JP2009226968A - Front structure of vehicle body - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To satisfy both requirements of arranging a catalyst near an engine and assuring a clash stroke at the time of front collision. <P>SOLUTION: A DPF container 46 extends in a forward or rearward direction of a vehicle body in an upper region of a trans-axle 32 connected to a lateral engine 30, adjacent to the upper region and adjacent to a side region of the engine 30. The engine 30 is of a rear intake and front exhausting type, a centrifugal type turbo charger 44 has an exhaust turbine 72 arranged at the DPF container 46 and a compressor 56 arranged at a side opposite to a vehicle width direction, and an inter-cooler 58 is arranged at a side of the compressor 56. The DPF container 46 is connected to the exhaust turbine 72 through a short first exhaust pipe 80, and a second exhaust pipe 82 bent downward and extending from an engine room 3 in a rearward direction is connected to the rear end of the DPF container 46. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle body front structure, and more particularly to the arrangement of exhaust system parts in an engine room.

  It is well known that purification of automobile exhaust gas is an important technical issue due to environmental problems, and exhaust gas purification depends largely on the catalyst means installed in the exhaust system. is there. Since such a purifying device requires heat to promote the catalytic reaction, a catalyst means is disposed upstream of the exhaust system in order to exhibit the purifying function at an early stage when it is cold.

  Patent Document 1 relates to a vehicle equipped with a gasoline engine, and in order to promote early activation of the catalyst at the time of engine startup with respect to so-called “lateral installation, rear exhaust” in which the engine is placed horizontally and exhausted from the rear surface of the engine. It is disclosed that the means is arranged close to the rear face of the engine. Specifically, Patent Document 1 proposes to arrange the catalyst means along the rear surface of the horizontally mounted engine.

  Patent Document 2 relates to a vehicle equipped with a diesel engine, and a DPF (diesel particulate filter) regenerates the DPF by burning the soot accumulated on the filter and burning it away with a catalyst. It is preferable to arrange them close to each other, and from this, Patent Document 2 proposes to arrange the DPF along the rear surface of the horizontally placed engine.

  In Patent Document 3, in order to reduce the yaw moment of inertia of a vehicle equipped with a rotary engine and improve steering stability, the catalyst is placed in front of the engine when the engine is mounted at a position retracted to a position where it interferes with the dash panel. Propose to arrange.

JP 2007-146681 A JP 2006-70878 A JP 2003-326981 A

  Exhaust gas purification standards are becoming stricter year by year, and the fact is that the degree of dependence on the catalyst to cope with this is increasing, and as a result, the catalyst tends to be larger. Therefore, as in Patent Documents 1 and 2, when a catalyst means such as DPF is disposed along the rear surface of the horizontally placed engine, the case for accommodating this catalyst is relatively hard and is accompanied by the retreat of the engine at the time of a frontal collision. Since the catalyst also moves backward, the problem remains that the crash stroke at the time of a frontal collision is effectively reduced.

  On the other hand, when the catalyst means is disposed in front of the engine as in Patent Document 3 in a horizontally placed and rear exhaust engine, the exhaust pipe from the engine to the catalyst becomes long. Can no longer be prompted.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle body front part structure capable of satisfying a request for arranging a catalyst close to an engine and a request for ensuring a crash stroke at the time of a frontal collision.

According to the present invention, the above technical problem is
The dash panel divides the vehicle compartment and the engine room, and a reciprocating engine with a transaxle integrated between the left and right front side frames extending forward from the dash panel extends the crankshaft along the vehicle width direction. In the vehicle body front structure mounted horizontally like
The reciprocating engine has an intake manifold attached to its rear surface and an exhaust manifold attached to its front surface.
A catalyst container constituting a part of the exhaust pipe connected to the exhaust manifold extends to an upper area of the transaxle and a lateral area of the horizontally mounted engine, and an exhaust pipe downstream of the catalyst container is downward. This is achieved by providing a vehicle body front structure characterized by extending rearward from the engine room after bending.

  By placing the catalyst container adjacent to the side-mounted and forward-exhaust engine and on the side, that is, above the transaxle, not only can the catalyst be activated at the start, but the catalyst container The problem of shortening the crash stroke at the time of a frontal collision, which is a problem when it is arranged adjacent to, can be solved.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention,
The reciprocating engine has a turbocharger, a centrifugal exhaust turbine and a compressor of the turbocharger are arranged side by side along the front surface of the engine, and the exhaust turbine is arranged on the catalyst container side, The outlet of the exhaust turbine is directed outward in the vehicle width direction on the side where the catalyst container is located. According to this, it is easy to handle the exhaust pipe between the exhaust turbine and the catalyst container by utilizing the conversion of the exhaust flow performed in the centrifugal exhaust turbine, and the exhaust turbine and the catalyst container are connected linearly. can do.

  In a preferred embodiment, the catalyst container has a rear end located in front of a rear end of the transaxle when viewed in plan. According to this, the transaxle can prevent the catalyst container from interfering with the dash panel at the time of a frontal collision.

  In a preferred embodiment, a dash cross member extending between the left and right front side frames is provided on the front surface of the dash panel, and the catalyst container is disposed at a higher level than the dash cross member. ing. According to this, even if an effective dash cross member is provided at the time of offset frontal collision, the catalyst container can be prevented from interfering with the dash cross member at the time of frontal collision. The dash cross member is disposed at a height level intermediate between the height level of the catalyst container and the rear end of the transaxle, so that the catalyst container and the transaxle can be connected to the dash cross member at the time of a frontal collision. Can be prevented.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, reference numeral 1 indicates a dash panel, and the vehicle compartment 2 and the engine room 3 are partitioned by the dash panel 1. The vehicle compartment 2 is provided with an instrument panel 4, a brake pedal 5, a steering handle, and the like. Reference numeral 6 denotes a front window.

  As can be seen from FIG. 1 when the engine room is viewed from above and FIG. 2 when the engine room is viewed from below, the lower area of the engine room 3 includes left and right fronts extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body over the entire area of the engine room 3. Side frames 10 and 10 are disposed, and a dash cross member 12 extending along the dash panel 1 is disposed between the rear ends of the left and right front side frames 10 and 10 at the rear of the engine room 3. In addition, a sub-frame 14 extending in the vehicle width direction is disposed, and a steering device 16 including a steering rod and its drive unit is mounted on the sub-frame 14. The front end of the front side frames 10 and 10 is connected to a bumper reinforcement 18 via a crash can.

  Reference numeral 20 denotes a front wheel, and the suspension mechanism 22 of the front wheel 20 employs a strut suspension in which a shock absorber is disposed in a coil spring. As is known, this strut suspension has the advantage that the distance between the left and right suspension towers 24, 24 can be increased (FIG. 6).

  The engine 30 is mounted in the engine room 3 with its crankshaft directed in the vehicle width direction (FIGS. 1 and 2). That is, the engine 30 is a horizontal reciprocating engine, and a transaxle 32 is connected to the rear end of the crankshaft of the engine 30 side by side in the vehicle width direction. The transaxle 32 includes a multi-stage automatic transmission 36 having a planetary gear mechanism following a torque converter 34 connected to the crankshaft of the engine 30, and the engine via a differential gear 38 connected to the automatic transmission 36. The output is transmitted to the left and right front wheels 20.

  The engine 30 is a water-cooled four-cylinder engine, and the cooling water of the engine 30 is cooled by a radiator 40 fixed to a shroud panel between the front end portions of the front side frame 10.

  The horizontally placed engine 30 is sucked from the rear surface 30a and exhausted from the front surface 30b. That is, the engine 30 employs the front exhaust and the rear intake (FIG. 1). The engine 30 is a diesel engine. The diesel engine 30 is supercharged by a turbocharger 44 with an intercooler, and a DPF container 46 is interposed in the exhaust system (FIG. 1).

  The intake system of the engine 30 will be described. The intake system includes an air cleaner box 52, a compressor 56 of the turbocharger 44, an intercooler 58, and an intake manifold 60, which are arranged in order from the upstream side (FIG. 1). Outside air is supplied to the air cleaner box 52 through an air introduction pipe 54, and the outside air introduced into the air cleaner box 52 is purified by a filter (not shown).

  The outside air purified in the air cleaner box 52 is supplied to the compressor 56 by the first intake pipe 62 connecting the air cleaner box 52 and the compressor 56, and is compressed by the compressor 56. The outside air compressed by the compressor 56 is supplied to the intercooler 58 by the second intake pipe 64 that connects the compressor 56 and the intercooler 58, and is cooled by the intercooler 58. The outside air cooled by the intercooler 58 is supplied to the intake manifold 60 by a third intake pipe 66 that connects the intercooler 58 and the intake manifold 60, and is filled in each cylinder in the intake stroke of each cylinder of the engine 30.

  Next, the exhaust system of the engine 30 will be described. As well known, in addition to the exhaust turbine 72 of the centrifugal turbocharger 44 and the container 46 containing the DPF (diesel particulate filter) in order from the engine 30 side. The second catalyst and the silencer. In the turbocharger 44, an exhaust turbine 72 and a compressor 56 are arranged along the longitudinal direction on the front surface 30b of the engine 30. The exhaust turbine 72 is located on the DPF container 46 side, and the compressor 56 is located on the intercooler 58 side. (Fig. 1).

  Explaining the layout of the intake system, the rectangular parallelepiped air cleaner box 52 is disposed at the upper end of one side end of the front end of the engine room 3 (FIG. 1). The air introduction pipe 54 has an upstream end opening 54a that is flat in the longitudinal direction and has an elongated shape in the lateral direction, and the upstream end opening 54a of the air introduction pipe 54 has a shroud panel and a hood hood at the center in the vehicle width direction. 74 and is open to the front. The air introduction pipe 54 extends from the upstream end opening 54 a in the vehicle width direction and is connected to the side surface of the air cleaner box 52.

  Next, the first intake pipe 62 that connects the air cleaner box 52 and the compressor 56 will be described. First, the compressor 56 is disposed adjacent to the front surface 30b of the engine 30 (FIG. 1). The upstream end of the first intake pipe 62 is connected to the upper surface of the air cleaner box 52. The first intake pipe 62 extends from the air cleaner box 52 to the center portion of the engine room 3 in the vehicle width direction, bends backward after passing through the turbocharger 44, and reverses approximately 180 degrees to reverse the compressor 56. It is connected to. That is, the shape of the first intake pipe 62 will be described in plan view of the engine room 3. The first intake pipe 62 is arranged in the vehicle width direction from the air cleaner box 52 located at one side of the front end portion of the engine room 3. It has a shape that extends along the vehicle width direction to the center portion, then bends backward, and reverses approximately 180 degrees. Further, when the first intake pipe 62 is viewed from the side, it is disposed in substantially the same plane adjacent to the upper end region of the engine room 3, that is, the lower surface of the hood hood 74 (FIGS. 5 and 6).

  Next, the second intake pipe 64 connecting the compressor 56 and the intercooler 58 will be described. First, the intercooler 58 has a front end angle on the other side opposite to the air cleaner box 52 at the front end of the engine room 3. It is disposed at the corner (FIGS. 1, 2 and 5), and is disposed at the lower end of the front corner of the engine room 3 (FIG. 4). More specifically, the intercooler 58 is disposed in a lower area outside the front end of the front side frame 10 in the vehicle width direction (FIG. 2).

  The second intake pipe 64 once extends forward from the compressor 56 and then extends obliquely downward along the front surface 30b of the engine 30 in the vehicle width direction and is connected to the upper end of the intercooler 58 (FIG. 1).

  Next, the third intake pipe 66 that connects the intercooler 58 and the intake manifold 60 will be described. First, the intake manifold 60 is attached to the rear surface 30a of the engine 30 because the engine 30 employs a rear intake system. (Fig. 1). The third intake pipe 66 extends inward in the vehicle width direction from the lower end portion of the intercooler 58, and then extends obliquely upward rearward and upward (FIG. 4), and a lateral region of the upper end portion of the engine 30 That is, since the DPF container 46 is disposed in the upper region on the opposite side in the vehicle width direction with the horizontally placed engine 30 interposed therebetween, the air cooled by the intercooler 58 is reasonably isolated from the heat of the DPF container 46. Can be moved to the intake manifold 60. The third intake pipe 66 has a shape that bends approximately 90 degrees toward the center in the vehicle width direction after extending the upper region on the side opposite to the side where the DPF container 46 of the horizontally mounted engine 30 is located in the horizontal direction. (Fig. 1). The third intake pipe 66 is connected to the end of the intake manifold 60 extending along the upper end of the rear surface 30a of the engine 30, that is, the end on the intercooler 58 side.

  Explaining the layout of the exhaust system, the DPF container 46 is disposed above and adjacent to the transaxle 32, and adjacent to the side region of the engine 30 (FIG. 5). The DPF container 46 extends in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body (FIG. 1). The DPF container 46 has a cylindrical shape, and the exhaust gas enters from the front end side of the DPF container 46 and flows out from the rear end side of the DPF container 46.

  The outlet of the exhaust manifold 76 fastened to the front surface 30a of the front exhaust type engine 30 is formed to be shifted to the transaxle 32 side (FIG. 1). A centrifugal exhaust turbine 72 is attached adjacent to the outlet of the exhaust manifold 76. The outlet of the exhaust turbine 72 is directed outward in the vehicle width direction and toward the DPF container 46, and the exhaust turbine 72 is substantially directly connected to the exhaust manifold 76.

  As described above, the DPF container 46 is disposed above the transaxle 32, but its height is positioned at substantially the same level as the exhaust turbine 72 (FIG. 5). . The exhaust turbine 72 and the front end surface of the DPF container 46 are connected by a first exhaust pipe 80. The rear end of the DPF container 46 is located in front of the rear end of the transaxle 32 (FIG. 3), and a second exhaust pipe 82 is connected to the rear end of the DPF container 46. The second exhaust pipe 82 extends rearward from the engine room 3 and along the vehicle body central axis. A second catalyst, a silencer, and the like are installed in the second exhaust pipe 82. An oxidation catalyst may be accommodated in the DPF container 46. In this case, the second catalyst may be a reduction catalyst.

  As described above, according to the embodiment related to the forward exhaust type engine 30, the DPF container 46 including a relatively large and hard case is disposed in the upper region of the transaxle 32 connected to the horizontal engine 30. Therefore, since it is located adjacent to the front exhaust engine 30, the inlet of the DPF container 46 can be located at a position adjacent to the exhaust manifold 76 on the front surface 30b of the engine 30 (see FIG. 1). From this, the DPF container 46 can be brought close to the engine 30 to achieve early activation at the time of starting, and the presence of the DPF container 46 can be eliminated from the rear of the engine 30 which is a conventional method. It can be avoided that the crash stroke is shortened due to the presence of 46 behind the engine 30.

  In the embodiment, a centrifugal turbocharger 44 is mounted, and an exhaust turbine 72 and a compressor 56 are arranged adjacent to the front surface 30b of the engine 30 in the vehicle width direction (FIG. 1). That is, the exhaust turbine 72 and the compressor 56 are positioned side by side along the front surface 30b of the horizontally mounted engine 30, and from this, the outlet of the centrifugal exhaust turbine 72 is directed outward in the vehicle width direction and toward the DPF container 46 side. Furthermore, since the exhaust turbine 72 and the DPF container 46 are disposed at substantially the same height level (FIG. 5), the exhaust turbine 72 and the inlet of the DPF container 46 located on the side of the exhaust turbine 72 Can be connected by a relatively short first exhaust pipe 80 extending linearly in the vehicle width direction (FIG. 1). Thus, the exhaust gas immediately after exiting the engine 30 can be introduced into the DPF container 46 without hindering the exhaust flow, and early activation of the catalyst at the start can be achieved.

  Further, since the DPF container 46 can be disposed in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body in the front exhaust type engine 30, bending of the exhaust pipe from the turbocharger 44 to the DPF container 46 and the exhaust pipe behind the DPF container 46 is reduced. can do.

  In addition, in the embodiment, a frame structure is adopted that provides a dash cross member 12 along the lower portion of the dash panel 1 (FIG. 3), thereby improving the adaptability in an offset frontal collision. Since the DPF container 46 and the turbocharger 44 are not present, the dash cross member 12 is at a lower level than the DPF container 46 and higher than the rear end of the transaxle 32, that is, the differential gear 38. Due to the arrangement at the level, the DPF container 46 and the differential gear 38 do not interfere with the dash cross member 12 at the time of a frontal collision.

It is the figure which looked at the engine room from upper direction along the II line of FIG. It is the figure which looked at the engine room from the lower part. It is the figure which looked at the engine room from right to left direction along the III-III line of FIG. It is the figure which looked at the engine room from the left to the right direction. It is the figure which looked at the engine room from the front. It is the figure which looked at the engine room from back along the VI-VI line of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Dash panel 2 Car compartment 3 Engine room 10 Front side frame 12 Dash cross member 14 Sub frame 30 Engine 30a Engine rear surface 30b Engine front surface 32 Transaxle 38 Differential gear 44 Turbocharger 46 DPF container 56 Compressor (turbocharger)
58 Intercooler 60 Intake manifold 72 Exhaust turbine (turbocharger)
76 Exhaust manifold

Claims (5)

The dash panel divides the vehicle compartment and the engine room, and a reciprocating engine with a transaxle integrated between the left and right front side frames extending forward from the dash panel extends the crankshaft along the vehicle width direction. In the vehicle body front structure mounted horizontally like
The reciprocating engine has an intake manifold attached to its rear surface and an exhaust manifold attached to its front surface.
A catalyst container constituting a part of the exhaust pipe connected to the exhaust manifold extends to an upper area of the transaxle and a lateral area of the horizontally mounted engine, and an exhaust pipe downstream of the catalyst container is downward. A vehicle body front portion structure that extends rearward from the engine room after being bent. The reciprocating engine has a turbocharger;
A centrifugal exhaust turbine and a compressor of the turbocharger are disposed side by side along the front surface of the engine, and the exhaust turbine is disposed on the catalyst container side;
The vehicle body front part structure according to claim 1, wherein an outlet of the exhaust turbine is directed outward in a vehicle width direction on a side where the catalyst container is located.   The vehicle body front part structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the catalyst container has a rear end positioned in front of a rear end of the transaxle when viewed in plan.   A dash cross member extending between the left and right front side frames is provided on the front surface of the dash panel, and the catalyst container is disposed at a higher level than the dash cross member. The vehicle body front part structure as described in any one of these.   The vehicle body front part structure according to claim 4, wherein the dash cross member is disposed at a height level intermediate between a height level of the catalyst container and a height level of a rear end portion of the transaxle.

Images