JP6835898B2 - Car - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an automobile, and a hybrid vehicle in which an engine and a motor are used in combination as a traveling driving means is particularly suitable.

Hybrid vehicles that have both an engine and a motor (motor generator) as a driving drive means are excellent in fuel efficiency and are widely used. The hybrid vehicle is equipped with a large battery pack, which is generally located at the rear of the vehicle, and power is drawn to the engine compartment at the front of the vehicle by cables.

The engine and motor are located in the engine room, but since the drive power supply of the motor is high voltage, a power control unit (PCU) that controls the current and voltage to drive the motor is indispensable and is connected to the battery pack. The power cable is laid on the underside of the vehicle body and then pulled out to the engine room and connected to the PCU.

As described above, since the drive power source of the motor or the like has a high voltage, if the power cable is broken due to a collision accident and an electric leakage occurs, secondary damage is caused and it is dangerous. Therefore, it is necessary to take measures to protect the power cable from disconnection even in the event of a collision.

Regarding this point, Patent Document 1 provides a rearward protrusion on the PCU as a protective means when the power cable is arranged behind the PCU, and when the PCU retracts due to a collision accident, the protrusion is first dashboarded. Disclosed is a technique for preventing the cable from being pinched between the PCU and the dashboard by hitting.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-106423

Although the purpose of Patent Document 1 is to protect the heater cable, it is preferable to protect the main cable or the like connecting the PCU and the battery pack with a protector. However, even if it is protected by a protector, if the protector is damaged in a collision accident, the cable may be damaged by the damaged protector. Therefore, care should be taken not to apply an external force to the protector in the event of an accident.

On the other hand, the engine is provided with a throttle body that controls the intake air amount, and the throttle body is generally fixed to the intake manifold, but it is preferable that the throttle body can be arranged so that the space in the engine room can be effectively used.

The present invention has been made against the background of such a situation, and aims to prevent damage to a high-voltage cable in the event of a collision while making effective use of space.

The present invention is intended for automobiles, and this automobile is
"In the engine room separated from the inside of the vehicle by the dashboard, an engine equipped with an intake manifold with a throttle body is arranged in a rear intake posture in which the intake manifold faces the dashboard.
The throttle body is fixed to either the left or right side surface of the intake manifold. "
It has a basic structure.

And in the above basic configuration
"In the dashboard, a protector that surrounds the power cable is arranged at the rear part of the throttle body.
The intake manifold is provided with a rearward projection that hits the dashboard before the throttle body hits the protector when the intake manifold retracts due to a collision. "
The configuration is added.

In the present invention, since the space behind the throttle body (dead space) can be used as the space for arranging the power cable protection protector, the space in the engine room can be effectively used.

Then, when a collision accident occurs and the intake manifold retracts together with the engine, if the throttle body strongly hits the protector, the protector may be damaged by the impact and the cable may be broken. Since the rearward projection of the intake manifold hits the dashboard before the throttle body hits the protector, the distance between the protector and the throttle body is maintained.

That is, when the rearward projection of the intake manifold hits the dashboard, the protector retracts together with the dashboard, so that the throttle body can be prevented from hitting the protector strongly (even if the throttle body hits the protector, the impact on the protector is small. Therefore, the protector will not be damaged.) As a result, it is possible to prevent disconnection of the power cable in the event of an accident and prevent secondary damage caused by electric leakage or the like.

Further, since the rearward projection also functions as a reinforcing rib of the intake manifold, there is an advantage that the rigidity of the intake manifold can be improved. As described above, since the hybrid vehicle uses a high-voltage power supply, the problem when the power cable is broken becomes remarkable. However, in the present invention, the power cable can be protected in the event of an accident, which is particularly useful for the hybrid vehicle. Is.

It is a top view of the engine room. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. It is a VV sectional view of FIG. 2 and FIG. It is a figure which shows the action.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This embodiment is applied to a hybrid vehicle. In the following, the front-back and left-right words are used to specify the direction, but the front-back direction uses the front-back direction of the automobile. Therefore, the left-right direction is the vehicle width direction. When it is necessary to distinguish between right and left, it is specified as the direction seen by the driver. Just in case, the direction is clearly shown in each figure.

(1). Basic structure As shown in FIG. 1, an engine room (engine compartment) 3 partitioned from the inside of the vehicle 2 by a dashboard 1 is formed in the front part of the vehicle body, and the engine room 3 is in the front-rear direction. The engine (engine body) 4 is arranged in a substantially middle portion and a portion to the right of the above. As shown in FIG. 4, the engine 4 includes a cylinder block 4a, a two-layer cylinder head 4b fixed to the upper surface thereof, and a head cover 4c fixed to the upper surface of the cylinder head 4b.

The engine 4 is arranged horizontally with the crankshaft in a long posture in the vehicle width direction, and in a rear intake posture with the intake side facing backward and the exhaust side facing forward. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the intake manifold 5 is fixed to the rear surface of the engine 4 (rear surface of the cylinder head 4b), and the catalyst case 6 is connected to the front surface of the engine 4 (front surface of the cylinder head 4b). There is. The engine 4 of this embodiment has four cylinders.

Returning to FIG. 1, a left-right longitudinal front frame (radiator support) 7 is arranged in the front portion of the engine room 3, and a radiator 8 is arranged below the front frame 7. The upper tank of the radiator 8 and the left end of the engine 4 are connected by a feed pipe 9, and the lower tank of the radiator 8 and the water pump 10a are connected by a return pipe 10. The crank pulley (not shown) is arranged on the right side of the engine 4.

The air cleaner 11 is arranged in the left front part of the engine room 3, while the throttle body 12 is fixed to the left side surface of the intake manifold 5, and the air cleaner 11 and the throttle body 12 are connected by an intake duct 13. There is. Further, an air intake duct 14 is connected to the front end of the air cleaner 11. Reference numeral 15 in FIG. 1 is a PCV pipe that returns blow-by gas from the head cover 4c to the intake manifold 5.

A drive unit 16 containing a transmission and a motor generator is arranged on the left side of the engine 4, and a PCU (power control unit) 17 for controlling electric power is arranged on the upper surface of the drive unit 16. In FIG. 1, parallel diagonal lines are provided on the engine 4, the air cleaner 11, and the air intake duct 14, but this is a measure for clarifying the outer shape, and is not a cross-sectional display.

A part of the power cable 18 for supplying power to the PCU 17 is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, for example. The battery pack is located at the rear of the vehicle body, the power cable 18 runs along the underside of the vehicle body and then is pulled up along the front of the dashboard 1, and the connector 19 provided at the bottom of the engine room 3 Standing up from. The portion rising from the connector 19 is protected by the protector 20. The connector 19 is a sturdy box and includes a bracket 19a that partially covers the protector 20 from the front.

The protector 20 is made of synthetic resin, and as shown in FIG. 3, has a foot portion 20a fixed to the dashboard 1 with bolts and a protective portion 20b for wrapping the power cable 18. The protector 20 is designed to cover two power cables 18, and the protective portion 20b is bifurcated.

(2). Intake manifold As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the intake manifold 5 has a surge tank 21 and four branch pipes 22, and the branch pipes 22 rotate upward from the bottom to the rear. After changing the direction to, it extends toward you. The intake manifold 5 is made of synthetic resin, and a plurality of parts manufactured by injection molding are welded to form a hollow body.

By the way, the capacity of the surge tank 21 is determined in relation to the displacement, and the left and right length of the surge tank 21 is shorter than the left and right length of the cylinder head 4b, while the pitch of the tip of the branch pipe 22 is Since it is defined by the pitch of the intake port, the distribution portion composed of the four branch pipes 22 has a tip portion connected to the cylinder head 4b rather than the left-right width of the base end portion connected to the surge tank 21. The left and right width of is large.

Therefore, the distribution unit, which is composed of four branch pipes 22, has a shape in which the tip portion thereof is widened in the left-right direction with respect to the surge tank 21, but is composed of the branch pipes 22 as shown in FIG. In expanding the distribution section to the left, one branch pipe 22 at the left end is largely overhung on the left side of the left side surface of the surge tank 21, and the throttle body 12 is fixed to the portion surrounded by the overhung portion. ing. Therefore, the intake manifold 5 and the throttle body 12 are compactly integrated in one space, and the space can be effectively used accordingly.

The throttle body 12 is fixed to the left side surface of the surge tank 21, but as shown in FIG. 2, the tip of the throttle body 12 and the protector 20 partially overlap each other in the front view. Further, in the relationship between the intake manifold 5 and the protector 20, the overhanging leftmost branch pipe 22 has a height substantially located above the protector 20.

Since the protector 20 is located behind the throttle body 12, space can be effectively used, but since the heights of the protector 20 and the throttle body 12 partially overlap, a car or a collision accident occurs and the engine 4 It is conceivable that when the throttle body 12 hits the protector 20 violently, the protector 20 is damaged and the power cable 18 is disconnected.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5 (see also FIG. 3), a rearward projection 23 is formed on the rear surface of the left side portion of the intake manifold 5. That is, the rearward protrusion 23 is provided so that the distance L1 between the rearward protrusion 23 and the dashboard 1 is smaller than the distance L2 between the throttle body 12 and the protector 20. As shown in FIG. 4, the rearward projection 23 has a vertically long shape, and has a structure in which a plurality of the rearward projections 23 are formed in a frame body opened rearward.

Then, as shown in FIG. 6, when the intake manifold 5 retracts due to a collision accident, the protector 20 retracts due to the rearward projection 23 hitting the dashboard 1, so that the throttle body 12 does not hit the protector 20. Further, even if the throttle body 12 hits the protector 20, the degree of impact is small, so that the protector 20 is not damaged. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the protector 20 from being damaged and the power cable 18 from being disconnected, causing secondary damage.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a hollow portion 24 is formed so as to overlap the upper surface of the rearward projection 23, and the PCV pipe 15 is connected to the hollow portion 24. The hollow portion 24 communicates with the inside of the surge tank 21, but the hollow portion 24 may be formed in a horizontally long shape so as to cross each branch pipe 22 to distribute blow-by gas to each branch pipe 22. It is possible. Further, in the present embodiment, since the hollow portion 24 and the rearward projection 23 are integrally connected, a high rib effect can be exhibited and the rigidity of the intake manifold 5 can be improved.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the leftmost branch pipe 22 provided with the rearward projection 23 is offset slightly rearward with respect to the other branch pipes 22. Therefore, it can be said that one branch pipe 22 constitutes a part of the rearward projection 23, but since the branch pipe 22 is bent in an annular shape and has high rigidity, the dashboard 1 can be pushed out firmly.

Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the auxiliary protrusions 25 located behind the three branch pipes 22 are integrally formed in a state of being stepped down slightly toward the rearward projection 23. .. When the auxiliary protrusion 25 is provided in this way, the effect of pushing the dashboard 1 backward in the event of a collision is enhanced, so that there is an advantage that the function of releasing the protector 20 from the throttle body 12 can be improved.

Further, as described above, the rearward projection 23 of the present embodiment is formed in a frame shape that opens backward, but if the rearward projection 23 is formed in such a frame shape, there is an advantage that the weight is reduced and the strength is high. Further, as described above, the intake manifold 5 is manufactured by welding a plurality of parts, and the mating surfaces of the main parts are indicated by reference numerals 26 in FIG. 4, but the rearward projection 23 is orthogonal to the mating surface 26. It opens in the direction (die-cutting direction) 27. Therefore, it can be easily molded.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention can be embodied in various ways. For example, the rearward projection can be formed over approximately the entire left and right sides of the intake manifold.

The invention of the present application can be embodied in an automobile. Therefore, it can be used industrially.

1 Dashboard 2 Inside the car 3 Engine room 4 Engine 4 (engine body)
5 Intake manifold 11 Air cleaner 12 Throttle body 13 Intake duct 16 Drive unit including mission 17 PCU (power control unit)
18 Power cable 20 Protector 21 Surge tank that constitutes the intake manifold 22 Branch pipe that constitutes the intake manifold 23 Backward protrusion

Claims (1)

An engine equipped with an intake manifold with a throttle body is arranged in a rear intake posture in which the intake manifold faces the dashboard in an engine room separated from the inside of the vehicle by a dashboard.
The throttle body has a configuration in which it is fixed to either one of the left and right side surfaces of the intake manifold.
A protector that surrounds the power cable is arranged in a portion of the dashboard behind the throttle body.
The intake manifold is provided with a rearward projection that hits the dashboard before the throttle body hits the protector when the intake manifold retracts due to a collision accident.
Car.

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