JP4962167B2 - Car cowl louver - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cowl louver of an automobile, and more particularly to a cowl louver that can be easily deformed by a collision load acting from above.

  Conventionally, in passenger cars, etc., the upper surface of the cowl of the vehicle body is covered, and it is installed from the position below the rear end of the engine hood to the lower end of the windshield, and is made of synthetic resin so as to close the gap between the engine hood and the windshield. The cowl louver is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the cowl louver 1A is provided with a recessed portion 1a formed one step lower in the front half portion, and in the rear half portion, the standing wall 13 and the latter half portion that are bent and stand up from the rear edge of the bottom wall 11 of the recessed portion 1a. The outer wall 15 includes a convex portion 1b that protrudes upward, and has a cross-sectional uneven shape along the front-rear direction.
The cowl louver 1 </ b> A places the bottom wall 11 of the recess 1 a on the front edge flange 21 of the cowl 2, and the lower edge of the windshield 4 with the rear edge of the rear wall 15 supported by the rear end of the cowl 2. The cowl 2 is installed so as to cover the opening of the cowl 2 that opens upward. The outer wall 15 is formed with an outside air inlet 16a for taking outside air into the opening of the cowl 2. The outside air intake port 16a is formed in a grill shape by a plurality of partition plates.

Further, the cowl louver 1A seals the engine room by bringing the upper edge flange 121 of the front wall 12 bent and rising from the front edge of the bottom wall 11 of the concave portion 1a into contact with the lower surface of the rear end of the engine hood via a sealing material.
A vertical plate-like rib 17 is provided in the recess 1a to partition it in the vehicle width direction, and the rigidity is enhanced.
Further, the convex portion 1b of the cowl louver 1A has its top portion 14 closely opposed to the position below the rear edge 31 of the engine hood 3, and serves to conceal the concave portion 1a from the outside of the vehicle.

By the way, when the pedestrian's head or shoulder collides with the rear end of the engine hood 3 from above due to a collision accident, the cowl louver 1A is crushed and deformed by the collision load (arrow G in FIG. 5). It is desirable not to prevent downward deformation of the rear end.
Therefore, as described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 below, when a collision load acts on the front wall of the cowl louver from above via the rear end of the engine hood, the rear edge of the rib provided in the concave part of the cowl louver is the cowl louver. It has been proposed to easily disengage from the standing wall so that the front wall is deformed forward to prevent the rear end of the engine hood from being bent.
JP 2005-280628 A JP-A-11-165654

However, it is not sufficient to deform the front wall of the cowl louver forwardly. As shown in FIG. 5, when the rear end of the engine hood 3 is lowered by the collision load G, the rear edge 31 immediately opposes the cowl louver. The upright wall 13 of the convex portion 1b of the cowl louver 1A stretches between the rear edge portion 31 of the engine hood 3 and the front edge flange 21 of the cowl 2 when it hits the top 14 of the convex portion 1b of 1A, and the engine hood 3 is bent and deformed. There was a risk of blocking. Accordingly, if the deformation of the engine hood 3 is hindered, the collision energy may not be sufficiently absorbed and relaxed.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a cowl louver for an automobile that is easily crushed and deformed by a collision load from above and does not hinder downward deformation of the engine hood.

Covering the upper surface of the vehicle cowl, a cowl louver made of the installed synthetic resin so as to close the gap between the rear end of the lower end of the engine hood of the windshield, with a recess formed one step lower in the first half portion, the recess Has a front wall that bends from the front edge of the bottom wall and rises upward, rises upward from the rear edge of the bottom wall, and the upper edge of the standup wall that is connected to the rear half of the upper wall is the rear edge of the engine hood. In the automotive cowl louver that is close to the lower position of the vehicle, the standing wall is provided with a plurality of outside air intake holes for taking outside air into the vehicle interior at intervals in the vehicle width direction, and the outside wall is provided with the outside air intake. In the height position crossing the hole, easy-to-deform parts that crush and deform the standing wall by a collision load from above are formed in a row in the vehicle width direction, and the vertical plate-like shape that partitions this in the vehicle width direction in the recess. Rib Therefore, the upper edge is set to a height that connects the upper edge of the front wall and the easily deformable portion of the standing wall, and the upper end portion of the rear vertical edge of the rib is connected to the easily deformable portion of the standing wall. Then, a notch is formed in at least one of the lower part of the rear vertical edge and the lower part of the upright wall facing the rear edge so that they are not coupled .
The standing wall of the cowl louver facing the rear edge of the engine hood is formed with an outside air intake hole and a series of easily deformable portions formed through the outside air intake hole. When the collision load is applied, the standing wall is crushed and deformed around the easily deformable portion . In this case, since the rear end of the rib is easily separated from the standing wall, the rib does not prevent the standing wall from being crushed and does not hinder the downward deformation of the rear edge of the engine hood.

The upright wall is bent from the rear edge of the concave portion and stands in a vertical or slightly forward tilted posture, and the rear half portion is bent backward and obliquely downward from the upper edge of the upright wall to form a gently inclined surface, The upright wall and the latter half form a convex portion having a substantially chevron cross section. The standing wall is provided with the outside air intake hole and the easily deformable portion, and the standing wall is crushed and deformed by the collision load to deform the convex portion forwardly.
It is suitable for a cowl louver provided with a convex portion having a substantially mountain-shaped cross section between the standing wall and the outer wall of the latter half of the cowl louver.

The easily deformable portion is formed thinner than the general portion of the standing wall.
It is suitable as an easily deformable part.

The ribs, the thickness of the connecting portion between the upright wall is formed to be thinner than the general portion of the rib (claim 4).
The joint portion between the rib and the standing wall can be easily broken.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The cowl louver 1 is made of a synthetic resin molded product, and is a plate member having an uneven cross section in the front-rear direction. The cowl louver 1 is provided in the vehicle width direction along the cowl 2 of the vehicle body and covers the cowl 2.
The concave portion 1a formed one step lower in the front half of the cowl louver 1 includes a substantially horizontal bottom wall 11 and a front wall 12 that is bent from the front edge and rises obliquely upward and obliquely upward. Is formed with a leading edge flange 121 which is bent and protrudes substantially horizontally forward.

The standing wall 13 that is bent and rises from the rear edge of the bottom wall 11 is restricted to a slightly tilted inclination posture, and the height dimension from the bottom wall 11 to the upper edge is formed higher than the front wall 12. is there.
The upright wall 13 is bent from the upper edge thereof, and is formed with a convex portion 1b having a substantially mountain-shaped cross section that protrudes obliquely forward and upward with the outer wall 15 of the rear half portion of the cowl louver 1 that is inclined backward and obliquely downward. .
The outer wall 15 is formed with a first outside air intake hole 16a facing upward as in the conventional structure. The rear end of the outer wall 15 is bent and directed rearward and obliquely upward.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cowl 2 of the vehicle body is composed of a cowl upper 2a and a cowl lower 2b. The lower edge of the windshield 4 is bonded and fixed to the upper surface of the cowl upper 2 a that opens forward, and supports the lower edge of the windshield 4. The cowl lower 2b has an inverted cross-sectional shape that opens upward. The cowl lower 2b is disposed in front of the cowl upper 2a, and the rear edge flange of the cowl lower 2b is coupled to the lower opening edge of the front opening of the cowl upper 2a.

The cowl louver 1 mounts and fixes the vicinity of the rear end of the bottom wall 11 of the recess 1a to the front edge flange portion 21 of the cowl lower 2b via a sealant, and the rear end of the outer wall 15 is superimposed on the upper surface of the lower edge of the windshield 4. In addition, it is installed so as to close the upper opening of the cowl lower 2b.
Further, the cowl louver 1 has a front edge flange 121 of the front wall 12 abutting on the back surface of the rear end portion of the engine hood 3 positioned so as to cover the front half of the cowl louver 1 via a sealing material. The gap between the end and the cowl louver 1 is sealed. Further, the upper edge 14 of the convex portion 1b is closely opposed to the lower position of the rear edge 31 of the engine hood 1 with a slight space therebetween, and the rear edge 31 of the engine hood 3 and the lower edge of the windshield 4 are formed by the convex portion 1b. It plays the role which hides the recessed part 1a from between.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cowl louver 1 has a plurality of square external air intake holes 16 b spaced apart in the vehicle width direction on a standing wall 13 that rises toward the rear edge 31 of the engine hood 3. It is arranged side by side. The second outside air intake hole 16b has a height of about one-half that of the upright wall 13, has a square or vertically long rectangular shape, and is formed at the vertical center of the upright wall 13.
The outside air taken into the cowl 2 from the first and second outside air intake holes 16a, 16b of the cowl louver 1 is taken into the vehicle through an unillustrated intake port provided in the cowl upper 2a.

  Further, the standing wall 13 is formed with a series of easily deformable portions 18 in the vehicle width direction at a height position crossing the outside air intake hole 16b at an intermediate position between the upper and lower sides, and by making the rear surface of the standing wall 13 into a substantially square cross section. It is formed. Note that the thickness of the easily deformable portion 18 is set to about 1 mm, which is less than half of the thickness of the general portion of the standing wall 13 that is about 2.5 mm. The height of the easily deformable portion 18 is set at a position lower than the vertical center of the upright wall 13 and near the lower edge of the second outside air intake hole 16b.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, in the concave portion 1 a of the cowl louver 1, vertical plate-like ribs 17 that connect the front wall 12 and the standing wall 13 in the front-rear direction and partition the concave portion 1 a in the vehicle width direction are spaced apart. A plurality of them are formed (the figure shows one of them). The ribs 17 are integrally formed when the cowl louver 1 is molded.

  The rib 17 has an upper edge 171 set at a height connecting the upper edge of the front wall 12 and the easily deformable portion 18 of the standing wall 13. The front vertical edge and the lower edge of the rib 17 are connected to the front wall 12 and the bottom wall 11 of the recess 1a, respectively. An upper end portion 172 of the rear vertical edge of the rib 17 is coupled to a position corresponding to the easily deformable portion 18 of the standing wall 13. Further, the upper end 172 of the rear vertical edge is formed thinner than the general portion of the rib 17. The thickness is set to about 1 mm, whereas the thickness of the general part is about 2 mm.

  Further, the rear vertical edge of the rib 17 has a lower portion 173 cut out except for the upper end portion 172, and is formed at a position ahead of the standing wall 13. Further, a punched hole 131 is formed in the lower part of the standing wall 13 facing the lower part 173 of the rear vertical edge, and both are not connected. The lower edge of the punched hole 131 is formed so as to go around to the rear end side of the bottom wall 11.

According to the present embodiment, the plurality of second outside air intake holes 16b are provided in the standing wall 13 of the convex portion 1b of the cowl louver 1 facing the rear edge 31 of the engine hood 3, and the easily deformable portion 18 that connects these is provided. Therefore, when the collision load G acts on the upper edge 14 of the convex portion 1b of the cowl louver 1 via the rear edge 31 of the engine hood 3, the upright wall 13 is bent and deformed around the easily deformable portion 18 between the upper and lower sides. The convex portion 1b is crushed and deformed so as to fall forward as a whole (the phantom line in FIG. 2), and the rearward end of the engine hood 3 is prevented from being deformed downward without stretching the standing wall 13 as in the conventional structure. There is nothing.
When the rib 17 is provided to enhance the rigidity of the cowl louver 1, only the upper end 172 of the rear vertical edge is coupled to the easily deformable portion 18 of the standing wall 13 and the lower portion 173 and the standing wall 13 are not coupled. Therefore, when the collision load G is applied, the connection of the upper end portion 172 is easily broken by the bending of the easily deformable portion 18 and is separated from the standing wall 13, so that the rib 17 does not hinder the above-described crushing deformation of the convex portion 1 b. Further, when the front wall 12 of the cowl louver 1 is pushed in by the lower surface of the rear end of the engine hood 3, the bending angle between the rear edge of the bottom wall 11 and the lower edge of the standing wall 13 opens and deforms so that the bottom wall 11 descends obliquely downward in the front direction. Therefore, the downward deformation amount of the engine hood 3 can be increased, and the impact on the pedestrian can be effectively absorbed and relaxed.

In the above-described embodiment, the easily deformable portion 18 is a thin-walled portion, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the easily deformable portion may be a bent portion, and the upright wall 13 may be formed in a substantially inverted cross-section with the upper and lower middle projecting backward. . Further, the easily deformable portion may be thin and bent.
Further, in order to disengage the lower portion 173 of the rear vertical edge of the rib 17 and the standing wall 13, the notch is provided on the rib 17 side and the punched hole 131 is provided on the standing wall 13 side, but only one of them is provided. It may be. However, as described above, the notch and the punched hole 131 are used together, and the lower edge of the punched hole 131 is turned to the bottom wall 11 side to drain rainwater or the like that has entered the recess 1a to the cowl lower 2b side. Can do.
Furthermore, since the outside air intake hole 16b is provided in the standing wall 13, the outside air intake hole 16a of the outer wall may be eliminated.

It is the principal part perspective view made into the partial cross section which shows the cowl louver of this invention. It is sectional drawing in the position which follows the II-II line | wire of FIG. It is sectional drawing in the position which follows the III-III line of FIG. It is the principal part perspective view made into the partial cross section which shows the conventional cowl louver. It is sectional drawing in the position which follows the VV line of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cowl louver 1a Concave part 1b Convex part 11 Bottom wall 12 Front wall 13 Standing wall 131 Punching hole (notch)
14 Upper edge of standing wall 15 Outer wall (second half)
16b Outside air intake hole 17 Rib 171 Upper edge of rib 172 Upper end portion of rear vertical edge 173 Lower portion of rear vertical edge 18 Easily deformable portion 2 Cowl 3 Engine hood 31 Rear edge 4 Windshield

Claims (4)

Covering the upper surface of the vehicle cowl, a cowl louver made of the installed synthetic resin so as to close the gap between the rear end of the lower end of the engine hood of the windshield, with a recess formed one step lower in the first half portion, the recess Has a front wall that bends from the front edge of the bottom wall and rises upward, rises upward from the rear edge of the bottom wall, and the upper edge of the standup wall that is connected to the rear half of the upper wall is the rear edge of the engine hood. In the cowl louver of the car that is close to the lower position of
The standing wall is provided with a plurality of outside air intake holes for taking outside air inside the vehicle at intervals in the vehicle width direction,
In the standing wall, at the height position crossing the outside air intake hole, an easily deformable portion that crushes and deforms the standing wall by a collision load from above is formed in a series in the vehicle width direction,
A vertical plate-like rib for partitioning this in the vehicle width direction is provided in the recess, and its upper edge is set to a height connecting the upper edge of the front wall and the easily deformable part of the standing wall,
The upper end portion of the rear vertical edge of the rib and the easily deformable portion of the standing wall are combined, and a notch is formed on at least one of the lower portion of the rear vertical edge and the lower portion of the standing wall opposite to the rear vertical edge, An automobile cowl louver characterized by the fact that the two are not coupled . The upright wall is bent from the rear edge of the concave portion and stands in a vertical or slightly forward tilted posture, and the rear half portion is bent backward and obliquely downward from the upper edge of the upright wall to form a gently inclined surface, The upright wall and the latter half form a convex portion having a substantially chevron cross section,
2. The automobile according to claim 1, wherein the standing wall is provided with the outside air intake hole and the easily deformable portion, and the rising wall is crushed and deformed by the collision load to deform the convex portion forwardly. 3. Cowl louva.   The automobile cowl louver according to claim 1, wherein the easily deformable portion is formed thinner than a general portion of the standing wall. 4. The automobile cowl louver according to claim 1 , wherein the rib is formed such that a thickness of a connecting portion with the standing wall is thinner than a general portion of the rib . 5.