JPH08104254A - Structure of preventing power unit from invading into car cabin in automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To ensure safety of an occupant by positively rotating a power unit at collision time so as to surely avoid deforming of a tow board or its advancing into a car cabin by a power plant. CONSTITUTION: By a center mount 15 provided in a position rearward from a branch position between upper/lower side frames 4, 5 of a front side frame 3, a position G of almost the center of gravity of a power unit 11 is supported from downward, and further by a front mount 17 provided in the vicinity of this branch position of the lower side frame 5, a front part of the power unit 11 is supported, to lift the front part of the power unit 11 by the front mount 17 provided in the lower side frame 5 at collision time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a power unit vehicle interior intrusion prevention structure for an automobile which prevents the power unit vehicle interior intrusion in the event of a collision.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when an automobile collides with a front barrier or the like, a power unit including a driving device such as an engine and a transmission linearly moves rearward to deform a toe board or a passenger compartment to a large extent. There was a problem.

As a countermeasure against this, for example, Jitsuko Sho 51-51.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 40 and shown in FIG. 6, when the front upper portion 22a of the engine 22 is projected and the vehicle collides with the front barrier 20 or the like, the power unit 21 including the engine 22 and the transmission 23 and the like connected to the engine 22 is provided. A rotation moment M in the direction of the arrow is given,
As shown in (1), a mechanism for dropping the engine and the like at the time of a collision is proposed in which the rear portion of the engine 22 and the transmission 23 are dropped below the vehicle compartment to prevent the power unit 21 from entering the vehicle interior.

[0004]

According to the engine drop-off mechanism at the time of the collision, the upper front portion of the engine is made to project, and when the vehicle collides with the front barrier or the like, a rotational moment is applied to the power unit to provide the engine rear portion and the transmission. Is to be dropped below the passenger compartment.
However, in particular, the power unit mounted vertically in the engine room is generally supported by mounts that are arranged largely spaced back and forth along the principal axis of inertia, the engine is located immediately in front of the toeboard, and the transmission is in the floor tunnel. In recent automobiles, various devices are mounted in the engine room in an overcrowded state, so in the event of a collision, the power unit is given a rotational moment sufficient to rotate the power unit and drop the engine etc. However, it is difficult to sufficiently prevent the power unit from entering the passenger compartment in the event of a collision.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to positively swing the power unit at the time of a collision so that the power unit is dropped below the toe board, thereby avoiding the deformation of the toe board by the power unit or the intrusion into the passenger compartment. An object of the present invention is to provide an intrusion prevention structure for a power unit of an automobile, which ensures the safety of passengers.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the power unit interior invasion preventing structure for an automobile according to the present invention is moved forward with an upper frame supporting a back beam for a bumper at a front end extending in a substantially horizontal direction. A front side frame whose front portion branches to a lower frame which extends obliquely so as to be displaced downward as a result and which supports the radiator lower support frame at the front end, and the upper frame and the lower frame of the front side frame. And a front mount that is provided at a position rearward of a branch position of the power unit and that supports a substantially center-of-gravity position of the power unit from below, and a front mount that is provided near the branch position of the lower frame and that supports a front portion of the power unit. Is.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of a power unit intrusion prevention structure for an automobile according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an essential part of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the same.

Reference numeral 1 in the figure denotes an engine room A and a vehicle room B.
A toe board divided into a toe board, a floor tunnel 2 extending below the toe board 1, and a front side frame 3 having a closed cross-section extending from the lower ends of the toe board 1 in the vehicle width direction toward the front of the vehicle. There is.

The front side frame 3 is vertically divided into an upper frame 4 and a lower frame 5 having a closed cross section structure at the front of the vehicle body. The upper frame 4 is extended substantially horizontally in the vehicle front direction and has a crash frame at the front end. The back beam 7 for bumpers is supported with 6 interposed.

On the other hand, the lower frame 5 is inclined and extended so as to be gradually displaced downward as it moves forward from a base end side branching from the upper frame 4, and a lower side for facilitating crushing is provided on an upper portion thereof. A plurality of U-shaped beads 5a surrounding the upper portion of the frame 5 are formed. And the lower frame 5
An end portion of a radiator lower support frame 8 extending in the vehicle width direction along the bumper back beam 7 is coupled to the front end of the.

These bumper back beam 7 and radiator lower support frame 8 are
The bumper face 9 covers the bumper face 9 together with a cushioning material (not shown) disposed on the top of the bumper 10 to form the bumper 10.

On the other hand, the power unit 11 mounted on the front side frame 3 constructed as described above is composed of an engine 12, a transmission 13 integrally connected to the engine 12, and ancillary equipments thereof. As shown in the I-I cross section of FIG. 2, the power unit 1
The approximate center of gravity position G of 1 is lowered by a center mount 15 disposed on a cross member 14 which is laterally bridged between the left and right front side frames 3 located rearward of the vehicle body from the branch position between the upper frame 4 and the lower frame 5. And the front portion of the power unit 11 is supported by a front mount 17 attached to the vicinity of the base ends of the left and right lower frames 5 via mount brackets 16.

The power unit 11 supported by the center mount 15 and the front mount 17 reaches the inside of the floor tunnel 2 where the rear portion is continuous with the lower portion of the toe board 1 in a forward ascending state in which the front portion is upward with respect to the rear portion. Further, the center mount 15 is mounted so as to support about 80% of the total weight of the power unit 11.

Further, the lower radiator support frame 8 is located in front of and below the front lower portion 11a of the power unit 11, and a cylindrical catalytic converter 18 is disposed between the lower radiator support frame 8 and the power unit 11. Has been done.

Next, the operation of the power unit vehicle interior intrusion prevention structure configured as described above will be described.

When an automobile collides with a front barrier or the like with an impact force greater than a predetermined value, the impact absorbing member of the bumper 10 is first crushed, and then the crash frame 6 is crushed by retracting the back beam 7 for the bumper to absorb the collision energy. To do.

As the back beam 7 for the bumper moves backward, the radiator lower support frame 8 collides with the front barrier or the like, and the radiator lower support frame 8 moves backward while crushing the lower frame 5.

When the lower radiator frame 8 is retracted, the lower frame 5 is crushed. Since the lower frame 5 has a plurality of beats 5a at its upper portion, the lower frame 5 is bent upward as shown in FIG. While pushing up the base end of the upper frame 4 to deform the front side frame 3, the front mount 17 provided on the lower frame 5
The front of the power unit 11 is pushed up via the power unit 11 to rotate the power unit 11 around a center mount 15 that supports the approximate center of gravity G from below as a swing center. Drop it below B.

Along with the crushing of the lower frame 5, the front mount 17 pushes up the front portion of the power unit 11, and the lower radiator support frame 8 retracts as shown in FIG. By power unit 11
The front lower portion 11a of the power unit 11 is pushed up to ensure more reliable rotation about the center mount 15 of the power unit 11.

In the above description, the catalytic converter 18 is arranged between the radiator lower support frame 8 and the power unit 11, and when the collision occurs, the radiator lower support frame 8 retracts and the lower front end 11a of the power unit 11 is passed through the catalytic converter 18. Although it is configured to push up, other devices may be provided instead of the catalytic converter 18.

[0022]

According to the above-described structure for preventing the intrusion of the power unit into the passenger compartment of the vehicle according to the present invention, the center of gravity of the power unit is supported from below by the center mount on the front side frame, and is branched to incline forward. Since the front part of the power unit is supported by the front mount provided near the branch position of the lower frame, the front mount moves upward due to the lower frame that is crushed at the time of a collision, and the power unit is positively rotated. It is possible to drop the toe below the toe board, and it is possible to reliably avoid the deformation of the toe board and the invasion of the toe board by the power unit and to ensure the safety of passengers.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side explanatory view showing a main part of an embodiment of an invasion preventing structure for a vehicle in a power unit of an automobile according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is likewise a plan view showing a main part of the present embodiment.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I of FIG.

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I of FIG. 1 in a collision state.

5 is an explanatory side view corresponding to FIG. 1 in a collision state.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional engine drop-out mechanism at the time of a collision.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of a conventional engine drop-out mechanism at the time of a collision.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Toe board 2 Floor tunnel 3 Front side frame 4 Upper frame 5 Lower frame 5a Bead 8 Radiator lower support frame 11 Power unit 14 Cross member 15 Center mount 17 Front mount 18 Catalytic converter G Power unit center of gravity position

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An upper frame for supporting a back beam for a bumper at a front end extending in a substantially horizontal direction, and a radiator lower support frame extending at a front end so as to be inclined so as to be gradually displaced downward as it moves forward. A front side frame whose front portion branches to a lower frame to be supported, and a center which is provided at a position rearward of a branch position between the upper frame and the lower frame of the front side frame and supports a substantially center-of-gravity position of the power unit from below. A power unit vehicle interior intrusion prevention structure for an automobile, comprising: a mount; and a front mount that is provided near the branch position of the lower frame and supports a front portion of the power unit. 2. The power unit vehicle interior invasion preventing structure for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein the center mount is provided on the front side frame via a cross member that extends laterally between the left and right front side frames. 3. The intrusion prevention structure for a vehicle power unit according to claim 1, wherein a bead that facilitates crushing is formed on an upper portion of the lower frame. 4. The power unit cabin intrusion prevention structure for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein a catalytic converter is arranged between the lower front end of the power unit and the radiator lower support frame. 5. A power unit vehicle for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein the power unit is supported by the center mount and the front mount in a state where the front portion of the power unit is inclined with respect to the rear portion. Indoor intrusion prevention structure.