JP2010167934A - Deflector structure of vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve cooling capability of a front wheel brake device without impairing air characteristics (a Cd value) of a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: In this deflector structure for the vehicle, a deflector member 4 for limiting travel airflow amount flowing into a wheel house 3 for storing a front wheel 2 is provided on a front side of the wheel house 3. The deflector member 4 includes an opening part 19 allowing travel airflow to flow in an inside portion of the front wheel 2 of the wheel house 3, a first guide wall 13 having an inclined surface to guide travel airflow from the outside of a vehicle width direction toward the opening part 19, and a second guide wall 14 extended backward from an edge of the vehicle width direction inside of the opening part 19 to change a flow of the travel airflow passing through the opening part 19 to be closer to an inside surface of the front wheel 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle deflector structure that restricts the amount of traveling air flowing into a wheel house that houses a front wheel.

  The traveling wind that passes under the vehicle body during vehicle traveling flows into the wheel house from the front and flows out from the side surface of the vehicle body. In general, a wheel house that houses a front wheel that is a steered wheel is formed wide in the vehicle width direction in anticipation of the steering allowance of the front wheel, so that the amount of air flowing out from the side surface of the vehicle body tends to increase. If a large amount of air flows out from the side of the vehicle body, it becomes a factor that disturbs the air flow of the entire vehicle, and deteriorates the air drag coefficient (Cd value) of the entire vehicle.

Therefore, as described in Patent Document 1, it has been proposed that a plate-like deflector member is disposed in front of the front wheels to reduce the amount of traveling air flowing into the wheel house. However, when the amount of traveling air flowing into the wheel house is reduced, the cooling performance by the traveling air of the brake device provided on the front wheel is deteriorated. For this reason, in the same document, it is proposed that the deflector member is provided with an opening through which traveling air for cooling the brake device is passed. Furthermore, in the same document, a groove-like depression extending in the front-rear direction is formed on the lower surface of the vehicle body in front of the wheel house, and the opening is formed by the groove-like depression and a notch formed in the upper part of the deflector member. In addition, it has also been proposed to increase the cooling capacity of the brake device by gradually increasing the amount of depression above the groove-like depression as it goes rearward so that the traveling wind flows into the wheel house upward. Yes.
JP 2007-253656 A

  However, there is a conflict between reducing the amount of travel air flowing into the wheel house to increase the air drag coefficient (Cd value) and causing the travel air to flow into the wheel house to cool the front wheel brake device. In the past, it was difficult to achieve both.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to achieve both the improvement of the air drag coefficient (Cd value) and the improvement of the cooling performance of the brake device by allowing the traveling wind to be efficiently guided to the brake device of the front wheel. To do.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, a guide wall that guides the traveling wind from the outside in the vehicle width direction toward the opening of the deflector member, and the flow of the traveling wind that has passed through the opening are arranged on the inner surface of the front wheel ( And a guide wall that changes so as to approach the brake device.

That is, the present invention is a traveling that protrudes downward from the lower surface of the vehicle body and extends in the vehicle width direction to the front side of the wheel house that houses the steered front wheel provided with the brake device, and flows into the wheel house from the front of the vehicle. In a vehicle deflector structure provided with a deflector member for limiting the air volume,
The deflector member is provided with an opening that allows the traveling wind to flow into the inner portion of the front wheel in the wheel house, and the traveling wind is directed from the outside in the vehicle width direction toward the opening. A first guide wall having an inclined surface that guides the vehicle, and a flow that travels backward from the inner edge of the opening in the vehicle width direction and passes through the opening is changed toward the inner surface of the front wheel. A second guide wall is provided.

  Accordingly, since the inclined surface of the first guide wall guides the traveling wind from the outside in the vehicle width direction toward the opening, the traveling wind from the front of the vehicle is concentrated on the opening. The traveling wind passing through the vehicle flows from the outside in the vehicle width direction to the inside, that is, toward the second guide wall. As a result, the traveling wind flow is efficiently changed by the second guide wall, and the concentration of traveling wind on the inner side surface (brake device) of the front wheel is increased. Therefore, the brake device can be efficiently cooled without causing an excessive increase in the amount of traveling air flowing into the wheel house.

  It is preferable that the inclined surface of the first guide wall is curved so that an inclination angle of a tangent to the vehicle width direction gradually increases as it approaches the opening from the outside in the vehicle width direction.

  As a result, the closer to the inner side in the vehicle width direction of the first guide wall, the larger the inclination angle of the tangent line, so that the traveling wind easily enters the opening portion, and the front of the opening portion is compared with the flat inclined surface. The traveling wind that crosses and escapes to the center of the car body is reduced. Further, the closer to the outer side in the vehicle width direction of the first guide wall, the smaller the inclination angle of the tangent line, so that the running wind is cut off at the outer end of the first guide wall. That is, it is advantageous in preventing traveling wind from flowing into the wheel house from the outside in the vehicle width direction of the first guide wall to the back side of the first guide wall.

  When the vehicle body lower surface height is lower than the center of the front wheel, it is preferable to configure as follows. That is, on the lower surface of the vehicle body, there is formed a groove-like recess portion that extends in the front-rear direction toward the inner portion of the front wheel and that has a rear end that is recessed upward and communicates with the wheel house. The deflector member is disposed so as to straddle the rear portion of the groove-like recess portion, and a notch portion opened upward is formed at a portion straddling the groove-like recess portion of the deflector member. The notch portion and the groove The opening is formed by the rear portion of the concave portion. And the said groove-shaped hollow part is made to become large gradually as the amount of hollows upward goes back.

  As a result, the traveling wind flowing into the wheel house from the groove-like depression through the opening is gradually higher as the depression amount upward of the groove-like depression goes rearward, and is higher than the opening. The position is directed, which is advantageous for cooling the brake device for the front wheel whose center is higher than the height of the lower surface of the vehicle body.

  It is preferable that the wall surface on the outer side in the vehicle width direction of the groove-like recess portion is inclined outward in the vehicle width direction as it goes downward.

  Thereby, the traveling wind flowing along the inclined side wall surface through the groove-like depression is easily directed to the front brake device, which is advantageous for cooling the brake device.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the inclined surface of the first guide wall concentrates the traveling wind from the front of the vehicle on the opening, and directs the traveling wind passing through the opening toward the second guide wall. From the above, the change in the travel wind flow by the second guide wall is efficiently performed, the concentration of the travel wind on the inner surface of the front wheel is increased, and thus the travel air volume flowing into the wheel house is not excessively increased. The brake device can be cooled, which is advantageous for improving both the air drag coefficient (Cd value) of the entire vehicle and the cooling performance of the brake device.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the following description of the preferred embodiment is merely illustrative in nature, and is not intended to limit the present invention, its application, or its use.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 1 according to the embodiment includes a front wheel 2 that is a steered wheel and a wheel house 3 that houses the front wheel 2 in a steerable manner. A deflector member 4 that restricts the amount of travel air flowing into the wheel house 3 from the front of the vehicle is provided on the lower surface of the vehicle body on the front side of the wheel house 3. The vehicle body lower surface height on the front side of the wheel house 3 is lower than the center of the front wheel 2. The deflector member 4 can be formed of metal or synthetic resin, but is preferably formed of a flexible material such as rubber in order to mitigate the impact when colliding with a foreign substance and prevent damage and dropout.

  FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the lower surface of the front portion of the vehicle. The left and right front wheels 2 are suspended on the vehicle body independently from each other by a front suspension including a lower arm 5 (for example, a double wishbone type, a McPherson strut type). The lower arm 5 is supported by the perimeter frame 6. Each of the left and right front wheels 2 is provided with a brake device 7 and a steering knuckle arm 8. The brake device 7 includes a brake disk 7a and a caliper 7b. The deflector member 4 is fixed to each of the left and right side undercovers 11 that form the lower surface of the vehicle body on the front side of the left and right wheel houses 3. The left and right deflector members 4 are formed symmetrically, protrude downward from the lower surface of the under cover 11 and extend in the vehicle width direction.

  3 and 4 show the deflector member 4 fixed to the right under cover 11. The deflector member 4 includes a vehicle width direction inner side wall 12, a vehicle width direction outer side first guide wall 13 following the vehicle width direction inner side wall 12, and a second guide wall provided at the back of the vehicle width direction inner side wall 12. 14. A rectangular notch 15 that opens upward is formed at a portion of the inner side wall 12 in the vehicle width direction that is closer to the first guide wall 13. Flange 16, 17 for fixing the deflector member 4 to the under cover 11 is provided on the upper edge of each of the vehicle width direction inner side wall 12 and the first guide wall 13 on the vehicle width direction outer side.

  In this embodiment, the vehicle width direction inner side wall 12 is formed in a flat plate shape, and the first guide wall 13 on the outer side in the vehicle width direction is formed in an arc shape. The first guide wall 13 is inclined at an angle range of 120 degrees or more and 170 degrees or less with respect to the inner wall 12 in the vehicle width direction. Although the 1st guide wall 13 can also be formed in flat form, when forming in circular arc shape, the radius should just be 80 mm or more and 150 mm or less, for example. The second guide wall 14 protrudes rearward from the inner edge in the vehicle width direction of the notch 15. The upper end of the front portion of the second guide wall 14 is higher than the inner wall 12 in the vehicle width direction, and the lower surface of the second guide wall 14 is inclined so that the ground height increases toward the rear end.

  A state in which the deflector member 4 is fixed to the right under cover 11 is shown in FIGS. FIG. 5 is a bottom view partially in section. The under cover 11 is formed with a groove-like depression 18 that is recessed upward and extending in the front-rear direction toward the inner portion of the front wheel 2. The groove-like depression 18 gradually increases in the amount of depression toward the rear, and further, the groove opening width expands at the rear end portion, leading to an inner portion of the wheel house 3 from the front wheel 2. ing. Moreover, both side walls 18a and 18b of the groove-like depression 18 are inclined outward in the vehicle width direction as going downward. As shown in FIG. 7, the angle of inclination of the side walls 18a, 18b with respect to the vertical is greater on the outer wall surface 18a than on the inner wall surface 18b.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the deflector member 4 is disposed so as to straddle the rear portion (position where the groove opening width starts to expand) in the notch portion 15. , 17 to the under cover 11. Thereby, the vehicle width direction inner side wall 12 of the deflector member 4 is located at a position corresponding to the inner side portion of the front wheel 2 of the wheel house 3, and the first guide wall 13 is located at a position corresponding to the front wheel 2 side. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the opening 19 that allows the traveling wind from the front of the vehicle to flow into the inner portion of the front wheel 2 in the wheel house 3 is provided with the notch 15 of the deflector member 4 and the under cover 11. The groove-shaped depression 18 is formed.

  The front surface of the first guide wall 13 of the deflector member 4 is formed on an inclined surface 13 a that guides the traveling wind from the outside in the vehicle width direction toward the opening 19. That is, the inclined surface 13a is inclined such that the inner end in the vehicle width direction is located behind the outer end, and the traveling wind is guided to the opening 19 by this inclination. Preferably, as clearly shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the inclination angle of the tangent to the vehicle width direction is curved so as to gradually increase from the outside in the vehicle width direction toward the opening, for example, It is curved in an arc shape.

  In this embodiment, the vehicle width direction inner side wall 12 of the deflector member 4 is inclined by about 5 degrees to 20 degrees with respect to the vehicle width direction so that the inner end in the vehicle width direction is located behind the outer end. Is provided.

  The second guide wall 14 of the deflector member 4 is rearward from the inner edge of the opening 19 in the vehicle width direction so as to change the flow of the traveling wind that has passed through the opening 19 toward the inner surface of the front wheel 2. It extends. That is, the second guide wall 14 is guided by the first guide wall 13 so that the flow of the traveling wind passing through the opening 19 from the outer side in the vehicle width direction toward the inner side approaches the inner side surface of the front wheel 2. In order to change efficiently, the rear end is inclined so as to be inward in the vehicle width direction from the front end. The inclination angle is preferably 45 degrees or less with respect to the vehicle longitudinal direction. The upper portion of the front portion of the second guide wall 14 that is higher than the inner wall 12 in the vehicle width direction is inserted into the groove-like recess 18.

  Next, the operation of the deflector structure will be described. First, on the front side of the wheel house 3, the inner wall 12 in the vehicle width direction of the deflector member 4 corresponds to an inner part of the front wheel 2 of the wheel house 3, and the first guide wall 13 corresponds to the front wheel 2. . Thereby, the amount of travel air flowing into the wheel house 3 is limited, and the air drag coefficient (Cd value) of the vehicle 1 is increased.

  Thus, although the amount of travel air flowing into the wheel house 3 is limited, the deflector member 4 includes an opening 19 formed by the notch 15 and the groove-like recess 18 of the under cover 11. . And since this opening part 19 is provided corresponding to the inner site | part from the front wheel 2 in the wheel house 3, it is permitted that a driving | running | working wind flows into an inner site | part from the front wheel 2 in the wheel house 3. FIG. Thereby, the brake device 7 can be cooled. This point will be specifically described below.

  The wheel house 3 is guided by the first guide wall 13 from the outside in the vehicle width direction in addition to the traveling wind passing through the opening 19 in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body through the groove-like depression 18 and the like. The traveling wind that passes inward in the width direction flows in. As described above, the traveling wind from the front of the vehicle concentrates on the opening 19, so that the flow velocity of the traveling wind passing through the opening 19 is faster than when the first guide wall 13 is not provided. Furthermore, due to the influence of the traveling wind that is guided by the first guide wall 13 and reaches the opening 19, the traveling wind that passes through the opening 19 travels from the outside in the vehicle width direction to the inside, that is, toward the second guide wall 14. Become a flow.

  And the flow of the driving | running | working wind which goes to the inner side from the vehicle width direction outer side is changed so that it may go to the vehicle width direction outer side by the 2nd guide wall 14, ie, it approaches toward the inner surface of the front wheel 2. FIG. As a result, the concentration of the traveling wind with respect to the brake device 7 of the front wheel 2 is increased, and the braking device 7 is efficiently cooled although the amount of traveling air flowing into the wheel house 3 is limited by the deflector member 4. Can do. Moreover, since the upper part of the front part where the 2nd guide wall 14 became higher than the vehicle width direction inner side wall 12 is inserted in the groove-shaped hollow part 18, the flow of driving | running | working wind can be changed efficiently.

  In the case of the above-described embodiment, the inclined surface 13a of the first guide wall 13 is curved, and the closer to the inner side in the vehicle width direction, the larger the inclination angle of the tangent line. It becomes easy to enter, and the traveling wind which escapes to the vehicle body center side across the front of the opening part 19 decreases. Further, the closer to the outer side in the vehicle width direction of the first guide wall 13, the smaller the inclination angle of the tangent line, so that the running wind is cut off at the outer end of the first guide wall 13. That is, it is advantageous in preventing traveling wind from flowing into the wheel house 3 from the outside in the vehicle width direction of the first guide wall 13 to the back side of the first guide wall 13.

  Furthermore, since the running wind flowing into the wheel house from the groove-like depression 18 of the under cover 11 through the opening 19 gradually increases as the depression amount upward of the groove-like depression goes backward, It is directed to a position higher than the opening 19, which is advantageous for cooling the brake device 7 whose center is at a high position, particularly for cooling the caliper 7 b. Further, since the wall surface 18a on the outer side in the vehicle width direction of the groove-shaped recess 18 is inclined outward in the vehicle width direction as it goes downward, the flow of traveling wind flowing along the inclined wall surface 18a causes the brake device 7 to flow. It becomes easy to point and becomes advantageous for cooling of this brake device 7.

  Further, since the second guide wall 14 is inclined so that the ground height becomes higher as the lower surface thereof goes to the rear end, the impact when colliding with a foreign object on the ground when the vehicle 1 moves backward is reduced, and the deflector member This is advantageous for preventing the falling of 4.

<Performance comparison test>
As shown by a solid line in FIG. 8, a horseshoe-shaped deflector member 21 is attached to a portion of the under cover 11 on the outer side in the vehicle width direction from the groove-like depression 18, and as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. Comparative Example 2 in which a flat plate-shaped deflector member 22 having a notch portion was attached to an under cover (without a groove-like recess), and an embodiment in which the above-described deflector member 4 was attached to the under cover 11 were prepared.

  The horseshoe-shaped deflector member 21 of the comparative example 1 was set to the same ground height as the first guide wall of the deflector member 4 according to the embodiment. The flat plate-shaped deflector member 22 of Comparative Example 2 includes a cutout portion similar to that of the deflector member 4 according to the embodiment, and the ground height is set in the same manner, but the portion corresponding to the first guide wall is flat, The second embodiment is different from the embodiment in that the second guide wall is not provided and the groove-like depression is not provided.

  About the said comparative examples 1 and 2 and embodiment, the brake device cooling performance and aerodynamic performance were investigated by the wind tunnel experiment. The cooling performance was evaluated by the wind speed hitting the caliper 7b of the brake device 7, and the aerodynamic performance was evaluated by the Cd value. The results are shown in Table 1 as relative values with the first comparative example as the reference value 100.

  In Comparative Example 1, the traveling wind is guided to the groove-like depression by the curvature in the vehicle width direction of the horseshoe deflector member 21, so that the wind speed is relatively high, and also due to the curvature in the vehicle width direction of the horseshoe deflector member 21. Since the running wind is good, the Cd value is also relatively high. In Comparative Example 2, since there is no guidance of traveling wind by the deflector member 22 and there is no groove-like depression, the wind speed is weaker than in Comparative Example 1, and the wheel from the outer end in the vehicle width direction of the deflector member 22 The Cd value is also low because there is a running wind around the house 3.

  On the other hand, in the embodiment, the wind speed is increased by nearly 30% compared to Comparative Example 1, and it can be seen that the performance of cooling the brake device is high. This increase in wind speed is an effect of the first guide wall 13 and the second guide wall 14. Further, in the embodiment, the Cd value is slightly low, but the degree of decrease is small, and it does not greatly hinder the desired aerodynamic performance.

  In addition, in the said embodiment, although the groove-shaped hollow part 18 was provided in the vehicle body lower surface of the wheel house front side, this invention is applicable also when not providing a groove-shaped hollow part.

  In the above embodiment, the opening 19 is formed by the notch 15 of the deflector member 4 and the lower surface of the vehicle body. However, the opening may be formed by the deflector member 4 alone.

It is a side view of the vehicle front part provided with the deflector structure which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a bottom view (partial sectional view) of the front portion of the vehicle. It is a perspective view of a deflector member concerning an embodiment of the present invention. It is a rear view of the same deflector member. It is a bottom view (partial sectional view) of the vehicle front right side. It is sectional drawing in the AA of FIG. It is sectional drawing in the BB line of FIG. It is a bottom view which shows the deflector structure which concerns on a comparative example.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 2 Front wheel 3 Wheel house 4 Deflector member 7 Brake device 11 Under cover (lower surface of vehicle body)
12 Vehicle width direction inner side wall 13 1st guide wall 13a Inclined surface 14 2nd guide wall 15 Notch part 18 Groove-shaped hollow part 18a Inclined side wall 19 Opening part

Claims (4)

A deflector member that protrudes downward from the lower surface of the vehicle body and extends in the vehicle width direction on the front side of the wheel house that houses the steered front wheel provided with a brake device, and restricts the amount of traveling air flowing into the wheel house from the front of the vehicle In the vehicle deflector structure provided with
The deflector member is provided with an opening that allows the traveling wind to flow into the inner portion of the front wheel in the wheel house, and the traveling wind is directed from the outside in the vehicle width direction toward the opening. A first guide wall having an inclined surface that guides the vehicle, and a flow that travels backward from the inner edge of the opening in the vehicle width direction and passes through the opening is changed toward the inner surface of the front wheel. A vehicle deflector structure characterized in that a second guide wall is provided. In claim 1,
The vehicle deflector structure, wherein the inclined surface of the first guide wall is curved such that an inclination angle of a tangent to the vehicle width direction is gradually increased from the outside in the vehicle width direction toward the opening. In claim 1 or claim 2,
The lower surface of the vehicle body is provided at a position lower than the center of the front wheel,
On the lower surface of the vehicle body, there is formed a groove-like recess portion that is recessed upward and extending in the front-rear direction toward the inner portion of the front wheel.
The deflector member is disposed so as to straddle the rear portion of the groove-like recess, and a notch portion opened upward is formed at a portion straddling the groove-like recess of the deflector member. The opening is formed by the rear portion of the recess,
The vehicle-shaped deflector structure is characterized in that the groove-like depression portion gradually increases as the amount of depression toward the rear increases and communicates with the wheel house. In claim 3,
A vehicle deflector structure, wherein a wall surface in the vehicle width direction outer side of the groove-shaped recess portion is inclined outward in the vehicle width direction as it goes downward.

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