JP4276206B2 - Vehicle under cover - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle under cover that covers a lower surface of a vehicle body.

It is known to provide an under cover on the underside of the vehicle body to protect the engine room from splashes and flying stones that are splashed by the tire, and to improve the aerodynamic characteristics by flattening by covering the unevenness on the underside of the vehicle. (See Patent Documents 1 and 2).
JP-A-8-276867 JP 2001-018851 A

  In recent years, in order to further reduce the weight of the vehicle body and further improve the fuel consumption rate, there is an increasing momentum for the undercover to be made of synthetic resin. However, it is difficult for the synthetic resin material to be inferior to the metal material in terms of heat resistance and toughness, and this has been a factor that hinders the undercover from being made synthetic resin.

  The present invention has been devised to eliminate such disadvantages of the prior art, and its main purpose is made of a synthetic resin that can compensate for the lack of impact resistance, heat resistance, and rigidity. The object is to provide a vehicle undercover.

In order to solve such a problem, the present invention is formed of a synthetic resin material disposed below a portion where a fuel tank 2 and a fuel pipe (metal pipe 3) are connected by a synthetic resin tube 4 under the floor of the vehicle body. In the vehicle under cover 1, the metal plate (baffle plate 5) is laminated and fixed on the surface facing the synthetic resin tube, and the portion where the metal plate is laminated is fixed to the vehicle body (cross member 7). A semi-curl portion (11) that protrudes upward at the edge portion of the metal plate is formed by edge bending .

  According to the present invention as described above, since the metal plates are laminated only at important points, the desired impact resistance, heat resistance, and rigidity can be ensured while minimizing the increase in weight. In addition, the increase in the rigidity of the undercover can reduce the number of coupling points of the undercover to the vehicle body, which is effective in reducing the number of manufacturing steps.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an attachment portion of an under cover to which the present invention is applied. The under cover 1 is formed of a synthetic resin material, and is configured to cover almost all of the lower surface of the vehicle body with a plurality of divided parts, for example, as disclosed in the above document 2. The present invention can be applied, and is particularly suitable for covering the lower surface of the fuel tank 2 disposed under the floor of the vehicle body.

  Metal pipes 3 are connected between the fuel tank 2 and a fuel inlet (not shown) and between the fuel tank 2 and the engine (not shown). And even if there is a manufacturing error or assembly error between the fuel tank 2 and the metal pipe 3, there will be no trouble in the connection between the two, and the internals generated due to the difference in thermal expansion coefficient and vibration frequency between the two. In order to absorb the stress, the fuel tank 2 and the metal pipe 3 are connected by a flexible tube 4 formed in a bellows shape with a soft synthetic resin material.

  A baffle plate 5 formed of a steel plate or the like is laminated on the surface of the under cover 1 that faces the attachment portion of the flexible tube 4.

  The baffle plate 5 is fixed to the synthetic resin undercover 1 by using rivets 6. The portion where the baffle plate 5 is laminated is bolted to a highly rigid portion of the vehicle body such as the cross member 7.

  The cross member 7 has no channel shape, and a welding nut 8 is fixed on the upper surface thereof as shown in FIG. The under cover 1 is fixed to the cross member 7 by screwing bolts 9 to the welding nut 8 from below the under cover 4. The bolt insertion hole in the under cover 1 is provided at the center of the recess 10 that is recessed downward, so that the head of the bolt 9 that fixes the under cover 1 to the vehicle body does not protrude from the lower surface of the under cover 1. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a semi-curl portion 11 is formed on the end edge portion of the baffle plate 1. This prevents the metal pipe 3 from being damaged by contact of the edges of the metal baffle plate 5.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, water drain holes 12 are formed at appropriate positions of the under cover 1 so that water that has entered the upper surface of the under cover 1 is removed. The drain hole 12 is oval or rectangular, and an inclined wall 13 is provided on the upper surface on the rear side in the traveling direction, and a rib 14 is provided across the drain hole 12. The ribs 14 prevent the air flowing under the under cover 1 from flowing into the upper portion of the under cover 1 from the drain hole 12, and prevent sound generation due to the whistling phenomenon when the airflow passes through the drain hole 12. Yes.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the metal baffle plate 5 is laminated only on the important points of the under cover 1, so that the expected impact resistance, heat resistance and rigidity can be increased. It can be secured without any problem. Therefore, it is particularly suitable for protecting fuel pipes. Further, since the rigidity of the under cover 1 is increased, it is possible to reduce the number of manufacturing steps by reducing the coupling points of the under cover 1 to the vehicle body.

It is a principal part longitudinal cross-sectional view of the application | coating site | part of the undercover by this invention. It is an expanded sectional view of the attachment part of the under cover with respect to a cross member. It is an expanded sectional view of the edge part of a baffle plate. It is an expansion perspective view of a drain hole. It is an expanded sectional view of a drain hole.

Explanation of symbols

1 Undercover 2 Fuel Tank 3 Metal Pipe 4 Flexible Tube 5 Baffle Plate 6 Rivet 7 Cross Member 8 Welding Nut 9 Bolt

Claims (3)

A vehicle undercover formed of a synthetic resin material disposed below a portion where a fuel tank and a fuel pipe are connected by a synthetic resin tube under the floor of the vehicle body,
While laminating and fixing a metal plate on the surface facing the synthetic resin tube, fixing the portion where the metal plate is laminated to the vehicle body ,
An undercover for a vehicle, wherein a semi-curl portion that protrudes upward is formed on an edge portion of the metal plate by edge bending .   The vehicle body includes a cross member to which a welding nut is fixed,
  The portion where the metal plates are laminated is disposed below the cross member, and a portion corresponding to the welding nut includes a depression that is recessed downward in which a bolt insertion hole is formed,
  2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the cross member and the portion where the metal plates are laminated are fixed by a bolt that is inserted into the bolt insertion hole from below and is screwed onto the welding nut. For undercover.   A drain hole for communicating the upper and lower surfaces of the undercover for the vehicle,
  The drain hole has an inclined wall inclined to the front side in the traveling direction on the rear side in the traveling direction, and a rib crossing the drain hole in the width direction in an intermediate portion in the traveling direction. The vehicle undercover according to claim 1 or 2.

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