JPH11208510A - Dashboard lower cross member of body - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To form a complicated shape without combining and welding multiple members by integrally forming a light metal material by die cast molding. SOLUTION: A dashboard lower cross member 10 extended in the car width direction below a dashboard partitioning an engine room and a car room, i.e., a connection section 11 to a side frame, a connection section 12 to a floor tunnel, a connection section 13 to a floor member, a support section 14 of a front lateral link, and a support section 15 of a power steering device, are integrally formed by die cast molding. It can be formed without a welding process, the manufacturing processes of a body frame are reduced, a connection section to separate members such as the side frame and a link arm can be mechanically machined concurrently at the right and left on one component, thus body accuracy can be improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dashboard lower cross member for a vehicle body formed of a light metal material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Light metal materials, such as aluminum, have the same strength as steel materials, are lighter than steel materials, have high formability, and are excellent in shock energy absorption characteristics during deformation. Attention is now being focused on its use as an automobile frame component.

[0003]

On the other hand, aluminum materials are more difficult to weld than steel materials, and a dashboard lower cross extending in the vehicle width direction below a dashboard that separates an engine room and a living room. Due to the mounting of the support bracket for the link of the front wheel suspension system and the support bracket for the steering gear box like a member, the application to parts that have many components and tend to be complicated requires a large number of manufacturing steps. However, there is an inconvenience that the production cost rises.

[0004] The present invention has been devised in order to improve such problems of the prior art, and its main objects are as follows.
An object of the present invention is to provide a dashboard lower cross member of a vehicle body configured to reduce the number of manufacturing steps.

[0005]

In order to achieve such an object, in the present invention, the dashboard lower cross member is integrally formed by die casting of a light metal material. According to this, since a complicated form can be formed without performing welding connection by combining a plurality of members, the number of manufacturing steps can be significantly reduced.

[0006]

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

FIG. 1 shows a front portion of a vehicle body frame to which the present invention is applied. The vehicle body frame is assembled by connecting various members formed of an aluminum alloy to each other, and a pair of side frames 2 having rear ends connected to a lower portion of the front dashboard 1 and extending forward, A front bulkhead 3 coupled to the front end of the frame 2.

The both side frames 2 are made of a hollow material extruded into a hexagonal profile, and are curved with an appropriate curvature so as to be concave downward so as to avoid interference with the front axle. Is connected to the engine mount bracket 4 and the strut tower 5.
At the front end, a front bumper (not shown) is attached.

The front bulkhead 3 comprises an upper member 6 formed by press molding, a pair of side members 7 formed by die casting, and a lower member 8 formed by extrusion. Each lower end of the side member 7 is welded and connected, and each upper end of both side members 7 and the upper member 6 are joined.
Are assembled by using a bolt (not shown). Further, an intermediate portion in the left-right direction between the upper member 6 and the lower member 8 is connected by a press-formed vertical member 9.

The front bulkhead 3 is connected to the side frame 2 at a vertically intermediate portion of both side members 7 with bolts. Thus, the front bulkhead 3 can be repeatedly attached to and detached from the side frame 2 as desired.

As described in the section of the prior art, since the welding of aluminum materials is relatively troublesome, the application to parts having a large number of components and complicated shapes tends to require a large number of manufacturing steps. Tends to. Therefore, in the present invention,
The dashboard lower cross member extending in the vehicle width direction is formed integrally with the lower part of the dashboard that separates the engine room and the living room by die casting.

As shown in FIG. 2, the dashboard lower cross member 10 has a joint 1 with the side frame 2.
1, a connection portion 12 with a floor tunnel, a connection portion 13 with a floor member, a support portion 14 of a front lateral link, and a support portion 15 of a power steering device are integrally formed by die casting.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention, the support bracket for the link of the front wheel suspension, the support bracket for the steering gear box, and the like can be integrally formed on the front dashboard lower cross member, so that the front of the complicated form is formed. The dashboard lower cross member can be formed without going through a welding process. Therefore, a great effect can be obtained in reducing the number of manufacturing steps of the body frame. In addition, since the left and right joints of different parts such as side frames and link arms can be machined simultaneously on one part, it is also effective in improving vehicle body accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a front portion of a body frame of an automobile to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a front dashboard lower cross member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Front dashboard 2 Side frame 3 Front bulkhead 4 Engine mount bracket 5 Strut tower 6 Upper member 7 Side member 8 Lower member 9 Vertical member 10 Dashboard lower cross member 11 Joint with side frame 12 Joint with floor tunnel 13 Joint with floor member 14 Support for front lateral link 15 Support for power steering device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A dashboard lower cross member for a vehicle body, which is integrally formed by die cast molding of a light metal material.