JP2007283941A - Fender panel supporting structure of automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fender panel supporting structure capable of stably supporting a fender panel against a lateral load, being easily deformed under a collision load from the upper part, and absorbing shocks. <P>SOLUTION: In this fender panel supporting structure, a bracket 3 having an approximately hat-sectioned shape comprising opposed legs 31, 31 and a top part 30 and rigidity of an upper half 31a of the leg 31 lower than that of a lower half 31b stands on a top face 24 of an apron upper member 2 at a top edge of a compartment side, so that the legs 31, 31 are located at front and rear positions, and a top end 10 of the fender panel 1 is fixed and supported on the top part 30 of the bracket 3. A planar belt-like reinforcing member 4 is bridged between side edges on a compartment side of the lower halves 32b, 32b of both legs 31, 31 of the bracket 3, so that a plate face 40 forms a vertical face. A cover member 5 is fixed and supported for covering a gap on the compartment side between an apron upper member 2 and the top end 10 of the fender panel 1 by the reinforcing member 4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an automobile fender panel in which an upper end portion of a fender panel of a vehicle body is supported by an apron upper member at an upper side edge portion of an engine room through a bracket that can be deformed by a collision load from above and absorb the impact. It relates to the support structure.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a fender panel support structure for a vehicle body has a plurality of shock absorbing functions against a collision load acting from above on an upper surface of an apron upper member at an upper side edge of an engine room from the viewpoint of pedestrian protection measures. Brackets are provided and the upper end of the fender panel is supported through these brackets (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  3 and 4 show an example of a conventional bracket used in the above support structure. The bracket 3A is made of a metal plate having a substantially hat-shaped cross section, and the leg portions 31 and 31 opposed to each other and the upper ends of these 31 and 31 are placed horizontally. The bracket 3A is provided with punch holes 39 in the upper half of the legs 31, 31 so as to be crushed and deformed against a collision load acting from above. Yes. The bracket 3A is used for a support structure of a minivan or an SUV type automobile in which the upper end of the fender panel 1 is set at a relatively high position, and the height dimension is relatively higher than that of a passenger car or the like.

  The bracket 3A is installed by welding and joining flanges 35, 35 formed at the lower ends of the legs 31 and 31 on both sides to the upper surface of the apron upper member 2 with the leg portions 31 and 31 on both sides being front and rear, and bent from the upper end of the fender panel 1 The upper end portion 10 that protrudes to the top is superimposed on the upper surface portion 30 of the bracket 3 and fastened by a screw member N. According to this, when a pedestrian and a vehicle collide, the pedestrian's head or shoulder collides with the upper end of the fender panel 1 from above, and a collision load acts on the upper end of the fender panel 1 from above. In the bracket 3A, the upper half of the leg portions 31, 31 in which the respective punched holes 39 are formed is crushed and deformed to absorb and reduce the collision load.

  Also, in minivans and SUV type cars, the gap between the upper end of the fender panel and the apron upper member is large. To prevent the gap and bracket from being exposed when the engine hood is opened, cover the cover A member is provided and fixedly supported by an upper end portion of the fender panel and a mounting seat formed on the bracket.

  By the way, in such a minivan or SUV, since the gap is large as described above, the leg portions 31 of the bracket 3A cannot be said to have sufficient support rigidity against the load acting from the side of the vehicle body. For example, when a worker pushes the vicinity of the upper end of the fender panel 1 from the lateral direction to the inside of the vehicle by waxing during car washing (white arrow F in FIG. 4), both legs 31 and 31 of the bracket 3 are caused by this load. There is a problem that the distance between the front and rear sides of the fender panel 1, particularly the side edge inside the vehicle, is bent so as to be widened, and the vicinity of the upper end of the fender panel 1 sways in the vehicle width direction and there is no sense of stability.

  Therefore, the reinforcing flanges 38 (imaginary lines in FIG. 3) that are bent from these side edges and project inward in the brackets are formed over the entire length of the side edges of the legs 3 and 31 of the bracket 3A and the upper surface 30 inside the vehicle. In this case, it is conceivable to enhance the rigidity of the bracket 3 with respect to a lateral load. However, since the rigidity of the bracket 3A as a whole is strengthened, the shock absorbing performance against the collision load from above is lowered.

In the fender panel support structure described in Patent Document 3 below, a plate-shaped reinforcing member is installed at the upper and lower intermediate positions between the two leg portions of the bracket, and the plate surface is set as a horizontal surface. The frangible panel breaks and deforms due to the pulling force of the legs that try to spread to both sides when the impact load acting on the fender panel from the receiver exceeds a predetermined value. It has a structure that absorbs water.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-178953 JP 2003-118639 A JP 2005-329874 A

  However, in the bracket described in Patent Document 3, if the height dimension is large, if a load acts on the upper part from the lateral direction, the reinforcing member is twisted, and the rigidity against the lateral load is not sufficient. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an automobile fender panel support structure that can sufficiently exhibit shock absorbing performance against a collision load from above and that stably supports a fender panel against a lateral load. It is a thing.

  The present invention has a substantially hat-shaped cross section comprising an upper surface of an apron upper member extending in the front-rear direction along an upper side edge of an engine room of an automobile, an opposing leg portion, and an upper surface portion connecting these upper ends horizontally. Then, set up the bracket with the rigidity of the upper half of both legs lower than that of the lower half so that the legs are in the front and back positions, and fix the upper end of the fender panel to the upper surface of the bracket. In the fender panel support structure of an automobile, a flat belt-shaped reinforcing member is installed between the side edges on the vehicle inner side of the lower half of the both leg portions of the bracket so that the plate surface forms a vertical surface. A cover member covering the gap between the upper end portion of the fender panel and the apron upper member is fixedly supported on the reinforcing member. Since a reinforcing member with a plate surface as the vertical surface is provided between the side edges on the inner side of the lower half of both bracket legs, the side edge on the inner side of the bracket is deformed against the load acting on the bracket from the side. Without bracket, the bracket is stable against lateral loads. For the load from above, the upper half of the bracket is deformed to mitigate the impact. The reinforcing member can be used as a mounting seat for the cover member.

  The reinforcing member has bent end portions that are bent at substantially right angles at both ends thereof, and the both bent end portions are set to the both leg portions, with the plate surface facing the engine room being flush with the side edges of the both vehicle interior sides. (2). A mounting hole is provided in the reinforcing member, and a locking means penetrating the cover member is press-fitted and locked in the mounting hole to fix and support the cover member on the reinforcing member. By setting the plate surface of the reinforcing member to be flush with the side edge of the bracket inside the vehicle, the cover member can be easily fixed by being overlapped with the reinforcing member. Fixing can be easily performed by locking means such as a clip.

  In the upper half of the leg portion, a bent portion that is bent in a substantially square shape in cross section is formed (claim 4). A punched hole is formed in the upper half of the leg (claim 5). Since the bent portion or the punched hole is provided, the upper half portions of both leg portions are crushed and deformed by a collision load from above, and the shock absorbing performance can be sufficiently exhibited.

  According to the fender panel support structure of the present invention, it is possible to sufficiently exhibit the shock absorbing performance against the collision load from above, and to stably support the fender panel against the lateral load.

  An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to the fender panel support structure of the minivan or SUV type automobile shown in FIG. 2 will be described. In the fender panel support structure of this embodiment, brackets 3 and 3 are provided at two front and rear positions on the upper surface of the apron upper member 2 installed in the front-rear direction along the upper edge of the apron panel 20 that forms the side of the engine room of the vehicle body. The upper end 10 of the fender panel 1 is fixedly supported by the brackets 3 and 3, and the gap between the upper end 10 of the fender panel 1 and the apron upper member 2 and the brackets 3 and 3 are covered by the cover member 5. As a configuration. In the figure, 29 is a suspension tower on the side of the engine room.

  Hereinafter, based on FIG. 1, the detail of the fender panel support structure of this embodiment is demonstrated centering on the bracket 3 of the front side. The upper end of the fender panel 1 extends from the vertical wall-shaped general portion forming the side surface of the vehicle body in a curved shape gently toward the upper side of the vehicle body and toward the engine room, and is folded downward from the upper edge to the vertical wall. A flange-like upper end portion 10 is formed that bends from the lower edge of the vehicle and projects almost horizontally to the inside of the vehicle. A bead opened downward is formed on the inner edge of the upper end portion 10 with a shallow cross-section substantially in an inverted U shape.

  The apron upper member 2 is a skeleton member of the vehicle body, and is composed of an outer panel 21 having a substantially L-shaped cross section and an inner panel 22 having a substantially inverted L-shaped cross section, and the upper edges and lower edges of both panels 21 and 22 are joined together. It has a closed cross-sectional structure with a substantially square cross section.

  The bracket 3 is a press-molded product made of a metal plate, has a substantially hat-shaped cross section, has leg portions 31 and 31 facing each other, a flat plate-like upper surface portion 30 connecting these upper ends, and lower ends of both leg portions 31 and 31. Are provided with connecting flanges 35 and 35 which are bent and project outward.

  In the bracket 3, both leg portions 31, 31 are arranged at the front and rear positions along the extending direction of the apron upper member 2, and the coupling flanges 35, 35 are overlapped and welded to the upper surface 24 of the apron upper member 2. The height dimension from the upper surface 24 of the apron upper member 2 to the upper surface portion 30 of the bracket 3 is about 40 mm in the bracket used for automobiles such as sedans, while the bracket 3 is set as high as about 60 mm. A pair of front and rear screw holes 300, 300 each having a weld nut are formed on the back surface side of the upper surface portion 30 at the front and rear positions of the upper surface portion 30.

  The leg portions 31, 31 of the bracket 3 are bent from the front and rear end edges of the upper surface portion 30 and extend obliquely downward to oppose each other in a letter C shape, and extend substantially vertically downward via the bent portions 34, 34. The upper half 31a, 31a is a rectangular shape, and the lower half 31b, 31b extends downward to extend the upper half 31a, 31a and slightly widens downward.

  A reinforcing member 4 is installed between the lower half portions 31b and 31b of the leg portions 31 and 31. The reinforcing member 4 is made of a flat plate-like metal plate, and its width dimension is set to about one third to two fifths of the height dimension of the entire leg portions 31 and 31. At both ends of the reinforcing member 4, coupling flanges 41, 41 each having a bent end portion bent substantially at right angles to the vehicle outer side are formed. The reinforcing member 4 has both ends so that the plate surface 40 is a vertical surface in the width direction and the plate surface 40 facing the engine room is flush with the side edges of the both legs 31, 31 on the vehicle inner side. The coupling flanges 41 and 41 are overlapped and welded to the opposing surfaces of the lower half portions of the leg portions 31 and 31, respectively.

  The reinforcing member 4 is formed with a square attachment hole 42 for attaching the cover member 5 to cover the gap between the fender panel 1 and the apron upper member 2 and the bracket 3 at the front and rear intermediate positions of the plate surface 40.

  The upper end portion 10 of the fender panel 1 is superimposed on the upper surface portion 31 of the bracket 3 erected on the upper surface 24 of the apron upper member 2 from above, and the upper end portion 10 of the fender panel 1 is viewed from above on the front and rear screw holes 300. The bolt member N (FIG. 2) passing through is fastened, and the upper end portion 10 of the fender panel 1 is supported by the bracket 3. A headlamp stay (not shown) is fastened together with the upper end portion 10 of the fender panel 1 in the front screw hole 300. Similarly, the rear end of the upper end portion 10 of the fender panel 1 is supported by a rear bracket 3 (FIG. 2) standing on the rear end of the upper surface 24 of the apron upper member 2. The rear bracket 3 is fastened by a single bolt member N.

  The cover member 5 is a synthetic resin plate extending in the front-rear direction, and its vertical width dimension is slightly larger than the gap between the fender panel 1 and the apron upper member 2 and the height dimension of the bracket 3. The cover member 5 has its upper edge inserted into the bead of the upper end portion 10 of the fender panel 1 from below, and the rear lower end of the cover member 5 is overlapped with the upper end of the inner surface of the apron upper member 2 to cover the gap and the bracket. 3 is covered and the back surface of the cover is superimposed on the plate surface 40 on the vehicle interior side of the reinforcing member 4 of the bracket 3. Then, a clip 50 (FIG. 2) serving as a locking means is press-fitted and locked from the vehicle inner side to the square hole 42 of the bracket 3 and the corresponding through-hole 52 of the mounting portion 51 provided in the cover member 5. The cover member 5 is supported by the reinforcing member 4 provided on the surface. Similarly, the rear end of the cover member 5 is supported by the rear bracket 3.

  According to the present embodiment, when a collision load is applied when the pedestrian's head or shoulder hits the upper edge of the fender panel 1, the upper half portions 31a, 31a of the bracket-shaped leg portions 31, 31 are provided. Crushed and deformed to absorb the load and reduce the impact. The lower half portions 31b and 31b are provided with a reinforcing member 4 that spans between the leg portions 31 and 31, and the plate surface 40 of the reinforcing member 4 is a vertical surface between the side edges of the leg portions 31 and 31 on the vehicle inner side. As a result, the side edges of the legs 31 and 31 on the vehicle inner side are reliably prevented from spreading and deforming, and the bracket 3 is not twisted and deformed to the vehicle inner side even when a load is applied to the bracket 3 from the vehicle outer side. The upper end portion 10 of the fender panel 1 is stably supported.

  Further, since the reinforcing member 4 is provided with the plate surface 40 as a vertical surface and flush with the side edges on the vehicle inner side of the leg portions 31 and 31 of the bracket 3, the cover member 5 is easily fixed and supported by overlapping it. can do.

  In the bracket 3 of the present embodiment, the bent portions 34 are provided in the upper half portions of the front and rear leg portions 31 and 31 so as to be easily crushed by an impact load from above, but the cross section is substantially rectangular. As in the conventional structure, a punch hole 39 (see FIG. 3) may be formed in the upper half of the portions 31 and 31 so as to be easily crushed by the impact load. In this case, it is necessary to set the hole diameter so that the bracket 3 is not twisted when the upper end portion 10 of the fender panel 1 is fastened to the upper surface portion 30 of the bracket 3. In this regard, it is desirable to provide the bent portion 34 that does not have to worry about twisting.

It is a perspective view which shows the principal part of the fender panel support structure of this invention. 1 is an overall perspective view showing a fender panel support structure of a minivan or SUV type automobile to which the present invention is applied. It is a principal part perspective view of the conventional fender panel support structure corresponding to FIG. It is a schematic sectional drawing of the conventional fender panel support structure.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fender panel 10 Upper end part 2 Apron upper member 24 Upper surface of apron upper member 3 Bracket 30 Upper surface part 31, 31 Leg part 31a, 31a Upper half part 31b, 31b Lower half part 34 Bending part 4 Reinforcement member 40 Plate surface 5 Cover member 50 clips (locking means)

Claims (5)

The upper leg of the apron upper member extending in the front-rear direction along the upper edge of the side of the engine room of the automobile has a substantially hat-shaped cross section composed of opposed leg parts and an upper face part that horizontally connects the upper ends thereof. A fender for an automobile in which a bracket whose upper half is set lower than the lower half is erected so that the legs are in the front-rear position and the upper end of the fender panel is fixed to the upper surface of the bracket. In the panel support structure,
Between the side edges on the inner side of the lower half of the both legs of the bracket, a plate-shaped reinforcing member is laid so that the plate surface forms a vertical surface,
A fender panel support structure for an automobile, wherein a cover member that covers a gap between an upper end portion of the fender panel and the apron upper member is fixedly supported on the reinforcing member.   The reinforcing member has bent end portions that are bent at substantially right angles at both ends thereof, and the both bent end portions are set to the both leg portions, with the plate surface facing the engine room being flush with the side edges of the both vehicle interior sides. The automobile fender panel support structure according to claim 1, wherein the automobile fender panel support structure is coupled to the opposite surface of the vehicle.   2. The automobile fender panel support according to claim 1, wherein a mounting hole is provided in the reinforcing member, and a locking means penetrating the cover member is press-fitted into the mounting hole to fix and support the cover member on the reinforcing member. Construction.   The automobile fender panel support structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a bent portion that bends in a substantially square shape in cross section is formed in the upper half of the leg portion. The automobile fender panel support structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a punched hole is formed in the upper half of the leg portion.