JP7515783B2 - Vehicle side body structure - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle side body structure, and in particular to a vehicle side body structure that includes a wheel house formed on the side of the vehicle body and a door that opens and closes an opening formed on the side of the vehicle body.

Conventionally, a technology is known in which a tire deflector is provided in front of the wheel house/in front of the wheels to straighten the air flowing from the front of the vehicle toward the front of the tires (e.g., Patent Documents 1 and 2).

In addition, traditionally, garnishes (decorative parts) such as arch moldings and side moldings have been installed around the wheel houses on the sides of the vehicle body and on the doors, mainly to enhance the overall design of the vehicle.

JP 2019-166983 A JP 2008-280015 A

When large/large-diameter tires are fitted to vehicles such as SUVs, the width dimension of the decorative member provided around the wheel house may be made large in consideration of the overall design of the vehicle. However, when a door is adjacent to the wheel house (the rear door in the case of a so-called four-door vehicle), attaching a wide decorative member to the vehicle body along the outer edge of the wheel house reduces the opening area of the door. Therefore, in order to ensure the opening area of the door, it is necessary to attach part of such a decorative member to the door.

In addition, the deflector for the rear tires needs to be installed on the front side of the vehicle, so it is installed below the door (rear door), and if a large rear tire is installed, the deflector also needs to be large in order to provide its straightening performance.

However, in such cases, if a deflector is attached to the door's decorative member, there is a risk that the deflector may come into contact with the curb or other objects on the road when the door is opened or closed. On the other hand, there is also a method of fixing the deflector to the underside of the side sill, but in this case, there is a problem in that if an attempt is made to make the deflector larger, it is not possible to ensure sufficient support rigidity, and only a small deflector can be provided.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a vehicle side body structure that improves the design of the vehicle while ensuring the opening area of the door and ensuring the support rigidity of the deflector to improve aerodynamic performance.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a side body structure for a vehicle comprising a wheel house formed on the side of the vehicle body in which a tire is housed, and a door for opening and closing an opening formed on the side of the vehicle body, wherein the door is provided with a decorative member covering an arch portion extending along the wheel house, and a bracket capable of fixing a deflector is fixed to the side of the vehicle body between the decorative member of the door and the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction , and the bracket is fixed to the side of the vehicle body so as to form a closed cross section between the bracket and the side panel of the vehicle body .

According to the present invention configured in this manner, the door is provided with a decorative member (such as a so-called arch molding or garnish) that covers the arch portion extending along the wheel house, and a bracket capable of fixing a deflector is fixed to the side of the vehicle body between the decorative member of the door and the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction. Therefore, by providing the decorative member to the door, the design of the vehicle can be improved while ensuring the opening area of the door, and by fixing the bracket capable of fixing the deflector to the side of the vehicle body, the support rigidity of the deflector can be ensured and aerodynamic performance can be improved.
Furthermore, according to the present invention configured in this manner, the bracket forms a closed cross section between itself and the side panel of the vehicle body, so that the rigidity of the bracket can be ensured more reliably, thereby preventing deformation of the bracket due to wind hitting the deflector while traveling.
In addition, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a side body structure for a vehicle comprising a wheel house formed on the side of the vehicle body in which a tire is housed, and a door for opening and closing an opening formed on the side of the vehicle body, wherein the door is provided with a decorative member covering an arch portion extending along the wheel house, and a bracket capable of fixing a deflector is fixed to the side of the vehicle body between the decorative member of the door and the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction, a first sealing member is provided on the inside of the bracket in the vehicle width direction, and a second sealing member is provided on the door-side surface of the bracket on the outside of the vehicle width direction.
According to the present invention configured in this manner, the door is provided with a decorative member (such as a so-called arch molding or garnish) that covers the arch portion extending along the wheel house, and a bracket capable of fixing a deflector is fixed to the side of the vehicle body between the decorative member of the door and the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction. Therefore, by providing the decorative member to the door, the design of the vehicle can be improved while ensuring the opening area of the door, and by fixing the bracket capable of fixing the deflector to the side of the vehicle body, the support rigidity of the deflector can be ensured and aerodynamic performance can be improved.
Furthermore, according to the present invention configured as described above, it is possible to prevent water from entering from outside the vehicle on both the outer and inner sides of the fixing bracket in the vehicle width direction.

In the present invention, the bracket is preferably fixed to a side panel of the vehicle body.
According to the present invention configured in this manner, the supporting rigidity of the deflector can be more reliably ensured.

In the present invention, the bracket preferably extends upwardly of the vehicle along an outer periphery of the wheel house.
According to the present invention configured as described above, the bracket is formed with a ridge line that follows the curved shape of the wheel house, thereby increasing the bending rigidity of the bracket in the vehicle longitudinal direction. More specifically, a bending force acting toward the rear of the vehicle is applied to the bracket when the deflector is hit by the wind while the vehicle is traveling, but by increasing the bending rigidity in the vehicle longitudinal direction, the support rigidity of the deflector can be more reliably secured.

The vehicle side body structure of the present invention improves the design of the vehicle while ensuring the opening area of the door, and also ensures the support rigidity of the deflector, improving aerodynamic performance.

1 is a side view of a vehicle to which a vehicle body side structure according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. 2 is a side view showing a side vehicle body structure around a left rear wheel of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1. 2 is a perspective view showing a side vehicle body structure around a left rear wheel of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1, as viewed from the left front side of the vehicle. FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing the mounting bracket, the deflector and the seal member attached to the mounting bracket, and the seal member around the rear wheel house in FIG. 3 . FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing a door seal member around the left rear wheel of a vehicle according to the present embodiment, a mounting bracket, a deflector, and a decorative member for the door and wheel house, separated from the vehicle body. 1 is a perspective view of a mounting bracket according to the present embodiment, as viewed from the side where the bracket is to be mounted on a vehicle body. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of mounting a deflector to a mounting bracket according to the present embodiment, viewed from the left rear side of the vehicle. FIG. 3 is a side view of the vehicle body side structure around the left rear wheel of the vehicle shown in FIG. 2 with a side molding in a lower portion of the rear door removed. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG. 8, mainly showing the mounting structure of the mounting bracket to the side panel of the vehicle body. 10 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 9 , showing a modified mounting structure for mounting a mounting bracket to a side sill. FIG. FIG. 2 is a side view showing the vehicle body structure around the left rear wheel of the vehicle according to the present embodiment. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XII-XII in FIG. 11 , mainly showing the mounting structure of the mounting bracket to the side panel of the vehicle body. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XIII-XIII in FIG. 11, mainly showing the mounting structure of the deflector to the mounting bracket.

The vehicle side body structure according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the attached drawings.

First, the schematic configuration of a vehicle side body structure according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a side view of a vehicle to which a vehicle side body structure according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle 1 to which a vehicle side body structure according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied includes, on the side of a vehicle body 2, a front fender panel 4, a rear fender panel 6, and a side sill 8 extending in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the side body structure of the vehicle 1 is basically formed symmetrically in the vehicle width direction, and this specification mainly describes the configuration of the left side of the vehicle in the vehicle width direction.

The vehicle body 2 has a front door opening 10 at the front of the vehicle and a rear door opening 12 at the rear of the vehicle, and the vehicle 1 is equipped with a front door 14 and a rear door 16 that are arranged to be able to open and close the door openings 10, 12.

The vehicle 1 is equipped with front wheels (tires and wheels) 18, and a front wheel house 20 that houses the front wheels 18 is formed in the front fender panel 4.
The vehicle 1 also includes rear wheels (tires and wheels) 22, and the rear fender panel 6 is formed with a rear wheel house 24 that houses the rear wheels 22. Here, a portion of the rear door opening 12 described above is formed in the rear fender panel 6 at a vehicle front portion thereof. The rear fender panel 6, the portion of the rear door opening 12, and the rear wheel house 24 are also integrally formed by press molding a side panel 7 described below.

In addition, the following decorative members (garnishes) are attached to the sides of the vehicle body 2: a front arch molding 26 extending in an arc shape along the outer shape of the front wheel house 20, a front side molding 28 extending in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle below the front door 14, a rear side molding 30 extending in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle below the rear door 16, and a rear arch molding 32 extending in an arc shape along the outer shape of the rear wheel house 24.
In this embodiment, the vehicle 1 is a so-called SUV vehicle and is equipped with large/large diameter tires 18, 22, and each of the moldings (decorative members) 26, 28, 30, 32 is a molding that is relatively wide in the direction in which it extends from the standpoint of external design (see Figure 2).

Next, a schematic configuration around a rear wheel house on the side of the vehicle will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a side view showing a side vehicle body structure around the left rear wheel of the vehicle shown in Fig. 1.
2, in this embodiment, the above-mentioned rear side molding 30 and a portion 32a of the rear arch molding 32 are integrally formed and attached to the rear door 16. A rear tire deflector (deflector) 34 is attached to the vehicle body 2 on the front side of the rear wheel house 24 to rectify the flow of air flowing from the front of the vehicle toward the rear tire 22.

Next, the mounting structure of the deflector 34 to the vehicle body according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 3 to 7. Figure 3 is a perspective view of the vehicle body structure around the left rear wheel of the vehicle shown in Figure 1, as seen from the left front side of the vehicle. Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the mounting bracket, the deflector and seal member attached to the mounting bracket, and the seal member around the rear wheel house in Figure 3. Figure 5 is an exploded view of the door seal member around the left rear wheel of the vehicle according to this embodiment, the mounting bracket, the deflector, and the door and wheel house decoration members, separated from the vehicle body. Figure 6 is a perspective view of the mounting bracket according to this embodiment as seen from the mounting side to the vehicle body. Figure 7 is a perspective view of an example of mounting the deflector to the mounting bracket according to this embodiment, as seen from the left rear side of the vehicle.

First, as shown in Figures 3 to 5, the side panel 7 of the vehicle body 2 is formed with an outer periphery 24a of a rear wheel house 24 that constitutes part of the rear door opening 12. A weather strip (first seal member) 36 that prevents water from entering from outside the vehicle when the rear door 16 is closed is attached to this rear wheel house outer periphery 24a. The weather strip 36 extends in an arc shape along the rear wheel house outer periphery 24a.

Next, a mounting bracket 38 for mounting the deflector 34 is provided at the rear end of the side sill 8 in the vehicle front-rear direction. As shown in Fig. 4, this mounting bracket 38 extends toward the upper side of the vehicle along the outer circumferential portion 24a of the rear wheel house.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a weather strip (second seal member) 40 is attached to the mounting bracket 38 to prevent water from entering from outside the vehicle when the rear door 16 is closed.

As shown in FIG. 5, a weather strip 36 and a side step molding 38 are attached to the vehicle body 2, and the above-mentioned side molding 30 and arch moldings 32a, 32b are attached to the rear door 16 (not shown in FIG. 5) on the outer side of the vehicle width direction of the vehicle body 2.

Next, as shown in Figures 3 and 6, the mounting bracket 38 has a mounting portion 38a to which the deflector 34 is attached, a fastener/clip (mounting portion) 38b for mounting to the vehicle body 2, and a surface 38c on the front side of the vehicle.
7, the deflector 34 is attached to the attachment portion 38a by an attachment member 39. The attachment bracket 38 is attached to the side panel 7 of the vehicle body 2 as described below.

Next, the structure for mounting the mounting bracket to the side panel of the vehicle body and a modified example thereof will be described with reference to Figures 8 to 11. Figure 8 is a side view of the vehicle body structure around the left rear wheel shown in Figure 2 with the side molding of the lower part of the rear door removed, Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IX-IX in Figure 8, mainly showing the structure for mounting the mounting bracket to the side panel of the vehicle body, and Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view similar to Figure 9, showing a modified structure for mounting the mounting bracket to the side sill.

The vehicle side configuration shown in FIG. 8 is an example of a configuration in which the vehicle side side molding 30 shown in FIG. 1 is not provided. As shown in FIG. 8, a deflector 34 is provided below the rear door 16 and in front of the rear wheel 22. In this embodiment, a mounting bracket 38 capable of fixing the deflector 34 is fixed to the side of the vehicle body 2 between the decorative member 32a of the rear door and the side panel 7 of the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction. Next, this mounting structure will be described with reference to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10.

First, as shown in FIG. 9, the rear door 16 has an outer panel 16a and an inner panel 16b (three steel plate members are shown in FIG. 9), and an arch molding (decorative member) 32a is attached to the outer panel 16a and the inner panel 16b.
On the other hand, on the vehicle body 2 side, the above-mentioned mounting bracket 38 is attached to the side panel 7 by its mounting fastener 38b (not shown in the cross section shown in FIG. 9). In the drawing, reference numeral 42 denotes a mudguard provided inside the wheel house 24.

As shown in FIG. 9, the deflector 34 is attached to the surface of the mounting portion 38a of the mounting bracket 38 facing the rear wheel 22 (see FIG. 7).

As shown in FIG. 9, the weather strip 36 is provided on the inside of the mounting bracket 38 in the vehicle width direction. As described above, the weather strip 36 is attached to the outer periphery 24a of the rear wheel house of the side panel 7.
Furthermore, a weather strip 40 is attached to the outer surface of the mounting bracket 38 in the vehicle width direction.
In the cross-sectional area shown in Figure 9, the inner panel 16b of the rear door 16 abuts against the weather strip 40 of the mounting bracket 38 to prevent water from entering, and in areas where this weather strip 40 is not present, the inner panel 16b of the rear door 16 abuts against the weather strip 36 of the rear wheel house outer periphery 24a to prevent water from entering (see Figure 4).

In the example shown in FIG. 9, the mounting bracket 38 has a shape that opens towards the side panel 7 when attached to the side panel 7 .
On the other hand, in the modified example shown in Figure 10, the mounting bracket 38 has an extension portion 38d extending from the inner surface of the mounting bracket 38, and by means of such extension portion 38d etc., the mounting bracket 38 attached to the side panel 7 forms a closed cross-section between itself and the side panel 7.

Next, the mounting structure of the mounting bracket to the side panel of the vehicle body will be further explained with reference to Figures 11 to 13. Figure 11 is a side view showing the vehicle body structure around the left rear wheel of the vehicle according to this embodiment, Figure 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XII-XII in Figure 11, mainly showing the mounting structure of the mounting bracket to the side panel of the vehicle body, and Figure 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XIII-XIII in Figure 11, mainly showing the mounting structure of the deflector to the mounting bracket.

11 is a side view in which the rear door 16 and moldings 30, 32a are omitted from the side view shown in FIG. 2 for the convenience of showing the bracket 38, and FIGS. 12 and 13 show cross sections of the rear door 16 and moldings 30, 32a.
First, as shown in FIG. 11, the mounting bracket 38 is provided to extend along the wheel house outer periphery 24a, and in this embodiment, is fixed to the side panel 7 at multiple points along the direction in which it extends.

The cross section shown in Figure 12 is a cross section at one of the attachment points of the mounting bracket 38 to the vehicle body 2, and the mounting bracket 38 is attached to the side panel 7 by the above-mentioned attachment portion 38b (see Figure 6).
The cross section shown in FIG. 13 is a cross section at one of the attachment locations of the deflector 34 to the attachment bracket 38, and the deflector 34 is attached to the vehicle rear side surface of the attachment portion 38a by an attachment member 39.
As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the above-mentioned weather strip 40 is attached to the outer surface of the mounting bracket 38 in the vehicle width direction (see FIG. 4).

As described above, according to this embodiment, as shown mainly in Figures 8 to 13, the rear door 16 is provided with a decorative member 32a that covers the arch portion 24a that extends along the rear wheel house 24, and a mounting bracket 38 capable of fixing a deflector 34 is fixed to the side panel 7 of the side of the vehicle body 2 between the decorative member 32a of the rear door 16 and the side panel 7 of the vehicle body 2 in the vehicle width direction.

Next, the effects of the vehicle body side structure according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.
First, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the door 16 is provided with a decorative member (such as a so-called arch molding or garnish) 32 that covers an arch portion (the arch portion means a portion that extends along the wheel house 24, and includes shapes other than an arc shape) that extends along the wheel house 24, and a bracket 38 capable of fixing a deflector 34 is fixed to the side of the vehicle body 2 between the decorative member 32a of the door 16 and the vehicle body 2 in the vehicle width direction. Therefore, by providing the decorative member 32a on the door 16, the design of the vehicle 1 is improved while ensuring the area of the opening 12 of the door 16, and by fixing the bracket 38 capable of fixing the deflector 34 to the side of the vehicle body 2, the support rigidity of the deflector 34 can be ensured and aerodynamic performance can be improved.

In addition, according to this embodiment, the bracket 38 is fixed to the side panel 7 of the vehicle body 2, so the support rigidity of the deflector 34 can be more reliably ensured.

In addition, according to this embodiment, the bracket 38 is designed to form a ridge line along the curved shape of the wheel house 24, thereby increasing the bending rigidity of the bracket 38 in the vehicle longitudinal direction. More specifically, a bending force acting toward the rear of the vehicle is applied to the bracket 38 when the deflector 34 is hit by the wind while traveling, but by increasing the bending rigidity in the vehicle longitudinal direction, the support rigidity of the deflector 34 can be more reliably ensured.

In addition, according to this embodiment, the bracket 38 forms a closed cross section with the side panel 7 of the vehicle body 2, so the rigidity of the bracket 38 can be ensured more reliably, and this makes it possible to prevent deformation of the bracket 38 due to the wind hitting the deflector 34 while traveling.

In addition, according to this embodiment, a first seal member 36 is provided on the inside of the bracket 38 in the vehicle width direction, and a second seal member 40 is provided on the surface of the bracket 38 on the door 16 side on the outside of the vehicle width direction, so that water can be prevented from entering from outside the vehicle on both the outside and inside of the bracket 38 in the vehicle width direction.

1 Vehicle 2 Vehicle body 6 Rear fender panel 7 Vehicle body side panel 8 Side sill 12 Rear door opening 16 Rear door 22 Rear wheels (tires, wheels)
24 Rear wheel house 24a Outer periphery/arch portion 30 Rear side molding (decorative member)
32 Rear arch molding 32a Rear door arch molding 34 Rear tire deflector (deflector)
36 Weather strip (first seal member)
38 Mounting bracket 38a Deflector mounting portion/mounting surface 38b Mounting portion to vehicle body 38d Extension portion 40 Weather strip (second seal member)

Claims (4)

A wheel house formed on a side of a vehicle body and accommodating a tire;
A door for opening and closing an opening formed in a side portion of the vehicle body,
The door is provided with a decorative member that covers an arch portion extending along the wheel house,
A bracket capable of fixing a deflector is fixed to a side portion of the vehicle body between the vehicle body and a decoration member of the door in a vehicle width direction ,
A vehicle side body structure , characterized in that the bracket is fixed to a side portion of the vehicle body so as to form a closed cross section between the bracket and a side panel of the vehicle body . A wheel house formed on a side of a vehicle body and accommodating a tire;
A door for opening and closing an opening formed in a side portion of the vehicle body,
The door is provided with a decorative member that covers an arch portion extending along the wheel house,
A bracket capable of fixing a deflector is fixed to a side portion of the vehicle body between the vehicle body and a decoration member of the door in a vehicle width direction ,
A vehicle side body structure, characterized in that a first seal member is provided on the inside of the bracket in the vehicle width direction, and a second seal member is provided on the door side surface of the bracket on the outside of the vehicle width direction . 3. The vehicle side body structure according to claim 1 , wherein the bracket is fixed to a side panel of the vehicle body. The vehicle side body structure according to claim 1 , wherein the bracket extends upwardly of the vehicle along an outer periphery of the wheel house.

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