JP5782360B2 - Vehicle front-end structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle front end structure that supports a cooling module such as a radiator.

  An example of a vehicle front end structure is described in Patent Document 1. In the front end structure described in this document, a substantially rectangular support frame for mounting a cooling module such as a radiator is formed by a resin panel. According to such a configuration, it is possible to reduce the weight and the manufacturing cost as compared with the case where the support frame is formed of a metal member.

  However, the means described in Patent Document 1 has room for improvement as described below.

  That is, the front end portion of the vehicle is a portion that greatly affects the vehicle body strength, and it is desirable to increase the rigidity in the vehicle width direction in order to improve the steering stability against the input in the vehicle width direction during cornering. It is. On the other hand, since the cooling module receives a load in the vertical direction, it is necessary to increase the strength in the vertical direction. On the other hand, in Patent Document 1, although the upper part of the support frame for the cooling module has a closed cross-sectional structure and is reinforced, the closed cross-sectional structure has a form in which a rectangular hollow cross section is deformed. Only. In such a configuration, in order to sufficiently cope with the load in the vehicle width direction and the load in the vertical direction, the overall thickness must be considerably increased. When the vehicle is, for example, a sports car type, higher handling stability is required than in the case of a general vehicle. However, in such a vehicle, if the strength of the support frame is insufficient, the support frame is deformed by a so-called match box deformation. However, the steering stability is impaired. Therefore, in the case of such a vehicle, it is more necessary to increase the strength of the front end portion, and the overall thickness of the front end portion becomes more remarkable. This causes an increase in weight and an increase in manufacturing cost.

JP-A-5-105115

  The present invention has been conceived under the circumstances as described above, and can effectively increase the strength in the vehicle width direction and the vertical direction while suppressing an increase in weight and an increase in manufacturing cost. The challenge is to provide a simple front-end structure.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention takes the following technical means.

The front end structure provided by the present invention includes an upper member made of a resin that constitutes an upper portion of a support frame to which a cooling module is attached. The upper member extends in the vehicle width direction and is formed on both side portions of the support frame. A main portion connected to the upper portion, and a pair of auxiliary portions that are integrally connected to both ends of the main portion in the vehicle width direction and extend rearward of the vehicle, and the rear end portion is fixed to the vehicle body constituent member. The full length area excluding the rear end portion of the main portion and the pair of auxiliary portions of the upper member has a pair of L-shaped cross sections each having a horizontal plate portion and an upright portion connected to one side edge of the horizontal plate portion. The shape portions are formed in a double L shape having a hollow cross section that overlaps each other so as to form a gap therebetween.

  According to such a configuration, since the upper member constituting the upper portion of the support frame has the horizontal plate portion, the horizontal portion is elastically deformed in response to the vertical input from the cooling module (the cross section collapses). Can be dealt with. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the thickness of the upper member as compared with the case where the strength of the upper member is increased so that the upper member hardly bends in the vertical direction. In addition, since the main part and the pair of auxiliary parts of the upper member are formed in a double L shape having a hollow cross section, the upper member has high horizontal rigidity even if the upper member is not so thick. In addition, it is possible to show high strength with respect to input in the vehicle width direction. In particular, since the rear end portions of the pair of high-rigidity auxiliary portions are fixed to the vehicle body structural member, the strength in the vehicle width direction is further improved, which is preferable for improving the steering stability of the vehicle. . As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently increase the strength in the vehicle width direction and the vertical direction in spite of the simple configuration, and avoid the increase in weight by avoiding the thickening of each part. Increase and increase in manufacturing cost can be appropriately suppressed.

  Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It is a perspective view which shows an example of the front end structure of the vehicle which concerns on this invention. It is II-II sectional drawing of FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 1. It is a principal part exploded view of the upper member used for the front end structure shown in FIG. It is VV sectional drawing of FIG. It is VI-VI sectional drawing of FIG.

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

1 to 6 show an example of a front end structure of a vehicle according to the present invention. In the drawings, the arrow Fr indicates the front of the vehicle, and the arrow W indicates the vehicle width direction.
As clearly shown in FIG. 1, the front end structure 1 of the vehicle according to the present embodiment forms a support frame 10 for mounting the cooling module 5. The support frame 10 includes an upper member 2, a pair of side members 3, and a lower member 4. These are all made of resin, and examples of the material thereof include PP-based resins containing PP as a main component. The support frame 10 is assembled by connecting a plurality of members as described above using, for example, bolts.

  The lower member 4 constitutes the lower part of the support frame 10 and is used for mounting the cooling module 5. The cooling module 5 is, for example, a radiator 50 or a capacitor 51, which is arranged in one side region in the vehicle width direction in the support frame 10 (a right region in the support frame 10 in FIG. 1), and on the rear side of the capacitor 51 50 is an overlapped array. In the support frame 10, for example, an air cleaner or an intercooler (both not shown) is mounted on one side region (the left side region in the support frame 10 in FIG. 1) opposite to the above. However, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. The pair of side members 3 corresponds to an example of both side portions of the support frame in the present invention. The pair of side members 3 has a columnar shape standing on the lower member 4 with an interval in the vehicle width direction.

  The upper member 2 constitutes an upper portion of the support frame 10, and includes a main portion 20 that extends in the vehicle width direction and a pair of auxiliary portions 21 that extend rearward from both longitudinal ends of the main portion 20. It is almost U-shaped. As can be understood from FIGS. 2 to 6, the upper member 2 is formed by overlapping the first and second members 22 and 23. These first and second members 22 and 23 correspond to an example of “a pair of L-shaped sections” in the present invention, and their basic form is an L-shaped section. The first member 22 has a horizontal plate portion 22a and an upright plate portion 22b that is connected to one side edge of the horizontal plate portion 22a and stands up in the vertical direction. Similarly to the first member 22, the second member 23 also includes a horizontal plate portion 23a and an upright plate portion 23b connected to the horizontal plate portion 23a.

  The first and second members 22 and 23 are overlapped with each other so as to form a gap 24 having an L-shaped cross section therebetween. As a result, the upper member 2 has a double L-shape with a hollow cross section, the horizontal plate portions 22a and 23a face each other in the vertical direction via the gap 24, and the upright plate portions 22b and 23b are horizontal. It faces in the direction through a gap 24. Such a double L-shaped structure having a hollow cross section is configured over the entire length of the main portion 20 and the auxiliary portion 21 except for a rear end portion 29 of the auxiliary portion 21 described later (see also FIG. 5). 2 and 5 and the like, stepped portions 27a are formed at both end edges of the first member 22, and stepped portions are formed at both end portions of the second member 23. A bent portion 27b that is bent so as to contact or approach the portion 27a is provided. These stepped portions 27a and bent portions 27b are useful for increasing the rigidity of the upper member 2 and also for reducing the opening area of the gap 24.

The upper member 2 is bolted to the upper part of the pair of side members 3 so that the first and second members 22 and 23 are not separated from each other. More specifically, both longitudinal ends of the upper member 2 are connected to the upper portion of the side member 3 using bolts B1 and B2.
This connection structure is, for example, a structure as shown in FIG. In this structure, the horizontal plate portions 22a and 23a are provided with cylindrical portions 28a and 28c protruding upward, and a bolt B1 inserted through these cylindrical portions 28a and 28c is provided at the upper portion of the side member 3. The screw hole 33 is screwed and tightened. The screw hole 33 is provided by embedding the nut N1 in the side member 3 by an insert molding method (this is the same for the screw hole 34 of the nut N2 described later). The cylindrical portion 28c provided in the horizontal flat plate portion 23a is in contact with the lower surface of the other horizontal plate portion 22a, thereby ensuring a gap 24 between the horizontal plate portions 22a and 23a. On the other hand, the bolt fastening structure of the upright plate portions 22b and 23b is basically the same as described above, and the upright plate portions 22b and 23b are provided with cylindrical portions 28b and 28d facing in the horizontal direction, and these The bolt B2 inserted through the portion is screwed into the screw hole 34 in the front portion of the side member 3 and tightened. The cylindrical portion 28d is in contact with the upright plate portion 22b, so that a gap 24 is secured between the upright plate portions 22b and 23b.

As shown in FIG. 6, the rear end portion 29 of each auxiliary portion 21 is connected to the vehicle component 6. In this connection, for example, bent plates 22c and 23c erected upward are formed at the rear ends of the first and second members 22 and 23, and the vehicle is made using the bolts B3 and nuts N3 in a state where these are overlapped. A means for fastening together with the component member 6 can be employed. However, preferably, in the present embodiment, the structure of the rear end portion 29 is such that the cross-sectional structure of the other part of the upper member 2 (the previously described double L-shaped structure having a hollow cross section) is continuously connected as it is. The structure extends in the direction (in FIG. 1, the rear end portion 29 is shown in a simplified manner). The bent plates 22c and 23c are provided with cylindrical portions 28e and 28f through which the bolts B3 are inserted, and the one cylindrical portion 28f abuts on the bent plate 22c, whereby a gap 24 'is formed between the bent portions 22c and 23c. Is formed. This gap 24 ′ is connected to the gap 24. The bent portions 22c and 23c include
A stepped portion 27c and a bent portion 27c approaching the stepped portion 27c are provided, and the upper opening of the gap 24 ′ is closed or narrowed. In addition, although the vehicle structural member 6 is a cowl inner member, an apron member, etc., for example, it is not limited to these.

  Next, the operation of the vehicle front end structure 1 will be described.

  First, as described above, the cooling module 5 is attached to the support frame 10. At the time of this attachment, the upper part of the cooling module 5 is connected to the horizontal plate portions 22a and 23a of the main portion 20 of the upper member 2. Support. For example, a bolt insertion hole 26 may be formed in the horizontal plate portions 22a and 23a as means for such support (see FIG. 1). If the horizontal plate portions 22a and 23a support the upper portion of the cooling module 5 in this way, the horizontal plate portions 22a and 23a receive the upward input F1 from the cooling module 5 as shown in FIG. Bend upward. By causing such bending, it is possible to eliminate the damage of the horizontal plate portions 22a and 23a. Unlike the present embodiment, if the bending deformation is hardly caused when receiving the upward input F1, the entire upper member 2 must be formed to be considerably thick. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to appropriately avoid the increase in the thickness of the upper member 2 by bending the horizontal plate portions 22a and 23a into a reasonable state.

  On the other hand, the upper member 2 has a structure in which the entire length area excluding the rear end portion 29 is formed in a double L-shape with a hollow cross section. Basically, the L-shaped cross-sectional shape member increases its rigidity. This is advantageous. Since the upper member 2 has a structure in which the first and second members 22 and 23, which are such L-shaped members, are overlapped with each other through the gap 24, the rigidity of the upper member 2 is reasonably increased. It will be a thing. Therefore, even if the first and second members 22 and 23 are not so thick, the horizontal rigidity can be increased. Further, since the pair of auxiliary portions 21 are connected to the vehicle body constituting member 6, the upper member 2 and the vehicle body constituting member 6 constitute a closed cross-sectional structure. Therefore, it is possible to increase the rigidity in the horizontal direction of the support frame 10 and thus the rigidity of the front portion of the vehicle. In particular, in this embodiment, since the rear end portion 29 of the upper member 2 connected to the vehicle body constituting member 6 has the same structure as that of the upper member 2, the rigidity of this portion is also high. As a result, the strength against the input in the vehicle width direction generated when the vehicle is cornering can be more effectively enhanced, and the steering stability of the vehicle can be improved. As described above, according to the present embodiment, the structure of the upper member 2 and further the support frame 10 as a whole is simplified, the strength in the vehicle width direction and the vertical direction is efficiently increased, and thickening of each part is appropriately avoided. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately suppress an increase in weight and an increase in manufacturing cost.

  The present invention is not limited to the contents of the above-described embodiment. The specific configuration of each part of the side panel of the vehicle according to the present invention can be modified in various ways within the scope of the present invention.

  In the above-described embodiment, the upper member 2 is formed by the two members of the first and second members 22 and 23. However, as long as the upper member 2 can be formed in a double L shape having a hollow cross section intended by the present invention, the upper member 2 is not necessarily 2 It is not necessary to form with a member. The present invention is characterized by the structure of the upper member, and the configuration of the cooling module support frame other than the upper member is not particularly limited. Therefore, for example, a metal member may be used as a member other than the upper member among the constituent members of the support frame.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle front end structure 10 Support frame 2 Upper member 20 Main part (upper member)
21 Auxiliary part (upper member)
22 1st member (section L-shaped part)
22a Horizontal flat plate (first member)
22b Standing plate (first member)
23 Second member (L-shaped section)
23a Horizontal flat plate (second member)
23b Standing plate portion (second member)
3 Side members (both sides)
4 Lower member 5 Cooling module 50 Radiator (cooling module)
51 Capacitor (cooling module)
6 Vehicle components

Claims (1)

It has a resin upper member that constitutes the upper part of the support frame to which the cooling module is attached,
The upper member extends in the vehicle width direction and is connected to the upper portions of both side portions of the support frame, and is integrally connected to both ends of the main portion in the vehicle width direction and extends rearward of the vehicle. Has a pair of auxiliary parts fixed to the vehicle body constituting member,
Of the main part of the upper member and the pair of auxiliary parts, the full length area excluding the rear end part has a pair of L-shaped sections each having a horizontal plate part and an upright part connected to one side edge of the horizontal plate part. Is formed in a double L-shape having a hollow cross section that overlaps each other so as to form a gap therebetween.

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