JP2022158716A - Wheel house structure - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a wheel house structure capable of effectively preventing damage to and deterioration of a joining point of a wheel house inner and a wheel house outer.SOLUTION: A wheel house structure comprises: a wheel house inner 12 swollen to a vehicle width direction inside; and a wheel house outer 14 swollen to a vehicle width direction outside, and joined to the wheel house inner 12 so as to form a wheel house space 16 opened downwardly. The wheel house inner 12 and the wheel house outer 14 have joint flanges 20i, 20o extending in a radial direction, and shoulder parts 22i, 22o extending in a vehicle width direction from radial direction inside ends of the joint flanges 20i, 20o, and having a substantially semicircular shape projecting to a vehicle upper side in a lateral side view. At least one of the shoulder parts 22i, 22o of the wheel house inner 12 and the wheel house outer 14 is formed with at least one reinforcement beads 26f, 26r long in a circumferential direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present specification includes a wheel house inner that bulges inward in the vehicle width direction, and a wheel house outer that bulges outward in the vehicle width direction and is joined to the wheel house inner to form a downwardly opening wheel house space. Disclosed is a foil house structure comprising:

As is well known, a wheel house is provided on the side of the vehicle, on the inner side of the fender panel in the vehicle width direction. The wheel house is configured by joining a wheel house inner bulging inward in the vehicle width direction and a wheel house outer bulging outward in the vehicle width direction. A suspension mounting portion is joined to the central portion of the wheel house inner in the vehicle width direction. Therefore, when the vehicle runs on an uneven road surface, an upward thrust load is also input from the wheels to the wheel house via the suspension.

JP 2018-020643 A JP 2019-093863 A

The peripheral shape of the wheel house is deformed by receiving this push-up load, and along with this deformation of the peripheral shape, a load in the peeling direction may be applied to the joining point between the wheel house inner and the wheel house outer. Therefore, conventionally, in order to prevent the joint points provided in the wheel house from being damaged, etc., even when a thrust load is applied, a complicated shape bead is formed on the wheel house inner or wheel house outer, or both. It has been proposed to add a reinforcing gusset (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). However, if the bead shape is complicated, it becomes difficult to mold the panel, resulting in an increase in manufacturing cost. In addition, if a reinforcing gusset is added, the number of parts increases, resulting in an increase in manufacturing cost, weight, installation space, and the like.

Therefore, the present specification discloses a wheel house structure that can effectively prevent damage and deterioration of joints between a wheel house inner and a wheel house outer while having a simple structure.

The wheel house structure disclosed in this specification includes a wheel house inner that bulges inward in the vehicle width direction, and a wheel house space that bulges outward in the vehicle width direction and is joined to the wheel house inner to open downward. The wheel house inner and the wheel house outer each include a radially extending joint flange and a laterally extending joint flange extending in the vehicle width direction from a radially inner end of the joint flange. and a substantially semicircular shoulder portion projecting upwardly of the vehicle when viewed, and a reinforcing bead elongated in the circumferential direction is provided on the shoulder portion of at least one of the wheel house outer and the wheel house inner. One or more are formed.

By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to effectively suppress deformation of the circumferential shape of the wheel house, thereby effectively preventing deterioration and damage to the junction. Moreover, since only reinforcing beads having a simple shape are added, an increase in manufacturing cost can be suppressed. As a result, although it has a simple structure, it is possible to effectively prevent damage and deterioration of the junction between the wheel house inner and the wheel house outer.

In this case, the reinforcing bead may be a concave bead recessed radially inward from the main surface of the shoulder portion.

By using a concave bead as the reinforcing bead, it is possible to more reliably prevent the circumferential surface from being deformed inward in the radial direction, as compared with the case of the convex bead. As a result, deterioration and damage to the junction can be prevented more effectively.

A front reinforcing bead and a rear reinforcing bead extending at a vehicle rear position from the front reinforcing bead are formed on the shoulder portion of at least one of the wheel house outer and the wheel house inner. The reinforcing bead and the rear reinforcing bead may be separated.

By dividing the reinforcing bead into the front and rear parts, and by omitting the reinforcing bead in the central part in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, it is possible to effectively prevent the deterioration and damage of the joint points near the apex where thrust loads are directly input. can be prevented.

Further, the front reinforcing bead and the rear reinforcing bead may be formed on the shoulder portions of the wheel house outer and the wheel house inner, respectively.

By providing reinforcing beads in a total of four locations on the front and rear sides of the wheel house outer and on the front and rear sides of the wheel house inner, deformation of the wheel house can be more reliably prevented, and deterioration and damage to the joints can be further prevented. It can definitely be prevented.

According to the technique disclosed in this specification, damage and deterioration of the junction between the wheel house inner and the wheel house outer can be effectively prevented with a simple structure.

It is the figure which looked at the wheel house periphery from the side. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 1; It is the figure which looked at the wheel house inner from the side. FIG. 3 is a side view of a wheel house inner having no reinforcing bead; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a foil house without reinforcing beads;

The configuration of the wheel house 10 will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of the periphery of a wheel house 10. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. However, illustration of the rear wheel 52 is omitted in FIGS. Further, FIG. 4 is a side view of the wheel house inner 12. As shown in FIG. In each drawing, "Fr", "Up", and "Out" indicate the front of the vehicle, the upper side of the vehicle, and the outer side in the vehicle width direction, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 1, a rear fender panel 50 is provided at the rear portion of the side surface of the vehicle. It's becoming A wheel house 10 for forming a wheel house space 16 is provided above the rear wheel 52 inside the rear fender panel 50 in the vehicle width direction.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the wheel house 10 is configured by joining a wheel house inner 12 bulging inward in the vehicle width direction and a wheel house outer 14 bulging outward in the vehicle width direction. . As shown in FIG. 4, the wheel house inner 12 has a substantially semicircular shape that protrudes upward when viewed from the side of the vehicle. The wheel house inner 12 includes a joint flange 20i extending in the radial direction, a shoulder portion 22i extending inward in the vehicle width direction from the radially inner end of the joint flange 20i, and hanging downward from the end portion in the vehicle width direction of the shoulder portion 22i. The hanging portion 24i is continuously connected. Further, a suspension mounting bracket 18 is attached to the middle portion in the height direction of the hanging portion 24i, which is substantially the center portion in the vehicle width direction. A suspension 54 is connected to the wheel house inner 12 via the suspension mounting bracket 18 .

In this example, the shoulder portion 22i of the wheel house inner 12 is provided with a front reinforcing bead 26f and a rear reinforcing bead 26r. The front reinforcing bead 26f is a bead extending in the circumferential direction in the region on the front side of the shoulder portion 22i. The front reinforcing bead 26f is a concave bead recessed radially inward from the main surface of the shoulder portion 22i. Further, the rear reinforcing bead 26r is a bead extending in the circumferential direction in the area of the shoulder portion 22i behind the front reinforcing bead 26f. The rear reinforcing bead 26r is also a concave bead recessed radially inward from the main surface of the shoulder portion 22i. These reinforcing beads 26f and 26r are provided to prevent deformation of the wheel house 10 and thus deterioration/damage of the joint 32, which will be described later.

Like the wheel house inner 12, the wheel house outer 14 also has a substantially semicircular shape protruding upward when viewed from the side of the vehicle. The wheel house outer 14 also includes a joint flange 20o extending in the radial direction, a shoulder portion 22o extending outward in the vehicle width direction from the lower end of the joint flange 20o, and a hanging portion hanging downward from the end of the shoulder portion 22o in the vehicle width direction. 24o are continuously connected. A lower end of the hanging portion 24o is joined to the rear fender panel 50 by welding or the like. The joint flange 20 o of the wheel house outer 14 is joined to the joint flange 20 i of the wheel house inner 12 by welding or the like to form a joint 32 . A wheel house space 16 is formed between the wheel house inner 12 and the wheel house outer 14 by joining the joining flanges 20i and 20o to each other. Here, the two joining flanges 20i and 20o are joined while being superimposed in the thickness direction, in other words, in the vehicle width direction. Therefore, the joint 32 is likely to separate when a tensile force in the vehicle width direction is input.

A front reinforcing bead 26f and a rear reinforcing bead 26r are also formed on the shoulder portion 22o of the wheel house outer 14. As shown in FIG. The front reinforcing bead 26f and the rear reinforcing bead 26r of the wheel house outer 14 are separated from each other, and both are concave beads that are recessed radially inward from the main surface of the shoulder portion 22o.

Next, the reason why the reinforcing beads 26f and 26r are provided in the wheel house inner 12 and the wheel house outer 14 will be explained in comparison with the case where the reinforcing beads 26f and 26r are not provided. FIG. 5 is a side view of the wheel house inner 12* without the reinforcing beads 26f and 26r, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the wheel house 10* without the reinforcing beads 26f and 26r. In the following description, suffixes i and o are omitted when the inner and outer are not distinguished.

A suspension 54 is connected via a suspension mounting bracket 18 to substantially the center in the vehicle width direction of the wheel house inner 12*. Therefore, when the vehicle runs on an uneven road surface, an upward push-up load Fa is input from the rear wheels via the suspension 54 to approximately the center of the wheel house 10 in the vehicle width direction.

In the case of the wheel house 10* without the reinforcing bead 26, when the push-up load Fa is input, the top portion is pulled upward, while the circumferential shape of the shoulder portion 22 changes from an arc to a two-dot chain line in FIG. It deforms so as to approach a substantially straight line as shown. In other words, the radially inner force Fb is input to the front region and the rear region of the shoulder portion 22, and the shoulder portion 22 deforms radially inward. As the circumferential shape of the shoulder portion 22 changes, the shape of the shoulder portion 22 as viewed in the front-rear direction also changes. Specifically, when the shoulder portion 22 is deformed radially inward, the shape of the shoulder portion 22 in the front-rear direction also changes from the joining point 32 to the lower end of the wheel house 10*, as indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. line changes to approach a straight line. As a result, an outward force Fc in the vehicle width direction is input to the portion above the shoulder portion 22 , particularly the vicinity of the joint point 32 . This outward force Fc in the vehicle width direction becomes a peeling load for peeling the joint 32 .

That is, in the case of the wheel house 10* without the reinforcing beads 26f and 26r, when the push-up load Fa is applied, the peeling load Fc is input to the joint 32, and there is a risk that the joint 32 may be damaged or deteriorated. In order to avoid such a problem, it is conceivable to provide a reinforcing gusset 60 that is joined to both of the shoulders 22i and 22o in the vicinity of the joining point 32. As shown in FIG. However, when such a gusset 60 is provided, the number of parts increases, leading to an increase in cost. Therefore, in this example, reinforcing beads 26r and 26f are provided on the shoulder portion 22 in order to prevent damage and deterioration of the joint 32 with a simple configuration that suppresses an increase in the number of parts.

By providing the reinforcing beads 26r and 26f, the rigidity of the wheel house inner 12 and the wheel house outer 14 is improved, and deformation of these is less likely to occur. In particular, since the reinforcing beads 26f and 26r are elongated in the circumferential direction, it is possible to effectively prevent changes in the circumferential shape, that is, deformation such that the circular arc shape approaches a straight line.

That is, each of the reinforcing beads 26f and 26r has a pair of side walls 40 and a bottom wall 42 connecting the pair of side walls 40. As shown in FIG. The pair of side walls 40 and bottom wall 42 are connected to each other and restrain mutual deformation. The side wall 40 is a wall whose thickness direction is substantially parallel to the vehicle width direction, whose long direction is substantially parallel to the circumferential direction, and whose short direction is substantially parallel to the radial direction. The side wall 40 is slightly deformed against forces in the thickness direction (vehicle width direction) and the longitudinal direction (circumferential direction), but exhibits high bending strength against forces in the short direction (radial direction). do. As a result, even if a radially inward force is input to the shoulder portion 22 due to the push-up load, the side wall 40 suppresses deformation of the reinforcing beads 26f and 26r. As a result, the reinforcing beads 26f and 26r, and the shoulder 22 on which the reinforcing beads 26f and 26r are formed, continue to maintain their original shape without deformation. That is, by providing the reinforcing beads 26f and 26r, the circumferential deformation of the wheel house 10 is effectively suppressed. By suppressing the deformation of the circumferential shape, the deformation in the vehicle width direction and, in addition, the peeling load Fc input to the vicinity of the joint point 32 can be greatly reduced. As a result, deterioration and damage of the junction 32 can be effectively prevented.

By the way, the reinforcing beads 26f and 26r are straight beads extending in the circumferential direction. In addition, the forming range of the reinforcing beads 26f and 26r does not need to be strictly defined, and does not need to be frequently changed depending on the type of vehicle. Therefore, the wheel house inner 12 and the wheel house outer 14 having the reinforcing beads 26f and 26r do not require complicated design calculations and can be easily manufactured by general press molding. Also, as is clear from the above description, this example does not use a separate component such as a reinforcing gusset. As a result, according to this example, it is possible to effectively prevent peeling of the junction 32 while suppressing an increase in cost and mass, and with a simple configuration.

In the description so far, the reinforcing beads 26f and 26r are recessed beads that are recessed radially inward from the main surface of the shoulder portion 22. However, if the reinforcing beads 26f and 26r are elongated in the circumferential direction, A convex bead projecting radially outward from the main surface of the shoulder portion 22 may be used. However, if a convex bead is used, it is required to adjust its height and range so as not to interfere with the joint 32 . In addition, when the shoulder portion 22 receives a thrust load Fa, a radially inward force Fb is applied to it. A concave bead is preferable to a bead.

Further, in the description so far, four reinforcement beads 26 are provided in total, one each on the front side and the rear side of each of the shoulder portion 22i of the wheel house inner 12 and the shoulder portion 22o of the wheel house outer 14 . However, the number of such reinforcing beads 26 may be changed as appropriate. For example, the reinforcing bead 26 may be provided only on one of the wheel house inner 12 and the wheel house outer 14 . Moreover, the reinforcing bead 26 may be provided only on either the front side or the rear side of the shoulder portion 22 . Also, a greater number of reinforcing beads 26 may be provided. For example, one shoulder portion 22 may be provided with a plurality of front reinforcing beads 26f and a plurality of rear reinforcing beads 26r spaced apart in the vehicle width direction.

Further, the front reinforcing bead 26f continuously extends from the vicinity of the front end of the wheel house 10 to the vicinity of the top, but the front reinforcing bead 26f may be divided into a plurality of pieces. That is, a plurality of circumferentially elongated front reinforcing beads 26f may be formed at intervals in the circumferential direction. The same applies to the rear reinforcing bead 26r. Further, the reinforcing bead 26 may extend continuously from the vicinity of the front end of the wheel house 10 to the vicinity of the rear end through the top. However, in this case, the reinforcing bead 26 is likely to be deformed in the direction of widening the groove width in the vicinity of the apex where the push-up load Fa is directly input. Along with this, the joining flanges 20i and 20o are easily deformed in the directions away from each other. Therefore, it is desirable that the reinforcing bead 26 be divided back and forth near the top of the wheel house 10 .

Further, the groove width and groove depth of the reinforcing bead 26 may be uniform or may vary locally. For example, at least one of the groove width and groove depth of the reinforcing bead 26 may be made larger or smaller than at other locations at locations that are most likely to be deformed when the push-up load Fa is received. The easily deformable portions include, for example, portions of the shoulder portion 22 that are in the direction of 1:00 to 2:00 and in the direction of 10:00 to 11:00 when viewed from the center of the semicircle of the wheel house 10. . Further, in the above description, the wheel house 10 provided above the rear wheels has been described as an example, but the technology of the present specification is not limited to the wheel house for the rear wheels, and can be applied to the wheel house for the front wheels. good too.

10, 10* wheel house, 12, 12* wheel house inner, 14 wheel house outer, 16 wheel house space, 18 suspension mounting bracket, 20i, 20o joining flange, 22i, 22o shoulder, 24i, 24o hanging part, 26f front side Reinforcement bead, 26r Rear reinforcement bead, 32 Junction point, 40 Side wall, 42 Bottom wall, 50 Rear fender panel, 52 Rear wheel, 54 Suspension, 60 Gusset.

Claims (4)

With the wheel house inner bulging inward in the vehicle width direction,
a wheel house outer that bulges outward in the vehicle width direction and is joined to the wheel house inner to form a downwardly opening wheel house space;
The wheel house inner and the wheel house outer each include a joint flange extending in the radial direction, and a substantially convex portion extending in the vehicle width direction from the radially inner end of the joint flange and projecting upwardly of the vehicle when viewed from the side. a shoulder that is semicircular;
One or more reinforcing beads elongated in the circumferential direction are formed on the shoulder portion of at least one of the wheel house outer and the wheel house inner.
A foil house structure characterized by: The foil house structure according to claim 1,
The wheel house structure, wherein the reinforcing bead is a concave bead recessed radially inward from the main surface of the shoulder portion. The wheel house structure according to claim 1 or 2,
A front reinforcing bead and a rear reinforcing bead extending at a vehicle rear position from the front reinforcing bead are formed on the shoulder portion of at least one of the wheel house outer and the wheel house inner. The rear reinforcing bead is divided,
A foil house structure characterized by: The wheel house structure according to claim 3,
A wheel house structure, wherein the front reinforcing bead and the rear reinforcing bead are formed on the shoulder portions of the wheel house outer and the wheel house inner, respectively.

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