JP7363652B2 - Vehicle front structure - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a front structure of a vehicle that includes a front pillar, and more specifically, the present invention relates to a front structure of a vehicle that includes a front pillar that includes a pillar body that supports opening and closing of a front door, and a window frame for a window. Regarding structure.

In this type of vehicle, front doors are provided on the left and right sides of the front of the vehicle body, and each front door is supported so as to be openable and closable by left and right front pillars located in front of the front door. Each of these front pillars includes a vertical plate-shaped pillar main body that projects toward the front of the vehicle, and a window frame that is provided at the top of the pillar main body. The front part of the roof panel, which is part of the vehicle body, is supported by the left and right front pillars.

In the above-mentioned vehicle, from the viewpoint of ensuring the opening and closing performance of the front door, care should be taken to prevent the front pillar supporting the front door from being excessively deformed by the impact load at the time of a frontal collision of the vehicle. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for increasing the strength of a front pillar to ensure its impact transmission performance. In this front pillar, a closed cross section is formed by joining the pillar outer and the pillar inner, and a plurality of beads extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle are formed on the pillar inner. In the known technology, the impact load at the time of a frontal collision of a vehicle is transmitted to the vehicle body, such as a roof panel, through a front pillar reinforced with beads. In this way, by increasing the strength of the front pillar and ensuring its impact transmission properties, the structure contributes to ensuring the opening and closing performance of the front door.

Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique in which a front pillar is partially weakened to absorb an impact load at the time of a frontal collision of a vehicle. In the front pillar structure of Patent Document 2, a closed cross section is formed by joining a side member outer panel and a side member inner panel in a portion corresponding to the window frame portion (oblique frame portion) of the present invention. An upper reinforcement and a lower reinforcement are inserted into the interiors of both panels, and these reinforcements are connected from the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. In the window frame portion of this known technique, the lower reinforcement absorbs the impact load at the time of a frontal collision of the vehicle by breaking at the connecting portion (parting portion). In this way, by weakening the window frame portion that does not affect the opening and closing performance of the front pillar and ensuring its shock absorbing properties, the structure contributes to ensuring the opening and closing performance of the front door.

JP2017-56787A JP2014-51131A

By the way, in the field of vehicles, there is a demand for more reliable opening and closing of front doors, and one possible way to do this is to make the front pillars have both impact transmission and impact absorption properties. However, since impact transmission performance and impact absorption performance are in a contradictory relationship, if the technologies of Patent Documents 1 and 2 are simply combined, the effect of one technology may be inhibited by the other technology. The present invention has been devised in view of the above-mentioned points, and the problem to be solved by the present invention is to more appropriately balance the shock transmission and shock absorption properties of the front pillar, thereby improving the opening/closing performance of the front door. The goal is to ensure more certainty.

As a means for solving the above problems, a front structure of a vehicle according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a front pillar having a window frame section for a window at the upper part of a pillar main body section supporting a front door; and an upper member that extends in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle in a coupled state , and the upper front part of the pillar body is provided so as to protrude toward the upper member, and the window frame part extends upward from the pillar body. It has a vertical frame section that stands up, and a diagonal frame section that spans between the front part of the pillar main body section and the vertical frame section. In the front structure of this type of vehicle, it is desirable to more appropriately balance the impact transmission and impact absorption properties of the front pillar to more reliably ensure the opening and closing performance of the front door. Therefore, the pillar main body part and the window frame part of the present invention each have a high-strength part that has a predetermined strength to support the front door, and a part that has a lower strength than the high-strength part, so that input from the front of the vehicle can be received. A low-strength portion that can be deformed by the applied load is provided adjacent to the low-strength portion from the front and rear directions of the vehicle. The boundary between the high-strength region and the low-strength region in the pillar body and the boundary between the high-strength region and the low-strength region in the diagonal frame of the window frame are aligned in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. ing.

In the front pillar of the present invention, in the event of a frontal vehicle collision, the low-strength parts of the pillar body and window frame deform and absorb the impact load, thereby suppressing excessive transmission of the impact load to the high-strength parts. be able to. The impact load at the time of a frontal collision of the vehicle is received by the high-strength parts of the pillar body and the window frame. Since this high-strength portion has a predetermined strength capable of supporting the front door, it is possible to transmit an impact load to the vehicle body while ensuring the ability to open and close the front door. In the present invention, the boundary between the low-strength region and the high-strength region is aligned in the pillar main body and the diagonal frame of the window frame. Therefore, the structure is such that the shock absorption of the low-strength region is not inhibited by the high-strength region as much as possible, and the impact transmission of the high-strength region is not inhibited by the low-strength region as much as possible, which contributes to ensuring the opening and closing performance of the front door.

The low-strength portion and the upper member provided on the front upper side of the pillar body of the front structure of the vehicle of the first invention have weak portions on the upper and lower sides that promote deformation due to loads input from the front of the vehicle, respectively . The weak part of the low-strength part of the pillar body and the weak part of the upper member are aligned in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle so that they are arranged in series in the vertical direction. are . In the present invention, the weakened portion makes it possible to smoothly promote deformation of the low-strength portion, resulting in a configuration that contributes to ensuring excellent impact absorption properties of the front pillar.

In the vehicle front structure of the second invention, in the vehicle front structure of the first invention, at least one of the weak parts is a vertical plate-shaped pillar main body part constituting a low strength part raised in the vehicle width direction. The bead portion is formed by being deformed in the direction, and the bead portion extends in the vertical direction with respect to the pillar main body portion. In the present invention, the vertically extending bead portion makes it possible to more appropriately promote deformation of the low-strength portion of the pillar main body.

A vehicle front structure according to a third aspect of the present invention is the vehicle front structure according to the first or second aspect , in which the low-strength portion is provided adjacent to the high-strength portion on the front side of the vehicle. In the present invention, the low-strength area located at the front of the vehicle absorbs the impact load, and the high-strength area located at the rear of the vehicle absorbs the impact load from the vehicle body while ensuring the ability to open and close the front door more reliably. It becomes possible to transmit information to

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to more appropriately achieve both the impact transmission performance and the impact absorption performance of the front pillar, and more reliably ensure the opening and closing performance of the front door. Further, according to the first aspect of the invention, it is possible to more appropriately ensure the shock absorbing properties of the front pillar. Further, according to the second aspect of the invention, it is possible to further appropriately ensure the shock absorption performance of the front pillar. According to the third aspect of the invention, it is possible to more appropriately achieve both the impact transmission performance and the impact absorption performance of the front pillar.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the vehicle. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective side view of the front portion of the vehicle showing the vehicle body such as a front pillar. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a front pillar showing a high-strength region and a low-strength region. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 3. FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the vehicle inner side of a front pillar showing a pillar outer panel. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII in FIG. 3. FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a pillar main body portion subjected to an impact load.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8. In each figure, arrows indicating the front-rear direction, left-right direction, and up-down direction of the vehicle are shown as appropriate. Further, FIG. 1 is a side view of the vehicle viewed from the left side, and the right side portion is omitted. In FIG. 3, for convenience, low-strength regions are illustrated with broken lines to distinguish them from high-strength regions.

In the front structure of a vehicle 2 shown in FIG. 1, front doors 4 are provided on the left and right sides of the front of a vehicle body 3, and the left and right front doors 4 are supported so as to be openable and closable by left and right front pillars 5 located in front of the front doors 4. (For convenience, only the left front door and front pillar are shown in FIG. 1). As shown in FIG. 2, the left and right front pillars 5 each include a pillar body 10 and a triangular window frame 20 provided at the top of the pillar body 10. A window glass WG is fitted into the window frame portion 20 to form a triangular window mainly for securing diagonally forward visibility. Further, an upper member 6 is connected to the front portion of each front pillar 5, and this upper member 6 is connected to a suspension tower or the like of a front wheel house (not shown). Further, the front part of a roof panel 7, which is a part of the vehicle body 3, is connected to the rear side of the left and right front pillars 5, and a windshield FG is provided at a position surrounded by the front pillar 5 and the roof panel 7. It is being

In the vehicle 2 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, from the viewpoint of ensuring the openability of the front door 4, care should be taken to prevent the front pillar 5 from being excessively deformed by the impact load F at the time of a frontal collision of the vehicle. For example, in order to ensure the ability to open and close the front door 4, it is conceivable to make the front pillar 5 have both impact transmission and impact absorption properties. should be taken into account. Therefore, in this embodiment, the structure described later (the high-strength portion 50H and the low-strength portion 50L shown in FIG. 3) is used to more appropriately balance the impact transmission performance and the impact absorption performance of the front pillar 5. We decided to ensure opening and closing performance more reliably. The configuration of the left front pillar 5 will be described in detail below, mainly using the left front pillar 5 as an example.

[Pillar body]
Before explaining the high-strength portion 50H and the low-strength portion 50L shown in FIG. 3, the outline of the pillar body portion 10 and window frame portion 20 that constitute the front pillar 5 will first be described. The pillar main body 10 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is a vertical plate-shaped portion that protrudes toward the front of the vehicle, and its lower side is generally rectangular in side view, but the front edge of its upper side faces forward. It's sticking out big. An upper member 6 is coupled to the front side of the pillar body 10, and a front door 4 is supported to open and close at the rear of the pillar body 10 via a hinge (not shown). Note that, as shown in FIG. 4, the upper member 6 has a closed cross-sectional structure in which a first member 6a located on the inside of the vehicle and a second member 6b located on the outside of the vehicle are mutually coupled. The front portion of the pillar body 10 is fitted and fixed between the members 6a and 6b of the upper member 6.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the pillar body 10 is formed into a cylindrical shape by a pillar inner panel 11 disposed on the inside of the vehicle and a pair of front and rear pillar outer panels 12 and 15. As shown in FIG. 4, the pillar inner panel 11 is formed by welding and fixing a front pillar inner panel 11a and a rear pillar inner panel 11b from the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The front pillar outer panel 12 constitutes a portion that projects forward at the upper part of the pillar main body 10 shown in FIG. 5, and is formed in a substantially triangular shape that gradually projects forward as it goes upward. As shown in FIG. 4, the front pillar outer panel 12 has a substantially inverted L-shaped cross section, and a front end surface portion 13 at the front end thereof is bent toward the front pillar inner panel 11a. A front end flange 13a provided at the tip of the front end surface portion 13 is overlapped and welded to the front end side of the front pillar inner panel 11a, and a rear end 14 of the front pillar outer panel 12 is attached to the rear pillar outer panel 15, which will be described later. It is welded to the left side.

Further, the rear pillar outer panel 15 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is formed in a vertically elongated rectangular shape when viewed from the side, and a fastening portion 15a for the hinge of the front door 4 is formed in the upper part thereof. . The rear pillar outer panel 15 has a hat-shaped cross section, and a front surface portion 16 at the front end and a rear surface portion 17 at the rear end thereof are bent toward the rear pillar inner panel 11b. The front part 16 of the rear pillar outer panel 15 substantially vertically traverses the pillar main body part 10 so as to form a boundary with the front pillar outer panel 12 described above, and the front flange 16a provided at the tip thereof is on the rear side. The pillar inner panel 11b is overlapped and fixed by welding to the front end side of the pillar inner panel 11b. Note that a through hole 11H is formed in the front pillar inner panel 11a shown in FIG. 4, and the front flange 16a can be welded to the rear pillar inner panel 11b through this through hole 11H. Further, the rear surface portion 17 of the rear pillar outer panel 15 extends in the vertical direction along the rear edge of the rear pillar outer panel 15, and the rear flange 17a provided at the tip thereof is on the rear end side of the rear pillar inner panel 11b. It is overlapped and fixed by welding. In the pillar body section 10, the front pillar outer panel 12 and the rear pillar outer panel 15 are formed as separate bodies, and the front pillar inner panel 11a and the rear pillar inner panel 11b are formed as separate bodies. There is. By forming the front part and the rear part of the pillar body part 10 separately in this way, it is possible to appropriately provide a high-strength part 50H and a low-strength part 50L, which will be described later.

[Window frame]
The window frame portion 20 shown in FIG. 2 is a frame portion for a window (a triangular window in FIG. 2), and includes a vertical frame portion 21 that stands up from the rear of the pillar body portion 10, and a vertical frame portion 21 that extends from the front portion of the pillar body portion 10. It is composed of a pair of front and rear diagonal frame portions 24 and 25 that are spanned between the frame portions 21 and extend diagonally upward. Here, the vertical frame portion 21 gradually inclines rearward as it goes upward, and joins and merges with the diagonal frame portions (24, 25) above and at the rear. In this way, by providing the meeting point X of the vertical frame portion 21 and the diagonal frame portions (24, 25) behind the rear end of the pillar main body portion 10, the vertical frame portion 21 is made to stand approximately vertically. The structure contributes to ensuring the visibility of the triangular window. Furthermore, in the event of a frontal collision of the vehicle, it is possible to prevent or reduce excessive bending moment from acting on the meeting point X (corner portion) of the vertical frame portion 21 and the diagonal frame portions (24, 25).

As shown in FIG. 6, the vertical frame portion 21 has a cylindrical closed cross-sectional structure in which a vertical inner panel 22 and a vertical outer panel 23 are interconnected. The vertical inner panel 22 has a substantially trapezoidal cross section with a cutout at the upper right corner, and the vertical outer panel 23 has a flat upper side, but a lower side bent inward in a stepped manner. A second flange portion 23a forming the upper end of the vertical outer panel 23 is overlapped and joined to a first flange portion 22a forming the upper end of the vertical inner panel 22. Further, a fourth flange portion 23b forming the lower end of the vertical outer panel 23 is overlapped and joined to a third flange portion 22b forming the lower end of the vertical inner panel 22. Further, the outside of the vertical outer panel 23 is covered with a cylindrical outer panel 28 that constitutes the design of the vehicle. A window glass WG is fixed to the outside of the vertical outer panel 23 of the vertical frame portion 21.

Further, referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a front diagonal frame portion 24 is coupled to the front portion of the pillar body portion 10, and a rear diagonal frame portion 25 is coupled to the upper end of the vertical frame portion 21. . The front diagonal frame portion 24 and the rear diagonal frame portion 25 are connected from the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and have substantially the same basic configuration. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the rear diagonal frame portion 25 has a cylindrical closed cross-sectional structure in which a diagonal inner panel 26 with a substantially flat Z-shaped cross section and a diagonal outer panel 27 with a substantially trapezoidal cross section are mutually coupled. have. A fifth flange portion 26a forming the upper end of the diagonal inner panel 26 is overlapped with a sixth flange portion 27a forming the upper end of the diagonal outer panel 27. Further, an eighth flange portion 27b forming the lower end of the diagonal outer panel 27 is joined to a seventh flange portion 26b forming the lower end of the diagonal inner panel 26 in an overlapping state. Further, the outside of the diagonal outer panel 27 is covered with a symmetry outer panel 28 that forms the design of the vehicle. A windshield WG is fixed to the lower part of the diagonal outer panel 27 on the outside of the vehicle, and a windshield FG is fixed to the upper part of the diagonal outer panel 27 on the inside of the vehicle.

[High-strength area and low-strength area]
The front pillar 5 shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 has a high-strength region 50H that is not allowed to be deformed by the impact load F and a low-strength region 50L that is allowed to be deformed by the impact load F in the event of a frontal collision of the vehicle, which will be described later. are provided adjacent to each other from the front and rear directions of the vehicle. Here, the high-strength portion 50H has a predetermined strength capable of supporting the front door 4, and in this embodiment, at least a portion of the front pillar 5 is formed of a material with excellent strength (tensile strength). has been done. In addition, the low-strength portion 50L has relatively low strength so that it can be deformed by the impact load F input from the front of the vehicle, and in this embodiment, at least a part of the front pillar 5 is made of a material with inferior strength It is constructed by forming. The difference in strength between the high-strength region 50H and the low-strength region 50L can be provided by using materials with different strengths, and typically different metals can be used. Further, when the same type of material (for example, the same type of metal) is used for each strength portion 50H, 50L, the strength can be made different by changing the thickness of the material. In the front pillar 5, from the viewpoint of ensuring its performance appropriately, the rear part of the pillar body part 10 and the rear part of the window frame part 20 (vertical frame part 21, rear diagonal frame part 25) are made into high-strength parts 50H. ing. Further, in the front pillar 5, the front part of the pillar main body 10 and the front part of the window frame part 20 (the front diagonal frame part 24) are the low-strength parts 50L.

[High-strength and low-strength parts of the pillar body]
At the rear of the pillar main body 10 as the high-strength portion 50H, the rear pillar outer panel 15 and the rear pillar inner panel 11b shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are made of a material with excellent strength. Further, in the front part of the pillar body 10 as the low-strength portion 50L, the front pillar outer panel 12 and the front pillar inner panel 11a are made of a material with poor strength. In the pillar body portion 10, the front surface portion 16 of the rear pillar outer panel 15 is arranged so as to form a boundary with the front pillar outer panel 12 and the like forming the low strength region 50L. That is, in this embodiment, the front surface portion 16 of the rear pillar outer panel 15 corresponds to the boundary portion (lower boundary portion 51) between the high-strength portion 50H and the low-strength portion 50L in the pillar body portion 10.

[Reinforcement]
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, a columnar reinforcement 30 is provided at the rear of the pillar body 10 to structurally improve its strength (in FIG. 4, the reinforcement 30 is shown for convenience). ). The reinforcement 30 has a hat-shaped cross section that opens toward the outside of the vehicle, and is disposed so as to extend between the front section 16 and the rear section 17 of the rear pillar outer panel 15. By fixing the reinforcement 30 directly above the fastening part 15a of the rear pillar outer panel 15, the strength in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle near this fastening part 15a (front door hinge) can be increased structurally. I can do it.

[Weak part]
Further, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, weak parts (31, 32) are formed at the front and rear of the pillar main body 10 to promote deformation thereof. The front weak portion 31 is constituted by a front upper bead portion 31a provided at the front portion of the front pillar inner panel 11a forming a low strength portion 50L. Further, the rear weakened portion 32 is constituted by a rear upper bead portion 32a provided at the rear of the front pillar inner panel 11a. The upper bead portions 31a and 32a are formed by locally deforming the front pillar inner panel 11a in a direction that swells to the left (vehicle width direction), and vertically extending the front pillar inner panel 11a vertically. It extends in a straight line. Further, in this embodiment, the first member 6a of the upper member 6 is formed with a front lower bead portion 31b and a rear lower bead portion 32b. Referring to FIG. 3, the lower front bead portion 31b is formed vertically across the first member 6a, and is arranged to be continuous with the upper front bead portion 31a. Further, the lower rear bead portion 32b is formed vertically across the first member 6a, and is arranged to be continuous with the upper rear bead portion 32a.

[High-strength and low-strength parts of the window frame]
In the rear part of the window frame part 20 as the high-strength part 50H, each panel 22, 23 of the vertical frame part 21 and each panel 26, 27 of the rear diagonal frame part 25 are and are made of a material with excellent strength. The panels 22 and 23 of the vertical frame portion 21 and the panels 26 and 27 of the rear diagonal frame portion 25 have the same strength as the rear pillar outer panel 15 and the rear pillar inner panel 11b described above. and can typically be formed from the same type of metal. In addition, in the front part of the window frame part 20 as the low-strength part 50L, each panel (not shown) except for the outer panel of the diagonal frame part 24 on the front side is formed of a material with inferior strength. It has the same strength as the pillar outer panel 12 and the front pillar inner panel 11a. In the window frame portion 20, the rear end side of the front diagonal frame portion 24 and the front end side of the rear diagonal frame portion 25 are connected from the vehicle longitudinal direction, and a parting line 29 is provided at the boundary between these. . That is, in this embodiment, the parting line 29 between the front diagonal frame portion 24 and the rear diagonal frame portion 25 is the boundary between the high-strength portion 50H and the low-strength portion 50L (the upper boundary) in each diagonal frame portion 24, 25. This corresponds to part 52). Note that the cross-sectional dimensions of the front diagonal frame portion 24 and the rear diagonal frame portion 25 (cross-sectional dimensions excluding the outer panel) may be the same, but the cross-sectional dimensions of the front diagonal frame portion 24 that is scheduled to be deformed may be relative It can also be made smaller to maintain visibility.

[Arrangement relationship between each boundary between the pillar body and the window frame]
Referring to FIG. 5, the front surface portion 16 of the rear pillar outer panel 15 corresponds to the lower boundary portion 51 of each strength portion 50H, 50L in the pillar body portion 10. Further, the parting line 29 between the front diagonal frame portion 24 and the rear diagonal frame portion 25 corresponds to the upper boundary portion 52 of each strength portion 50H, 50L in each diagonal frame portion 24, 25. The front pillar 5 is formed by aligning the front part 16, which is the lower boundary part 51, and the parting line 29, which is the upper boundary part 52, in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. By aligning the upper and lower boundary portions 51 and 52 in this manner, it becomes possible to more appropriately achieve both the impact transmission performance and the impact absorption performance of the front pillar 5, as will be described later.

Here, when the upper and lower boundaries 51 and 52 shown in FIG. This is intended to include cases where the Cases in which both the boundary portions 51 and 52 are located close to each other include a case in which the positional deviation is equivalent to a design error, as well as a case in which a constant window glass WG can be maintained in the event of a frontal collision of the vehicle. For example, in the event of a frontal vehicle collision, the rear diagonal frame 25 holds the window glass WG together with the rear part of the pillar body 10, and at this time holds a majority (preferably 2/3) of the area of the window glass WG. It is desirable to be able to do so. Even if the upper boundary part 52 and the lower boundary part 51 are misaligned, if the majority (preferably 2/3) of the window glass WG can be maintained, both the boundary parts 51 and 52 are located close to each other. can be considered to be in position.

[Front pillar in the event of a frontal vehicle collision]
Vehicle 2 shown in Figures 1 and 2 is sometimes subjected to a small lap collision test to reproduce the situation of a frontal collision. Collide 2. In a small lap collision, the impact load F input to the left (or right) of the front of the vehicle 2 is received by the left (or right) front pillar 5. In this type of configuration, it is desirable to more appropriately balance the impact transmission and impact absorption properties of the front pillar 5 to more reliably ensure the opening and closing performance of the front door 4.

Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the pillar body portion 10 and the window frame portion 20 include a high-strength portion 50H having a predetermined strength and a low-strength portion 50L having a lower strength than the high-strength portion 50H. are provided adjacent to each other from the front and rear directions of the vehicle. The upper boundary part 51 of the pillar body part 10 and the lower boundary part 52 of each diagonal frame part 24, 25 of the window frame part 20 are formed in a state in which they are aligned in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle as described above. has been done. In this way, in the front pillar 5, by aligning the boundary parts 51 and 52 between the high-strength part 50H and the low-strength part 50L, it is possible to appropriately ensure the functions of both the high-strength parts 50H and 50L. Therefore, below, these effects will be explained in detail in the order of the low-strength region 50L and the high-strength region 50H.

[Shock absorption in low-strength areas]
Referring to FIGS. 5 and 8, in the front pillar 5, the front portion of the pillar body portion 10 and the front portion of the window frame portion 20 are made into low-strength portions 50L in order to ensure its shock absorption properties. In the window frame portion 20 shown in FIG. 5, in the event of a frontal collision of the vehicle, the front diagonal frame portion 24 as the low-strength portion 50L bends and deforms toward the inside of the vehicle from the upper boundary portion 52 (parting line 29). to absorb the impact load F (see arrow F1 in FIG. 5). In addition, in the pillar main body 10 shown in FIG. 8, the front portion as the low-strength portion 50L bends toward the inside of the vehicle and rearward from the lower boundary portion 51 (the front portion 16 of the rear pillar outer panel 15). It collapses and deforms to absorb the impact load F (see arrow F2 in FIG. 8). In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the boundaries 51 and 52 between the low-strength portion 50L and the high-strength portion 50H are aligned in the pillar body 10 and the diagonal frame portions 24 and 25. Therefore, the front diagonal frame portion 24 and the front portion of the pillar body portion 10 can be deformed smoothly without being hindered by the high-strength portion 50H as much as possible. In this way, the front portion of the pillar body portion 10 and the front portion of the window frame portion 20 deform and absorb the impact load F, thereby suppressing excessive transmission of the impact load F to the high-strength portion 50H, which will be described later. .

Further, in this embodiment, upper bead portions 31a (32a) as weakened portions 31 (32) are formed on the front pillar inner panel 11a forming the low-strength portion 50L shown in FIG. Further, the upper member 6 shown in FIG. 3 is also formed with lower bead portions 31b (32b) so as to be continuous with the upper bead portions 31a (32a). Therefore, the front portion of the pillar body portion 10 and the upper member 6 can be smoothly bent and deformed toward the inside of the vehicle starting from the corresponding bead portions 31a, 32a, 31b, and 32b.

[Impact transmission properties of high-strength parts]
Further, referring to FIGS. 5 and 8, in the front pillar 5, the rear part of the pillar body part 10 and the rear part of the window frame part 20 are made into high-strength parts 50H in order to ensure the impact transmission properties. Therefore, the impact load F at the time of a frontal vehicle collision is received by the rear part of the pillar body 10 as the high-strength part 50H and the rear part of the window frame part 20 (vertical frame part 21), and is applied to the vehicle body such as the roof panel 7. It will be transmitted. At this time, since the rear part of the pillar body part 10 and the vertical frame part 21 have relatively excellent strength and are difficult to deform, it is possible to transmit the impact load F to the vehicle body 3 while ensuring the opening and closing performance of the front door 4. becomes possible. As shown in FIG. 5, the boundaries 51 and 52 between the low-strength portion 50L and the high-strength portion 50H are aligned in the pillar body 10 and the diagonal frame portions 24 and 25. Therefore, the rear part of the pillar main body part 10 and the vertical frame part 21 can reliably transmit the impact load F to the vehicle body without being hindered by the low-strength portion 50L as much as possible. Furthermore, since the reinforcement 30 is disposed directly above the fastening part 15a of the rear pillar outer panel 15, it is possible to avoid the situation where the fastening part 15a is deformed as much as possible, and the front door 4 can be opened and closed more appropriately. It is possible to secure it. The rear diagonal frame portion 25 serving as the high-strength portion 50H and the rear portion of the pillar body portion 10 can appropriately hold the window glass WG, thereby preventing or reducing a situation in which the window glass WG is significantly peeled off. can do.

As explained above, in the front pillar 5 of this embodiment, the low-strength portion 50L of the pillar body 10 and the window frame portion 20 deforms and absorbs the impact load F in the event of a frontal collision of the vehicle, so that the high-strength portion 50H It is possible to suppress excessive transmission of the impact load F to. The impact load F at the time of a frontal collision of the vehicle is received by the high-strength portions 50H of the pillar body 10 and the window frame 20. Since this high-strength portion 50H has a predetermined strength capable of supporting the front door 4, it is possible to transmit the impact load F to the vehicle body 3 while ensuring the ability to open and close the front door 4. ing. In this embodiment, the boundaries 51 and 52 between the low-strength portion 50L and the high-strength portion 50H are aligned in the pillar body 10 and the diagonal frame portions 24 and 25 of the window frame portion 20. Therefore, the shock absorption of the low-strength portion 50L is not hindered by the high-strength portion 50H as much as possible, and the impact transmission of the high-strength portion 50H is not hindered by the low-strength portion 50L as much as possible, which contributes to ensuring the opening and closing performance of the front door 4. It becomes the composition. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to more appropriately achieve both the impact transmission performance and the impact absorption performance of the front pillar 5, and to ensure the opening/closing performance of the front door 4 more reliably.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the weakened parts 31 and 32 make it possible to smoothly promote deformation of the low-strength part 50L, resulting in a configuration that contributes to ensuring excellent shock absorption properties of the front pillar 5. In particular, in this embodiment, the upper bead portions 31a and 32a (weak portions) extending vertically make it possible to more appropriately promote deformation of the low-strength portion 50L of the pillar body portion 10. In this embodiment, the low-strength portion 50L located on the front side of the vehicle absorbs the impact load F, so that the high-strength portion 50H located on the rear side of the vehicle ensures the opening and closing performance of the front door 4. , it becomes possible to transmit the impact load F to the vehicle body 3.

The front structure of the vehicle according to the present embodiment is not limited to the embodiment described above, and may take various other embodiments. In this embodiment, although the configuration of the high-strength portion and the low-strength portion is illustrated, this is not intended to limit the configuration of each strength portion. For example, the high-strength region can be formed only from a high-strength material or only from reinforcement. In addition to columnar reinforcements, examples of reinforcements include plate-like (rib-like) and rod-like reinforcements that extend in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. Further, the low-strength portion can also be formed only from a low-strength material, and can also be formed only from a weak portion. In addition to the bead portion, examples of the fragile portion include a through hole, a notch, and a thin wall portion. The weakened portion can be formed in at least one of the pillar body and the window frame. For example, a weakened portion such as a vertically extending bead can also be formed in the front diagonal frame. The bead portion may be formed continuously so as to traverse the pillar main body, etc., may be formed only in a part of the pillar main body, etc., or may be formed intermittently above and below. .

Further, in this embodiment, although the configurations of the pillar main body portion and the window frame portion are illustrated, this is not intended to limit the configuration of each of these parts. For example, the pillar main body can be formed by forming at least one of a pillar inner panel and a pillar outer panel as separate bodies. One panel formed separately can then be used to form the high-strength region and the low-strength region. Similarly, in the window frame portion, at least one of the inner panels and outer panels constituting the vertical frame portion and the diagonal frame portion can be formed separately. Note that the vertical frame portion may be inclined upward and rearward, or may extend substantially vertically. The window frame portion can take various shapes in addition to the triangular shape. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, an example has been described in which the low-strength portion bends and deforms toward the inside of the vehicle during a frontal collision of the vehicle, but the direction in which the low-strength portion bends and deforms is not particularly limited.

2 Vehicle 3 Vehicle body 4 Front door 5 Front pillar 6 Upper member 6a First member 6b Second member 7 Roof panel 10 Pillar main body 11 Pillar inner panel 11a Front pillar inner panel 11b Rear pillar inner panel 11H Through hole 12 Front pillar outer panel 13 Front end surface part 13a Front end flange 14 Rear end 15 (of the front pillar outer panel) Rear pillar outer panel 15a Fastening part 16 Front part 16a Front flange 17 Rear part 17a Rear flange 20 Window frame part 21 Vertical frame part 22 Vertical inner panel 22a First flange portion 22b Third flange portion 23 Vertical outer panel 23a Second flange portion 23b Fourth flange portion 24 Front diagonal frame portion 25 Rear diagonal frame portion 26 Diagonal inner panel 26a Fifth flange portion 26b Seventh flange portion 27 Diagonal outer panel 27a Sixth flange portion 27b Eighth flange portion 28 Cymen outer panel 29 Parting line 30 Reinforcement 31 Front weakened portion 31a Front upper bead portion 32 Rear side weakened portion 32a Rear upper bead portion 31b Front and lower Bead portion 32b Rear lower bead portion 50H High-strength portion 50L Low-strength portion 51 Lower boundary portion (boundary portion between high-strength portion and low-strength portion in the pillar body)
52 Upper boundary (border between high-strength part and low-strength part in diagonal frame part)
FG Windshield WG Windshield X Merging point

Claims (3)

The pillar body includes a front pillar having a window frame portion for a window at the upper part of the pillar body supporting the front door, and an upper member extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle while being coupled to the front portion of the front pillar. The upper front part of the window frame part is provided so as to protrude toward the upper member side, and the window frame part has a vertical frame part rising upward from the pillar main body part, and a front part of the pillar main part and the vertical frame part. In a front structure of a vehicle having a diagonal frame section extending between the frame section and the frame section,
The pillar body portion and the window frame portion each include a high-strength portion having a predetermined strength to support the front door, and a high-strength portion having a lower strength than the high-strength portion to receive input from the front of the vehicle. The low-strength parts that can be deformed by the applied load are adjacent to each other from the front and rear directions of the vehicle.
A boundary between the high-strength region and the low-strength region in the pillar main body portion and a boundary between the high-strength region and the low-strength region in the diagonal frame portion of the window frame are aligned in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. It is formed in a state where
A weak portion that promotes deformation due to a load input from the front of the vehicle is formed in each of the low-strength portion provided on the upper front side of the pillar main body portion and the upper member so as to extend in the vertical direction. In addition, the weak part of the low-strength part of the pillar main body and the weak part of the upper member are aligned in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and are arranged in a continuous manner in the vertical direction. . At least one of the weak parts is a bead part formed by deforming the vertical plate-shaped pillar main body part constituting the low-strength part in a direction that swells in the vehicle width direction,
The vehicle front structure according to claim 1 , wherein the bead portion extends in a vertical direction with respect to the pillar main body portion . 3. The vehicle front structure according to claim 1, wherein the low-strength region is provided adjacent to the high-strength region on the front side of the vehicle .

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