JP2006273296A - Locker structure for center pillarless vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a locker structure for center pillarless vehicles capable of effectively reducing a load in a separating direction which acts on a door lock striker provided in a locker at a time of side collision. <P>SOLUTION: In the locker structure, the locker 28 comprises a locker outer panel 34, a locker inner panel 36, and a locker reenforcement 38. In the center pillarless vehicle, the door lock striker 32 is provided on an upper surface of the locker outer panel 34. An outer side bulk head 46 is arranged in the locker reenforcement 38, and an inner side bulk head 48 is arranged in the locker inner panel 36. Therefore, a door lock striker arranged part of the locker 28 is reinforced, and the load in the separating direction which acts on the door lock striker 32 at the time of side collision is reduced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a rocker structure for a center pillarless vehicle in which a body-attached center pillar does not exist in a substantially central portion of a vehicle body side portion, and a door lock striker is set on an upper surface of a rocker on a side door lower edge side.

  In recent years, from the viewpoint of improving ease of getting on and off, by removing the center pillar attached to the body that is erected at the substantially central part of the side of the vehicle body and giving the function to the side door side, There is a so-called center pillar-less vehicle in which a large opening is formed.

Patent Document 1 below discloses this type of center pillar-less vehicle, which will be briefly described below. The center pillarless vehicle disclosed in this publication employs a so-called double door type door opening / closing structure in which the front side door is opened and closed around the front pillar and the rear side door is opened and closed around the rear pillar. And the door lock striker for maintaining a door closed state is arrange | positioned at the rocker which comprises the lower edge of a large opening part. Further, as a countermeasure against side collision, the sub-latch is set near the door lock striker for the purpose of distributing the collision load.
JP 2004-148877 A

  However, according to the above prior art, the load input amount to the door lock striker can be reduced at the time of a side collision, but the mounting portion of the door lock striker is not sufficiently reinforced. For this reason, it is not possible to effectively prevent the rocker from rotating and deforming such that the rocker falls into the vehicle interior side around the axis when a side collision occurs, and the load in the peeling direction of the door lock striker may increase. .

  In consideration of the above facts, the present invention can provide a rocker structure for a center pillarless vehicle that can effectively reduce a load in a peeling direction that acts on a door lock striker set on the rocker at the time of a side collision in a center pillarless vehicle. Is the purpose.

  The rocker structure of the center pillar-less vehicle according to the first aspect of the present invention is configured such that there is no body-attached center pillar at the substantially central portion of the vehicle body side portion, and includes a rocker outer panel and a rocker inner panel on the side door lower edge side. And a rocker structure applied to a center pillarless vehicle having a rocker arranged with the longitudinal direction of the vehicle in the longitudinal direction and further having a door lock striker on the upper surface of the rocker outer panel. An outer side reinforcing member is provided at a portion where the door lock striker is disposed, and an inner side reinforcing member is provided at a position facing the outer side reinforcing member in the vehicle width direction within the cross section of the rocker inner panel. Yes.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the door lock striker is set on the upper surface of the rocker outer panel in the center pillar-less vehicle, when a collision load is input from the side door to the door lock striker at the time of a side collision, The lock striker is pulled upward (that is, in the peeling direction).

  Here, according to the present invention, the outer side reinforcing member is provided at a portion where the door lock striker is disposed in the cross section of the rocker outer panel, and the inner side is disposed at a position facing the outer side reinforcing member in the vehicle width direction within the cross section of the rocker inner panel. Since the side reinforcing member is provided, the cross section of the rocker at the portion where the door lock striker is disposed is reinforced. That is, the support strength of the portion where the door lock striker is disposed in the rocker is increased. For this reason, the cross-sectional deformation of the rocker at the time of a side collision can be suppressed, and the rotational deformation of the rocker can be suppressed.

  As described above, the rocker structure of the center pillar-less vehicle according to the present invention has no body-attached center pillar at the substantially central portion of the vehicle body side portion, and includes the rocker outer panel and the rocker inner panel on the side door lower edge side. In a rocker structure that is configured and applied to a center pillar-less vehicle having a rocker that is arranged with the vehicle longitudinal direction as a longitudinal direction, and further provided with a door lock striker on the upper surface of the rocker outer panel, the door in the cross section of the rocker outer panel Since the outer side reinforcing member is provided in the lock striker installation site, and the inner side reinforcing member is provided at a position facing the outer side reinforcing member in the vehicle width direction within the cross section of the rocker inner panel, the cross section of the rocker at the time of a side collision The deformation can be suppressed and the rotation deformation of the rocker can be suppressed. Has the excellent effect that the load of the peeling direction acting on the door lock striker is set to the rocker during a side collision at a center pillar-less vehicle can be effectively reduced.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a rocker structure for a center pillar-less vehicle according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. It should be noted that an arrow FR appropriately shown in these drawings indicates a vehicle front side, an arrow UP indicates a vehicle upper side, an arrow IN indicates a vehicle width direction inner side, and an arrow OUT indicates a vehicle width direction outer side. Is shown.

  FIG. 3 shows a schematic side view of the center pillar-less vehicle 10 according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the center pillar-less vehicle 10 has a body shell structure having a center pillar 12 only on the right side. The front side door 14 and the rear side door 16 disposed on the left side are of a door type (access door car) that can be opened and closed with a double door, and the center pillar 18 is built in the front end of the rear side door 16 (see FIG. 3 is a center pillar with a built-in door. Therefore, when the front side door 14 and the rear side door 16 are opened, a large opening 30 framed by the front pillar 20, the roof side rail 22, the rear pillar 24, the rear wheel house 26, and the rocker 28 is formed. ing.

  The rocker 28 described above is configured as a long member disposed on the lower edge side of the vehicle body side with the vehicle longitudinal direction as the longitudinal direction. In the present embodiment, a door lock striker 32 for the rear side door 16 is disposed on the upper surface of the rocker 28 (see FIG. 1).

  FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal sectional structure of the rocker 28 in the vicinity of the door lock striker 32. As shown in this figure, the rocker 28 includes a rocker outer panel 34 disposed outside the passenger compartment and having a substantially hat-shaped cross section, and a rocker 28 disposed on the vehicle interior side and having a substantially hat-shaped sectional shape. The inner panel 36 and a rocker reinforcement 38 that is disposed on the vehicle interior side of the rocker outer panel 34 and has a cross-sectional shape that is slightly smaller than that of the rocker outer panel 34.

  In the general cross section of the rocker 28, the upper end flange portions 34A, 36A, and 38A of these three panels are joined by spot welding in a state where the three panels are overlapped. Similarly, the lower end flange portions 34B, 36B, and 38B of these three panels are joined together by spot welding in a state where three sheets are stacked.

  Since the upper end flange portions 34A, 36A, 38A are positioned so as to face the opening 30, a door opening weatherstrip (not shown) made of rubber is fitted, and the upper surface side of the rocker inner panel 36 is also fitted. A scuff plate (not shown) made of resin is fitted into the.

  Further, on the upper surface side of the rocker outer panel 34, a door lock striker 32 formed in a downward U-shape is attached by a fastening tool such as a bolt and a weld nut (not shown). The door lock striker 32 includes a rhombus-shaped mounting seat 40 in plan view, and the upper surface of the rocker outer panel 34, the upper surface of the rocker reinforcement 38, corresponding to the mounting holes formed before and after the mounting seat 40, A bolt insertion hole 42 (see FIG. 2) is formed on the upper surface of an outer bulkhead 46 described later.

  Supplementally, the door lock striker 32 is a door lock striker on the lower side of the rear side door 16. That is, the rocker 28 is provided with the lower door lock striker 32 at a position corresponding to the front end side of the closed rear side door 16. By the way, the door lock striker for the rear side door 16 is set at two locations, the top and bottom of the rocker 28 and the roof side rail 22, and the door lock striker for the front side door 14 is at the middle in the height direction of the front end of the rear side door 16. Is set in the department.

  Here, a bulkhead 44 as a reinforcing member having a node shape is disposed in a cross section of a portion where the door lock striker is disposed of the rocker 28. Hereinafter, the bulkhead 44 will be described in detail.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the bulkhead 44 includes an outer side bulkhead 46 as an outer side reinforcing member disposed in a cross section on the rocker outer panel 34 side, more precisely on the rocker reinforcement 38 side, and a rocker inner panel. And an inner bulkhead 48 as an inner reinforcing member disposed in the cross section 36. In other words, the bulkhead 44 is set as a separate structure on both the rocker outer panel 34 and the rocker inner panel 36, and in other words, the bulkhead 44 is connected to the outer bulkhead 46 and the inner bulkhead 48 in the vehicle. Divided into two in the width direction. The inner bulkhead 48 is disposed to face the outer bulkhead 46 in the vehicle width direction, and is formed slightly longer in the vehicle front-rear direction than the outer bulkhead 46.

  The outer bulkhead 46 includes a top wall portion 46A and a pair of front and rear side wall portions 46B and 46C. From the inner end of the top wall portion 46A, an upper flange portion 46A 'that rises upward in the vehicle is formed. The upper flange portion 46A ′ includes three pieces, that is, an upper end flange portion 38A of the rocker reinforcement 38 and an upper end flange portion 34A of the rocker outer panel 34 in the assembled state of the outer side bulkhead 46 (a sub-assembly state toward the outer side). In the overlapped state, the portion where the upper end flange portion 34A of the rocker outer panel 34 is notched is joined by spot welding in a state of being overlapped with the upper end flange portion 38A of the rocker reinforcement 38.

  Further, outer flange portions 46B1 and 46C1 and lower flange portions 46B2 and 46C2 that are bent in the front-rear direction (directions away from each other) are formed from the outer ends and lower ends of the side wall portions 46B and 46C, respectively. The outer flange portions 46B1 and 46C1 and the lower flange portions 46B2 and 46C2 are respectively coupled to the vertical wall portion 38C and the bottom wall portion 38D (see FIG. 1) of the rocker reinforcement 38. Furthermore, a pair of front and rear bolt insertion holes 42 for attaching the door lock striker 32 is formed in the top wall portion 46A. Further, in the assembled state of the outer bulkhead 46, the inclination angle and dimensions of the top wall portion 46A are set so as to contact the lower surface of the top wall portion 38E of the rocker reinforcement 38 in a surface contact state.

  On the other hand, the inner side bulkhead 48 is located at the boundary between the rocker outer panel 34 and the rocker inner panel 36, and a partition wall 48A for partitioning the rocker cross section, and a pair of front and rear formed integrally by bending the front and rear of the partition wall 48A. It is comprised by the side wall parts 48B and 48C. Further, inner flange portions 48B1 and 48C1, upper flange portions 48B2 and 48C2, and lower flange portions 48B3 and 48C3 that are bent in the front-rear direction (a direction away from each other) are formed from the inner ends and upper and lower ends of the side wall portions 48B and 48C, respectively. Has been. The inner flange portions 48B1 and 48C1, the upper flange portions 48B2 and 48C2, and the lower flange portions 48B3 and 48C3 are provided on the vertical wall portion 36C, the top wall portion 36D, and the bottom wall portion 36E (see FIG. 1) of the rocker inner panel 36, respectively. Are combined.

  In FIG. 1, the outer side bulkhead 46 and the inner side bulkhead 48 are depicted in close contact with each other in the vehicle width direction. A slight gap is set.

(Operation and effect of this embodiment)
Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described.

  When a side collision occurs in the center pillarless vehicle 10 having the above-described configuration, the rear side door 16 tends to be deformed toward the vehicle interior side, so that the door lock striker 32 connecting the rear side door 16 to the rocker 28 has a substantially vehicle upper side. The tensile load (i.e., the load in the peeling direction) is input.

  Here, in the rocker structure of the center pillarless vehicle according to the present embodiment, the bulkhead 44 configured in a node shape is disposed in the cross section of the portion where the door lock striker 32 of the rocker 28 is disposed. The cross section of the rocker 28 at the arrangement site is reinforced. That is, the support strength of the portion where the door lock striker 32 is disposed in the rocker 28 is increased. For this reason, the cross-sectional deformation of the rocker 28 at the time of a side collision can be suppressed, and the rotational deformation of the rocker 28 in the vehicle interior direction can be suppressed.

  More specifically, the load in the peeling direction input to the door lock striker 32 is input to the top wall portion 46A of the outer bulkhead 46 to which the door lock striker 32 is fixed, and then the front and rear side wall portions 46B, 46C is transmitted to the rocker reinforcement 38 and supported by the entire rocker 28. Therefore, the load in the peeling direction acting on the door lock striker 32 is effectively reduced by the amount that the load input to the door lock striker 32 is transmitted (flowed) more to the rocker 28 side.

  Further, since the inner bulkhead 48 is present in the rocker inner panel 36, the inner bulkhead 48 supports the outer bulkhead 46 that is about to fall into the passenger compartment, and this causes the rocker 28 to undergo rotational deformation. It is suppressed. In addition, if a small gap is set between the outer side bulkhead 46 and the inner side bulkhead 48, when the rocker 28 tries to rotate and deform, the outer side bulkhead 46 is moved to the inner side bulkhead. A process of contacting the head 48 is performed.

  As a result, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to effectively reduce the load in the peeling direction that acts on the door lock striker 32 set on the rocker 28 at the time of a side collision in the center pillar-less vehicle 10.

  Further, in the rocker structure of the center pillarless vehicle according to the present embodiment, since the bulkhead 44 is disposed on both the rocker outer panel 34 and the rocker inner panel 36, the bulkhead 44 is disposed only on the rocker outer panel 34 side. In addition, the degree of reinforcement of the cross section of the rocker 28 at the portion where the door lock striker 32 is disposed increases. That is, it is possible to set the bulkhead (outer side bulkhead 46) only on the side of the rocker outer panel 34 where the door lock striker 32 is set. However, the rocker outer panel 34 and the rocker inner panel 36 of the present embodiment as in this embodiment. If bulkheads 44 (outer side bulkhead 46 and inner side bulkhead 48) are set on both sides, cross-sectional reinforcement on the rocker inner panel 36 side is added. Accordingly, as described above, the cross-sectional deformation and rotational deformation of the rocker 28 are further suppressed at the time of a side collision. As a result, according to this embodiment, the load in the peeling direction acting on the door lock striker 32 can be more effectively reduced.

  Furthermore, in the rocker structure of the center pillar-less vehicle according to the present embodiment, the bulkhead 44 includes the outer bulkhead 46 set in the cross section of the rocker outer panel 34 (more precisely, the rocker reinforcement 38), and the rocker inner panel 36. The inner side bulkhead 48 is divided into the inner side bulkhead 48 that is set at a position facing the inner side bulkhead 48 in the vehicle width direction, so that the shape, thickness, etc. of the inner side bulkhead 48 are changed to the outer side bulkhead 46. It can be arbitrarily changed independently without depending on the shape and plate thickness. As a result, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to easily tune the support rigidity of the portion of the rocker 28 where the door lock striker 32 is disposed.

  The test results are shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 4 depicts a deformation mode at the time of a side collision when only the outer bulkhead 46 is set and the inner bulkhead 48 is not set. On the other hand, FIG. 5 shows a deformation mode at the time of a side collision when both the outer panel side bulkhead 46 and the inner side bulkhead 48 are set.

  As can be seen from the comparison of these figures, it can be seen that the present embodiment in which not only the outer bulkhead 46 but also the inner bulkhead 48 is set has a smaller amount of rotational deformation of the rocker 28 toward the vehicle interior. . The member with which the rocker 28 is in contact is a side rail 52 having a rectangular cross section that is a front-rear direction member of the frame 50. A member extending inward in the vehicle width direction from the side rail 52 is a width direction member of the frame 50 and a cross member 54 spanned between the left and right side rails 52.

  FIG. 6 is a graph showing how much the load in the peeling direction changes between the configuration of FIG. 4 (graph P) and the configuration of FIG. 5 (graph Q) when a side collision load is applied. is there. In this graph, the horizontal axis is time, and the vertical axis is load. As can be seen from this graph, the load in the peeling direction is reduced in the configuration in FIG. 5 in which the inner bulkhead 48 is also set, compared to the configuration in FIG. 4 in which the inner bulkhead 48 is not set. I understand that

[Supplementary explanation of this embodiment]
In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to the double door type center pillarless vehicle 10. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and there is no body-attached center pillar at the substantially central portion of the side of the vehicle body. A center pillarless vehicle may be used, and the door opening / closing type may be other types. For example, the front side door may be a swing type door that rotates around the front pillar, the rear side door may be a slide type door, and both the front side door and the rear side door may be a slide door.

  Moreover, in this embodiment mentioned above, although the structure divided | segmented into the outer side bulkhead 46 and the inner side bulkhead 48 was taken, not only this but the bulkhead which integrated both may be used.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment described above, a rocker reinforcement 38 having a similar cross-sectional shape is separately provided on the rocker outer panel 34 side (although it is also common), but if the rocker cross-sectional strength is ensured, A configuration in which the bulkhead is set in the cross section of the rocker outer panel by omitting the rocker reinforcement 38 may be adopted.

  In the above-described embodiment, the outer side bulkhead 46 and the inner side bulkhead 48 having the shape shown in FIG. 2 are used. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is related to the required strength of the door lock striker installation site. Various shapes, sizes, and plate thicknesses are selected.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 1-1 of FIG. 3 showing a cross-section of the main part of the rocker structure of the center pillar-less vehicle according to the present embodiment. It is an expansion perspective view which shows the bulkhead shown by FIG. It is a schematic side view showing the appearance of a center pillar-less vehicle to which the rocker structure of the center pillar-less vehicle according to the present embodiment is applied. FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a deformation mode at the time of a side collision when only the outer bulkhead is set and the inner bulkhead is not set. FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a deformation mode at the time of a side collision when both an outer panel side bulkhead and an inner side bulkhead are set. 6 is a graph showing how much the load in the peeling direction changes between the configuration of FIG. 4 (graph P) and the configuration of FIG. 5 (graph Q) when a side collision load is applied.

Explanation of symbols

10 Center pillar-less car 12 Center pillar (Center pillar with body)
14 Front Side Door 16 Rear Side Door 28 Rocker 32 Door Lock Strike 34 Rocker Outer Panel 36 Rocker Inner Panel 38 Rocka Reinforce (Rocker Outer Panel)
44 Bulkhead (Reinforcement member)
46 Outer side bulkhead (outer side reinforcing member)
48 Inner side bulkhead (Inner side reinforcing member)

Claims (1)

There is no center pillar attached to the body in the substantially central part of the vehicle body side, and the rocker is configured to include a rocker outer panel and a rocker inner panel on the lower edge side of the side door, and is arranged with the vehicle longitudinal direction as the longitudinal direction. Furthermore, the rocker structure is applied to a center pillarless vehicle in which a door lock striker is set on the upper surface of the rocker outer panel,
An outer side reinforcing member is provided at a door lock striker installation site in the cross section of the rocker outer panel, and an inner side reinforcing member is provided in a position facing the outer side reinforcing member in the vehicle width direction in the cross section of the rocker inner panel. The
A rocker structure for a center pillar-less car.

Images