JP6217309B2 - Vehicle hood damper - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle hood damper including a hood member such as an engine hood.

  Car interior noise caused by vehicle vibrations can cause fluctuations in the pressure of air in the passenger compartment by the vibrations of the body frame of the car body exciting the vibrations of the dashboard, windshield glass, roof and other panels. Caused by. For example, vibration generated from a power plant including an engine, a transmission, and the like disposed in the engine room may be transmitted to the vehicle interior via a vehicle body skeleton member around the engine room, thereby generating a vehicle interior noise in a specific frequency range. Although vibration of the vehicle body skeleton member can be suppressed by a dedicated dynamic damper, it may be difficult to adopt from the viewpoint of weight increase or cost effectiveness. If the rigidity of the vehicle body skeleton member is increased, vibration can be suppressed to some extent, but the weight increases and there is a problem in terms of fuel consumption rate.

  For example, Patent Document 1 describes a dynamic damper mounting structure in which a damper weight and an elastic member are disposed behind a front bumper. The dynamic damper mounting structure forms a closed space extending in the vehicle width direction by overlapping a reinforcing plate on a cross member that is a part of a vehicle body skeleton member, and a damper weight is accommodated in the closed space. The damper weight is supported by the reinforcing plate via the elastic member, whereby the rigidity of the cross member is reinforced by the reinforcing plate. However, the dynamic damper mounting structure disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a problem that a dedicated damper weight and an elastic member are disposed in the vicinity of the front bumper of the vehicle body, so that the weight is increased, the structure is complicated, and the cost is considerably increased.

  On the other hand, it has been proposed to dispose an elastic material that can be elastically deformed in a latch mechanism of an engine hood (bonnet) as in the front body structure described in Patent Document 2. That is, in Patent Literature 2, the vehicle body vibration is absorbed by the mass of the engine hood (bonnet) by elastically supporting the engine hood with respect to the shroud upper and using the engine hood itself as a mass body of the dynamic damper. It is explained.

JP-A-10-310084 JP-A-6-227435

  In the front body structure of Patent Document 2, the engine hood vibrates in the bending range of the elastic material with respect to the latch mechanism of the front portion of the engine hood with the engine hood closed. The engine hood functions as a dynamic damper. On the other hand, the hinge located at the rear of the engine hood is considered to be unrelated to the damping function just because the engine hood is pivotally attached to the vehicle body. No measures have been taken to improve. However, as a result of intensive studies by the present inventors, it has been found that there is a possibility that the damping function may not be sufficiently exerted depending on the state of the hinge.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular hood damper that can reduce vibration and noise transmitted from a vibration generating source such as a power plant to the inside of the vehicle through a vehicle body skeleton member.

A vehicle hood damper according to the present invention includes a vehicle body skeleton member that forms a skeleton of a vehicle body, a hood member provided on the vehicle body, and a hinge shaft that rotatably supports one end side of the hood member on the vehicle body skeleton member. A hood hinge having a hood, a hood lock mechanism for holding the other end of the hood member on the vehicle body skeleton member in a state where the hood member is closed, and a hood hinge disposed between the vehicle body and the hood member. And an elastic member that urges the hood member in the raised state in the direction of pushing up, and a friction reducing member disposed on the friction surface of the hood hinge. The friction reducing member includes a cylindrical portion provided at a shaft portion of the hinge shaft, a first flange portion provided between a fixed hinge piece and a movable hinge piece of the hood hinge, and a flange of the hinge shaft. And a second collar provided between the fixed hinge piece and a third collar provided between the end member fixed to the shaft and the movable hinge piece. ing.

An example of the hood member is an engine hood that covers an engine room, and a power plant that is a source of vibration is disposed in the engine room. It said friction reducing member comprises a fixed hinge piece and a movable hinge piece of the hood hinge ing of a low friction material friction coefficient is smaller than the case of direct contact.

  According to the vehicle hood damper according to the present invention, the hood member that covers the vibration source is used as the mass body of the dynamic damper, and the friction reducing member is added to the hood hinge that pivotally attaches the hood member to the vehicle body skeleton member. Therefore, the hood member and the elastic member function effectively as a dynamic damper under the state where the hood member is closed, and the vibration and noise transmitted from the vibration source through the skeleton member of the vehicle body to the inside of the vehicle can be reduced. it can.

1 is a perspective view of a vehicle including a hood damper according to one embodiment of the present invention. The perspective view of the state which opened the engine hood of the vehicle shown by FIG. The perspective view which expands and shows a part of vehicle shown in FIG. 2, and a hood hinge. Sectional drawing which follows the axial direction of the hood hinge shown by FIG. The disassembled perspective view of the friction reduction member provided in the hood hinge shown by FIG. The figure which shows the relationship between each frequency and vehicle interior sound of the vehicle which has a hood damper, and a vehicle which does not have a hood damper.

Hereinafter, a vehicle including a vehicle hood damper according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the vehicle 10. 1, the direction indicated by the arrow X1 indicates the front of the vehicle body 11, the arrow X2 indicates the rear of the vehicle body 11, and the arrow Y indicates the width direction of the vehicle body 11 (also referred to as the vehicle width direction). A cabin (cabinet) 12 formed in the vehicle body 11 is surrounded by a windshield glass 13 and a roof 14. An engine hood 20, which is an example of a hood member, is provided in front of the cabin 12 and on the front side of the windshield glass 13. The engine hood 20 forms a part of the vehicle body 11.

  FIG. 1 shows a state where the engine hood 20 is closed. FIG. 2 shows a state where the engine hood 20 is opened. An engine room 21 is formed below the engine hood 20. The engine room 21 is covered with the engine hood 20 when the engine hood 20 is closed. The engine room 21 accommodates a power plant 25 including an engine and a transmission. The power plant 25 may be a source of vibration. In the vehicle 10, since the power plant 25 is disposed at the front portion of the vehicle body 11, the engine hood 20 is also disposed at the front portion of the vehicle body 11.

  The periphery of the engine room 21 is formed by a vehicle body skeleton member 30 that forms a skeleton of the vehicle body 11. An example of the vehicle body skeleton member 30 has high rigidity such as a side member extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 11, an upper frame 31, a wheel house inner, a front end upper bar 32 extending in the vehicle width direction, a cowl top member 33, a dash panel 34, and the like. It is a member.

  The engine hood 20 includes an outer panel 40 positioned on the outer side of the vehicle body, an inner panel 41 formed on the lower side of the outer panel 40 (side facing the engine room 21), and the like. The outer panel 40 and the inner panel 41 are formed into a predetermined shape by pressing a metal plate such as a steel plate or an aluminum alloy. A closed cross section is formed between the outer panel 40 and the inner panel 41, and the rigidity of the engine hood 20 is enhanced. Note that a part of the engine hood 20 may be made of resin parts.

  A rear end 20 a which is one end side of the engine hood 20 is attached to a part of the vehicle body skeleton member 30 (for example, the upper frame 31) by a pair of hood hinges 50. The engine hood 20 can be rotated (opened / closed) in the vertical direction around the hood hinge 50. The hood hinge 50 will be described in detail later.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the front end 20 b that is the other end side of the engine hood 20 is fixed by a hood lock mechanism 60 in a state where the engine hood 20 is closed. An example of the hood lock mechanism 60 includes a striker 61 (shown in FIG. 2) attached to the engine hood 20 and a latch unit 62 disposed on the vehicle body skeleton member 30. The striker 61 is securely attached to the latch unit 62. By engaging, the engine hood 20 can be locked in the closed state. The latch unit 62 can release (lock release) the engagement with the striker 61 by operating the operation unit arranged in the cabin 12.

  A plurality of elastic members 70 are arranged along the vehicle body skeleton member 30 on the upper surface of the vehicle body skeleton member 30 that forms the periphery of the engine room 21. These elastic members 70 are made of a material having rubber elasticity such as synthetic rubber or elastomer, for example, and the lower surface of the closed engine hood 20 abuts on the upper surface of the elastic member 70, and the elastic member 70 is compressed, so that the engine The hood 20 is biased upward. The elastic member 70 may be attached to the lower surface of the engine hood 20.

  The engine hood 20 is elastically supported by the vehicle body skeleton member 30 within a range in which the elastic member 70 can be bent under the state where the striker 61 is engaged with the latch unit 62, and the engine with respect to the vehicle body skeleton member 30 is Vibrations in the vertical direction of the hood 20 can be absorbed by the elastic member 70, and vibrations in the vehicle width direction and the front-rear direction can also be absorbed to some extent by the elastic member 70.

  A rear end 20 a of the engine hood 20 is pivotally attached to the vehicle body skeleton member 30 by a pair of left and right hood hinges 50. These hood hinges 50 have the same shape on the left and right, and FIGS. 3 and 4 show the hood hinge 50 on one side (right side when viewed from the front of the vehicle body 11). Since the other (left side) hood hinge 50 has the same structure, the one hood hinge 50 will be described below as a representative.

  The hood hinge 50 is attached to a part of the vehicle body skeleton member 30 (for example, the upper frame 31) at the rear portion of the engine room 21. The hood hinge 50 includes a fixed hinge piece 81, a movable hinge piece 82, and a hinge shaft 83. The fixed hinge piece 81 is fixed to the upper surface of the vehicle body skeleton member 30 by fixing means 85 such as welding. A base portion 82 a of the movable hinge piece 82 is fixed to the inner panel 41 of the engine hood 20 with a bolt 86.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the fixed hinge piece 81 and the movable hinge piece 82 are rotatably connected to each other by a hinge shaft 83. The hinge shaft 83 has a shaft portion 83a, a flange portion 83b, and an end member 83c fixed to the shaft portion 83a. The fixed hinge piece 81 and the movable hinge piece 82 are formed with holes 87 and 88 for inserting the hinge shaft 83, respectively. The axis Z of the hinge shaft 83 extends in the vehicle width direction Y (shown in FIG. 1).

  A friction reducing member 90 is provided on the hood hinge 50. The friction reducing member 90 is disposed on the friction surface of the movable part of the hood hinge 50, for example, between the hinge pieces 81 and 82 and the hinge shaft 83 and between the hinge pieces 81 and 82.

  An example of the friction reducing member 90 is compared with the case where the fixed hinge piece 81 and the movable hinge piece 82 are in direct contact with each other, such as a fluoro resin such as polytetrafluoroethylene or a low friction resin such as a polyamide-based polymer material. And it consists of a material with a small friction coefficient with respect to a metal. As another embodiment of the friction reducing member 90, a bearing using a rolling element such as a ball bearing may be used, or a metal bush having a small friction coefficient or a low friction metal bush containing a solid lubricant is used. May be.

  An example of the friction reducing member 90 is shown in FIG. The friction reducing member 90 includes a cylindrical portion 90a, a first flange portion 90b, a second flange portion 90c, and a third flange portion 90d. The cylindrical portion 90 a is provided around the shaft portion 83 a of the hinge shaft 83. The first flange 90 b is provided between the fixed hinge piece 81 and the movable hinge piece 82. The second flange portion 90 c is provided between the flange portion 83 b of the hinge shaft 83 and the fixed hinge piece 81. The third flange 90d is provided between the movable hinge piece 82 and the end member 83c. Holes 91, 92, 93 for inserting the shaft portion 83a are formed in the tube portion 90a and the flange portions 90c, 90d.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the engine hood 20 is supported by the vehicle body skeleton member 30 by the hood hinge 50 and the hood lock mechanism 60 in a state where the engine hood 20 is closed. The engine hood 20 functions as a mass body (mass) of the dynamic damper. The elastic member 70 having rubber elasticity functions as a “spring” that biases the hood hinge 50 upward. The engine hood 20, the hood hinge 50, the hood lock mechanism 60, the elastic member 70, and the like constitute a hood damper 100 for suppressing vibrations generated from the power plant 25.

  The hood damper 100 according to the present embodiment can obtain a desired vibration damping effect according to the in-car booming noise and the noise frequency range generated when the vibration generated from the power plant 25 is transmitted to the cabin 12 through the vehicle body skeleton member 30. As described above, the shape and number of the elastic member 70 with respect to the engine hood 20, the position of the elastic member 70, and the like are selected, and the natural frequency and the like of the hood damper 100 are adjusted so that vibration suppression is effective.

  A solid line L1 shown in FIG. 6 indicates the relationship between the frequency of the vehicle having the hood damper 100 provided with the friction reducing member 90 and the sound in the vehicle. A broken line L2 in FIG. 6 indicates the relationship between the frequency of the vehicle that does not have the hood damper 100 and the interior sound. A in FIG. 6 is the frequency range of the in-vehicle noise generated due to the vibration of the power plant 25. In this frequency range A, the vehicle body skeleton member 30 vibrates due to the vibration generated by the power plant 25, and further, this vibration excites the vibrations of the panels such as the windshield glass 13, dashboard, roof 14, etc. Car interior noise is generated by causing the air pressure fluctuations.

  When using a hood hinge that is not provided with the friction reducing member 90 as in the prior art, the effect of lowering the vibration peak in the frequency range A in FIG. 6 is reduced, which causes a loud sound in the vehicle. ing. In particular, when the movement of the hood hinge is deteriorated due to rusting or the like, the vibration of the power plant 25 tends to cause the vehicle interior sound depending on the vehicle.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the vehicle body skeleton member is obtained by the damping effect caused by the cooperation of the engine hood 20 pivotally attached to the vehicle body skeleton member 30 by the hood hinge 50 including the friction reducing member 90 and the elastic member 70. The excitation of 30 vibrations is suppressed, and the peak value of in-vehicle sound due to excitation of vibrations of panels such as the windshield glass 13, the dashboard, and the roof 14 can be reduced. In other words, when the engine hood 20 is used as a mass body of a dynamic damper, the friction reducing member 90 is added with a focus on the hood hinge 50 that has been considered to be irrelevant to the damping function. The food damper 100 could be obtained.

  In carrying out the present invention, a hood member that covers a vibration generation source other than the power plant may be used as a hood damper. In the case of a rear engine vehicle in which the engine is mounted on the rear portion of the vehicle body, the engine hood is also disposed on the rear portion of the vehicle body. In addition to the hood member, the specific aspects such as the structure, shape, number, material, design, arrangement, etc. of each element constituting the vehicle hood damper such as the hood hinge, the hood lock mechanism, and the elastic member are variously changed. Needless to say, this can be done.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Vehicle, 11 ... Vehicle body, 20 ... Engine hood (hood member), 21 ... Engine room, 25 ... Power plant, 30 ... Body frame member, 50 ... Hood hinge, 60 ... Hood lock mechanism, 70 ... Elastic member, 81 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Fixed hinge piece, 82 ... Movable hinge piece, 83 ... Hinge shaft, 90 ... Friction reduction member, 100 ... Vehicle food damper.

Claims (3)

A vehicle body skeleton member forming the skeleton of the vehicle body,
A hood member provided on the vehicle body;
A hood hinge having a hinge shaft rotatably supporting one end side of the hood member on the vehicle body skeleton member;
A hood lock mechanism that holds the other end of the hood member on the vehicle body skeleton member in a state where the hood member is closed;
An elastic member that is disposed between the vehicle body and the hood member and biases the hood member in a closed state in a pushing-up direction;
A friction reducing member disposed on the friction surface of the hood hinge ,
The friction reducing member includes a cylindrical portion provided at a shaft portion of the hinge shaft, a first flange portion provided between a fixed hinge piece and a movable hinge piece of the hood hinge, and a flange of the hinge shaft. And a second collar provided between the fixed hinge piece and a third collar provided between the end member fixed to the shaft and the movable hinge piece. A vehicle hood damper characterized by that.   The vehicle hood damper according to claim 1, wherein the hood member is an engine hood that covers an engine room. The friction reducing member is made of a low friction material having a small coefficient of friction against a metal compared to a case where the fixed hinge piece and the movable hinge piece are in direct contact with each other . Hood damper for vehicles.

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