JP6564729B2 - Air duct and grill shutter unit - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an air duct and a grill shutter unit.

  In recent years, a grill shutter may be mounted on a vehicle in order to improve fuel consumption. Such a grill shutter is generally disposed inside the radiator grill and in the vicinity of the entrance of the engine room, and prevents outside air from flowing into the engine room as necessary. Further, as shown in Patent Document 1, an air duct that guides outside air toward the grill shutter may be installed in front of the grill shutter.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2015-174528

  By the way, the air duct disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a flexible part for reliably deforming when a vehicle collides, and is arranged so that the front part is in surface contact with the surrounding parts from the outside. Has been. On the other hand, in order to ensure the sealing performance between the air duct and the surrounding parts, the front part may be brought into contact with the surrounding parts from the inside. In such a case, in order to obtain higher sealing performance, the front part of the air duct is brought into contact with the surrounding parts from an oblique direction, and the air duct is reliably brought into contact with the surrounding parts over the entire circumference. preferable.

  However, the conventional air duct has a high rigidity in the front portion that abuts against the surrounding parts. For this reason, there is a possibility that a part of the front portion of the air duct is strongly pressed against the surrounding parts due to dimensional errors of the air duct or the like. In such a case, a high stress is always generated on the air duct and surrounding parts, and the durability period is shortened to increase the frequency of replacement of the air duct and surrounding parts.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and it is an object of the present invention to reduce the load on an air duct for a vehicle and surrounding parts with which the air duct is brought into contact, and to improve the durability period of the air duct and the surrounding parts. To do.

  The present invention adopts the following configuration as means for solving the above-described problems.

  A first aspect of the present invention is an air duct that is connected to an opening formed in the front surface of a vehicle and guides outside air flowing in from the opening to a grille shutter, and includes a frame-like base portion and a vehicle front from the base portion. And a flexible seal portion that extends toward the outside and contacts the surrounding parts from the inside to the outside of the opening.

  According to a second invention, in the first invention, the flexible seal portion is configured such that a tip is located outside the base portion and is curved from the base portion toward the tip. To do.

  According to a third invention, in the second invention, the flexible seal portion is curved from the base portion toward the tip so that a midway portion bulges toward the outside of the base portion. Adopt a configuration that

  According to a fourth invention, in any one of the first to third inventions, the flexible seal portion is configured such that the thickness dimension of the tip is set smaller than the base portion on the base portion side. To do.

  5th invention is a grille shutter unit, Comprising: The grille shutter which adjusts the inflow amount of the external air to an engine room, The air duct which is one of the said 1st-4th invention fixed to the front surface of the said grille shutter The configuration is provided with.

  In the present invention, a flexible seal portion having flexibility is provided as a front portion of the air duct. Further, in the present invention, the sealing property at the boundary between the air duct and the peripheral component is ensured by contacting the flexible seal portion with respect to the peripheral component from the inside to the outside of the opening. According to the present invention, since the flexible seal portion has flexibility, a dimensional error has occurred in the air duct or surrounding parts, or an installation error has occurred in the air duct or surrounding parts. Even if it is a case, a big stress does not generate | occur | produce with respect to a flexible seal part and surrounding components because a flexible seal part deform | transforms. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the load on the air duct for the vehicle and the surrounding parts with which the air duct abuts, and improve the durability period of the air duct and the surrounding parts.

It is a perspective view of the vehicle front part containing the exploded perspective view of the grille shutter unit of a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a typical longitudinal section containing the grill shutter unit of a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a typical longitudinal section containing the grill shutter unit of a 2nd embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of an air duct and a grille shutter unit according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following drawings, the scale of each member is appropriately changed in order to make each member a recognizable size.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the front portion of the vehicle including an exploded perspective view of the grill shutter unit 1 of the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the vehicle 100 is provided with a front bumper 101 along the vehicle width direction on the front side. A grill opening 102 (opening) communicating with the engine room is formed on the lower side of the front bumper 101. The grill shutter unit 1 according to the present embodiment is disposed so as to be connected to the grill opening 102 as shown in FIG. 1 and is fixed to the vehicle body.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the grill shutter unit 1 of this embodiment includes a grill shutter 2 and an air duct 3. As shown in FIG. 1, the grill shutter 2 includes a frame 2a, a flap member 2b, an actuator 2c, and a link member 2d. The frame 2a has an outer edge 2a1 that is substantially rectangular when viewed from the front of the vehicle 100, and a support 2a2 that extends in the vertical direction and is attached to the center of the outer edge 2a1. In such a frame 2a, a region surrounded by a substantially rectangular outer edge 2a1 is divided in the horizontal direction by the support 2a2. The frame 2a is formed of a composite material including, for example, polypropylene resin and glass fiber.

  In the region surrounded by the outer edge 2a1 of the frame 2a, three flap members 2b are arranged in each region divided by the support column 2a2. In order to rotatably support such a flap member 2b, the frame 2a includes a plurality of shaft holes 2a3 provided on the sides of the support column 2a2 and shaft holes 2a4 provided in the outer edge portion 2a1. The shaft hole 2a3 and the shaft hole 2a4 are provided one by one with respect to one flap member 2b, and the shaft hole 2a3 and the shaft hole 2a4 that support the same flap member 2b face each other in the horizontal direction. It is provided as follows.

  Three flap members 2b are arranged in the vertical direction with respect to the left and right sides of the column 2a2, and a total of six flap members 2b are provided in the present embodiment. One of these flap members 2b is a driving flap member 2b1 that is directly connected to the actuator 2c, and the remaining five are driven flap members 2b2 that are connected to the driving flap member 2b1 by a link member 2d. These flap members 2b are rotatably supported at one end in the horizontal direction by a shaft hole 2a3 provided in the column 2a2, and the other end is rotated by a shaft hole 2a4 provided in the outer edge 2a1. It is supported movably. Further, these flap members 2b have substantially the same shape, and when viewed from the front side of the vehicle 100, between the closed posture in which the projection area is maximum in the movable range and the open posture in which the projection area is minimum. Is rotated. Note that these flap members 2b are provided so as to partially overlap in the vertical direction when viewed from the front side of the vehicle 100 in the closed posture, and the outside air passes through the outer edge portion 2a1 of the frame 2a by the closed posture. To prevent. Similar to the frame 2a, such a flap member 2b is formed of a composite material including, for example, polypropylene resin and glass fiber.

  The drive flap member 2b1 is disposed at the center of the three flap members 2b arranged in the vertical direction on one side of the support post 2a2, and the left and right ends are pivotally supported by the transmission of power from the actuator 2c. Is rotated. The actuator 2c includes a servo motor, a solenoid, and the like as a drive source, and generates power for rotating the flap member 2b under the control of the engine control unit. The link member 2d connects the driving flap member 2b1 and the driven flap member 2b2, and drives the driven flap member 2b2 by transmitting the power transmitted from the actuator 2c to the driving flap member 2b1 to the driven flap member 2b2. The flap member 2b1 is rotated synchronously.

  In such a grille shutter 2, the flap member 2b is closed by the actuator 2c, thereby preventing outside air from flowing into the grille opening 102. Further, the outside air can be taken into the grill opening 102 by opening the flap member 2b by the actuator 2c. In addition, the attitude | position of the flap member 2b can also be arbitrarily set between a closed attitude | position and an open attitude | position, In such a case, the external air of the flow volume according to the attitude | position (namely, opening degree) of the flap member 2b is grilled. It can be taken into the opening 102. In other words, the grill shutter 2 adjusts the amount of outside air flowing into the engine room.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view including the grill shutter unit 1 of the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the air duct 3 is fixed to a frame 2 a included in the grill shutter 2 and is disposed in front of the grill shutter 2. The air duct 3 has an annular shape along the frame 2 a of the grill shutter 2, and guides outside air flowing into the grill opening 102 to the grill shutter 2.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the air duct 3 includes a base portion 3a located on the vehicle rear side (the grill shutter 2 side) and a flexible seal portion 3b located on the vehicle front side (the grill opening portion 102 side). And are integrated. The base portion 3a is a frame-shaped portion that extends from the grill shutter 2 toward the upstream side of the flow of outside air (the left side in FIG. 2). The base portion 3 a is in contact with the front end edge of the frame 2 a of the grille shutter 2 at the rear end edge. The base portion 3a is, for example, a thickness of about 5 mm, and is a portion having high flexibility without having flexibility. By fixing the base portion 3 a to the frame 2 a of the grill shutter 2, the air duct 3 is firmly fixed to the grill shutter 2.

  The flexible seal portion 3b extends further from the base portion 3a toward the front of the vehicle, and is a portion that abuts the surrounding member from the inside of the grill opening 102 toward the outside. The flexible seal portion 3b has low rigidity with respect to the base portion 3a and has flexibility that can be easily deformed. The flexible seal portion 3b is formed over the entire circumference of the base portion 3a along the base portion 3a. ing. That is, the flexible seal portion 3b is also formed in an annular shape like the base portion 3a. The thickness of the flexible seal portion 3b is continuously reduced from the root portion connected to the base portion 3a toward the tip, and the thickness at the tip is the root portion ( That is, it is set to 1/10 or less of the thickness dimension of the base part 3a). That is, when the base portion 3a has a thickness dimension of 5 mm, for example, the thickness dimension at the tip of the flexible seal portion 3b is 0.5 mm or less.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, around the air duct 3, a reinforcement 110, a bracket apron 120, and an air guide (not shown) are arranged as peripheral components. The reinforcement 110 is a skeleton member installed on the back side of the front bumper 101 and is disposed above the air duct 3. The bracket apron 120 is a part for preventing foreign matter from entering the lower part of the vehicle, and is disposed below the air duct 3. The air guide (not shown) is a part for suppressing the outside air that has passed through the grill opening 102 from spreading sideways, and is disposed on both sides of the air duct 3. The distal end of the flexible seal portion 3b is in contact with the reinforcement 110, the bracket apron 120, and an air guide (not shown).

  Further, the flexible seal portion 3b has a distal end positioned outside the base portion 3a as viewed from the direction of the outside air flow (front of the vehicle), and is further curved from the base portion 3a toward the distal end. In this embodiment, the flexible seal portion 3b is curved so that a midway portion bulges toward the inside of the region surrounded by the base portion 3a.

  The air duct 3 in which the base portion 3a and the flexible seal portion 3b are integrated can be formed by, for example, injection molding PVC (polyvinyl chloride) or TPE (thermoplastic elastomer).

  In the grill shutter unit 1 of the present embodiment having such a configuration, the outside air flowing from the grill opening 102 is guided to the grill shutter 2 by the air duct 3. Here, when the flap member 2b of the grill shutter 2 is in the open posture, outside air is supplied into the engine room. On the other hand, when the flap member 2b of the grill shutter 2 is in the closed posture, the outside air is shielded by the flap member 2b, and the intrusion of outside air into the engine room is prevented. At this time, in the grill shutter unit 1 of the present embodiment, the flexible seal portion 3b of the air duct 3 is in contact with the surrounding components (reinforce 110, bracket apron 120, etc.), and the outside air leaks around the air duct 3. This can be prevented.

  As described above, the grill shutter unit 1 of the present embodiment is provided with the flexible seal portion 3 b having flexibility as the front portion of the air duct 3. In the grill shutter unit 1 of the present embodiment, the boundary between the air duct 3 and the surrounding parts is formed by the flexible seal portion 3b coming into contact with the surrounding parts from the inside to the outside of the grill opening 102. The sealing performance is secured. According to the grill shutter unit 1 of this embodiment, since the flexible seal portion 3b has flexibility, a dimensional error occurs in the air duct 3 or surrounding parts, Even if there is a component mounting error, a large stress is not generated on the flexible seal portion 3b and surrounding components due to the deformation of the flexible seal portion 3b. Therefore, according to the grill shutter unit 1 of the present embodiment, it is possible to reduce the load on the air duct 3 and the surrounding parts with which the air duct 3 is abutted, and to improve the durability period of the air duct 3 and the surrounding parts.

  Furthermore, according to the grill shutter unit 1 of the present embodiment, since the flexible seal portion 3b can be easily deformed, even if the position of the air duct 3 fluctuates with respect to surrounding parts due to vibration during traveling of the vehicle. Sealability can be maintained.

  Further, in the grill shutter unit 1 of the present embodiment, the flexible seal portion 3b is positioned at the outer end of the base portion 3a when viewed from the outside air flow direction (front of the vehicle), and further from the base portion 3a to the front end. Is curving towards. For example, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the tip is brought into contact with the surrounding parts by expanding the air duct 3 toward the front of the vehicle at a uniform inclination angle. However, in this case, it is difficult to increase the inclination angle of the air duct 3 in order to set the flow direction of the outside air supplied to the grill shutter 2 along the vehicle front-rear direction. For this reason, in order to make the front-end | tip of the air duct 3 contact | abut to surrounding components, it becomes necessary to lengthen the full length of the air duct 3. FIG. On the other hand, according to the grill shutter unit 1 of the present embodiment, since only the flexible seal portion 3b that is the front portion of the air duct 3 is curved, the root portion (that is, the base portion 3a) of the air duct 3 is formed. Without increasing the diameter, the entire length of the air duct 3 can be kept short.

  Further, in the grill shutter unit 1 of the present embodiment, the flexible seal portion 3b is set to have a thickness at the tip smaller than that of the base portion on the base portion 3a side. Thus, since the flexibility of the flexible seal portion 3b is obtained by reducing the thickness dimension, the base portion 3a and the flexible seal portion 3b can be formed of the same material. Therefore, the air duct can be easily formed by one injection molding.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the description of the present embodiment, the description of the same parts as those of the first embodiment is omitted or simplified.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view including the grill shutter unit 1A of the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the grill shutter unit 1A of the present embodiment includes an air duct 3A in which the tip of the flexible seal portion 3b is curved on the opposite side to the first embodiment.

  In other words, in the air duct 3A of the grill shutter unit 1A of the present embodiment, the flexible seal portion 3b in the present embodiment has a midway portion that bulges toward the outside of the region surrounded by the base portion 3a. It is curved.

  According to the grill shutter unit 1A of the present embodiment, when the grill shutter unit 1A is attached to the vehicle, it can be easily disposed at a predetermined position from the front side of the vehicle through a space surrounded by surrounding parts. It becomes. That is, when the grill shutter unit 1A is attached from the front side of the vehicle through the space surrounded by the surrounding parts, it is possible to prevent the tip of the flexible seal portion 3b from being caught by the surrounding parts.

  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 said embodiment. Various shapes, combinations, and the like of the constituent members shown in the above-described embodiments are examples, and various modifications can be made based on design requirements and the like without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  For example, in the said embodiment, the structure by which the flexible seal | sticker part 3b was curved was employ | adopted. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to adopt a configuration that is inclined with respect to an axis along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle so that the diameter of the flexible seal portion 3b is increased.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, the structure which acquires flexibility because the thickness dimension becomes small toward the front-end | tip at the flexible seal | sticker part 3b was employ | adopted. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which flexibility is obtained by forming the flexible seal portion 3b with a material having low rigidity with respect to the base portion 3a. In such a case, the flexible seal portion 3b and the base portion 3a can have the same thickness dimension.

  In the above embodiment, the configuration in which the air duct 3 has a symmetrical shape in the vertical and horizontal directions has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Normally, different peripheral parts are arranged around the air duct 3 and have different shapes. For this reason, it is preferable that the shape of the flexible seal portion 3b of the air duct 3 is a shape that matches the surrounding components to be abutted. In this case, the air duct 3 is asymmetrical in the vertical and horizontal directions. In such a case, a bellows-shaped stretchable region may be formed at the boundary between the regions of the flexible seal portion 3b that contacts different peripheral components. As a result, the flexible seal portion 3b can be more closely attached to the surrounding components.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, the structure which the thickness dimension reduces continuously toward the front-end | tip of the flexible seal part 3b was demonstrated. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the flexible seal portion 3b gradually decreases in thickness toward the tip.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Grill shutter unit, 1A ... Grill shutter unit, 2 ... Grill shutter, 3 ... Air duct, 3a ... Base part, 3A ... Air duct, 3b ... Flexible seal part, 100 ... Vehicle, 102 …… Grill opening (opening), 110 …… Rainforce (peripheral parts), 120 …… Bracket apron (peripheral parts)

Claims (3)

An air duct that is connected to an opening that is opened at the front of the vehicle and guides outside air that has flowed from the opening to the grille shutter,
A frame-shaped base portion;
A flexible seal portion that extends from the base portion toward the front of the vehicle and abuts against surrounding components from the inside to the outside of the opening, and
It said flexible sealing portion, the tip is located outside of the base portion such that said portion halfway toward the inside of the base portion is bulged, being bent toward the tip end from the base portion ,
The air duct according to claim 1, wherein the tip of the flexible seal portion is in contact with a surface of the surrounding component from a direction perpendicular to the surface .   2. The air duct according to claim 1, wherein the flexible seal portion is set to have a thickness dimension at a tip smaller than that of a base portion on the base portion side. A grille shutter for adjusting the amount of outside air flowing into the engine room;
A grill shutter unit comprising: the air duct according to claim 1 or 2 fixed to a front surface of the grill shutter.

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