JP2009196584A - Hood stopper structure for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hood stopper structure in which brackets are not crushed by a hood closing load when an engine hood is strongly closed and are crushed and deformed by a load larger than the hood closing load so as to alleviate an impact. <P>SOLUTION: In the hood stopper structure, the brackets 30 each of which comprises a metal plate having an upper face 31 receiving a front edge of the engine hood 1 via a buffer member 39 and a front leg 32 and a rear leg 33 extended downwardly from front and rear edges of the upper face are installed in a radiator support upper 2 of an engine compartment. Each of the brackets 30 provided in support side parts 2b of the member 2 extended from vehicle width direction both sides toward the rearward oblique vehicle outer side has an auxiliary leg 34 extended downwardly from a side edge on the vehicle interior side of the upper face 31, and easy deformation parts 35 for crushing and deforming the rear leg 33 and the auxiliary leg 34 when an impact load T exceeding the hood closing load S during the strong closing of the engine hood are provided in vertical intermediate positions of the rear leg 33 and the auxiliary leg 34. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a hood stopper structure that stands on an upper surface of a radiator support upper member at a front end of an engine room of an automobile and receives a front edge of an engine hood.

  In general, in an automobile, as shown in FIG. 4, an engine hood 1 that opens and closes an engine room is provided so that the right and left ends of its rear edge are hinged to the vehicle body side via hinge members H, H so that it can be lifted upward and opened. When the engine hood 1 is closed, the front edge of the engine hood 1 is supported from below by a plurality of hood stoppers 3A, 3A, 3B, 3B installed on the upper surface of the radiator support upper member 2 that forms the upper edge of the front of the engine room. I have to.

  The radiator support upper member 2 includes a support center portion 2a extending in the vehicle width direction, and support side portions 2b and 2b that are bent from both ends of the support center portion 2a and extend rearward and obliquely outward. 3A, 3A, 3B, 3B are provided. The terminals on the outside of the support side portions 2b and 2b are connected to the front end of an apron upper member (not shown) on the upper edge of the side wall of the engine room.

The hood stoppers 3 </ b> A, 3 </ b> A, 3 </ b> B, and 3 </ b> B have a strength that does not deform with respect to the hood closing load when the engine hood 1 is strongly closed, and a pedestrian's head and shoulders on the front upper surface of the engine hood 1 from above. The ability to mitigate the impact in the event of a collision such as a collision is required.
As this type of hood stopper, as represented by the engine hood stopper 3B provided on the support side portion 2b of the radiator support upper member 2 shown in FIG. In general, a cushion member (buffer member) 39 attached to an upper surface portion 31 of a bracket 30 made of a metal plate having a substantially hat-shaped cross section composed of a front leg 32 and a rear leg 33 bent and extended downward is generally used.
The hood closing load S applied during the hood strong closing operation is received by the cushion member 39, and when a larger impact load T is applied, the bracket 30 is crushed and deformed to reduce the impact and protect pedestrians and the like. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
JP 2006-96255 A

By the way, when the close operation of the engine hood 1 is repeated, of the hood stoppers 3A, 3A, 3B, 3B provided on the radiator support upper member 2, the hood stopper 3B provided on the support side portion 2b In addition, the rear leg 33 is twisted, and the entire bracket tends to fall and deform obliquely toward the rear vehicle interior side. And this is recognized for the following reasons.
The engine hood 1 is generally closed by rotating around the hinges H, H at the rear edge, which is generally higher than the front edge, so that the hood closing load S is applied to the hood stopper 3B as shown in FIG. It acts from the front diagonally upward. The hood closing load S acts in a direction along the vehicle front-rear direction in plan view as shown in FIG.
On the other hand, the support side part 2b crosses diagonally with respect to the vehicle longitudinal direction, and the bracket 30 of the hood stopper 3B is provided along the extending direction of the support side part 2b as shown in FIGS. The front direction of the front leg 32 and the rear leg 33 (the imaginary line r in FIG. 4) also crosses the vehicle front-rear direction obliquely.
Accordingly, it is recognized that the rigidity of the front leg 32 and the rear leg 33 is not sufficient with respect to the hood closing load S, and the hood stopper 3B as a whole is tilted rearward and deformed by being twisted.

Therefore, it is conceivable to increase the thickness of the bracket 30 in order to reinforce the rigidity of the hood stopper 3B with respect to the hood closing load S. In such a case, the engine hood is placed in front of the engine hood 1 due to a pedestrian collision accident or the like. When a collision load T larger than the closing load S is applied, the bracket 30 is not crushed and deformed, and the impact relaxation performance is not exhibited.
Therefore, the present invention is able to ensure sufficient strength against impact during the close operation without deformation of the bracket due to the close load of the hood by the close operation of the engine hood, and at the time of a collision such as a pedestrian hitting the engine hood. An object of the present invention is to realize an automobile hood stopper structure in which a bracket is efficiently crushed and an impact is reduced when an impact load larger than a hood closing load is applied.

According to the present invention, an upper surface portion that receives a front edge of an engine hood through a buffer member at a plurality of locations of a radiator support upper member that forms an upper upper edge of an engine room of an automobile, and a front edge and a rear edge of the upper surface portion In an automobile hood stopper structure provided with brackets made of metal plates each having a front leg and a rear leg that extend downward and support the upper surface portion, of the radiator support upper member, the rear diagonally from both ends in the vehicle width direction The bracket provided on the support side portion extending toward the outside of the vehicle is disposed with its front-rear direction aligned with the extending direction of the support side portion, and the bracket is attached to the bracket from the side edge on the vehicle inner side of the upper surface portion. An auxiliary leg extending downward is provided. The rear leg and the auxiliary leg are provided with an easily deformable portion at the upper and lower intermediate positions to crush and deform the rear leg and the auxiliary leg when a collision load greater than the hood closing load when the engine hood is strongly closed is applied. (Claim 1).
When a hood closing load is applied to the hood stopper during a strong closing operation of the engine hood, the bracket is prevented from being twisted and torsionally deformed by the reinforcement of the auxiliary leg. On the other hand, when a collision load larger than the engine hood closing load is applied, the rear leg and the auxiliary leg of the bracket are bent by the easily deformable portion and deformed downward to alleviate the impact of the collision.

The easily deformable portion is formed by a punched hole provided in the rear leg and the auxiliary leg.
The punched hole can be suitably used as an easily deformable portion.

In the bracket provided on the support side portion, the bracket extends downward from the rectangular upper surface portion and the front edge and the rear edge in the front-rear direction of the upper surface portion, and the width is substantially the same as the front edge and the rear edge. The front leg and rear leg that join the leg end to the upper surface of the support side part, and the upper end of the upper leg part extending downward from the side edge inside the vehicle and the width of the upper end is almost the same as the width of the side edge toward the leg end. The auxiliary leg is provided so that the width is gradually reduced and the leg end is coupled to the side surface of the support side portion at a position near the leg end of the rear leg.
Mainly the hood closing load of the engine hood strong closing operation acts on the rear part of the bracket, but the auxiliary leg gradually decreases its leg width toward the leg end, and the leg end is joined to the support side part at a position near the rear leg. Therefore, the torsional deformation of the bracket toward the vehicle interior due to the hood closing load is effectively suppressed. In addition, since the strength of the auxiliary leg is minimized, it can be easily crushed by a collision load to alleviate the impact.

Reinforcing ribs or reinforcing flanges for reinforcing the rigidity of the leg ends are provided at the leg ends of the front leg and the rear leg.
Since the strength of the leg ends of the front leg and the rear leg is enhanced, the torsional deformation of the bracket during the hood strong closing operation can be prevented more reliably.

As shown in FIG. 4, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to hood stoppers 3B and 3B installed on left and right support side portions 2b of a radiator support upper member 2 of an automobile and receiving left and right ends of a front edge of an engine hood 1 in a closed state. Will be explained.
The radiator support upper member 2 that forms the upper edge of the front portion of the engine room includes a support center portion 2a extending in the vehicle width direction, and a support side portion 2b that is bent from both left and right ends and extends obliquely rearward and rearward of the vehicle. 2b. The support center portion 2a and the support side portions 2b and 2b are formed of a rail body having a U-shaped section or a hat shape section made of a metal plate. A plurality of hood stoppers 3 </ b> A, 3 </ b> A, 3 </ b> B, and 3 </ b> B that receive the front edge of the engine hood 1 when the engine hood 1 is closed are installed on the support center portion 2 a and the support side portions 2 b and 2 b. The engine hood 1 is hinged at both right and left ends of the rear edge thereof so as to be pivotable in the vertical direction via hinge members H, H at the rear upper edge of the engine room.

  The hood stoppers 3A and 3A of the support center portion 2a are structured such that a cushion member is installed on the upper surface portion of a bracket made of a metal plate having a cross-sectional hat shape along the vehicle longitudinal direction, and the front and rear leg ends of the bracket are connected to the support center portion. The opposing direction of the front and rear legs is matched with the front-rear direction of the vehicle by being coupled to the upper surface of 2a. Thereby, the strength of the hood stoppers 3A and 3A against the hood closing load when the engine hood 1 is strongly closed is sufficiently secured.

Hereinafter, the hood stoppers 3B and 3B of the present invention installed on the support side portions 2b and 2b will be described with reference to FIGS. The left and right hood stoppers 3B, 3B have the same structure, and one of the stoppers will be mainly described.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the hood stopper 3 </ b> B has a configuration in which a cushion member 39 is installed on an upper portion of a bracket 30 made of a metal plate. The bracket 30 is a press-molded product made of a metal plate having a thickness of about 1.0 mm, and has a rectangular upper surface portion 31 that is long in the front-rear direction, and a front leg 32 and a rear leg 33 that are bent from the front and rear edges and extend downward. The cross section is formed in a substantially hat shape in the front-rear direction.

  The front leg 32 and the rear leg 33 extend downward from the front edge and the rear edge of the upper surface portion 30 with substantially the same width as these, respectively, and the leg ends of both the legs 32 and 33 are bent from them and forward and Coupling portions 321 and 331 projecting in a flange shape substantially horizontally rearward are formed.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a reinforcing flange 36 is erected on one side edge at the leg end of the rear leg 33 so as to straddle the bent portion from the leg body side in the standing posture to the coupling portion 331 side. It is.
Further, at the leg end of the rear leg 33, a reinforcing rib 37 is formed at the middle position in the width direction so that the plate surface bulges in a shallow U-shaped section so as to extend from the leg main body side to the coupling portion 331 side. .
Similarly to the rear leg 33, reinforcing ribs 37 are also formed at the leg ends of the front leg 32 at intermediate positions in the width direction.

  The overall width of the bracket 30 is substantially the same as the width of the upper surface 21 of the support side portion 2b, and the bracket 30 extends in the longitudinal direction of the support side portion 2b in the longitudinal direction of the support side portion 2b. The connecting portions 321 and 331 of the leg ends of the front leg 32 and the rear leg 33 are overlapped and joined to the upper surface 21 of the support side portion 2b, respectively, and the front leg 32 and the rear leg 33 are opposed to each other. Is installed in a direction that obliquely intersects the vehicle longitudinal direction.

  Further, the bracket 30 is integrally formed with auxiliary legs 34 that are bent from the side edge of the upper surface portion 31 on the vehicle inner side and extend downward. The auxiliary leg 34 has a shape in which the width of the upper edge is substantially the same as the vehicle inner edge of the upper surface portion 31, and the front edge extending obliquely downward from the front edge of the upper edge and the rear edge of the upper edge. It has a rear edge extending downward substantially perpendicularly, and has a substantially triangular shape in which the leg width gradually decreases toward the leg end. The auxiliary leg 34 has a leg length longer than that of the front leg 32 and the rear leg 33, and includes a coupling portion 341 at the end of the leg. The auxiliary leg 34 is welded and joined to the side surface 21 on the inner side of the support side portion 2b on the side 21 on the inner side of the auxiliary leg 34 at a position near the leg 33 thereafter.

In the bracket 30 erected on the upper surface 21 of the support side portion 2b in this way, vertically elongated holes 35, 35 are formed at positions between the rear leg 33 and the auxiliary leg 34 in the vertical direction. The hole 35 in the rear leg 33 is provided at a position closer to the side edge on the vehicle outer side than the center of the leg width of the rear leg 33. The hole 35 of the auxiliary leg 34 is provided at a position closer to the rear edge than the center of the leg width of the auxiliary leg 34.
As described above, the rear leg 33 and the auxiliary leg 34 are easily deformed by being crushed downward with respect to the collision load from above, using the upper and lower intermediate holes 35 and 35 as easily deformable portions.

  An opening 311 is formed at a position near the rear edge of the upper surface portion 31 of the bracket 30, and a base end of a cylindrical cushion member 39 made of rubber or synthetic resin is fitted and fixed thereto. Then, the upper end of the cushion member 39 is brought into contact with the lower surface of the front edge of the engine hood 1 when the cushion member 39 is closed, and this is received.

When the engine hood 1 is strongly closed, a hood closing load S is applied to the hood stopper 3B along the vehicle front-rear direction in plan view from the upper front side.
According to the hood stopper 3B of the present embodiment, since the auxiliary leg 34 is provided on the inner side of the bracket 30 installed in the direction intersecting with the front and rear action directions of the hood closing load S, the auxiliary leg 34 supports the hood stopper 3B. Thus, twisting and falling deformation of the bracket 30 toward the vehicle inner side can be prevented.
Although the rear end side of the bracket 30 is burdened by the hood load S acting obliquely from the upper front, the rear end side of the bracket 30 is supported by the auxiliary legs 34, so that the bracket 30 can be prevented from falling down. Can do.

  In the conventional structure, the deformation of the bracket due to the hood closing load tends to be deformed from the vicinity of the bent portion with the joint portion of the leg end of the front leg and the rear leg, but the bracket 30 of the present embodiment has the legs of the front leg 32 and the rear leg 33. Since the reinforcing flange 36 and the reinforcing rib 37 are formed so as to straddle the bent portion at the end, the strength of the leg ends of both legs 32 and 33 can be strengthened, and the bracket 30 falls down due to the hood load S in combination with the support effect of the auxiliary leg 34. Deformation can be prevented more reliably.

On the other hand, when the pedestrian's head 5 (shown in FIG. 1 represents an impactor for a collision experiment) collides with the front end portion of the engine hood 1, the hood stopper 3B has the hood closing load S almost in the same direction and the hood closed. A collision load T larger than the load S acts.
In this case, the collision load T acts on a position near the rear end of the bracket 30, and the rear leg 33 and the auxiliary leg 34 are formed with easily deformable portions including the punched holes 35, 35 on the rear end side of the bracket 30. Therefore, as shown by the phantom lines in FIG. 1, the rear leg 33 and the auxiliary leg 34 are crushed and deformed around these punched holes 35, 35, the rear half of the upper surface 31 is lowered, and the engine hood 1 The front end is lowered to reduce the impact of pedestrians. Although the front leg 32 is strong and remains crushed against the collision load T, the head of a pedestrian or the like generally collides with the upper surface of the engine hood 1 at a position behind the front leg 32, and is closer to the center of the engine hood 1. Since the position and the rear half of the bracket 30 are crushed and deformed, the impact can be absorbed sufficiently.

  Since the rear leg 33 and the auxiliary leg 34 are formed with the punched hole not at the center position of the leg width but at a position near the side edge on one side, the legs 33 and 34 are moved by the action of the collision load T rather than being provided at the center position. It can be reliably crushed and deformed. This is because when the punch hole is at the center position of the leg width, the left and right panel parts on the left and right sides generate almost equal drag against the collision load T. However, by moving the punch hole to one side, The resistance against the collision load T of the adjacent panel parts is not uniform, the collision load T first causes one panel part with a low resistance to be crushed and deformed, the load on the other panel part increases, and the other panel part cannot withstand this. This is because it is crushed and deformed.

  The easily deformable portions of the rear legs 33 and the auxiliary legs 34 are not limited to the punched holes 35, and the legs 33, 34 may be cross-sectionally bent in the width direction or narrow beads having a U-shaped or V-shaped section.

  In addition, the auxiliary leg 34 is formed in a substantially triangular shape by widening the upper end and gradually decreasing the leg width toward the leg end. However, the auxiliary leg 34 may be formed to have the same width in the vertical direction. However, since the auxiliary leg 34 is formed in a substantially triangular shape, it is possible to sufficiently secure the strength for supporting the hood closing load S with the minimum necessary leg shape, and it is effective when a collision load T larger than the hood closing load S is applied. Therefore, it is possible to achieve an economical structure that is less wasteful than forming auxiliary legs with the same width in the vertical direction.

It is a side view which shows the hood stopper structure to which this invention is applied. It is the perspective view which installed the bracket used for the said stopper structure in the radiator support upper member. It is sectional drawing of the leg end of a rear leg in the position which follows the III-III line of FIG. It is a top view of the vehicle body front part of the motor vehicle showing the hood stopper structure which supports the front edge of an engine hood. It is a side view which shows the conventional hood stopper structure corresponding to FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Engine hood 2 Radiator support upper member 2b Support side part 3B Hood stopper 30 Bracket 31 Upper surface part 32 Front leg 33 Rear leg 34 Auxiliary leg 35 Punching hole (easy deformation part)
36 Reinforcement flange 37 Reinforcement rib 39 Cushion member S Hood closing load T Collision load

Claims (4)

An upper surface portion that receives the front edge of the engine hood via a buffer member, and extends downward from the front edge and the rear edge of the upper surface portion at a plurality of locations of the radiator support upper member that forms the upper edge of the front portion of the engine room of the automobile. In the automobile hood stopper structure provided with a bracket made of a metal plate provided with a front leg and a rear leg for supporting the upper surface part,
Among the radiator support upper members, the brackets provided on the support side portions that extend from both ends in the vehicle width direction toward the rear obliquely outside the vehicle are arranged with the front-rear direction aligned with the extending direction of the support side portions. ,
The bracket is provided with an auxiliary leg that extends downward from the side edge of the upper surface portion which is the inside of the vehicle,
The rear legs and auxiliary legs are provided with easy-to-deform portions at the upper and lower intermediate positions to crush and deform the rear legs and auxiliary legs when a collision load greater than the hood closing load when the engine hood is strongly closed is applied. A hood stopper structure for an automobile characterized by that.   The automobile hood stopper structure according to claim 1, wherein the easily deformable portion is formed by a punched hole provided in the rear leg and the auxiliary leg. In the bracket provided on the support side portion, the bracket extends downward from the rectangular upper surface portion and the front edge and the rear edge in the front-rear direction of the upper surface portion, and the width is substantially the same as the front edge and the rear edge. The front leg and the rear leg to join the end of the leg to the upper surface of the support side part,
The upper surface extends downward from the side edge on the vehicle inner side and the width of the upper end is substantially the same as the width of the side edge, the width gradually decreases toward the leg end, and the leg end is located near the leg end of the rear leg. The automobile hood stopper structure according to claim 1, further comprising the auxiliary leg that is coupled to a side surface of the support side portion.   The hood stopper structure for an automobile according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a reinforcing rib or a reinforcing flange for reinforcing the rigidity of the leg ends is provided at the leg ends of the front leg and the rear leg.

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