JP2007055340A - Impact force absorbing structure of body front part of automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively absorb impact force by sufficient plastic deformation of a front side member when impact force is applied to the front side member from its front part by front collision. <P>SOLUTION: The automobile 1 is provided with a pair of left and right front side members 3 extending in the longitudinal direction of a body 2, a suspension member 6 disposed on the lower side of the front side members 3 for suspending a front wheel 5, and three or more supports 7 to 9 in the longitudinal direction with respective side parts of the suspension member 6 supported by the front side members 3 corresponding thereto. Also, the automobile 1 is provided with a deformation promoting means 25 for promoting deformation so that an intermediate part 24 in the longitudinal direction of the front side member 3 in the vicinity of the intermediate support 8, out of the respective supports 7 to 9, gets away from the suspension member 6 by the impact force A applied to the body 2 at the time of the front collision of the automobile 1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an automobile having a front side member and a suspension member supported by the front side member, and the automobile during forward traveling collides (front collision) with an object in front of the front side member. The present invention relates to an impact force mitigating structure for a front part of a vehicle body in which an impact force is applied from the front side of the vehicle to reduce the impact force by plastic deformation of the front side member.

  Conventionally, an impact force mitigating structure for a front part of a vehicle body in the automobile is disclosed in Patent Document 1 below. According to this publication, an automobile includes a pair of left and right front side members that extend in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, a suspension member that is disposed below the front side member and suspends a front wheel, and each side of the suspension member. And five supporting tools in the longitudinal direction for supporting the portion on the corresponding front side member.

  When the automobile collides forward and an impact force of a predetermined value or more is applied to the suspension member from the front, a desired deformation mode is applied to the suspension member depending on the position of each support member and the shape of the suspension member. It is supposed that plastic deformation occurs due to compression of characteristics. Thereby, the impact energy generated by the front collision is absorbed, and the impact force is reduced.

JP 2001-310755 A

  By the way, in the above-described conventional technology, the front side member and the suspension member are coupled to each other by a number of five support tools. The suspension member suspends the front wheel and generally has high strength and rigidity. For this reason, the front side member tends to be greatly reinforced by the suspension member.

  Therefore, when an impact force is applied to the front side member from the front due to a front collision, the plastic deformation of the front side member may be hindered by reinforcement by the suspension member. In other words, with the conventional technique described above, there is a risk that the impact force at the time of the front collision by the front side member will be alleviated.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above-described circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to make the front side member sufficiently plastic when an impact force is applied to the front side member from the front by a front collision. It is deformed so that the impact force is effectively relieved.

The invention of claim 1 includes a pair of left and right front side members 3 extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body 2, a suspension member 6 disposed below the front side member 3 to suspend a front wheel 5, and the suspension member 6. In an automobile provided with three or more supports 7-9 in the longitudinal direction for supporting each side part on the corresponding front side member 3 in the longitudinal direction,
Among the support members 7-9, the midway portion 24 in the longitudinal direction of the front side member 3 in the vicinity of the intermediate support member 8 is subjected to the suspension by the impact force A applied to the vehicle body 2 at the time of a frontal collision of the automobile 1. Deformation promoting means 25 for accelerating the deformation away from the member 6 is provided.

  According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the invention of claim 1, of the support members 7-9, the portion 30 of the suspension member 6 in the vicinity of the rear support member 9 is A disengagement promoting means 31 that facilitates disengagement from the side member 3 is provided.

  In this section, the reference numerals appended to the above terms are not to be construed as limiting the technical scope of the present invention to the section “Example” described later or the contents of the drawings.

  The effects of the present invention are as follows.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a pair of left and right front side members extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, a suspension member disposed under the front side member and suspending a front wheel, and each side portion of the suspension member In an automobile provided with three or more supports in the longitudinal direction to be supported by the corresponding front side member,
Among the support members, the middle part in the longitudinal direction of the front side member in the vicinity of the intermediate support member is promoted to be deformed away from the suspension member by an impact force applied to the vehicle body at the time of a frontal collision of an automobile. A deformation promoting means is provided.

  For this reason, when the automobile collides forward and an impact force is applied to the front side member from the front, the middle part of the front side member is deformed by the deformation promoting means and is detached from the suspension member. (Dotted line in FIG. 1).

  Then, the reinforcement of the front side member by the suspension member is reduced, and the front side member is sufficiently plastically deformed by the impact force. Thereby, the impact energy generated by the front collision is effectively absorbed, and thus the impact force is effectively mitigated.

  Here, when the impact force is not so large, the suspension member is held by the front side member while being supported by the rear support member before and after the intermediate support member among the support members. For this reason, although the impact force at the time of the front collision is effectively reduced as described above, the suspension state of the front wheel with respect to the vehicle body is maintained, and the vehicle body is prevented from being unnecessarily excessively deformed.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided disengagement promoting means for facilitating disengagement of the suspension member portion in the vicinity of the rear support member from the front side member by the impact force among the support members. .

  For this reason, when the impact force is greater, the suspension member disengages the suspension member from the front side member.

  Then, the reinforcement of the front side member by the suspension member is more reliably reduced, and the front side member is further sufficiently plastically deformed by the impact force. Thereby, the impact energy generated by the front collision is more effectively absorbed, and thus the impact force is more effectively mitigated.

  The impact force mitigating structure for the front part of the vehicle body of the present invention relates to the front side member sufficiently plastically deformed when the front side member is given an impact force from the front by a front impact, and the impact force is effective. The best mode for carrying out the present invention is as follows in order to realize the purpose of being relaxed.

  That is, the automobile corresponds to a pair of left and right front side members extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, a suspension member that is disposed below the front side member and suspends a front wheel, and each side portion of the suspension member. And three or more supports in the longitudinal direction to be supported by the front side member. Among the support members, the middle part in the longitudinal direction of the front side member in the vicinity of the intermediate support member is promoted to be deformed away from the suspension member by an impact force applied to the vehicle body at the time of a frontal collision of an automobile A deformation promoting means is provided.

  In order to explain the present invention in more detail, an embodiment thereof will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an automobile, and an arrow Fr indicates the front of the automobile 1 in the traveling direction.

  The vehicle body 2 of the vehicle 1 includes a pair of left and right front side members 3 and 3 extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body 2, and a cross member 4 extending in the width direction of the vehicle body 2 and connecting the front side members 3 and 3 to each other. The suspension member 6 is arranged below the front side members 3 and 3 to suspend the front wheel 5 and the side portions of the suspension member 6 are supported by the corresponding front side member 3 in the longitudinal direction 3. Two front, middle and rear supports 7-9 are provided, and the vehicle 1 is supported on the traveling surface 10 by the front wheels 5.

  The front side member 3, the cross member 4, and the suspension member 6 are all made of sheet metal. Each cross section of the front side member 3 and the cross member 4 has a box shape. The suspension member 6 has a substantially rectangular frame shape in plan view (FIG. 3), and extends in the width direction of the vehicle body 2 and the pair of left and right suspension side members 12, 12 extending in the longitudinal direction. Before the members 12 are connected to each other, rear suspension cross members 13 and 13 are provided. The cross sections of the suspension side members 12 and the suspension cross members 13 are also box-shaped.

  The front support 7 includes a sheet metal front support piece 14 protruding upward from a front end side portion of the suspension member 6, and a fastener for connecting the upper end of the front support piece 14 and the front side member 3 to each other. 15. The intermediate support 8 is coupled to the intermediate support piece 16 made of a sheet metal projecting upward from the intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction of the side of the suspension member 6 and the front side member 3 by a fastener 17. A vertical circular pipe-shaped collar 19 fitted into a locking hole 18 formed at the upper end of the intermediate support piece 16 is provided.

  The rear support 9 is a fastener and is fitted into a bolt hole 21 formed in the rear end side of the suspension member 6 so that the rear end side of the suspension member 6 is connected to the front side member 3. Bolts 22 to be fastened to are provided. In this case, the suspension member 6 is offset from the rear end to the lower side on the front side.

  Due to the impact force A applied to the vehicle body 2 from the front in the frontal collision of the automobile 1, the midway portion 24 in the longitudinal direction of the front side member 3 is directed outward from the suspension member 6. Deformation promoting means 25 is provided to promote the deformation so as to leave. The midway part 24 of the vehicle body 2 is located in the vicinity of the intermediate support 8 among the supports 7-9 in plan view (FIGS. 1 and 3).

  The deformation promoting means 25 includes a plurality of (three) longitudinal beads 26 formed on the inner surface of each front side member 3 in the longitudinal direction and around the locking holes 18 positioned on the outer side of the collar 19. And a thin edge portion 27. Each bead 26 is formed so as to protrude toward the inside of the front side member 3. The thin edge 27 is formed to be thin by cutting out a part of the inner peripheral surface of the locking hole 18.

  The vehicle body 2 is provided with a disengagement promoting means 31 for promoting the disengagement of the portion 30 of the suspension member 6 from the front side member 3 by the impact force A. The portion 30 of the suspension member 6 is located in the vicinity of the rear support 9 at the rearmost portion of the supports 7-9 in a plan view (FIG. 1), that is, the rear end of the suspension member 6 It corresponds to the side. The disengagement promoting means 31 includes a slit 32 extending from the rear portion of the inner peripheral surface of the bolt hole 21 toward the rear of the suspension member 6.

  The vehicle body 2 is provided with buckling promoting means 34 for promoting the buckling of each suspension side member 12 when the suspension member 6 is given an impact force A from the front thereof. The buckling promoting means 34 is constituted by a notch 35 formed on the upper surface of the intermediate portion of each suspension side member 12 in the longitudinal direction.

  Then, when the automobile 1 has a front impact and an impact force A is applied to the front side member 3 from the front, first, the middle portion 24 of the front side member 3 is caused by each bead 26 of the deformation promoting means 25. Begins to plastically deform away from the suspension member 6 toward the outside. Then, the collar 19 which is going to go outward together with the midway portion 24 breaks the thin edge portion 27. Then, the middle portion 24 of the front side member 3 is plastically deformed so as to be greatly curved outward, and is detached from the suspension member 6 (dashed line in FIG. 1).

  Then, the reinforcement of the front side member 3 by the suspension member 6 is reduced, and the front side member 3 is sufficiently plastically deformed by the impact force A. Thereby, the impact energy generated by the front collision is effectively absorbed, and thus the impact force A is effectively reduced.

  When an impact force A is applied to the suspension member 6 from the front side, first, the front side of the suspension member 6 is moved rearward and approaches the rear end. The space between the rear end portion is plastically deformed into a Z-fold shape (the chain line in FIG. 2), and this also reduces the impact force A.

  Here, when the impact force A is not so great, the suspension member 6 is attached to the front side member 3 by the rear support members 7 and 9 before and after the intermediate support member 8 is removed from among the support members 7-9. Is held supported. For this reason, although the impact force at the time of the front collision is effectively reduced as described above, the suspension state of the front wheel 5 with respect to the vehicle body 2 is maintained, and the vehicle body 2 is prevented from being excessively deformed. .

  Further, as described above, of the support members 7-9, the portion 30 of the suspension member 6 in the vicinity of the rear support member 9 is promoted to be detached from the front side member 3 by the impact force A. Detachment promoting means 31 is provided.

  For this reason, if the impact force A is larger and the suspension member 6 is further plastically deformed, stress concentration occurs in the portion 30 of the suspension member 6 and the plastic deformation is greatly caused. At this time, the slit 32 of the disengagement promoting means 31 is expanded, and the disengagement promoting means 31 causes the portion 30 of the suspension member 6 to be disengaged from the front side member 3.

  Then, the reinforcement of the front side member 3 by the suspension member 6 is more reliably reduced, and the front side member 3 is further sufficiently plastically deformed by the impact force A. Thereby, the impact energy generated by the front collision is more effectively absorbed, and thus the impact force A is more effectively mitigated.

  Further, due to the impact force A, each suspension side member 12 of the suspension member 6 is plastically deformed so as to be buckled by the buckling promoting means 34. For this reason, the impact force A is more effectively reduced as compared with the case where each suspension side member 12 of the suspension member 6 is simply bent.

  As indicated by a three-dot chain line in FIG. 1, the slit 32 of the separation promoting means 31 may extend forward from the front portion of the inner peripheral surface of the bolt hole 21. In this way, when the impact force A is applied to the suspension member 6 and the suspension member 6 moves rearward with respect to the front side member 3, the slit 32 of the disengagement promoting means 31 opens more smoothly. Thus, the part 30 of the suspension member 6 is more reliably detached from the front side member 3 by the separation promoting means 31.

  Moreover, although the above is based on the example of illustration, you may provide the said intermediate | middle support tool 8 with two or more in the said longitudinal direction. Further, the bead 26 of the deformation promoting means 25 may be formed so as to protrude toward the outside of the front side member 3. Further, a slit may be formed in addition to or instead of the thin edge portion 27. Further, the slit 32 of the separation promoting means 31 may be a thin edge portion in addition to or instead of this, and a notch may be formed.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a partial enlargement operation of FIG. It is a partial side view of the front part of the automobile 1. 1 is a partial plan view of a front portion of an automobile 1. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automobile 2 Car body 3 Front side member 5 Front wheel 6 Suspension member 7 Support tool 8 Support tool 9 Support tool 24 Middle part 25 Deformation promotion means 26 Bead 27 Thin edge part 30 Part 31 Desorption promotion means 34 Buckling promotion means A Impact force

Claims (2)

A pair of left and right front side members that extend in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, a suspension member that is disposed below the front side member and suspends a front wheel, and each side portion of the suspension member is connected to the corresponding front side member. In an automobile provided with three or more supports in the longitudinal direction to be supported,
Among the support members, the middle part in the longitudinal direction of the front side member in the vicinity of the intermediate support member is promoted to be deformed away from the suspension member by an impact force applied to the vehicle body at the time of a frontal collision of an automobile. An impact force mitigating structure for a front portion of a vehicle body in an automobile, characterized in that a deformation promoting means is provided.   2. A disengagement promoting means for promoting disengagement of the suspension member portion in the vicinity of the rear support member from the front side member by the impact force among the support members is provided. The impact force mitigating structure for the front part of the vehicle body described in 1.

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