JPH0437767Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Field of industrial application) The present invention relates to the body structure of an automobile, and more specifically, the structure of the body roof when installing a side door or rear door with a large open area in a van-type vehicle, etc. Regarding.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, various types of side and rear doors have been used in van-type vehicles.
For example, there are various types of doors, such as those in which the door slides back and forth along the side wall, those in which the upper edge of the door is hinged to the vehicle body and the entire door rotates upward around the hinge joint, and those in which the door opens on double doors. There is.

On the other hand, van-type vehicles have a variety of uses, including leisure and business use. For leisure purposes, for example, a car may be used as a so-called camping car. In this case, it is common practice to connect a tent to the side of the car at the camp site to increase the living space. It is preferable to have a large open area. Furthermore, when the vehicle is used for commercial purposes, luggage is often loaded into the vehicle interior, so it is preferable to increase the open area of the door to facilitate loading and unloading of luggage into the vehicle interior.
From this point of view, in the case of a conventional sliding type door, a space is required to hold the sliding door, so the open area cannot be made very large. On the other hand, doors that are hinged and pivot upward, and doors that open double doors can have a larger opening area, but when the door is opened or closed, the edge of the door moves outward from the side wall of the vehicle. Because the door protrudes so far, there is a problem with the door not being able to open or close if there is an obstacle near the car.

For this reason, for example,
As disclosed in No. 1, a vehicle interior rail and a vehicle interior roller are provided on the vehicle body side, and a door rail and a door roller are provided on the door side, so that the vehicle interior rail guides the door roller and the door rail guides the vehicle interior roller. It has been proposed that the door be opened and closed by sliding it up and down without the door protruding outward.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) In the above proposal, the open area of the door can be increased, and the door does not protrude outward when the door is opened or closed. There is a problem in that the method of assisting to reduce the force is difficult. In other words, this door has a large opening area and is heavy, so the operating force is too large to open and close it manually, so some kind of assisting means must be provided, but the entire stroke of the door moving up and down is too large. Since the means for assisting the door is very large and has a complicated structure, it is actually difficult to perform the assist well over the entire stroke of the vertical movement of the door.

Furthermore, when opening the door, there is a problem that the distance between two points supporting the door becomes small near the end of the opening operation, making the support of the door unstable. That is, the vehicle interior roller guided by the door rail and the door roller guided by the vehicle interior rail approach each other as the door is opened, making the support of the door unstable. Furthermore, since the support portion of the door and the center of gravity of the door are misaligned at this time, a larger force is applied to the support portion of the door due to the weight of the door, resulting in a problem that the operating force for opening and closing tends to be heavy.

Therefore, in order to solve these problems, the present inventors devised a new door opening/closing structure that has a large open area and is easy to assist in reducing the operating force for opening and closing the door. That is, this door opening/closing structure includes guide rails extending vertically on both sides of an opening provided in a side wall of the vehicle body, and rollers rollably inserted into the guide rails at the lower portions of both sides. A door provided in the opening so as to be slidable up and down, and a roof member having one end pivotally connected to the upper edge of the door and the other end pivotally connected to the roof panel, the roof member being attached to the lower part of the door when the door is opened or closed. is guided by a guide rail, and the upper edge of the door is rotated together with the roof member around the pivot point between the roof member and the roof panel, thereby allowing the door to move up and down without protruding outward. In addition, the opening area of this door is increased, and an assist means for reducing the operating force when opening and closing the door is arranged in the rotating part of the roof member, so that even a small assist means with a small operating stroke can be used. This allows the door to open and close smoothly.

However, when this door opening/closing structure is applied to an actual automobile, the following problems arise in terms of the vehicle body structure. Increasing the open area of the door may reduce the rigidity of the vehicle body, especially at the upper edge of the door opening, where the weight of the door is concentrated when the door is opened or closed, so it is necessary to increase the rigidity of that area. It is necessary to increase the In addition, although the roof member is arranged on the roof panel, this roof member increases air resistance and wind noise.
There is a risk that rainwater, etc. may enter the vehicle interior.

The present invention was developed in view of these problems, and its purpose is to improve the rigidity of the vehicle body, especially the door opening, by improving the vehicle body structure when adopting the above-mentioned door opening/closing structure in an automobile. This effectively increases the rigidity of the upper edge, reduces air resistance, and prevents rainwater from entering.

(Means for solving the problem) In order to achieve the above object, the solution of the present invention includes guide rails extending vertically on both sides of the opening provided in the side wall of the vehicle body, and guide rails arranged at the bottom of both sides. a door having a roller rotatably inserted into the guide rail and slidably up and down in the opening; one end pivotally attached to the upper edge of the door;
The present invention is based on an automobile having a roof member whose other end is pivotally connected to a roof panel.

In such an automobile, a strength member whose both ends are connected to the pillars is provided at the upper edge of the opening, and the strength member is joined to the lower surface of the roof panel to form a closed cross section. In addition, a recessed portion having substantially the same shape as the roof member is formed in the roof panel, and when the door is closed, the roof member is stored in the recessed portion flush with the top surface of the roof panel excluding the recessed portion, and the vehicle roof is The structure is such that it forms.

(Function) With the above configuration, in the present invention, a strength member whose both ends are connected to the pillar is provided at the upper edge of the opening, and the strength member is joined to the lower surface of the roof panel to form a closed cross section. Therefore, the rigidity of the upper edge of the opening can be effectively increased by the strength member.

Furthermore, when the door is closed, the roof member arranged on the roof panel is stored in the recess formed in the roof panel flush with the top surface of the roof panel excluding the recess, so this roof member allows the vehicle to move easily when driving. There is no increase in air resistance or wind noise, and the appearance is also good. Furthermore, even if the roof panel is formed with a recess for storing the roof member, the entire vehicle roof including the portion corresponding to the roof member is covered by the roof panel, so rainwater, etc. can enter the vehicle interior from the vehicle roof. There will be no infiltration.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

1 and 2 show a car equipped with a car body structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a car body, 2 is a door opening provided on the left rear side wall of the car body 1, and 3 is the opening. The door 3 opens and closes the section 2, and the lower part of the door 3 is connected to a guide rail 2, which will be described later.
3 and 34 so as to be slidable up and down.

One end of a roof member 4 is pivotally attached to the upper edge of the door 3, and the other end of the roof member 4 is pivotally attached to a roof panel 5. A pair of torsion bars 6, 6 and a stay damper 7, 7 are arranged between the roof member 4 and the roof panel 5, respectively. One end of each torsion bar 6 is connected to the roof member 4, and the other end is connected to the roof panel 5. Further, one end of each stay damper 7 is pivotally connected to the roof member 4, and the other end is pivotally connected to the roof panel 5. Both the torsion bar 6 and the stay damper 7 apply upward rotational force to the roof member 4 to balance the own weight of the roof member 4 and the door 3, thereby reducing the operating force when opening and closing the door 3. It's becoming like that. In this case, since the torsion bar 6 and the stay damper 7 are arranged on the rotating roof member 4, even if the vertical stroke when opening and closing the door 3 is large, the stroke of the torsion bar 6 and the stay damper 7 can be made small. The assist device for opening and closing can be downsized.

Next, the structure of the vehicle body 1 that supports the door 3 and the roof member 4 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 to 12. Figure 3 shows door 3 and roof member 4
It is a perspective view showing the vehicle body with the fourth part removed.
The figure is also a plan view of the vehicle body. The upper part of the vehicle body 1 is covered by a roof panel 5, and a recess 5a having substantially the same shape as the roof member 4 is formed in the roof panel 5. The recess 5a is for storing the roof member 4 when the door 3 is closed, and when the roof member 4 is in the retracted state, the roof panel 5 except for the recess 5a, as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. The upper surface and the upper surface of the roof member 4 are flush with each other, thereby forming the roof of the vehicle body 1. roof member 4,
FIG. 5 shows it when viewed from the bottom side. As can be seen from this figure, on the lower surface of the roof member 4,
A pair of first hinge brackets 8, 8 are fixed to one end, and a pair of second hinge brackets 9, 9 are fixed to the other end. 1st above
The hinge brackets 8, 8 are hingedly connected to a pair of third hinge brackets 10, 10 fixedly installed in the recess 5a of the roof panel 5, and thereby,
The roof member 4 is pivotally connected to the roof panel 5 at first hinge brackets 8,8. The second hinge brackets 9, 9 are for hinge connection to the upper edge of the door 3, which will be described later. Further, the torsion bars 6, 6 and the stay dampers 7, 7 are interposed between the roof member 4 in the recess 5a of the roof panel 5, and one end of the stay dampers 7, 7 is disposed in the recess 5a of the roof panel 5. A pair of fourth hinge brackets 11, 11 for pivotal connection are fixedly provided.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the roof section taken along the - line in FIG. A strength member 12 is provided at a portion located at the upper edge of the opening 2, and a center roof member 1 is provided at a portion corresponding to the recess 5a at the center of the roof portion.
3 are joined together to form a closed cross section extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. The front end of the strength member 12 is connected to a center pillar 20 constituting the front edge of the door opening 2 and a center roof cross member 14 installed between the upper parts of the left and right center pillars 20, 20, while the rear end is connected to a rear pillar 31 constituting the rear edge of the door opening 2 and a rear roof cross member 15 constructed between the upper portions of the left and right rear pillars 31, 31. Further, the front end of the center roof member 13 is connected to the center roof cross member 14, and the rear end is connected to the rear roof cross member 15. A sealing member 16 is attached to the joint between the side end of the strength member 12 and the end of the roof panel 5, and the sealing member 16 comes into contact with the upper inner surface of the door 3 when the door 3 is closed. This is to prevent rainwater, etc. from entering the vehicle interior.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the - line in FIG. 4, and the hinge reinforcement 17 is joined to the lower surface of the recess 5a formed in the roof panel 5 to form a closed cross section extending in the vehicle width direction. The hinge reinforcement 17 is provided astride between the strength member 12 and the center roof member 13. The hinge reinforcement 17 is provided not only on the lower surface of the recess 5a near the center roof cross member 14 shown in FIG. 7, but also on the lower surface of the recess 5a near the rear roof cross member 15. Further, in FIG. 4, 18a and 18b are a pair of left and right side roof members provided below the vehicle body roof, and the side roof member 18b on the right side of the vehicle body is provided over approximately the entire length of the vehicle body. The side roof member 18a on the left side of the vehicle body is provided only on the front side of the center pillar 20 due to the arrangement relationship with the door opening 2.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing the center pillar 20 forming the front edge of the door opening 2 along the third - line. This center pillar 20 has a closed cross-section structure with an outer panel 21 and an inner panel 22, and a vertical surface 21a extending in the vehicle width direction formed at the rear of the outer panel 21 has upper and lower surfaces facing the door opening 2. A guide rail 23 extending to is joined. The door 3 is attached to the guide rail 23.
A roller 24 attached to the front end of the lower part is inserted, and this roller 24 is guided by a guide rail 23 and can roll up and down. A sealing member 25 is attached to the rear end joint between the outer panel 21 and the inner panel 22, and comes into contact with the inner surface of the door 3 when the door 3 is closed.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing the lower structure of the door opening 2 along the - line in FIG. 3. FIG. An outer panel 27 and an inner panel 28 are joined to a floor panel 26 constituting the floor portion of the vehicle body, and these three panels 26, 27, and 28 form a closed cross section extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. A sealing member 29 is attached to the end joint between the outer panel 27 and the floor panel 26 so as to face outward and come into contact with the lower inner surface of the door 3 when the door 3 is closed. FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing the lower structure of the door opening 2 along the line XX in FIG. 3. FIG. In this part, because of the rear wheels, the closed section shown in Figure 9 cannot be extended as it is, so the outer panel 2
7 and the inner panel 28 form a small closed section, to which the end of the floor panel 26 is joined. Note that 30 is a cowl panel, and the upper part of the cowl panel 30 is joined to the side surface of the outer panel 27.

Figures 11 and 12 are - of Figure 3.
11 is a sectional view showing the rear pillar 31 forming the rear edge of the door opening 2 along a line, FIG. 11 shows the door 3 in an open state, and FIG. 12 shows the door 3 in a closed state. The rear pillar 31 is an outer panel 32
and an inner panel 33 to form a closed cross-sectional structure, and a guide rail 34 extending vertically facing the door opening 2 is joined to a vertical surface 32a formed at the front of the outer panel 32 and extending in the vehicle width direction. has been done. A roller 35 attached to the lower rear end of the door 3 is inserted into the guide rail 34, and the roller 35 is guided by the guide rail 34 and can roll up and down. Although not shown in the drawings, the guide rail 34 is formed to be slightly bent inward at the lower portion of the vehicle body. For this reason,
A roller 35 that moves up and down along the guide rail 34
When located at the lower part of the guide rail 34, that is, when the door 3 is closed, it is drawn into the vehicle body along the inward bend of the guide rail 34, and the inner surface of the door 3 as shown in FIG. comes into contact with a seal member 36 attached to the end of the outer panel 32. Conversely, when the door 3 is moved upward from the closed state to be opened, the roller 35 is pushed outward along the curve of the guide rail 34, and the door 3 is pushed out slightly toward the outside of the vehicle, as shown in FIG. The sealing member 36 is moved upward while remaining separated from the sealing member 36.

Next, the structure of the door 3 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 13 to 18. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the disassembled state of the door 3, in which the outer panel 3
7 and an inner panel 38 are joined together. A pair of fifth hinge brackets, which are pivotally connected to the second hinge brackets 9 of the roof member 4, are fixedly attached to the inner surface of the upper edge of the door. FIG. 14 shows a state in which the roof member 4 is pivotally connected to the roof member 4 in cross section. A closed cross section is formed at the upper edge of the outer panel 37 and the inner panel 38, and a fifth hinge bracket 40 is fixed to this closed cross section by a bolt 39. A second hinge bracket 9 and a fifth hinge bracket 40, which are fixed to the end of the roof member 4, are rotatably connected to each other by a pin 41.

FIG. 15 is a sectional view taken along the - line in FIG. 13, showing the door 3 in a closed state. The upper edge of the door 3, which is constructed by joining an outer panel 37 and an inner panel 38, is located so as to cover the end of the roof panel 5, and the inner surface (inner panel 38) of the door 3 is located on the roof panel 5. It is in contact with a seal member 16 attached to the side end of.

16 and 17 are sectional views taken along the - line and - line in FIG. 13, respectively, and the door 3 is connected to the outer panel 37 and the inner panel 3
8 and shows that a roller 24 is attached to the lower end of the door 3. Note that a roller 35 is also attached to the opposite end of the door 3 (see FIG. 11).

FIG. 18 is a sectional view of the door lock portion taken along the line - in FIG. 13, showing a state in which the door lock 42 is engaged with the striker 43 on the vehicle body side.
The door lock 42 includes a lock release handle 44 provided at the center of the lower part of the door 3 and protruding outward from the lower part of the outer panel 37, and a lock release handle 44 connected to the handle 44 via a link 45 and attached to the inner surface of the inner panel 38. It consists of a hook mechanism 46. The hook mechanism 46 is capable of engaging and disengaging from a striker 43 provided on the vehicle body side. When closing the door 3, simply pushing the door 3 and pressing the hook mechanism 46 against the striker 43 engages the two, and vice versa. When opening the door 3, pull the lock release handle 44 to disengage the two, and then move the door 3 upward.

Next, to explain the operation of the above embodiment, the door 3
When the door 3 is closed covering the opening 2, the door 3 is in the most downwardly moved state, and the rollers 24, 35 at the bottom on both sides, especially the roller 35 at the bottom on the rear side, touch the rear edge of the door opening 2. The door 3 is pulled inwardly along the inward bend of the guide rail 34, as shown in FIG.
It is in contact with 6. In this state, the hook mechanism 46 of the door lock 42 is engaged with the striker 4 on the vehicle body side.
3 and the door is locked.

In this case, in the roof portion of the vehicle body 1, the roof member 4 is connected to the recess 5 formed in the roof panel 5.
a is stored flush with the top surface of the roof panel 5 excluding the recess 5a, thereby forming a vehicle roof. Therefore, when driving, the roof member 4
The air resistance does not become a resistance to the traveling wind, and it is possible to reduce air resistance and prevent wind noise from occurring around the roof member 4. Moreover, the appearance is also good.

When opening the door 3 from this state, the user first pulls the lock release handle 44 of the door lock 42 to disengage the hook mechanism 46 and the striker 43, and then pushes the door 3 upward. Then, since the rollers 24 and 35 on both sides of the door 3 are guided by the guide rails 23 and 34 on both sides of the door opening 2, the lower part of the door 3 is pushed slightly outward along the guide rails 23 and 34. to move upward. On the other hand, since the upper edge of the door 3 is pivotally connected to one end of the roof member 4, the roof member 4 is connected to the roof panel 5 at the pivot point (the connection between the first hinge bracket 8 and the third hinge bracket 10). point), it moves upward and is drawn toward the roof panel 5 side. Finally, Figures 1 and 2
As shown in the figure, the lower edge of the door 3 stops being lifted up to the upper edge of the opening 2, and the opening operation of the door 3 is completed. Note that when closing the door 3, the process is completely reversed, so the explanation thereof will be omitted.

In this way, when opening and closing the door 3 and when the door 3 is in the open state, the weight of the door 3 and the roof member 4 is transferred to the door opening 2.
The effect is concentrated on the upper edge of the roof panel 5, that is, the left side end of the vehicle body, and the central portion in the vehicle width direction of the roof panel 4, which is the pivot point between the roof member 4 and the roof panel 5, but these parts of the roof panel 4 for,
Since the strength member 12 and the center roof member 13 are respectively connected to the lower surface of the roof panel 4 and form a closed cross section in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, they can sufficiently counter the dead weight of the door 3 and the roof member 4. can. In particular, door opening 2
The strength member 12 on the upper edge side has both ends connected to the center pillar 20 and the rear pillar 3 on the side edge of the door opening 2.
1, so both pillars 20 and 3
1 and the vehicle body rigidity around the door opening 2 can be effectively increased.

Further, the roof panel 5 is attached to the roof member 4.
Although a recess 5a is formed for storing the roof member 4, it is provided so as to cover the entire vehicle roof including the lower part of the roof member 4, so even when the door 3 is opened, rainwater etc. from the vehicle roof will not leak into the vehicle interior. can prevent infiltration. Moreover, the recessed portion 5a
is used as a drain for rainwater etc. dripping from the periphery of the roof member 4 when the door 3 is closed (when the roof member 4 is stored in the recess 5a flush with the top surface of the roof panel 5 excluding the recess 5a). can do.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but includes various other modifications. For example, in the embodiment described above, when forming the recess 5a having substantially the same shape as the roof member 4 in the roof panel 5, the front end of the recess 5a is positioned behind the center roof cross member 14 as shown in FIG. However, the front end of the roof member 4 and the front end of the corresponding recess 5a may be extended to the position of the center roof cross member 14. In this case, the center roof cross member 14 can be used as a reinforcing member for reinforcing the recess 5a of the roof panel 5, and the hinge reinforcement 17 for this reinforcement can be omitted.

In addition, the hinge reinforcement 17
In the embodiment, from the strength member 12 to the center roof member 13 corresponding to the recess 5a of the roof panel 5
However, this hinge reinforcement 17 is installed astride the side roof member 18b on the right side of the vehicle body.
Of course, the rigidity of the vehicle body roof may be further increased by extending the length to a maximum of 100 mm.

(Effects of the invention) As described above, according to the car body structure of the invention, there is a door provided in the opening so that it can move up and down within the guide rail, and a door that is pivotally connected to the door and the roof panel, respectively. In the case of a door opening/closing structure consisting of a roof member, a strength member is provided at the upper edge of the opening, the strength member having both ends connected to the pillar and joined to the lower surface of the roof panel to form a closed cross section, and the roof panel has: By forming a recess that stores the roof member flush with the top surface of the roof panel when the door is closed, it is possible to effectively increase the rigidity of the upper edge of the door opening, where the weight of the door is concentrated when the door is opened and closed. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent air resistance and wind noise caused by the roof member and to prevent rainwater from entering through the vehicle roof, thereby effectively contributing to the practical application of the door opening/closing structure.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an automobile, Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the - line in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a car with the door and roof member removed. 4th perspective view showing the state
This figure is a plan view of the same, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the roof member viewed from the bottom side. 6 and 7 are enlarged cross-sectional views taken along lines - and - in FIG. 4, respectively, and FIGS. - is an enlarged sectional view along the line. 11 and 12 are enlarged sectional views taken along the - line in FIG. 3, with FIG. 11 showing the door in an open state, and FIG. 12 showing the door in a removed state. 13th
The figures are exploded perspective views of the door;
Figures 16, 17 and 18 are the - line, - line of Fig. 13, respectively.
- line, - line, and - line along the enlarged sectional view. 2... Door opening, 3... Door, 4... Roof member, 5... Roof panel, 5a... Recess, 1
2... Strength member, 23, 34... Guide rail, 24, 35... Roller.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] It has guide rails that extend vertically on both sides of an opening provided in the side wall of the vehicle, and rollers that are rollably inserted into the guide rails at the bottom of both sides, and can slide up and down into the opening. In an automobile comprising a door provided at the opening, and a roof member having one end pivotally attached to the upper edge of the door and the other end pivotally attached to the roof panel, the upper edge of the opening includes:
A strength member is provided with both ends connected to the pillar, and the strength member is joined to the lower surface of the roof pal to form a closed cross section, and the roof panel has a recessed portion having approximately the same shape as the roof member. A car body structure for an automobile, characterized in that when a door is closed, the roof member is stored in the recess in a state flush with the upper surface of the roof panel excluding the recess to form a car body roof.