JP6634254B2 - Vehicle wind noise reduction structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle wind noise reduction structure for suppressing wind noise generated near a front pillar.

  2. Description of the Related Art A vehicle such as an automobile has a windshield provided at an upper portion on the front side of a vehicle compartment, and front pillars provided on both sides in the width direction of the windshield. The front pillar is inclined rearward with the windshield from the lower end toward the upper end, and a side window is located on the rear side. At the lower end of the windshield, a cowl extending in the vehicle width direction of the body is installed, and drainage of rainwater flowing down from the windshield to the outside of the vehicle and introduction of outside air into the vehicle compartment are performed through the cowl (for example, Patent Document 1).

  The cowl is disposed between the windshield and the front hood. In recent years, a gutter-shaped cowl panel has become the mainstream instead of a box-shaped cowl box. Usually, the cowl panel is manufactured by resin injection molding, a gutter having a U-shaped cross section or a V-shaped cross section is formed immediately below the windshield, and both ends thereof are located inside the width direction of the front fender. . Note that the gutter is curved so as to follow the curvature of the lower end of the windshield in plan view and to move backward from the center to the left and right (for example, see Patent Document 2).

JP-A-8-127365 JP 2000-280934 A

  When a car is running, engine noise, tire noise, various wind noises, etc., are noises for the occupant, and are factors that impair occupant comfort. In particular, wind noise near the front pillars (hereinafter simply referred to as wind noise) is generated near a driver's seat or a passenger's seat near the head of an occupant, which may cause a decrease in comfort of the vehicle. The wind noise is generated by air flowing along the front surface of the windshield and flowing backward from the front pillar. In other words, the air flowing along the front of the windshield becomes a vertical vortex wrapping around the center of the vehicle immediately after separating at the trailing edge of the front pillar, colliding with the air flowing to the side of the front pillar, generating wind noise Let it.

  The loudness of the wind noise has a positive correlation with the amount of air flowing backward from the front pillar. In an automobile equipped with the above-described cowl panel, since the flow rate of air is large below the front pillar, the wind noise is large. That is, after a part of the air flowing along the front surface of the front hood blows into the gutter space of the cowl panel, the air flows in the gutter space curved rearward in the width direction. The air flowing at both ends in the width direction of the gutter space collides with the inner surface in the width direction of the front fender, changes its direction upwards, rides over the front fender, and flows in the width direction along the front surface of the windshield, and flows through the front pillar. Merges with the flow of air flowing into the lower part. As a result, the flow rate of the air that separates at the rear edge of the lower portion of the front pillar increases, and the above-described vertical vortex increases to increase the wind noise.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to suppress a wind noise of a vehicle that can suppress a merge of an air flow flowing through a gutter space of a cowl panel with an air flow near a front pillar and reduce wind noise. It is to provide a reduction structure.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a windshield provided above a main body, and a front windshield provided so as to rise obliquely upward from the main body toward the rear and supporting a side edge of the windshield. A vehicle having a pillar and a cowl provided below the windshield and constituting a gutter space, wherein a side end of the cowl is continuous with the gutter space and a side surface of the main body. An end portion is enlarged rearward, and an air flow discharge path having an opening on a side surface of the main body is provided, and the air flow discharge path is provided with a cross-sectional area changing portion that changes a flow path cross-sectional area. Have been.

  This increases the flow velocity of the air flowing in the cowl gutter space in the width direction, for example, when flowing through the air flow discharge passage, and discharges the air so as to reach a position laterally away from the side surface of the main body.

  According to the present invention, the air flowing in the width direction of the gutter space of the cowl is discharged such that the flow velocity is increased, for example, when the air flows through the air flow discharge path, and reaches a position laterally away from the side surface of the main body. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the merge of the air flow flowing through the cowl gutter space with the air flow near the front pillar, and it is possible to reduce wind noise.

1 is an overall perspective view of an automobile showing an embodiment of the present invention. It is an enlarged plan view of the A section in FIG. It is an enlarged side view of the A section in FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 3. It is a principal part top view which shows the effect | action of embodiment. It is a principal part side view which shows the effect | action of embodiment.

  1 to 7 show one embodiment of the present invention.

  The automobile 1 as a vehicle provided with the wind noise reduction structure of the present invention is a sedan type passenger car, and includes a front fender 2, a front hood 3, a front door 4, a rear door 5, a rear fender 6, and the like as shown in FIG. It has a main body 10 as an outer shell. A front pillar 11, a center pillar 12, and a rear pillar 13 extend upward from the main body 10, and a roof 14 is supported on the upper ends of the pillars 11 to 13.

  The front pillar 11 and the roof 14 support an outer edge of a windshield 15 defining an upper front surface of the vehicle compartment. The front glass 15 has a curved surface shape that is entirely inclined backward, and the front pillar 11 is inclined backward corresponding to the inclination of the side end of the front glass 15. The front door 4 and the rear door 5 hold side glasses 16 and 17 movably, respectively, and a door mirror 18 is mounted on the upper part of the front door 4.

  A cowl panel 20 of a resin injection molded product is mounted in front of the lower edge of the windshield 15 along the vehicle width direction. As shown in FIG. 4, the cowl panel 20 has a gutter groove 21 having an arc-shaped cross section so as to discharge rainwater flowing from the front hood 3 and the windshield 15 during traveling in rain. The gutter groove 21 is curved so as to go rearward from the center to the left and right so as to follow the curve at the lower end side of the windshield 15. A gutter space 22 having a semicircular cross section is defined.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the cowl panel 20 is formed with a plurality of outside air introduction holes 23 for introducing outside air into the vehicle compartment, and a rubber seal 24 that is in close contact with the lower surface of the front hood 3 is attached to a front end. I have. The cowl panel 20 covers a wiper mechanism (a wiper motor and a wiper arm) (not shown) attached to the bulkhead.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the front fender 2 is formed with an air flow discharge hole 31 as an oblong opening that is long in the front and rear directions. The airflow discharge hole 31 is located immediately below the base of the front pillar 11 in the front-rear direction and below the rising start portion of the front pillar 11 with respect to the main body 10 in the vertical direction.

  At the side end of the cowl panel 20, an air flow discharge duct 41 as a cylindrical air flow discharge passage made of a resin injection molded product is provided so as to allow the gutter space 22 to communicate with the air flow discharge hole 31 of the front fender 2. ing. The air flow discharge duct 41 has a substantially constant vertical width over the entire length, but as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, from the inner end (air flow introduction side) 41a to the outer end (air flow discharge side) 41b. By gradually reducing the front-rear width uniformly toward the front, a cross-sectional area changing portion 41c is formed in which the flow path cross-sectional area gradually decreases uniformly from the inner end 41a to the outer end 41b. The airflow discharge duct 41 has a front-rear width that extends rearward from the cross-sectional area change portion 41c to the outer end 41b, and the outer end 41b is fitted into the airflow discharge hole 31.

  When the vehicle 1 configured as described above travels forward, most of the air flowing through the upper part of the front hood 3 flows rearward from the windshield 15 via the roof 14 and the front pillar 11, and The part flows into the gutter space 22 of the cowl panel 20.

  The air circulating in the width direction along the front surface of the windshield 15 and circulating to the rear edge of the front pillar 11 immediately after being separated at the rear edge of the front pillar 11 as shown by arrows in FIGS. It becomes a vertical vortex wrapping around the center of the vehicle body and collides with air flowing on the side of the front pillar 11 to generate wind noise.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the air flowing into the gutter space 22 flows in the gutter space 22 along the gutter groove 21 curved so that both ends face rearward toward the widthwise end. Then, after being introduced into the air flow discharge duct 41, the air passes through the air flow discharge duct 41 and is discharged from the air flow discharge hole 31 of the front fender 2. At this time, since the air flow discharge duct 41 is formed with the cross-sectional area changing portion 41c in which the flow path cross-sectional area decreases gradually uniformly from the inner end 41a to the outer end 41b, the air flowing through the air flow discharge duct 41 is formed. As shown in FIG. 5, the gas is discharged obliquely rearward from the airflow discharge hole 31 with the flow velocity gradually increased. As a result, the air that has flowed into the cowl panel 20 reaches a position relatively distant from the surface of the front door 4 to the side and flows backward, so that it is difficult for the air to flow into the air flow near the front pillar 11. In addition, an increase in wind noise caused by the strengthening of the vertical vortex is effectively suppressed. Since the front-rear width of the air flow discharge duct 41 is increased rearward from the cross-sectional area changing portion 41c to the outer end 41b, the air whose flow velocity has been increased by the cross-sectional area changing portion 41c is removed by the air flow. It is smoothly discharged obliquely rearward from the discharge hole 31.

  As described above, according to the wind noise reduction structure of the vehicle of the present embodiment, the side end of the cowl panel 20 is continuous with the gutter space 22 and has the air flow discharge hole 31 on the side surface of the front fender 2. A flow discharge duct 41 is provided, and the air flow discharge duct 41 is provided with a cross-sectional area changing portion 41c whose cross-sectional area changes.

  The cross-sectional area changing portion 41c has a portion where the cross-sectional area of the flow passage of the airflow discharge duct 41 gradually decreases.

  Thus, the air flowing in the width direction of the gutter space 22 of the cowl panel 20 is discharged so as to increase the flow velocity when flowing through the air flow discharge duct 41 and reach a position laterally away from the side surface of the front fender 2. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the merge of the air flow flowing through the gutter space 22 of the cowl panel 20 with the air flow at the lower part of the front pillar 11, and it is possible to reduce wind noise.

  The outer end 41b of the airflow discharge duct 41 is enlarged rearward.

  Thereby, the air whose flow velocity has been increased by the cross-sectional area changing portion 41c is smoothly discharged obliquely rearward from the airflow discharge hole 31, so that the air flowing into the cowl panel 20 can be more reliably discharged from the front door 4 surface. It is possible to reach a position distant to the side.

  The present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and can be variously modified. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to a sedan type passenger car. However, the present invention is naturally applicable to a one-box type car, a minivan type (so-called 1.5 box type) car, a convertible type car, and the like. is there. In addition, the air flow discharge hole is not limited to the front fender illustrated in the above-described embodiment, and may be installed in a front pillar, a front door, or a front hood according to a difference in a body configuration or a dimension of each part.

  Further, in the air flow discharge duct 41 of the embodiment, the portion where the flow path cross-sectional area gradually decreases from the inner end to the outer end is shown as the cross-sectional area changing portion 41c. In order to smoothly introduce air into the duct, a gradually increasing cross-sectional area changing portion in which the flow path cross-sectional area gradually increases toward the inner end may be provided, or the gradually increasing cross-sectional area changing portion may be provided. You may make it provide both with the cross-sectional area change part of a type | mold. Further, in the airflow discharge duct 41 of the embodiment, the vertical width is changed while the vertical width is substantially constant, but the vertical width may be changed while the vertical width is substantially constant. Further, the cowl panel may be a press-formed product such as a steel plate, or may have a gutter groove having a V-shaped cross-section defining a gutter space having an inverted triangular cross-section.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Car, 2 ... Front fender, 3 ... Front hood, 10 ... Main body, 11 ... Front pillar, 15 ... Windshield, 20 ... Cowl panel, 21 ... Gutter groove, 22 ... Gutter space, 31 ... Air flow discharge hole , 32 ... rectifying plate, 41 ... airflow discharge duct, 41b ... outer end, 41c ... cross-sectional area change portion.

Claims (3)

A windshield provided above the main body; a front pillar provided so as to rise diagonally upward from the main body toward the rear to support a side edge of the windshield; and a gutter provided below the windshield. And a cowl constituting a space,
At the side end of the cowl, an end of the side of the main body that is continuous with the gutter space is enlarged rearward, and an air flow discharge passage having an opening on the side of the main body is provided. And
The wind noise reduction structure of a vehicle, wherein a cross-sectional area changing portion that changes a cross-sectional area of the flow path is provided in the airflow discharge path. The wind noise reduction structure for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the cross-sectional area changing portion has a portion where a flow path cross-sectional area gradually decreases. 3. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the opening of the airflow discharge passage is formed in any one of a front fender, the front pillar, a door, and a front hood that constitute the main body. 4. Wind noise reduction structure.

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