JP7106232B2 - vehicle lateral structure - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a vehicle side structure having reinforcing members on roof side rails.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a side structure of a vehicle in which roof side rails are provided with reinforcing members. This reinforcing member is provided across the front and rear of the center pillar in the roof side rail. A rear end portion of the reinforcing member is positioned between the center pillar and the rear pillar of the roof side rail. The rear end portion has an edge extending linearly in the vertical direction. Hereinafter, the vehicle structure in which the roof side rail is provided with the reinforcing member having such a rear end portion may be referred to as a comparative structure.

JP 2011-255744 A

There is a demand for a vehicle side structure that can suppress deformation of roof side rails with a simple structure in the event of a frontal collision of the vehicle.

During a frontal collision of a vehicle, the front part of the vehicle suddenly decelerates and stops, and the rear part of the vehicle jumps upward. At that time, a large downward load acts on the roof side rails that form openings provided in the body, such as door openings. Although the details will be described later, in the above comparative structure, if the rear end of the reinforcing member is positioned above the door opening, for example, the above-mentioned load causes the roof side rail to move downward and downward from the rear end of the reinforcing member. It is deformed so as to bend toward the inside of the vehicle.

As countermeasures for suppressing such deformation of the roof side rails, the reinforcement members are extended to areas where there is no opening at the rear of the vehicle, the plate thickness of the reinforcement members is increased, or the material of the reinforcement members is made stronger. It is conceivable to replace it with However, all of these measures increase costs and weight, and are accompanied by a decrease in vehicle productivity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and one of its objects is to suppress deformation of roof side rails above openings provided in a vehicle body in the event of a frontal collision with a simple structure. To provide a lateral structure of a vehicle capable of

A vehicle side structure according to one aspect of the present invention includes roof side rails positioned on both sides in a vehicle width direction and above the vehicle, and reinforcing members provided along the roof side rails. is a lateral structure of a vehicle in which the rear end of the is positioned above an opening provided in the body of the vehicle. The rear end portion of the reinforcing member has an inclined portion extending from the upper side of the vehicle toward the lower side of the vehicle toward the rear of the vehicle.

According to the vehicle side structure described above, a simple configuration in which a predetermined inclined portion is provided at the rear end portion of the reinforcing member positioned above the opening provided in the body allows the vehicle to move downward and downward from the roof side rail in the event of a frontal collision. Inward deformation of the vehicle can be suppressed. During a frontal collision, a downward load acts on the front end of the inclined portion. In other words, the inclined portion extends rearward from the point where the load acts. Therefore, when the roof side rails tend to bend downward, the load can be received by the reinforcing members extending in front of and behind the portion where the load is applied, and the downward bending of the roof side rails can be effectively suppressed. . On the other hand, the upper edge side of the inclined portion is not fixed to the roof side rail. Therefore, when the roof side rail is bent inward of the vehicle, the bending of the roof side rail inward of the vehicle can be suppressed by twisting the inclined portion.

The reinforcing member having the inclined portion is obtained by partially removing the rear end portion of the reinforcing member used in the comparative structure. Therefore, there is no need to extend the reinforcing member to the rear of the vehicle, increase the plate thickness of the reinforcing member, or replace the material of the reinforcing member with a higher strength material. Therefore, cost and weight reduction can be realized. Moreover, since it is only necessary to modify the configuration of the rear end portion of the reinforcing member used in the comparative structure, the vehicle structure using the reinforcing member having the inclined portion does not deteriorate the productivity.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a side structure of a vehicle according to an embodiment before a frontal collision; FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a roof side rail taken along line II-II in the vehicle side structure of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the side structure of the vehicle according to the embodiment in the latter half of a frontal collision; FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a side structure of a vehicle according to a comparative example before a frontal collision; FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a side structure of a vehicle according to a comparative example in the latter half of a frontal collision;

A side structure of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG. In the figure, the arrow FR indicates the front side in the vehicle length direction, the arrow RR indicates the rear side in the vehicle length direction, the arrow UP indicates the upper side of the vehicle, the arrow LWR indicates the lower side of the vehicle, the arrow IN indicates the inner side of the vehicle in the width direction, and the arrow OUT indicates the vehicle. The outside of the vehicle in the vehicle width direction is shown. The present invention is not limited to these examples, but is indicated by the scope of the claims, and is intended to include all modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the scope of the claims.

〔Overview〕
The vehicle side structure according to the embodiment includes roof side rails 10 positioned on both sides in the vehicle width direction and above the vehicle, and reinforcing members 50 provided along the roof side rails 10 . The rear end of the reinforcing member 50 is positioned above an opening (rear door opening 42) provided in the body of the vehicle. One of the characteristics of the lateral structure of the vehicle is that the rear end portion of the reinforcing member 50 has an inclined portion 51 extending from the upper side of the vehicle toward the lower side of the vehicle toward the rear of the vehicle. FIG. 1 shows a state in which various outer panels forming the right outer surface of the vehicle body are removed. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the roof side rail 10 having an inclined portion 51. As shown in FIG. The configuration of each unit will be described in detail below.

[Roof side rail]
The roof side rails 10 are structural members provided along the vehicle length direction on both sides of the roof panel 20 in the vehicle width direction. The roof side rail 10 of this example is provided so as to connect upper ends of a front pillar 30, a center pillar 32, a quarter pillar 34, and a rear pillar (not shown). As shown in FIG. 2, the roof side rail 10 is composed of a roof side inner panel 11 and a roof side outer panel 12 which are joined together to form a space between them. The roof side inner panel 11 constitutes the vehicle inner side surface of the roof side rail 10 . The roof side outer panel 12 constitutes the vehicle outer side surface of the roof side rail 10 . The roof side inner panel 11 and the roof side outer panel 12 are each formed into a predetermined shape by press forming a strip-shaped steel plate. Both panels 11 and 12 are provided with body portions 11b and 12b extending in the longitudinal direction and flange portions 11f and 12f provided on both side edges of the body portions 11b and 12b. Both of the body portions 11b and 12b are generally inclined from the outside of the vehicle toward the inside of the vehicle as they go from the bottom to the top. The roof side inner panel 11 and the roof side outer panel 12 are joined by spot welding, tempering plug welding, or the like at the flange portions 11f and 12f of the panels 11 and 12 that are butted against each other.

Such a roof side rail 10 constitutes an upper portion of an opening provided in the body of the vehicle. In the side structure of this example, as shown in FIG. A rear door opening 42 and a quarter window opening 44 provided between the quarter pillar 34 and the rear pillar are provided.

[Reinforcement member]
The reinforcing member 50 is a member that reinforces the roof side rail 10 . The reinforcing member 50 is provided along the roof side rail 10 and arranged in the space formed between the roof side inner panel 11 and the roof side outer panel 12 . The reinforcement member 50 is also formed into a predetermined shape by press-molding a belt-shaped steel plate, and includes a body portion 50b extending in the longitudinal direction and flange portions 50f provided on both side edges of the body portion 50b. As shown in FIG. 2, the flange portion 50f of the reinforcing member 50 is sandwiched between the flange portions 11f and 12f of the roof side inner panel 11 and the roof side outer panel 12, and the roof panel is attached to the flange portion 12f of the roof side outer panel 12. The flange portion 20f of 20 is also overlapped. These superimposed flange portions 11f, 12f, 50f, and 20f are joined by spot welding, burnout plug welding, or the like. In FIG. 2 , a two-dot chain line virtually indicates the contour of the reinforcement member 50 other than the inclined portion 51 .

As shown in FIG. 2 , the reinforcing member 50 is generally disposed in the roof side rail 10 so as to be inclined from the vehicle outer side to the vehicle inner side as it goes upward from below.

The range in which the reinforcing member 50 is provided is a predetermined range in the longitudinal direction of the roof side rail 10 . In this example, the front end portion of the reinforcing member 50 is positioned in the middle of the front pillar 30 , and the rear end portion is positioned above the opening 42 for the rear door in the roof side rail 10 . Therefore, the reinforcing member 50 of this example is formed in a V-shaped bent shape extending from the front pillar 30 to the roof side rail 10 .

The rear end portion of the reinforcing member 50 has an inclined portion 51 as shown in FIG. The inclined portion 51 has an edge 51i that is inclined from above the vehicle toward below the vehicle toward the rear of the vehicle. Although this inclined edge 51i is formed in a straight line in this example, it may be formed in a curved shape such as an upwardly expanding circular arc shape or a downwardly depressed circular arc shape. The inclination angle of the inclined edge 51i with respect to the longitudinal direction of the reinforcing member 50 is preferably about 10° or more and 25° or less, more preferably about 12° or more and 20° or less. A lower edge portion of the inclined portion 51 is fixed to the roof side rail 10 . On the other hand, the upper edge of the inclined portion 51 is not fixed to the roof side rail 10 and is positioned in the space between the roof side inner panel 11 and roof side outer panel 12 .

A front vertical edge 51f connects the tilted edge 51i in front of the vehicle, and a rear vertical edge 51r connects the tilted edge 51i behind the vehicle. Both the front longitudinal edge 51f and the rear longitudinal edge 51r are edges extending linearly in the vertical direction, and are shorter than the inclined edge 51i. The flange portion 50f of the reinforcing member 50 is formed in a region having a front longitudinal edge 51f and a rear longitudinal edge 51r. A flange portion 50f on the lower side of the inclined portion 51 in FIG. 1 is welded to the roof side inner panel 11 and the roof side outer panel 12 over a sufficiently wide range.

〔simulation〕
The distortion and deformation of each part during a frontal collision were simulated for each of the side structure of the vehicle according to the above embodiment and the comparative structure. The comparative structure differs from the side structure of the vehicle according to the embodiment only in the structure of the rear end portion of the reinforcing member, and the other structures are the same. The rear end portion of the reinforcing member used in the comparative structure has a rear edge extending linearly in the vertical direction. The position of the rear edge of the reinforcing member in the comparative structure is the same as the position of the rear longitudinal edge of the reinforcing member in the vehicle side structure according to the embodiment.

FIG. 1 shows the state of the side structure of the vehicle according to the embodiment before the frontal collision, FIG. 3 shows the state of the same side structure after the frontal collision, and FIG. 4 shows the state of the comparative structure before the frontal collision. Fig. 5 shows the state in the latter half of the frontal collision. 4 and 5, members corresponding to members shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

During a frontal collision of a vehicle, the front part of the vehicle suddenly decelerates and stops, and the rear part of the vehicle jumps upward. At that time, a large downward load acts on the roof side rail 10 forming the opening 42 for the rear door.

4 and 5, in the comparison structure, the roof side rail 10 bends downward and inward from the vehicle with the rear edge 50e of the reinforcing member 50 as a starting point, and the roof panel 20 accordingly bends. It can be seen that the bulge is also deformed with a large upward bulge. This is because, in the roof side rail 10, the rear edge 50e extending linearly in the vertical direction is located in the region forward of the rear edge 50e where the reinforcing member 50 is provided and in the region rearward of the rear edge 50e where the reinforcing member 50 is not provided. This is probably because the existence of the edge 50e significantly changes the rigidity. That is, the load acts intensively on the rear edge 50e of the roof side rail 10 and its vicinity. Due to the action of this load, the roof side rail 10 is deformed so as to bend downward and inward of the vehicle with the rear edge 50e of the reinforcing member 50 as a starting point.

On the other hand, in the side structure of the vehicle according to the embodiment, as is clear from a comparison of FIGS. The state before the frontal collision is generally maintained. Also, the roof panel 20 is deformed to bulge upward, but is smaller than the deformation of the roof panel 20 of the comparative structure. During a frontal collision, a downward load acts on the front end portion of the inclined portion 51 of the roof side rail 10, ie, the front vertical edge 51f and its vicinity. At this time, since the inclined portion 51 extends rearward from the position where the load is applied, the change in rigidity between the front and rear of the inclined portion 51 in the roof side rail 10 becomes moderate. Therefore, bending of the roof side rail 10 downward and inward of the vehicle is effectively suppressed.

[Effect]
According to the vehicle side structure according to the embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) With a simple configuration, deformation of the roof side rail 10 can be suppressed in the event of a frontal collision. During a frontal collision, a downward load acts on the front end portion of the sloped portion 51 of the roof side rail 10 and its vicinity. The inclined portion 51 extends rearward from the load acting portion, and the lower edge side of the reinforcing member 50 is fixed to the roof side rail 10 over a wide range in front of and behind the load acting portion. Therefore, when the roof side rail 10 is bent downward, the load can be received by the lower edge side of the reinforcing member 50 including the inclined portion 51, and the downward bending of the roof side rail 10 is effective. can be effectively suppressed. On the other hand, the upper edge side of the inclined portion 51 is not fixed to the roof side rail 10 and is located in the space inside the roof side rail 10 . Therefore, with respect to the behavior of bending the roof side rail 10 inward of the vehicle, bending of the roof side rail 10 inward of the vehicle can be suppressed by twisting the inclined portion 51 .

(2) Reduction in cost and weight can be realized. The reinforcing member 50 having the inclined portion 51 is obtained by partially removing the rear end portion of the reinforcing member 50 used in the comparative structure. Therefore, it is not necessary to extend the reinforcing member 50 to the rear of the vehicle, to increase the plate thickness of the reinforcing member 50, or to replace the material of the reinforcing member 50 with a higher strength material. Moreover, since it is only necessary to modify the structure of the rear end portion of the reinforcing member 50 used in the comparative structure, the vehicle structure using the reinforcing member 50 having the inclined portion 51 does not deteriorate productivity.

10 roof side rail 11 roof side inner panel 11b body portion 11f flange portion 12 roof side outer panel 12b body portion 12f flange portion 20 roof panel 20f flange portion 30 front pillar 32 center pillar 34 quarter pillar 40 front door opening 42 rear door opening Opening 44 Opening 50 for quarter window Reinforcing member 50b Main body portion 50f Flange portion 50e Rear edge 51 Inclined portion 51i Inclined edge 51f Front longitudinal edge 51r Rear longitudinal edge

Claims (1)

The vehicle includes roof side rails positioned on both sides in the vehicle width direction and above, and reinforcing members provided along the roof side rails, the rear ends of the reinforcing members extending from openings provided in the body of the vehicle. A lateral structure of a vehicle located above,
The roof side rail includes a roof side inner panel and a roof side outer panel,
The reinforcing member is arranged in a space formed between the roof side inner panel and the roof side outer panel,
The rear end portion of the reinforcing member has an edge that connects an upper end and a lower end that is arranged rearward of the vehicle from the upper end,
The side structure of the vehicle, wherein the edge is inclined from the upper side and the front side of the vehicle toward the lower side and the rear side of the vehicle as it goes from the upper end to the lower end.

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