JP3335774B2 - Lower structure of the front pillar of a car - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure of a lower portion of a front pillar of an automobile, and an object of the present invention is to provide a structure in which a collision energy at the time of a side collision can be effectively received by the entire lower portion of the front pillar. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a motor vehicle, a lower portion of a front pillar, that is, a portion rising from a front end of a side sill to a front pillar is generally structured as shown in FIG.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the side sill 1 is composed of a side sill outer 11, a side sill inner 12, and a separator center 13, and a pillar outer lower 21 of the front pillar 2 is integrally formed at the front end of the side sill outer 11, A pillar inner lower 22 of the front pillar 2 is joined and fixed to the upper edge of the front end of the side sill 1, and the pillar inner lower 22 and the pillar outer lower 2 are joined together.
1 and a lower part of the front pillar 2 having a closed cross section is constituted,
A toe board 4 that rises upward from the front end of the front floor 3 whose side end is fixed to the side sill inner 12.
Is generally fixed from the front end of the side sill inner 12 to the front edge of the pillar inner lower 22. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 21a denotes a doubler for reinforcing the pillar outer lower 21, and reference numerals 4a denote left and right wheel house portions formed near the left and right sides of the toe board 4.

There have been various types of devices provided with reinforcing means for reinforcing a joint between the front end of the side sill inner 12 and the toe board 4 and a corner between the pillar inner lower 22 and the toe board 4. Showa 57-14028
No. 1, JP-A-2-237875, JP-A-2-237875
It is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 125887.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the event of a side collision of an automobile,
The entire door is pushed inward, and the collision energy is absorbed by the entire lower portion of the front pillar below the window shoulder. Particularly, regarding the door hinge mounting portion of the front door, the door hinge is deformed or broken. Will absorb the collision energy.

However, in the case of the general conventional structure shown in FIG. 4, the front pillar 2 falls down or twists inside the lower corner portion at the time of a side collision, and furthermore, the toe board 4
The crush deformation of the wheel house 4a near the side end is remarkable, and effective collision energy absorption cannot be performed. or,
Regarding the door hinge portion of the front door, the steering support beam is attached near the attachment portion of the upper door hinge 6a so as to connect the left and right front pillars. Although it is received by the support beam and dispersed and absorbed by the front pillar on the other side, the mounting portion of the lower door hinge 6b cannot receive the input load, and it is difficult to effectively disperse and absorb the collision energy. Has issues.

Further, in the above-described conventional structure in which reinforcing means is provided at the corner between the lower part of the front pillar and the toe board, the structure cannot sufficiently be said to sufficiently disperse and absorb the collision energy. If the reinforcement is performed sufficiently, the reinforcement structure becomes large, making it difficult to assemble, and the projecting amount into the vehicle compartment becomes large, thereby causing problems such as impairing the livability.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above conventional problems.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a front pillar lower portion comprising a Piraautaroa and the pillar inner lower as described above, the lower end portion of the pillar inner lower, a bulge fit into the cross section of Piraautaroa provided a box-shaped reinforcement part having integrally or integrally, are joined to the upper portion has a lower corner gusset portion that spans the corner portion between the side sill front portion and the front floor and the toe board in the inner side of the box-shaped reinforcement portion A substantially L-shaped doubler portion comprising a pillar inner surface portion and a toeboard joining surface portion joined to the toeboard is formed continuously, and straddles the upper portion of the box-shaped reinforcement portion and the corner portion of the toeboard at the upper portion of the doubler portion. Gussets with an upper corner gusset part with a nearly box-shaped cross section, side sill, front floor and box shape It is characterized in that on the inner side and the toe board of the emissions force portion is fixed by bonding from the vehicle interior side.

[0010]

As described above, the lower portion of the front pillar is integrally or integrally provided with the pillar inner lower in a closed cross section formed by the pillar outer lower and the gusset pillar inner surface.
Become eclipsed a box-shaped reinforcement portion bulged portion but fitted structure, and the box-shaped reinforcement portion serves as a reinforcing separator, a front pillar lower portion including a lower door hinge attachment portion is significantly reinforced You. In addition, the lower corner gusset portion and the upper corner gusset portion of the gusset are prevented from inwardly falling and twisting from the front end portion of the side sill to the lower portion of the front pillar in a side collision, and the upper and lower corner gusset portions and the doubler therebetween. This also prevents the front floor and the wheel house of the toe board from collapsing and deforming. In particular, the collision load input from the lower door hinge can be applied to the box-shaped reinforcement,
Are integrally joined pillar inner lower to upper corner
Is accurately transmitted to the gusset portion, is received securely in the upper corner gusset portion, it is possible to achieve effective dispersion absorption of collision energy.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a side sill having a closed cross section composed of a side sill outer 11, a side sill inner 12, and a plate-shaped separator center 13, and a pillar outer lower that rises upward at a front end of the side sill outer 11. The pillar outer lower 21, the pillar inner lower 22, and a pillar inner surface 53 of the gusset 5 described below form a lower portion of the front pillar 2. A doubler 21a is joined to the inside of the pillar outer lower 21 as necessary, as required.

At the lower portion of the pillar inner lower 22, a box-shaped reinforcement portion 23 having a bulging portion 23a bulging in a box shape outwardly of the vehicle body is provided integrally or integrally, and the box-shaped reinforcement portion 23 is provided. Is fixed to the upper edge of the front end of the side sill 1. When the pillar inner lower 22 including the box-shaped reinforcement 23 is joined to the pillar outer lower 21, the bulging portion 23 a of the box-shaped reinforcement 23 is fixed to the pillar outer lower. 21 are configured to fit within the cross-section. The upper portion of the bulging portion 23a is located near the mounting portion of the lower door hinge 6b of the front door, and the bulging portion 23a reinforces the mounting portion of the lower door hinge 6b and the lower portion thereof. I have. In addition, the upper door hinge 6 of the front door
A steering support beam (not shown) for mounting and supporting the steering device is mounted between the left and right front pillars 2 and 2 at a position near the mounting portion a as is conventionally known.

Side sill inner 1 of left and right side sills 1
The left and right edges of the front floor 3 are fixed to the front floor 3 as before, and the left and right edges of the toe board 4 rising upward from the front end of the front floor 3 are the front ends of the pillar inner lowers 22 of the left and right front pillars 2 as before. Secured to the edge.
Reference numeral 4a denotes a wheel house portion formed to protrude rearward near the left and right sides of the toe board 4. Reference numeral 7 denotes a vehicle width direction duct provided along the upper edge of the toe board 4.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a gusset. The gusset 5 defines each corner portion of a range from a front end portion of the side sill 1 to a lower end portion of the front pillar 2 and a range from a front end portion of the front floor 3 to a lower portion of the toe board 4. The gusset 5 will be described in detail below.

The gusset 5 includes a front end portion of the side sill inner 12, a front end portion of the front floor 3, and the toe board 4.
A lower inner gusset portion 51 extending over a corner portion between the rising portion and the lower inner gusset portion 51 at a lower end portion, and a pillar inner surface portion closing an inner side of a box-shaped reinforcement portion 23 provided on a lower end portion of the pillar inner lower 22 at an upper portion thereof. A substantially L-shaped doubler portion 52 composed of a toeboard 53 and a toeboard joint surface portion 54 mainly joined and fixed to the wheel house portion 4a of the toeboard 4 has a box-shaped reinforcement portion 23 above the doubler portion 52. An upper corner gusset portion 55 having a box-shaped cross-section that straddles the inner side of the upper portion (near the lower door hinge attachment portion) of the bulging portion 23a and the corner portion of the wheel house portion 4a of the toe board 4 is integrally formed. You. A work hole 53a is appropriately provided in the pillar inner surface portion 53, and a footrest portion 56 serving as a footrest for an occupant is integrally formed from the vicinity of the vehicle body center end of the upper corner gusset portion 55 to the toe board joint surface portion 54 therebelow. ing.

Then, the flanges on the peripheral edge of the gusset 5 are connected to the side sill inner 12, the inner flange of the box-shaped reinforcement 23, the front floor 3,
It is joined to the wheel house 4a of the toe board 4 and attached by spot welding or the like. Then, the pillar inner surface portion 53 of the gusset 5 is joined to the inner side of the box-shaped reinforcement portion 23, so that the pillar outer lower portion 21 and the pillar inner surface portion 53 form the box-shaped reinforcement portion 2 inside.
3, a lower portion of the front pillar having a closed cross-section is formed, and the box-shaped reinforcement portion 23 functions as a separator for reinforcing the closed cross-section, and the strength of the lower portion of the front pillar including the mounting portion of the lower door hinge 6b has a strength. Significantly improved.
In addition, the corner portion between the front end portion of the side sill 1 and the vicinity of the lower part of the front floor 3 and the toe board 4 is firmly connected by a lower corner gusset portion 51, so that the front end portion of the side sill 1 due to a side impact load is prevented from falling down. Further, a corner portion between the vicinity of the attachment portion of the lower door hinge 6b of the front pillar 2 and the wheel house portion 4a is firmly connected by an upper corner gusset portion 55, and a collision load inputted from the lower door hinge 6b is reduced by the upper corner gusset portion. 55, the lower part of the front pillar 2 is reinforced by the box-shaped reinforcement 23 and the pillar inner surface 53 of the gusset 5 as described above, and the pillar inner surface 53 and the toe board joint surface The doubler portion 52 including the lower portion 54 is located below the lower door hinge mounting portion of the front pillar 2. By being joined to the corner portion of the wheel housing portion 4a and the portion thereof and being reinforced, the torsional deformation of the lower end portion of the front pillar 2 due to the collision load and the crush deformation of the wheel housing portion 4a are prevented. The collision load is widely dispersed and absorbed by the toeboard 4 and the front floor 3, and the collision load input from the mounting portion of the upper door hinge 6a is received by the steering support beam and dispersed and absorbed by the front pillar on the other side as described above. Together with this, effective collision energy is absorbed in the entire lower part of the front pillar 2.

Further, as described above, the box-shaped reinforcement 23 is provided below the pillar inner lower 22, and the inner side of the box-shaped reinforcement 23 is fixed to the inner side of the box-shaped reinforcement 23 with the gusset 5 for reinforcing the corners attached. Gusset 5 pillar inner surface 53
The structure has a structure in which the lower part of the front pillar is reinforced and firmly reinforced, so that the number of parts is small and the assembly is extremely simple. The corners such as the toe board 4, the side sill 1 and the front floor 3, the side sill 1 and the front pillar 2 are effectively and firmly connected to each other, so that an effective reinforcing structure can be obtained which is small and light and takes up little space as a countermeasure against side collision. Is what you can do.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention, which differs from the embodiment of FIG. 1 only in that the separator center 13 of the side sill 1 is shaped to be convex toward the side sill outer 11 side. 1 is the same as FIG.
1 denote the same parts as in FIG.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the same operation and effect as those of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 can be obtained. In addition, the structure in which the separator center 13 is extended outwardly absorbs the collision energy at the time of side collision. It is possible to achieve an effect that the operation can be performed earlier.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, an example is shown in which the gusset 5 is integrally formed by one sheet metal.
One sheet metal is integrally formed into a shape having a lower corner gusset portion 51 and a doubler portion 52 above the corner gusset portion, and a hat-shaped cross-section reinforcement formed as a separate component is overlapped and fixed on the upper portion of the doubler portion 52. A gusset structure in which an upper corner gusset portion 55 having a closed cross section is formed may be used. In this case, the doubler portion 52 near the lower door hinge attachment portion may be formed similarly to the lower corner portion.
In addition, the upper corner gusset 55 receives the input load, and the side collision energy is absorbed more effectively.

In the illustrated embodiment, the pillar inner lower 22 is provided.
Box-shaped reinforcement part 2 configured as a separate part at the lower end of the box
3 is integrally fixed, but the pillar inner lower 22 is extended so as to be directly fixed to the upper edge of the front end of the side sill 1, and a bulging portion 23 a is formed at a lower extension of the pillar inner lower 22. By doing so, a structure in which the box-shaped reinforcement portion 23 is integrally formed with the pillar inner lower 22 may be adopted, and in this case, the number of components can be reduced.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, with a very simple structure, sufficient reinforcement is performed from the lower door hinge mounting portion below the front pillar to the connecting portion with the side sill, and the side collision load is reduced. It prevents the front end of the side sill and the lower part of the front pillar from falling down and twisting, and crushing deformation of the front floor and toeboard, etc., and can effectively disperse and absorb the collision energy. This, combined with the fact that it does not take up much space in the vehicle interior, can bring about a great effect in practical use.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1A and 1B show an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a connecting portion between a front end portion of a side sill and a lower portion of a front pillar as viewed from the rear of the vehicle interior, and FIG. 1B is an exploded perspective view of FIG. FIG.

FIG. 2 shows a cross section of each part of FIG.
Is an AA cross-sectional view, (B) is a BB cross-sectional view, (C) is a C-
C sectional view, (D) is DD sectional view, (E) is EE sectional view.

3A and 3B show another embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 3A is a perspective view of a connecting portion between a front end portion of a side sill and a lower portion of a front pillar as viewed from the rear of the vehicle interior, and FIG. It is an exploded perspective view.

4A and 4B show an example of a conventional structure, in which FIG. 4A is a perspective view of a connecting portion between a front end portion of a side sill and a lower portion of a front pillar as viewed from the rear of the vehicle interior, and FIG. 4B is an exploded perspective view of FIG. is there.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Side sill 2 Front pillar 3 Front floor 4 Toe board 4a Wheel house part 5 Gusset 6a Upper door hinge 6b Lower door hinge 11 Side sill outer 12 Side sill inner 13 Separator center 21 Pillar outer lower 22 Pillar inner lower 23 Box shaped reinforcement part 23a Lower bulge 51 Corner gusset part 52 Doubler part 53 Pillar inner surface part 54 Toe board joint surface part 55 Upper corner gusset part 56 Footrest part

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B62D 25/08 B62D 25/20

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A Piraautaroa the pillar inner lower and the pillar inner box-shaped reinforcement portion having a bulge fit into Piraautaroa in cross section at the lower end portion of the lower of the front pillar lower portions integrally or integrally formed of At the lower end, there is a lower corner gusset part which straddles the front end part of the side sill, the front floor and the corner part of the toe board, and the upper part has a pillar inner surface part and a toe board which block the inner side of the box-shaped reinforcement part. A substantially L-shaped doubler portion consisting of a toe board joining surface portion to be joined is formed continuously, and an upper portion of the doubler portion has a substantially box-shaped cross-section extending over an upper portion of the box-shaped reinforcement portion and a corner portion of the toe board. the gusset of shape having an upper corner gusset portion, and the inner side of the support Idoshiruin'na and the front floor and a box-shaped reinforcement part Front pillar lower portion structure of an automobile, characterized in that secured by joining the vehicle interior side and Bodo. 2. The lower part of the front pillar structure of an automobile according to claim 1, wherein an upper part of the box-shaped reinforcement portion is a mounting portion of a lower door hinge among upper and lower door hinges of a front door mounted on the front pillar. A lower part structure of a front pillar of an automobile, wherein the lower part structure is configured to be located in the vicinity.