JPS6239975Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to the improvement of the front body structure of an automobile, particularly the cowl portion.

In general, modern passenger cars often have a body with a one-piece structure. This integrally constructed vehicle body has the body and chassis frame integrally formed by joining thin plates, and has features such as being light in weight, high in rigidity, and capable of lowering the floor surface of the vehicle interior. In such a one-piece structure, it is important to spread the external force applied to the load application points throughout the car body and equalize the stress in order to improve the rigidity and reduce the weight of the car body. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a strong structure to the parts where the shape of the vehicle body changes and the parts around large openings. An example of such a portion is a cowl portion 3 forming a boundary between a front body 1 and a vehicle interior portion 2, as shown in FIG. This cowl part 3 is attached to the left and right front pillars 4,
4 are combined to form the lower peripheral edge of the windshield 5, which bears the stress applied to the vehicle body and serves to improve the torsional rigidity of the vehicle body. Also,
The cowl part 3 has a steering column (not shown)
This affects safety in the event of a collision and steering resonance during high-speed driving, as well as openings for natural ventilation using the running wind and forced ventilation using a blower. . Further, the cowl part 3 is a part where rainwater and car wash water that have flowed down along the windshield 5 and the front pillar 4 easily enter, and when water enters the cowl part 3, water flows into the vehicle interior through the opening. Therefore, it is desired to drain the water to the outside so that the water does not flow into the opening.

By the way, a technique for reinforcing the cowl portion 3 as described above is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-26055. In this prior example, a gusset part is formed integrally with the cowl side panel, but the inner edge of the vehicle body of this gusset part is located directly above the opening for forced ventilation, and water is forced to be ventilated from the edge of this gusset part. There was a problem in which water flowed into the passenger compartment, and the forced ventilation blower sucked water into the opening, causing water to enter the passenger compartment.

The present invention was developed in consideration of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to prevent water that has entered the inside of the cowl from flowing into the ventilation opening, and to quickly remove water from the outside. To provide a front body structure of an automobile which prevents water from entering a passenger compartment by discharging water.

In order to achieve this purpose, the present invention is constructed as follows. That is, the cowl part 3 is formed between both front pillars of the automobile by a dash top panel having a rear vertical wall on the passenger compartment side, and a cowl side panel is formed at the end in the vehicle width direction along the length direction of the vehicle body. A side frame portion having a substantially inverted L-shaped cross section is formed on the cowl side panel, the side frame portion is joined to the dash upper panel and is substantially flush with the upper surface of the side frame portion, and guides intruding water to the inner edge of the vehicle body. A gusset portion having a rain rail portion formed thereon is provided to prevent intruding water from flowing down from the gusset portion, and a drain hole is provided on the upper surface of the side frame portion to drain water guided by the rain rail portion. A wheel apron reinforcement is connected to the upper edge of the cowl side panel and the edge in the vehicle width direction of the dash top panel to form the frame along the length direction of the vehicle body. and a cowl front panel joined to the vertical wall of the side frame portion is provided at the front part of the dash upper panel.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. In addition, in Figures 2 and 3,
The same reference numerals as those in the figures indicate the same or corresponding parts.

<First Embodiment> FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the first embodiment of the present invention, and is a perspective view of the end of the cowl portion 3 in the vehicle width direction viewed from the front body 1 side, and shows the top plate of the cowl portion 3. The figure shows the cowl panel removed.

The front pillar 4 has a closed cross section and stands upright. A dart upper panel 5 is disposed between the front pillars 4, 4 in the vehicle width direction, and an integral rear vertical wall 6 is erected on the passenger compartment side of the dart upper panel 5. This rear vertical wall 6 is joined to the front pillar 4 by spot welding,
Both front pillars 4, 4 are connected. An opening 6a for natural ventilation is provided at the end of the rear vertical wall 6 in the vehicle width direction so as to communicate with the interior of the vehicle. This opening 6a introduces outside air into the vehicle interior by utilizing the increase in wind pressure on the surface of the vehicle body caused by the running wind. Furthermore, an opening 6b for forced ventilation is provided in the horizontal portion of the dash top panel 5. This opening 6
b is forcibly introducing outside air into the vehicle interior by sucking it in with a blower (not shown), which communicates with the air conditioner in the vehicle interior. Further, a projecting peripheral wall 6c surrounding the opening 6b is watertightly joined to the dash upper panel 5, and is formed to prevent water that has entered the cowl portion 3 from flowing into the vehicle interior through the opening 6b.

A cowl side panel 7 is disposed at the end of the dash upper panel 5 in the vehicle width direction along the length direction of the vehicle body. The cowl side panel 7 is integrally formed with a side frame portion 8 having a substantially inverted L-shaped cross section and a gusset portion 9 extending from the upper side of the side frame portion 8 so as to be joined to the rear vertical wall 6. There is. The lower edge of the vertical wall of the side frame portion 8 is joined to the dash upper panel 5 by spot welding, and an arch portion 8a is located at the front of the lower edge of the dash upper panel 5. It is formed. This arch portion 8a forms a drainage port for discharging water that has entered between the arch portion 8a and the upper surface of the dash upper panel 5. The gusset portion 9 is joined to the upper edge of the rear vertical wall 6 by spot welding, and a rain rail portion 9a is formed at the inner edge of the vehicle body of the gusset portion 9. The rain rail portion 9a is formed by pressing to bulge upward, has a channel-like cross section opening downward, and has side portions continuous with the vertical wall of the side frame portion 8. In addition, the gusset part 9
A through hole 10 for attaching a wiper unit (not shown) is bored in a portion facing the lower edge of the windshield 5. Further, a substantially flat reinforcement 11 is stretched on the lower surface side of the gusset portion 9, and the reinforcement 11 includes the lower surface of the gusset portion 9, the rear vertical wall 6, the dash upper panel 5, and the rear vertical wall 6.
It is joined to the vertical wall of the side frame portion 8 by spot welding and connected to the cowl side panel 7.

A drain hole 8b is provided on the upper surface of the side frame portion 8 adjacent to the gusset portion 9. The periphery of the water drain hole 8b is formed by pressing so as to be inclined downward so as to collect water guided by the rain rail portion 9a.

A wheel apron reinforcement 12 is stretched on the outside of the vehicle body of the cowl side panel 7, and this wheel apron reinforcement 12 covers the upper edge of the cowl side panel 7, the side edge of the rear vertical wall 6, and the rear vertical wall 6. Tsushiyuatsupa Panel 5
It is joined to the side edges by spot welding, and together with the dash upper panel 5, cowl side panel 7, and reinforcement 11, forms an upper frame having a closed section along the length of the vehicle body. In addition, wheel apron reinforcement 12
An arch portion 12a is formed at the lower edge of the dash head so as to face the arch portion 8a, and forms a discharge port for discharging water that has entered between the arch portion 12a and the upper surface of the dash top panel 5. are doing.

A cowl front panel 13 is erected at the front edge of the dart cushion panel 5 so as to face the rear vertical wall 6 along the vehicle width direction. The panel 5 is joined to the vertical wall of the side frame portion 7 by spot welding.

The device configured as described above has the following effects. First, water entering the cowl portion 3 and flowing over the gusset portion 9 is dammed up by the rain rail portion 9a, and is reliably prevented from flowing down from the inner edge of the vehicle body of the gusset portion 9 into the opening 6b. The water dammed up by the rain rail section 9a flows along the rain rail section 9a in the direction of the drain hole 8b, flows down from the drain hole 8b into the upper frame, and is then opened at the discharge port formed by the arch section 12a. It is discharged to the outside through. Therefore, the cowl part 3
Since the water that has entered the inside is quickly discharged without staying inside, it is possible to reliably prevent water from flowing into the vehicle interior through the opening 6b, and also to prevent corrosion inside the cowl portion 3. .

<Second Embodiment> Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention, and in Fig. 3, the same reference numerals as in Figs. 1 and 2 indicate the same or equivalent parts. It shows.

In this second embodiment, a cowl side panel 14 and a gusset part 15 are constructed separately, and the side frame part 8 of the cowl side panel 14 is formed by extending it until it reaches the front and rear vertical walls 6. There is. A separate gusset portion 15 is stretched across the upper surface of the cowl side panel 14 and the upper edge of the rear vertical wall 6, and the gusset portion 15, the cowl side panel 14, and the rear vertical wall 6 are joined by spot welding.

With this structure, in addition to the effects obtained in the first embodiment, the following effects can be achieved. That is, since the cowl side panel 14 and the gusset part 15 are made separate, the side frame part 8 can be made into a continuous member without a joint surface up to the rear vertical wall 6. Therefore, load propagation to the upper frame can be made even smoother.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, the gusset portions 9 and 15 may be extended along the rear vertical wall 6 to cover the opening 6a to prevent water from flowing into the opening 6a from the rear vertical wall 6.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an external perspective view of the automobile, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the cowl portion 3 from the front body 1 side showing the first embodiment of the invention, and Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the second embodiment of the invention. FIG. 5... Datsushiatsupa panel, 6... Rear vertical wall, 7, 14... Cowl side panel, 8... Side frame portion, 8a... Drain hole, 9, 15...
...Gusset part, 9a...Rain rail part, 11...
...Reinforcement, 12...Wheel apron reinforcement, 13...Cowl front panel.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A dashi tsupa panel that forms a cowl portion partitioned from the vehicle interior in the vehicle width direction between both front pillars of an automobile and has a rear vertical wall erected on the passenger compartment side; A side frame part is joined to the width direction end part and has a substantially inverted L-shaped cross section, and is joined to the dash top panel and is substantially flush with the upper surface of the side frame part to guide intruding water to the inner edge of the vehicle body. a cowl side panel having a gusset portion on which a rain rail portion is formed, and having a drain hole drilled at a position on the upper surface of the side frame portion where water entering from the rain rail portion is concentrated; A wheel apron reinforcement is joined to the upper edge and the edge in the vehicle width direction of the dash top panel to form an upper frame along the length direction of the vehicle body; A front body structure for an automobile, comprising: a cowl front panel provided along the direction and joined to the vertical wall of the side frame portion.