JP4762433B2 - Vehicle hood support structure - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a hood support structure for a vehicle that can obtain good shock absorption even when an impact load is applied to the periphery of the hood hinge from above the vehicle body without reducing the rigidity of the hood hinge.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Generally, when a pedestrian collides with the front of a running vehicle, the upper body is scooped up and the upper body rotates to the rear of the vehicle body around the waist. At this time, if the head falls on the engine hood, the engine hood is deformed, the impact energy is absorbed, and the pedestrian's head is protected.
[0003]
For example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-6846, a bent portion is formed in a hinge bracket (support) fixed on the vehicle body side, and an impact load is applied from above the vehicle body to a portion corresponding to the periphery of the hood hinge of the engine hood. Is applied, the hinge bracket buckles and deforms, and the entire hood hinge is moved downward to absorb the collision energy.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the technique disclosed in the above-mentioned publication, the hinge bracket is formed with a bent portion, so that the rigidity of the hinge bracket is reduced, and there is a possibility that the normal opening and closing operation of the engine hood may be hindered. is there. Furthermore, a moving space for bending the hinge bracket has to be secured around the hood hinge, resulting in a problem of poor space efficiency.
[0005]
On the other hand, for example, in Japanese Patent No. 3120656, an impact absorbing member is interposed between a hood outer panel and a hood inner panel, and is formed between the hood inner panel and a strut tower facing the hood inner panel. A technique is disclosed in which impact energy can be absorbed by deformation of the impact absorbing member even when the gap is small.
[0006]
However, the technique disclosed in this publication has a structure in which an impact absorbing member is interposed between the hood outer panel and the hood inner panel, so that the structure of the engine hood is complicated and the manufacturing cost is increased. .
[0007]
In view of the above circumstances, the present invention has a simple structure, is easy to manufacture, and does not reduce the rigidity of the hood hinge, so that the impact load is applied to the portion of the engine hood where the hood hinge is disposed from above. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle hood support structure capable of obtaining high shock absorption even when applied.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A hinge arm is fixed to an engine hood having a hood outer panel and a hood inner panel provided on the engine room side of the hood outer panel, a hinge bracket is fixed to a vehicle body frame, and the hinge arm is freely rotatable on the hinge bracket. In the vehicle hood support structure to be supported on the vehicle, a shock absorbing member is fixed to the engine room side of the hood inner panel, and the hinge arm is fixed to the shock absorbing member so that the hinge arm has the shock absorbing member. It is fixed to the said food inner panel through .
[0009]
In such a configuration, since the hinge arm is fixed to the hood inner panel via the impact absorbing member, when an impact load is applied to the engine hood from above, the impact absorbing member absorbs impact energy. There is no need to reduce the rigidity of the hood hinge.
[0010]
In this case, it is preferable that the hinge bracket is disposed in the front fender.
[0011]
More preferably, the center of rotation of the hinge arm with respect to the hinge bracket is set behind the rear end of the engine hood.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the front part of the vehicle body, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the main part excluding the engine hood, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. FIG. 5 is a side view of the main part after the deformation of FIG.
[0013]
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an automobile as an example of a vehicle, 2 denotes a vehicle body front portion, and front fenders 4 are disposed on both sides of an engine room 3 formed in the vehicle body front portion 2. A cowl top panel (not shown) is disposed on the side of the engine room 3 at the rear of the vehicle body 4, and a windshield 6 is continuously provided at the rear end thereof. Further, a front pillar 8 that holds both sides of the windshield 6 is connected to the cowl top panel.
[0014]
The upper surface of the engine room 3 is closed by an engine hood 9 so as to be freely opened. The engine hood 9 is a front opening type, and both sides in the vehicle width direction of the rear end edge are rotatably supported by a front wheel apron 11 which is an example of a vehicle body frame via a hood hinge 10. Since the hood hinges 10 arranged on both sides are symmetrical, only the hood hinge 10 on the left side of the vehicle body will be described below, and the description of the hood hinge 10 on the right side of the vehicle body will be omitted.
[0015]
The engine hood 9 includes a hood outer panel 12 that also serves as a vehicle body exterior, and a hood inner panel 13 that comes into contact with the lower surface of the hood outer panel 12. The hood inner panel 13 protrudes downward from the vehicle body and intersects with each other, and is formed by combining a plurality of hat-shaped cross-sectional ribs that absorb and deform an impact applied to the hood outer panel 12, and is formed in FIG. As shown, the outer flange portion 13b of the external force frame 13a provided on the outer periphery of the hood inner panel 13 is coupled to the outer edge portion 12a of the hood outer panel 12 by hemming.
[0016]
The hood hinge 10 includes a hinge arm 15 and a hinge bracket 14 that are fixed to the inner surface of the engine hood 9. Further, the front wheel apron 11 constitutes a vehicle width direction wall surface of the engine room 3, and includes an upper surface part 11a facing the inner surface of the front fender 4, and an engine room 3 side end part of the upper surface part 11a from the vehicle body lower side. The first vertical wall surface 11b extending to the left, the flat surface 11c extending from the lower end of the vertical wall surface 11b toward the engine room 3, and the lower end of the flat surface 11c extending to the engine room 3 side. And a second vertical wall surface 11d.
[0017]
The hinge bracket 14 is bent to have an L-shaped cross section. A mounting surface 14a formed on the bottom surface of the hinge bracket 14 is fixed to the upper surface portion 11a of the front wheel apron 11, and as shown in FIG. Are disposed in the engine hood 9 on the outer side in the vehicle width direction than the rear end edge portions 9a provided on both sides in the vehicle width direction. Further, a support surface 15a of the hinge arm 15 is rotatably supported via a hinge pin 16 serving as a rotation center on the rear end of the upright surface 14b that is suspended from one side of the mounting surface 14a. Here, the hinge pin 16 is arranged behind (the windshield side) from the rear end of the engine hood 9.
[0018]
An arm portion 15 b is bent at the lower end of the support surface 15 a provided on the hinge arm 15. The arm portion 15 b extends in the direction of the engine room 3 and extends forward of the vehicle body so as to face the rear end edge portion 9 a of the engine hood 9. Further, an elevation surface portion 15c is formed at an end portion of the arm portion 15b on the engine room side, and a flange portion 15d extending in the direction of the engine room 3 is formed at the lower end of the elevation surface portion 15c.
[0019]
Further, a reinforcement 17, which is an example of an impact absorbing member, is disposed on the lower surface of the external skeleton 13 a of the hood inner panel 13, which is disposed at a portion located at the rear edge 9 a of the engine hood 9. Yes. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the reinforcement 17 is formed in a bathtub shape whose upper surface is open. In this embodiment, the impact load from above the vehicle body depends on the thickness, material, and shape of the reinforcement 17. The rigidity against is set. A flange portion 17a is formed on the periphery of the upper end of the reinforcement 17, and the flange portion 17a is joined to the hood inner panel 13 by means such as spot welding or adhesion.
[0020]
The reinforcement 17 is formed in an elongated shape extending forward of the vehicle body along the outer edge portion 12a facing the front fender 4 of the engine hood 9, and continues to the flange portion 17a via the side wall portion 17b. The bottom portion has a rear bottom portion 17d in the rear direction of the vehicle body and a front bottom portion 17e formed shallower than the rear bottom portion 17d, and the bottom portions 17d and 17e are connected via an inclined surface portion 17f. Yes.
[0021]
On the other hand, the flange portion 15d formed on the hinge arm 15 is brought into contact with the rear bottom portion 17d of the reinforcement 17, and the rear bottom portion 17d is arranged against the contact plate 18 disposed inside the rear bottom portion 17d. Screwed in the clamped state. As shown in FIG. 4, when the engine hood 9 is closed, the back surface of the flange portion 15 d formed on the hinge arm 15 is slightly spaced from the flat surface 11 c formed on the front wheel apron 11. It is opposed through. Reference numeral M denotes a head impactor.
[0022]
According to such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 4, when the head impactor M is dropped downward from above the vicinity of the rear end edge portion 9 a provided on both sides of the engine hood 9 in the vehicle width direction, The hood outer panel 12 is locally deformed along the outer shape of the head impactor M and the initial reaction force is increased. Thereafter, the hood outer panel 12 sinks in a wide range due to the inertial force received from the head impactor M. The reaction force is gradually decreased.
[0023]
Next, the portion of the engine hood 9 to which the head impactor M is applied moves downward in the vehicle body due to the impact load from the head impactor M and is reinforced fixedly on the bottom surface of the hood inner panel 13. A small gap L formed between the flange 15d provided on the hinge arm 15 of the hood hinge 10 and the flat surface 11c of the front wheel apron 11 that supports the bottom surface of the rear bottom 17d of the 17 is reduced. The flange portion 15d collides with the flat surface 11c, and a secondary reaction force is generated (state shown in FIG. 5).
[0024]
Thereafter, the reinforcement 17 receives a reaction force from the flat surface 11c of the front wheel apron 11 to start deformation, and the impact energy is absorbed. When the deformation of the reinforcement 17 stops, the impact energy is completely absorbed.
[0025]
This state will be described with reference to a reaction force characteristic diagram in which the vertical axis in FIG. 6 represents reaction force and the horizontal axis represents time. When the head impactor M is dropped onto the rear edge 9a of the engine hood 9, the reaction force from the hood outer panel 12 increases to show the maximum value P1, and then the deformation of the hood outer panel 12 is started. Since the end edge 9a starts to move in the direction of the front wheel apron 11, the reaction force gradually decreases.
[0026]
Then, when the flange portion 15d of the hood hinge 10 fixed to the bottom surface of the reinforcement 17 collides with the flat surface 11c of the front wheel apron 11 (P2), a secondary reaction force is generated. Will increase again. On the other hand, the reinforcement 17 starts to deform upon receiving a reaction force from the flat surface 11c, absorbs impact energy, and gradually reduces the reaction force.
[0027]
As described above, in the present embodiment, when the reaction force of the hood outer panel 12 decreases, the reaction force from the front wheel apron 11 is transmitted to the engine hood 9 via the reinforcement 17. Since it is possible to suppress an extreme increase in force and obtain a substantially flat characteristic, the maximum value P3 of the secondary reaction force can be kept low. As a result, even when an impact load is applied to the rear end edge portion 9a of the engine hood 9 from above, high shock absorption can be obtained without reducing the rigidity of the hood hinge 10. .
[0028]
Further, since the impact energy is absorbed by deforming the reinforcement 17, it is not necessary to secure a wide gap between the hood inner panel 13 and the front wheel apron 11, and the space efficiency is improved.
[0029]
Further, since the reinforcement 17 is externally attached to the bottom surface of the hood inner panel 13, the manufacturing is easy.
[0030]
Further, a hinge bracket 14 that supports the hinge arm 15 via the hinge pin 16 of the hood hinge 10 is disposed in the front fender 4, and the hinge pin 16 that is the center of rotation is located behind the rear end of the engine hood (on the windshield side). ), The impact safety area of the rear end edge portion 9a provided on both sides of the engine hood 9 in the vehicle width direction can be expanded.
[0031]
The characteristics of the secondary reaction force due to the deformation of the reinforcement 17 can be appropriately changed by changing the material, plate thickness, shape, etc. of the reinforcement 17 or by making a predetermined hole in the side wall 17b. It can be set, and by optimizing the characteristics of the secondary reaction force due to deformation of the reinforcement 17, the HIC (Head Injury Criteria) value can be effectively reduced.
[0032]
Further, the flat surface 11c facing the reinforcement 17 may be a part formed on another body frame such as a strut tower.
[0033]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is easy to manufacture with a simple structure, and does not reduce the rigidity of the hood hinge, and has high shock absorption with respect to the impact load from above the engine hood around the hood hinge. It is possible to obtain an excellent effect such as
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a front part of a vehicle body. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part without an engine hood. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. FIG. 5 is a side view of an essential part after the deformation of FIG. 4;
3 Engine room 4 Front fender 9 Engine hood 11 Front wheel apron (body frame)
12 Hood outer panel 13 Hood inner panel 14 Hinge bracket 15 Hinge arm 17 Reinforcement (impact absorbing member)

Claims (4)

A hinge arm is fixed to an engine hood having a hood outer panel and a hood inner panel provided on the engine room side of the hood outer panel, a hinge bracket is fixed to a vehicle body frame, and the hinge arm is freely rotatable on the hinge bracket. In the hood support structure of the vehicle that supports
A shock absorbing member is fixed to the engine room side of the hood inner panel,
A hood support structure for a vehicle, wherein the hinge arm is fixed to the hood inner panel via the shock absorbing member by fixing the hinge arm to the shock absorbing member .   2. The hood support structure for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the hinge bracket is disposed in a front fender.   The vehicle hood support structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a rotation center of the hinge arm with respect to the hinge bracket is set behind the rear end of the engine hood. The vehicle hood according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the shock absorbing member extends forward of the vehicle body along an outer edge portion of the engine hood facing the front fender. Support device.

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