JP3021682B2 - Car frame - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to an automobile frame, and more specifically, to an automobile which can be used for transporting a refrigerant for cooling an engine, a car air conditioner and other refrigerants. It relates to a frame.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an automobile a shown in FIG. 6, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, a frame side member b has an appropriate sectional shape integrally extruded from aluminum or its alloy as shown in FIG. Although hollow members are often used, no automotive frame has been proposed in which a portion of the frame forms part of the refrigerant circulation system in the heat exchanger.

[0003]

In a conventional automobile frame, for example, a refrigerant for cooling an engine or a pipe for transporting a refrigerant constituting a part of a circulating system of a car air conditioner and other refrigerants are used in automobiles. Had to be installed completely separately from the skeletal material. In addition, automobiles are equipped with radiators, oil coolers, condensers, evaporators and other heat exchangers, but most of the refrigerant transport pipes that are installed separately from the frame material have a heat exchange function. Therefore, a large-capacity heat exchanger or a large number of heat exchangers are required, and as a result, there is a limit to the reduction in size and weight of the internal structure of an automobile, and the cost is high.

An object of the present invention is to form a pipe for transporting a refrigerant of a heat exchanger mounted on an automobile in an automobile frame, or to make the pipe bear a heat exchange function, thereby achieving the above-mentioned problem. Is to improve.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an automobile frame according to the present invention has a main body 20 having a substantially gate-shaped cross section and continuous in a longitudinal direction, and a main body 20 which is parallel to the main body 20 and has a cross section. At an intermediate height level between the two legs 20a of the main body 20, an appropriate number of pipes 22 connected to the two legs 20a via the joints 21 are formed into a closed cross section and integrated with each other to form the pipe 22. A frame member 2 made of extruded aluminum or aluminum alloy, which is formed integrally with an appropriate number of fins 24 extending downward and having a lower end limited to the lower end level of the two leg portions 20a, is partially formed on an outer surface thereof. And the pipe 22 constitutes a part of a refrigerant circulation system in a heat exchanger of an automobile.

It is preferable that fins 23 are formed integrally with the inner surface of the pipe 22 along the length direction. Also, pipe 2
It is preferable that a coolant for cooling the engine is circulated in 2.

[0007]

In the automobile frame according to the present invention, since the pipe 22 can be used as a refrigerant transporting path of the heat exchanger, the space for installing the refrigerant circulation system can be reduced.

[0008]

FIG. 1 illustrates an automobile (passenger car) frame 1 in which a roof portion is omitted. A cross member 11, which interconnects bottom side members 10, 10, has front and rear portions. A center member 12 is fixed in the direction, and the center member 12 is constituted by the frame member 2 as shown in FIG.

Frame member 2 constituting center member 12
Is an extruded member made of aluminum or an alloy thereof, and has a gate-shaped main body 20 which is continuous in a longitudinal direction for mainly bearing the strength, and both leg portions 2 of the main body 20.
The pipes 22 and 22 are connected to the two legs 20a via the joint 21 at the intermediate height level of 0a and 20a. The upper part of the main body 20, the joint portion 21, and each pipe 22 form a closed cross section and are integrated. The pipe 22 has an appropriate number of fins 2 extending downward to the outer surface and having a lower end limited to the lower end level of the leg sections 20a.
4 are formed integrally in the axial direction, and a large number of fins 23 are formed on the inner surface thereof in parallel with the axial direction. 2
Reference numerals 5 and 26 denote ribs formed on a required portion of the outer periphery of the main body 20 along the longitudinal direction.

The center member 12 shown in FIG. 1 made of the frame material 2 having the above-described structure has pipes 22 and 22 formed therein.
A water cooling jacket 3 of the engine (not shown) communicates with a radiator 4 on the front side. This state is shown in FIG.
More specifically, one pipe 22 of the frame member 2 serving as the center member 12 has a front end communicating with the outlet side of the radiator 4 via a flexible pipe 42 provided with a pump 5 in the middle. The rear end communicates with the inlet side of the water cooling jacket 3 via the flexible pipe 31. On the other hand, the other pipe 22 of the frame material 2
The rear end communicates with the outlet side of the water cooling jacket 3 via the flexible pipe 32, and the front end communicates with the inlet side of the radiator 4 via the flexible pipe 41. Numerals 22 and 22 respectively constitute a part of a forward path and a return path of a refrigerant circulation system for communicating the water cooling jacket 3 and the radiator 4.

The vehicle frame 1 of this embodiment is partially constituted by the frame member 2 in which pipes 22 are integrally formed along the longitudinal direction of the main body 20. The pipe 22 constitutes a part of a refrigerant circulation system in the heat exchanger of the vehicle, and a considerable length of the pipe for transporting the refrigerant is omitted to reduce the size, weight, and cost of the internal structure. be able to. Further, as described above, if the fins 23 and 24 are formed on the pipe 22, the radiator 4, the water-cooling jacket 3 and the like can be made more compact because the pipe 22 itself exhibits a considerably large heat exchange function. Weight reduction and cost reduction can be achieved.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show an automobile frame according to another embodiment.
A frame member 2 having a sectional shape as shown in FIG. 5 is provided on a part of the side members 10, 10 and a part of the cross member 11.
Is used. The frame member 2 shown in FIG. 5 is connected to the main body 20 having a substantially gate-shaped cross section which is continuous in the longitudinal direction, and to the intermediate level position of both leg portions 20a, 20a of the main body 20 via the connecting portion 21 as one body. It is composed of a single, flat, elliptical pipe 22 formed as described above. A large number of fins 23 and 24 are formed on the inner peripheral surface and the outer peripheral surface of the pipe 22 along the longitudinal direction as in the above-described embodiment. The side members 10 and 10 and the cross member 11 shown in FIG. 4 use the frame member 2 shown in FIG. 5 in a downward state, and the rear end of the pipe 22 of the upper side member 10 shown in FIG. A flexible pipe 31 having a pump 5 on the way is provided on the inlet side of the water cooling jacket 3 of the engine (not shown), and an outlet side of the jacket 3 is provided on the rear end of the pipe 22 of the lower side member 10 in FIG. The front ends of the pipes 22 of the two side members 10 and 10 communicate with the two ends of the pipe 22 of the cross member 11 via flexible pipes 33 and 34, respectively.
1 pipe 22, the other side member 10 pipe 2
2. A circulation system for the refrigerant which continues to the jacket 3 is formed. In the vehicle frame of this embodiment, since the pipes 22 of the continuous members 10, 11, 10 occupy most of the entire length of the circulating system and are long, the radiator shown in FIG.
The heat exchanger 4 is omitted, and the pipe 22 itself also serves as a heat exchanger instead of a radiator.

In the automobile frame of the present invention, the cross-sectional shape of the main body 20 of the frame member 2, which mainly bears the strength, is appropriately selected depending on a portion where the frame member is used. The cross-sectional shape of the pipe 22 and the number of the pipes 22 provided on one main body 20 can be appropriately set according to the installation site and the purpose of use. For example, when it is desired to lengthen the flow path of the refrigerant in the frame portion, three or more pipes 22 are provided in the frame material, and each pipe 22 is connected to each other by a flexible pipe so as to form one flow path. Can be.

In the above embodiment, the pipe 22 made of a frame material is used.
Has been described only for the case of transporting a coolant for cooling an engine and also serving as a radiator, but it can also be used for transporting a refrigerant for a car air conditioner, an oil cooler and other purposes, and By selecting various shapes and structures, a heat exchanger other than a radiator can be used.

[0015]

The vehicle frame according to the present invention has the above-mentioned frame material incorporated in a part thereof, so that it can be used not only as a frame material of an automobile but also as a refrigerant transportation path. By selecting the number of pipes and the shape of the pipe portions, it is possible to bear the functions of the refrigerant transport path and the heat exchange in addition to the functions as the skeletal material. Therefore, the size and weight of the automobile can be reduced, and the cost can be further reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a passenger car frame in which a frame member of an embodiment according to the present invention is partially incorporated (a center member), omitting a frame portion of a roof.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged end view of a frame material constituting the center member of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partially omitted conceptual view in which a part of a refrigerant circulation system for cooling an engine of an automobile is constituted by a frame material incorporated in a part of the frame of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of an automobile frame according to another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged end view of a frame material incorporated in a part of the frame of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a body of a conventional automobile.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged end view of a hollow frame material used in the automobile of FIG. 7;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Frame 10 Side member 11 Cross member 12 Center member 2 Frame material 20 Main body 20a Leg part 21 Joining part 22 Pipe 23 Fin 24 Fin 3 Water cooling jacket 31, 32, 33, 34, 41, 42 Flexible pipe 4 Radiator

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B62D 21/17

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A main body 20 having a substantially gate-shaped cross-section and continuing in a longitudinal direction, and a joining portion 21 at an intermediate height level of both leg portions 20a parallel to the main body 20 and both main bodies 20 of the main body 20.
And a suitable number of pipes 22 connected to both leg sections 20a through a closed cross section are formed integrally with each other, and extend downward on the outer surface of the pipe 22 and the lower end is limited to the lower end level of the both leg sections 20a. A frame member 2 made of an extruded member made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, in which an appropriate number of fins 24 are integrally formed, is partially incorporated, and the pipe 22 is a part of a refrigerant circulation system in a heat exchanger of an automobile. An automobile frame comprising: 2. The vehicle frame according to claim 1, wherein fins 23 are integrally formed on an inner surface of the pipe 22 along a length direction. 3. The refrigerant in the refrigerant circulation system is a refrigerant that cools an engine of the vehicle.
Or the automobile frame according to 2.