JP5617600B2 - Stay - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a stay that is passed into a space on the back side of an instrument panel of a vehicle and maintains a positional relationship between connected members.

  In general, a vehicle such as an automobile is provided with a stiffener (stay) as a reinforcement or support member for connecting members constituting the vehicle. As a member constituting the vehicle, there are a steering support member that supports the steering and whose both ends are fixed to the side walls of the vehicle body body, a dash panel that partitions the engine room and the vehicle interior of the vehicle, and the like.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a stay in which one end is fixed to a steering support member and the other end is firmly fixed to a dash panel.

Patent No. 4238110

  In recent years, the design of interior parts (instrument panel; sometimes abbreviated as “instrument panel”) that divides the engine room from the living space due to the design requirement of tilting the windshield in a direction that is nearly horizontal. The surface (top surface) tends to be longer in the vehicle front-rear direction. The instrument panel is stored after molding, for example, after being transported from a storage location, and mounted on the vehicle body.

  An instrument panel that is long in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle may be bent and deformed by its own weight during storage and transportation. When the deformed instrument panel is mounted on the vehicle body, there is a problem that the assemblability and appearance (look) are impaired.

  Further, the top surface of the instrument panel is long not only in the vehicle front-rear direction but also in the vehicle width direction. For this reason, the instrument panel and instrument panel components laid out in the instrument panel come into contact with each other when the tip of the instrument panel is bent or the top surface of the instrument panel vibrates during traveling. There was a problem that abnormal noise was generated.

  Furthermore, engine vibration and vibrations received by the vehicle body from the road surface (especially bad roads) may propagate through the vehicle body, and there is a problem in that steering vibrations that give the passenger an uncomfortable feeling occur during steering operation.

  In the stay described in Patent Document 1, the steering support member and the dash panel are merely connected to each other, and each problem caused by the instrument panel is not considered.

  In view of such a problem, an object of the present invention is to provide a stay that can prevent bending of a tip of an instrument panel and vibration of a top surface and suppress steering vibration.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a typical configuration of a stay according to the present invention maintains a positional relationship between connected members by connecting a plurality of members in a space on the back side of an instrument panel of a vehicle. At the stay, one end part attached to the steering support member that extends in the vehicle width direction on the back side of the instrument panel and both ends are fixed to the vehicle body, and extends from one end part toward the dash panel in front of the vehicle and attached to the dash panel An intermediate portion and an other end portion that extends upward from the intermediate portion toward the front end portion of the instrument panel on the front side of the vehicle and is attached to the front end portion of the panel.

  According to the above configuration, the stay having one end portion attached to the steering support member is further extended from the intermediate portion attached to the dash panel, and the other end portion is attached to the panel front end portion of the instrument panel. For this reason, the stay can form a closed section together with the steering support member, the dash panel, and the instrument panel, and can firmly support the front end of the instrument panel. For this reason, the bending deformation of the panel front-end | tip part of an instrument panel and the vibration of the top | upper surface of an instrument panel can be prevented. In addition, not only the dash panel but also the instrument panel has a stay extending from the steering support member, so that the steering support member is more firmly fixed to the vehicle body, and the steering support member supports the steering. The effect of suppressing the propagation of engine vibration and vibration received by the body is enhanced, leading to suppression of steering vibration. Furthermore, if the intermediate portion is fastened to the dash panel with bolts in a state where the one end and the other end of the stay are attached, rotation of the stay is prevented at the time of fastening, and assemblability can be improved.

  The one end portion may be attached to the steering support member by attaching means that can be attached and detached. Thereby, the following assembly procedures can be realized. That is, after fixing the steering support member to which the harness is attached to the instrument panel, an instrument panel component such as an air conditioning duct is fixed to the steering support member. Thereafter, one end of the stay is detachably attached to the steering support member, the other end is fixed to the instrument panel, and the intermediate portion is further attached to the dash panel.

  On the other hand, in the existing stay in which one end is welded to the steering support member, the stay is first welded to the steering support member. Thereafter, the harness and the instrument panel parts are fixed to the steering support member through the gap between the other end of the stay and the instrument panel. However, in this fixing work, the position where the harness can be laid out is limited depending on the stay welding position, or the already welded stay is in the way, and it takes time to assemble the instrument panel parts, and the workability is impaired. It was.

  On the other hand, in the above configuration according to the present invention, after fixing the instrument panel part to the steering support member, one end of the stay is detachably attached to the steering support member. Since the instrument panel parts can be attached before attaching the stay in this way, the assembling workability of the instrument panel parts can be improved.

  A bent portion may be provided between the intermediate portion and the other end portion. Thereby, even when the instrument panel is deformed by its own weight during storage or transportation, the other end of the stay can be assembled to the instrument panel by slightly bending the stay with the bent portion. . That is, it is possible to absorb the assembly error accompanying the deformation of the instrument panel and easily assemble the other end of the stay to the front end of the instrument panel. Further, after assembly, a restoring force is generated so that the stay returns to the original shape starting from the bent portion. For this reason, it becomes possible to return the deformed instrument panel to the state before the deformation, and the appearance is not impaired.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the stay which can prevent the bending of the front-end | tip of an instrument panel and the vibration of a top | upper surface, and can suppress a steering vibration can be provided.

It is a figure explaining the state in which the unit and the unit which contain the stay in this embodiment are mounted in the vehicle body front part. It is a disassembled perspective view of the unit of FIG. It is a figure explaining the state in the middle of the assembly of the unit of FIG. It is the figure which looked at the unit of FIG. 1 from the back side. It is the side view which looked at the state in which the unit of FIG. 1 was mounted in the vehicle body front from the vehicle width direction. It is the figure which looked at the vehicle body front part in which the unit of FIG. 1 was mounted from the engine compartment side. It is a figure explaining the assembly | attachment of the stay of FIG. It is a figure explaining the unit to which the stay of the comparative example was attached. It is a figure explaining the state which the stay of FIG. 5 bent.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The dimensions, materials, and other specific numerical values shown in the embodiments are merely examples for facilitating understanding of the invention, and do not limit the present invention unless otherwise specified. In the present specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted, and elements not directly related to the present invention are not illustrated. To do.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a unit including a stay and a state in which the unit is mounted on the front portion of the vehicle body in the present embodiment. FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating a state in which the unit is viewed from the front side and a state in which the vehicle body front portion on which the unit is mounted is viewed from the vehicle rear side. FIG.1 (b) is a figure which shows the state in which the unit of Fig.1 (a) was mounted in the vehicle body front part. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the unit of FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a state during the assembly of the unit of FIG. Fig.4 (a) is the figure which looked at the unit of Fig.1 (a) from the back side. FIG. 4B is an enlarged view showing a region surrounded by a dotted line in FIG. Here, the front side of the unit is a side located on the vehicle interior side in a state where the unit is mounted on the front part of the vehicle body, and the back side is a side located on the engine room side.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the unit 100 is mounted on the vehicle body front portion of the vehicle body 200 from the vehicle rear side. The vehicle body 200 has a dash panel 210 that partitions the vehicle compartment and the engine compartment. As shown in FIG. 1B, the unit 100 is located on the vehicle interior side of the dash panel 210 while being mounted on the vehicle body 200.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the unit 100 includes an instrument panel 110, a steering support member 120, a harness 130 and an air conditioning duct 140, which are instrument panel parts, and a stay 150. And integrated.

  As shown by the dotted arrows in FIGS. 2 and 3, the steering support member 120 to which the harness 130 is assembled is fixed to the instrument panel 110 from the back side of the instrument panel 110. Later, the air conditioning duct 140 is fixed to the steering support member 120 and the instrument panel 110, and in that state (see FIG. 3), the stay 150 is assembled. The assembly of the stay 150 will be described later.

  The instrument panel 110 is an interior part that partitions the front part of the vehicle body and the living space, and a harness 130 and an air conditioning duct 140 that are instrument panel parts are disposed therein. In addition, the instrument panel 110 has a tendency that the top surface 111 becomes longer in the vehicle front-rear direction because of a design requirement that a front window glass (not shown) is inclined in a direction that is nearly horizontal. Furthermore, the top surface 111 of the instrument panel 110 has a long shape not only in the vehicle front-rear direction but also in the vehicle width direction.

  The steering support member 120 is a member that supports a steering (not shown), extends in the vehicle width direction on the back side of the instrument panel 110, and is bolted via brackets 121 and 122 (see FIG. 2) provided at both ends. Etc., and fixed to the side wall of the vehicle body 200. Further, the steering is supported by being fastened (fixed) to the bracket 123 provided on the steering support member 120 with a bolt or the like. In the present embodiment, the shape for assembling the stay 150 is shown as being provided on the bracket 123 that supports the steering.

  The stay 150 is a plate-like member that maintains a positional relationship between the connected members by connecting a plurality of members in a space behind the instrument panel 110 of the vehicle, and supports the members to be connected. It plays a role as a member or a reinforcing member. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the stay 150 includes one end portion 151, the other end portion 152, and an intermediate portion 153 (described later). As shown in FIG. 4, the one end 151 is detachably fastened (fixed) to the steering support member 120 via a bracket 123 with a fastening bolt 161 (see FIG. 4B). The other end portion 152 extends upward from the intermediate portion 153 toward the front end portion (front end portion 112) of the instrument panel 110, and is fixed to the front end portion 112 of the instrument panel 110 with a tightening screw 162. Yes. Here, the front end portion 112 is a region that is located on the vehicle front side of the top surface 111 of the instrument panel 110 and includes a front end portion that easily deforms due to its own weight.

  Next, a state where the unit 100 is mounted on the vehicle body 200 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a side view of the unit 100 mounted on the vehicle body 200 as viewed from the vehicle width direction. However, for convenience of explanation, the harness 130 and the air conditioning duct 140 which are instrument panel parts are not shown. FIG. 6A is a front view of the front portion of the vehicle body viewed from the engine room 170 side in the state of FIG. FIG. 6B is an enlarged view showing a region surrounded by a dotted line in FIG. A plurality of fixed points are set in the unit 100, but illustration is omitted except for the fixed points related to the stay 150.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the intermediate portion 153 of the stay 150 extends from the one end portion 151 toward the dash panel 210 toward the front of the vehicle and is attached to the dash panel 210. In the stay 150, one end 151 and the other end 152 are fixed to the steering support member 120 and the distal end 112 of the instrument panel 110, respectively, and an intermediate portion 153 protrudes toward the engine room 170. The intermediate portion 153 is fixed to the upper side of the dash panel 210 with a fastening bolt 163 from the engine room 170 side (see FIGS. 5 and 6).

  That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the stay 150 not only connects the steering support member 120 and the dash panel 210 with the one end portion 151 and the intermediate portion 153 but also from the intermediate portion 153 to the distal end portion of the instrument panel 110. The other end 152 is extended toward 112. Furthermore, the other end 152 of the stay 150 is fastened to the tip 112 of the instrument panel 110.

  Therefore, the stay 150, together with the instrument panel 110, the dash panel 210, and the steering support member 120, constitutes a loop-shaped closed cross section 180, and more firmly supports these members.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining how the stay 150 is assembled when the unit 100 is assembled to the vehicle body 200 (dash panel 210). FIG. 7A is a perspective view of the unit 100 of FIG. 5 as viewed from the engine room 170 side. FIG. 7B is a front view of FIG. However, in FIG. 7, not only the harness 130 and the air conditioning duct 140 but also the dash panel 210 is omitted for convenience of explanation.

  The assembly of the stay 150 to the vehicle body 200 is performed after the instrument panel 110, the steering support member 120, the harness 130, and the air conditioning duct 140 are integrated (see FIG. 3). First, one end 151 of the stay 150 is detachably fixed to the instrument panel 110 with a fastening bolt 161. Next, the unit 100 is assembled by fixing the other end 152 of the stay 150 to the distal end 112 of the instrument panel 110 with a fastening screw 162. Finally, the assembled unit 100 is mounted on the front of the vehicle body, and the one end 151 and the other end 152 of the stay 150 are already fixed, as shown by the arrows in FIG. The intermediate portion 153 of the stay 150 is fixed to the dash panel 210 (a part of the vehicle body 200) with the fastening bolt 163 from the engine room 170 side.

  Next, a conventional stay of a comparative example will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B are views respectively showing a side surface of the unit including the stay of the comparative example when viewed from the vehicle width direction and a front surface when viewed from the engine room 170 side. This corresponds to FIG. 5 and FIG. 7 (b), respectively. However, the dash panel 210, the harness 130 and the air conditioning duct 140, which are instrument panel parts, are omitted. Further, in FIG. 8, the same members as those shown in this embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

  The conventional stay 20 of the comparative example is a member that connects the steering support member 120 and the above-described dash panel 210, one end 21 is welded to the steering support member 120, and the other end 22 is the dash panel. It is fixed to 210 with fastening bolts 31. That is, the conventional stay 20 is implemented in that the one end 21 is welded and the other end 22 is fixed to the dash panel 210 and does not support the distal end 112 of the instrument panel 110. Different from the stay 150 in the form.

  Here, as above-mentioned, as for the instrument panel 110, the top | upper surface 111 is long in the vehicle front-back direction and a vehicle width direction. For this reason, the instrument panel 110 may be bent and deformed by its own weight during storage or transportation after molding, or the tip may be bent during traveling, or the top surface 111 may vibrate.

  Since the conventional stay 20 only supports between the steering support member 120 and the dash panel 210 at one end 21 and the other end 22, but does not support the tip 112 of the instrument panel 110, Between the portion 112 and the other end portion 22 of the stay 20, there is a gap 40 indicated by a dotted line in the drawing. Therefore, in the conventional stay 20, the front-end | tip part 112 of the instrument panel 110 bends and deform | transforms with dead weight, and the assembly | attachment property of the unit 10 and an external appearance (appearance) are impaired. Further, the instrument panel 110 and the instrument panel parts may come into contact with each other due to the bending of the distal end portion 112 and the vibration of the top surface 111 during traveling on the instrument panel 110, and noise may be generated.

  Next, assembly of the stay portion of the conventional unit 10 including the stay 20 to the vehicle body will be described. First, one end 21 of the stay 20 is welded to the steering support member 120. Thereafter, the harness 130 is assembled to the steering support member 120 to which the stay 20 is welded. The steering support member 120 to which the harness 130 is assembled is fixed to the instrument panel 110 from the back side of the instrument panel 110. Subsequently, the instrument panel parts such as the air conditioning duct 140 are fixed to the steering support member 120 through the gap 40 and the unit 10 is assembled. After that, the assembled unit 10 is mounted on the front of the vehicle body, and as shown by an arrow 41 in FIG. 8B, the fastening bolt 31 is connected from the engine room 170 side, and the other end 22 of the stay 20 is connected to the dash panel. Fix to 210.

  In the unit 10 including the conventional stay 20, when the harness 130 and the air conditioning duct 140 which are instrument panel parts are fixed to the steering support member 120, one end 21 of the stay 20 is already welded to the steering support member 120. It is necessary to pass the gap 40 described above, or to pass the gap between the instrument panel 110 and the stay 20 from the vehicle width direction. For this reason, the stay 20 is in the way, and the workability is impaired due to the time and effort. Further, when the other end portion 22 of the stay 20 is fixed with the fastening bolt 31, the stay 20 has a cantilever fixing structure at one point with the steering support member 120. For this reason, as shown by the arrow 42 in FIG. 8B, the stay 20 escapes in the tightening rotation direction, and the assembling property may be impaired.

  On the other hand, the stay 150 in this embodiment is extended toward the front end 112 of the instrument panel 110 after connecting the steering support member 120 and the dash panel 210 at one end 151 and the middle 153. The other end 152 is fastened to the front end 112 of the instrument panel 110. The stay 150 forms a closed cross section 180 together with the tip 112 of the instrument panel 110, the dash panel 210 and the steering support member 120.

  Therefore, the stay 150 in the present embodiment firmly supports the distal end portion 112 of the top surface 111 of the instrument panel 110 that is long in the vehicle longitudinal direction and the vehicle width direction, so that the distal end portion 112 of the instrument panel 110 is bent by its own weight. In addition, vibration of the top surface 111 can be prevented. For this reason, the assembly | attachment property and appearance of the unit 100 are not impaired, and generation | occurrence | production of problems, such as abnormal noise, can also be prevented. Furthermore, since the steering support member 120 supporting the steering can be firmly fixed to the vehicle body 200 and the instrument panel 110 through the stay 150, it is easy to suppress the propagation of the steering vibration that gives the passenger an uncomfortable feeling.

  One end 151 of the stay 150 is detachably attached to the steering support member 120. For this reason, the worker can attach the stay 150 after fixing the instrument panel parts to the steering support member 120 when the unit 100 is assembled. It does not get in the way, takes time, and does not impair workability.

  Further, the intermediate portion 153 of the stay 150 is fastened to the dash panel 210 with the one end 151 and the other end 152 of the stay 150 being fixed. At this time, the stay 150 escapes in the tightening rotation direction. This can be prevented and the assemblability can be improved.

  Next, a state where the stay 150 is bent will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 9A, the stay 150 includes an intermediate portion 153 that is a fastening point with the dash panel 210, and another end portion 152 that extends from the intermediate portion 153 to the distal end portion 112 of the instrument panel 110. In between, a bent portion 154 is formed. The stay 150 is a metal member that is elastically deformed. As shown in FIG. 9B, the stay 150 is changed from an original state (solid line) where the bent portion 154 is not bent to a bent state 152a (two-dot chain line). Can be.

  Here, if the distal end portion 112 of the instrument panel 110 is bent and deformed by its own weight during storage or transportation, a situation in which the position where the other end portion 152 of the stay 150 should be fixed is displaced. However, by setting the bent portion 154 to be in the state 152a, the operator absorbs the displacement (assembly error) even if the tip 112 of the instrument panel 110 is bent and deformed. The other end 152 of the stay 150 and the tip 112 of the instrument panel 110 can be easily fixed.

  Furthermore, when the other end 152 of the stay 150 and the tip end 112 of the instrument panel 110 are fixed in the state 152a in which the bent portion 154 is bent, the stay 150 starts from the bent portion 154, A restoring force is generated to return to the original state indicated by the solid line. The stay 150 can return the front end portion 112 of the instrument panel 110 to a state before being bent and deformed by the restoring force.

  Therefore, according to the stay 150 in which the bent portion 154 is formed, it is possible to absorb an assembling error accompanying the bending deformation of the distal end portion 112 of the instrument panel 110 and to prevent the appearance from being impaired.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to the example which concerns. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  The present invention can be used as a stay for connecting members constituting a vehicle.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Unit, 110 ... Instrument panel, 111 ... Top surface, 112 ... Tip part, 120 ... Steering support member, 130 ... Harness, 140 ... Air-conditioning duct, 150 ... Stay, 151 ... One end part, 152 ... Other end part, 153 ... Intermediate part, 154 ... Bent part, 161 ... Clamping bolt, 162 ... Clamping screw, 163 ... Fastening bolt, 180 ... Closed section

Claims (3)

In a stay that maintains the positional relationship between the connected members by connecting a plurality of members in the space behind the instrument panel of the vehicle,
One end attached to a steering support member extending in the vehicle width direction on the back side of the instrument panel and fixed at both ends to the vehicle body;
An intermediate portion that extends forward from the one end toward the dash panel and is attached to the dash panel;
A stay comprising: the other end portion that extends upward from the intermediate portion toward the front end portion of the instrument panel on the vehicle front side and is attached to the front end portion of the panel.   The stay according to claim 1, wherein the one end portion is attached to the steering support member by a detachable attachment means.   The stay according to claim 1, further comprising a bent portion between the intermediate portion and the other end portion.

Images