JP2019181994A - Grille shutter device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a grille shutter device which can achieve improvements in both of aerodynamic performance and impact absorption performance at the pedestrian collision time.SOLUTION: A frame 22 is provided with a frame duct 23 which is extended toward a substantially vehicle rear side, and by this frame duct 23, air introduced in an opening 18 can be more reliably guided to a radiator 34. On the other hand, since the frame duct 23 is provided with a slit 24, the frame duct 23 is deformed with the slit 24 as an original point when a pedestrian collides with a vehicle front part at the pedestrian collision time and a collision load is inputted to the frame duct 23. By this deformation, the collision load can be absorbed. Consequently, improvements in both of aerodynamic performance and impact absorption performance at the pedestrian collision time can be achieved.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

  The present invention relates to a grill shutter device.

  Patent Literature 1 discloses a grill shutter device. The grill shutter device is provided at the front of the vehicle and is opened in the vehicle front-rear direction, a plurality of fins that open and close the opening, and the fins are moved between an open state and a closed state. And a transmission mechanism. Thereby, since the said opening part can be closed or opened according to the operation condition of a power unit etc., air can be taken in appropriately.

JP 2014-198506 A

  However, in the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the fin is provided on the vehicle rear side in the opening, air resistance may increase due to air remaining in the opening when the fin is closed. There is. In order to cope with this, it is conceivable to arrange the fins at a position close to the design surface and reduce the air resistance by smoothly flowing air over the design surface when the fins are in a closed state. The frame etc. which hold | maintain a fin are also arrange | positioned near the design surface. Therefore, when a pedestrian collides with the front part of the vehicle at the time of a pedestrian collision, there is a possibility that the collision load received by the pedestrian due to the frame of the fin or the like cannot be reduced. There is room.

  In view of the above facts, the present invention provides a grille shutter device that can achieve both an improvement in aerodynamic performance and an improvement in impact absorption performance during a pedestrian collision.

  A grille shutter device according to a first aspect of the present invention includes an opening provided in a part of a design surface on the vehicle width direction outer side in a vehicle front portion, and a drive link provided in the opening and interlocking with an actuator. And a fin having a surface continuous with the design surface in a closed state in which the opening is opened and closed with the vehicle width direction as an axial direction and the opening is closed, and provided on the vehicle rear side of the opening. , Formed in a substantially frame shape so as to surround the opening, and supports the actuator, the drive link, and the fin, protrudes toward the back surface of the fin in the closed state, and is outside the fin in the vehicle width direction. A frame provided with a bearing portion that rotatably supports the portion, and provided on the frame and extending toward the rear side of the vehicle and substantially forward of the vehicle Collision load has a frame duct having a deformation starting portion serving as a starting point for deformation when input from.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the fin is provided inside the opening provided in a part of the design surface of the front portion of the vehicle. The fin opens and closes the opening with the vehicle width direction as an axial direction by the operation of a drive link that works in conjunction with the actuator, and has a surface that is continuous with the design surface when the opening is closed. The fin, the actuator, and the drive link are supported by a frame provided on the vehicle rear side of the opening, and the frame is formed in a substantially frame shape so as to surround the opening. Accordingly, since the traveling wind entering from the opening when the fin is in the open state is difficult to hit the frame, it is possible to suppress the increase in air resistance due to the traveling wind hitting the frame.

  Further, the frame is provided with a frame duct extending substantially toward the rear side of the vehicle, and the air introduced into the opening by the frame duct can be more reliably guided to a radiator or the like. On the other hand, since the frame duct is provided with a deformation starting point, when a pedestrian collides with the front of the vehicle and a collision load is input to the frame duct at the time of a pedestrian collision, the frame duct has a deformation starting point. Deform as a starting point. By this deformation, the collision load can be absorbed.

  The grill shutter device according to the first aspect of the present invention has an excellent effect that it is possible to achieve both an improvement in aerodynamic performance and an improvement in impact absorption performance at the time of a pedestrian collision.

It is a front view showing a part of vehicles which have a grill shutter device concerning one embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the state which looked at the closed state of the grille shutter apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment from the vehicle front side. It is a perspective view showing the state where the grill shutter device concerning one embodiment was seen from the vehicles lower part side. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the grill shutter apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment. It is an expanded sectional view which shows the state cut | disconnected along the AA in FIG. It is an expanded sectional view which shows the state cut | disconnected along the BB line in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the state which looked at the closed state of the grille shutter apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment from the vehicle rear side.

  Hereinafter, a grill shutter device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. It should be noted that arrows FR, UP, and OUT appropriately shown in the drawings respectively indicate the front direction (traveling direction), the upward direction, and the outside in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle. Hereinafter, when simply using the front-rear, left-right, and up-down directions, unless otherwise specified, the front-rear direction of the vehicle, the left-right direction of the vehicle left-right direction (vehicle width direction), and the up-down direction of the vehicle are shown. To do.

(overall structure)
As shown in FIG. 1, a front bumper cover 14 is provided at the front portion of the vehicle 12. The front bumper cover 14 constitutes a part of the design surface of the vehicle body appearance, and covers the front bumper absorber (not shown) and the front bumper reinforcement 13 (see FIG. 6) from the front side of the vehicle. The design surface of the vehicle front portion of the vehicle 12 is curved in a convex shape toward the vehicle front side in the vehicle width direction. Further, the front bumper cover 14 is formed to be thin with resin as an example.

  A pair of left and right side grilles 16 are provided on the outer side of the front bumper cover 14 in the vehicle width direction and on the lower side of the vehicle (only one side is shown in FIG. 1). Each side grill 16 is formed in a substantially inverted trapezoidal shape when viewed from the front of the vehicle, and is provided with a grill shutter device 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the grill shutter device 10 includes an opening 18, fins 20, and a frame 22. The side grill 16 is formed along the front bumper cover 14 (see FIG. 1), and has a design surface with a curvature that is greatly curved toward the outside in the vehicle width direction.

(Aperture)
A plurality of openings 18 are formed in the side grill 16. Each opening 18 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape that is open in the vehicle front-rear direction and has the vehicle width direction as a longitudinal direction when the vehicle is viewed from the front. The vehicle width direction outer side of the opening 18 is curved toward the vehicle rear side along the side grill 16. The plurality of openings 18 are spaced apart in the vehicle vertical direction.

(Frame and frame duct)
A frame 22 is disposed on the vehicle rear side of the opening 18. The frame 22 is formed in a substantially rectangular frame shape so as to surround the plurality of openings 18. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, an upper frame portion 22A provided on the vehicle upper side, a lower frame portion 22B provided on the vehicle lower side, and an outer frame provided on the vehicle width direction outer side. It has a portion 22C and an inner frame portion 22D provided on the inner side in the vehicle width direction. 22 A of upper side frame parts are extended in the vehicle width direction in the vehicle upper side rather than the opening part 18 arrange | positioned in the vehicle upper side among the opening parts 18 provided in multiple numbers, are protruded to the vehicle upper side, and are side grilles. A plurality (two in the present embodiment) of upper coupling portions 22AA, which are coupled to the 16 vehicle upper sides, are separated in the vehicle width direction.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the upper frame portion 22 </ b> A includes an upper frame duct 23 </ b> A that constitutes a vehicle upper side portion of a substantially rectangular tube-shaped frame duct 23 provided in the frame 22 and extending in the vehicle front-rear direction. Is formed. The upper frame duct 23A is formed in a plate shape having a substantially vehicle vertical direction as a plate thickness direction, and extends substantially along the vehicle longitudinal direction. The upper frame duct 23A extends toward the rear side of the vehicle up to the vicinity of a radiator duct 36 to be described later.

  The lower frame portion 22B extends in the vehicle width direction on the vehicle lower side from the opening portion 18 disposed on the vehicle lower side among the plurality of opening portions 18 (see FIG. 7). A lower frame duct 23B that constitutes the vehicle duct lower side of the frame duct 23 is formed in the frame portion 22B. Similarly to the upper frame duct 23A, the lower frame duct 23B is formed in a plate shape having a substantially vehicle vertical direction as a plate thickness direction, and extends along a substantially vehicle longitudinal direction. The rear end portion 23BA of the lower frame duct 23B is overlapped with the end portion 36A on the vehicle front side of the radiator duct 36 in the vehicle vertical direction (the rear end portion 23BA is disposed on the vehicle lower side of the end portion 36A). . As described above, the upper frame portion 22A and the lower frame portion 22B are provided to face each other in the vehicle vertical direction.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the outer frame portion 22 </ b> C extends substantially in the vehicle vertical direction outside the plurality of openings 18 in the vehicle width direction, and has an end portion on the outer side in the vehicle width direction of the upper frame portion 22 </ b> A. An end of the lower frame portion 22B on the outer side in the vehicle width direction is connected substantially in the vehicle vertical direction. As shown in FIG. 6, an outer frame duct 23 </ b> C constituting the outer side of the frame duct 23 in the vehicle width direction is formed in the outer frame portion 22 </ b> C. The outer frame duct 23 </ b> C is formed in a plate shape whose substantially vehicle width direction is the plate thickness direction, and extends substantially along the vehicle longitudinal direction. The rear end portion 23CA of the outer frame duct 23C extends toward the vehicle rear side to the vicinity of the radiator duct 36.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the inner frame portion 22D extends substantially vertically in the vehicle width direction inside the plurality of openings 18 from the inner side in the vehicle width direction. The end of the side frame portion 22B on the inner side in the vehicle width direction is connected substantially in the vehicle vertical direction. An inner frame duct 23D that forms the inner side in the vehicle width direction of the frame duct 23 is formed in the inner frame portion 22D. Similarly to the outer frame duct 23C, the inner frame duct 23D is formed in a plate shape having a substantially vehicle width direction as a plate thickness direction, and extends along a substantially vehicle longitudinal direction. The rear end portion 23DA of the inner frame duct 23D extends toward the vehicle rear side to the vicinity of the radiator duct 36.

  The frame duct 23 is provided with a plurality of slits 24 as deformation starting points. Specifically, between the upper frame duct 23A and the inner frame duct 23D, between the upper frame duct 23A and the outer frame duct 23C, between the lower frame duct 23B and the inner frame duct 23D, and lower frame duct 23B. And the outer frame duct 23C. In other words, it is provided at each corner portion of the frame duct 23 formed in a substantially rectangular tube shape. The slit 24 is configured to extend substantially in the vehicle front-rear direction.

  Bearing portions 22E are formed on the outer frame portion 22C and the lower frame portion 22B. A plurality of the bearing portions 22 </ b> E are provided, and each of the bearing portions 22 </ b> E is provided one by one corresponding to the plurality of openings 18. The bearing portion 22E is supported by bearing support portions 22EA and 22EB which protrude along the back surface of the vehicle width direction outer side portion 20AG of the fin 20 which will be described later and protrude toward the back surface of the fin 20 in the closed state which will be described later. ing. Of the plurality of openings 18, a bearing 22E provided in the opening 18 on the vehicle lower side is supported by a bearing support 22EB provided in the lower frame part 22B, and the other openings 18 are provided. The bearing part 22E provided in the outer frame part 22C is supported by a bearing support part 22EA provided in the outer frame part 22C.

(fin)
As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of fins 20 are provided inside the frame 22. The fin 20 includes a fin body 20A, an inner support 20B, and an outer support 20C (see FIG. 7). The fin body portion 20A is formed in a substantially rectangular plate shape with the vehicle width direction as a longitudinal direction, and an inner support portion 20B is provided at an end portion on the vehicle width direction inner side. Further, the fin body portion 20A has a side surface 20D whose curvature is greatly curved toward the outer side in the vehicle width direction along the design surface of the side grille 16 in the closed state in which the opening 18 shown in FIG. 4 is closed. have. That is, the side surface 20D is a surface continuous with the design surface of the front portion of the vehicle. In the present embodiment, five fin body portions 20A configured as described above are provided as an example.

  The plurality of fin main body portions 20A are arranged side by side in a substantially vertical direction of the vehicle so as to close the plurality of openings 18 in the closed state. That is, each surface normal direction (direction) of the plurality of fin main body portions 20A is substantially the vehicle front-rear direction. Further, as described above, the vehicle front side surface 20D of each fin main body 20A is formed so that the in-plane direction thereof is continuous with the design surface of the side grille 16 in a state where the fin body portions 20A are arranged side by side in a substantially vehicle vertical direction. Has been. In other words, the side surface 20D constitutes a part of the design surface of the front portion of the vehicle in a state where the plurality of fin main body portions 20A are arranged substantially in the vertical direction of the vehicle. This state of the fin 20 corresponds to the “closed state” described in claim 1.

(Inner support part)
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the inner support portion 20B includes a first inner support portion 20BA, a second inner support portion 20BB, and a third inner support portion 20BC. The first inner support portion 20BA is formed in a substantially rectangular plate shape that is erected on the vehicle rear side along the plate thickness direction of the fin main body portion 20A with the vehicle width direction as the plate thickness direction. The first inner support portion 20BA is disposed on the outer side in the vehicle width direction of the first bearing wall portion 22DA that protrudes toward the front side of the vehicle with the substantially vehicle width direction formed in the inner frame portion 22D of the frame 22 as the plate thickness direction. Has been.

  The second inner support portion 20BB is provided at an end of the first inner support portion 20BA on the vehicle rear side, and the width direction of the first inner support portion 20BA, that is, the vehicle width direction as a vehicle width direction. It is formed in a cylindrical shape extending inward. The second inner support portion 20BB is inserted into a bearing cut 22DB whose outer end in the vehicle width direction is opened toward the front side of the vehicle in the first bearing wall portion 22DA. Is supported by a second bearing wall portion 22DC that is formed on the inner frame portion 22D of the frame 22 and faces the first bearing wall portion 22DA. Therefore, the second inner support portion 20BB can be rotated with the vehicle width direction as an axial direction.

  The third inner support portion 20BC is inserted into an end portion on the inner side in the vehicle width direction of the second inner support portion 20BB, and a fin arm portion 20BD protruding substantially toward the vehicle front side is formed. The third inner support portion 20BC is fitted to the second inner support portion 20BB by a claw (not shown). When the fin arm portion 20BD is displaced in the vehicle vertical direction, the second inner support portion 20BC is interlocked with the second inner support portion 20BC. Part 20BB is rotated.

(Outer support part)
As shown in FIG. 7, the outer support portion 20C is provided at a position separated from the back surface of the vehicle body width direction outer portion 20AG of the fin body portion 20A and the edge portion 20AH on the vehicle width direction outer side. The outer support portion 20C is pivotally supported by a bearing portion 22E that protrudes toward the vehicle rear side and is formed on the frame 22. Specifically, the outer support portion 20C is supported by the bearing portion 22E with the vehicle width direction as an axial direction, and as shown in FIG. 6, the second inner support portion of the bearing portion 22E and the inner support portion 20B. 20BB is arranged on the same axis.

(Actuator)
An actuator 30 is provided inside the inner frame portion 22D of the frame 22 in the vehicle width direction. The actuator 30 has a rotation shaft S (see FIG. 2) that can rotate about the vehicle width direction as an axial direction, and is electrically connected to the control device 32. The control device 32 is mainly configured by a computer having a well-known CPU, ROM, RAM (all not shown) and the like, and a power unit cooling water temperature sensor and a vehicle speed sensor (none shown) are provided on the input side. ) Is connected to the input side of the control device 32. On the other hand, an actuator 30 is connected to the output side of the control device 32.

(Drive link)
As shown in FIG. 3, a drive link 26 is provided on the vehicle front side of the inner frame portion 22 </ b> D of the frame 22. The drive link 26 includes a link main body portion 26A, a fin connection portion 26B, and an actuator connection portion 26C. 26 A of link main-body parts are made into the prism which extended in the vehicle up-down direction substantially from the upper end part of inner side frame part 22D to the lower end part, and, specifically, the vehicle upper side is extended in the vehicle up-down direction, and As the vehicle lower side is directed toward the vehicle lower side, it extends outward in the vehicle width direction (see FIG. 2).

  The fin connecting portion 26B extends from the link main body portion 26A so as to connect the link main body portion 26A and the third inner support portion 20BC of the fin 20 substantially in the vehicle front-rear direction. The fin connection portion 26B is fitted to the fin arm portion 20BD of the third inner support portion 20BC of the fin 20 so as to be rotatable via a claw portion 26BA. The fin connecting portions 26B are provided corresponding to all of the plurality of fins 20, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the actuator connecting portion 26 </ b> C extends from the link main body portion 26 </ b> A so as to connect the link main body portion 26 </ b> A and the rotation axis S of the actuator 30 in the vehicle front-rear direction. The actuator connecting portion 26C is rotatably fitted to the rotation axis S of the actuator 30 via a claw portion 26CA (see FIG. 3). Therefore, when the rotation axis S of the actuator 30 rotates, the drive link 26 moves in the vehicle vertical direction in conjunction with this. That is, when the drive link 26 moves to the vehicle upper side from the closed state, the fins 20 rotate to the vehicle upper side by rotating the third inner support portion 20BC (see FIG. 3) of the fin 20 to the vehicle upper side. And it will be in the open state. On the other hand, when the drive link 26 is moved to the vehicle lower side from the open state, the fin 20 is rotated to the vehicle lower side to be in the closed state shown in FIG.

(Radiator)
As shown in FIG. 6, a radiator 34 is disposed on the vehicle rear side of the opening 18. The radiator 34 is configured so that a cooling water (not shown) circulates inside, and cools the cooling water when the air introduced from the opening 18 hits it.

  A radiator duct 36 is provided on the vehicle front side of the radiator 34. The radiator duct 36 is formed in a substantially rectangular cylindrical shape (see FIG. 4), and is arranged in the vehicle width direction so that the end portion 36A on the vehicle front side is located outside the outer frame duct 23C and the inner frame duct 23D. Has been extended. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the end 36A of the radiator duct 36 is extended in the vehicle vertical direction so as to be disposed at a position corresponding to the upper frame duct 23A and the lower frame duct 23B.

(Action / Effect)
Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, fins 20 are provided inside the openings 18 provided in a part of the design surface of the front portion of the vehicle. The fin 20 opens and closes the opening 18 with the vehicle width direction as an axial direction by the operation of the drive link 26 interlocked with the actuator 30, and has a surface continuous with the design surface in the closed state where the opening 18 is closed. Yes. The fin 20, the actuator 30, and the drive link 26 are supported by a frame 22 provided on the vehicle rear side of the opening 18. The frame 22 is formed in a substantially frame shape so as to surround the opening 18. Yes. Therefore, since the traveling wind entering from the opening 18 when the fin 20 is in the open state is difficult to hit the frame 22, it is possible to suppress the traveling wind from hitting the frame 22 and increasing the air resistance.

  Further, the frame 22 is provided with a frame duct 23 extending substantially toward the rear side of the vehicle. Air introduced into the opening 18 by the frame duct 23 is more reliably guided to the radiator 34. be able to. On the other hand, since the frame duct 23 is provided with the slit 24, when the pedestrian collides with the front portion of the vehicle and a collision load is input to the frame duct 23 at the time of the pedestrian collision, the frame duct 23 has the slit 24. Deform from the starting point. By this deformation, the collision load can be absorbed. Thereby, the improvement of aerodynamic performance and the improvement of the impact absorption performance at the time of a pedestrian collision can be made compatible.

  In the present embodiment described above, the slit 24 is provided in the frame duct 23 as the deformation starting point portion. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a thin wall portion having a reduced thickness of the frame duct 23 is used as the deformation starting point portion. It is good also as a structure provided in part. Other than this, it is good also as a structure where other stress tends to concentrate, such as providing the through-hole penetrated in the thickness direction at the deformation | transformation origin part.

  As described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the gist of the embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Grill shutter apparatus 18 Opening part 20 Fin 20D Side surface (surface continuous with the design surface in a fin)
22 Frame 23 Frame duct 24 Slit (Deformation start point)
26 Drive link 30 Actuator

Claims (1)

An opening provided in a part of the design surface on the vehicle width direction outer side in the vehicle front part;
It is provided in the opening and has a surface continuous with the design surface in a closed state in which the opening is opened and closed and the opening is closed with the vehicle width direction as an axial direction by operation of a drive link interlocking with an actuator. Fins,
A frame that is provided on the vehicle rear side of the opening, is formed in a substantially frame shape so as to surround the opening, and supports the actuator, the drive link, and the fin;
A frame duct having a deformation starting point portion that is provided on the frame, extends substantially toward the vehicle rear side, and becomes a starting point of deformation when a collision load is input from the vehicle front side;
Grill shutter device having