JP7087992B2 - Vehicle quarter wheel house - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a quarter wheel house of a vehicle and particularly to its structure.

Many vehicles, such as passenger cars, have a quarter wheel house at the rear of the vehicle that surrounds the front, rear, and above the rear wheels. In addition, a refueling pipe is arranged at the rear of the vehicle body to introduce fuel into the fuel tank. An opening may be provided in the quarter wheel house and the end of the refueling pipe may be placed in this opening. The following Patent Document 1 shows the structure of the rear part of the vehicle body of an open car (V), particularly the structure around the quarter wheel house (rear wheel house 13). Further, paragraph 0049 and the like refer to the deformation of the quarter wheel house (13) at the time of a rear collision. The member names and reference numerals in () above are the reference numerals used in Patent Document 1 below, and are not related to the member names and reference numerals used in the description of the embodiments of the present application.

JP-A-2017-165352

When the end of the refueling pipe is arranged in the opening provided in the quarter wheel house, the end of the refueling pipe may receive a load from the deformed quarter wheel house at the time of a rear collision.

It is an object of the present invention to reduce the load transmitted from the quarter wheel house to the end of the refueling pipe at the time of a rear collision, or to prevent the load from being transmitted.

The quarter wheel house of the vehicle according to the present invention is located inside the wheel house outer having an opening in which the end of the refueling pipe is arranged at the upper part and the wheel house outer in the left-right direction of the vehicle. Featuring a wheelhouse inner that is joined to the outer to form a wheelhouse with the wheelhouse outer, the wheelhouse inner is the front wheelhouse inner front and the rear wheelhouse inner front trailing edge. And the wheel house inner rear joined at the front edge, on the upper surface of the wheel house outer, in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, behind the opening where the end of the refueling pipe is located and in the wheel house inner rear. A bead extending in the left-right direction of the vehicle is formed at the position of the front edge or in front of this front edge .
The plate thickness of the wheel house inner front can be thinner than the plate thickness of the wheel house inner rear.

At the time of a rear collision, the bead becomes the starting point of bending and the quarter wheel house is deformed, the deformation around the opening in front of the bead is suppressed, and the load transmitted to the end of the refueling pipe can be reduced.

It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the rear part of the body of a convertible car. It is a perspective view which shows the state which looked at the schematic structure of a quarter wheel house and its surroundings from an oblique rear view. It is a perspective view which shows the schematic structure of a quarter wheel house and its surroundings as seen from the side and diagonally above. It is a top view which shows the schematic structure of a quarter wheel house and its surroundings. It is a side view which shows the schematic structure of a quarter wheel house and its surroundings. It is a figure which enlarges and shows the circumference of the opening of a quarter wheel house.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, the terms indicating the direction and direction such as front-back, left-right, up-down, etc. indicate the direction and direction with respect to the vehicle. Further, in the left-right direction (width direction) of the vehicle, the side near the center line extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle is described as the inside in the vehicle width direction, and the far side is described as the outside in the vehicle width direction. In each figure, the direction of the arrow FR is forward, the direction of the arrow UP is upward, the direction of the arrow LH is to the left, and the direction of the arrow OUT is the outside in the vehicle width direction.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the vehicle body 10 of a roof retractable open car (convertible vehicle), particularly the rear portion of the vehicle body. Quarter panels 12, which are a part of the vehicle outer panel, are arranged on the left and right sides of the rear part of the vehicle body 10. In many cases, either the left or right quarter panel 12, or the left quarter panel 12 in the illustrated example, is provided with a fuel lid 14 that covers the fuel supply port. When refueling, the fuel lid 14 is opened to expose the refueling port arranged inside.

The quarter wheel house 16 is located inside the quarter panel 12 in the vehicle width direction. When viewed from the side, the quarter wheel house 16 surrounds the front and rear wheels (not shown) and the upper side in an arch shape. Further, when the quarter wheel house 16 is viewed from the rear, the upper portion is curved upward to secure a movable space for the wheel that moves up and down. Hereinafter, the quarter wheel house 16 will be referred to as a wheel house 16.

2 to 5 are views showing a schematic configuration of the wheel house 16 on the side where the fuel filler port is provided and its surroundings. 2 is a perspective view showing a state of being viewed from diagonally rearward, FIG. 3 is a side view, FIG. 4 is a plan view, and FIG. 5 is a side view.

The wheel house 16 is formed by joining the wheel house outer 18 and the wheel house inner 20 located inside the wheel house outer 18 in the vehicle width direction. Both the wheel house outer 18 and the wheel house inner 20 are made of sheet metal such as steel plate. The wheel house inner 20 consists of two parts arranged in the front and rear. The front part of the wheel house inner 20 is referred to as a wheel house inner front 22, and the rear portion is referred to as a wheel house inner rear 24. The trailing edge of the wheelhouse inner front 22 and the leading edge of the wheelhouse inner rear 24 are overlapped and joined by welding, for example spot welding. The leading edge 24a of the stacked wheelhouse inner rear 24 is shown by the dashed line in FIG.

An outer flange 26 and an inner flange 28 are provided on the opposite edges of the wheel house outer 18 and the wheel house inner 20, respectively, and these are spot-welded and joined.

In the front part of the upper part of the wheel house 16, a refueling pipe accommodating portion 32 for accommodating the upper end portion of the refueling pipe 30 is provided so as to bulge upward. The refueling pipe 30 is arranged in the space inside the bulging portion. From here, the refueling pipe 30 faces downward along the inner space of the wheel house 16, particularly the inner wall surface, extends inward in the vehicle width direction from the lower edge of the inner wall surface, and faces the fuel tank (not shown). The refueling pipe accommodating portion 32 is composed of an outer portion 32a provided on the wheel house outer 18 and an inner portion 32b provided on the wheel house inner 20.

The refueling pipe accommodating portion 32, particularly the outer portion 32a, is formed with an opening 34 facing outward in the vehicle width direction, particularly diagonally upward. An end portion of the refueling pipe 30 having a refueling port (hereinafter referred to as a refueling pipe end portion 36) is located in the opening 34. In this example, the refueling pipe end portion 36 is arranged so that a part thereof protrudes from the opening 34 (see FIG. 2).

A substantially annular reinforcing plate 38 is arranged and joined around the opening 34 of the wheel house outer 18. The reinforcing plate 38 has a reinforcing plate flange 40 on the upper edge, and the reinforcing plate flange 40 is overlapped with the outer flange 26 and the inner flange 28 of the wheel house outer 18 and the wheel house inner 20 and spot welded together. There is.

A suspension tower 42 is formed in the wheel house inner rear 24 so as to bulge upward. Inside the suspension tower 42, upper ends such as suspension springs and shock absorbers are housed, and these are coupled to the upper part of the suspension tower 42. The rigidity of the suspension tower 42 and its surroundings greatly affects maneuverability and the like. In particular, in the case of an open car, since it cannot be expected that the rigidity is secured by the superstructure such as the roof, the rigidity of the portion other than the superstructure, for example, the rigidity of the suspension tower 42 itself is increased. Therefore, the plate thickness of the wheel house inner rear 24 is thicker than that of the wheel house inner front 22. In this example, the plate thickness of the wheel house inner rear 24 is about three times that of the wheel house inner front 22.

A link group 44 of a roof opening / closing mechanism for opening / closing a retractable roof (not shown) is arranged between the suspension tower 42 and the inner flange 28 on the upper surface of the wheel house inner 20. Each link constituting the link group 44 is rotatably or rotatably connected to a base plate 46 fixed to the upper surface of the wheel house inner 20 and, in some cases, allowed to slide. .. In this example, the base plate 46 is fixed to the wheelhouse inner rear 24 and its front end is substantially at the same position as the leading edge 24a of the wheelhouse inner rear 24. As shown in FIG. 5, in front of the wheel house 16, a window regulator guide plate 48 for raising and lowering the quarter window glass is arranged. A plurality of slots are formed in the guide plate 48, the follower 49 moves along the slots, and the window glass held by the follower 49 moves up and down.

At the time of a rear surface collision, the wheel house 16 collapses in the front-rear direction due to the collision load from the rear. It is necessary to prevent the refueling pipe 30, particularly the end portion 36 of the refueling pipe, from being deformed due to the deformation of the wheel house 16. Further, in front of the wheel house 16, there is a guide plate 48 of the window regulator, and the entire wheel house 16 cannot move forward because of the guide plate 48. As a result, the refueling pipe end portion 36 may be deformed by the deformed wheel house 16. Therefore, it is necessary to deform the wheel house 16 behind the opening 34 by the load from the rear to suppress the deformation around the opening 34.

In the wheel house 16, a bead 50 is formed behind an opening 34 in which a refueling pipe end portion 36 is arranged. In particular, the bead 50 can be formed behind the reinforcing plate 38. The bead 50 extends in the left-right direction and is formed by recessing the upper surface of the wheel house outer 18. The bead 50 may be formed in a bulging shape so that the upper surface is convex. By providing the bead 50, this portion has a fragile structure that is easily bent by a load in the front-rear direction. When a collision load is applied from the rear, the upper surface of the wheel house 16 bends from the bead 50 because the portion of the bead 50 is vulnerable to the surroundings, and the deformation of the refueling pipe accommodating portion 32 located in front of the bead 50. Is suppressed, and deformation of the refueling pipe end portion 36 inside the refueling pipe accommodating portion 32 is avoided.

The bead 50 can be positioned in front of the joint portion between the wheel house inner front 22 and the wheel house inner rear 24 (particularly, the outer end of the joint portion in the vehicle width direction). As mentioned above, the wheelhouse inner rear 24 is thick, so that it has high rigidity and strength. Further, the base plate 46 to which the link group 44 is connected is also attached to the wheel house inner rear 24 to increase the strength of the upper part of the wheel house inner rear 24. Therefore, the wheel house inner rear 24 is not easily deformed, and it is easier to deform the portion in front of the wheel house inner rear 24 at the time of a rear collision. Therefore, the bead 50 is provided at the position of the leading edge 24a of the wheel house inner rear 24 or at a position in front of the leading edge 24a, and the starting point of bending is formed here.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the circumference of the opening 34 of the wheel house outer 18. Welding points 52 of the outer flange 26, the inner flange 28, and the reinforcing plate flange 40 are indicated by “x”. Above the bead 50, the spacing between the weld points 52 is wider than in the other parts, facilitating bending at this part. Of the two welding points 52 sandwiching the bead 50, the front welding point is referred to as a first welding point 52-1 and the rear welding point is referred to as a second welding point 52-2. The adjacent welding point 52 in front of the first welding point 52-1 is referred to as the third welding point 52-3, and the adjacent welding point 52 behind the second welding point 52-2 is referred to as the fourth welding point 52-4. I will write it down. The distance between the first welding point 52-1 and the second welding point 52-2 is wider than the distance between the first welding point 52-1 and the third welding point 52-3, and the distance between the second welding point 52-2 and the second welding point 52-2 is wider. 4 Wider than the spacing between welding points 52-4. Of the welding points 52, the outer flange 26, the inner flange 28, and the reinforcing plate flange 40 are welded together, the third welding point 52-3, and the first welding point 52-1 are adjacent welding points 52. The spacing between the two can be equal, and can be the minimum spacing that can be spot welded. The distance between the second welding point 52-2 and the fourth welding point 52-4 can also be equal to the distance between the first welding point 52-1 and the third welding point 52-3. By widening the distance between the welding points 52 at the position of the bead 50, the strength of the portion around the bead 50 can be lowered, and this portion is easily bent.

Hereinafter, other aspects of the present invention will be described.
[1]
A wheel house outer with an opening at the top where the end of the fuel pipe is placed inside,
A wheelhouse inner that is located inside the wheelhouse outer in the left-right direction of the vehicle and is joined to the wheelhouse outer to form a wheelhouse together with the wheelhouse outer.
Equipped with
On the upper surface of the wheel house outer, a bead extending in the left-right direction of the vehicle is formed behind the opening in the front-rear direction of the vehicle.
Vehicle quarter wheel house.
[2]
The quarter wheel house of the vehicle according to the above [1].
Flange is provided on the upper edge of each of the wheel house outer and the wheel house inner, and the flanges are spot welded to each other at a predetermined welding point to join the wheel house outer and the wheel house inner.
The welding point is
The first welding point located in front of the bead position,
A second welding point located behind the bead position and adjacent to the first welding point,
Including
The distance between the first welding point and the second welding point is the distance between the first welding point and the welding point immediately before it, and the distance between the second welding point and the welding point one after it. Wider than
Vehicle quarter wheel house.
[3]
The quarter wheel house of the vehicle according to the above [1] or [2].
The wheelhouse inner includes an inner front located in the front and an inner rear located in the rear and joined to the inner front.
The bead is located at or in front of the leading edge of the inner rear in the front-rear direction of the vehicle.
Vehicle quarter wheel house.
[4]
The vehicle quarter wheel house according to the above [3], wherein a suspension tower is formed in the inner rear, and the inner front plate thickness is thinner than the inner rear plate thickness.
[5]
The vehicle quarter wheel house according to any one of the above [1] to [4], wherein a reinforcing plate is joined around the opening of the wheel house outer.
[6]
The vehicle quarter wheel house according to the above [5], wherein the bead is located behind the reinforcing plate in the front-rear direction of the vehicle.
[7]
The vehicle quarter wheel house according to any one of the above [1] to [6], which is an open car quarter wheel house.

10 Body, 12 Quarter Panel, 14 Fuel Lid, 16 Quarter Wheel House, 18 Wheel House Outer, 20 Wheel House Inner, 22 Wheel House Inner Front, 24 Wheel House Inner Rear, 26 Outer Flange, 28 Inner Flange, 30 Refueling Pipe, 32 Refueling pipe housing, 32a outer part, 32b inner part, 34 openings, 36 refueling pipe end, 38 reinforcing plate, 40 reinforcing plate flange, 42 suspension tower, 44 link group, 46 base plate, 48 guide plate, 49 follower, 50 beads, 52 weld points.

Claims (2)

A wheel house outer with an opening at the top where the end of the fuel pipe is placed inside,
A wheel house inner that is located inside the wheel house outer in the left-right direction of the vehicle and is joined to the wheel house outer to form a wheel house together with the wheel house outer. A wheelhouse inner, including a wheelhouse inner rear located at the rear and joined at the trailing and front edges of the wheelhouse inner front.
Equipped with
On the upper surface of the wheel house outer, a bead extending in the left-right direction of the vehicle is formed behind the opening in the front-rear direction of the vehicle and at the position of the front edge of the wheel house inner rear or in front of the front edge .
Vehicle quarter wheel house. The vehicle quarter wheel house according to claim 1, wherein the plate thickness of the wheel house inner front is thinner than the plate thickness of the wheel house inner rear.

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