JPH0618858Y2 - Plastic fender mounting structure - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to a mounting structure for a plastic front fender in an automobile.

(Prior Art) In recent years, from the viewpoints of weight reduction and ease of molding, it has been attempted to make the front fender of an automobile made of plastic, for example, as described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 61-36479. .

By the way, the door is located on the vehicle rear side of the front fender, and there is a parting gap (gap) between the two, that is, between the rear edge of the front fender and the front edge of the door. If the parting gap is too wide, the appearance is impaired and the quality is deteriorated. Therefore, it is desirable to make the parting gap as narrow as possible in a range where the door and the fender do not interfere with each other when the door is opened and closed.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Generally, a fender expands due to thermal expansion at a high temperature, and in particular, due to expansion in a vehicle body front-rear direction, a parting gap between the fender and the door decreases and narrows.
Therefore, in setting the parting clearance, it is necessary to prevent interference between the door and the fender when the door is opened or closed, that is, at least to avoid the interference even when the parting clearance is reduced at the high temperature. It is necessary to set a parting space having a width larger than the size obtained by adding the amount of decrease in parting clearance at the above high temperature.

However, in general, the plastic fender has a larger coefficient of thermal expansion than the conventional iron plate fender, and the reduction amount of the parting clearance at the high temperature is larger than that of the iron plate fender.

Therefore, if the front fender is made of plastic, the parting clearance needs to be set wider than in the case of the conventional iron plate, and there is a problem that the appearance is deteriorated and the quality is deteriorated.

As one method for solving the above problem, for example, when attaching a front fender to a vehicle body, the rear edge of the fender is directly fixed to the vehicle body, and the front portion is attached by, for example, an elongated hole extending in the vehicle longitudinal direction. Even if the fender is extended, the extension is directed only toward the front of the vehicle body based on the trailing edge fixed to the vehicle body of the fender, thereby avoiding a reduction in the parting gap between the fender and the door. Can be considered.

However, since it is necessary to provide a space at the rear edge of the front fender so that the front edge of the door can rotate and enter toward the inside of the vehicle when the door is opened, the rear edge of the front fender can be directly connected from the viewpoint of space. It is not always easy to fixedly attach it to the vehicle body.

That is, since the door has the form in which the front edge portion of the door outer panel is located outside the door hinge pin and the central portion in the vertical direction of the door is bulged outward, the front edge of the door has the hinge pin above the hinge pin when the door is opened. It pivots around the center and enters a large distance toward the front inside of the vehicle. Therefore, it is necessary to secure a space for the front edge to enter inside the front edge of the door. However, in the case where the rear edge of the front fender is fixedly attached directly to the vehicle body, the fixing portion for fixing the rear edge to the vehicle body is located inside the rear edge of the front fender, and this fixing portion is the same as described above. Since the front edge of the door and the rear edge of the front fender are arranged with a very small gap between them, they are located immediately inside the front edge of the door and obstruct the above space. There may be cases where it is not easy to secure.

In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is a structure that can easily secure the above space without directly fixing the rear edge of the front fender to the vehicle body. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mounting structure for a plastic fender that can prevent a decrease in a parting gap between spaces as much as possible, and thus can avoid a decrease in appearance and a sense of quality caused by setting the parting gap wide.

(Means for Solving Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the plastic fender mounting structure according to the present invention has an arm portion extending from the rear portion of the plastic front fender toward the inside and the front of the vehicle body, A thermal expansion member is attached to a tip end portion of the arm portion, and the thermal expansion member is provided so as to be capable of being thermally deformed (expanded and contracted) at least in the vehicle body front-rear direction, and the rear end portion of the vehicle body cannot be moved rearward to the vehicle body. The front end of the arm portion attached to the thermal expansion member is forwarded to the front of the vehicle body due to thermal expansion toward the front of the vehicle body based on the rear end portion of the thermal expansion member that is locked to the vehicle body when locked. It is characterized in that it is configured to be displaced toward.

(Operation) According to the mounting structure, the thermal expansion member thermally expands at a high temperature, but the rear end portion of the thermal expansion member is locked to the vehicle body so that the rearward movement of the vehicle body is possible. Will extend toward the front of the vehicle body with the rear end as a reference.

Therefore, the rear edge of the fender tends to be displaced rearward due to the extension of the fender at high temperature, while the thermal expansion of the thermal expansion member causes the rear edge of the fender to be pulled forward through the arm portion toward the front of the vehicle body. Has hardly changed,
Further, the extension of the rear edge portion of the fender is absorbed by a slight outward bending of the fender.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a plastic fender mounting structure according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a thermal expansion member portion in FIG. 1 in an enlarged manner, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view (cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 1) showing the rear edge portion of the front fender at normal temperature and at room temperature.

FIG. 1 shows the mounting structure of the left front fender. The front fender 2 is made of plastic and is mounted on the vehicle body 4 so as to cover the wheel apron 6 of the vehicle body 4 from the outside of the vehicle body.

In the vehicle body 4, a door hinge pillar 8 is provided at a rear end portion of the wheel apron 6, and the hinge pillar 8 is provided.
The lower end of the front pillar 10 is connected to the upper end of the door pillar, the front end of the side sill 12 is connected to the lower end, and the door hinge pillar 8 is connected to the door hinge 14 as shown in FIG.
Is provided, and the door 16 supports the door 16 at its front end portion 16a so as to be rotatable (openable and closable). In addition, a wheel apron reinforcement which extends in the vehicle front-rear direction is provided at the upper end of the wheel apron 6.
A shroud panel 20 is connected to the front end of the shroud panel 18.

The plastic front fender 2 has an upper edge mounting flange 22, which is formed at an upper edge thereof and extends in the vehicle longitudinal direction,
A bolt is attached to the vehicle body 2 via a front lower mounting flange 24 formed in the lower front portion, a rear lower mounting flange 26 formed in the lower rear portion, and a pair of upper and lower arm portions 28 extending inward and forward from the rear edge of the fender. Will be stopped. More specifically, the upper edge mounting flange 22 is formed with two bolt insertion slots 22a, 22b extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body and one bolt insertion reference hole 22c having a diameter substantially the same as the bolt diameter. Three screw holes 18a, 18b, 18c corresponding to the bolt insertion holes 22a, 22b, 22c are formed on the upper surface of the apron reinforcement 18, and the upper edge mounting flange 22 is located on the reinforcement 18. , Each bolt through the insertion holes 22a, 22b, 22c and screw holes 18a, 18b, 18c
It is screwed on and bolted. Further, the front lower and rear lower mounting flanges 24, 26 are also formed with two bolt insertion slots 24a, 24b extending in the vehicle front-rear direction and two bolt insertion slots 26a, 26b extending in the vehicle up-down direction. Screw holes 6a and 6b on the lower front of the wheel apron corresponding to the insertion holes
However, screw holes 8a and 8b are formed in the lower part of the hinge pillar, and both flanges 24 and 26 have bolts inserted into the bolt insertion holes 24a, 24b and 26, respectively.
It is bolted to the front lower part of the wheel apron and the lower part of the hinge pillar by being screwed into the screw holes 6a, 6b, 8a, 8b through the a and 26b. Further, a bolt insertion elongated hole 28a extending in the vehicle front-rear direction is also formed in the arm portion 28, a screw hole 8c is formed in the hinge pillar 8 corresponding to the insertion hole 28a, and the arm portion 28 inserts a bolt into the bolt insertion hole 28a. It is bolted to the hinge pillar 8 by screwing it through the screw hole 8c.

For more details on mounting the arm portion 28 on the vehicle body,
A thermal expansion member 30 is attached to an inner surface (a surface inward of the vehicle body) of the arm portion by means of an adhesive layer 32 on the inner end portion 28b of the vehicle body, and the inner surface of the thermal expansion member 30 is attached to the hinge pillar 8. A stopper 34 is slidably brought into contact with the outer surface (outer surface of the vehicle body), and the rear end portion of the thermal expansion member 30 is fixed to the hinge pillar 8 so as to be locked to the vehicle body 4 so as not to move rearward of the vehicle body. Further, the thermal expansion member 30 is further provided with a bolt insertion slot 30a extending in the vehicle body front-rear direction corresponding to the bolt insertion slot 28a of the arm portion, and the bolt has both bolt insertion holes 28a, 30a. The arm portion 28 is attached to the vehicle body by screwing it through the threaded hole 8c of the hinge pillar, and the attachment is performed by bolting with a force that allows the thermal expansion member 30 to expand and contract in the vehicle longitudinal direction due to thermal expansion. Made by.

Of the other bolt insertion holes, they are long holes 22a, 2a.
The 2b, 24a, 24b, 26a, and 26b can also be expanded and contracted by the thermal expansion of the fender 2, and are bolted with a certain amount of force.

Next, in the case where the front fender 2 is attached to the vehicle body 4 in the above mode, the case where the temperature rises and the fender 2 thermally expands will be described.

The fender 2 is bolted so as not to be displaceable with respect to the vehicle body 4 in the bolt insertion reference hole 22c. Therefore, the front portion of the reference hole 22c is extended in the vehicle front-rear direction toward the front of the vehicle body and forwardly of the vehicle body. Is allowed by the bolt insertion slots 22a, 22b, 24a, 24b. Further, extension of the rear portion of the vehicle body from the reference hole 22c in the vehicle front-rear direction is performed toward the vehicle rear direction (see arrow A in FIG. 2), and the rear edge 2a of the fender extends toward the vehicle rear direction and extends from the door 16. Attempts to reduce the closeout l. However, as the fender 2 extends, the thermal expansion member 30 also expands due to thermal expansion in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body, and because the rear end of the thermal expansion member is in contact with the stopper 34, the thermal expansion member 30 extends forward. And (see arrow B in FIG. 2) thereby attaching the tip of the arm to the thermal expansion member.
28a is also displaced toward the front of the vehicle body, and the arm 28
Thus, the rear edge 2a of the fender is also pulled toward the front of the vehicle body.

Therefore, at a high temperature, the rear edge 2a of the fender extends toward the rear of the vehicle body due to the extension of the fender itself and is pulled toward the front of the vehicle body by the arm portion 28. As a result, the position of the rear edge 2a of the fender is almost the same as before the extension. The extension of the rear edge of the fender is absorbed by the slight bending of the rear edge of the fender 2 toward the outside of the vehicle body, so that the parting gap l between the door 16 and the fender 2 hardly changes.

The deformation of the fender 2 before and after thermal expansion is shown in detail in FIG.

In FIG. 3, (a) shows after thermal expansion, and (b) shows before thermal expansion. Further, an arrow C in FIG. 3 (a) indicates displacement of the arm portion 28 toward the front of the vehicle body due to thermal expansion of the thermal expansion member 30 toward the front of the vehicle body, and an arrow D indicates outward movement of the rear edge of the fender 2 to the vehicle body. Shows curvature.

In the above embodiment, the tip end portion 28a of the arm portion is attached to the vehicle body 4 via the bolt, but the tip end portion 28a of the arm portion need not necessarily be attached to the vehicle body 4. However, at the time of thermal expansion, it is desirable to perform some guide so that the thermal expansion member 30 is not pulled by the arm portion 28 toward the outside of the vehicle body but extends toward the front of the vehicle body.
Further, in the above embodiment, the thermal expansion member 30 is attached to the tip end portion 28a of the arm portion by surface bonding.
The thermal expansion member 30 and the thermal expansion member 30 need only have a relationship in which the tip portion 28a is pulled forward of the vehicle body by the extension of the thermal expansion member 30 toward the front portion of the vehicle body.
28a may be attached to the thermal expansion member 30 only by being locked, or may be fixed at one point. Further, when the tip end portion 28a and the thermal expansion member 30 are surface-bonded as in the embodiment, when the thermal expansion coefficients of the both 28a and 30 are significantly different, thermal strain occurs at the bonding portion of both, so that , Although both the thermal strains are allowed, it is possible to pull the front end portion 28a to the front of the vehicle body by the expansion of the thermal expansion member 30, for example, both contact surfaces are meshed with each other as a small corrugation, and in the embodiment. As described above, both may be pressed by the bolts. The thermal expansion member 30 is the fender 2
It may be made of the same material as, but if necessary fender 2
A material having a larger coefficient of thermal expansion than that may be used. Also,
It suffices that the arm portion 28 extends from the rear portion of the fender, and does not necessarily have to extend from the rear edge.

(Effect of the Invention) As described above, in the plastic fender mounting structure according to the present invention, the arm portion is extended from the rear portion of the fender toward the inside and the front of the vehicle body, and the front end portion of the arm portion has the rear end. Since it is attached to the thermal expansion member that is locked to the vehicle body so that the rearward movement of the vehicle body is not possible, the rear part of the fender is forwarded to the front of the vehicle body through the arm portion due to the expansion of the thermal expansion member forward of the vehicle body at the same time even when the fender expands. As a result, the thermal expansion of the fender toward the rear of the vehicle body is absorbed by the slight bending of the fender toward the outside of the vehicle body, and the trailing edge of the fender is hardly displaced rearward of the vehicle body. The parting gap between the fender and the door is hardly reduced.

Therefore, according to this structure, even if the fender is made of plastic, it is not necessary to set the parting gap large,
There is no fear of impairing the appearance and degrading the quality.

Further, the rear edge of the fender is not directly fixed to the vehicle body, and therefore there is no fear that the fixing portion for directly fixing the rear edge of the fender to the vehicle body will obstruct the space into which the door front edge rotates and enters. Since the arm portion extends inward and forward of the vehicle body, there is no fear that the arm portion will obstruct the space, and therefore the space can be easily secured.

Further, as described above, when the rear edge of the fender is directly fixed to the vehicle body, there is no fixing portion that may be located immediately inward of the front edge of the door, so that the fixing portion interferes with the attachment of the door hinge. There is no fear, and the door hinge can be easily attached.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a plastic fender mounting structure according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a thermal expansion member portion in FIG. 1 in an enlarged manner, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view (cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 1) showing the rear edge portion of the front fender at normal temperature and at room temperature. 2 Front fender 4 Car body 16 Door 28 Arm 28a Arm tip 30 Thermal expansion member 34 Stopper

Front page continuation (72) Creator Ryoji Hayada 3-3 Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Mazda Co., Ltd. (56) Bibliography Sho 61-36479 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A plastic front fender mounting structure for an automobile, wherein an arm portion extends from a rear portion of the front fender toward an inner side and a front portion of a vehicle body, and a thermal expansion member is attached to a front end portion of the arm portion. The thermal expansion member is thermally deformable in the front-rear direction with respect to the vehicle body, and its rear end is locked to the vehicle body so that it cannot move rearward of the vehicle body, and the rear end of the thermal expansion member is locked to the vehicle body at high temperature. A plastic fender mounting structure, characterized in that a tip end portion of the arm portion attached to the thermal expansion member is displaced toward the front of the vehicle body by thermal expansion toward the front of the vehicle body based on the section.