JPH11257091A - Vehicle bracket member and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve weight reduction while ensuring sufficient strength and vibration resistant characteristics, by fixing a plate member to the outside surface or to the outside and inside surfaces of a bend portion of a bracket member which has a L-shaped member with a vertical and horizontal portions and has an arbitrary sectional shape. SOLUTION: A bracket member 1 is formed by a L-shaped member 2 which has a vertical portion 2a and a horizontal portion 2b by bending. Due to the bending, an outside portion at a bend portion 2c of the bracket member 1 moves to the inside, resulting in a local deterioration of the sectional strength of the bracket member 1. A plate like member 3 is fixed to the outside of the bending portion 2c to reinforce the resistance against the movement of the outside portion inward at the bending portion 2c, thereby vibration resistant characteristics are strengthened. The plate like member 3 is formed to a predetermined shape and size in advance, and is fixed to the outside of the bending portion 2c of the L-shaped member forming of which is complete at that time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bracket member for a vehicle, which is mounted on a vehicle such as a car or a train such as a car or a truck, and which supports heavy equipment such as a fuel tank, a radiator, and a battery. And a method of manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in the automobile industry, there has been an active movement to reduce the weight of automobiles in consideration of exhaust gas regulations and safety. Support brackets are also subject to weight reduction. For example, a fuel tank support bracket for a truck is generally formed by bending a lightweight section steel a as shown in FIG. 7A and a plurality of L-shaped members having a vertical portion and a horizontal portion as shown in FIG. 7B. A plurality of support bracket members b, and the plurality of support bracket members b are attached to a sub-structure member d integrally attached to a main structure horizontal column c on the side of the truck.
As shown in FIG. 7 (c), they are arranged and fastened and fixed by bolts e, and are connected to the front end of the horizontal portion and the upper portion of the vertical portion of the support bracket member b so that the fuel tank f
Is provided with a steel band g.

The fuel tank f is mounted on a horizontal portion of a support bracket formed by a plurality of support bracket members b, and is held and fixed by a band g. Since the support bracket is also exposed to large shaking and vibration during operation, it is required that the support bracket has sufficient strength to hold the fuel tank f and also has excellent anti-vibration characteristics.

However, since it is conventionally difficult to reduce the weight while maintaining these characteristics, a steel material excellent in strength is used as the support bracket member b, and the reduction in weight is not sufficiently achieved. Is the actual situation. Conventionally, in order to reduce the weight of the support bracket, it has been proposed that the support bracket member b be formed of an aluminum material. Has not been reached.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a vehicle bracket member which constitutes a support bracket for a vehicle device and which can realize weight reduction while ensuring sufficient strength and anti-vibration characteristics, and a method of manufacturing the same. Is what you do.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides the following (1) to
It is constituted by the invention of (7). (1)-(4)
Are inventions relating to a bracket member for a vehicle that constitutes a support bracket of a vehicle device, and (5) and (6) are inventions relating to a method of manufacturing the bracket member for a vehicle.

(1) An L-shaped basic shape having a vertical portion and a horizontal portion (meaning that the side surface is L-shaped or a shape similar to the L-shape, hereinafter referred to as “L-shaped basic shape”). A bracket member for a vehicle, wherein a plate-shaped member is fixed to the outside or outside and inside of a bent portion of the bracket member having an arbitrary cross-sectional shape. (2) The vehicle bracket member according to (1), wherein the bracket member is formed of a tubular member. (3) The vehicle bracket member according to (1) or (2), wherein a plurality of bracket members are juxtaposed, and some or all of the juxtaposed bracket members are connected and fixed by a plate-like member. . (4) In any one of (1) to (3), the bracket member is formed by extrusion molding of a lightweight metal or resin material, and the bracket member and the plate-like member are formed of the same material or different materials. Vehicle bracket member.

(5) The bracket member formed into an arbitrary cross-sectional shape is bent into an L-shaped basic shape having a vertical portion and a horizontal portion, and the bracket member is formed on the outside or outside and inside of the bent portion.
A method for manufacturing a bracket member for a vehicle, comprising bending a plate-shaped member so that its surface substantially matches the curved surface of the bent portion, and fixing the plate-shaped member at least at both end portions of the plate-shaped member. (6) The method for manufacturing a bracket member for a vehicle according to (5), wherein the fixing of the bracket member and the plate member is performed by welding, welding, or mechanical means.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the present invention, a bracket member constituting a support bracket of a vehicle device is formed by bending a light-weight material formed into a shape having excellent cross-sectional characteristics into an L-shaped basic shape (hereinafter, referred to as a member). The L-shaped member is formed to reduce the weight, and a plate-like member is fixed to the bent portion of the bracket member to enhance (reinforce) the anti-vibration characteristics.

The bracket member is formed by bending into an L-shaped member having a vertical portion and a horizontal portion. The outer portion of the bent portion of the bracket member moves inward by the bending process, and as a result, the bracket member Since the cross-sectional strength of the bent portion is locally deteriorated, in the present invention, a plate-shaped member is fixed to the outside of the bent portion to reinforce the resistance to the inward movement of the outer portion in the bent portion, thereby reducing the vibration resistance. To strengthen.

In this sense, it is effective to fix the plate-like member to the outside of the bent portion of the bracket, and the effect of reducing the weight is great. However, since the inner portion moves outward, the cross-sectional strength is locally deteriorated. In order to further enhance the reinforcing effect, it is also effective to fix the bracket inside the bent portion and to reinforce the bracket from the outside and the inside.

This plate-shaped member is prepared by forming it into a predetermined shape and size in advance, and the L-shaped member which has already been formed is formed.
It is fixed to the outside of the bent portion of the character-shaped member, and since it is a local reinforcement, cost increase can be suppressed to a minimum, and the total weight is not greatly increased by this plate-shaped member.

The fixing of the plate-like member to the L-shaped member can be performed by mechanical joining means such as welding, bonding or caulking, or other simple joining means. When fixing the plate-shaped member, it is not necessary to join the entire contact surface between the L-shaped member and the plate-shaped member, and it is sufficient if both ends in the width direction are firmly joined.

The cross-sectional shape of the L-shaped member is arbitrary, but when the L-shaped member has a cross-sectional shape excellent in cross-sectional characteristics and is extruded, the strength is further stabilized. It is also advantageous in terms of design, especially when using an aluminum member that is effective for weight reduction,
The effectiveness of the present invention can be further ensured.

When the L-shaped member is used, for example, as a support bracket for a fuel tank of a truck, the vibration energy acting upon the operation of the truck increases as the supporting fuel tank becomes heavier. In particular, since deformation and vibration are concentrated at the bent portion, the strength and vibration resistance characteristics at this portion are significantly reduced. Fuel tank support brackets are one of the brackets that are exposed to harsh usage environments in that sense. The present invention realizes a vehicle bracket member having a structure that can sufficiently withstand long-term use even when applied to a support bracket for a fuel tank of a truck exposed to such a severe use environment.

Heretofore, as a material for forming the bracket member, a lightweight section steel capable of sufficiently securing strength and vibration resistance has been widely used. According to the present invention, even when a lightweight section steel is used, the total weight can be reduced, and the strength and the anti-vibration characteristics are sufficiently improved by using a lightweight metal such as aluminum or an aluminum alloy or a lightweight material such as a resin material. , While further reducing the weight.

Hereinafter, a structural example of a vehicle bracket member of the present invention will be described based on a structural example of a bracket member to be supported by a truck fuel tank shown in FIG.
In this example, the bracket member was formed of an aluminum member for weight reduction.

In FIG. 1A, reference numeral 1 denotes a bracket member of the present invention, which can be manufactured, for example, by the following method. That is, FIG. 1 obtained by extrusion molding
An aluminum member 2 as shown in FIG. 2B is bent by a press (not shown) to form a vertical portion 2a and a horizontal portion 2b.
And an aluminum plate-like member 3 as shown in FIG. 1C is formed on the outside of the curved portion 2c of the L-shaped member so as to substantially match the curved surface of the curved portion 2c. This is obtained by bending, abutting and joining at least at both ends by welding w, and having a plurality of bolt holes 4 in the vertical portion 2a.

Usually, two to four bracket members 1 are prepared, and as shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), a plurality of bracket members 1 are mounted on the main structure horizontal pillar 5 on the side of the truck. Arranged on the sub-structure member 7 having the hole 6 and fastened with bolts 8
It is fixed and forms the support bracket B of the fuel tank 9. The locking portions 11a, 1a, 1b,
1b is formed and mounted on the support portion of the support bracket B, and the fuel tank 9 fixes the holding band 10 to the locking portions 11a and 11b.
It can be held and fixed by locking to b.

In the case of a conventional bracket member made of a lightweight steel, a member having a sectional shape as shown in FIG. 7A is used. Although this cross-sectional shape has an advantage that it is easy to manufacture (work), it is hardly sufficient in terms of cross-sectional performance.

Therefore, in this example, a cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG. 1B is employed as a cross-sectional shape excellent in cross-sectional performance, that is, rigidity. This cross-sectional shape is an example of the cross-sectional shape of a general extruded material that can be obtained relatively easily. The cross-sectional shape is made of an aluminum member, and the weight is the same as that of the lightweight section steel having the cross-sectional shape of FIG. In this case, about 10-20%,
The rigidity can be improved and the bending workability is good.

That is, when an L-shaped member obtained by bending an aluminum member having the same cross-sectional area as that of the lightweight section steel having the sectional shape shown in FIG.
A weight reduction of about 0 to 20% is achieved. However, according to experiments by the present inventors, in the case of an aluminum member, FIG.
Compared to the lightweight section steel having the cross-sectional shape of (a), the cross section of the bent portion is locally deformed during bending, as shown in FIG. 3, and the rigidity is locally deteriorated, and the anti-vibration characteristics are also likely to be deteriorated. There was found.

In general, the anti-vibration characteristic is evaluated based on the magnitude of the amplitude in a resonance test. However, the L-shaped member made of an aluminum member alone has twice the amplitude as compared with the L-shaped member made of a light-weight steel. As a result, it was found that only half of the anti-vibration characteristics were obtained and that it was not practically usable. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1 (a), a plate member 3 made of the same material and made of aluminum and having a thickness of 2 mm was welded to the outside of the bent portion 2c. Vibration characteristics increased greatly, showing anti-vibration characteristics almost equivalent to those of lightweight steel.

Accordingly, in the present invention, for example, FIG.
As shown in the figure, both side end surfaces of the plate-shaped member 3 and both side end surfaces of the L-shaped member 2 are overlapped so as to be substantially coincident with each other, and a line is formed in the longitudinal direction of the L-shaped member by welding w along both end surfaces of the overlapped portion. The strength and vibration resistance of the L-shaped member 2 are strengthened by joining and fixing in a shape. When joining the plate-shaped member 3 to the L-shaped member 2, at least both ends of the plate-shaped member 3 abutting on the bent portion of the L-shaped member 2, depending on a joining means and a joining density. By joining and fixing, sufficient joining strength can be secured.

The joining method of the plate-like member 3 and the L-shaped member 2 is not limited to welding. For example, mechanical joining such as caulking or rivet joining is difficult for materials which are difficult or disadvantageous in terms of cost. Means or a bonding means using an adhesive does not affect the effectiveness of the plate-shaped member 3 as long as a sufficient bonding strength is obtained.
In addition, in the case of joining by caulking, it can be easily carried out by pressing, and a space is formed between the members, and the joining by the adhesive material generally acts as a cushioning material. However, the anti-vibration characteristics can be greatly improved. Also, in the case of rivet joining, implementation is not so difficult, and the number and interval of joining portions can be controlled depending on the material and shape, so that versatility is excellent.

For example, when a high-strength plate-shaped member is used, a bonding method having a wide buffer space such as soft adhesive bonding or spot welding is often appropriate. In the case where is a plate-shaped member, it is often appropriate to join with a rivet having a close interval or a large bite strength, by caulking. In general, when the joint extends over a wide area, the anti-vibration characteristics themselves also increase, but since there is no buffer space, the vibration energy transmission becomes intense, and the effect of dispersing and reducing the vibration energy also decreases, so that the time and effort of joining, The effect is small for cost division.

The reason why the plate-shaped member 3 improves the anti-vibration characteristics is that the cross-sectional rigidity is increased due to the presence of the mass outside the bent portion 2c, and that the mass and the space are concentrated in the bent portion 2c which is the weakest portion. This is because dispersion and reduction of vibration energy have occurred. Therefore, although it is necessary to fix the plate-shaped member 3 according to the optimum shape and the joining condition according to the case, it is not necessarily required to be the same as the L-shaped member 2.

For example, when the L-shaped member 2 is an aluminum member or a lightweight steel, the plate member 3 may be an aluminum plate or a thin steel plate, or may be a plywood of such a metal plate and a resin plate or a cured rubber plate. Alternatively, a resin plate or a cured rubber plate may be used alone for bonding. However, a material having a certain degree of elasticity is effective as a plate-shaped member, and it is effective to select a lightweight material as much as possible in order to realize weight reduction. It may be formed of the same or different material as the mold member.

The plate member 3 is previously bent (plastically deformed) so as to substantially match the curved surface of the bent portion 2c of the L-shaped member 2 and then fixed to the bent portion 2c of the L-shaped member 2. Alternatively, it may be fixed after performing a slight bending process or bending a straight plate.

Further, the shape, size, joining portion and the like of the plate-like member 3 are various as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4D, and the joining (welding) method is also spot joining sw. ,
It is preferable to select a line joint w, a joint w at a side end face, or a joint w at a center line (central portion) in consideration of a joining means, a joining density, a balance of vibration energy transmission, and the like.

The plate-like member 3 does not need to be a rectangular plate, and its width does not need to be the same as that of the L-shaped member 2. It is important that the entire bent portion 2c is reinforced by the plate-like member 3. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIGS. 4C and 4D, plate members 3 having different widths are appropriate,
As shown in (b), an elliptical shape may be effective.

In the above example, the bracket member is
Although the case where the aluminum member is used as the L-shaped member has been described, even in the case where the aluminum member is formed of a lightweight steel, the total weight is reduced by reducing the weight as much as possible and reinforcing the bent portion with a plate-like member. Sufficient strength and anti-vibration characteristics can be secured.

For example, even when a lightweight section steel is used as the L-shaped member, the flange width is changed from the lightweight section steel a having the section width f as shown in FIG. The weight is reduced by 10% in place of the lightweight section steel aa having a cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG. 5 which is slightly smaller than fs, and a 1% weight of a plate member made of a polyethylene-based organic material is entirely bonded and joined. The same anti-vibration characteristics as the lightweight section steel before weight reduction can be obtained.

When the flange width fa is reduced, the rigidity is reduced and the anti-vibration characteristics are deteriorated.
By applying the above, it is possible to compensate for the decrease in the anti-vibration characteristics, and it is possible to optimally reduce the weight of the L-shaped member which has been conventionally designed with excessive rigidity in order to ensure the anti-vibration characteristics. In addition, the L-shaped member is not limited to the above-described cross-sectional shape regardless of whether it is formed of an aluminum member or a steel member, and is obtained by bending a steel pipe or a tubular member of another material. May be obtained.

FIG. 6 shows an example in which two L-shaped steel pipes are used as the tubular members. The bent portion 2c of the two L-shaped steel pipes 2p connected by a plurality of steel plate connecting plates 12 is shown in FIG. The example which joined the plate-shaped member 3 made of a steel plate to the outer side and the inner side is shown. In this example, the connecting plate 12 and the plate-shaped member 3 are linearly joined by welding in the length direction of the steel pipe 2p at both ends.

A member having a cylindrical cross section, such as a steel pipe, is excellent in strength for its weight, and this shape has a very large vibration energy transmission balance because the buffer space is widely present between the steel pipes 2p. Good and sufficient anti-vibration characteristics can be secured. In addition, L which has a cylindrical cross section like a steel pipe
When the bracket member using the letter-shaped member is attached to the sub-structure member of the truck, for example, a ring-shaped attachment jig is used, or an attachment plate (including a connection plate) is joined to the bracket member, and this attachment is performed. Fixing means such as fastening and fixing with bolts via a plate can be used.

The bracket members of the present invention using the L-shaped members having the above-described cross-sectional shapes usually form a support bracket by arranging two to four bracket members. Alternatively, all or part of L-shaped members obtained by bending members having different materials and cross-sectional shapes are fixed by plate-like members or connecting plates of the same or different materials and plural L-shaped members. It is also effective to use a bracket member in which the mold members are connected.

[0038]

FIG. 2 shows an example of a bracket member according to the present invention.
A description will be given based on an example in which the present invention is used as a support bracket for a fuel tank of a truck as shown in FIGS.
L-shaped member 2 forming bracket member 1 in this example
Is obtained by bending an aluminum member 2 having a cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG. 1B obtained by extrusion molding by press molding, as shown in FIG. 1A, and having a vertical length. h is 350 mm, horizontal length ia is 500 mm,
Section height y is 50 mm, long width is 100 mm, short width xb is 94
mm, the thickness ta is 4 mm, the radius of curvature r of the curved surface outside the bent portion 2c is 25 mm, and the weight is 3.5 kgw.

When this L-shaped member is bent as described above, the cross-sectional shape is locally deformed as shown in FIG. 3. Has only half the vibration resistance of 1.25.

Therefore, outside the bent portion 2c of the L-shaped member 2, an aluminum plate having a width xa of 94 mm, a thickness of 2 mm and a length of 200 mm is formed as shown in FIG. , Radius of curvature 25mm bent by press
As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the plate-like member 3 having the curved surface is overlapped so that both end surfaces thereof and the both end surfaces of the L-shaped member 2 substantially coincide with each other, and welding w is formed along both end surfaces of the overlapped portion. To join the L-shaped members linearly in the longitudinal direction.

The thus obtained bracket member of the present invention was evaluated for vibration resistance by a resonance test. As a result, the anti-vibration characteristic is increased by 2.4 times only by the weight increase of about 125 g by the weight of the plate-shaped member 3, and it is possible to improve the strength to almost the same as that of the case of using the light section steel of the same cross section (about 6 kgw). It was confirmed that it was possible to reduce the weight by about 40% as compared with the case of using a lightweight section steel (about 6 kgw) of the same cross section.

[0042]

By using the bracket member of the present invention to form a support bracket for vehicle equipment, the weight of the vehicle body can be reduced without impairing the safety of the vehicle body. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the weight of the vehicle itself in consideration of exhaust gas regulations and safety in the vehicle industry.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1A is a three-dimensional explanatory view showing a structural example of a bracket member for a vehicle according to the present invention; FIG. 1B is a three-dimensional explanatory view showing an example of members constituting the bracket member of FIG. 1A; (C)
3A is a three-dimensional explanatory view showing an example of a plate-like member constituting the bracket member of FIG.

FIG. 2A is a side sectional view showing an example of a structure of a support bracket of a fuel tank of a truck using the vehicle bracket member of the present invention, and FIG. 2B is a front view of FIG. FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing an example of a cross-sectional shape (modification) at a bent portion when an L-shaped member is formed by bending an aluminum member having the cross-sectional shape shown in FIG. 1 (b).

FIGS. 4A to 4D are front explanatory views showing an example of a shape of a plate-shaped member and an example of a joining position with respect to an L-shaped member in a bracket member of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a three-dimensional explanatory view showing an example of a lightweight section steel used for the vehicle bracket member of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a three-dimensional explanatory view showing another structural example of the vehicle bracket member of the present invention.

FIG. 7A is a three-dimensional explanatory view showing an example of a member (light-weight steel) constituting a support bracket for a fuel tank of a conventional truck, and FIG. 7B is a truck using the conventional support bracket member. FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing a structural example of the fuel tank support bracket of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 B Support bracket 1, 1p Bracket member 2 L-shaped member 2p Steel pipe (L-shaped member) 2a Vertical portion 2b Horizontal portion 2c Bent portion 3 Plate-shaped member 4 Bolt hole 5 Main structure horizontal column 6 Bolt hole (Sub-structure member) Reference Signs List 7 Substructure member 8 Bolt 9 Fuel tank 10 Holding band 11a, 11b Band locking portion 12 Connecting plate sw Spot welding (joining) w Linear welding

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A plate-like member fixed to the outside or outside and inside of a bent portion of a bracket member having an L-shaped basic shape having a vertical portion and a horizontal portion and having an arbitrary cross-sectional shape. A vehicle bracket member characterized by the following: 2. The vehicle bracket member according to claim 1, wherein the bracket member is formed by a tubular member. 3. A plurality of bracket members are juxtaposed, and a part or all of the juxtaposed bracket members are connected and fixed by a plate-like member.
A bracket member for a vehicle according to the above. 4. The bracket member according to claim 1, wherein the bracket member is formed by extrusion molding from a lightweight metal or resin material, and the bracket member and the plate member are formed from the same material or different materials. The vehicle bracket member according to claim 1. 5. A bracket member having an arbitrary cross-sectional shape is bent into an L-shaped basic shape having a vertical portion and a horizontal portion, and a plate-like member is provided outside or outside and inside the bent portion. A method for manufacturing a bracket member for a vehicle, characterized in that the surface is bent so as to substantially match the curved surface of the bent portion, and the plate-shaped member is abutted and fixed at at least both side ends. 6. The method for manufacturing a bracket member for a vehicle according to claim 5, wherein the fixing of the bracket member and the plate-like member is performed by welding, welding, or mechanical means.