JP3477725B2 - Vehicle body front structure and manufacturing method thereof - 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 body front structure, particularly to a dash panel and its vicinity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, a dash panel 9 having a vertical plane for partitioning an engine room 7 and a vehicle room 8 is attached to the front of the vehicle. There is.

Further, as shown in FIG. 18, a dash silencer 911 and an asphalt sheet 912 are attached to the dash panel 9 in order to prevent engine noise from passing through to the room 8 side. A cowl 959 is arranged above the dash panel 9. On the other hand, below the dash panel 9, a steering gear box support member 96 is arranged. Further, as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the dash panel 9 and the cowl 959 are welded to the left and right front pillars 92.

A sealing material is applied to the joint between the dash panel 9 and the front pillar 92. The cowl 959 has a function of introducing outside air into the room 8.
A windshield glass 88 is mounted above the rear portion of the cowl 959, as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 17, the front pillar 92 has a mounting hole 9 for mounting the front door 93.
Have 30. A seal material is sandwiched between the cowl 959 and the dash panel 9 to prevent rainwater and the like from entering. The cowl 959 includes a cowl outer panel 951 and a cowl inner panel 952.

[0006]

However, the above-mentioned conventional technique has the following problems. That is, since the dash panel 9 is flat, it has a linear cross section, which is disadvantageous in terms of rigidity.

Further, as shown in FIG. 18, the engine room 7 and the room 8 are separated from each other by only one dash panel 9 to which an asphalt sheet 912 or the like is attached. Therefore, it cannot be said that the sound insulation is sufficient. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle body front structure having high vehicle body rigidity and excellent sound insulation.

[0008]

A solution means of the present invention, between the engine room and the compartment of the automobile, a dash panel which has a substantially U-shaped cross section of the opening that opens toward the engine room is provided, and, before the said openings A cowl and a front panel are provided in the section to close the opening, and
An air conditioning unit is disposed in the internal space of the vehicle body, which is a front structure of a vehicle body.

What is most noticeable in the present invention is that the dash panel has the opening, and the cowl and the front panel are attached to the front part of the opening. Various shapes of the U-shaped section of the dash panel are available, such as a C-shape similar to a regular cube, a flat C-shape, a deformed C-shape, and a C-shape that is not only integrally molded but also divided and joined into multiple pieces. There are shapes.

Both ends of the dash panel are connected to the front pillars of the automobile. Next, a cowl and a front panel are attached to the front surface of the opening.
The cowl is for taking in outside air from the outside of the vehicle to the inside, and is provided above the front surface of the opening. The front panel is located below the cowl and is connected to the bottom of the cowl.

In this way, the opening having a substantially U-shaped cross section is closed by the cowl and the front panel. At this time, a relatively large space is formed in the opening between the cowl and the front panel and the dash panel. An air conditioning unit or the like can be arranged in this space.

The cowl can be constructed by attaching a cowl cover having a substantially U-shaped cross section to the dash panel. That is, in the cowl cover, a cowl outer panel and a cowl inner panel are formed in a substantially U-shaped cross section, and the cowl cover is attached to the dash panel to form a closed space shape, that is, a cowl ( See Example 1). In this case, the cowl can be formed by attaching the cowl cover to the dash panel, and the assembling of the cowl is easier.

Further, the cowl may be constructed in advance as a box-shaped cowl box by assembling the cowl outer panel and the cowl inner panel.
Then, attach the cowl box to the dash panel. In this case, since the cowl is formed in a box shape in advance, it is easier to mount the cowl on the dash panel. Further, the front panel may be assembled in advance to the cowl cover or the cowl box and then attached to the dash panel.

Further, it is preferable that the upper end portion of the dash panel is formed with an intersection angle α with the windshield glass of about 90 degrees as shown in the first embodiment. As a result, the vertical vibration in the plane that occurs in the windshield glass can be reduced. Further, the dash panel is provided with a through hole for inserting the steering shaft, and it is preferable to provide a supporting and reinforcing material in the through hole.

[0015]

In the vehicle body front structure of the present invention, the dash panel has a substantially U-shaped cross section. Therefore, compared with the conventional flat dash panel, the rigidity is improved and the vehicle body rigidity at the front part of the vehicle body is improved.

Further, the engine room and the room are separated from each other by a double wall including a dash panel, a cowl provided in a front portion of the opening, and a front panel. Therefore, noise in the engine room can be effectively blocked. Well
It is also possible to place the air conditioning unit in the space inside the opening.
it can. As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicle body front structure having high vehicle body rigidity and excellent sound insulation.

[0017]

Embodiment 1 A vehicle body front structure according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, the vehicle body front structure of this example has an opening 10 between the engine room 7 and the room 8 of the automobile, which has an approximately U-shaped cross section and opens toward the engine room. the dash panel 1 having provided, and the front (engine room side) of the opening 10 is formed by arranging a cowl 2 and the front panel 215.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the dash panel 1 includes an upper plate 101, a rear vertical wall portion 102, and a bottom plate 103.
And consists of. The lower end of the bottom plate 3 is connected to the steering gear box support member 96 via the sealing material 16 with the bolt 5. In addition, seal material 1
6 is connected by bolts 5, but in the drawings starting from FIG. 1, there are some parts in which the bolts 5 are omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cowl 2 is constructed by attaching a cowl cover 20 having a substantially U-shaped cross section to the upper plate 101 of the dash panel 1. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the cowl cover 20 is composed of a cowl outer panel 211 and a cowl inner panel 212, and has a substantially U-shaped cross section that opens rearward. Below the cowl cover 20, a front panel 215 is integrally connected by welding 19 to form a dash cover. The cowl cover 20 has an air intake 21 on a cowl outer panel 211.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, an air conditioning unit 72 is arranged inside the opening 10 surrounded by the dash panel 1, the cowl cover 20 and the front panel 215. The dash panel 1 is welded to the front pillar 92 at both ends 100 as shown in FIGS.
Are combined by. FIG. 4 shows the bottom pillar 10 of the dash panel 1 at the lower part of the front pillar 92.
3 and the cowl side member 28 at the upper part
, Respectively, show the state of being joined by welding 19.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cowl outer panel 211 and the cowl inner panel 212 of the cowl cover 20 are connected to the cowl side member 28 by bolts 5. The cowl outer panel 21
1, a cowl side reinforcement hose 25 and a hood hinge reinforcement 26 are provided, and the former is a sealing material 1
A cowl side member 28 is connected to the cowl side member 6 via a bolt 5.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the dash panel 1 is provided with a through hole 104 for inserting the steering shaft, and a supporting reinforcing member 105 is provided in the through hole 104. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the dash panel 1
The upper plate 101 is arranged so that the crossing angle α with the windshield glass 88 is approximately 90 degrees. Others are the same as the above-mentioned conventional example.

Next, the function and effect will be described. In the vehicle body front structure of this example, the dash panel 1 has a substantially U-shaped cross section. Therefore, compared to the conventional vehicle body having a flat dash panel, the vehicle body rigidity at the front portion of the vehicle body is improved. Particularly, in this example, the cowl cover 20 for forming the cowl 2 and the front panel 215 are previously assembled as an integrated product (FIG. 3), and this is attached to the opening 10 of the dash panel 1. Therefore, its mounting workability is good.

The engine room 7 and the room 8 are separated from each other by a double wall of a dash panel 1 and a cowl 2 and a front panel 215 provided in front of the opening 10. Therefore, noise in the engine room can be effectively blocked. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the crossing angle α between the windshield glass 88 and the dash panel 1 is
However, since it is about 90 degrees, the windshield glass 88
It is possible to reduce the vertical vibrations that occur in the vertical direction.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a through hole 104 for inserting the steering shaft is provided in the dash panel 1.
Since the supporting and reinforcing material 105 is provided in this, it is possible to prevent the rigidity from being lowered due to the through hole.

Embodiment 2 In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 10, a box-shaped cowl box 3 (FIG. 8) is attached to a dash panel 1 having a substantially U-shaped cross section, and a front panel 108 is attached. This is an example of mounting. That is, in this example, when forming the cowl 2, as shown in FIG. 8, a metal cowl box 3 assembled in advance in a box shape is prepared and attached to the upper plate 101 of the dash panel 1. ing.

As shown in FIG. 8, the cowl box 3 includes a cowl outer panel 31 and a cowl inner panel 32.
It is a box-shaped configuration of and. Cowl outer panel 3
1, an air intake 35 is provided. Further, the cowl inner panel 32 is provided with an air suction port 321. Further, the cowl box 3 has a drain port 37 on the lower side thereof.

The cowl box 3 is attached to the upper plate 101 of the dash panel 1 with bolts 5 inserted through the attachment holes 36. Further, the front panel 108 is fixed between the cowl inner panel 32 of the cowl box 3 and the bottom plate 103 of the dash panel with a bolt 5 via a sealing material. A cowl louver 350 is provided above the cowl box 3. In FIG. 7, 75 is an engine hood.

Next, FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view in the vehicle front-rear direction of the portion of the dash panel 1 where the blower fan 38 is arranged. The blower fan 38 is connected to the air inlet 321 of the cowl box 3 via a duct 381. These are arranged in the opening 10 of the dash panel 1. Further, FIG. 10 shows a cross-sectional view in the vehicle longitudinal direction near the driver's seat on the dash panel 1. The steering shaft 92 is provided on the rear vertical wall portion 102 and the bottom plate 103 of the dash panel 1.
A through hole 104 for inserting 0 is provided (see FIG. 6 of the first embodiment). A petal support panel 1031 is provided between the bottom plate 103 and the cowl box 3.

Next, FIGS. 11 and 12 show a mounting state of the dash panel 1, the cowl side member 28 and the cowl box 3 near the front pillar. That is, as shown in FIG. 11, the cowl side member 28 is connected to the upper portion of the front pillar 92 by welding 19. Further, the cowl side member 28 includes a cowl side upper panel 291, a cowl side reinforcement 2
92 is joined by welding 19, and a hood hinge reinforcement 294 is joined by welding 19 to both. Others are the same as those in FIG. 4 of the first embodiment (comparing both figures).

What should be noted here is that FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, in this example, the cowl outer panel 31 of the cowl box 3 is attached to the upper surface of the cowl side upper panel 291 with bolts 5. As a result, the cowl box 3 can be attached to the upper surface of the cowl side member 28.

Others are the same as in the first embodiment. In this example, when the cowl 2 is formed, the cowl box 3 assembled in advance is attached to the dash panel 1. Therefore, the cowl 2 can be easily formed. Other effects similar to those of the first embodiment can be obtained.

Embodiment 3 As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, this embodiment shows the structure in the vicinity of the drain ports provided at both ends of the cowl box 3.
FIG. 13 shows an example in which a drainage hose 341 connects between the drainage port 37 provided on the lateral wall 34 of the cowl box 3 and the drainage port 929 provided on the front pillar 92.

Further, in the structure shown in FIG. 14, as in the case of FIG. 13, the drain hose is not used and the drain plate 3 is used.
43 is used. A sealing material 161 is provided at the joint between the drain plate 343 and the cowl inner panel 32. Others are the same as those in the second embodiment. In this example, the rainwater that has entered the cowl 2 can be efficiently discharged to the outside. Also in this example, the same effect as in Example 2 can be obtained.

Embodiment 4 In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 15, instead of the metal box-shaped cowl 3 of Embodiment 2, a resin molding cowl 30 is formed. An air intake 350 is provided above the cowl 30. Others are the same as those in the second embodiment. The cowl 3 is made of a synthetic resin such as nylon or polypropylene resin, which is relatively lightweight and has excellent durability. According to this example, since the cowl box 3 is made of synthetic resin, it has excellent moldability and can be manufactured at a relatively low cost. In addition, the same effect as that of the third embodiment can be obtained.

Example 5 In this example, as shown in FIG. 16, the upper plate 101 of the dash panel 1 of Example 1 is divided into two parts. Others are the same as in the first embodiment. Upper panel 1011 located at the top of the divided upper plate 101
Has a joint portion 1015 between it and a lower panel 1012 located therebelow. The joint 1015 is joined by welding. In addition, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view around a dash panel in a vehicle body front structure according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a dash panel according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the cowl cover according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the vicinity of a front pillar and a cowl side member according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the cowl side member and the vicinity of the cowl according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the front portion of the vehicle body of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view around a dash panel according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a cowl box according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the dash panel of the blower arrangement portion in the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the dash panel of the steering shaft insertion portion according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the cowl side member according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the cowl side member and the vicinity of the cowl according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the cowl side member and the vicinity of the cowl according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the cowl side member and the vicinity of the cowl according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of a cowl box and a dash panel according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a sectional view of a dash panel according to the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a conventional vehicle body front structure.

18 is a cross-sectional view of the dash panel in the conventional vehicle body front structure taken along the line GG in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. ． ． Dash panel, 10. ． ． Aperture, 101. ． ． Top plate, 102. ． ． Rear vertical wall, 103. ． ． Bottom plate, 108. ． ． front panel, 19. ． ． welding, 2. ． ． Cowl, 20. ． ． Cowl cover, 211. ． ． Cowl outer panel, 212. ． ． Cowl inner panel, 215. ． ． front panel, 28. ． ． Cowl side member, 3. ． ． Cowl box, 92. ． ． Front pillar,

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Koji Iimori 2-chome Toyota Town, Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture Toyota Industries Corporation Ltd. (72) Inventor Seijiro Koie 2-chome Toyota Town, Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture Stock company Toyota Loom Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-4-78775 (JP, A) JP-A-2-24278 (JP, A) Actually open 3-49176 (JP, U) Actually open A60- 64180 (JP, U) Actually open 60-155679 (JP, U) Actually open 1-144177 (JP, U) Actually open 64-22687 (JP, U) Actually open 1-58375 (JP, U) 62-115210 (JP, U) Hira 1-167974 (JP, U) Hira 2-42807 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B62D 25/08

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A dash panel having an opening having a substantially U-shaped cross-section that opens toward the engine room is provided between the engine room of a vehicle and a cowl and a cowl at the front of the opening. A front body structure of an automobile, characterized in that a front panel is provided to close the opening, and an air conditioning unit is provided in a space inside the opening. 2. The automobile according to claim 1, wherein the air conditioning unit is arranged in a lower portion of the opening inner space portion, and the cowl is arranged in an upper portion of the opening inner space portion. Body front structure. 3. The vehicle body front structure according to claim 1, wherein the upper end portion of the dash panel has an intersection angle α with the windshield glass of about 90 ° C. 4. The automobile according to claim 1, wherein the cowl is configured by attaching a cowl cover having a substantially U-shaped cross section, which is composed of a cowl outer panel and a cowl inner panel, to a dash panel. The front structure of the car body. 5. The vehicle body front structure according to claim 1, wherein the cowl is a cowl box in which a cowl outer panel and a cowl inner panel are assembled in advance in a box shape. 6. The dash panel according to claim 1.
Is the same as connecting both ends to the front pillar.
At the bottom of the dash panel above the steering gear box
Automatically characterized by being connected to a support member
The front structure of the car body. 7.Between the engine room and the interior of the car
In addition, it opens toward the engine room and
Opening with a generally U-shaped cross section as a space for arranging the knit
Has a dash panel with After that, the cowl and the front are attached to the front of the opening.
A panel is provided to close the opening.
Manufacturing method of front body structure of automobile. 8. The dash panel according to claim 7,
Is the same as connecting both ends to the front pillar.
At the bottom of the dash panel above the steering gear box
Of an automobile characterized by being coupled to a support member
Manufacturing method of vehicle body front structure.