JP4867481B2 - Vehicle pillar structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a pillar structure of a vehicle, and more particularly to a pillar structure in which reinforcement is provided on an outer panel side and an inner panel side in a pillar so as to enhance rigidity against a collision load such as a side collision of the vehicle.

  Conventionally, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, an intermediate pillar 1 such as a center pillar of a vehicle is composed of an outer panel 1 </ b> A and an inner panel 1 </ b> B that are opposed to the inside and outside of the vehicle, and flanges at both ends of both panels 1 </ b> A and 1 </ b> B. Forms a closed cross-sectional structure. Reinforcements 2, 2a, 3 are provided inside the pillar 1 on the inner surface side of the outer panel 1A and the inner surface side of the inner panel 1B in order to enhance the rigidity of the pillar against a collision load at the time of a side collision of the vehicle. .

  The outer reinforcement 2 on the outer panel 1 </ b> A side is integrally joined at both ends in the width direction to the joints at both ends of the outer panel 1 </ b> A and the inner panel 1 </ b> B, so that the auxiliary reinforcement 2 a is along the inner surface of the outer reinforcement 2. Is provided. On the other hand, the inner reinforcement 3 on the inner panel 1B side has a substantially hat-shaped cross section, and the flange portions 32 at both ends in the width direction are overlapped with the inner surfaces of both sides of the shallow groove portion 10 at the center in the width direction of the inner panel 1B. The panel 1B forms a closed cross section and is installed so as to protrude in a substantially U shape toward the outer panel 1A.

  By the way, in the conventional pillar structure, in order to further strengthen the rigidity in order to prevent the outer panel 1A from being bent toward the vehicle inner side at the time of a side collision of the vehicle, the thickness of the reinforcements 2 and 2a is increased, A material such as a high-strength steel plate must be used as the reinforcements 2 and 2a, which increases the weight of the pillar and increases the cost of the material.

As another conventional pillar structure that strengthens the rigidity against the collision load, as described in Patent Document 1 below, two bulkheads that partition the closed cross section of the pillar in the longitudinal direction of the pillar are spaced apart from each other. There is proposed a structure in which a plate-like reinforcing member is provided between both bulkheads, or a reinforcing member made of a honeycomb-like structure or foamed resin is packed between both bulkheads. This pillar structure is good for enhancing the partial rigidity of the pillar, but is not suitable for strengthening in a wide range in the pillar longitudinal direction.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-20267

  Therefore, in view of the above circumstances, the present invention has been made to provide a vehicle pillar structure in which the rigidity against a collision load at the time of a side collision of the vehicle is enhanced without an increase in weight or an increase in material cost. Is.

The present invention relates to a pillar of a vehicle having a closed cross-section with an outer panel and an inner panel facing inward and outward directions of the vehicle. An outer reinforcement is installed along the outer panel in the pillar, and the inner panel is disposed along the inner panel. In the pillar structure of the vehicle in which the force is installed, the outer reinforcement is bent at a central position in the width direction to have a substantially U-shaped cross section and protrudes in the center direction of the pillar, and both end portions in the width direction. The inner reinforcement is integrally connected to the connecting portions at both ends in the width direction of the outer panel and the inner panel, and the inner reinforcement has flanges at both ends of the protruding portion protruding in the center of the pillar in a substantially U-shaped cross section in the width direction. The cross section having a section is formed in a substantially hat shape, and both the flange sections are coupled to the inner panel to connect the projection section and the inner section. Panel form a closed cross section between, allowed to closely opposed at a slight gap the tip of the both projecting portions in the vehicle outside direction (claim 1).

At the time of a side collision of the vehicle, the outer panel and the outer reinforcement are integrated to form a closed section at the center in the width direction, and the rigidity on the outer panel side is effectively enhanced. Also, when the impact load is large, the pillars as a whole are joined by combining the closed cross section formed on the outer panel side and the closed cross section formed by the inner panel and inner reinforcement with a slight gap therebetween. Exhibits strong rigidity against impact loads from the outside of the vehicle. In addition, the center portion in the width direction on the outer panel side and the inner panel side can be brought close to each other with a simple structure.

The outer reinforcement is provided with an auxiliary reinforcement that is connected to the outer reinforcement at both ends along the inner surface, and the auxiliary reinforcement has a protrusion corresponding to the protrusion of the outer reinforcement. And projecting the two projecting portions (claim 2 ). By providing an auxiliary reinforcement, the rigidity of the pillar can be enhanced.

  An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to the intermediate pillar 1 of the vehicle shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken along line TT in FIG. The intermediate pillar 1 is composed of an outer panel 1A and an inner panel 1B having a substantially hat-shaped cross section facing each other in the vehicle interior / exterior direction, and has a closed cross-sectional structure in which the flange portions 11 and 12 at both ends in the width direction of both panels are coupled.

  Inside the pillar 1, an outer reinforcement 2 and an auxiliary reinforcement 2a are installed on the inner surface side of the outer panel 1A, and an inner reinforcement 3 is installed on the inner surface of the inner panel 1B.

  In the outer reinforcement 2, coupling flange portions 21 provided at both ends in the width direction are integrally welded to the coupling portions at both ends of the outer panel 1 </ b> A and the inner panel 1 </ b> B. The portions on both sides in the width direction of the outer reinforcement 2 connected to the coupling flange portions 21 at both ends are opposed to the outer panel 1A with a slight gap.

  A protrusion 22 having a substantially U-shaped cross section protruding toward the center of the pillar is bent at the center of the outer reinforcement 2 in the width direction. The projecting portion 22 is composed of a side portion 221 on both sides facing each other with a space therebetween, and a front end portion 220 connecting the both side portions 221, and the front end portion 220 extends along the pillar width direction. And formed flat. The protruding portion 22 is formed to have a width dimension of about one third of the width inside the pillar, and the protruding dimension is set such that the front end portion 220 is located slightly outside the pillar center.

The auxiliary reinforcement 2a is provided along the inner surface of the outer reinforcement 2, and has a substantially U-shaped cross section that protrudes toward the center of the pillar corresponding to the protrusion 22 of the outer reinforcement 2 at the center in the width direction. The protruding portion 22a is formed. The protrusion 22 a is formed to be slightly wider than the protrusion 22 of the outer reinforcement 2. The auxiliary reinforcement 2a overlaps and welds both ends in the width direction to the inner surface of the outer reinforcement 2 and overlaps the tip of the protrusion 22a with the tip 220 of the protrusion 22 of the outer reinforcement 2. And welded together.

The inner reinforcement 3 has a substantially hat-shaped cross section having a substantially U-shaped protrusion 30 at the center in the width direction, and has a shallow concave shape in which coupling flanges 32 at both ends in the width direction are provided at the center in the width direction of the inner panel 1B. Ri Thea and welded together by overlapping both sides of the groove 10, thereby forming a closed section between the inner panel 1B and the projecting portion 30.

The protruding portion 30 of the inner reinforcement 3 is set to have a width dimension substantially the same as or slightly wider than the width of the protruding portion 22a on the outer panel side. And the tip part 31 of the protrusion 30 of the inner reinforcement 3 is arranged in a flat shape along the pillar width direction substantially at the center of the pillar, thereby overlapping the protrusions 22 and 22a on the outer panel 1A side. The front end portion 220 and the front end portion 31 of the protruding portion 30 on the inner panel 1B side are closely opposed to each other with a slight gap in the vehicle interior / exterior direction.

When a collision load acts on the outer panel 1A from the outside of the vehicle toward the inside during a side collision of the vehicle, the outer panel 1A is superimposed on both sides in the width direction of the outer reinforcement 2 and is located at the center in the width direction of the outer panel 1A. A substantially closed cross-sectional portion composed of the outer panel 1A and the protruding portion 22 of the outer reinforcement 2 is formed, whereby the rigidity against the collision load on the outer panel 1A side is enhanced. Even if the outer panel 1A is deformed integrally with the outer reinforcement 2 due to a larger collision load, the distal end portion 220 of the protruding portion 22 hits the distal end portion 31 of the protruding portion 30 of the inner reinforcement 3 and the outer panel 1A side. The closed cross-section portion of the inner panel 1B overlaps with the closed cross-section portion of the inner panel 1B, and bending deformation of the intermediate pillar 1 is prevented.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to increase the thickness of the constituent members as in the conventional structure, or to use expensive materials such as high-tensile steel plates, and the impact load of the side impact without increasing the weight or increasing the cost. On the other hand, the rigidity of the outer panel 1A side can be enhanced, and the bending deformation of the entire pillar 1 can be prevented even with a large load. In the assembly work of the pillar, since the tip portions 220 and 31 of both projecting portions on the outer panel 1A side and the inner panel 1B side cannot be welded and joined in the pillar, it is only necessary to overlap the tip portions 220 and 31. Since a rubbing sound or chatter noise may occur between the two when the vehicle is traveling, it is desirable to provide a slight gap between the two.

It is sectional drawing which follows the TT line | wire of FIG. 2 which shows the pillar structure of the vehicle of this invention. It is a side view which shows the intermediate pillar of a vehicle. It is sectional drawing of the conventional pillar structure corresponding to FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 Intermediate pillar (pillar)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1A Outer panel 1B Inner panel 2 Outer reinforcement 2a Auxiliary reinforcement 22,22a protrusion part 220 Tip part 3 Inner reinforcement 30 Projection part 31 Tip part

Claims (2)

A pillar of a vehicle having an outer panel and an inner panel facing inward and outward directions and having a closed cross section. In the pillar, an outer reinforcement is installed along the outer panel, and an inner reinforcement is installed along the inner panel. In the vehicle pillar structure
The outer reinforcement bends in a substantially U-shaped cross section at the center in the width direction to form protrusions protruding in the center of the pillar, and both ends in the width direction are both ends in the width direction of the outer panel and the inner panel, respectively. Combined with the connecting part of
The inner reinforcement is formed in a substantially hat-shaped cross section having flange portions at both ends of the projecting portion projecting in the center direction of the pillar in the center portion in the width direction in a substantially U-shaped cross section, and the both flange portions are coupled to the inner panel. And form a closed section with the protrusion and the inner panel,
A pillar structure for a vehicle, characterized in that the front ends of the two protruding portions are closely opposed to each other with a slight gap in the vehicle interior / exterior direction. The outer reinforcement is provided with an auxiliary reinforcement that is connected to the outer reinforcement at both ends along the inner surface, and the auxiliary reinforcement has a protrusion corresponding to the protrusion of the outer reinforcement. The pillar structure of the vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein both protrusions are overlapped .