JP2013166440A - Layout structure of cooling water piping for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a layout structure of cooling water piping for vehicles, configured to effectively protect a boot from snow damage in a simple configuration without increasing the number of parts or complicating the structure.SOLUTION: A layout structure of cooling water piping 21 is configured as follows. Behind a radiator 12 arranged at a front end, a steering gear box 7 of a steering device, a rack shaft 13 extended in a vehicle width direction, and a tie rod 14 connected to both right and left ends of the rack shaft 13 are arranged. Connection parts with the rack shaft 13 and the tie rod 14 are covered with left and right bellows-like boots 15L, 15R, respectively. An engine and the radiator 12 are connected by two pieces of cooling water piping 21, 22. A metal pipe 21c of the cooling water piping 21 is arranged above the boot 15R.

Description

  The present invention relates to a cooling water pipe arrangement structure for connecting a vehicle engine and a radiator.

  A vehicle steering device is a device for changing the direction of a steered wheel in accordance with a rotation operation of a steering wheel by a driver, and the rotation of the steering wheel is transmitted to a steering gear box via a steering shaft. The rack and pinion mechanism built in the box is converted into a linear motion in the horizontal direction of the rack shaft. The linear movement of the rack shaft in the left-right direction is transmitted to the left and right steering wheels by the tie rods connected to the left and right ends of the rack shaft, and the steering wheels are steered.

  By the way, the steering gear box, the rack shaft, the left and right tie rods, etc. of the steering device are arranged behind the radiator arranged at the front end of the vehicle, and the rack shaft and the left and right tie rods are connected by a ball joint. The left and right ball joints are respectively covered with boots formed in an accordion shape by an elastic body such as rubber and are protected from water and dust.

  Thus, when the vehicle is traveling on a snowy road, the snow rolled up by the wheels may hit the steering device and accumulate on the boots of the steering device. When the snow accumulated on the boot melts and enters the bellows portion of the boot and freezes into ice, problems such as hindrance to the movement of the boot and damage to the boot occur. In particular, in vehicles such as midship engine vehicles where the engine is not located in the engine room in the front of the vehicle, there is no heat source in the vicinity of the bellows part of the boot to melt the frozen ice, and the ice continues to grow and the boot is removed. The possibility of damage increases.

  Therefore, in Patent Document 1, a boot guard that shields the side of the boot facing the wheel house is attached to one end of the rack shaft, and the snow that adheres to and freezes on the inner and outer surfaces of the chamber wall of the wheel house in the left-right direction together with the rack shaft. A configuration has been proposed in which damage to the boot is prevented by breaking it down with a moving boot guard.

  In Patent Document 2, a splash shield that curves and hangs down from the upper part of the boot to the front part is fixed to a cross member, and the splash shield prevents scattered objects from the front of the vehicle, and muddy water, snow, ice, etc. There has been proposed a structure that prevents accumulation of the material on the boot.

  Patent Document 3 proposes a configuration in which a guard member that covers the boot is formed integrally with the boot, and the guard member is reversed around the boot at the boundary with the boot when assembled.

  Patent Document 4 proposes a configuration in which pointed protrusions are formed on the upper surface of the tie rod of the rear wheel steering device (the surface facing the lower surface of the vehicle body) in order to prevent icing on the lower surface of the vehicle body. According to this configuration, the pointed protrusion formed on the tie rod that swings up and down with the vertical movement of the wheel breaks down the surface of the icing, and the pointed protrusion moves when the tie rod moves in the left-right direction by turning. As the icing is scraped off, icing on the underside of the car body is prevented.

JP 2001-151128 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-156832 JP-A-2-097774 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-025424

  However, the configurations proposed in Patent Documents 1 to 4 all have a problem that the number of parts increases and the structure becomes complicated because the boots are protected by separate members or snow and ice are scraped off. .

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the object of the present invention is to effectively protect the boot from snow damage or the like with a simple configuration without increasing the number of parts or complicating the structure. Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle cooling water piping arrangement structure that can be used.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is connected to the steering gear box of the steering device, the rack shaft extending in the vehicle width direction, and the left and right ends of the rack shaft at the rear of the radiator disposed at the front end. The cooling water for a vehicle, in which a tie rod is arranged, each connecting portion between the rack shaft and the tie rod is covered with left and right bellows boots, and the engine and the radiator are connected by two cooling water pipes. As a piping arrangement structure, one of the cooling water pipes is passed through the vicinity of at least one of the boots.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the radiator is offset in one of the left and right directions from the center in the vehicle width direction and is disposed in front of one of the left and right boots, and the upper portion of the other boot is One of the cooling water pipes is arranged.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the cooling water pipe disposed above the other boot is a radiator inlet pipe for flowing cooling water from the engine to the radiator. Features.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, even if snow accumulates on the boot or snow enters the bellows portion of the boot, the snow is melted by the heat of the cooling water flowing through the cooling water pipe, so that the snow enters the bellows portion of the boot. The snow does not melt and freeze, the movement of the boot is not hindered or the boot is not damaged, and the durability of the boot is enhanced. In addition, since such an effect can be obtained simply by changing the existing cooling water piping arrangement structure, there is no need to separately receive a device for melting ice, a cover for preventing snow accumulation and freezing, etc. There is no increase, complexity of the structure, and associated cost increase.

  According to the invention described in claim 2, since the radiator is offset from the center in the vehicle width direction to one side in the left-right direction and arranged in front of one of the left and right boots, the snow accumulated on one boot arranged behind the radiator Can be melted by hot air from the radiator (wind flowing from the radiator when traveling or wind from the fan of the radiator), and the cooling water pipe only needs to be disposed above the other boot.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the snow accumulated on one of the boots (the side not receiving the hot air from the radiator) is the heat of the cooling water that is used for cooling the engine and has a relatively high temperature before reaching the radiator. Is effectively dissolved by.

It is a side view of the steering device of vehicles. It is the perspective view which looked at the radiator arrangement | positioning part of a vehicle front part from the back side. It is a top view which shows the arrangement structure of the cooling water piping which concerns on this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a side view of a vehicle steering apparatus, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a radiator arrangement portion at the front of the vehicle as viewed from the rear side, and FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an arrangement structure of cooling water pipes according to the present invention.

  A steering apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a cylindrical steering column 2 that is disposed obliquely downward toward the front of the vehicle (left side in FIG. 1), and a steering shaft is provided in the steering column 2. 3 is rotatably inserted. A steering wheel 4 is attached to the upper end of the steering shaft 3, and the lower end of the steering shaft 3 is connected to a steering gear box 7 constituting a steering mechanism via a universal joint 5 and an intermediate shaft 6. .

  The steering column 2 is fixed to the steering support member 10 by attaching the bracket 8 attached thereto to the steering support member 10 on the vehicle body side with bolts 9.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a radiator 12 is disposed behind a front bumper 11 disposed in the vehicle width direction at the front end portion of the vehicle, and behind the steering gear box 7 and rack shaft of the steering device 1. A rack case shaft 13 that is linearly extended in the vehicle width direction and a tie rod 14 that is connected to ends of the rack shaft that protrude from the left and right ends of the rack case shaft 13 are disposed. The rack shaft and the left and right tie rods 14 are connected to each other by a ball joint (not shown). The end portions of the ball joints and the rack shaft are covered with boots 15L and 15R formed in a cylindrical bellows shape by an elastic body such as rubber and are protected from water and dust. One end of each of the boots 15L and 15R is attached to the left and right ends of the rack case 13, and the other end is attached to the tie rod 14. The left and right tie rods 14 are connected to knuckle (not shown) via ball joints, and the directions of the left and right front wheels 16 (only one shown in FIG. 2) are changed according to the movement of the steering wheel 4. To do.

  By the way, the vehicle according to the present embodiment is a midship engine vehicle, and the engine is not disposed in the front engine room, but is disposed under the floor of the vehicle below the passenger seat. That is, in the vehicle according to the present embodiment, a drive source (heat source) such as an engine is disposed behind the rack case 13, and the radiator 12 and the drive source (heat source) such as the engine are arranged in the front-rear direction of the vehicle. Between these, the rack case 13 to which the boots 15L and 15R are attached is disposed. As shown in FIG. 2, a grill 11 a serving as a ventilation opening is opened in a front portion of the radiator 12 of the front bumper 11 disposed at the front portion of the vehicle. A fan shroud 17 is attached to the rear surface of the radiator 12, and a fan (not shown) that is rotationally driven by an electric motor (not shown) is accommodated in the fan shroud 17.

  Here, the gist of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the radiator 12 is arranged to be offset leftward from the center in the vehicle width direction, and a left boot 15L is disposed behind the radiator 12 (a region overlapping the radiator 12 when viewed from the front). The right boot 15 </ b> R is disposed on the right side portion (the portion that does not overlap the radiator 12 when viewed from the front) that is separated from the radiator 12. As shown in FIG. 3, the steering gear box 7 is provided with an electric power steering device 19 that uses the rotation output of the electric motor 18 as an auxiliary steering force. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 20 denotes a reservoir tank for storing cooling water.

  Thus, the radiator 12 is connected with a cooling water pipe 21 extending from a cooling water outlet of an engine (not shown) to the front of the vehicle (upward in FIG. 3), and the cooling water pipe extending from the radiator 12 to the rear of the vehicle. 22 is connected to the cooling water inlet of the engine. Here, one cooling water pipe 21 extending from the engine to the front of the vehicle is a radiator inlet pipe for flowing cooling water having a relatively high temperature supplied to the engine to the radiator 12 and is flexible. Hose 21a and 21b are connected by a metal pipe 21c. The metal pipe 21c is passed above the right boot 15R so as to cross the boot 15R along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. Specifically, the metal pipe 21c is disposed above the ball joint connecting the tie rod 14 and the end of the rack shaft, and directly above the boot 15R. The metal pipe 21c passes through the upper side of the right boot 15R from the rear to the front, and is bent at a right angle toward the left radiator 12, and its end is connected to one end of the hose 21a. In addition, the other cooling water piping 22 distribute | arranged to the left side of the cooling water piping 21 is a radiator outlet pipe which returns the cooling water which was cooled by the radiator 12 and the temperature fell to the engine.

  By the way, the cooling water is circulated in a closed circuit by a cooling water pump (not shown) driven by the engine, and the cooling water whose temperature is increased by cooling the engine is guided to the radiator 12 through the cooling water pipe 21. In the process of passing through the radiator 12, the air is cooled by exchanging heat (dissipating heat) with the outside air passing through the radiator 12 by running wind or a fan. Then, the cooling water whose temperature has been lowered by the heat radiation from the radiator 12 is returned to the engine through the cooling pipe 22 and used for cooling the engine. By repeating the above operation, the engine is cooled by the cooling water, and the temperature rise is suppressed.

  When the driver rotates the steering wheel 4 shown in FIG. 1 while the vehicle is running, the rotation is transmitted from the steering shaft 3 to the steering gear box 7 via the universal joint 5 and the intermediate shaft 6. The rotation transmitted to the steering box 7 is converted into a linear movement of the rack shaft in the horizontal direction by a rack and pinion mechanism built in the steering gear box 7, and the linear movement of the rack shaft in the horizontal direction is a tie rod. 14 and a knuckle (not shown) are converted into a rotational motion of the left and right front wheels 16 and the front wheels 16 are steered. The driver's operating force input to the steering gear box 7 is detected by a torque sensor (not shown), and the detection signal is transmitted to the CPU. Then, the CPU supplies electric power according to the detected operation force and vehicle speed to the electric motor 18 of the electric power steering device 19 to start the electric motor 18 and generate appropriate auxiliary power to the electric motor 18. Therefore, the driver can easily perform the steering operation by the steering wheel 4.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, for example, even if the snow rolled up by the front wheels 16 enters the bellows portion of the boots 15L and 15R while the vehicle is traveling on a snowy road, the snow that has entered the bellows portion of the right boot 15R. Is melted by the heat of the cooling water flowing through the metal pipe 21c of the cooling water pipe 21 passing above the boot 15R, the snow entering the bellows portion of the boot 15R does not melt and freeze, and the movement of the boot 15R is hindered. Or the boot 15R is not damaged, and the durability of the boot 15R is enhanced. In particular, in the present embodiment, since the cooling water pipe 21 that is a radiator inlet pipe is passed above the right boot 15R that does not receive hot air from the radiator 12, the right boot (the side that does not receive hot air from the radiator 12). The snow accumulated in 15R is effectively melted by the heat of the cooling water having a relatively high temperature before it is used for cooling the engine and reaches the radiator 12. Furthermore, since the metal pipe 21c portion of the cooling water pipe 21 is disposed near the upper portion of the boot 15R, heat can be radiated as compared with the hose portion, and the temperature near the boot 15L can be effectively increased. It is possible to melt the snow and ice that accumulate on the boots.

  And since the above effect is obtained only by changing the arrangement structure of the existing cooling water pipe 21, there is no need to separately receive a device for melting ice, a cover for preventing snow accumulation and freezing, etc. There is no increase, complexity of the structure, and associated cost increase.

  In the present embodiment, with respect to the left boot 15L, the temperature in the vicinity of the boot 15L is raised by the heat of the radiator 12. That is, since the radiator 12 is offset leftward from the center in the vehicle width direction and disposed in front of the left boot 15L, the snow accumulated on the left boot 15L disposed behind the radiator 12 is caused by hot air from the radiator 12. Melted. For this reason, in the present embodiment, the metal pipe 21c of the cooling water pipe 21 may be disposed only above the right boot 15R.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Steering device 4 Steering wheel 7 Steering gear box 12 Radiator 13 Rack case 14 Tie rod 15L, 15R Boot 16 Front wheel 21 Cooling water piping (radiator inlet pipe)
21a, 21b Cooling water piping hose 21c Cooling water piping metal pipe 22 Cooling water piping (radiator outlet pipe)

Claims (3)

A steering gear box of the steering device, a rack shaft extending in the vehicle width direction, and tie rods connected to the left and right ends of the rack shaft are disposed behind the radiator disposed at the front end, and each of the rack shaft and the tie rod is disposed. Covering the connecting portions with left and right bellows boots, and connecting the engine and the radiator by two cooling water pipes, the cooling water piping arrangement structure of the vehicle,
An arrangement structure of a cooling water pipe for a vehicle, wherein one of the cooling water pipes is passed in the vicinity of at least one of the boots.   2. The radiator according to claim 1, wherein the radiator is offset in one of the left and right directions from the center in the vehicle width direction and disposed in front of one of the left and right boots, and one of the cooling water pipes is disposed above the other boot. The vehicle cooling water arrangement structure described. The cooling water pipe arrangement structure according to claim 2, wherein the cooling water pipe arranged above the other boot is a radiator inlet pipe for flowing cooling water from the engine to the radiator. .

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