JP5203815B2 - Impact force absorption structure of vehicle cowl louver - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an impact force absorbing structure for a vehicular cowl louver in which a cowl body extending in the vehicle width direction and a shielding wall for shielding the inside of the cowl body in the vehicle width direction are integrally formed.

  Generally, a cowl louver made of resin is disposed on an upward hat-shaped cowl panel disposed so as to define an engine compartment and a vehicle compartment. This cowl louver includes a cowl body having a horizontal portion that covers the upper end opening of the cowl panel, a vertical wall portion that extends downward from the front edge of the horizontal portion, and a shielding plate that shields the inside of the cowl body in the vehicle width direction. Have The shielding plate is disposed with a gap between the bottom wall of the cowl panel in order to discharge rainwater and the like that has entered the cowl panel to the outside and to regulate the amount of hot air flowing from the engine compartment to the heater. There is a case.

  On the other hand, when a shielding plate is provided on the cowl body, the rigidity of the cowl body is increased by the shielding plate, so that the impact force absorbing function when the collision object falls from above is low, and Is concerned about the impact of

In order to absorb the impact force from above, the shield plate is a separate component from the cowl body, and the shield plate is dropped from the cowl body when the impact force is applied. (For example, refer to Patent Documents 1 and 2).
JP 2007-137363 A JP 2008-56106 A

  By the way, in the said conventional impact-force absorption structure, since a shielding board is comprised by components different from a cowl main body, there exists a problem that a number of parts and an assembly man-hour increase that much, and cost raises.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional situation, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an impact force absorbing structure for a vehicle cowl louver that can secure an impact force absorbing function without causing an increase in cost.

The present invention relates to an impact force absorbing structure for a vehicle cowl louver integrally provided with a cowl body extending in the vehicle width direction and a shielding wall for shielding the inside of the cowl body in the vehicle width direction. A fragile portion that is deformable when a load exceeding a predetermined value is input from above is provided on the shielding wall , and the fragile portion includes a plurality of first fragile portions extending in a direction substantially orthogonal to the load input direction , It has the 2nd weak part extended so that it may cross | intersect a 1st weak part, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the impact force absorbing structure for a vehicle cowl louver according to the first aspect, the cowl body includes at least a horizontal portion extending in the vehicle front-rear direction and a vertical portion extending downward from a front edge portion of the horizontal portion. and a wall portion, a boundary portion between the shielding wall and the horizontal portion and the vertical wall portion is characterized in that the opening is formed.

According to the cowl louver shock absorbing structure of the first aspect of the present invention, when a load is input from above into the shielding wall formed integrally with the cowl body, the weakened portion that induces deformation is defined as the load input direction. Since it is formed so as to extend in a substantially orthogonal direction, when a load is input, the fragile portion of the shielding plate is deformed and absorbs an impact force, thereby suppressing the influence on the collision object.
In addition, since the plurality of second fragile portions extending so as to intersect the plurality of first fragile portions are formed on the shielding wall, the shielding wall is easily deformed, and the impact force absorbing function can be further enhanced. Furthermore, since the first fragile portion and the second fragile portion are formed in a grid pattern, the area of the shielding wall can be changed by separating the portion surrounded by each fragile portion, As a result, the amount of hot air flowing from the engine compartment to the heater can be adjusted.

  In addition, since the fragile portion is formed in the shielding wall formed integrally with the cowl body, the fragile portion can be formed at the same time when manufacturing the cowl louver, compared with the case where the conventional shielding plate is constituted by a separate part. The number of parts and assembly man-hours can be reduced, and an increase in cost can be suppressed.

  In the invention of claim 2, since the opening is formed at the boundary portion between the horizontal portion and the vertical wall portion of the shielding wall, when the load input is applied, the horizontal portion and the vertical wall portion expand from the opening as a starting point. Thus, the stress is easily concentrated on the fragile portion of the shielding plate, and the impact force absorption efficiency can be enhanced.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  1 to 6 are views for explaining an impact force absorbing structure of a vehicle cowl louver according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the cowl louver, FIG. 2 is a side view of the cowl louver, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the shielding wall of the cowl louver, FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the cowl louver (cross-sectional view taken along the line VV in FIG. 1), and FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the cowl louver. It is a figure (VI-VI sectional view taken on the line of FIG. 1).

  In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a cowl panel that defines an engine compartment A and a compartment B of an automobile. The cowl panel 1 has a generally sectional hat shape that opens upward, extends in the vehicle width direction, and is coupled to left and right vehicle body side members (not shown).

  A lower edge 3 a of the windshield 3 is attached to the rear upper edge 1 a of the cowl panel 1, and a wiper device 2 for wiping rain water and the like adhering to the windshield 3 is installed in the cowl panel 1. It is arranged.

  A hood 4 that opens and closes the upper end opening of the engine compartment A is disposed on the front side of the cowl panel 1. The hood 4 is supported by a hinge (not shown) disposed at the left and right ends of the cowl panel 1 so as to be opened and closed.

  A resin cowl louver 5 is disposed on the cowl panel 1. The cowl louver 5 is integrally formed with a cowl body 6 extending in the vehicle width direction and shielding walls 7 and 7 that are disposed at both left and right ends of the cowl body 6 and shield the interior of the cowl body 6 in the vehicle width direction. Has the structure.

  The cowl body 6 has a horizontal portion 6a extending in the front-rear direction so as to cover the cowl panel 1 from above, and a vertical wall portion 6b extending downward from the front edge portion of the horizontal portion 6a. The rear edge 6a ′ of the horizontal portion 6a is disposed so as to cover the lower edge 3a of the windshield 3.

  A front wall portion 6d is formed on the lower edge portion 6c of the vertical wall portion 6b. The front wall portion 6d extends obliquely upward and forward from the lower edge portion 6c. A seal flange portion protruding forward is formed on the upper edge of the front wall portion 6d. 6e is bent. The seal flange portion 6e is provided with a seal member 9 that seals between the foot 4 and the cowl louver 5 by being pressed against the hood 4 when fully closed.

  The vertical wall portion 6b and the front wall portion 6d form a drainage groove 6f that discharges rainwater that has entered between the hood 4 and the cowl louver 5 to the outside in the vehicle width direction.

  The hood 4 is disposed such that the rear edge 4a thereof is close to the front edge of the horizontal portion 6a and forms a substantially continuous surface with the horizontal portion 6a, and the design of the hood 4 and the cowl louver 5 is the same. ing.

  A plurality of attachment pieces 6g are formed on the lower edge portion 6c of the vertical wall portion 6b so as to protrude at a predetermined interval in the vehicle width direction. Each of the attachment pieces 6g is attached to the front flange portion 1b of the cowl panel 1 by a clip member 10.

  The horizontal portion 6a is formed with an outside air introduction opening 6h for introducing traveling wind into the passenger compartment B. A louver member 11 for guiding the traveling wind into the cowl panel 1 is attached to the outside air introduction opening 6h. (See FIG. 6).

  An intake hole 1d is formed in a portion of the rear wall 1c of the cowl panel 1 facing the outside air introduction opening 6h, and the louver member 11 has a partition wall that partitions the outside air introduction opening 6h and the intake hole 1d. 11a is formed. The partition wall 11a prevents rainwater entering from the outside air introduction opening 6h from entering the intake hole 1d.

  Stepped portions 6i are formed on the left and right edges of the horizontal portion 6a, and a plurality of mounting holes 6j for mounting hinge covers 15 and 15 covering the hinges are formed in the stepped portions 6i. Has been. The left and right hinge covers 15 are arranged so as to form a continuous surface with the cowl body 6 and cover the shielding wall 7 from above.

  The shielding wall 7 is formed to block between the stepped portion 6i of the horizontal portion 6a and the vertical wall portion 6b.

  A predetermined gap t is provided between the lower surface 7 a of the shielding wall 7 and the bottom wall 1 e of the cowl panel 1. Hot air a from the engine compartment A flows into the cowl panel 1 through the gap t. The hot air a flowing into the cowl panel 1 is introduced into the heater (not shown) from the intake hole 1d, adjusted to a predetermined temperature together with the traveling air introduced from the outside air introduction opening 6, and supplied to the vehicle compartment B.

  Here, the setting of the gap t differs between the warm region specification and the cold region specification of the vehicle, and is set to the warm region specification in this embodiment. In the case of cold district specifications, it is necessary to increase the inflow amount of hot air, so that the gap t is set large.

  When the load F exceeding a predetermined value is input to the cowl main body 6 from above the vehicle, a large number of fragile portions 7b that induce deformation of the shielding wall 7 are spaced apart from the shielding wall 7 in the vertical direction. Is formed. Here, since the shielding wall 7 is symmetrical, only the right shielding wall 7 viewed from the front of the vehicle will be described.

  Each of the fragile portions 7b is formed by forming a notch groove that is about ½ of the plate thickness of the shielding wall 7, and is formed only in the front half of the shielding wall 7.

  Each of the fragile portions 7b is disposed so as to be inclined slightly rearward so as to extend in a direction substantially orthogonal to the load input direction F.

  The shielding wall 7 is formed with a second fragile portion 7c extending so as to intersect each fragile portion 7b. As a result, a grid-like cutout is formed on the entire front half of the shielding wall 7 by the fragile portion 7b and the second fragile portions 7c.

  Further, an opening 7d penetrating in the vehicle width direction is formed at a corner portion which is a boundary portion between the horizontal portion 6a and the vertical wall portion 6b of the shielding wall 7. The opening 7d is formed by cutting off a portion surrounded by the weak portions 7a and 7b at the corner portion of the shielding wall 7.

  According to the present embodiment, the shielding wall 7 is integrally formed at the left and right end portions of the cowl body 6 having the horizontal portion 6a and the vertical wall portion 6b extending downward from the front edge portion of the horizontal portion 6a. Since the fragile portions 7b that can be deformed by the load input F from above are formed on the shielding wall 7 so as to extend in a direction substantially perpendicular to the load input direction F, for example, the collision object falls and the load input F When fragile is applied, each fragile portion 7b of the shielding plate 7 is broken or broken to be deformed to absorb the load, and as a result, the impact force on the collision object can be reduced.

  In this embodiment, since the weakened portion 7b is formed on the shielding wall 7 formed integrally with the cowl body 6, the weakened portion 7b can be formed at the same time when the cowl louver 5 is manufactured from resin, and the conventional shielding plate is separated from the other parts. Compared with the case where it comprises, the number of parts and an assembly man-hour can be reduced, and the raise of cost can be suppressed.

  In this embodiment, since the opening 7d is formed at the corner between the horizontal portion 6a and the vertical wall portion 6b of the shielding wall 7, when the load input F is applied, the horizontal portion 6a and the vertical wall start from the opening 7d. It becomes easy to deform | transform into the direction b and b which the part 6b expands (refer FIG. 2). Thereby, it becomes easy to concentrate stress on each weak part 7b of the shielding board 7, and it can improve the absorption efficiency of an impact force that much.

  Further, in the present embodiment, since the second fragile portions 7c extending so as to intersect each fragile portion 7b are formed on the shielding wall 7, the shielding wall 7 is easily deformed by an impact force, and an impact force absorbing function is provided. Can be further enhanced.

  Further, since the fragile portion 7b and the second fragile portion 7c are formed in a grid pattern, as shown in FIG. 4, the portion surrounded by the fragile portions 7b and 7c at the lower end of the shielding wall 7 By separating 7 'and 7', the gap t between the shielding wall 7 and the cowl panel 1 can be increased. Thereby, the inflow amount of hot air from the engine compartment A to the heater can be increased, and it can cope with cold district specifications. That is, in the past, it was necessary to prepare two types of cowl louvers of a warm region specification and a cold region specification, but in this embodiment, it can be shared by one shielding wall, and the cost can be reduced.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the grid-like weak portions 7b and 7c are formed by the notch grooves has been described, but various modifications can be considered for the weak portions of the present invention. For example, notched grooves can be formed in a honeycomb shape, a large number of holes can be formed in a perforated shape at a predetermined pitch, or a fragile portion can be formed by a slit. Moreover, you may form a weak part by making an shielding wall into an accordion shape, and the effect substantially the same as the said embodiment is acquired also in this case.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where the shielding wall 7 was arrange | positioned at the left and right side edge part of the cowl main body 6, the shielding wall of this invention is applied also when provided in the vehicle width direction middle part of the cowl main body. In this case, the same effect as that of the above embodiment can be obtained by providing the weakened portion.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the shielding wall is formed integrally with the cowl body has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the shielding wall is joined to the cowl body by welding, adhesion, or the like. And integrally formed.

It is a perspective view of a cowl louver for explaining an impact force absorbing structure of a vehicle cowl louver according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a side view of the said cowl louver. FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the cowl louver (a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 1). It is a perspective view of the shielding wall of the said cowl louver. It is sectional drawing (VV sectional view taken on the line of FIG. 1) of the said cowl louver. It is sectional drawing (VI-VI sectional view taken on the line of FIG. 1) of the said cowl louver.

Explanation of symbols

5 cowl louver 6 cowl body 6a horizontal part 6b vertical wall part 7 shielding wall 7b weak part 7c second weak part 7d opening F load input direction

Claims (2)

An impact force absorbing structure for a vehicle cowl louver integrally provided with a cowl body extending in the vehicle width direction and a shielding wall for shielding the inside of the cowl body in the vehicle width direction,
A weakened portion that can be deformed when a load exceeding a predetermined value is input to the cowl body from above the vehicle is provided on the shielding wall,
The fragile portion has a plurality of first fragile portions extending in a direction substantially orthogonal to the load input direction, and a plurality of second fragile portions extending so as to intersect the first fragile portion. The impact force absorbing structure of the cowl louver for vehicles. The impact force absorbing structure for a vehicle cowl louver according to claim 1,
The cowl body has at least a horizontal portion extending in the vehicle front-rear direction and a vertical wall portion extending downward from a front edge portion of the horizontal portion,
The impact force absorbing structure wherein the boundary between the shielding wall and the horizontal portion and the vertical wall portion, a vehicle cowl louver, wherein the opening is formed.

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