JPH1045026A - Automobile body construction - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To construct an automobile body construction in such a way that an increase in its weight can be minimized without formation of a step or gap at a portion where a joint member intervenes. SOLUTION: In an automobile body construction of the space frame type which comprises tubular members welded together, a joint member 10 for joining the ends of the plurality of tubular members together has, at its end faces connected to the tubular members, at least a pair of projections 11, 12 formed to project inside the tubular members, one 11 of the projections having a tapered outer surface and provided on the side where higher surface accuracy is required, the other projection 12 provided in a position in which it is almost in axial symmetry to the projection 11 and having a straight outer surface. Therefore, the side where surface continuity is important is guided by the tapered surface when the projections are fitted into a cavity, so that the connection between the joint member and each tubular member is naturally formed into a continuous surface, whereas the other side can provide error absorbing tolerance since it is straight.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle body structure of a space frame type automobile in which tubular members are welded to each other.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A long tubular material extruded from a light metal material such as aluminum with a constant cross-sectional shape can set its cross-sectional shape relatively freely, and has a thickness in the horizontal and vertical directions. Since they can be integrally formed differently from each other, it is possible to obtain desired strength characteristics in accordance with a part to be used with high efficiency. Therefore, recently, their use as a frame component of an automobile has been attracting attention.

When two tubular members having different cross-sectional shapes are connected to each other, it is common to use a joint member in which the cross-sectional shape of each end is adapted to the cross-sectional shape of the two. As represented by a socket, a system is adopted in which components having the same inner contour and outer contour are fitted and connected.

[0004]

However, for example, a portion to which a weather strip or an outer plate of a vehicle body is attached is
It is not preferable that the continuity of the surface of the frame is broken at the interposed portion of the joint. In order to prevent such a level difference from occurring, it is conceivable to connect them by a so-called indigo splicing, which is configured such that the inner peripheral surface and the outer peripheral surface of each other are fitted over substantially the entire circumference. Therefore, if there is a manufacturing error, a step or a gap may be generated in the connection portion, or it may not be possible to connect completely. In order to prevent such inconvenience, the management accuracy must be increased, which causes an increase in manufacturing cost. In addition, an increase in the overlapping portion between the two members due to the splicing of the seals may be a factor that hinders the promotion of weight reduction.

The present invention has been devised to solve such a problem imposed on the prior art, and a main object of the present invention is to prevent a step or a gap from being formed in an interposed portion of a joint member. Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle body structure which is configured so that an increase in weight can be minimized.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a space frame type automobile body structure in which tubular members are welded to each other. At least one pair of protrusions that protrude into the inside of the tubular member is formed on the connection end face of the joint member for connecting the portions with the tubular member, and one of these protrusions is formed with a tapered outer surface. It was provided on the side where the mating surface accuracy was required, the other convex portion was provided at a position substantially axially symmetric with respect to the one convex portion, and the outer surface thereof was straight. By this, the side where the continuity of the surface is important is guided by the tapered surface when the convex part is fitted into the hollow, and the connection part between the joint member and the rear pillar or roof side member naturally becomes a continuous surface. On the other hand, since the other is straight, a margin for error absorption can be formed, so that even if there is some manufacturing error, the fitting can be performed without any trouble.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The configuration of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a main part of a vehicle body frame constructed according to the present invention. This body frame has a space frame configuration in which a long tubular material having a constant cross section extruded with a light metal material such as aluminum and having an optimum cross sectional shape according to a used portion is appropriately combined and welded. .

The lower end of the center pillar 2 is welded to the upper surface of the side sill 1 extending in the front-rear direction. A front floor member 3 is welded to the inner side surface of the side sill 1, and a rear floor side member 5 is welded to the rear end of the front floor member 3 via a cross member 4.
The lower end of the rear pillar 6 is welded to the rear end of the rear floor side member 5. In addition, the middle part in the vertical direction between the center pillar 2 and the rear pillar 6 is connected by a side beam 7 extending in the front-rear direction.

The rear pillar 6 is bent in such a manner that an intermediate portion in the vertical direction bulges outward in the vehicle width direction in order to make the opening of the tail gate as large as possible. The upper end is welded to the rear end of the roof side member 8, and the left and right sides are connected to each other by a roof cross member 9 extending in the vehicle width direction. The rear end of the side sill 1 that is bent obliquely upward to avoid interference with the rear wheel is welded to the largest bulging portion at the middle in the vertical direction of the rear pillar 6. The lower part of the rear pillar 6 from the middle part is curved inward in the vehicle width direction so as to escape from the rear wheel.

At the connection between the upper end of the rear pillar 6, the rear end of the roof side member 8 and the side end of the roof cross member 9, there is provided a joint member 10 die-cast from an aluminum alloy as shown in FIG. ing. The joint member 10 functions as a so-called cheese for making connections in three directions. Here, only the connection between the upper end of the rear pillar 6 and the rear end of the roof side member 8 will be described. 9 is omitted.

FIG. 3 shows an upper end surface of the rear pillar 6 and FIG. 4 shows a rear end surface of the roof side member 8. As can be seen by comparing the figures, the cross-sectional shapes of the two are significantly different due to the difference in the strength load. Therefore, the joint member 10 that connects two members having completely different cross-sectional shapes continuously changes the contour shape between both ends from the contour shape corresponding to one member to the contour shape corresponding to the other member. It has been changed.

Each end of the joint member 10 is provided with a pair of convex portions 11 and 12 at positions substantially symmetric with respect to an axis. These projections 11 and 12 project from each end face of the joint member 10 with an appropriate axial dimension, and
In addition, the roof side member 8 protrudes into the hollow from the end face thereof. In particular, as shown in FIG. 5, the cross-sectional shape of the projection 11 provided on the surface S on which the weather strip (not shown) for sealing between the rear quarter glass and the rear quarter glass is attached is tapered on the outer surface side. 13 are formed. The other side has a straight shape as shown in FIG. This allows
Weatherstrip mounting surface S where continuity of surface is important
The side has a tapered surface 1 when the projection 11 is fitted into the hollow.
3, the connection between the joint member 10 and the rear pillar 6 or the roof side member 8 naturally forms a continuous surface, and the other is straight, so that a clearance G for error absorption is formed.
Even if there are some manufacturing errors, it is not necessary to hinder the fitting.

In the above embodiment, the connection between the rear pillar 6 and the roof side member 8 has been described. However, in the present invention, one of the pair of projections is required to have a tapered shape and high mating surface accuracy is required. It is needless to say that the other protruding portion is provided at a position which is axially symmetrical and the outer surface of the other protruding portion is formed in a straight shape, without departing from this concept. .

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the guide surface is guided by the tapered surface of the convex portion, the uniformity of the mating surface of the connecting portion is enhanced, so that, for example, a weather strip or a vehicle body outer plate can be smoothly attached. And also improve welding workability and welding strength. In addition, the convex part on the side where the continuity of the surface is not so important has a structure that can easily absorb manufacturing errors, so the management accuracy is appropriately determined to suppress the rise in manufacturing cost, and the fitting convex part is formed all around. Since it is not necessary to provide, there is no need to increase the weight.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle body frame according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of a portion to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is an end view taken along line III-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an end view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line VV in FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIGS. 3 and 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Side sill 2 Center pillar 3 Front floor member 4 Cross member 5 Rear floor side member 6 Rear pillar 7 Side beam 8 Roof side member 9 Roof cross member 10 Coupling member 11 ・ 12 Convex part 13 Tapered surface S surface G Relief allowance

Claims (1)

[Claims] An automobile body structure of a space frame type constituted by welding tubular members to each other, wherein a connection end face of a joint member for connecting ends of a plurality of tubular members to the tubular member is provided. Forming at least a pair of protrusions that protrude into the inside of the tubular member, providing one of these protrusions on the side that requires high mating surface accuracy by making the outer surface thereof a tapered shape, and the other protrusion is formed on the one A car body structure for an automobile, wherein the car body structure is provided at a position substantially axially symmetrical with respect to the convex portion and the outer surface thereof is straight.