JPH10226286A - Seal structure of front section of car body of automobil - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely seal all the sections between an engine room and the upper and outer sections after the engine room. SOLUTION: A first rib 24 is projected from the lower face of the front section of a cowl louver 17, and a second rib 25 is also projected at the same position in the width direction of the vehicle as the first rib 24 on the lower face of the rear section of the cowl louver 17. A swelling section 33 is formed by swelling the middle section 20 of the cowl louver 17 upward. A pair of third and fourth ribs 26 and 27 are projected in the longitudinal direction on the inner face of this swelled section 33 so as to divide the inner space of this swelling section 33 into a front space and a rear space, and a space 37 is also formed between the third and fourth ribs 26 and 27. The rear end of the first rib 24 is connected to the third rib 26, and the front end of the second rib 25 is also connected to the fourth rib 27. The top face of a rear section sealing material 21 is pressure contacted each lower end edges of the third and fourth ribs 26 and 27.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sealing structure for a front part of a vehicle body of an automobile for sealing between an engine room and an external part above the engine room.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional seal structure for a vehicle body is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 4-58460.

According to this, a front cowl is provided on a vehicle body between a vehicle compartment and an engine room ahead of the vehicle body and extends in a vehicle width direction. A hood panel is provided to cover the engine room located in front of the front cowl so as to be openable and closable from above. The hood panel closes a gap between a front upper surface of the front cowl and a rear lower surface of the hood panel. Is provided from above.
A front sealing member is interposed between a rear lower surface of the hood panel and a front edge of the cowl louver.

Further, in the above configuration, there is a conventional configuration in which a rear sealing member is interposed between the front upper surface of the front cowl and a middle portion in the front-rear direction of the cowl louver.

[0005] According to the above configuration, the engine room and the outside above it are sealed with the front and rear sealing materials, so that water can be prevented from entering the engine room from the outside. Has become.

[0006]

By the way, in the above-mentioned prior art, in order to improve the sealing performance of the front sealing member between the rear lower surface of the hood panel and the front end edge of the cowl louver, the hood panel has a disadvantage. If the front sealing material is pressed against the rear lower surface with a large pressing force, the front portion of the cowl louver supporting the front sealing material tends to bend downward due to the reaction force. There is a possibility that the pressing force cannot be obtained, that is, the desired sealing performance cannot be obtained.

In view of the above, the front lower surface of the cowl louver is provided with a rib extending in the front-rear direction to improve the rigidity of the front portion of the cowl louver, thereby preventing the front portion of the cowl louver from bending downward. It is conceivable to increase the pressing force.

However, when the ribs are provided as described above, the rigidity of the middle portion of the cowl louver suddenly becomes lower than the rigidity of the front portion of the cowl louver reinforced by the ribs.
Due to the reaction force against the pressing force, stress concentrates on the middle part of the cowl louver.Thus, even in this case, when trying to increase the pressing force, the reaction force causes the middle part of the cowl louver to be substantially centered. The front part of the cowl louver may be bent so as to rotate downward.

In view of the above, it is conceivable that the ribs are provided on the lower surface of the cowl louver so as to protrude over substantially the entire longitudinal direction of the cowl louver so that the reaction force is dispersed substantially throughout the cowl louver so as to be firmly supported.

With this configuration, even if the pressing force is increased, the front portion of the cowl louver is prevented from being largely bent, and the sealing performance of the front sealing member is improved. it is conceivable that.

However, in this case, the rib is also provided on the lower surface of the middle part of the cowl louver, and the thickness of the rear sealing material pressed against the lower surface of the middle part of the cowl louver is increased. However, there is a possibility that a new problem may occur that the ribs are made thinner by the ribs and the sealing performance of the rear sealing material is reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and has as its object to provide a more reliable seal of each part between an engine room and the outside above the engine room. .

[0013]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a seal structure for a front portion of a vehicle body provided with a front cowl extending in a vehicle width direction, and an engine located in front of the front cowl. A hood panel 15 is provided to open and close the room 4 from above. The hood panel 15 covers the front cowl 6 from above and closes a gap 16 between the front upper surface of the front cowl 6 and the rear lower surface of the hood panel 15. A cowl louver 17 is provided, a front sealing member 19 is interposed between a rear lower surface of the hood panel 15 and a front end edge of the cowl louver 17, and a front upper surface of the front cowl 6 and a front-rear direction of the cowl louver 17 are provided. When the rear sealing material 21 is interposed between the intermediate part and

A first rib 24, which is long in the front-rear direction, is provided on the lower surface of the front part of the cowl louver 17, and a first rib 24, which is long in the front-rear direction, is provided at the same position in the vehicle width direction as the first rib 24. Two ribs 25 are protruded, and the middle portion 20 of the cowl louver 17 is bulged upward to form a bulged portion 33. The inner space 34 of the bulged portion 33 is provided in front and rear spaces 35 and 36. A pair of front and rear third and fourth ribs 26 and 27 project from the inner surface of the bulging portion 33 so as to partition, and a gap 3 is formed between the third and fourth ribs 26 and 27.
7, the rear end of the first rib 24 is connected to the third rib 26, and the front end of the second rib 25 is connected to the fourth rib 27, so that the third and fourth ribs 26, 2
7, the upper surface of the rear seal member 21 is pressed against the lower end edge of the rear seal member 21.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an automobile, and an arrow Fr indicates the front of the automobile 1. The left and right described below refer to the vehicle width direction toward the front.

The interior of the vehicle body 2 of the automobile 1 in the front-rear direction is defined as a passenger compartment 3, and the interior of the front portion of the vehicle body 2 is defined as an engine room 4. The vehicle body 2 includes a front cowl 6 that partitions the vehicle compartment 3 and the engine room 4 back and forth, and the front cowl 6 extends long in the vehicle width direction. The front cowl 6 is made of sheet metal, and is composed of an outer cowl 7 and an inner cowl 8 that are vertically overlapped with each other. Linked to each other. This allows
The cross-sectional shape of the front cowl 6 in a side view is a box shape having sufficient rigidity and strength.

A front window 11 is provided above and behind the front cowl 6. The front window 11 includes a window opening 12 for communicating the inside and outside of the front part of the vehicle compartment 3 and a window glass 13 for closing the window opening 12.

A hood panel 15 is provided to cover the upper opening of the engine room 4 located in front of the front cowl 6 so that it can be opened and closed from above.

A cowl louver 17 is provided to close a gap 16 between the front upper surface of the front cowl 6 and the rear lower surface of the hood panel 15 and to cover the front cowl 6 from above. The cowl louver 17 is made of resin and extends in the vehicle width direction along the front cowl 6 and the rear end edge of the hood panel 15.
7 is fastened to the front cowl 6 by a plurality of fasteners (not shown). Cowl louver 17
A number of slits (not shown) long in the front-rear direction are provided side by side in the vehicle width direction.

A front sealing member 19 extending in the vehicle width direction is interposed between the rear lower surface of the hood panel 15 and the front end edge of the cowl louver 17. The front sealing member 19 is a rubber elastic body, is supported by the front edge of the cowl louver 17 and is pressed against the rear lower surface of the hood panel 15 to seal the gap 16 with the front sealing member 19. Have been.

A rear sealing member 21 extending in the vehicle width direction is interposed between the front upper surface of the front cowl 6 and a middle portion 20 of the cowl louver 17 in the front-rear direction.
The rear sealing member 21 is an elastic member made of rubber, and is pressed against the middle portion 20 of the cowl louver 17 so that the rear sealing member 21 allows the space between the front upper surface of the front cowl 6 and the middle portion 20 of the cowl louver 17. Gap is sealed.

On the lower surface of the cowl louver 17, a plurality of ribs 23 which are long in the front-rear direction are integrally provided.
Reference numerals 3 are arranged side by side at predetermined intervals in the vehicle width direction.

Each of the ribs 23 includes first to fourth ribs 24 to 27, respectively. The first rib 24 is integrally provided on the lower surface of the front portion 29 of the cowl louver 17,
It extends long in the front-back direction. The second rib 25 is integrally provided on the lower surface of the rear portion 30 of the cowl louver 17 at the same position in the vehicle width direction as the first rib 24 and extends long in the front-rear direction.

The cowl louver 17 is provided in the middle 20
Is bent so as to be lower than the front part 29 and the rear part 30 of the cowl louver 17, and a drain groove 31 is formed above the halfway part 20, and the drain groove 31 extends in the vehicle width direction and is formed in the drain groove 31. Is discharged to the outside of the vehicle body 2.

At the same position in the vehicle width direction as the first rib 24 and the second rib 25, a part of the middle portion 20 of the cowl louver 17 is bulged upward to form a bulged portion 33. I have. The third and fourth ribs 26 and 27 are integrally provided on the inner surface (lower surface) of the bulging portion 33 so as to partition the internal space 34 of the bulging portion 33 into front and rear spaces 35 and 36. I have. The third and fourth ribs 26 and 27 extend in the vehicle width direction so as to cover the entire inner space 34 of the bulging portion 33 in the vehicle width direction. In addition, the third and fourth ribs 26, 2
A space 37 is formed between 7.

The rear end of the first rib 24 is integrally connected to the third rib 26 through the front space 35. The front end of the second rib 25 is integrally connected to the fourth rib 27 through the rear space 36.

The front upper surface of the rear sealing member 21 is pressed against the lower edge (lower surface) of the third rib 26, and
The rear upper surface of the rear sealing member 21 is pressed against the lower edge (lower surface) of the fourth rib 27.

According to the above configuration, the first to fourth ribs 2 are formed on the lower surface of the cowl louver 17 over almost the entire front-back direction.
4 to 27 are projected, and the rigidity of the cowl louver 17 is entirely improved in the front-rear direction by the first to fourth ribs 24 to 27.

Therefore, in order to improve the sealing performance of the front sealing member 19 between the rear lower surface of the hood panel 15 and the front edge of the cowl louver 17, the front sealing with respect to the rear lower surface of the hood panel 15 is performed. Even if the pressing force of the member 19 is increased, thereby increasing the reaction force against the cowl louver 17, the reaction force is applied to almost the entire cowl louver 17 by the first to fourth ribs 24 to 27. It will be dispersed and will be firmly supported.

As a result, the pressing force of the front sealing member 19 against the rear lower surface of the hood panel 15 can be increased,
The sealing performance of the front sealing material 19 is improved.

As described above, the first and second ribs 24 and 25 are provided on the front and rear portions 29 and 30 of the cowl louver 17.
The third and fourth ribs 26 and 27 are protruded from the middle part 20 of the cowl louver 17 as described above, whereby the cowl louver 17 is reinforced as a whole.
Since the bulging portion 33 is formed in the middle portion 20 of the cowl louver 17, the middle portion 20 of the cowl louver 17 is formed.
Tend to be higher in rigidity than other parts. For this reason, the stress tends to concentrate on the portion of the intermediate portion 20 near the front of the bulging portion 33 due to the reaction force of the cowl louver 17 against the front portion 29 with respect to the pressing force of the front sealing material 19. There is a possibility that the front part 29 of the cowl louver 17 may be bent so as to rotate downward about the portion.

However, the middle part 2 of the cowl louver 17
Since the gap 37 is formed between the third and fourth ribs 26 and 27 protruding at 0, the rigidity of the middle portion 20 of the cowl louver 17 is reduced by that amount. Regardless of the presence of the bulging portion 33, the first to fourth
The improvement of the rigidity of the cowl louver 17 by the ribs 24 to 27 is made substantially uniform at each part in the front-rear direction.

Accordingly, the occurrence of the above-described stress concentration is suppressed, and the front portion 29 of the cowl louver 17 is prevented from bending so as to rotate downward. The sealing performance is surely improved.

Further, as described above, the rear sealing material 21
The third and fourth ribs 26 and 27 with which the inner space 3 of the cowl louver 17 is formed are formed in the middle portion 20 of the cowl louver 17.
4, the third and fourth ribs 2
6 and 27, the rear seal material 2
1 is prevented from becoming thinner.

Therefore, as described above, the front sealing material 1
9, the sealing performance of the rear sealing material 21 is also kept good, and as a result, the sealing of each part between the engine room 4 and the upper outside thereafter is more reliably performed. Becomes

[0037]

According to the present invention, a front cowl extending in the vehicle width direction is provided, and a hood panel for opening and closing an engine room located in front of the front cowl from above is provided. A cowl louver is provided to close the gap between the upper surface and the rear lower surface of the hood panel and cover the front cowl from above,
A front sealing material is interposed between the rear lower surface of the hood panel and the front edge of the cowl louver, and a rear sealing material is provided between the front upper surface of the front cowl and the middle part in the front-rear direction of the cowl louver. In the seal structure at the front of the car body that is interposed,

A first rib extending in the front-rear direction is provided on the front lower surface of the cowl louver, and a second rib extending in the front-rear direction is provided on the rear lower surface of the cowl louver at the same position as the first rib in the vehicle width direction. The middle part of the cowl louver is bulged upward to form a bulge, and a pair of front and rear surfaces are formed on the inner surface of the bulge so as to partition the inner space of the bulge into a front space and a rear space. The third and fourth ribs are protruded, a gap is formed between the third and fourth ribs, the rear end of the first rib is connected to the third rib, and the fourth rib is connected to the fourth rib. The front end of the second rib is connected, and the upper surface of the rear sealing material is pressed against the lower end of each of the third and fourth ribs.

For this reason, the first to fourth ribs are provided on the lower surface of the cowl louver so as to protrude over substantially the entire longitudinal direction of the cowl louver. Will be improved.

Therefore, in order to improve the sealing performance of the front sealing member between the rear lower surface of the hood panel and the front edge of the cowl louver, the pressing force of the front sealing material against the rear lower surface of the hood panel is improved. , So that the reaction force against the cowl louver increases, the reaction force
By the fourth rib, the cowl louver is dispersed over almost the entirety and is firmly supported.

As a result, the pressure of the front sealing material against the rear lower surface of the hood panel can be increased, and the sealing performance of the front sealing material can be improved.

By the way, as described above, the first and second ribs protrude from the front and rear portions of the cowl louver, and the third and fourth ribs protrude from the middle portion of the cowl louver. Although the entire body is reinforced, the rigidity of the middle part of the cowl louver tends to be higher than that of the other parts because the bulge is formed in the middle part of the cowl louver. For this reason, by the reaction force to the front part of the cowl louver against the pressure contact force of the front sealing material, stress tends to concentrate on the halfway part near the front of the bulging part, and this part is almost centered. There is a possibility that the front portion of the cowl louver is bent so as to rotate downward.

However, since a gap is formed between the third and fourth ribs protruding in the middle of the cowl louver, the rigidity of the middle of the cowl louver is reduced by that much, Thereby, irrespective of the presence of the bulging portion, the improvement of the rigidity of the cowl louver by the first to fourth ribs is made substantially uniform at each portion in the front-rear direction.

Therefore, the occurrence of the above-mentioned stress concentration is suppressed, and the front portion of the cowl louver is prevented from bending so as to rotate downward. Therefore, the sealing performance of the rear sealing material is reduced. Is reliably improved.

Further, as described above, the third and fourth ribs against which the rear sealing member is pressed are located in the internal space of the bulging portion formed in the middle of the cowl louver. Even if the four ribs are provided, these prevent the rear seal material from being reduced in thickness.

Therefore, as described above, even when the sealing performance by the front sealing material is improved, the sealing performance by the rear sealing material is also kept good, and as a result, the space between the engine room and the upper outside is improved. Is more reliably sealed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken along line 1-1 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a front portion of a vehicle body of the automobile.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automobile 2 Body 3 Cabin 4 Engine room 6 Front cowl 15 Hood panel 16 Crevice 17 Cowl louver 19 Front seal material 20 Midway 21 Rear seal material 23 Rib 24 1st rib 25 2nd rib 26 3rd rib 27 4th rib 29 front part 30 rear part 33 bulge part 34 internal space 35 front space 36 rear space 37 air gap

Claims (1)

[Claims] A front cowl extending in a vehicle width direction; a hood panel for opening and closing an engine room located in front of the front cowl so as to be able to open and close from above;
A cowl louver is provided to close the gap between the front upper surface of the front cowl and the rear lower surface of the hood panel and cover the front cowl from above, between the rear lower surface of the hood panel and the front edge of the cowl louver. In a seal structure for a front part of a vehicle body, a rear seal member is interposed between a front upper surface of the front cowl and a middle part in the front-rear direction of the cowl louver, wherein the cowl louver is provided. A first rib extending in the front-rear direction on the lower surface of the front portion of the vehicle, and a second rib extending in the front-rear direction on the lower surface of the rear portion of the cowl louver at the same position in the vehicle width direction as the first rib; The middle part of the bulge is bulged upward to form a bulge, and a pair of front and rear third surfaces are formed on the inner surface of the bulge so as to partition the inner space of the bulge into a front space and a rear space. , A fourth rib, and the third and fourth ribs.
A gap is formed between the ribs, and the rear end of the first rib is connected to the third rib, and the front end of the second rib is connected to the fourth rib. A sealing structure for a front part of an automobile body in which an upper surface of the rear sealing material is pressed against a lower end edge.