JP2012131262A - Structure for coping with vehicle collision - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a structure for coping with a vehicle collision capable of inhibiting a fuel system from being damaged at the collision.SOLUTION: An engine 30 is accommodated in the engine compartment formed at the front part of a vehicle body. The engine 30 includes an engine body 37, which has a cylinder block 35 and a cylinder head 36, and the fuel system 40. The engine body 37 is supported to the vehicle body by an engine mount 50. A collision coping bracket 70 is attached on the engine body 37. The collision coping bracket 70 is located at the front of the engine mount 50. A front wall 71 of the collision coping bracket 70 is located at a vehicle front side from the fuel system 40. If a collision object enters from the front side of the engine compartment at the collision, a collision load is transmitted to the vicinity of the engine mount 50 via the collision coping bracket 70, and since the engine mount 50 is fractured, the engine body 37 is moveable backward.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle collision response structure including an engine and a fuel system.

  When a collision of a vehicle (automobile) equipped with an engine that uses fuel is assumed, it is desirable to adopt a structure that protects the fuel system so that damage to the fuel system can be minimized. For example, when a succeeding vehicle collides with a large vehicle such as a truck, the fuel system arranged near the cylinder head may be damaged by a collision object due to the deformation of the front portion of the vehicle body. Alternatively, even when an offset collision (lap collision) is assumed, it is conceivable that the fuel system arranged near the cylinder head is damaged by the engine room being deformed by an impact object entering from the front of the vehicle.

  As a means for protecting the fuel system, for example, as described in Patent Document 1 below, it is proposed to protect the fuel distribution pipe from a collision object by providing a protective member such as a protrusion in the vicinity of the fuel injection valve. Has been. Alternatively, as described in Patent Document 2, in order to suppress the movement of the surge tank at the time of a collision, it is also proposed to arrange a movement suppressing member in the vicinity of the surge tank.

Japanese Patent No. 40018748 JP 2010-138866 A

  When the engine room is deformed by a load input from the front of the vehicle in the event of a collision, the collision object enters the engine. On the other hand, the engine body consisting of a cylinder block, a cylinder head, etc. is substantially rigid and is held at a predetermined position of the vehicle body by the engine mount, so that when the collision object moves toward the engine body, the cylinder head It is conceivable that the fuel system such as the fuel distribution pipe attached to the front side of the vehicle is deformed by being sandwiched between the engine body and the collision object, and the fuel system is damaged.

  Since the load input at the time of collision is expected to be quite large, even if a protective member as described in Patent Document 1 or a movement suppression member as described in Patent Document 2 is attached to the engine body, There is a possibility that the protective member and the movement restraining member will be unable to withstand the heavy load input at the time of collision, and the fuel system will be damaged.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle collision response structure that can prevent the fuel system from being damaged during a collision.

  A vehicle collision handling structure according to the present invention includes an engine body housed in an engine room at the front of a vehicle body and supported by the vehicle body by an engine mount, a fuel system for supplying fuel to the engine body, and the engine body And a collision-response bracket that is positioned in front of the engine mount and that protrudes at least partially in front of the vehicle body from the fuel system.

  An example of the collision support bracket includes a front wall portion that is positioned in front of the vehicle body and extends in the vertical direction with respect to the fuel system, and a fixing portion that is connected to the front wall portion and formed on the engine body or the engine mount. have. The collision-compatible bracket has a shape in which the vertical width decreases from the front wall portion toward the front-rear direction middle portion of the collision-compatible bracket, and the vertical width of the front wall portion is It may be larger than the width of the fixed portion in the vertical direction. Further, the collision support bracket may have an attachment portion to which a holding member for supporting a harness routed in the engine room can be attached, or an engine component attached to the engine. You may have the boss | hub part which can be attached.

  Further, the vehicle having the collision handling structure according to the present invention is expected to have a rear-end collision when the distance between the front suspension with adjustable vehicle height, the monitor device for detecting the preceding vehicle, and the preceding vehicle is less than a predetermined value. Control means for driving the front suspension in a direction in which the front portion of the vehicle body is raised so that at least a part of the collision-response bracket is equal to or higher than the height from the road surface of the rear bumper of the forward vehicle. Also good.

  According to the collision handling structure including the collision handling bracket of the present invention, a load caused by a collision object entering the engine room from the front of the vehicle body at the time of a vehicle collision is input to the vicinity of the engine mount via the collision handling bracket. As the engine is deformed or destroyed, the engine body can move rearward. For this reason, it is possible to suppress damage such as the fuel system being crushed by a collision object entering the engine room from the front.

The top view of the front part of the vehicle which has the collision response structure which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of a part of an engine mounted on the vehicle shown in FIG. 1. The perspective view which looked at a part of engine of the vehicle shown by FIG. 1 from the front. The top view which shows the engine mount of the vehicle shown by FIG. 1 in a partial cross section. The side view of the collision response bracket provided in the vehicle shown by FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the collision handling bracket shown in FIG. 5. The vehicle which has the collision corresponding structure which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, and the side view of a part of front vehicle.

A vehicle collision response structure according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a front portion of a vehicle body 10 of a vehicle (automobile) having a collision handling structure. An arrow A in FIG. 1 indicates the front of the vehicle, an arrow B indicates the rear of the vehicle, and an arrow C indicates the width direction of the vehicle body.

  A front portion of the vehicle body 10 is a strut house member 16 including a pair of left and right side members 11 and 12, an example of a vehicle body skeleton member, a front cross member 13, a cowl top member 14, a radiator support 15, and a fender apron portion. Etc. An engine room 20 is formed inside the vehicle body 10.

  An engine 30 and a transmission 31 are accommodated in the engine room 20. As shown in FIG. 2 and the like, the engine 30 includes an engine body 37 including a cylinder block 35 and a cylinder head 36, an intake manifold 38 disposed on the vehicle front side of the engine body 37, and a vehicle rear side of the engine body 37. An exhaust manifold 39 arranged, a fuel system 40 and the like are provided. The intake manifold 38 forms a part of the intake system. The exhaust manifold 39 forms part of the exhaust system.

  The fuel system 40 includes an injector 41 that injects fuel into each cylinder of the engine body 37 and a fuel distribution pipe 42, and is disposed between the cylinder head 36 and the intake manifold 38 on the vehicle front side of the engine body 37. . Also, in the engine room 20, auxiliary equipment necessary for operating the engine 30 (for example, engine parts 45, 46, 47 such as an alternator and a pulley shown in FIG. 2), a harness (a bundle of electric wires) 48, and the like are also arranged. Has been.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the engine body 37 is disposed at a position offset to one side with respect to the center in the width direction of the vehicle body 10. For this reason, the fuel system 40 to be protected is disposed at a position offset to one side in the width direction of the vehicle body 10. On the other hand, the transmission 31 is arranged at a position offset to the other side in the width direction of the vehicle body 10. The transmission 31 and the engine body 37 are coupled to each other.

  The engine body 37 is supported by a vehicle body skeleton member (for example, the side member 12) located on one side in the width direction of the vehicle body 10 by the engine mount 50. The transmission 31 is supported by a vehicle body skeleton member (for example, the side member 11) located on the other side in the width direction of the vehicle body 10 by a transmission mount 51. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a mount attachment portion 55 for attaching the engine mount 50 is formed on the side surface of the cylinder block 35. The mount attaching portion 55 may be integrated with the engine main body 37, or may be formed separately from the engine main body 37 and attached to the engine main body 37 with bolts or the like.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of the engine mount 50. The engine mount 50 includes an insulator 62 in which an elastic body 61 such as rubber is accommodated inside a cylindrical housing 60, base members 63 and 64 fixed to the housing 60, and a shaft member that passes through the insulator 62 in the axial direction. 65, a support member 66 to which both ends of the shaft member 65 are fixed, and the like. Base members 63 and 64 are fixed to vehicle body 10 by bolts 67 (shown in FIG. 2). The support member 66 is fixed to the mount mounting portion 55 of the engine main body 37 by bolts 68. The insulator 62 has a function of suppressing vibrations generated during operation of the engine 30 from being transmitted to the vehicle body 10.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a collision-response bracket 70 is provided on one side of the engine room 20 in the vehicle body width direction, that is, on the engine mount 50 side. In the present embodiment, the collision handling bracket 70 is attached to the engine body 37 as described later. 5 and 6 are a side view and a perspective view, respectively, of the collision handling bracket 70. FIG. The collision handling bracket 70 is a die-cast molded product made of, for example, an aluminum alloy, and includes a front wall portion 71 extending in the vertical direction, a rear wall portion (fixed portion) 75 including boss portions 72, 73, 74, and an attachment portion 80. , 81, and a lower wall portion 87 including boss portions 85, 86, and the like. The rear wall portion 75 that functions as a fixing portion is connected to the front wall portion 71.

  The rear wall portion 75 of the collision handling bracket 70 is fixed to the cylinder block 35 of the engine body 37 by bolts 90 and 91 (shown in FIG. 3) inserted into the holes 72 a and 73 a of the boss portions 72 and 73. The collision handling bracket 70 may be fixed to the mount mounting portion 55 with bolts 90 or 91.

  An engine component 47 attached to the engine body 37 is attached to the boss portion 74 near the lower end of the rear wall portion 75 by a bolt 92 (shown in FIG. 2). A harness 48 routed in the engine room 20 is supported on the mounting portions 80 and 81 provided on the upper wall portion 82 via holding members 96 and 97 (shown in FIG. 2) such as clips. . Engine parts 45 and 46 are attached to boss portions 85 and 86 formed on the lower wall portion 87 by bolts 98 and 99, respectively.

  In a state where the collision handling bracket 70 is attached to the engine body 37, the front wall portion 71 that is a part of the collision handling bracket 70 protrudes further forward of the vehicle than the fuel system 40. In other words, the fuel system 40 is disposed on the rear side of the front wall portion 71 of the collision handling bracket 70. Moreover, the rear wall portion 75 of the collision handling bracket 70 is fixed to the cylinder block 35 of the engine body 37 in the vicinity of the engine mount 50.

  As described above, the collision handling bracket 70 is disposed in front of the engine mount 50, and the fuel system 40 is disposed between the front wall 71 of the collision handling bracket 70 and the cylinder head 36. When an offset collision is assumed in which one side in the width direction of the vehicle body 10 (the engine 30 side) is crushed when viewed from above the vehicle body 10, a collision object entering the engine room 20 is moved to the front wall of the collision-compatible bracket 70. By colliding with the portion 71, the collision load is transmitted to the vicinity of the engine mount 50 of the engine main body 37 via the collision corresponding bracket 70.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the collision handling bracket 70 has a shape in which the front wall portion 71 is the widest and the intermediate portion 70 a in the front-rear direction is constricted when viewed from the side of the vehicle. That is, the collision-compatible bracket 70 has a shape in which the vertical width W decreases from the front wall portion 71 toward the front-rear direction intermediate portion 70a, and the vertical direction from the intermediate portion 70a toward the rear wall portion 75. The width W is gradually increased. The width of the front wall 71 in the vertical direction is larger than the width of the rear wall 75 in the vertical direction. In addition, a rib-shaped reinforcing portion 70b is formed on the side surface of the collision handling bracket 70 in order to increase the rigidity against the load in the front-rear direction input at the time of the collision.

  The collision handling bracket 70 having such a shape can efficiently transmit the collision load input to the front wall portion 71 having a large area to the vicinity of the mount mounting portion 55 via the intermediate portion 70a and the rear wall portion 75. The collision load can be concentrated near the engine mount 50.

  Here, it is assumed that the vehicle provided with the collision handling bracket 70 collides with a large vehicle such as a truck. When the front surface of the vehicle body 10 is deformed by the rear-end collision, a collision object such as a rear bumper of the front vehicle of the rear-end collision enters the engine room 20, and a collision load is input to the front wall portion 71 of the collision-compatible bracket 70. The collision load input to the collision handling bracket 70 is transmitted to the vicinity of the engine mount 50 of the engine main body 37 via the rear wall 75, so that the engine mount 50 having a lower rigidity than the engine main body 37 is destroyed.

  When the engine mount 50 is destroyed, the engine body 37 can move rearward of the vehicle. For this reason, the fuel system 40 attached to the engine body 37 also moves to the vehicle rear side. For this reason, it is suppressed that the fuel system 40 is destroyed by the collision object that has entered the engine room 20, and the occurrence of fuel leakage can be avoided.

  Moreover, in the collision handling structure of the present embodiment, the harness 48 routed in the vicinity of the fuel system 40 is supported by the holding members 96 and 97 provided on the mounting portions 80 and 81 of the collision handling bracket 70. For this reason, it is permitted that the harness 48 moves to the rear of the vehicle together with the collision corresponding bracket 70 at the time of the collision, and damage such as the harness 48 being excessively pulled and torn can be suppressed.

  In addition, since engine parts 45, 46, 47 such as an alternator and a pulley can be assembled using boss parts 74, 85, 86 which are a part of the collision handling bracket 70, an auxiliary machine provided in the engine room 20 It is possible to reduce the number of brackets for the kind.

  FIG. 7 shows a vehicle 100 provided with a collision response structure according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle 100 includes a collision handling bracket 70, a monitor device 101 that monitors the front, a front suspension 102 and a rear suspension 103 that can change the vehicle height, and a controller that controls the heights of the suspensions 102 and 103 (control). Means) 104 and the like. The configuration of the collision handling bracket 70 is the same as that of the first embodiment (FIGS. 1 to 6).

  The vehicle 100 monitors the vicinity of the bumper of the forward vehicle 110 by the monitor device 101, and when it is detected that the distance to the forward vehicle 110 has become a predetermined value or less, that is, in a state where a rear-end collision is expected, Output from the controller 104 so that the height H1 of at least a portion of the front wall portion 71 of the bracket 70 from the road surface G of the rear bumper 111 of the forward vehicle 110 is greater than the height H2 (for example, 50 cm). The front suspension 102 is driven to the extension side (indicated by an arrow F in FIG. 7) in response to the signal.

  That is, the vehicle 100 according to the second embodiment is configured such that the height of the front portion of the vehicle 100 immediately before the rear-end collision when the height of the collision-response bracket 70 from the ground is smaller than the height of the rear bumper 111 of the front vehicle 110 during normal traveling. By increasing the height, the height of the collision-compatible bracket 70 is adjusted to the height of the rear bumper 111 of the forward vehicle 110 immediately before an emergency collision.

  By doing so, the collision load can be concentrated in the vicinity of the engine mount 50, the engine mount 50 can be destroyed, and the engine body 37 can be retracted to the rear of the vehicle. For this reason, it is possible to suppress damage to the fuel system 40 caused by the front portion of the vehicle 100 entering under the rear bumper 111 of the large vehicle. As a mechanism for changing the vehicle height of the front suspension 102, for example, an electric actuator or an explosive actuator may be employed in addition to the fluid variable strut.

  In carrying out the present invention, it goes without saying that various modifications can be made to the specific shapes and arrangements of the components of the invention such as the engine mount and the collision-resistant bracket as well as the vehicle body and the engine.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Car body 20 ... Engine room 30 ... Engine 37 ... Engine main body 40 ... Fuel system 50 ... Engine mount 70 ... Collision-response bracket 71 ... Front wall part 75 ... Rear wall part (fixed part)

Claims (5)

An engine body housed in an engine room at the front of the vehicle body and supported by the vehicle body by an engine mount;
A fuel system for supplying fuel to the engine body;
A collision-compatible bracket that is fixed to the engine body and is located in front of the engine mount, and at least a part of which projects forward of the vehicle body rather than the fuel system;
A vehicle collision response structure characterized by comprising: The collision support bracket is located in front of the vehicle body with respect to the fuel system and extends in the vertical direction; and
The vehicle collision-resistant structure according to claim 1, further comprising a fixed portion connected to the front wall portion and fixed to the engine body or the engine mount.   The collision-compatible bracket has a shape in which the vertical width decreases from the front wall portion toward the middle portion in the front-rear direction of the collision-compatible bracket, and the vertical width of the front wall portion is fixed. The vehicle collision-resistant structure according to claim 1, wherein the structure is larger than a vertical width of the portion.   The said collision corresponding | compatible bracket has an attaching part which can attach the holding member for supporting the harness routed in the said engine compartment, The any one of Claim 1 to 3 characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The vehicle collision response structure according to the item.   5. The vehicle collision handling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the collision handling bracket includes a boss portion to which an engine component attached to the engine body can be attached. Construction.

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