JPH08113162A - Occupant protective structure for upper body section of automobile and manufacture of the protective structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To minimize the dispersion in the energy absorbing performance and associate the energy absorbing characteristics an ideal characteristics. CONSTITUTION: A protective structure for the upper body section of an automobile is equipped with a metallic reinforcing member 14 capable of absorbing energy, and with foamed material 16 capable of being deformed in compression. The reinforcing member is integrally composed of a plurality of flange sections 28 to be threadedly fastened with a roof side rail, a plurality of risers 29 which rise up inwardly from these flange sections at energy absorbing intervals, and of a pressure receiving section 30 provided at the opposite ends of adjacent rising sections out of a plurality of the aforesaid risers. The foamed material 16 is formed in such a way that each energy absorbing interval of the reinforcing member is filled in.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure for protecting an occupant in an upper part of a vehicle body of an automobile and a method for manufacturing the structure. The present invention relates to a structure for protecting a part and a method for manufacturing the structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Roof side rails of automobile bodies are
It is composed of an inner panel and an outer panel, and is formed to have a closed shape in a cross section cut by a virtual vertical plane extending in the lateral direction of the vehicle body, and has a large rigidity. Therefore, when a large load is applied to the automobile and the head of the occupant collides with the roof side rail due to the reaction, a large impact is exerted. To protect the occupant's head from this big impact,
The inner panel is made thin and a reinforcing material is provided in the closed cross section, and a honeycomb structure is arranged between the inner panel and the reinforcing material (JP-A-6-211161), the outer surface of the inner panel. Also, a technique has been proposed in which a foam cushioning material is attached to the inner surface (Invention Society Open Technical Report 91-19719).

[0003]

Usually, the roof side rail is provided with a notch or hole for a bracket for attaching an assist grip or an interior material such as a garnish, and for a special vehicle, a bracket for attaching a sunroof. Therefore, since the cross-sectional shape of the roof side rail is non-uniform in the front-back direction of the vehicle body and the deformation of the roof side rail is different in the force input direction, the inner panel is made thin and the honeycomb structure is arranged. In the technology, the energy absorption performance varies, and the energy absorption characteristics are unstable.

On the other hand, in the case of a foam such as urethane, the energy absorption performance varies little depending on the force input direction,
According to the above-described technique of attaching foam to the outer surface and the inner surface of the inner panel, it is difficult to attach the bracket, particularly the assist grip bracket. This is because it is difficult to adopt a mounting structure that is sufficiently strong against the pulling force applied to the assist grip by the occupant, but that can absorb the impact when the head of the occupant collides with the assist grip.

Another problem with employing foam is that it has undesirable energy absorbing properties. In the collision between the occupant's head and the foam, the pressing surface from the head increases as the head digs into the foam, resulting in a sharp energy absorption characteristic as shown in A of FIG. This is quite different from the ideal rectangular energy absorption characteristic B.

An object of the present invention is to provide a protective structure for the upper part of a vehicle body of an automobile, which has a small variation in energy absorption performance, has no problem in mounting an assist grip, and can bring energy absorption characteristics close to ideal characteristics. is there.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises a roof side rail having an inner panel and an outer panel, the cross section of which has a closed shape cut by a virtual vertical plane extending in the lateral direction of the vehicle body, and which has a closed shape. A structure that protects an occupant in the upper part of the vehicle body in which the assist grip is arranged inward, and a metallic reinforcing material capable of absorbing energy,
And a foam capable of being compressed and deformed. The reinforcing material includes at least two flange portions that are screwed to the inner panel, a plurality of rising portions that rise inward from the flange portions with an energy absorption interval, and a plurality of rising portions that are adjacent to each other. It integrally has a pressure receiving portion substantially parallel to the flange portion, which is provided at an end of the rising portion opposite to the flange portion so as not to overlap the flange portion inwardly. The foam is molded so as to fill the energy absorption space of the reinforcing material. The assist grip is attached to the pressure receiving portion of the reinforcing member.

The present invention also includes a roof side rail having an inner panel and an outer panel, the cross section of which has a closed shape cut by an imaginary vertical plane extending in the lateral direction of the vehicle body, and an assist grip inside the roof side rail. Is a method of manufacturing an occupant protection structure on an upper portion of a vehicle body on which the vehicle is arranged. At least two flange portions that are applied to the inner panel, a plurality of rising portions that rise inward from the flange portions with an energy absorption interval, and the flange portions of adjacent rising portions of the plurality of rising portions. Forming an energy-absorbable metal reinforcing member integrally having a pressure receiving portion substantially parallel to the flange portion, the reinforcement member being provided so as not to overlap with the flange portion at the end opposite to the end portion, Temporarily tighten a screw to the flange portion of the reinforcing material, place the reinforcing material in the mold, inject a foaming agent into the mold, foam to obtain a foam, and extend the extension of the head of the screw. The energy absorbing space to be removed is filled with the foam to form an energy absorbing body, and the energy absorbing body is taken out from the molding die to a predetermined position of the vehicle body. Bring, by tightening the screw to the inner panel attaching the energy absorber to the inner panel includes attaching the assist grip to the pressure receiving portion of the reinforcement of the energy absorber.

[0009]

In the protective structure according to the present invention, when the head of an occupant collides with the roof side rail, the reinforcing material is deformed, and the foam is compressed and deformed in accordance with this deformation to absorb impact energy.

The reinforcing material and the foam together form an energy absorber, so to speak, which energy absorber can be defined in its own shape independent of the shape of the roof side rails and the force exerted by the foam. While the influence of the input direction can be reduced, the energy absorption performance can be set to the initial design value by the metal reinforcing material, so that the variation in the energy absorption performance can be reduced.

When the energy absorber is deformed, mainly the pressure receiving portion of the metal reinforcing material is first deformed, and the foam is compressed and deformed with this deformation. Therefore, even if the deformation progresses, the pressing area of the foam is substantially reduced. Of the energy absorption characteristics by selecting the number and shape of the rising part and pressure receiving part of the reinforcing material, and that the foam can be compressed in a large area through the pressure receiving part of the metal reinforcing material. Since it can be adjusted, almost ideal energy absorption characteristics can be obtained.

Since the reinforcing material is made of metal, the flange portion is fixed to the roof side rail, and the pressure receiving portion attaches the assist grip, the attachment of the assist grip is easy.

In the method for manufacturing a protective structure according to the present invention, a foaming agent is injected into a molding die to foam, and the energy absorbing space of the reinforcing material is filled with the foam thus generated to form the energy absorbing body. Therefore, the rigidity of the energy absorber is high, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of breakage that may occur when the foam is used alone. This facilitates the work for attaching the roof side rail.

Since the energy absorber has a screw in a temporarily tightened state in the flange portion, the energy absorber can be attached to the roof side rail simply by applying the flange portion to a predetermined position of the roof side rail and tightening the screw. Well, even if this installation is performed in the upward position, there is no risk of the screws falling. In this way, the workability when mounting on the vehicle body can be significantly improved.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A protective structure, as shown in FIGS.
A reinforcement member 1 is provided with a roof side rail 10 for protecting an occupant at an upper portion of a vehicle body in which an assist grip 12 is arranged inside the vehicle body of the roof side rail.
4 and the foam 16.

The roof side rail 10 extends from the front pillar 18 of the vehicle body to the rear pillar 20 in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body and is located above the occupant. Therefore, the head of the occupant is likely to collide. Nevertheless, the roof side rail 10 is composed of an inner panel 22 and an outer panel 24, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.
The cross section cut along a virtual vertical plane extending in the lateral direction of the vehicle body is formed to have a closed shape, and has a large rigidity. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the impact when the head of the occupant collides with the roof side rail 10.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the reinforcing member 14 has at least two flange portions 28 screwed to the inner panel 22 by screws 26, and an energy absorbing distance D from the flange portions 28 inward. The plurality of rising portions 29 that stand up and the flange portions 28 are provided at the ends of the plurality of rising portions 29 that are opposite to the flange portions 28 of the adjacent rising portions so as not to overlap the flange portions 28 inward. And a pressure receiving portion 30 that is substantially parallel to Since the pressure receiving portion 30 does not overlap the flange portion 28 inside the flange portion 28, the reinforcing material 14 is bent so as to have a zigzag shape as a whole, and the zigzag reinforcing material 14 is
It can be obtained by press-forming a single plate material.

The reinforcing material 14 is made of metal, but is preferably an iron plate in consideration of moldability, energy absorption, cost and the like. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the reinforcing member 14 is formed such that the flange portion 28, the rising portion 29, the pressure receiving portion 30, and the rising portion 29 are repeated in this order and arranged in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body.

On the other hand, the reinforcing member 34 shown in FIG.
At least the flange portion 36, the rising portion 37, the pressure receiving portion 38, the rising portion 37, and the flange portion 36 are formed so as to appear in a cross section cut at an imaginary horizontal horizontal plane of the vehicle body at an arbitrary position in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body. There is.

In any of the aspects, the energy absorption performance is
The thickness of the reinforcing members 14 and 34, the sizes and numbers of the rising portions 29 and 37 and the pressure receiving portions 30 and 38, and the foams 16 and 40.
It can be determined by the material and thickness of the. Here, the roof side rail 10 of the rising portions 29 and 37
It is preferable that the rising amount from the above, that is, the energy absorption interval D, in other words, the substantial thickness of the foams 16 and 40 is set in the range of 15 to 30 mm, and sufficient energy absorption is possible by deformation within this range. It has been confirmed.

The foam 16 is molded so as to fill the energy absorption interval D of the reinforcing material 14. In this case, the foam body 16 includes the rising portion 29 and the pressure receiving portion 30 which are adjacent to each other.
Not only the space 31 surrounded by and, but also the space 32 surrounded by the adjacent rising portion 29 and the flange portion 28 is filled. Further, at the end of the reinforcing member 14, there is a space 33 surrounded by the flange portion 28 and one rising portion 29, but this space 33 is also filled. As a result, a rectangular parallelepiped energy absorber 50 is formed on the entire surface, and a zigzag reinforcing material 14 is formed on the foam body 16 in the energy absorber.
The foam 16 will be embedded over the entire length of the foam body 16. Similarly in the case of the foam 40 of FIG.
A rectangular parallelepiped energy absorber is formed over the entire surface. Foam 1
6 can be a foamed bead in addition to a polyurethane or polypropylene foam.

Energy absorber 50 formed as described above
The flange part 2 of the reinforcement material
Attach 8 to roof side rail 10 with screws 26.
A through hole is made in the flange portion 28 in advance, and a screw 26 is passed through the through hole and screwed into the inner panel 22. The inner panel 22 is pre-threaded or tapping screws are used as the screws 26.
The foam body 1 is provided inward of the extension of the through hole of the flange portion 28.
There is 6 but this is drilled with a suitable drill.
Alternatively, at the time of molding the foam, a cylindrical material is arranged and molded so as not to fill the foam on the extension of the through hole. When there are three or more flange portions 28, all the flange portions 2
It is not necessary to screw 8 on, but at least two flange portions 28 may be screwed. In addition, in the case of FIG.
Through holes are formed in the flange portion 36 on each side at an appropriate pitch, and screws are passed through the through holes and screwed into the inner panel.

After attaching the energy absorber 50 to the roof side rail 10, as shown in FIG. 3, an interior material 52 such as a garnish is arranged inside the energy absorber 50, and the assist grip 12 is attached to the interior material 52. The screw 54 is passed from the assist grip to the interior material 52 and screwed into the pressure receiving portion 30 of the reinforcing material. The pressure receiving portion 30 is preliminarily drilled with a screw hole or a tapping screw is used as the screw 54.

As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of elongated holes 56 are provided in the pressure receiving portion 30 of the reinforcing member 14 (only one is shown in the drawing).
The bracket 58 is provided and the clip 6 of the interior material 52 is provided.
It is also possible to insert 0 into the elongated hole 56 so that the interior material 52 is supported by the energy absorber 50.

When the occupant's head collides with the roof side rail 10, the pressure-receiving portion 30 of the metal reinforcing member 14 of the energy absorber 50 is deformed, and the foam 16 is compressed and deformed in accordance with this deformation. Foam 1 even as it progresses
The pressing area of 6 does not change substantially. At this time, the foam can be compressed in a large area via the pressure receiving portion 30 of the metallic reinforcing material. As a result, if the rising portion 29 and the pressure receiving portion 30 of the reinforcing member 16 are appropriately selected, it is possible to obtain an energy absorption characteristic similar to the ideal energy absorption characteristic as shown in B of FIG.

The protective structure can be manufactured as follows. First, as shown in FIG. 5, at least two flange portions 72 applied to the inner panel,
A plurality of rising portions 73 rising inward from the flange portions 72, that is, upward in FIG. 5 with an energy absorption interval D, and a plurality of rising portions 73.
Of the adjacent rising portions of the flange portion 72, which are provided so as not to overlap with the flange portion 72 inwardly, are integrally provided with a pressure receiving portion 74 that is substantially parallel to the flange portion 72 and can absorb energy. The reinforcing material 70 is formed. The reinforcing material 70 can be obtained by pressing an iron plate.

After forming the reinforcing material 70, screws 76 are temporarily tightened on the flange portion 72 of the reinforcing material 70 (FIG. 6).
Temporarily tightening here means to screw the screw 76 into the flange portion 7
When screwing into the inner panel without screwing it into the through hole opened in 2 or screwing the tapping screw into the inner panel and then screwing into the inner panel, the screw holes are in a form in which they do not interfere with each other, and the foaming agent described later is foamed. It means to fix it so that it does not move.

After temporarily tightening the screw 76, the reinforcing material 70
Is placed in the mold (FIG. 5). FIG. 5 shows the lower die 78 of the forming die. The lower mold 78 is provided with a recess 80 into which the flange portion 72 of the reinforcing member 70 fits, and a hole 81 that allows the tip of the screw 76 to enter.

The upper mold 82 is fitted to the lower mold 78 (FIG. 7), a foaming agent is injected into the molding mold and foamed to obtain a foamed body 84, and the energy absorption interval D excluding the extension of the head of the screw 76 is set. The energy absorption body 86 is formed by being filled with the foam body 84. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the head 77 of the screw 76 has the upper mold 82.
Close to, which prevents foam from filling the extension of head 77. It is not a particular problem that the foam 84 is buried around the screw 76. Therefore, when it is desired to positively fill the periphery of the screw 76 with the foam, a through hole may be opened in the rising portion of the reinforcing material.

After the energy absorber 86 is completed, the energy absorber 86 is taken out of the mold and brought to a predetermined position on the vehicle body, and the screw 76 is fastened to the inner panel to attach the energy absorber 86 to the inner panel. The assist grip 12 is attached to the pressure receiving portion 74 of the reinforcing member 70 of the energy absorber 86.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of an occupant protection structure for an upper portion of a vehicle body of an automobile according to the present invention, showing a state before being attached to a vehicle body.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the protection structure shown in FIG. 1 attached to a vehicle body and partly shown in section.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a part of the protection structure shown in FIG. 1 attached to a vehicle body in a sectional view.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing in section a part of another embodiment of the occupant protection structure on the upper part of the vehicle body of the automobile according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing one step of a method of manufacturing an occupant protection structure for an upper portion of an automobile according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing one step of a method of manufacturing an occupant protection structure for an upper portion of a vehicle body of an automobile according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing one step of the method of manufacturing the occupant protection structure for the upper part of the vehicle body of the automobile according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing an upper portion of a vehicle body of an automobile to which the protective structure according to the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 9 is a characteristic diagram of load and displacement.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Roof Side Rail 12 Assist Grip 14, 34, 70 Reinforcing Material 16, 40, 84 Foam 26, 76 Screws 28, 36, 72 Flange 29, 37, 73 Rise 30, 38, 74 Pressure Receive 50, 86 Energy Absorber

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A roof side rail comprising an inner panel and an outer panel, the cross section of which is cut by a virtual vertical plane extending in the lateral direction of the vehicle body to have a closed shape, and an assist grip is arranged inside the roof side rail. A structure for protecting an occupant in an upper part of a vehicle body, wherein at least two flange portions screwed to the inner panel and a plurality of rising portions rising inward from the flange portions with an energy absorption interval are provided. An integral part of a plurality of rising portions is provided with a pressure receiving portion substantially in parallel with the flange portion, which is provided at an end of an adjacent rising portion opposite to the flange portion so as not to overlap with the flange portion inwardly. Metal reinforcing material capable of absorbing energy, and molding so as to fill the energy absorbing space of the reinforcing material The a compression deformable foam, the assist grip is attached to the pressure receiving portion of the reinforcing member, the occupant of the protective structure of the vehicle body upper portion of an automobile. 2. A roof side rail comprising an inner panel and an outer panel, the cross section of which is cut by a virtual vertical plane extending in the lateral direction of the vehicle body to have a closed shape, and the assist grip is arranged inside the roof side rail. A method for manufacturing an occupant protection structure for an upper part of a vehicle body, comprising: at least two flange portions applied to the inner panel; and a plurality of rising portions that rise from the flange portions inwardly at an energy absorbing interval. ,
Of the plurality of rising portions, a pressure receiving portion substantially parallel to the flange portion is integrally provided at an end of the adjacent rising portion opposite to the flange portion so as not to overlap with the flange portion inwardly. Forming a metal reinforcing material capable of absorbing energy, temporarily tightening a screw on the flange portion of the reinforcing material, disposing the reinforcing material in a molding die, injecting a foaming agent into the molding die to foam To obtain a foam body, and the energy absorption space except for the extension of the head of the screw is filled with the foam body to form an energy absorption body, and the energy absorption body is taken out from the molding die to a predetermined position of the vehicle body. The energy absorber is attached to the inner panel by tightening the screw to the inner panel, and the energy absorber is attached to the pressure receiving portion of the reinforcing member of the energy absorber. It includes attaching a strike grip, a method of manufacturing the occupant protective structure of the vehicle body upper portion of an automobile.