JP3526537B2 - Front body structure of vehicle - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

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

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A front end cross member is connected to front ends of a pair of side members arranged on both sides of a vehicle and a center member arranged between the side members. This front end cross member has a central portion that is bulged below the side member to secure a ventilation passage for a cooling device such as a radiator, an oil cooler, or an intercooler and to connect with the center member. There is something. In addition, in order to secure the strength of the vehicle body energy absorption characteristics when the vehicle has an offset collision, the front ends of the side members are connected substantially horizontally by a cross member, and the collision load applied to one side member is A technique has been proposed in which the amount of energy absorption is increased by increasing the deformation resistance when the side member is deformed by being transmitted to the side member.

[0003]

In the front structure of the vehicle body having the front end cross member whose central portion is bulged downward with respect to the position of the side member, the side members are horizontally connected by the front end cross member. However, it is difficult to efficiently transmit the impact applied to one side member to the other side member during an offset collision. In order to secure the strength of the vehicle body that can cope with an offset collision while securing the air flow passage to the cooling device and the connecting portion of the center member, it is necessary to use a cross member that connects the side members substantially horizontally. If the cross member is provided separately from the front end cross member, there are various problems that the number of parts and the vehicle weight increase, the assembly becomes complicated, and a plurality of molds are required, resulting in high cost. An object of the present invention is to provide a front body structure of a vehicle which is lightweight, has a small number of parts, is easy to assemble, and is low in cost while having high strength.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, in the invention according to claim 1, a pair of left and right side members arranged in the front portion of the vehicle and extending in the front-rear direction are connected substantially horizontally. A front part in which a first cross member and a second cross member, which is bulged toward the vehicle lower side than the first cross member and forms a space between the first cross member and the first cross member, are integrally molded by sheet metal. End cross member and support
With a center member located approximately in the center between the id members.
The front end of the center member is the center of the second cross member.
Is connected to the lower surface of the first cross member and the second
The number of parts is smaller than the case where separate cross members are provided, the number of joints between the first cross member and the second cross member is reduced, and the weight of the entire front cross member can be reduced, and the assembly is easy and low cost. Can be realized. Further, since the front end portion of the side member can be connected substantially horizontally by the first cross member, the impact load at the time of offset collision can be efficiently transmitted to the side member that is not the collision side, and the strength can be increased.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the front body structure for a vehicle according to the first aspect, the front end cross member forms a closed cross section between the outer panel and the outer panel that is polymer-connected to the outer panel. Since it is composed of an inner panel that can be used, the strength of the front end cross member can be increased.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A vehicle body structure for a front part of a vehicle shown in FIG. 1 has a front end cross member at front end parts 4a, 5a of a pair of left and right front side members 4, 5 extending in a front-rear direction of a front part of the vehicle. Both ends 1a and 1b of 1 are welded. The front side members 4 and 5 have a base end side 4b,
An under cross member 7 connects the lower portion of 5b. One end 6a of a center member 6 that supports an engine, a transmission, etc. (not shown) from below is fixed to the under cross member 7. The center member 6
It is arranged substantially in the center between the front side members 4 and 5. The base end sides 4b and 5b of the front side members 4 and 5 and the one end 6a of the center member 6 may be connected to a well-known dash panel or the like instead of the under cross member 7.

The front end cross member 1 includes a first cross member 2 arranged substantially horizontally between the front side members 4 and 5, and a front cross member 1 which is bulged downward from the first cross member 2 toward the vehicle. The first cross member 2 and the second cross member 3 which forms the space 8 between the first cross member 2 and the first cross member 2 are integrally formed by sheet metal. The first cross member 2 has a function of a reinforcement for increasing the strength of the vehicle body, a mounting portion of a bumper (not shown), and a function as a bumper reinforcement that mainly receives a load at the time of a collision. The second cross member 3
It is arranged below the first cross member 2, and the front end portion 6b of the center member 6 is connected to the lower surface of the central portion 3a thereof. A lamp support panel and a front end upper panel, which are not shown, are arranged above the first cross member 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the second cross member 3 is arranged on the rear side of the first cross member 2.

The space portion 8 takes in air into the engine room 20 formed on the rear side of the front end cross member 1. On the rear side of the second cross member 3, the cooling device 9 is mounted via the bracket 15 so as to face the space portion 8. Examples of the cooling device 9 include an intercooler, an oil cooler, and a radiator.

The front end cross member 1, as shown in FIG. 3, includes an outer panel 10 and an inner panel 11. In this embodiment, unequal-thickness steel plates are used for the outer panel 10 and the inner panel 11. Outer panel 1
0 and the inner panel 11 are the front side members 4, 5
Molded from non-uniformly thick steel plates so that the plate thickness in the vicinity of the joint with and becomes thicker. Both end portions 10a, 10b of the outer panel 10 are formed in a substantially U-shaped cross section into which the front end portions 4a, 5a of the front side members 4, 5 can be inserted, and project in the vehicle width direction from the central portion 10c of the outer panel 10. It is set up. A plurality of work ports 13 for welding work are formed on both ends 10a and 10b, respectively. In the central portion 10c of the outer panel 10, an opening 8a that forms the space 8 is formed long in the vehicle width direction, and the top and bottom of the opening 8a are formed in a substantially U-shaped cross section. A plurality of openings 12 are formed in the front-rear direction on the front surface 10d of the outer panel 10 located above the opening 8a, and the outer panel 10 is made lighter and serves as an inlet for traveling wind.

The inner panel 11 has a cross-sectional shape which forms a closed cross-section between itself and the outer panel 10 except for a part of the inner panel 11 when the outer panel 10 and the outer panel 10 are superposed and connected. Notch portions 3a and 3b are formed in portions of the inner panel 11 that face both end portions 10a and 10b, and are formed so as to have an open cross-section when the outer panel 10 and the outer panel 10 are polymerized and connected. At the edge of the cutout 3a, a mounting flange 3c,
3d has a mounting flange 3e at the edge of the notch 3b,
3f are formed respectively and constitute a connecting portion for the front side members 4 and 5. Inner panel 1
An opening 8b is formed at a portion of the first member facing the opening 8a, and the outer panel 10 and the inner panel 11 are superposed and connected to each other to form the space portion 8. In the inner panel 11 located above the opening 8b, a plurality of openings 14 are formed in the front-rear direction, and the inner panel 11 is made lighter, and traveling wind passing through the opening 12 is allowed to pass therethrough. There is.

Assembly of the front end cross member 1 will be described. Outer panel 10 and inner panel 1
1 is press-molded into a desired shape, the molded panels are superposed, the flanges of the panels are welded together, and both panels are integrated to form the front end cross member 1 as an assembly.

As shown in FIG. 2, the front side members 4 and 5 are engaged with the cutouts 3a and 3b, and the front end portions 4a and 5a of the front side members 4 and 5 are both end portions 10a having a U-shaped cross section. , 10b, and the front end edges 4d, 5d of the inserted front side members 4, 5 are joined to the inner surface 10e of the outer panel 10, respectively. A welding device is inserted from each work opening 13 to weld the inner side surfaces 4c, 5b of the front side members 4, 5 to the mounting flanges 3c, 3e, and the bottom surfaces 4e, 5e of the front side members 4, 5 are mounted to the mounting flange 3d. , 3f to weld the front end cross member 1 to the front side members 4 and 5 and the front end portion 4
The second cross member 3 and the front end portion 6b of the center member 6 are welded directly to a and 5a.

As described above, the first cross member 2 made of sheet metal is used.
By integrally molding the second cross member 3 and the second cross member 3, the number of parts can be reduced and the weight can be reduced, and the outer panel 10 can be formed as compared with the case where they are individually molded.
Since the front end cross member 1 can be formed only by joining the two members of the inner panel 11 and the inner panel 11, the number of assembling steps is small and the work is easy. Further, since the press-molding dies need only be used for the outer panel and the inner panel, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

Next, the operation at the time of offset collision will be described. When the collision load F at the time of offset collision is applied to the front side member 4 side, the cross section of the first cross member 3 is crushed and the collision load is transmitted to the front side member 4, and at the same time, the first cross member 2 and the second cross member 2 are crossed. The collision load is also transmitted to the front side member 5 through the member 3. Therefore, the deformation resistance when the one side member is deformed can be increased to increase the energy absorption amount. Further, by reducing the weight of the front end cross member 1, the front portion of the vehicle body can be made lighter. Therefore, pitching that occurs when the load moves in the front-rear direction of the vehicle and the turning moment when turning in the left-right direction of the vehicle. It also leads to a reduction in the ride quality, a comfortable ride and improved turning performance.

The present embodiment has been described by using the one provided with the center member 6, but it is of course possible to use the one without the center member 6, and even in such a case, the same effect as the above-mentioned configuration can be obtained. You can

[0016]

According to the present invention, the number of parts is smaller and the number of joints between the first cross member and the second cross member is smaller than in the case where the first cross member and the second cross member are provided separately. The entire front cross member can be made lighter in weight and can be easily assembled to reduce the cost. Further, since the front end portion of the side member can be connected substantially horizontally by the first cross member, the impact load at the time of the offset collision can be efficiently transmitted to the side member that is not the collision side, and the vehicle body strength can be increased.

According to the present invention, since the front end cross member is composed of the outer panel and the inner panel which is superposed on the outer panel and forms a closed cross section between the outer panel and the outer panel, the front end cross member is molded from a simple press die. The front end cross member can be manufactured with a small number of parts, and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a front body structure of a vehicle showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a front end cross member.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a front end cross member.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Front end cross member 2 First cross member 3 Second cross member 4,5 pair of side members 4a, 5a Front end of side member 8 space 10 Outer panel 11 Inner panel

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hajime Kamio 77 Ijirino, Soja City, Okayama Prefecture, Kyoei Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasuyuki Ota 77, Ijirono, Soja City, Okayama Prefecture, Kyoei Kogyo Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-63-312279 (JP, A) JP-A-5-77764 (JP, A) (58) ) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B62D 25/20 B62D 21/02

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A first cross member which is disposed in a front portion of a vehicle and which is connected substantially horizontally between a pair of left and right side members extending in the front-rear direction, and a first cross member which extends downward from the first cross member. A front end cross member which is provided and integrally molded with a second cross member that forms a space between the first cross member and a first cross member; and a center member that is arranged approximately at the center between the side members.
And the front end portion of the center member is the central portion of the second cross member.
The front body structure of the vehicle, which is connected to the underside of the vehicle. 2. The front body structure for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the front end cross member includes an outer panel,
A front vehicle body structure of a vehicle, comprising an inner panel that is superposed on the outer panel and forms a closed cross section with the outer panel.