JP3370179B2 - Vehicle pillar structure - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle pillar structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Vehicle pillars, such as center pillars, are
Generally, it is composed of a pillar inner, a pillar outer, and a reinforcement, but conventionally, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the pillar inner 10 and the pillar outer 20 have spot flanges 10a and 20a on both sides, respectively, and both sides of the reinforcement 30. It is usual to form a center pillar having a closed cross section by joining spot flanges 10a and 20a to each other with a portion sandwiched therebetween to form three sheets and spot-welding them (see, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-110680). ).

[0003]

In the center pillar, since the cross-sectional area of the closed cross section cannot be reduced so much as to secure the strength and rigidity of the pillar, spot flanges project on both sides of the closed cross section as described above. The conventional pillar structure has a problem that there is a limit in trying to make the center pillar extremely thin in order to improve the visibility and the appearance.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, the center pillar 1
It is conceivable that a structure without a spot flange is formed by butt welding the upper edges a of the inner panel and the outer panel to each other. However, when butt welding is simply performed, the pillar inner 10 Therefore, it is very difficult to obtain the accuracy of the butted portion of the pillar outer 20, and the problem that the productivity is unavoidable arises.

The present invention is mainly intended to address the above-mentioned conventional problems.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a pillar having a flangeless closed cross section by welding a pillar inner and a pillar outer having substantially U-shaped cross-sections by abutting and welding the edges of both side surfaces thereof. The first feature is that a channel-shaped reinforcement whose outer peripheral shape substantially matches the inner peripheral surface of the pillar having the flangeless closed cross section is used, and the channel-shaped reinforcement is formed by a slit formed on the inner surface of the pillar. An adjust rail portion projecting to the indoor side is integrally formed so as to project, and a seat belt anchor is inserted into the adjust rail portion from an upper end portion or a lower end portion thereof and slid to slide the seat belt anchor at an appropriate height position. The second feature is that it is fixedly mounted on the anchor mounting surface formed by displacing it somewhat within the closed cross section. It is intended to.

[0007]

As described above, by using the substantially channel-shaped reinforcement, when the reinforcement is joined and fixed to the inner side of the pillar inner and the pillar outer is abutted against it, the reinforcement acts as a guide when the pillar outer is abutted. And the positioning function, and the positioning accuracy is eased by relaxing the precision of the abutting part, and a flangeless pillar that secures predetermined strength and rigidity without lowering productivity is easily configured. Can be made extremely thin, and the appearance and the visibility can be improved. Further, in addition to the above, an adjust rail portion for adjusting a seatbelt anchor mounting position is integrally formed on the reinforcement, and the adjust rail portion protrudes from the inner surface of the pillar toward the passenger compartment and is somewhat closed from the inner surface. Since the anchor mounting surface is provided by displacing it inside, there is no need to provide a seat belt anchor insertion opening in the pillar inner, there is no concern about deterioration of the strength and rigidity of the pillar, and the seat belt anchor is The protruding height is reduced, and the vehicle interior space can be expanded.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 1, (A) shows an integral type pillar in which the center pillar 1 is integrally formed with a side sill 40, a roof side rail 50, etc., and (B) shows the center pillar 1 independently and the lower end thereof. And a split pillar of the type in which the upper end is fixedly attached to the side sill and the roof side rail, and the present invention can be applied to any of them, and the upper portion a of the center pillar 1 has a spot flange. By adopting a flangeless structure that does not
This is intended to improve visibility and appearance.

FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. In the upper portion a of the center pillar 1, the pillar inner 2 and the pillar outer 3 are formed in a substantially U-shaped cross section without spot flanges on both sides. To be done. That is, the pillar inner 2 has a substantially U-shaped cross section having an inner surface 21 and left and right side surfaces 22, 22, and the pillar outer 3 has a substantially U-shaped cross section having an outer surface 31 and left and right side surfaces 32, 32. The end portions of the side surfaces are fixed by butt welding (for example, laser welding) to form the upper portion a of the center pillar having a substantially rectangular cross section.

Reference numeral 4 is a reinforcement, and the reinforcement 4 has a channel shape having an outer peripheral shape that substantially matches the inner peripheral shape of the center pillar upper portion a formed by the edge butt welding of the pillar inner 2 and the pillar outer 3. It is formed. That is, the reinforcement 4 includes a bottom surface 41 joined to the inner surface 21 of the pillar inner 2 and left and right side surfaces 22, 22 of the pillar inner 2 and left and right side surfaces 32, 32 of the pillar outer 3 which are joined to each other. It is formed in a substantially channel shape having side surfaces 42, 42 and left and right upper surfaces 43, 43 joined to the inner side portions of the outer surface 31 of the pillar outer 3.

Then, the reinforcement 4 is fitted in, for example, the pillar inner 2, the joint portion between the inner surface 21 and the bottom surface 41 is fixed by welding (for example, spot welding), and the pillar outer 3 is butted. , Pillar outer 3
Side surfaces 32, 32 are left and right side surfaces 4 of the reinforcement 4.
2, 42 are guided and inserted, and the side surfaces 32, 3 of the pillar outer 3 are attached to the end edges of the side surfaces 22, 22 of the pillar inner 2.
With the edges of 2 abutting or facing each other in close proximity, the upper surfaces 43, 43 of the reinforcement 4 come into abutting contact with the inner sides of both sides of the outer surface 31 of the pillar outer 3, and in that state the side surfaces 22, 22 By fixing the abutting portions of the edges with 32 , 32 or the extremely close facing portions by welding,
A flangeless center pillar upper portion a is configured.

When the pillar inner 2 and the pillar outer 3 are butted against each other, contrary to the above, the reinforcement 4 may be fitted and fixed to the side of the pillar outer 3 and then the pillar inner 2 may be inserted and fitted together.

As described above, by forming the flangeless center pillar upper portion a by using the reinforcement 4 having a substantially channel shape, the reinforcement 4 is formed.
However, in addition to the original function of sufficiently securing the strength and rigidity of the flangeless center pillar upper part a, it also functions as a guide and a positioning function when the pillar inner 2 and the pillar outer 3 are butted, and The accuracy can be relaxed and positioning can be performed easily, and the butting, positioning and welding operations can be greatly simplified.

In FIG. 2, 5 is a seat belt anchor fixed to the joint between the inner surface 21 of the pillar inner 2 and the bottom surface 41 of the reinforcement 4, 6 is a trim,
7 is a weather strip of door window glass.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the present invention in which a substantially channel-shaped reinforcement 4 is also used as an adjust rail of a seat belt anchor 5.

That is, in FIG. 3, a pillar inner 2 having a substantially U-shaped cross section, a pillar outer 3 having a substantially U-shaped cross section, and a substantially channel-shaped reinforcement 4 constitute a flangeless center pillar upper portion a. 2 and the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 2 represent the same parts as those in FIG. 2, but in the embodiment of FIG. 3, the inner surface 21 of the pillar inner 2 is provided with left and right vertical slits 21b, 21b. The vertically extending elongated anchor mounting surface 21a is formed by displacing the anchor mounting surface 21a slightly inward of the inner surface 21, and the hook-like adjust rail portion 43a is formed at the tips of the left and right upper surfaces 43, 43 of the reinforcement 4. 43a to the slit 21b,
21b is partially formed so as to project.

The reinforcement 4 is fitted in the pillar outer 3 and the bottom surface 41 is attached to the outer surface 31 of the pillar outer 3.
The inner side of the pillar 2 is affixed by spot welding or the like, and the pillar inner 2 is abutted against the inner side of the inner side of the
The left and right vertical slits 21 formed on the inner surface 21 of the pillar inner 2 by the adjustment rail portions 43a, 43a of the reinforcement 4 while being guided and inserted by
b, 21b, the inner surfaces 21 of the pillar inner 2 are abutted and joined to the upper surfaces 43, 43 of the reinforcement 4, as shown in FIG. 3 (A). Edge and side 3 of pillar outer 3
2, 32 and 32 are in contact with each other or in close proximity to each other, and the adjust rail portions 43a, 43a of the reinforcement 4 are projected from the inner surface 21 to the inside of the vehicle. In this state, the side surfaces 22, 22, 32, 32, The flangeless center pillar upper portion a is formed by welding and fixing the edges with 32.

In the above, the seatbelt anchor 5 is inserted into the adjust rail portions 43a, 43a from the upper end portion or the lower end portion thereof, and the adjust rail portions 43a, 43a.
Anchor mounting surface 2 by sliding along a to an appropriate height
By fitting and fixing in one of the mounting holes of 1a,
The seat belt anchor 5 can be easily attached at a desired height.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the reinforcement 4 having a substantially channel shape as described above is used, and the reinforcement 4 ensures that the flangeless center pillar upper portion a has sufficient strength and rigidity. In addition to its original function, it also functions as a guide and a positioning function when the pillar inner 2 and the pillar outer 3 are butted against each other, and the accuracy of the butted portion can be eased to improve productivity.
In addition to the same effect as the embodiment of FIG.
Adjust rail portion 4 formed integrally with reinforce 4
Since 3a and 43a have a structure projecting to the inside of the vehicle from the left and right slits 21b and 21b formed on the inner surface 21 of the pillar inner 2, there is no need to provide a seatbelt anchor insertion port in the center pillar with a closed cross section. Since the seat belt anchor 5 can be easily inserted and fixed to the adjust rail portion from the upper end portion or the lower end portion thereof, and further, the anchor mounting surface 21a is configured to be displaced from the inner surface 21 to the inner side of the closed cross section. The protruding height of the seatbelt anchor 5 from the inner surface 21 is reduced, and the vehicle interior space can be expanded.

2 and 3, the present invention is applied to the upper portion of the center pillar, but the present invention is not limited to the above and can be applied to any pillar of the vehicle. is there.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily construct a flangeless pillar that secures predetermined strength and rigidity without lowering the productivity, and it is possible to make the pillar extremely thin and to improve the appearance. Of the seatbelt anchor attached to the inner surface of the pillar can be reduced to increase the interior space of the vehicle, and the interior space of the vehicle can be expanded. Can have a great effect on.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B are perspective views respectively showing examples of center pillars to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
It is sectional drawing of the XX section of (A) and (B).

3A and 3B show a second embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 3A is a sectional view of the XX section of FIGS. 1A and 1B, and FIG. is there.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a conventional general pillar.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional flangeless pillar, showing an example of a state in which a pillar inner and a pillar outer are butted against each other.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 center pillar 2 pillar inner 3 pillar outer 4 Reinforce 5 seat belt anchors 21 Inner surface 21a Anchor mounting surface 21b slit 22 sides 31 Outer surface 32 sides 41 Bottom 42 Side 43 upper surface 43a Adjust rail part

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A pillar inner having a substantially U-shaped cross section having an inner surface and left and right side surfaces, a pillar outer having a substantially U-shaped cross section having an outer surface and left and right side surfaces, and an inner surface and a pillar outer surface of the pillar inner. Of the outer surface of the pillar inner and the outer side of the pillar outer, the left and right side surfaces of the pillar inner and the pillar outer side are joined to each other. consists of a reinforcement of channel-shaped, said pin <br/>Rain'na or the reinforcement is fitted fixed on either one of the inside of the pillar outer member and the other as a guide the left and right sides of the reinforcement and the Above of Lynn Force
Butt upper surface of the left and right as a positioning pillar of the vehicle, characterized by being configured to closed cross section of flangeless by fixing by welding the butt portion of the edge between the side surface of the Pirai <br/> runner and the pillar outer panel Construction. 2. The pillar structure for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the inner surface of the pillar inner has a surface which is partitioned by the left and right vertical slits and the left and right vertical slits and which is displaced from the inner surface within a closed cross section. Nasu forming a anchor mounting surface, the hook-shaped adjustment rail portion protruding from the slit formed in the inner surface at the tip portion of the upper surface of the left and right reinforcement to the vehicle interior side projecting integrally formed, the reinforcement a bottom joined affixed to the inner surface of the outer surface fitted into the pillar outer, and positioning the left and right of the upper surface of the left and right side surfaces of the guide and to and above the reinforcement of the reinforcement
And against the pillar inner to the pillar outer, configuration pillars flangeless closed cross section the adjustment rail portion protrudes into the vehicle interior side of the slit by fixing by welding the butt portion of the edge between the side surface of the pillar inner and pillar outer member are, pillar structure of a vehicle, characterized in that to allow fixed to the anchor mounting surface at suitable height by sliding insert the seatbelt anchor from the upper end or lower end to the adjustment rail section.