JP2007137141A - Fender structure for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fender structure for a vehicle capable of surely restricting a lateral shift of a fender in usual, improved in shock absorbing characteristic for absorbing a shock from upper, and capable of maintaining costs low. <P>SOLUTION: In the fender structure for a vehicle arranged to cover a rigid member 14, which is arranged in both of a right and a left sides of the vehicle, on a side thereof outside the vehicle, an upper end inner edge part of the fender 2 and the rigid member 14 are swelled toward a central side in the car cross direction Y, and connected to each other by a connecting plate 12 formed with a trapezoidal swelling rib 16, of which upper side is formed longer than a lower side thereof with a side view, and the swelling rib 16 is formed so that a vertical side Lf on a front side of the vehicle is formed more vertical than a vertical side Lr on a rear side of the vehicle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an automobile fender structure, and more particularly to an automobile fender structure that is attached to a side wall member disposed in an engine room of an automobile and has a function of absorbing an impact load from above and absorbing energy.

  When an engine room is deployed at the front of the automobile, a rigid member that extends back and forth, such as a wheel apron, is disposed on both sides of the engine room, and the wheel apron covers the outside of the vehicle body of the member. A front fender is attached. Further, the front end portions of the left and right wheel aprons are connected to each other by a radiator support member, and the same portion is covered with a front apron or the like. The upper part of the engine hood is covered with an engine hood so that it can be opened and closed. The

  In such a vehicle, when an impact load is applied to the upper part of the front fender from obliquely above, the upper end protrusion of the fender and the left and right edges of the engine hood are deformed downward to absorb the impact energy and protect pedestrians. It is configured. In order to measure the impact load absorption characteristics at the upper end side of such a front fender, for example, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, a predetermined impact is applied to a predetermined position p by a predetermined impactor H, and the HIC (Head Injury Criteria) value is measured.

  Therefore, the front fender of the vehicle is made of steel or resin. In either case, an impact load absorbing structure is formed on the upper end side of the vehicle, for example, as shown in FIGS. 10 (a) and 10 (b). When the vertical wall portion 120 formed by folding the front fender 110 in the vehicle width direction (perpendicular to the paper surface) with its inner edge on the upper end turned downward is fastened to the upper frame 100 forming the upper part of the wheel apron, A low-rigidity region (crush bull zone) is provided between 100, and for example, a vertical wall 120 is fastened to the upper frame 100 via a bracket 130 whose rigidity is adjusted separately. .

  Further, in the front fender disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-310767 (Cited Document 1), the vertical wall portion and the upper frame are connected using a resin-like bracket having an L-shaped section, a T-shaped section, or the like. In order to protect pedestrians, the engine hood and the upper edge of the left and right front fenders are held to form a continuous surface, and when the shock is absorbed, the frame-shaped bracket is damaged to absorb the impact energy. Yes.

JP 2001-310767 A

By the way, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, when the brackets 130 are distributed in the longitudinal direction X of the upper end portion of the steel front fender 110, the fender lateral direction of the upper end portion of the fender extending forward and backward is provided. It is necessary to suppress Y displacement. Therefore, in general, at least three points (three locations) before and after the upper end of the fender are supported without deviation by a steel bracket 130, and the rigidity of the components at the upper end of the fender is maintained.
However, when using the bracket 130 that functions to restrict the lateral displacement and maintain the shape of the upper end of the fender, the impact value in the vicinity of the connecting portion of the bracket 130 is significantly larger than the impact value of the portion other than the connecting portion of the bracket 130. There is no choice but to improve it.

In addition, when using resin-like brackets such as L-shaped and T-shaped cross-sections in the cited document 1, the bracket connecting portion is similar to the case where the bracket 130 shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B is used. The impact value in the vicinity is high, and there is a limit to sufficiently lowering the impact value in the same part. Moreover, since the shape of the bracket is complicated, the molding cost becomes high.
In the case of steel fenders, even if the thickness of the vertical wall is reduced by turning the inner edge of the upper end of the fender downwards to reduce the HIC value, the current plate thickness is already the molding limit plate thickness. It is difficult to lower the impact value further.

  Furthermore, when trying to reduce the HIC value by making a hole in the vertical wall at the upper end of the front fender, the front fender is closed so that it cannot be easily seen from the engine room side through this hole. There is a disadvantage that it is necessary to take a special measure and increase the cost.

  The present invention has been made by paying attention to the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide an automobile fender structure that can improve impact absorption characteristics from above and can maintain cost reduction.

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 is an automobile fender structure arranged to cover the outside of a vehicle with respect to a rigid member arranged on both the left and right sides of the vehicle. And the rigid member are connected by a connecting plate that forms a trapezoidal bulging rib whose bottom side is longer than the upper side in a side view, and that bulges on the vehicle front side. The vertical side is formed so as to stand upright from the vertical side on the vehicle rear side.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the automobile fender structure according to the first aspect, the lower connecting position of the rigid member and the connecting plate is greater than the upper connecting position of the upper end inner edge of the fender and the connecting plate. It is formed so as to be offset toward the center in the width direction.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the automobile fender structure according to the first or second aspect, the connecting plate is formed long in the front-rear direction, and a plurality of the bulging ribs are formed in the front-rear direction.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the automobile fender structure according to the first, second, or third aspect, a diagonal line connecting the front vertical side of the trapezoid and the upper end of the vertical side and the vertical side of the rear side. The crossing angle with is set to 40 ° to 50 °.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the automobile fender structure according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the automobile fender and the connecting plate are integrally formed of a resin.

  According to the fender structure for an automobile according to claim 1, the bulging rib bulges in the center in the vehicle width direction, has a trapezoidal shape in which the lower side is longer than the upper side in a side view, and the vertical side on the vehicle front side is the vehicle rear side. Since it is formed so as to stand upright from the vertical side on the side, it is possible to secure the fender mounting rigidity in the vertical direction on the vertical side on the front side of the vehicle, and to input an impact on the upper part of the vehicle (fender) from obliquely above On the other hand, the impact energy can be dispersed by the longitudinal sides before and after the extending directions are different to lower the impact value, and the pedestrian protection characteristics can be improved.

  According to the automobile fender structure according to claim 2, since the connecting plate is disposed to be inclined toward the center in the vehicle width direction, the impact energy is dispersed also in the vehicle width direction to lower the impact value. Can improve the pedestrian protection characteristics.

  According to the fender structure for an automobile according to claim 3, a plurality of bulging ribs are formed in a distributed manner, and a long connecting plate disperses impact energy to impact at any position in the front-rear direction above the front fender. Can be made lower.

  According to the fender structure for an automobile according to claim 4, the intersection angle between the vertical side of the trapezoidal front side and the diagonal line connecting the upper end of the vertical side and the vertical side of the rear side is 40 ° to 50 °. By using the set trapezoidal protrusion, it is possible to more appropriately disperse the impact energy with respect to the impact from the diagonally upper front of the fender, thereby reducing the impact value and improving the pedestrian protection characteristics.

  According to the automobile fender structure described in claim 5, since the fender and the connecting plate are integrally formed of resin, the cost can be reduced by reducing the number of parts and the number of assembly steps by reducing the number of parts.

1 and 2 show schematic front partial perspective views of an automobile 1 equipped with a front fender 2 to which the automobile fender structure of the present invention is applied.
The front fender 2 is disposed on both the left and right sides of the vehicle 1 and is disposed so as to cover the outside of the vehicle with respect to the upward wall of the wheel apron 3 which is a rigid member extending forward and backward on the vehicle body side. As the curved plate extending in the range, a resin, for example, an epoxy resin is used and molded by an injection molding apparatus (not shown).

  Here, the front fender 2 includes a rear vertical edge 4 facing the front edge of the front door D on the right side of the automobile 1, a front vertical edge 6 facing the right edge of the front bumper 5 and the front mask 10, and an engine hood. 7 and an upper protrusion 9 that extends in the front-rear direction facing the right end of the cowl cover 8 and a rearward cowl cover 8, and bends and extends downward from the upper protrusion 9 in the vehicle width direction Y of the upper protrusion 9. The upper end inner edge part 11 and the connecting plate 12 extending further downward from the lower end of the upper end inner edge part 11 are provided.

  An upper protrusion 9 extending in the front-rear direction of the front fender 2 is fastened to an upper frame 14 at the upper end of a wheel apron 3 that is a rigid member facing the engine room E via an upper end inner edge 11 and a connecting plate 12. Further, the front fender 2 is fastened to a vehicle body base frame (not shown) whose front and rear and lower tire house peripheral portions are opposed to each other via a plurality of bending fastening pieces 15 (two are shown in FIG. 2).

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the front fender 2 has an upper protrusion 9 continuously formed in the front-rear direction X, and the inner edge side in the vehicle width direction Y is the side edge of each side of the engine hood 7 and the cowl cover 8 behind it. Are facing each other. As shown in FIG. 1, the rear end portion of the upper protrusion 9 is formed so as to face the front pillar 10, and the facing portion is formed so as to form a curved outer peripheral surface continuous downward from the upper portion of the front pillar 10. The
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the upper protrusion 9 of the front fender 2 has an upper end inner edge portion 11 extending downward from the inner edge side in the vehicle width direction Y, and an impact absorbing portion K is formed from the lower end of the upper end inner edge portion 11. The connecting plate 12 is continuously extended so that the upper surface of the upper protrusion 9 is supported so as to form a continuous surface with the upper surfaces of the side edges of the engine hood 7 and the cowl cover 8 behind the engine hood 7.

  A step 121 at the upper end of the connecting plate 12 is formed so as to bend and extend from the lower end edge of the upper end inner edge 11 formed continuously in the front-rear direction X to the vehicle body center side, and is formed continuously in the front-rear direction. Is formed so that the main part 122 extends obliquely downward, and a lower flange 123 extending in the lateral direction is continuously formed at the lower end of the main part 122. The lower flange 123 is fastened at a plurality of locations to the upper frame 14 that is integrally coupled to the upper portion of the wheel apron 3 that is a rigid member extending forward and backward on the vehicle body side.

The connecting plate 12 forming the shock absorbing portion K is a thin plate that can be molded with resin. As shown in FIG. 5A, the connecting thin plate 12 is relatively thin with a thickness t2 with respect to the thickness t1 on the upper protrusion 9 side. It may be molded. Here, the connecting plate 12 is continuously thinner than the inner edge 11 at the upper end of the fender and is thinner than t1 and t2. However, since the connecting plate 12 is integrally formed, the cost is reduced by reducing the number of parts and the number of assembling steps by reducing the number of parts. This can contribute to reduction.
Furthermore, between the upper connection position e1 on the upper end inner edge 11 side and the lower connection position e2 on the upper frame 14 side which is a rigid member, the main part 122 of the connection plate extending obliquely downward from the step part 121 and the same step part. And at the center side in the vehicle width direction Y (right side in FIG. 5 (a)) with a predetermined offset amount L1. Moreover, as shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 6, the curved connecting plate 12 is formed with a plurality of bulging ribs 16 that are sequentially distributed along the front-rear direction X at predetermined intervals.

  As shown in FIG. 3, each bulging rib 16 is formed as a trapezoidal bulging portion whose lower side is longer than the upper side in a side view, and the vertical side on the vehicle front side (left side in FIG. 3) is the vehicle rear side ( It is formed so as to stand upright from the vertical side on the right side in FIG. According to the bulging rib 16 having such a shape, it is possible to ensure the fender mounting rigidity in the vertical direction on the vertical side on the front side of the vehicle, and against an impact load from obliquely upward on the front side of the fender, as will be described later. Can be easily deformed so as to disperse and absorb the impact energy by the front and rear longitudinal sides having different extending directions, thereby reducing the impact value and improving the pedestrian protection characteristics.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the bulging rib 16 is formed as a trapezoidal protrusion when the plate thickness t2 of the connecting plate 12 is set to a thickness that is thin enough to allow injection molding, the front side of the trapezoidal protrusion is the vehicle front side. The crossing angle β between the vertical side Lf and the diagonal Lc connecting the upper end of the vertical side Lf and the vertical side Lr on the vehicle rear side is set to 40 °. If this crossing angle β is set to be smaller, the rigidity decreases with respect to the impact load from the diagonally upper front of the fender, and if it is set large, the rigidity tends to increase. The crossing angle β here is 40 It is preferable that the angle is set within the range of 50 ° to 50 °. By using the bulging rib 16 of the trapezoidal protrusion set in this manner, the positional displacement of the front fender 2 on the upper protrusion 9 side in the normal state is surely restricted, and the impact load P1 from the diagonally upper front of the fender. The impact energy HIC can be appropriately dispersed to reduce the impact value HIC, and the pedestrian protection characteristics can be improved.

  Further, in addition to the formation of the step portion 121, the impact energy can also be distributed in the vehicle width direction by offsetting the upper coupling position e1 to the vehicle outer side with respect to the lower coupling position e2, thereby improving pedestrian protection characteristics. Can be improved more. Furthermore, each bulging rib 16 is curved toward the center side in the vehicle width direction Y, so that the intermediate portion in the vertical direction deviates from the line of force toward the lower connection position e2 of the component force P1s of the downward impact load P1. The impact energy in the vertical direction of the upper projection 9 of the fender 2 can be more smoothly dispersed, and the pedestrian protection characteristics can be further improved.

  When a vehicle equipped with such a front fender 2 is in constant use, the front fender, in particular its upper projection 9, is connected to a wheel apron via a connecting plate 12 having an upper end inner edge 11 and bulging ribs 16. It is fastened to the upper frame 14 on the 3 side at a plurality of locations, and the rigidity is secured, so that the positional deviation of the upper protrusion 9 of the front fender 2 can be reliably suppressed, and the upper surface of the upper protrusion 9 is the engine hood 7 and the cowl cover. 8 can be held so as to form a continuous surface with the upper surface, and the beauty can be maintained.

It is assumed that such a shock absorption test of the front fender 2 is performed by a shock absorption test test apparatus (not shown). Here, with respect to predetermined front and rear inspection positions p1 and p2 and intermediate inspection position p3 (see FIG. 2) distributed in the front and rear direction X, impactors having a predetermined weight are sequentially applied at a predetermined impactor incident angle α (= 50 °). The impact load P1 is applied at a predetermined speed by H.
As shown in FIG. 7, before the test, the front fender 2 before the input of the impact load P <b> 1 has the upper end inner edge portion 11 and the connecting plate 12 forming the shock absorbing portion K in a steady state.

When the impact load P <b> 1 by the impactor H is applied, the front fender 2 is displaced downward together with the side edges of the engine hood 7 and the cowl cover 8 (not shown). At this time, the connecting plate 12 including the upper protrusion 9 of the front fender 2, the upper end inner edge 11 and the bulging ribs 16 disperses the impact energy and lowers the impact value.
In particular, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), the connecting plate 12 is disposed so as to be inclined toward the center in the vehicle width direction Y, so that the impact energy is also distributed in the vehicle width direction with respect to the impact from above the fender. The impact value can be lowered. Furthermore, since the connecting plate 12 that is long in the front-rear direction is provided in almost the entire main region of the upper protrusion 9 of the front fender, it is possible to disperse the impact energy with respect to the impact in any position in the front-rear direction. Further, the positional displacement of the upper part of the front fender 2 can be regulated more reliably.

  In the above description, the front fender 2 is assumed to be integrally formed with the connecting plate 12 disposed below the inner edge 11 at the upper end, but instead of this, the front fender 2d shown in FIG. As described above, the connecting plate 12d that is long in the front and rear direction may be formed separately from the upper end inner edge portion 11, and the upper flange 124d of the upper end of the connecting plate 12d may be integrally joined to the upper end inner edge portion 11 or screwed. In this case, injection molding of the front fender 2d is facilitated.

Next, you may employ | adopt the front fender 2a of a structure as shown in FIG.
In this case, the upper end inner edge portion 11a continuous in the front-rear direction of the upper protrusion 9a of the front fender 2a has one connecting plate piece 12a made of resin as shown in FIG. They are deployed one by one and form the shock absorbing part K. One bulging rib 16a similar to that described with reference to FIG. 5A is formed on the connecting plate piece 12a at each position, and an upper flange 124a extending above the step portion 121a of the connecting plate piece 12a has an upper end inner edge. The lower flange 123a of the connecting plate piece 12a is fastened to the upper frame 14 of the wheel apron 3 with fastening bolts (not shown).

  In the front fender 2a of FIG. 8, the rigidity of the upper protrusion 9a of the front fender 2a is ensured by the three connecting plate pieces 12a at the front and rear and intermediate positions. The air space between the connecting plate pieces 12a and the connecting plate pieces 12a can form a low-rigidity region (crush bull zone), and even lower level impact energy can be reliably dispersed and absorbed. In the front fender 2a, the connecting plate pieces 12a are provided at the three positions of the front and rear and the middle position. However, the number of the connecting plate pieces 12a can be further increased. In particular, it is possible to suppress the positional deviation in the normal state more reliably.

It is a notch partial perspective view of a car provided with a front fender to which a fender structure for a car as one embodiment of the present invention is applied. It is a side view of the front fender used for the motor vehicle of FIG. It is a notch perspective view around the connection thin plate used with the front fender of FIG. It is a partial notch top view of the connection thin plate of FIG. 3, and a front fender. It is an AA line expanded sectional view of the front fender of FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a front fender used in the automobile of FIG. These are explanatory drawings of the impact test of the front fender used for the automobile of FIG. It is a side view of a front fender as other embodiments of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the connection thin plate piece used with the front fender of FIG. A conventional front fender is shown, (a) is a partially cutaway side view of the front fender, and (b) is a partially cutaway front view.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Car 2 Front fender 3 Wheel apron 7 Engine hood 8 Cowl cover 9 Upper protrusion 11 Upper end inner edge 12 Connecting plate 121 Step part 122 Main part 123 Lower flange 124 Upper flange 13 Wheel apron 14 Upper frame (rigid member)
16 bulging rib b2 bulging amount e1 upper coupling position e2 lower coupling position β crossing angle L1 offset amount Lf longitudinal side on the front side of the vehicle Lr longitudinal side on the rear side of the vehicle K impact absorbing portion X longitudinal direction Y vehicle width direction

Claims (5)

In an automobile fender structure arranged to cover the outside of a vehicle with respect to a rigid member arranged on both left and right sides of the vehicle,
The upper end inner edge of the fender and the rigid member are
It bulges in the center in the vehicle width direction, and is connected by a connecting plate that forms a trapezoidal bulging rib whose lower side is longer than the upper side in side view,
The automobile fender structure, wherein the bulging rib is formed such that a longitudinal side on the vehicle front side is more upright than a longitudinal side on the vehicle rear side. The automobile fender structure according to claim 1,
The lower connection position of the rigid member and the connection plate is formed to be offset toward the center side in the vehicle width direction from the upper connection position of the upper end inner edge of the fender and the connection plate. Fender structure. The automobile fender structure according to claim 1 or 2,
The automobile fender structure is characterized in that the connecting plate is formed long in the front-rear direction and a plurality of the bulging ribs are dispersed in the front-rear direction. The automobile fender structure according to claim 1, 2, or 3,
An automobile fender structure characterized in that an intersection angle between the vertical side of the trapezoidal front side and a diagonal line connecting the upper end of the vertical side and the vertical side of the rear side is set to 40 ° to 50 °. . The automobile fender structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The automobile fender structure, wherein the automobile fender and the connecting plate are integrally formed of resin.

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