JPH10287272A - Connecting structure for front pillar and cowl for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connecting structure of a front pillar to a cowl for an automobile whereby rigidity relating to twist force applied to the cowl can be improved. SOLUTION: A cowl side reinforcing plate 16 arranged so as extend over a front pillar 12 and a cowl 14 in a horizontal virtual surface and a bracket 18 interposed between the cowl side reinforcing plate and the cowl are provided. The cowl side reinforcing plate has an intermediate part 30 substantially traversing a closed structure 10 of the front pillar, first end part 31 connected to a pillar reinforcing plate 24 arranged in the closed structure to be extended from the intermediate part, and a second end part 32 connected to the bracket to be extended from the intermediate part. The bracket and the cowl are connected so as to apply shear force to the bracket when twist force is applied to the cowl.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure for connecting a front pillar of an automobile, particularly a passenger car, and a cowl arranged in a width direction of the vehicle body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A reinforcing plate is arranged in a front pillar as a coupling structure of a front pillar formed so that a cross section cut by a horizontal virtual plane has a closed structure and a cowl arranged in a width direction of a vehicle body. At the same time, there is one in which this reinforcing plate is extended inward in the width direction of the vehicle body across the inner panel of the front pillar, and the lower surface of the cowl and the upper surface of the reinforcing plate are welded (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-6872). No.).

[0003]

In the above-mentioned joint structure, when a torsion force is applied to the cowl, a peeling force acts to peel off the joint between the cowl and the reinforcing plate, and the joint is largely deformed. Would. Therefore, the coupling structure is difficult to adopt when trying to improve the torsional rigidity.

The present invention provides a coupling structure between a front pillar of an automobile and a cowl, which can improve rigidity against torsional force applied to the cowl.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a connecting structure of a front pillar formed so that a cross section cut by a horizontal virtual plane has a closed structure, and a cowl arranged in a width direction of a vehicle body. A cowl side reinforcing plate disposed so as to extend over the front pillar and the cowl in the virtual plane; and a bracket interposed between the cowl side reinforcing plate and the cowl. The cowl side reinforcing plate is, in the virtual plane, an intermediate portion substantially traversing the closed structure, and the intermediate portion coupled to a pillar reinforcing plate disposed in the closed structure or to the front pillar. And a second end extending from the intermediate portion and coupled to the bracket. The bracket and the cowl are coupled such that when a torsional force is applied to the cowl, a shear force is applied to the bracket.

[0006]

[Operation and Effect] The torsion force applied to the cowl is applied to the bracket as a shearing force, transmitted to the pillar reinforcement plate via the cowl side reinforcement plate or to the front pillar, and received there.

Even if a torsion force is applied to the cowl, a shearing force is applied from the cowl to the bracket and no peeling force is applied, so that the joint between the cowl and the bracket has a sufficient rigidity. The peel force acts to separate the two plates or members at the joint from each other,
Significantly deform the joint. In contrast, the shear force is
It acts to relatively displace the two plates or members at the joint along the boundary surface at the joint, and the amount of deformation in that case is small. This indicates that when the same torsional force is applied to the cowl, the rigidity against torsion is higher when the cowl is subjected to the shearing force. As described above, the rigidity with respect to the torsional force applied to the cowl is improved, so that the rigidity of the entire vehicle body can be increased and the vibration noise performance can be improved.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A front pillar formed so that a cross section cut along a horizontal virtual plane exhibits a closed structure, and a cross section cut along a vertical virtual plane including a center axis extending in the front-rear direction of a vehicle body. A cowl side reinforcing plate disposed so as to extend over the front pillar and the cowl in the horizontal virtual plane, and a cowl side reinforcing plate and the cowl formed between the cowl side reinforcing plate and the cowl. And a bracket interposed therebetween.

[0009] The cowl side reinforcing plate is coupled to the middle portion of the horizontal imaginary plane substantially crossing the closing structure of the front pillar, and the pillar reinforcing plate disposed in the closing structure. A first end extending from the middle portion; and a second end extending from the middle portion coupled to the bracket. The cowl side reinforcing plate can be formed by bending a single plate material, and is disposed in the closed structure of the front pillar such that the middle portion is substantially vertical. The first end is a pillar reinforcement plate,
It can be connected to the flange joint of the front pillar. The cowl side reinforcing plate may be formed to cross the closed structure of the front pillar and the closed structure of the cowl. In this case, the bracket can be formed by, for example, two bracket pieces.

[0010] The bracket and the cowl are coupled so that when a torsional force is applied to the cowl, a shear force is applied to the bracket. By arranging the two bracket pieces of the bracket over the entire circumference of the cowl, or by arranging the bracket pieces at least on the front part and the rear part of the cowl, the torsional force applied to the cowl is applied to the bracket as a shear force. Can tell.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a cross section taken along a horizontal virtual plane.
Referring to FIG. 2 showing a cross-sectional state cut along a vertical virtual plane perpendicular to a center axis extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body and FIG. 3 schematically showing a side state, the present invention provides a horizontal virtual plane. And a cowl 14 arranged in the width direction of the vehicle body. The cowl side reinforcing plate 16 and the bracket 18 are combined with each other. Prepare.

The front pillar 12 includes an outer panel 20.
And the inner panel 22, but the outer panel 18
Is a part of an outer panel of a side member which is arranged in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body. The outer panel 20 and the inner panel 22 are joined to each other by overlapping the respective rear flange portions 21a and 23a and spot-welding. In the embodiment shown, a pillar reinforcement plate 24 is arranged in the closed structure 10 and its flange 25a is sandwiched between the flanges 21a, 23a. A door (not shown) is attached to the flange joint.

The cowl 14 includes an upper panel 26 and a lower panel 28. Referring to FIG. 5 showing the disassembled state, the upper panel 26 is formed so as to have a substantially inverted U-shaped cross section as a whole, and a lower front side portion and a lower rear side portion form a flange portion 27a. ing. On the other hand, the lower panel 28 has a substantially flat shape, but its front side and rear side are slightly bent downward to form a flange 29a. The upper panel 26 and the lower panel 28 are joined to each other by overlapping the facing flange portions 27a and 29a and spot welding. As a result, the cowl 14 is formed such that a cross section taken along a vertical virtual plane including a central axis extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body has a closed structure.

The cowl side reinforcing plate 16 is disposed so as to extend between the front pillar 12 and the cowl 14 in a horizontal virtual plane. The cowl side stiffener 16 extends from the middle portion 30 in the imaginary plane substantially coupled to the intermediate portion 30 and the pillar stiffener 24 disposed within the closed structure 10. A first end 31 and a second end 32 connected to the bracket 18 and extending from the intermediate portion 30. The first end 31 is formed by bending a plate material.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 in which the surfaces to be joined to each other are crossed, the pillar reinforcing plate 24 includes a lower reinforcing plate 36 and an upper reinforcing plate 38, and the cowl side reinforcing plate 16 has an end. A portion 31 and a transition portion 33 from the intermediate portion 30 to the end portion 32 are connected to the lower reinforcing plate 36 and the upper reinforcing plate 38. The outer surface of the end portion 31 is connected to the inner surface of the flange portion 37a of the lower reinforcing plate 36 and the upper reinforcing plate 38.
The outer surface of the transition portion 33 is abutted against the inner surface of the flange portion 37b of the lower reinforcing plate 36 and the inner surface of the flange portion 39b of the upper reinforcing plate 38. To weld the cowl side reinforcing plate 16 to the lower reinforcing plate 36 and the upper reinforcing plate 38,
And the upper reinforcing plate 38 are mutually connected. The cowl side reinforcing plate 16 connected to the pillar reinforcing plate 24, together with the pillar reinforcing plate 24, forms a closed structure 34 (FIG. 1). The vertical height of the cowl side reinforcing plate 16 is
As shown in FIG. 3, the height is preferably higher than the height of the cowl 14.

The bracket 18 is interposed between the cowl side reinforcing plate and the cowl. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the bracket 18 comprises two bracket pieces 42,44. The bracket piece 42 is formed by bending a plate material into a substantially arc shape, and further bending the outer abutting surface 43a substantially at a right angle. The butting surface 43a is abutted against the inner surface of the end portion 32 of the cowl side reinforcing plate 16 and spot-welded, and the bracket piece 42 is connected to the cowl side reinforcing plate 16.

On the other hand, the bracket piece 44 includes a base 46,
An inclined portion 48 that rises obliquely upward and forward from the rear end of the base portion 46, an inclined portion 50 that rises obliquely upward and rearward from the front end of the base portion 46, and a substance that extends inward of the base portion 46. And a typical flat portion 52.
Butted surfaces 47a, 47 bent at substantially right angles outside the base 46, the inclined portion 48 and the inclined portion 50, respectively.
The bracket pieces 44 are joined to the cowl side reinforcing plate 16 by spot welding the 9a and 51a against the inner surface of the end portion 32 of the cowl side reinforcing plate 16. Inner side portions 49b of the inclined portions 48, 50 of the bracket piece 44, respectively.
, 51b are dimensioned to lie on the extension of the inner side 43b of the bracket piece 42, and their outer shapes are shaped to fit the side 27b of the upper panel 26 of the cowl 14. Bracket pieces 42, 4
4 is covered with the side portion 27b of the upper panel 26 on the side portions 43b, 49b, 51b, and spot-welded to the upper panel 26.
Are connected to the bracket 18. Further, the side portion 29b of the lower panel 28 is placed on the side portion 53b of the flat portion 52 of the bracket piece 44 and spot-welded, and
8 is connected to the bracket piece 44.

In the embodiment shown in FIG.
The end 21b of the second outer panel 20 is a bracket piece 4
2 is bent by the thickness of the cowl side reinforcing plate 16 so that the end 21b and the bracket piece 42 are bent.
The end of the cowl side reinforcing plate 16 is inserted into the gap between the two members, and the three members are spot-welded. Further, the upper panel 26 of the cowl, the outer panel 20 of the front pillar 12, and the bracket piece 42 are overlapped and spot-welded. The end 23b of the inner panel 22 of the front pillar 12 is spot welded to the bracket piece 44 so as to overlap.

As described above, the cowl 14 and the bracket 1
When a torsion force is applied to the cowl 14 as a result of the connection between the bracket 8 and the bracket 8, a shearing force is applied to the bracket 18. The shearing force transmitted to the bracket 18 is applied to the cowl side reinforcing plate 16.
Is transmitted to the pillar reinforcing plate 24 and received there. Thereby, the cowl 14 can be effectively prevented from being twisted.

An apron member 60 and a front pillar gusset 62 are arranged in front of the front pillar 12 of the automobile and below the cowl 14. As shown in FIG. 5, the apron member 60 includes an upper portion 61a and a lower portion 61.
b and side portions 61c, and are formed such that the cross-sectional shape thereof has a U-shape. In the embodiment shown, the cowl 14
The bulkhead 64 is disposed on the outer extension in the vehicle width direction from the lower panel 28 and on the rear extension in the vehicle front-rear direction from the upper portion 61a of the apron member 60.
Further, a bulkhead 66 is disposed on a rearward extension of the apron member 60 from the lower portion 61b in the vehicle longitudinal direction. Each of the bulkheads 64 and 66 is provided with a front pillar 12.
Are spot-welded to the outer panel 20, the inner panel 22, and the pillar reinforcing plate 24.

As in this embodiment, the bulkhead 64,
By providing the front pillar 12, the rigidity of the front pillar 12 can be increased and its deformation can be prevented, so that the shearing force applied from the cowl 14 can be more effectively received.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a coupling structure between a front pillar and a cowl of an automobile according to the present invention.
It is cut along one line.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of a coupling structure between a front pillar and a cowl of a vehicle according to the present invention, and is substantially a sectional view of FIG.
It is cut along two lines.

FIG. 3 is a side view schematically showing a coupling structure between a front pillar and a cowl of the automobile according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the front pillar and the cowl obtained by the coupling structure between the front pillar and the cowl of the automobile according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a coupling structure between a front pillar and a cowl of the automobile according to the present invention, and a cross line is added to a surface to be coupled for convenience of description.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 closing structure 12 front pillar 14 cowl 16 cowl side reinforcing plate 18 bracket 20 outer panel 22 inner panel 26 upper panel 28 lower panel 30 middle part 31, 32 end part 42, 44 bracket piece

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A coupling structure of a front pillar formed so that a cross section cut along a horizontal virtual plane has a closed structure, and a cowl arranged in a width direction of a vehicle body, wherein the front pillar is arranged in the virtual plane. A cowl side reinforcing plate disposed so as to extend over the pillar and the cowl, and a bracket interposed between the cowl side reinforcing plate and the cowl, wherein the cowl side reinforcing plate is, on the virtual surface, An intermediate portion substantially transverse to the closure structure, a first end extending from the intermediate portion coupled to a pillar stiffener disposed within the closure structure or to the front pillar; and the bracket A second end extending from the intermediate portion, the bracket and the cowl shearing when a torsional force is applied to the cowl. A coupling structure between a front pillar and a cowl of a vehicle, wherein the coupling is applied so that a force is applied to the bracket.