JP2012197702A - Intake manifold - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an intake manifold, which is capable of suppressing a mechanical interference with a fuel system, without increasing the number of parts, even in an emergency of vehicle collision, etc.SOLUTION: The intake manifold 20 has a concentration unit 21 and a distribution unit 22 which are formed by welding of a resin molding consisting of segments, wherein an intake air supplied to the concentration unit 21 is distributed to each intake port of an engine 10 mounted on a vehicle CA through the distribution unit 22. Particularly, the welding rib MJR used for welding is formed on the upstream side of the distribution unit 22, and also the formation direction of the welding rib MJR is formed in the direction parallel to a direction of applying load to the vehicle CA.

Description

  The present invention relates to an intake manifold that supplies intake air to an in-vehicle engine, and more particularly to an improvement of an intake manifold structure that is useful in avoiding mechanical interference with a fuel system in an emergency such as a vehicle collision.

  Conventionally, as this type of intake manifold, for example, the one described in Patent Document 1 is known. FIG. 6 schematically shows a cross-sectional structure of the intake manifold described in Patent Document 1. As shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the intake manifold 200 formed by welding resin molded articles made of a plurality of split bodies to each other at the welded portions MJ1, MJ2, and MJ3 has intake air via a throttle valve (not shown). Is formed. A distribution passage 202 that distributes intake air from the collecting portion 201 is formed in a shape that curves from the lower end to the upper end of the intake manifold 200 and along the outer edge of the collecting portion 201. The distribution passage 202 communicates with the intake port 101 of the engine 100 through the communication portion 203 at the upper end of the intake manifold 200. The intake manifold 200 is attached to the engine 100 by, for example, fastening a manifold attachment portion 204 provided at the distal end portion of the distribution passage 202 to a bolt (not shown).

  In the intake manifold 200, a flange 300 is formed above the communication portion 203 so as to project in the direction in which the distribution passage 202 is formed and to cover the distribution passage 202 from above. As a result, even when, for example, a welded portion MJ1 in the distribution passage 202 is cracked at the time of a vehicle collision or the like, it is possible to prevent the split body from moving above the manifold mounting portion 204. That is, in the engine 100, mechanical interference between the fuel system such as the injector 110 disposed above the rod 300 and the split body of the distribution passage 202 can be suppressed.

JP 2009-236018 A

  By the way, in recent years, along with the electronic control of the vehicle or the engine, various devices such as various sensors and control devices tend to be mounted in the engine room of the vehicle on which the engine is mounted. On the other hand, the size of the engine room itself tends to be designed to be narrower in order to achieve both the reduction in the size of the vehicle body and the improvement in the comfortability associated with the weight reduction of the vehicle. Of course, it is important to provide a flange 300 as in the conventional intake manifold 200 to prevent mechanical interference between the intake manifold 200 and the fuel system at the time of a vehicle collision or the like. Increasing the number of parts is becoming a new issue, such as the need for expansion.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and its purpose is to suppress mechanical interference with the fuel system without increasing the number of parts, even in an emergency such as a vehicle collision. It is to provide an intake manifold that can be used.

Hereinafter, means for solving the above-described problems and the effects thereof will be described.
The invention according to claim 1 has a collecting portion and a distributing portion formed by welding a resin molded product made of a split body, and the intake air supplied to the collecting portion is supplied to the vehicle via the distributing portion. An intake manifold that distributes to each intake port of the mounted engine, wherein at least one welding rib used for the welding is formed on the upstream side of the distributing portion, and the formation direction of the welding rib is directed to the vehicle. The gist is that the direction is parallel to the load application direction.

  According to such a configuration as the intake manifold, at least one of the welding ribs, which is a portion where the resin molded products made of the split bodies are welded to each other, distributes the intake air supplied to the collecting portion to each intake port of the engine It is provided on the upstream side of the distributing unit, that is, at a position farther from the engine than the distributing unit. And the formation direction of such a welding rib is formed so that it may become a direction parallel to the load application direction to a vehicle. As a result, in the event of a vehicle collision or the like, the weld rib portion having a low strength in the weld manifold formed by welding is peeled off in response to the load. For this reason, even if the conventional intake manifold and the like are eliminated and the number of parts is reduced, the peeled (disassembled) split body is scattered on the engine side where the injector or the like is provided. This prevents the mechanical interference between the splits and the fuel system.

The gist of the invention according to claim 2 is that, in the intake manifold according to claim 1, welding ribs formed on the upstream side of the distribution portion are provided in the collecting portion.
According to such a configuration, the separation (decomposition) position of the intake manifold by the welding rib at the time of applying a load can be set at a position farther from the fuel system as a collecting portion.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the intake manifold according to the second aspect, when the engine is vertically mounted on a right-hand drive specification vehicle, the intake manifold is formed in a direction parallel to a load application direction to the vehicle. The gist of the present invention is that the welding rib is provided to the collecting portion located in the right side direction of the vehicle. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the intake manifold according to the second aspect, when the engine is vertically mounted on a vehicle with a left-hand drive specification, the intake manifold is in a direction parallel to a direction in which a load is applied to the vehicle. The gist of the weld rib to be formed is that the weld rib is provided to the collective portion located in the left side direction of the vehicle.

  According to such a configuration, a load application position at the time of a vehicle collision, that is, an obstacle (barrier) collision, which is assumed when the engine is vertically mounted in the engine room in a manner corresponding to the vehicle steering wheel specification. Separation (disassembly) of the collecting portion of the intake manifold can be achieved at a portion closer to the position.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the gist of the intake manifold according to any one of the first to fourth aspects is that the engine is an in-line multi-cylinder engine.
For example, in a V-type engine or the like, since the intake manifold is positioned immediately above the engine body when mounted on a vehicle, the intake manifold is less likely to be subjected to a collision due to an obstacle (barrier) when the vehicle collides. On the other hand, the in-line multi-cylinder engine has an intake manifold located next to or in front of the engine body when mounted on a vehicle, so that an obstacle (barrier) collides with the intake manifold when the vehicle collides. Is inevitable. Therefore, if the intake manifold having the above structure is applied to such an in-line multi-cylinder engine, the above-described effect of suppressing interference with the fuel system can be utilized to the maximum extent.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing the structure of an intake manifold according to an embodiment of the present invention together with an in-line multi-cylinder engine including the intake manifold. Sectional drawing which shows the cross-sectional structure along the AA of FIG. The top view which shows the mounting aspect in the engine room of the intake manifold of the same embodiment attached to the engine. (A) and (b) are ODB tests on the right front portion of a vehicle in which the intake manifold of the same embodiment is attached in the right side direction of an in-line multi-cylinder engine mounted vertically in the front engine room. The top view which shows typically the process which performed. The top view which shows typically an example of the intake manifold attached to the front surface of the in-line multicylinder engine mounted horizontally in the front engine room. Sectional drawing which shows typically the cross-section of the conventional intake manifold.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of an intake manifold according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
(Configuration of this embodiment)
First, the configuration of the intake manifold of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the intake manifold of the present embodiment distributes and supplies intake air supplied via an intake passage (not shown) to an in-line multi-cylinder engine (four cylinders in this example). In reality, resin molded products made up of a plurality of split bodies are welded to each other by vibration welding or the like. The intake manifold 20 is provided with a collection portion (surge tank) 21 in which intake air supplied via a throttle valve (not shown) is collected in order from the upstream side as a passage for intake air, and the collected intake air. In this example of distributing to each cylinder (intake port) of the engine 10, a distribution unit 22 including four distribution passages is provided.

  Among these, the gathering part 21 is formed by welding the first gathering part 21a and the second gathering part 21b by the welding rib MJR which is one of the welding ribs. Incidentally, the welding rib MJR is formed to be a plane parallel to and perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the first collecting portion 21a. The distribution part (distribution passage) 22 is formed so as to protrude from the upper surface of the second collection part 21b and extend while curving in a direction away from the first collection part 21a. Each outlet of the distribution portion 22 is provided with a communication portion 23 that communicates with the intake port 11 of the engine 10, and a manifold attachment portion 24 that is a portion for attaching the intake manifold 20 to the engine 10. It is formed so as to surround the communication portion 23. An injector 12 for injecting fuel into the intake port 11 is arranged in series corresponding to each cylinder of the engine 10 immediately above the engine 10 and in the vicinity of a portion to which the intake manifold 20 is attached. .

Here, the configuration of the intake manifold 20 will be described in more detail based on the cross-sectional structure along the line AA in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the intake manifold 20 is attached to the engine 10 so that the intake port 11 through which fuel is injected by the injector 12 and the communication portion 23 communicate with each other. Therefore, as shown by an arrow (arrow line) in FIG. 2, the intake air supplied to the first collecting portion 21a via the throttle valve reaches the distributing portion 22 via the second collecting portion 21b. It is distributed by the distributor 22 and supplied to the intake port 11. Then, an air-fuel mixture is generated by the fuel injected from the injector 12 and the intake air at the intake port 11, and the air-fuel mixture is used for combustion in each cylinder of the engine 10. As described above, in the intake manifold 20 of the present embodiment, the weld rib MJR is located at the upstream side of the distributor 22 as the intake air passage, in other words, from the fuel system such as the injector 12. It is provided at a more distant position.

Next, an example of a mode in which the intake manifold 20 attached to the engine 10 is mounted in the front engine room of the vehicle will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, in the front engine room of the vehicle CA, an in-line multi-cylinder engine 10 is arranged in a so-called vertical arrangement so that the arrangement direction of the cylinders is parallel to the traveling direction of the vehicle CA. It is installed. In addition, an intake manifold 20 is attached in the vehicle right side direction of the engine 10 so that a distribution portion 22 including four distribution passages follows the cylinder arrangement direction. Therefore, in the front engine room, the distribution part 22, the second collecting part 21b, the welding rib MJR, and the first collecting part 21a are mounted in this order so as to project in the right side direction of the vehicle CA as viewed from the engine 10. It will be. At this time, the longitudinal direction of the first collecting portion 21a is the same direction as the cylinder arrangement direction, in other words, the same direction as the traveling direction of the vehicle CA indicated by the arrow in FIG. Therefore, the welding rib MJR is formed so as to be a plane parallel to and perpendicular to the traveling direction. A bumper lean force BRF that suppresses the amount of deformation of the vehicle at the time of a forward collision and attenuates the collision energy is disposed near the front surface of the vehicle CA in the front engine room.
(Operation by the configuration of the present embodiment)
Next, as an action of the intake manifold 20 having the above-described configuration, an action brought about when an offset collision test called an ODB collision test is performed on the vehicle CA described above will be described in detail with reference to FIG. explain.

  Now, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), if the barrier (obstacle) BR is caused to collide with the front right side portion of the vehicle CA in the direction of the arrow AR from the front, the front right side portion of the vehicle CA is The plastic deformation occurs in the direction of the arrow AR. Then, the right side portion of the bumper lean force BRF is plastically deformed in the direction of the arrow AR by the barrier BR. As a result, the bumper lean force BRF contacts the edge portion EG located at the front right side portion of the first collecting portion 21a of the intake manifold 20, and the first collecting portion 21a has a barrier BR in the direction of the arrow AR. The load due to is applied. It should be noted that the influence of the load applied in this way affects not only the first collecting portion 21a but also the second collecting portion 21b and the distribution portion 22 through the welding rib MJR, that is, the entire intake manifold 20. To do.

  Here, since the intake manifold 20 is formed by welding a plurality of split bodies, which are resin molded products, as described above, as is well known, it is welded more than the strength of the split body itself. The strength of the welded rib, which is the part that has been subjected to, is lower. Therefore, when a load is applied to the intake manifold 20, the influence of each welding rib due to the load cannot be ignored. In particular, the welding rib formed in a direction parallel to the load application direction is not affected by the load. This is the most vulnerable part.

  In this regard, the intake manifold 20 is disposed in the front engine room so that the welding rib MJR is also a plane parallel to and perpendicular to the direction of the arrow AR as described above. That is, the welding rib MJR is formed to be parallel to the load application direction by the barrier BR. Therefore, if a load is continuously applied in the direction of the arrow AR to the first collecting portion 21a of the intake manifold 20, the welding rib MJR is separated (disassembled) by shearing force as shown in FIG. 4B. Become so. And since the 1st gathering part 21a peeled off from the 2nd gathering part 21b in this way continues to be pushed in the direction of arrow AR by bumper lean force BRF, this does not scatter to the engine 10 side, Mechanical interference with the fuel system such as the injector 12 can also be suppressed.

The shape of the first collecting portion 21a in the intake manifold 20 is often formed to be a simple shape like a box. Therefore, the shape of the welding rib MJR is also likely to be a simple shape as if the box was cut into a ring. That is, in this case, it is possible to suppress an increase in the welding area of the welding rib MJR, and as a result, the first aggregate portion 21a can be easily separated (disassembled) from the second aggregate portion 21b.

  Further, as described above, the aggregate portion 21 provided with the welding rib MJR is formed so as to protrude from the engine 10 in the right side direction of the vehicle CA. In addition, the first collecting portion 21 a to which the throttle body is connected is at a position farthest from the engine 10. Therefore, the separation (disassembly) position of the intake manifold 20 by the welding rib MJR at the time of load application can be set at a position further away from the fuel system.

Incidentally, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, when the intake manifold 20 is disposed in the right side direction of the engine 10 mounted vertically in the front engine room, the vehicle CA has a right handle specification. Is the case. On the other hand, when the vehicle CA has a left-hand drive specification, the intake manifold 20 is disposed in the left side direction of the engine 10 mounted vertically in the front engine room. Therefore, even when the vehicle CA has a left-hand drive specification and the barrier BR is subjected to an offset collision with the front left side portion of the vehicle CA, the same operation as described above is brought about. That is, the intake manifold is located at a portion closer to the load application position at the time of a vehicle collision, that is, the collision position of the barrier BR, which is assumed when the engine 10 is vertically mounted in the engine room in a manner corresponding to the vehicle handle specification. It is possible to achieve separation (disassembly) of the 20 collecting portions 21.
(Effect obtained by this embodiment)
As described above, according to the intake manifold according to the present embodiment, the effects listed below can be obtained.

  (1) Since the welding rib MJR is formed to be parallel to the load application direction by the barrier BR illustrated in FIG. 4, the welding rib MJR is applied in the direction of the arrow AR in the intake manifold 20. It is the most vulnerable part to the load. Therefore, if a load continues to be applied to the first aggregate portion 21a in the direction of the arrow AR, the welding rib MJR is separated (disassembled) by the shearing force. The first collecting portion 21a continues to be pushed in the direction of the arrow AR even after being separated by the bumper lean force BRF, so that the first collecting portion 21a is not scattered to the engine 10 side. Interference can be suppressed.

  (2) The shape of the first collecting portion 21a in the intake manifold 20 is often formed to be a simple shape like a box. Therefore, the shape of the welding rib MJR is also likely to be a simple shape as if the box was cut into a ring. That is, in this case, an increase in the welding area of the welding rib MJR can be suppressed, and as a result, the first collecting portion 21a can be easily separated (disassembled) from the second collecting portion 21b. .

  (3) The collecting portion 21 provided with the welding rib MJR is formed so as to protrude from the engine 10 in the right side direction of the vehicle CA. The first collecting portion 21 a to which the throttle valve is connected is disposed at a position farthest from the engine 10. Therefore, the separation (disassembly) position of the intake manifold 20 by the welding rib MJR at the time of load application can be set at a position farther from the fuel system of the engine 10, that is, the collecting portion 21.

(4) When the intake manifold 20 is disposed in the right side direction of the engine 10 mounted vertically in the front engine room, the vehicle CA often has a right steering wheel specification. When the barrier BR is subjected to an offset collision with the right front portion of the right-hand drive specification vehicle CA, the effects (1) and (2) are particularly remarkably obtained. Further, when the intake manifold 20 is disposed in the left side direction of the engine 10 mounted vertically in the front engine room, the vehicle CA often has a left-hand drive specification. The effects (1) and (2) are particularly remarkable even when the barrier BR is subjected to an offset collision with the front left side portion of such a left-hand drive type vehicle CA. That is, the intake manifold is located at a portion closer to the load application position at the time of a vehicle collision, that is, the collision position of the barrier BR, which is assumed when the engine 10 is vertically mounted in the engine room in a manner corresponding to the vehicle handle specification. Separation (disassembly) of the 20 collecting portions 21 can be achieved.

(5) When the engine 10 is mounted on the vehicle CA, the intake manifold 20 is positioned in the right side direction of the main body of the engine 10. Inevitable. Therefore, the mechanical interference as described above can be effectively suppressed by applying the intake manifold 20 configured as described above to the engine 10.
(Modification)
In addition, the said embodiment can also be implemented with the following aspects.

  -The location where the welding rib MJR is provided is not limited to the gathering portion 21. It suffices if it is on the upstream side in the path through which the intake air is supplied from the communication portion 23. That is, for example, a welding rib may be provided in the distribution unit 22. Even if it does in this way, the effect according to said (1), (4), (5) can be acquired.

  -The welding rib MJR may not be formed as a vertical plane. It may be a non-vertical plane or a curved surface. In short, the welding rib MJR may be a surface parallel to the load application direction. Even if it does in this way, the effect according to said (1)-(5) can be acquired.

  In the embodiment described above, only one welding rib MJR is provided in the collecting portion 21. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of equivalent welding ribs may be provided. Further, the plurality of welding ribs may be provided at different angles assuming directions parallel to different load application directions.

  In the above embodiment, the formation direction of the welding rib MJR is the direction parallel to the load application direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the applied load vector acts in the direction parallel to the formation direction of the welding rib MJR. What is necessary is just to have an ingredient. In short, it is only necessary that the welding of the welding rib MJR is released by a load component acting in a direction parallel to the forming direction of the welding rib MJR.

  -A throttle body may be connected to the 2nd gathering part 21b. The point is that the intake air is supplied to the collecting portion (surge tank) 21 through the throttle valve built in the throttle body and then distributed to the intake port 11 of the engine 10 by the distributing portion 22. Good.

In the above embodiment, the engine 10 is vertically placed in the front engine room. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is also applicable to the horizontally placed engine 10. Specifically, for example, an intake manifold 30 shown in FIG. 5 is adopted for a horizontally placed engine. Here, the gathering portion 31 disposed in the right side direction of the vehicle is formed by welding the first gathering portion 31a and the second gathering portion 31b by the welding rib MJR which is one of the welding ribs. Also here, the welding rib MJR is formed in parallel with the traveling direction of the vehicle indicated by the arrow. Also in this example, the distribution portion 32 including the four distribution passages is formed so as to protrude from the upper surface of the second collecting portion 31b and bend 90 degrees counterclockwise toward the rear of the vehicle. Each outlet of the distribution section 32 is provided with a communication portion 33 that communicates with an intake port (not shown) of the engine 10, and a manifold attachment portion 34 that is a portion for attaching the intake manifold 30 to the engine 10. It is formed so as to surround the communication portion 33. Similarly, when the engine is placed horizontally, when the collecting portion 31 is disposed in the left side direction of the vehicle, the distributing portion 32 is bent 90 degrees clockwise toward the rear of the vehicle. do it. Further, depending on the relative positional relationship between the engine 10 and the collective portion 31, the angle of the bending toward the rear of the vehicle is not limited to 90 degrees.

  The intake manifold 20 (30) and the engine 10 are both mounted in the front engine room, but the position of the engine room in the vehicle may be anywhere. That is, even if there is an engine room at the rear of the vehicle, the engine room may be at the center of the vehicle as in a so-called midship vehicle. In short, when the load application direction is predicted, at least one welding rib used for welding the intake manifold 20 (30) is formed on the upstream side of the distribution portion 22 (32), and the formation direction of the rib May be a direction parallel to the predicted load application direction. Further, the number of cylinders of the in-line multi-cylinder engine 10 to be applied is not limited to four. Further, the engine may be a single cylinder engine.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10,100 ... Engine, 11, 101 ... Intake port, 12, 110 ... Injector, 20, 30, 200 ... Intake manifold, 21, 31, 201 ... Collection part, 21a, 31a ... First collection part, 21b, 31b ... Second collecting part, 22, 32 ... Distributing part, 202 ... Distributing passageway, 23, 33, 203 ... Communication part, 24, 34, 204 ... Manifold mounting part, 300 ... Soot, BR ... Barrier, BRF ... Bumper reinforcement, CA ... vehicle, MJR ... welding rib, MJ1, MJ2, MJ3 ... welding part.

Claims (5)

A collecting portion formed by welding a resin molded product made of a split body and a distributing portion, and intake air supplied to the collecting portion is supplied to each intake port of an engine mounted on the vehicle via the distributing portion; In the intake manifold to distribute,
An intake manifold characterized in that at least one of the welding ribs used for the welding is formed on the upstream side of the distribution portion, and the forming direction of the welding rib is a direction parallel to the load application direction to the vehicle. . The intake manifold according to claim 1, wherein welding ribs formed on the upstream side of the distribution part are provided in the collecting part. The engine is vertically mounted on a right-hand drive vehicle, and a welding rib formed in a direction parallel to a load application direction to the vehicle is connected to the collecting portion located in the right side direction of the vehicle. The intake manifold according to claim 2, wherein the intake manifold is provided. The engine is mounted vertically on a vehicle with a left-hand drive specification, and a welding rib formed in a direction parallel to the direction of load application to the vehicle is against the collective portion located in the left side direction of the vehicle. The intake manifold according to claim 2, wherein the intake manifold is provided. The intake manifold according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the engine is an in-line multi-cylinder engine.

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