JP3491734B2 - Cover mounting structure for vehicle suspension tower - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cover mounting structure for covering a support hole of a suspension tower through which the upper end of a shock absorber of a vehicle suspension device is inserted and supported. About. 2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a front suspension apparatus for an automobile, an upper end portion of a strut body having a shock absorber inserted in a coil spring is inserted into a support hole of a suspension tower and supported by a peripheral edge of the support hole. A structure in which the lower end is supported by a wheel support member is generally used (for example, see Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-148481). [0003] Further, in order to prevent muddy water and the like jumped up by wheels from entering the engine room through the support hole of the suspension tower, the support hole may be covered with a cover. Conventionally, as shown in FIG.
A plurality of bolt holes 50b are formed around the periphery of the support hole 50a, and a nut 51 is fixed to the back side of the suspension tower 50 in the bolt hole 50b. There is a structure in which the cover 52 is fixed by fastening the nut 53 to the nut 51. [0004] Further, since a thrust load is repeatedly applied around the support hole of the suspension tower, it is necessary to increase the rigidity and strength of the portion. In order to increase the rigidity of such a suspension tower, a structure in which a reinforcing member is joined to the suspension tower, and the reinforcing member is bridged over a front frame and a wheel apron has been conventionally proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. HEI 9-260,019). 5-854
No. 10). [0005] However, in the above-mentioned conventional mounting structure, since the cover is fixed by a plurality of bolts, the cost increases as the number of parts and the number of assembly steps increase. There is a problem. Further, in the above-mentioned conventional reinforcing structure, since the reinforcing member has a size extending between the front frame and the wheel apron, there is a problem that the size is easily increased and the weight is increased. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and it is possible to reduce the number of parts and the number of assembling steps to reduce costs, and to improve the rigidity and strength of a suspension tower while suppressing an increase in weight. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a cover mounting structure for a suspension tower. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cover mounting structure for a vehicle suspension tower in which a support hole of a suspension tower in which an upper end of a wheel shock absorber is inserted and supported is covered by a cover. The suspension tower and a vehicle body panel disposed outside the vehicle in the vicinity of the suspension tower are joined by a support member, and an inner edge of the support member is cut out so as to surround a periphery of the support hole. A hook-shaped engaging piece is formed upright at the inner edge of the member, a flange is formed around the opening of the cover, and a flange abuts against the periphery of the support hole, and an engaging claw is raised at a part of the flange in the circumferential direction. The engaging pawl is engaged with the inner surface of the engaging piece by slidingly rotating the flange of the cover on the peripheral edge of the support hole, thereby forming the cover. -Is fixed. In order to mount the cover of the present invention, the flange of the cover is brought into contact with the upper surface of the peripheral edge of the support hole, and the cover is rotated in this state. Then, the engagement claws of the cover rotate while being engaged with the inner surface of the engagement piece, thereby fixing the cover. Also, since the flange of the cover is pressed by the above-mentioned engagement to the periphery of the support hole in a substantially sealed state,
Muddy water does not enter. According to the cover mounting structure of the present invention, the engaging piece is formed upright at the inner edge of the support member surrounding the peripheral edge of the support hole of the suspension tower, and the cover is formed with a flange that contacts the peripheral edge of the support hole. Since the engaging claw is formed, the cover can be mounted only by rotating the cover, so that the conventional bolt-based mounting is unnecessary, and the number of parts and the number of assembling steps can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced. The suspension tower and the vehicle body panel on the outside of the suspension tower are joined by a support member, and the inner edge of the support member is cut out along the periphery of the support hole. The rigidity and strength with respect to a thrust load can be increased, and the vibration noise of the vehicle body can be reduced.
Also, since the vehicle body panel near the suspension tower is connected, the support member can be made compact while securing rigidity and strength, and it can be downsized compared to the conventional one that spans the front frame and wheel apron. Weight increase can be suppressed. [0012] Further, since the locking piece is formed upright on the support member, the cover can be mounted using the support member, and the need for mounting with a separate component can be eliminated. In this respect, cost increase can be suppressed. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 4 are views for explaining a cover mounting structure of a suspension tower according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the suspension tower with a cover mounted (a cross-sectional view taken along line II of FIG. 2). FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view with the cover mounted, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a suspension tower portion, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a vehicle body frame provided with the suspension tower. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a vehicle body frame on which a vehicle body is mounted, which is a front cross member 3 between front ends of left and right side members 2 and 2 extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle. This is a schematic structure in which a rear cross member 5 is bridged and joined between the cross member 4 and the rear end. [0015] Suspension towers 10, 10 are erected on the outer walls of the front ends of the left and right side members 2 respectively. This suspension tower 10 has support holes 10a.
Are formed, and a vertical wall portion 10c extending downward from an inner end of the upper wall portion 10b.
c is welded to the side member 2. A wheel house 11 is joined to the suspension tower 10. The wheel house 11
Has a notch 11a surrounding the inner edge and the rear edge of the upper wall 10b of the suspension tower 10 and a bulging portion 11b covering the lower inside and the rear rear of the suspension tower 10. A front wheel (not shown) is provided in the wheel house 11. A front pillar inner panel 12 is provided on the outer side of the suspension tower 10. A wheel arch 12a is formed by cutting out a lower edge of the pillar panel 12, and the suspension tower 10 and the wheel house 11 are joined to an inner edge of the wheel arch 12a. A front door opening 12b is formed at a rear edge of the pillar inner panel 12, and a front end of a rocker panel (not shown) is connected to a lower end 12c of the door opening 12b. In addition, 1
2e is a bead. A strut body 15 constituting a front suspension device is provided between the suspension tower 10 and the front wheels. This strut body 1
Reference numeral 5 denotes a schematic structure in which an oil damper 17 is inserted into a coil spring 16, and the lower end of the strut body 15 is attached to a support member (not shown) that supports the front wheel. At the upper end of the strut body 15, a mounting portion 1 in which a mounting member (not shown) is housed.
A hat-shaped bracket 18 having an attachment seat 8b and a mounting seat 18b is mounted. The mount portion 18a protrudes upward from the support hole 10a of the suspension tower 10, and the mounting seat 18b is fastened and fixed to a rear edge of the support hole 10a by a bolt (not shown). A reinforcing support member 20 is provided between the suspension tower 10 and the pillar inner panel 12. The support member 20 is made of sheet metal and has an outer joint portion 20a spot-welded to the inner surface of the pillar inner panel 12 and an inner joint portion 2 spot-welded to the upper wall portion 10b of the suspension tower 10.
0b are integrally connected to each other by an inclined portion 20c. Inner joint 20b of the support member 20
The recess 20d extends substantially along the periphery of the support hole 10a.
Are notched. The support member 20
Is provided with a pair of convex bead portions 21 and 21 extending in the vehicle width direction. The interval between the two bead portions 21 is set so as to be substantially located at both diametrical edges of the support hole 10a. I have. Each of the bead portions 2 is attached to the inner joint portion 20b.
An engagement opening 21b is formed by partially cutting out the inner vertical wall 21a of the first in the longitudinal direction, whereby the top wall 21c of the bead portion 21 and the outer vertical wall 21d form a hook which is a feature of the present embodiment. An engagement piece 22 is formed upright. The support hole 1 of the suspension tower 10
A cover 25 that covers the support hole 10a is attached to 0a. The cover 25 has a configuration in which a flange 26a is formed on an opening peripheral edge of a cover body 26 formed in a bowl shape, and an engaging claw 26b is integrally formed upright on substantially a half of the flange 26a in the circumferential direction. The engaging claw 26b of the cover body 26
Are fixed by pressure by the two engagement pieces 22, and the flange 26a is in contact with the peripheral edge of the support hole 10a in a sealed state. This prevents muddy water and the like wound up by the front wheels from entering the engine mul from the support hole 10a. Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described. To attach the cover 25 according to the present embodiment, the cover 25 is disposed such that the engaging claw 26b of the cover main body 26 is located on the opposite side of the support member 20 with the support hole 10a interposed therebetween. In this state, the cover body 26 is rotated clockwise. Then, the engaging claw 26b is fitted into the left engaging piece 22, that is, the lower surface of the top wall 21c of the bead portion 21 while being pressed against it, and by further rotating the cover body 26 from this state, the engaging claw 26b is engaged.
b also engages with the right locking piece 22, whereby the cover 25 is attached and fixed to the suspension tower 10. Here, the flange 26a of the cover main body 26 is strongly pressed by the peripheral edge of the support hole 10a to be in a sealed state. As described above, according to the present embodiment, the hook-shaped engaging piece 22 is formed upright at the inner joint portion 20 b of the support member 20, and abuts the cover body 26 on the peripheral edge of the support hole 10 a of the suspension tower 10. Since the flange 26a is formed and the locking claw 26b is formed upright on the flange 26a, the cover 25 can be mounted simply by rotating the cover 25 around the peripheral edge of the support hole 10a, compared with the conventional case where the cover 25 is mounted with a plurality of bolts. In addition, the number of parts and the number of assembly steps can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced. The bead portion 21 of the support member 20
Since the locking piece 22 is formed by using, it is not necessary to use another part or to form the engaging piece by another processing, and the cost can be reduced from this point as well. In this embodiment, the suspension tower 1
0 and the pillar inner panel 12 are joined by the support member 20, and a concave portion 20 d along the periphery of the support hole 10 a is cut out and formed in the inner joint portion 20 b of the support member 20, so that the periphery of the support hole 10 a of the suspension tower 10 is formed. The rigidity and strength against the thrust load can be increased,
As a result, the generation of vibration noise of the vehicle body can be reduced. Further, since the suspension tower 10 and the pillar inner panel 12 near the suspension tower 10 are joined together, the support member 20 can be made compact, downsized, and increase in weight can be suppressed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a cover mounting structure of a suspension tower according to an embodiment of the present invention (a cross-sectional view taken along line II of FIG. 2). FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a state where a cover is attached to the suspension tower. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the suspension tower. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a vehicle body frame provided with the suspension tower. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional cover mounting structure. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Suspension tower 10a Support hole 12 Pillar inner panel (body panel) 15 Strut body (buffer) 20 Support member 20b Inner joint (inner edge) 22 Engagement piece 25 Cover 26a Flange 26b Engagement claw

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued from the front page (56) References JP-A-63-116916 (JP, A) JP-A-9-207588 (JP, A) JP-A-2-96369 (JP, U) JP-A 109412 (JP, U) JP 5-78675 (JP, U) JP 2-11775 (JP, U) JP 1-125282 (JP, U) (58) Fields surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B62D 25/08

Claims (1)

(1) A cover mounting structure for a vehicle suspension tower in which a support hole of a suspension tower through which an upper end of a wheel shock absorber is inserted and supported is covered by a cover. The tower and the vehicle body panel disposed outside the vehicle near the suspension tower are joined by a support member, and the inner edge of the support member is cut out so as to surround the periphery of the support hole. A hook-shaped engaging piece is formed upright at the inner edge portion, a flange is formed at the periphery of the opening of the cover to abut against the periphery of the support hole, and an engaging claw is formed upright at a part of the flange in the circumferential direction. By sliding the flange of the cover on the peripheral edge of the support hole, the engaging claw was engaged with the inner surface of the engaging piece to fix the cover. Cover mounting structure of the suspension tower for a vehicle, wherein the door.