JP3214438B2 - Pipe reinforcement for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a pipe-shaped reinforcement for reinforcing a vehicle body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A portion of a vehicle body which requires high rigidity is reinforced by providing a pipe-shaped reinforcement extending between body structural members. As a typical example of this type of pipe reinforcement,
FIG. 3 shows a reinforcement (instrumentation) 6 provided in the instrument panel N.

[0003] The reinforcement 6 is a pipe material extending over the entire width of the vehicle cabin. Brackets 8 provided at both left and right ends thereof are fixed to left and right front pillars P, respectively, and are installed in an instrument panel N. Since the reinforcement 6 is generally structured to support the steering column S on the driver's seat side, a thin pipe material does not always have sufficient rigidity. For this reason, the pipe diameter on the driver's seat side is increased, or the driver's seat side is formed of two pipes as shown in FIG.

[0004] However, the instrument panel N
Since many other members are installed in the inside, if the pipe is made large in diameter or one side is made up of two pipes, the installation space for other members is restricted. Further, when one side is constituted by two pipes, the number of manufacturing steps increases and the cost increases.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a pipe-shaped reinforcement having a small diameter, high rigidity and high strength, a small installation space, and easy to manufacture. It is a thing.

[0006]

The pipe-shaped reinforcement according to the present invention comprises :
A partition wall formed by a pair of wall boards folded and overlapped,
The two wall plates forming the partition wall are in opposite directions at the specified locations
To form a D-shaped cross section with the partition wall
A substantially circular section formed by left and right peripheral walls curved in an arc shape
Of the partition wall protruding outward from the outer peripheral portion of the partition wall
The shape is formed by the turned tip and the edges of
And the flange that forms the flange
Repeatedly weld the tip and the edge together,
The structure is welded at the bent part.

[0007] In the reinforcement, since the partition wall serves as a reinforcing portion bridging the outer peripheral portion in the radial direction, high rigidity can be secured even with a small diameter. In addition, it is easy to manufacture because the outer peripheral portion of the closed cross section and both ends of the partition wall can be welded by work from outside the pipe while being formed from one metal flat plate.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1A, the reinforcement 1 includes an outer peripheral portion 2 having a closed cross section having a substantially circular cross section, a partition wall 3 for bisecting the closed cross section of the outer peripheral portion 2, and a partition wall 3. It is a pipe having a flange 4 protruding outside the outer peripheral portion 2 and is formed of one metal flat plate.

The partition wall 3 is formed by a pair of wall plates 3a and 3b which are formed by folding a metal plate and superimposing it. Each wall board 3
The lower ends of a and 3b are bent outward in opposite directions at the same positions 32a and 32b, respectively, and form left and right peripheral walls 2a and 2b which are curved in an arc shape so as to form a D-shaped cross section with the partition wall 3.

The edges 21a, 21b of the respective peripheral walls 2a, 2b are bent upward, respectively, and are overlapped on both side surfaces of the folded front end 31 of the partition wall 3.

Reinforcement 1 includes two peripheral walls 2a,
The outer peripheral portion 2 formed by 2b has a substantially perfect circular cross section, and the inside of the outer peripheral portion 2 is bisected by a radial partition wall 3, and the folded front end portion 31 of the partition wall 3 and the peripheral walls 2a and 2b superposed thereon are overlapped. Are formed so as to form flanges 4 whose outer edges 21a, 21b project outward from the outer peripheral portion 2.

The flange 4 of the reinforcement 1 is
At a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction, the folded tip portion 31
And the edges 21a and 21b are spot welded together (W1 in the figure). In addition, the lower end of the partition wall 3 is provided at a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction with the bent portions 32 of the two wall plates 3a, 3b.
a and 32b are arc welded (W2 in the figure).

The formation of the reinforcement 1 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (B), this is performed by processing a flat metal plate M having a predetermined width. The metal plate M is bent at a position equidistant in the width direction from a center line CL that bisects the metal plate M in the width direction, and a portion outside the bent portion is cross-sectioned with the central flat plate portion 3 ′. It is curved so as to form a D-shape, and the edge 21 of each curved portion 2a ', 2b'
a ′ and 21b ′ are bent into a flat plate shape.
a ', 21b' are overlapped on the central flat plate portion 3 ', and the ends are abutted at the center line CL.

The metal plate M formed in the shape of glasses as described above is folded back at the center line CL and the left and right sides of the flat plate portion 3 'are overlapped with each other to obtain the cross sectional shape shown in FIG. Then, as described above, the flange 4 and the bent portion 32
a, 32b.

As shown in FIG. 1 (C), the reinforcement 1 has a mounting portion 5 integrally formed on both ends (one of which is shown in the figure). The mounting part 5
It is gradually wider and flatter than the pipe-shaped main body of the reinforcement 1. In the above-described reinforcement 1 forming step, the mounting portion 5 leaves the ends of the glasses-like metal plate M without folding them, and crushes each of the curved portions 2a 'and 2b' to overlap the flat portion 3 '. Formed together. The mounting portion 5 is formed by bending the terminal at a substantially right angle in accordance with the vehicle body structural member as the mounting object. 51 is a bolt hole. Depending on the vehicle body structural member to be mounted, the mounting portion 5 may be flat without bending the terminal.

Since the reinforcement 1 has a pipe structure having the partition wall 3 that divides the closed section into two, high rigidity can be secured by the bulkhead effect of the partition wall 3, and in particular, the rigidity against twisting is improved. improves. Therefore,
The outer diameter of the reinforcement 1 can be reduced.

The small-diameter and high-rigidity reinforcement 1 is suitable for use as an instrument panel reinforcement of a vehicle body. In this case, Reinforcement 1
Can be used as a fixing portion of a wire harness for connecting the flange 4 protruding to the outside to instruments of an instrument panel. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a through hole 41 is provided in the flange 4 of the reinforcement 1, and a locking leg 71 of the clip 7 in which a plurality of wire harnesses H are bundled is inserted into the through hole 41, and It is fixed by engaging the locking piece 72 of the locking leg 71 with the opening edge.

Further, the attachment portion of the terminal of the reinforcement 1 may be welded with a bracket 8 as a separate member, similarly to the conventional instrument panel reinforcement 6 shown in FIG.

[0019]

The pipe-shaped reinforcement according to the present invention exhibits high rigidity even with a small diameter. Further, since it is manufactured from a single metal plate and the outer peripheral portion and both ends of the partition wall can be joined by welding work outside the pipe forming the closed cross section, the manufacture is easy. Furthermore, since one of the connecting portions between the outer peripheral portion and the partition wall projects in a flange shape from the outer peripheral portion, this can be used as a fixing portion of the wire harness provided near the reinforcement. Further, structural members of a vehicle body such as an instrument panel can be connected using the flange.

The reinforcement according to the present invention is not limited to the instrument panel reinforcement, but is installed between the front edge and the rear edge of another portion of the vehicle requiring reinforcement, for example, a door panel including an inner plate and an outer plate. It can be used for reinforcement and the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows the reinforcement of the present invention.
1A is a cross-sectional view, FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view showing a manufacturing process, and FIG. 1C is a perspective view of a terminal mounting portion.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an example in which the reinforcement of the present invention is used for fixing a wire harness.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a conventional instrument panel reinforcement.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Reinforcement 2 Outer peripheral part 2a, 2b Peripheral wall 21a, 21b Edge 3 Partition wall 3a, 3b Wall plate (metal plate) 31 Folding tip part 32a, 32b Bending part 4 Flange W1, W2 Welding part

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A metal plate is folded at its center in the width direction.
A partition wall formed by a pair of wall boards that are turned over and
The two wall plates forming the wall are folded in opposite directions at predetermined locations.
Bends and forms an arc in a D-shaped cross section with the partition wall
Outer shape of approximately circular section formed by left and right peripheral walls curved
Folding of the peripheral part and the partition wall protruding outward from the outer peripheral part
Formed at the tip and the edges of both peripheral walls superimposed on it.
And the folded back forming the flange
Weld the tip and the edge together, and fold both wall boards
Pipe reinforcement for vehicles welded at the bend .