JP5067563B2 - Shock absorption structure of vehicle cowl panel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a shock absorbing structure of a vehicle cowl panel section capable of effectively absorbing impact with respect to the impact from a direction with the most intensive impact without causing an increase in the number of part items, or restriction of design. <P>SOLUTION: As a shock absorbing structure of a cowl section 3 of a hood hinge 19 for openably supporting a front hood 2 at the front of the vehicle, vehicle width direction both ends of a metal cowl panel 7 constituting a design surface of the cowl section 3 are fixed to a fender panel 4 via a cowl bracket 15 fixed to both ends. A flange 15c equipped with a surface parallel to a rotation central shaft of the hood hinge 19 is provided with the cowl bracket 15. The flange 15c is arranged right above the hood hinge 19. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an impact absorbing structure for a cowl portion that covers a hood hinge that pivotally supports a front hood at the front of a vehicle so that the front hood can be opened and closed.

  A cowl is arranged between the lower end of the windshield of the vehicle and the rear end of the front hood. The cowl panel that forms the design surface of the cowl absorbs the impact when a pedestrian collides. High shock absorption capability is required to protect pedestrians.

Therefore, for example, in Patent Document 1, a flexible portion is provided in a hood hinge for opening and closing the front hood, and a caulking portion of the hood hinge is disposed in the fender, thereby providing an effective shock absorption capacity under the condition of the impact test. A structure that can be demonstrated has been proposed.
JP 2001-354164 A

  However, with the structure proposed in Patent Document 1, good results can be obtained under the condition of a predetermined impact test, but when the impact is applied to a position outside the condition, the impact is effectively absorbed. There was a problem that I could not.

  Conventionally, in consideration of securing the opening angle of the front hood and the degree of freedom in the parting design position of the front hood and the cowl panel, it is desired to lay out the hifutonji on the front side inside the vehicle, but it is necessary to ensure the pedestrian protection function Nowadays, hood hinges are laid out on the outside of the rear of the vehicle as much as possible, which limits the design.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and the objective of the present invention is that the impact is effective against a collision from the direction in which the impact is highest without causing an increase in the number of parts or restrictions on the design. An object of the present invention is to provide a shock absorbing structure for a vehicle panel portion that can be absorbed in an effective manner.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention provides a cowl that constitutes a design surface of the cowl portion as a shock absorbing structure of a cowl portion that covers a hood hinge that pivotally supports a front hood at the front of a vehicle so that the front hood can be opened and closed. Both ends of the panel in the vehicle width direction are fixed to the fender panel via a cowl bracket fixed to the panel, and a flange having a surface parallel to the rotation center axis of the hood hinge is provided on the cowl bracket. It arrange | positions just above the said hood hinge, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the cowl bracket restricts and fixes the cowl panel to the fender panel in a vehicle width direction, a vertical direction, and a vehicle front-rear direction. It has a fixing part, and the flange is formed continuously on the surface provided with the fixing part.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the cowl panel and the cowl bracket are made of metal.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the flange is provided on the cowl bracket fixed to the both ends in the width direction of the cowl panel, and the flange is disposed immediately above the hood hinge, the impact from the position directly above the hood hinge where the impact is highest. In the event of a collision, the flange of the cowl bracket contacts and deforms the hood hinge's rigid caulking part, so that the impact energy is absorbed by the deformation of the flange, and the impact value is lowered, causing the pedestrian's head, etc. Effectively protected from impact.

  In addition, by providing the cowl bracket with a flange, it is possible to combine the cowl panel fixing and shock absorbing functions with one component of the cowl bracket, thereby reducing the number of components and facilitating assembly.

  In addition, by arranging the flange of the cowl bracket directly above the hood hinge, the hood hinge can be laid out as much as possible inside and above the front side of the vehicle, thus satisfying the pedestrian protection function without any restrictions on the design. Can be made.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the cowl bracket is fixed to the fender panel, and the hood hinge is fixed to the front hood which is arranged with high positional accuracy in order to adjust the parting width to the fender panel. The position accuracy of the cowl bracket can be improved and the flange of the cowl bracket can be placed with high precision directly above the pivot axis (crimped part) of the hood hinge. The caulking portion of the wing is reliably brought into contact and deformed, and the deformation of the flange absorbs impact energy to protect the pedestrian.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the cowl panel and the cowl bracket are made of metal, the impact absorbing effect is enhanced by deforming them while giving an appropriate resistance. In addition, a retro appearance can be obtained.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  1 is a partial perspective view of a vehicle cowl portion, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a resin garnish portion of the cowl portion, and FIG. 4 is a left half of a resin cowl cover. FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view showing the right half of the resin cowl cover, FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view showing a fixing structure of the left end portion of the metal cowl cover to the fender panel, and FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line CC in FIG. 6, FIGS. 9 and 10 are sectional views taken along line DD in FIG. 6, and FIG. 11 is a structure for fixing a cowl bracket to a fender panel. FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view showing the assembly structure of the cowl portion.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a cowl portion 3 is provided along the vehicle width direction between the lower end of the windshield 1 at the front portion of the vehicle and the rear end of the front hood 2 positioned in front of the windshield 1. . A metal fender panel 4 is adjacent to both left and right ends of the cowl portion 3, and includes a pair of left and right front pillars 5 at the rear of the vehicle along the parting line between the fender panel 4 and the cowl portion 3. Side body 6 is connected.

  By the way, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the cowl portion 3 includes a metal cowl panel 7 that forms a design surface continuous with the front hood 2, and a resin cowl cover 8 that is disposed below the metal cowl panel 7. It is configured as a two-layer structure. Here, the metal cowl panel 7 is made of a metal having the same texture as that of the front hood 2 and is obtained by press-forming a steel plate, which is painted in the same color as the vehicle body color.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 12, a laterally elongated notch 7a is formed in the center of the width direction of the front edge of the metal cowl panel 7, and a resin garnish 9 is formed in the notch 7a. It is attached. The resin garnish 9 is integrally formed of resin, and as shown in detail in FIG. 3, a plurality of outside air inlets 9 a that are slit-like in the lateral direction are formed therein.

  On the other hand, the resin cowl cover 8 is an integrally molded product of resin, the length in the longitudinal direction (lateral direction) is slightly shorter than that of the metal cowl panel 7, and the length in the width direction (front-rear direction). The length (width dimension) is set slightly longer (wider) than that of the metal cowl panel 7. As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of slit-shaped outside air inlets 8a that are long in the front-rear direction are formed in one half (left half) of the resin cowl cover 8 in the width direction. The other half (right half) shown in FIG. 5 where 8a is not formed covers a wiper module (not shown) from above. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 10 denotes a washer hose for supplying a cleaning liquid to the washer nozzle.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a rib-like protrusion 8b is integrally projected obliquely upward across the entire width on the front end portion of the resin cowl cover 8, and the protrusion 8b has an elastic material such as rubber. A seal member 11 made of a material is attached, and this seal member 11 abuts against the rear end rear surface of the front hood 2 to seal the engine room 12. Here, at the base end portion of the protrusion 8b of the resin cowl cover 8, a fragile portion 8c having a small thickness is formed, and this fragile portion 8c is a starting point of cracking of the resin cowl cover 8. Become.

  Next, an assembly structure of the metal cowl panel 7, the resin cowl cover 8, and the resin garnish 9 constituting the cowl portion 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, a plurality of positions (four positions in the present embodiment) of the resin cowl cover 8 are attached to the cowl front panel 13 on the vehicle body side by the clips 14, and the clips (in this embodiment) In the embodiment, three places) are attached to the cowl top panel 23 on the vehicle body side, a metal cowl panel 7 is attached thereon, and a resin garnish 9 is attached to the metal cowl panel 7.

  Here, separate cowl brackets 15 are respectively fixed to the lower surfaces of the left and right ends of the metal cowl panel 7, and the metal cowl panel 7 has a total of four locations on the left and right ends thereof as shown in FIGS. 11 is attached to the receiving surface 4a that is lowered by one step inside the fender panel 4 shown in FIG. 11 by two types of clips 16, 17, and the other two places are attached to the resin cowl cover 8 by the clip 14, and two more places are provided. The resin cowl cover 8 is attached by tightening with a screw 18.

  By the way, when the metal cowl panel 7 is painted in the same color as the vehicle body color as described above, the gap between the metal cowl panel 7 and the front hood 2 adjacent to the metal cowl panel 7 is easily noticeable. In particular, the left and right ends of the metal cowl panel 7 are parted in three directions surrounded by the front hood 2, the fender panel 4 and the front pillar 5, so that it is necessary to keep all these partings within a certain width. Therefore, more stringent parting width regulation is required.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, as described above, separate cowl brackets 15 are fixed to both ends (left and right ends) of the metal cowl panel 7 in the vehicle width direction, and the metal cowl panel 7 is attached to the metal cowl panel 7 via the cowl bracket 15. The left and right ends are fitted and fixed with respect to the receiving surface 4a of the fender panel 4 in a state where the positions of the fender panel 4 are restricted in the vehicle front-rear direction, the left-right direction, and the vertical direction. Details of the fixing structure of the left and right ends of the metal cowl bracket 7 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8 and 11, only the mounting structure at one end (left end) in the width direction of the metal cowl panel 7 is shown, but the mounting structure at the other end (right end) is the same. Is omitted.

  In the present embodiment, the metal cowl panel 7 is fixed so that the position of the metal cowl panel 7 in the vehicle width direction and the vertical direction can be regulated on the side near the front hood 2 of the receiving surface 4a formed on the fender panel 4 (vehicle front side). And a fixing portion capable of regulating the position of the metal cowl panel 7 in the vehicle front-rear direction and the vertical direction is provided on the side close to the front pillar 5 (vehicle rear side).

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 11, a rectangular fitting hole 4b that is long in the vehicle front-rear direction is formed on the side of the receiving surface 4a of the pair of left and right fender panels 4 close to the front hood 2 (vehicle front side). The circular holes 4c are respectively formed on the rear side close to the front pillar 5.

  The pair of left and right cowl brackets 15 are press-formed products of sheet metal, and are locking pieces formed into a piece having a rectangular fitting hole on the side close to the front hood 2 (the vehicle front side). 15a is formed vertically in the vertical direction, and a fitting groove 15b cut out in a U-shape and a rectangular flange 15c are formed in a horizontally bent portion behind it.

  Here, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 11, the front clip 16 has a rectangular cylindrical shape whose longitudinal direction is along the parting direction (vehicle longitudinal direction) between the fender panel 4 and the metal cowl panel 7. It is molded and is vertically inserted and fitted into the fitting hole 4b formed in the receiving surface 4a of the fender panel 4 from above.

  Thus, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 11, the metal cowl panel 7 has the locking piece 15a formed on the cowl bracket 15 fixed to the left and right ends of the metal cowl panel 7 above the rectangular groove 16a of the clip 16. The clip 16 is fixed to the receiving surface 4a of the fender panel 4 in a state where the vehicle width direction and the vertical direction are regulated by fitting the claw of the clip 16 and the rectangular hole of the cowl bracket 15 into each other. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, when the locking piece 15 a is inserted all the way into the clip 16, the left and right ends of the metal cowl cover 7 are securely fixed without being lifted.

  As described above, by inserting the locking piece 15a of the cowl bracket 15 vertically into the groove 16a of the clip 16, the metal cowl panel 7 receives the receiving surface of the fender panel 4 while the position in the vehicle width direction and the vertical direction is restricted. Since the metal cowl panel 7 and the fender panel 4 are partly fixed, the parting width between the two is kept constant and the fender panel 4 of the metal cowl panel 7 during assembly is fixed. Interference is prevented, the workability of assembling is improved, and the fender panel 4 is prevented from being damaged.

  Since the clip 16 is attached to the fender panel 4 before the metal cowl panel 7 is fixed, the metal cowl panel 7 moves in the vehicle width direction and the vertical direction in accordance with the movement of the fender panel 4. According to the adjustment of the panel 4, the parting of the metal cowl panel 7 and the fender panel 4 is automatically determined. By providing such a fitting structure on the front side (front hood 2 side) in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle between the fender panel 4 and the sheet metal cowl panel 7, a relatively long range of the front hood 2 and the fender panel 4 is provided. A high parting width accuracy can be ensured at the part where the parting extends over the entire area.

  On the other hand, the clip 17 is of an insertion pin type clip, and as shown in FIG. 8, an insertion portion 17a inserted from above into a circular hole 4c formed in the receiving surface 4a of the fender panel 4, and a circle And a head 17b having a diameter larger than that of the hole 4c.

  Thus, when the left and right ends of the metal cowl panel 7 are fixed to the fender panel 4 on the vehicle rear side, the head 17b of the clip 17 is inserted into the fitting groove 15b formed in the cowl bracket 15, and the clip 17 Is attached to the cowl bracket 15 side in advance. Then, by inserting the insertion portion 17a of the clip 17 vertically into the circular hole 4c formed in the receiving surface 4a of the fender panel 4 from above, the vehicle rear side of the left and right ends of the metal cowl panel 7 is fixed to the fender panel 4. Is done.

  Here, since the fitting groove 15b of the cowl bracket 15 is formed in the vehicle width direction, the metal cowl panel 7 can be regulated to the fender panel 4 with high accuracy in the vehicle front-rear direction. As a result, the metal cowl panel 7 can be positioned according to the fender panel 4, and the parting between the front pillar 5 (side body 6) and the metal cowl panel 7 can be made to coincide with the fender panel 4. In particular, although this range is a short distance, it is a complicated part with a sharp change in shape, so that fixing at one point by the clips 17 on the left and right ends of the metal cowl panel 7 is effective. Since the fitting groove 15b formed in the cowl bracket 15 is formed in the vehicle width direction, the left and right ends of the metal cowl panel 7 are not restricted in the vehicle width direction, but the front clip 16 As a result, the vehicle width direction is restricted within a relatively long range in the vehicle longitudinal direction, so that the displacement of the metal cowl panel 7 in the vehicle width direction does not occur.

  As described above, a total of four places on the left and right ends of the metal cowl panel 7 are attached to the receiving surface 4a, which is lowered by one step inside the fender panel 4, by the two types of clips 16 and 17, and the other two places are the resin cowls. When it is attached to the cover 8 by the clip 14 and the other two places are attached to the resin cowl cover 8 by tightening with the screw 18, finally, the two parts of the resin garnish 9 are attached to the metal cowl panel 7 by a clip (not shown). If it attaches to, the assembly | attachment of the cowl part 3 is completed.

  Next, the shock absorbing structure of the cowl portion 3 constituting the gist of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The front hood 2 is pivotally supported by a pair of left and right hood hinges 19 so that the left and right rear ends thereof can be opened and closed up and down. Here, each hood hinge 19 is disposed below the cowl bracket 15 fixed to the lower surfaces of the left and right ends of the metal cowl panel 7 (only one is shown in the figure), and is a mail fixed to the vehicle body 20 side. It is configured by pivotally attaching a portion 19A and a female portion 19B fixed to the front hood 2 by caulking of a pin 21.

  Thus, the front hood 2 is opened and closed by pivoting up and down around the pivot center axis of the pin 21 together with the female 19B of the hood hinge 19, and the center axis of the pin 21 faces in the vehicle width direction. It is arranged as follows. As shown in FIG. 9, the lower side of the hood hinge 19 on the side of the female 19 </ b> B is covered with a resin hinge cover 22.

  On the other hand, the pair of left and right cowl brackets 15 are formed with the flange 15c as described above, and the flange 15c has a surface parallel to the rotation center axis of the hood hinge (the center axis of the pin 21). It is arranged immediately above the crimped portion of the hood hinge 19. The cowl bracket 15 is fixed to the fender panel 4 by restricting the position of the metal cowl panel 7 in the vehicle width direction, the vertical direction, and the vehicle longitudinal direction by inserting the two types of clips 16 and 17 as described above. The flange 15c is continuously formed on the surface of the cowl bracket 15 where the fixing portion is provided.

  In the above-described shock absorbing structure, for example, when a shock is applied to the metal cowl panel 7 from an oblique direction with respect to the hood hinge 19 due to a pedestrian collision, the hood hinge 19 falls in either the left or right direction. However, as shown in FIG. 10, when the impact is applied to the caulking portion of the hood hinge 19 from directly above, the impact is highest, and the hood hinge 19 does not fall down. The shock could not be absorbed.

  However, in the present embodiment, since the flange 15c formed on the cowl bracket 15 is disposed immediately above the hood hinge 19, the collision from directly above the hood hinge 19 with the highest impact is shown in FIG. As described above, the flange 15c is deformed so as to be folded while being pushed up by being in contact with the rigid caulking portion of the hood hinge 19, so that the impact energy is absorbed by the deformation of the flange 15c, and the impact value is lowered. The head is effectively protected from impact. In particular, in the present embodiment, since the cowl bracket 15 is made of metal, the impact absorbing effect is enhanced.

  In the present embodiment, since the flange 15c is integrally provided on the cowl bracket 15 as described above, one part of the cowl bracket 15 can have both the fixing function of the metal cowl panel 7 and the shock absorbing function. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the number of parts and facilitate assembly.

  Furthermore, by arranging the flange 15c of the cowl bracket 15 directly above the hood hinge 19, the hood hinge 19 can be laid out as much as possible inside and above the front side of the vehicle. The protective function can be satisfied.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the cowl bracket 15 is fixed to the fender panel 4, and the hood hinge 19 is fixed to the front hood 2 that is arranged with high positional accuracy in order to adjust the parting width to the fender panel 4. Therefore, the positional accuracy of each other can be improved, and the flange 15c of the cowl bracket 15 can be arranged with high accuracy directly above the rotation center axis (caulking portion) of the hood hinge 19, and the collision from directly above the hood hinge 19 On the other hand, the flange 15c comes into contact with the caulking portion of the hood hinge 19 and deforms, and the deformation of the flange 15c absorbs impact energy and protects the pedestrian.

  In addition, in the present embodiment, the design surface of the cowl portion 3 is constituted by the metal cowl panel 7, so that most of the design surface except the windshield 1 is painted from the front to the side of the vehicle. As a result, it is possible to obtain a retro-like appearance to the vehicle by obtaining a texture similar to that of a car of an era when the resin molding technology has not progressed much.

  Further, by setting the metal cowl panel 7 to the same color as the vehicle body color, the metal cowl panel 7 can be painted simultaneously with the vehicle body coating, so that the coating cost is significantly reduced and the metal cowl panel 7 is painted. Since the color matching between the panel 7 and the vehicle body completely matches, a high appearance can be obtained in the vehicle.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, an outside air introduction port 8a is formed in one half (left half) in the width direction of the resin cowl cover 8, and the resin cowl cover 8 is formed as shown in FIG. Since the wiper module (not shown) is covered with one half (right half) where the outside air introduction port 8a is not formed, the outside air introduction port 8a can prevent the wiper module from being wet while ensuring the necessary outside air introduction amount. Can do. Since the resin cowl cover 8 is disposed below the metal cowl panel 7 constituting the design surface, the resin cowl cover 8 can be relatively freely provided with the outside air inlet 8a without affecting the design. Can be formed.

It is a fragmentary perspective view of a vehicle cowl part. It is an AA line expanded sectional view of FIG. It is a perspective view of the resin-made garnish part of a cowl part. It is a fragmentary perspective view which shows the left half of the resin cowl cover. It is a fragmentary perspective view which shows the right half of the resin cowl cover. It is a fragmentary perspective view which shows the left half of the resin cowl cover. FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 6. FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 6. It is the DD sectional view taken on the line of FIG. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the fixation structure to the fender panel of a cowl bracket. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the assembly structure of a cowl part.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Front glass 2 Front hood 3 Cowl part 4 Fender panel 4a Fender panel receiving surface 4b Fender panel fitting hole 4c Fender panel circular hole 5 Front pillar 6 Side body 7 Metal cowl panel 7a Notch of metal cowl panel 8 Resin cowl cover 8a Resin cowl cover outside air inlet 8b Resin cowl cover protrusion 8c Resin cowl cover brittle part 9 Resin garnish 9a Resin garnish outside air inlet 10 Washer hose 11 Seal member 12 Engine room 13 Car body side cowl front panel 14 Clip 15 Cowl bracket 15a Cowl bracket locking piece 15b Cowl bracket fitting groove 15c Cowl bracket flange 16 clip 16a Clip groove 17 clip 17a Clip insertion part 17b Clip head 18 Screw 19 Hood hinge 19A Hood hinge mail part 19B Hood hinge mail part 20 Car body 21 Pin 22 Hinge cover 23 Car body side cowl top panel

Claims (3)

A shock-absorbing structure of a cowl portion that covers a hood hinge that pivotally supports the front hood at the front of the vehicle so that it can be opened and closed,
Both ends in the vehicle width direction of the cowl panel constituting the design surface of the cowl part are fixed to the fender panel via a cowl bracket fixed to the cowl panel, and the cowl bracket is parallel to the rotation center axis of the hood hinge. A shock absorbing structure for a vehicle cowl portion, characterized in that a flange having a flange is provided and the flange is disposed immediately above the hood hinge.   The cowl bracket includes a fixing portion for fixing the cowl panel with respect to the fender panel in a vehicle width direction, a vertical direction, and a vehicle front-rear direction, and is continuous with a surface provided with the fixing portion. 2. The shock absorbing structure for a vehicle cowl portion according to claim 1, wherein the flange is formed.   3. The shock absorbing structure for a vehicle cowl portion according to claim 1, wherein the cowl panel and the cowl bracket are made of metal.

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