JP3853112B2 - Vehicle frame components - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle frame component in which a hollow closed cross section is formed by extrusion and another member is coupled to a peripheral wall thereof by spot welding.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In order to meet the demand for further weight reduction of the vehicle body, there is an increasing momentum for practical use of the vehicle body structure made of aluminum alloy material.
[0003]
However, manufacturing a high-rigidity car body made of aluminum alloy material following the monocoque structure of a steel plate that frequently uses spot welding makes it possible to avoid a rise in manufacturing cost because spot welding of aluminum material is relatively difficult. There wasn't. In view of this, it has been considered to use a space frame type vehicle body frame made of a welded structure of an extruded hollow material having a closed cross section (see JP-A-9-86436, etc.).
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, there is a case where it is desired to fix a mounting bracket such as a binding band of a wire harness formed in a thin plate material at an appropriate position of a frame of a hollow material, but when trying to apply a spot welding method with relatively high productivity to this, There was a risk that the frame could not withstand the pressure contact force of the electrode tip of the spot welder, resulting in irregular deformation.
[0005]
The present invention has been devised to solve such problems imposed on the prior art, and its main purpose is to reduce the rigidity of the spot welder without deformation by the applied pressure. An object of the present invention is to provide an improved vehicle frame component that can be applied to an extruded material having a closed cross-sectional shape without hindering the above.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve such an object, in the present invention, an extruded hollow closed cross section is formed, and the vehicle frame constituent material 1 in which another member (bracket 3) is coupled to the peripheral wall by spot welding is used as a cross sectional shape. However , one of the diagonals A1 and A2 is an acute angle and the other diagonal A3 and A4 is an obtuse parallelogram, and the acute diagonals are connected by ribs 2. It was.
[0007]
According to this, when the pressurizing force of the spot welder is applied, the deformation mode can be controlled so that the sharp angle tends to be crushed in a smaller direction. The deformation can be counteracted by the tensile stress acting on the ribs provided between the diagonals on the acute angle side.
[0008]
In particular, if the longitudinal groove 12 is formed on the outer surface of the portion where the peripheral wall (the front wall 6F and the lower wall 6L) and the rib intersect, the thickness of the peripheral portion of the base of the rib inevitably increases. Even if the groove for discriminating the mounting direction of the member is provided in that portion, the influence on the strength reduction can be reduced.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.
[0010]
FIG. 1 shows a vehicle frame component constructed according to the present invention. This frame constituent material 1 has a parallelogram-shaped hollow closed cross-section extruded by an aluminum alloy material, and is provided with ribs 2 connecting acute diagonals A1 and A2.
[0011]
For example, a bracket 3 press-molded with a thin plate material for fastening a clip for binding a wire harness or the like is joined to an appropriate position on the peripheral wall of the frame component 1 by spot welding.
[0012]
Now, when spot welding is performed on an aluminum material, a relatively large pressing force is required. For this reason, if the hollow material is configured so that another member can be welded by spot welding, the weight reduction efficiency tends to be lowered for the purpose of imparting high rigidity that does not cause deformation by the applied pressure.
[0013]
Therefore, in the present invention, by forming a parallelogram cross-sectional shape in which the diagonally located inner angles are different from each other, when the electrode 4 of the spot welder is pressed at right angles against the walls facing each other, By controlling the mode of deformation of the hollow material so that the inner angle of the diagonals A1 and A2 on the acute angle side becomes smaller, and by providing the rib 2 that connects the diagonals A1 and A2 on the acute angle side, The tensile stress acting on the rib 2 counters the applied pressure during spot welding (see FIG. 2).
[0014]
On the other hand, if ribs are provided between the diagonals A3 and A4 on the obtuse angle side, deformation must be prevented by buckling stress, and therefore the plate thickness of the ribs must be increased.
[0015]
FIG. 3 shows a state in which the frame constituent material according to the present invention is applied to the hanger pipe 6 for supporting the steering shaft 5. The hanger pipe 6 has a right flange member 7 for bolting to the inner surface of the right side body at the right end, the wire harness binding clip bracket 3 on the upper wall 6U (and the front wall), a steering shaft. A pair of steering hangers 8 for supporting 5 is provided on the rear wall 6R (vehicle compartment side), and a pedal bracket 9 for supporting the upper end of a brake pedal (not shown) is provided on the front wall (engine room side). A left flange member 10 for connecting to the floor and the left side body via another pipe member (not shown) is welded to the left end (vehicle body center side). The left end side of the hanger pipe 6 is connected to a dashboard upper (not shown) through a stay 11 having a sheet metal structure.
[0016]
The left and right flange members 7 and 10, the steering hanger 8, and the pedal bracket 9 are each formed by cutting an extruded material along a plane perpendicular to the axis.
[0017]
The right flange member 7 and the right end of the hanger pipe 6 are fitted to each other, but an axial groove 12 is recessed in the front wall 6F of the hanger pipe 6 so as not to make a mistake in the fitting direction. It is installed. And by making this groove | channel 12 respond | correspond to the protrusion 14 formed in the inner surface of the fitting hole 13 of the right flange member 7, the attachment direction and position between the right flange member 7 and the hanger pipe 6 are prescribed | regulated. (See FIG. 4). The groove 12 is provided in the vicinity of the portion where the front wall 6F, the lower wall 6L, and the rib 2 of the hanger pipe 6 intersect each other, but the portion where the peripheral wall and the rib 2 intersect is inevitably thick. Therefore, if the longitudinal groove 12 is formed in the vicinity of this portion, a decrease in strength can be minimized without taking any special reinforcing measures.
[0018]
As shown in FIG. 5, the pair of steering hangers 8 includes a main portion 15 having a cross section perpendicular to the axis substantially forming an isosceles triangle, and a base portion 15A from one end of the base portion 15A of the isosceles triangle. The first extending piece 16 extending in the orthogonal direction and the second extending piece 17 extending straight from the lower oblique side portion 15B are provided, and the lower oblique side portion 15B extends. Two stud bolts 18 that are obliquely downward are fixed to the surface. The steering shaft 5 is fixed to the steering hanger 8 via the stud bolt 18.
[0019]
Here, the internal angle formed by the bottom 15A of the steering hanger 8 and the first extending piece 16 is an acute angle. On the other hand, the inner angle formed by the rear wall 6R and the lower wall 6L of the hanger pipe 6 to which this portion corresponds is an obtuse angle. Therefore, when the surface on which the bottom portion 15A of the steering hanger 8 extends is brought into close contact with the rear wall 6R of the hanger pipe 6, the opposing surface between the upper surface of the first extension portion 16 and the lower wall 6L of the hanger pipe 6 is triangular. Thus, only the free end of the first extending portion 16 comes into contact with the lower wall 6 </ b> L of the hanger pipe 6. As a result, the extending surface of the bottom 15A of the steering hanger 8 is brought into close contact with the rear wall 6R of the hanger pipe 6, and the free end of the first extension piece 16 is brought into contact with the lower wall 6L of the hanger pipe 6. They can be touched and welded together.
[0020]
If the inner angles of the two are equal, if the hanger pipe 6 is deformed, the free end of the first extension piece 16 may not be able to contact the lower wall 6L of the hanger pipe 6, and the welding length is sufficiently long. It may not be possible. If it does in this way, even if there is an error (including a manufacturing error), it is possible to absorb it and secure a sufficient weld length.
[0021]
In the present embodiment, the front wall 6F of the hanger pipe 6 is inclined obliquely upward. As a result, on the front wall 6F side of the hanger pipe 6, a triangular gap whose upper side is widened. Therefore, if a wire harness (not shown) is extended in this portion, the space for attaching the wire harness can be saved.
[0022]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the stress distribution when the pressure force of the spot welder is applied to the ribs provided on the diagonal lines of the parallelogram so that the tensile force is greater than the compression as the drag force. Can be controlled. Accordingly, it is possible to enhance the deformation suppressing effect during spot welding while minimizing the thickness of the peripheral wall and the rib.
[0023]
In particular, if a groove in the longitudinal direction is formed on the outer surface of the portion where the peripheral wall and the rib intersect, the groove for determining the mounting direction or positioning can be provided without taking any special preventive measures against strength reduction.
[0024]
That is, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide the extruded material having a closed cross-sectional shape with a strength that does not deform due to the applied pressure of the spot welder without hindering weight reduction.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a part of a vehicle body component according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a state in which a spot welder is brought into contact with the vehicle body component. FIG. 4 is a side view of the coupling portion between the hanger pipe and the flange member. FIG. 5 is a side view of the coupling portion between the pipe pipe and the steering hanger.
1 Frame component 2 Rib 3 Bracket 12 Groove

Claims (2)

A vehicle frame component in which a hollow closed cross section formed by extrusion is formed, and another member is coupled to the peripheral wall by spot welding,
A vehicle frame constituent material characterized in that the cross-sectional shape is a substantially parallelogram in which one diagonal forms an acute angle and the other diagonal forms an obtuse angle , and the acute diagonals are connected by ribs.   The vehicle frame component according to claim 1, wherein a longitudinal groove is formed on an outer surface of a portion where the peripheral wall and the rib intersect.

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