaking during a side collision and suppresses the torsion of the rail side on the vehicle body side. As a result, the amount of intrusion of the member corresponding to the center pillar into the room is reduced, resulting in collision performance. Can be improved.

  The present invention is characterized in that the bracket rail side and the brace center are coupled so that the bead terminal portion formed on the brace center and the bracket rail side always form a closed cross section when they are coupled.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a combination of the center pillar upper portion and the brace center with the rail side outer to which this embodiment is applied omitted, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the center pillar upper portion and the brace center, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA to DD in FIG.

In each figure, 1 is a rail side outer, 2 is a rail side inner, 3 is an extension member (also referred to as a bracket rail side) attached to the rail side inner, 4 is a brace center, and 5 is a door striker.
In this example, the bracket rail side 3 is constituted by a member different from the rail side inner 2 or the rail side outer, and is coupled to the rail side inner 2 or the rail side outer 1 by appropriate means (spot welding or the like). The bracket rail side 3 has a guide function for storing the upper arm of the slide door and a function for connecting the brace center 4 to a side member such as a rail side inner or a rail side outer. For this reason, the bracket rail side 3 has a shape greatly extended from the side rail to the vehicle interior side as shown in FIG. The extended portion needs to be formed in such a size (width) as to be surely overlapped with the ends of the beads 4a and 4b formed at the ends of the brace center 4 when coupled to the brace center 4. It is. The bracket rail side 3 is formed with a guide hole 3a and the like for storing the upper arm of the slide door as in the conventional case.

  When the bracket rail side 3 and the brace center 4 are overlapped with each other as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the ends of the beads 4a and 4b formed on the brace center 4 are always bracket rail side. 3 are overlapped so as to form a closed cross section, and are joined by appropriate means such as spot welding. With this structure, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the ends of the beads 4a and 4b always form a closed cross section with the bracket rail side 3, so that the strength of the coupling portion can be improved. This structure also prevents the brace center 4 from being bent during a side collision and suppresses the twist of the rail side on the vehicle body side. As a result, the amount of intrusion into the room of the member corresponding to the center pillar is reduced, and the collision Performance can be improved.

  Since the present invention is structured as described above, the body structure at the top of the center pillar is strengthened, and even if stress concentration occurs in the roof side rail due to the load input at the time of offset frontal collision, the door frame can be deformed. It is possible to secure safety while suppressing the opening and closing of the sliding door.

As mentioned above, although the body structure in the sliding door vehicle which concerns on this invention was demonstrated, this invention can be implemented in other various forms, without deviating from the mind and main characteristics. For example, the extension connected to the brace center can be formed integrally with the rail side inner or the rail side outer, and various shapes such as the bead shape of the brace center and the direction of the irregularities can be adopted. Is possible.
For this reason, the above-described embodiments are merely examples, and should not be interpreted in a limited manner. Further, all modifications and changes belonging to the equivalent scope of the claims are within the scope of the present invention.

  The present invention can be used for an upper structure of a door opening of a sliding door vehicle.

It is a perspective view explaining the body structure of a sliding door vehicle in one example of the present invention. It is a disassembled perspective view of a bracket rail side and a brace center. It is a top view of the coupling | bond part of a bracket rail side and a brace center. It is sectional drawing of AA, BB, CC, DD in FIG. It is a perspective view of a sliding door vehicle. It is a perspective view explaining the body structure of the conventional sliding door vehicle. It is a disassembled perspective view of the conventional bracket rail side 3 and the brace center 4. FIG. It is the top view and sectional drawing of the coupling | bond part of the bracket rail side 3 and brace center 4 of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 Rail side outer 2 Rail side inner 3 Extension member (bracket rail side)
3a guide hole 4 brace center 4a, 4b bead 5 striker

Claims (2)

In order to store the upper arm of the slide door, an extension member extending from the side rail to the inside of the vehicle is formed with a width greater than the width of the brace center, and the extension member and a recess formed in the brace center are combined to form a closed cross section. A body structure of a sliding door vehicle characterized by that. The body structure for a sliding door vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the extension member extending toward the vehicle interior is configured as a bracket.

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