JP2013112266A - Vehicle cowl structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle cowl structure capable of striking a balance between an absorbing function of collision energy to a collision object in a vehicle collision and a function of enhancing support rigidity of windshield glass to vibration in the vertical direction, without increasing cost and vehicle body weight.SOLUTION: An intermediate part 20c of a brace 20 has a rising wall 20d of extending by rising in the substantially vertical direction F1 to a road surface, and an opposed wall 20e substantially opposed to the input direction F2 of the collision object added from the front oblique upper side in the vehicle collision, a fold line 20f is formed along a boundary between the opposed wall 20e and the rising wall 20d, and the fold line 20f is arranged so that its front end part 20f' is positioned in the corner part vicinity with a lower flange part 20b of the intermediate part 20c and a rear end part 20f" is positioned in the corner part vicinity with an upper flange 20a of the intermediate part 20c.

Description

  The present invention relates to a cowl structure for an automobile including a cowl upper panel that supports a windshield glass and a cowl lower panel that forms an opening opening forward with the cowl upper panel.

  In the cowl portion of an automobile, for example, from the viewpoint of protecting pedestrians, a structure is adopted that absorbs collision energy to a colliding object that falls from obliquely above in the event of a vehicle collision. For example, in Patent Document 1, a gate-type brace is disposed in the opening of a cowl upper panel and a cowl lower panel that supports the lower edge of the windshield glass, and folded on the left and right side walls of the brace. A structure is disclosed in which the collision energy is absorbed by forming a portion and thereby bending the left and right side walls outward.

JP 2006-240393 A

  By the way, in the conventional structure, the function of absorbing the collision energy to the colliding object at the time of the vehicle collision can be obtained, but the left and right side walls start from the folding portion with respect to the vertical vibration transmitted from the road surface via the wheels. Therefore, there is a concern that the support rigidity of the windshield glass against vertical vibration is low. For this reason, the vertical vibration from the road surface is transmitted to the windshield glass, and there is a possibility that a muffled sound is generated.

  In order to increase the support rigidity of the windshield glass against such vertical vibration, for example, a reinforcing member may be separately added to the glass support portion of the cowl upper panel to form a box portion having a closed cross-sectional structure extending in the vehicle width direction. It is done. However, in this case, there are problems that the component cost and the manufacturing cost increase and the weight of the vehicle body increases.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional situation, and without increasing the cost and the weight of the vehicle body, the function of absorbing the collision energy with respect to the collision object at the time of the vehicle collision and the support of the windshield glass against the vibration in the vertical direction. It is an object to provide a cowl structure of an automobile that can achieve both a function of increasing rigidity.

  The present invention includes a cowl upper panel that supports a windshield glass, a cowl lower panel that forms an opening that opens to the front of the vehicle with the cowl upper panel, and a brace that is disposed so as to stretch vertically in the opening. An automobile cowl structure comprising: an upper flange portion coupled to the cowl upper panel; a lower flange portion coupled to the cowl lower panel; and the upper and lower flange portions integrated with each other. An intermediate wall to be connected, the intermediate wall extending upright in a substantially vertical direction with respect to the road surface, and an opposing wall substantially facing in the input direction of a collision object that is applied obliquely from the upper front during a vehicle collision And a fold line is formed along the boundary between the opposing wall and the upright wall, and the fold line is positioned in the vicinity of a corner portion of the front flange portion with the lower flange portion of the intermediate portion. It is characterized in that the rear end portion is arranged to be positioned in a corner portion near the upper flange portion of said intermediate portion.

  According to the cowl structure of the present invention, the intermediate portion of the brace includes an upright wall extending substantially in a direction perpendicular to the road surface, and an opposing wall that is substantially opposed to the input direction from the front obliquely upward applied at the time of a vehicle collision. It was assumed that the front end portion and the rear end portion of the broken line formed along the boundary line between the facing wall and the upright wall were positioned near the lower flange portion and the upper flange portion of the intermediate portion, respectively.

  Since it comprised in this way, with respect to the vibration of the up-down direction from a road surface, an upright wall will be stretched and received between opening parts, and the support rigidity of windshield glass can be raised only that much. Thereby, it can suppress that a road surface vibration is transmitted to a windshield glass, and can prevent generation | occurrence | production of the muffled sound transmitted indoors.

  On the other hand, the input of a colliding object that falls from the front diagonally upward at the time of a vehicle collision is received by the deformation of the opposing wall, so that the collision energy can be absorbed, thereby suppressing the influence on the colliding object. it can.

  Thus, in the present invention, the existing brace disposed in the opening has a structure that only has a standing wall and a facing wall, and has a function of increasing the support rigidity of the windshield glass against vibration in the vertical direction. In addition, it is possible to achieve both a function of absorbing collision energy with respect to an object to be collided at the time of a vehicle collision, and avoid the above-described problems such as an increase in cost and an increase in weight of the vehicle body.

1 is a perspective view of an automobile in which a cowl structure according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is adopted. It is sectional drawing of the cowl panel of the said motor vehicle. It is the schematic seen from the plane of the cowl panel. It is a perspective view of the brace arrange | positioned at the said cowl panel.

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

  1 to 4 are views for explaining a cowl structure of an automobile according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In the description of this embodiment, the terms front and rear and left and right mean front and rear and left and right when viewed in the vehicle forward direction while seated on the seat, unless otherwise specified.

  In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a cowl portion of an automobile. The cowl portion 1 includes a left and right front pillar 2 extending in the vehicle vertical direction, a cowl panel 3 disposed between the left and right front pillars 2 extending in the vehicle width direction, the cowl panel 3, And a windshield glass 4 disposed in a window opening 1a surrounded by the left and right front pillars 2 and the roof panel 5.

  A resin cowl louver 6 is disposed on the front side of the cowl panel 3, and a hood 7 is disposed on the front side of the cowl louver 6. The cowl louver 6 is disposed so as to cover between the windshield glass 4 and the hood 7.

  The cowl panel 3 includes a cowl upper panel 10 that supports the lower end portion 4a of the windshield glass 4, and a cowl lower panel 11 that forms an opening 12 that opens to the front of the vehicle with the cowl upper panel 10. .

  The cowl upper panel 10 includes a support wall portion 10a to which the lower end portion 4a of the windshield glass 4 is fixed, a front wall portion 10b formed to be bent forward in a stepped manner following the support wall portion 10a, An upper wall portion 10c that bends and extends substantially horizontally behind the support portion 10a, a rear wall portion 10d that bends and extends downward from the rear end of the upper wall portion 10c, and a lower end of the rear wall portion 10d. And a flange portion 10e that bends and extends rearward.

  The cowl lower panel 11 has a bottom wall portion 11a to which an upper flange portion 15a of a dash panel 15 that defines an engine compartment A and a vehicle compartment B is coupled, and a front wall and an upright position following the bottom wall portion 11a. A front wall portion 11b that extends, a flat wall portion 11c that bends and extends forward so as to face the upper wall portion 10c, following the front wall portion 11b, and a rear upper portion that stands after the bottom wall portion 11a. It has a rear wall portion 11d that extends and a flange portion 11e that is bent rearwardly following the rear wall portion 11d.

  The flange portion 10e of the cowl upper panel 10, the cowl lower panel 11 and the flange portion 11e are joined by spot welding.

  A wiper unit (not shown) that wipes rainwater and the like attached to the windshield glass 4 is disposed on the right side in the vehicle width direction in the cowl panel 3.

  A wide outside air inlet 6a that extends in the vehicle width direction across the vehicle body center line a is formed at the center of the cowl louver 6 in the vehicle width direction.

  On the other hand, an intake duct hole 11f extending in the vehicle width direction is formed in a portion of the rear wall portion 11d of the cowl lower panel 11 corresponding to the outside air inlet 6a. The intake duct hole 11f is arranged to be deviated to the left in the vehicle width direction with respect to the outside air introduction port 6a.

  An intake duct 16 connected to an air conditioning unit (not shown) is attached to the intake duct hole 11f. The traveling wind flows into the cowl panel 3 from the outside air inlet 6a of the cowl louver 6 and is introduced into the air conditioning unit through the intake duct hole 11f and the intake duct 16.

  A brace 20 made of sheet metal is disposed in the opening 12 of the cowl panel 3. The brace 20 is arranged between the outside air inlet 6a and the intake duct hole 11f at the center in the vehicle width direction in plan view (see FIG. 3).

  The brace 20 is disposed so as to stretch the opening 12 in the vertical direction, thereby preventing the cowl panel 3 from opening due to vibration of a wiper unit or the like.

  Here, in order to increase the rigidity of the opening 12 of the cowl panel 3, it is preferable to arrange a plurality of braces 20 in the vehicle width direction. However, if it is arranged on the wiper unit side, it may interfere with the wiping operation of the wiper, and the left and right end portions of the cowl panel 3 are connected to the front pillar 2 and are unnecessary. For this reason, only one is arranged in the center in the vehicle width direction with a relatively large space.

  The brace 20 includes an upper flange portion 20a joined to the upper wall portion 10c of the cowl upper panel 10 by welding, a lower flange portion 20b joined to the flat wall portion 11c of the cowl lower panel 11 by welding, The lower flange portions 20a and 20b are substantially Z-shaped and have an intermediate portion 20c that integrally connects the lower flange portions 20a and 20b.

  The intermediate portion 20c is substantially in the upright wall 20d extending upright in a direction substantially parallel to the vertical vibration F1 transmitted from the road surface via the wheels, and in the input direction F2 of a collision object applied obliquely from the front upper side at the time of a vehicle collision. And an opposing wall 20e. The input direction F2 of the colliding object is assumed to be in a range of approximately 20 to 60 degrees with respect to the horizontal plane.

  The opposing wall 20e and the standing wall 20d are bent by a fold line 20f formed along the boundary between them.

  The bent line 20f has a front end portion 20f 'positioned in the vicinity of the corner portion with the lower flange portion 20b of the intermediate portion 20c, and a rear end portion 20f' 'in the vicinity of the corner portion with the upper flange portion 20a of the intermediate portion 20c. It is formed so that it may be located in.

  The facing wall 20e faces forward in a state where it is substantially parallel to a straight line extending in the vehicle width direction and slightly inclined rearward. Further, the standing wall 20d faces sideways in a state in which it is inclined rearward from a fold line 20f and, consequently, a straight line extending in the vehicle width direction. In other words, the upright wall 20d is disposed to be inclined so as to be positioned on a line connecting the outside air inlet 6a and the intake duct hole 11f. Thereby, the effect | action which guides so that the driving | running | working wind a which flowed in from the external air inlet 6a flows toward the intake duct hole 11f by the standing wall 20d is acquired. That is, when the brace 20 is disposed between the outside air inlet 6a and the intake duct hole 11f, there is a concern that the brace 20 may obstruct the flow of the traveling wind, but in this embodiment, the standing wall 20d of the brace 20 is used. Can be guided to the intake duct hole 11f without obstructing the flow of the traveling wind, and the amount of air to the intake duct 16 can be increased.

  Here, the angle of the upright wall 20d with respect to the opposing wall 20e and thus the straight line extending in the vehicle width direction is not limited to the present embodiment, but the vehicle weight, size, vertical vibration magnitude or the outside air inlet 6a. The position can be appropriately changed based on the position of the intake duct hole 11f.

  According to the present embodiment, the brace 20 disposed in the opening 12 of the cowl panel 3 includes an upright wall 20d extending in parallel to the input direction F1 from the road surface, and an input from an obliquely upper front applied during a vehicle collision. It has an opposing wall 20e substantially opposite to the direction F2, and a front end portion 20f ′ and a rear end portion 20f ″ of a broken line 20f formed along the boundary between the opposing wall 20e and the standing wall 20d, respectively. The intermediate portion 20c is formed so as to be positioned in the vicinity of the lower flange portion 20b and in the vicinity of the upper flange portion 20a.

  Since it comprised in this way, the standing wall 20d will stretch and receive between the opening parts 12 with respect to the vibration F1 of the up-down direction from a road surface, and the support rigidity of the windshield glass 4 can be raised so much. Thereby, it can suppress that a road surface vibration is transmitted to the windshield glass 4, and generation | occurrence | production of the booming sound transmitted in the vehicle interior B can be prevented.

  On the other hand, the input F2 of the collided object falling from the diagonally upper front side at the time of the vehicle collision is received by the deformation of the opposing wall 20e, so that the collision energy can be absorbed, thereby affecting the collided object. Can be suppressed.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the existing brace 20 disposed in the opening 12 of the cowl panel 3 has a structure in which only the standing wall 20d and the opposing wall 20e are provided, and a windshield against vertical vibrations. The function of increasing the support rigidity of the glass 4 and the function of absorbing the collision energy with respect to the object to be collided at the time of the vehicle collision can be achieved with one component, and problems such as an increase in cost and an increase in the weight of the vehicle body can be avoided.

  Here, as indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 4, a bead 22 or a flange 23 may be additionally formed in order to increase the support rigidity against the vertical force of the standing wall 20 d.

  In the above embodiment, since the opposing wall 20e is inclined rearward, the reference numerals 20f ′ and 20f ″ of the broken line 20f are referred to as the front end and the rear end, respectively. It can also be called a part.

4 Windshield glass 10 Cowl upper panel 11 Cowl lower panel 12 Opening 20 Brace 20a Upper flange 20b Lower flange 20c Intermediate 20d Standing wall 20e Opposing wall 20f Folding line 20f 'Front end 20f''Rear end

Claims (1)

An automobile comprising a cowl upper panel that supports a windshield glass, a cowl lower panel that forms an opening that opens to the front of the vehicle with the cowl upper panel, and a brace that is arranged so as to stretch vertically in the opening. The cowl structure of
The brace has an upper flange portion that is coupled to the cowl upper panel, a lower flange portion that is coupled to the cowl lower panel, and an intermediate portion that integrally connects the upper and lower flange portions,
The intermediate portion has a standing wall extending upright in a substantially vertical direction with respect to the road surface, and an opposing wall that substantially faces the input direction of the collision object that is applied from the front obliquely upward at the time of a vehicle collision,
A fold line is formed along the boundary between the opposing wall and the standing wall, and the fold line of the fold line is positioned in the vicinity of a corner portion with the lower flange portion of the intermediate portion, and a rear end portion of the intermediate portion. A cowl structure for an automobile, wherein the cowl structure is arranged so as to be positioned in the vicinity of a corner portion with an upper flange portion.

Images