JPH111121A - Atmospheric air introducing device of automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve maintainability of an engine by arranging an air box extending in an axle direction to the rear side from a lower end of front glass, and providing a duct communicating the rear end to the air box, opening upward between a front hood rear end and a front glass lower end at the front end. SOLUTION: A duct 8 is provided with a vertical front wall 8b linking with an opening 8a, an inclined bottom wall 8d rising from the lower end toward an opening 8c on an air box 3 side and an upper wall 8e forming a step part 8f extending from the front to rear openings 8a, 8c. Because atmospheric air is taken into the air box 3 from the duct 8 opened by directing the front end upward between the rear end of a front hood 2 and the lower end of front glass 1, the rear part of an engine room 20 is hardly covered with the duct 8. Therefore, the duct 8 hardly hinders when an engine is maintained and a work can be easily performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an outside air introduction device for a motor vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in an automobile, an air box is installed between a rear end of a front hood and a lower end of a front window glass, and outside air is taken into the air box to separate it from rainwater, and then sent out to the passenger compartment. I have. By the way, there is a car in which an engine room is shortened by arranging a front window glass forward. In such an automobile, since the air box is arranged directly below the lower end of the front window glass, it is not possible to directly take in outside air from the air box. Therefore, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-57415, an air box for introducing outside air is separately provided between the rear end of the front hood and the lower end of the front window glass, and the front and rear air boxes are connected by a duct.

[0003]

However, since the air box for introducing outside air is arranged over substantially the entire width of the vehicle, that is, it is arranged so as to cover the entire rear part of the engine room. It was in the way of engine maintenance.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an external air introduction device for an automobile having improved engine maintainability.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to an automobile having a lower end of a windshield disposed forward of an air box. An air box extending to the air box, a rear end communicating with the air box, and a duct having a front end opened upward between the rear end of the front hood and the lower end of the front window glass are provided. .

[0006] A space may be formed between the cowl top panel supporting the lower end of the front window glass and the duct upper wall, and a wiper mechanism may be provided in the space.

[0007] A blind spot may be formed in a portion of the duct where it is difficult for the introduced external air flow to directly hit, and a drain may be disposed in the blind spot.

[0008] The blind spot may be formed at a corner between a front wall falling from a front end opening and an inclined bottom wall rising toward a rear end opening.

[0009] A drain extending in the vehicle width direction may be provided in the air box, and both ends of the drain may respectively face the inside of the vehicle body frame member in front of the front pillar.

The duct may have a bulging portion protruding inward at the blind spot, and the drain may be disposed near the downstream side of the outside air introduced from the bulging portion.

[0011]

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

FIG. 1 shows an automobile employing the outside air introduction device of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a front window glass, 2 denotes a front hood, and 3 denotes an air box extended to the left and right front pillars 4,4. As shown in detail in FIG. 2, the air box 3 has a closed cross section including a cowl center panel 5, a cowl front panel 6, and a dash upper panel 7. Air box 3
One end of a duct 8 is connected to the center of the hood with a sealing material 50 interposed therebetween, and the other end is opened upward between the rear end of the front hood 2 and the lower end of the front window glass 1. Further, a blower 9 is connected to a position closer to the left side of the vehicle body from the duct connection portion of the air box 3.

The duct 8 has a vertical front wall 8b connected to the opening 8a, an inclined bottom wall 8d rising from the lower end of the front wall 8b toward the opening 8c on the side of the air box 3, and a front and rear opening 8a, 8c. Upper wall 8e having a stepped portion 8f extending over
And In addition, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a bulging portion 50 protruding inward is formed on the left side wall 8f at the blind spot where the introduced external air flow is hard to directly hit, ie, at the corners of the front wall 8b and the bottom wall 8d. Are formed adjacent to each other. Further, a drain hole 51 is formed in the left side wall 8f near the rear of the bulging portion 50, and the drain hose 11 is connected to the drain hole 51 so as to extend to the left side of the vehicle body.

A cowl top panel 12 is joined to the front end of the air box 3, and the cowl top panel 12 extends forward while forming a space 13 with the upper wall 8 e of the duct 8. On the cowl top panel 12, the lower end of the front window glass 1 is fixed with an adhesive 14, and a wiper shaft 15 is installed using a bracket 16. A cowl cover 17 covers the opening 8a of the duct 8, and an outside air intake hole 18 is formed at the front end thereof. Reference numeral 19 denotes a dash panel separating the engine room 20 and the vehicle room 21.

The duct 8 is connected to the wiper shaft 1
6 and its opening 8a
The rear edge of the wiper shaft 16 is recessed in a U-shape, and the step of the step portion 8d is increased to secure a space for installing the wiper shaft 16. In other words, by configuring the duct 8 in this manner, the space 13 is enlarged at the installation location of the wiper shaft 16 shown in FIG. 2, but the drive link 22 of the wiper shaft 16 is provided at other locations shown in FIG. Since only the space is arranged, the space 13 is not so large.

The air box 3 is also provided with a drain 23 on the bottom wall composed of the dash upper panel 7 (see FIG. 4). The drains 23 extend in the vehicle width direction, and have their respective ends facing the inside of the vehicle body frame member 24 in front of the front pillar 4 as shown in FIG.
The vehicle body frame member 24 has a closed section 27 formed by a hood ridge panel 25 and a hood ridge reinforcement 26, and has a rear end connected to the front pillar 4. The rear end of the vehicle body frame member 24 is constituted by a cowl top side panel 28 instead of the hood ridge panel 25.

The side end of the air box 3 is a front pillar 4
And the vehicle body frame member 24. However,
The dash upper panel 7 among the panels 5, 6, and 7 constituting the air box 3 is connected via an L-shaped extension panel 29. That is, the side edges of the dash upper panel 7 and the extension panel 29 are joined together, and the front portion 29a of the extension panel 29 is joined to the dash side panel 19, the front pillar inner panel 4a, and the hood ridge reinforcement 26 (FIG. 8, FIG. 9) and the rear portion 29b of the extension panel 29 is connected to the front pillar inner panel 4a.
It is joined to. And the extension panel 29
Has a drain 30 connected to the drain 23 on the air box 3 side. That is, the rainwater that has been separated from the water in the air box 3 flows through the drain 30 and is guided into the vehicle body frame member 25, and drops from the tip into a front wheel house (not shown).

In this embodiment, the outside air is taken into the air box 3 from the duct 8 whose front end is opened upward between the rear end of the front hood 2 and the lower end of the front window glass 1. The rear of the engine room 20 is hardly covered by the duct 8. Therefore, the duct 8 hardly obstructs the maintenance of the engine, and the work can be performed easily.

Since the duct 8 is disposed substantially at the center in the vehicle width direction so as not to cover accessories in the engine room, the duct 8 overlaps the wiper shaft 16 in the vehicle width direction. Become. So, as mentioned above,
By forming the space 13 between the cowl top cover 17 and the duct upper wall 8e, a space for installing the wiper shaft 16 is secured. That is, the duct 8 can be arranged at a reasonable position that does not hinder maintenance and inspection of the auxiliary equipment.

Further, since the drive link 22 of the wiper shaft 16 is inserted into the space 13, the wiper mechanism is completely separated from the outside air introduction path, so that rainwater intrusion into the water / water separation structure is reduced. be able to.

Further, the outside air taken into the duct 8 collides with the inclined bottom wall 8d and is separated into water and water. The separated rainwater flows along the bottom wall 8d and flows to the corner with the front wall 8b. In the present embodiment, the swelling portion 50 is formed at the corners of the front wall 8b and the bottom wall 8d, and the discharge hole 51 is disposed. By reducing the flow rate of the introduced outside air near the downstream side of the introduced outside air, rainwater collected around the discharge hole 51 is prevented from being caught in the outside air flow. For this reason, it is not necessary to increase the cross-sectional area of the duct 8 and reduce the flow rate of the introduced outside air.
That is, since the duct 8 can be made compact, the degree of freedom in design increases accordingly.

Furthermore, even if the air / water separation in the duct 8 is not complete, the rainwater is also separated in the air box 3, so that the water / water separation is more reliable.

[0023]

According to the present invention, the outside air is taken into the air box from the duct whose front end is opened upward between the rear end of the front hood and the lower end of the front window glass. The duct is hardly obstructed during maintenance, making the work easier.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the duct can be arranged so as to overlap the wiper shaft in the width direction of the vehicle body, and a reasonable layout which does not hinder maintenance and inspection of the auxiliary equipment can be realized. In addition, the wiper mechanism can be completely separated from the outside air introduction path, and the intrusion of rainwater into the steam-water separation structure can be reduced.

According to the third or fourth aspect of the present invention, the rainwater separated from the water in the duct is less likely to be caught in the outside air flow, and the efficiency of the separation is improved.

According to the structure of the fifth aspect, since the separation of rainwater is performed even in the air box, the separation of steam and water is more reliable.

According to the structure of the sixth aspect, since the flow velocity of the introduced outside air around the drain is reduced and the rainwater is not caught in the outside air flow, the cross-sectional area of the duct can be reduced, and the design freedom is reduced accordingly. The degree increases.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an automobile provided with an outside air introduction device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line BB shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line CC shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a duct of the apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view showing a bulging portion of the duct.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a drain on the air box side of the device.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line DD shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line EE shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line FF shown in FIG. 7;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Front window glass 2 ... Front hood 3 ... Air box 8 ... Duct 8a ... Opening

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An automobile in which a lower end of a front window glass is disposed forward of an air box, an air box extending in a vehicle width direction behind the lower end of the front window glass, and a rear end communicating with the air box. Let
An outside air introduction device for an automobile, wherein a duct having a front end opened upward between a rear end of the front hood and a lower end of the front window glass is provided. 2. A space is formed between a cowl top panel supporting a lower end of the front window glass and an upper wall of a duct, and a wiper mechanism is disposed in the space. Car outside air introduction device. 3. A blind spot is formed in a portion of the duct, where the introduced external air flow is unlikely to directly hit, and a drain is disposed in the blind spot. Car outside air introduction device. 4. The motor vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the blind spot is formed at a corner between a front wall falling from a front end opening and an inclined bottom wall rising toward a rear end opening. Outside air introduction device. 5. The air box according to claim 1, wherein a drain extending in the vehicle width direction is provided in the air box, and both ends of the drain face the inside of the vehicle body frame member in front of the front pillar. An outside air introduction device for an automobile as described in the above. 6. A duct according to claim 3, wherein a bulging portion protruding inward is provided in the blind spot of the duct, and the drain is arranged near the downstream side of the outside air introduced from the bulging portion.
An outside air introduction device for an automobile according to claim 5.