JP4101820B2 - Cowl top structure for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular cowl top structure for taking outside air into a passenger compartment.

  The cowl top is a cover member arranged on a dashboard that partitions the engine room and the vehicle compartment, and has a grill for taking in outside air.

  Conventionally, cowl tops having various structures have been proposed. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-175862, a cowl top is divided into two in the vehicle width direction to prevent water droplets from entering the engine room. A cowl top seal structure has been proposed. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-80869 proposes a split cowl top connection structure that improves the watertightness of the cowl top divided into left and right parts.

On the other hand, there is a demand for a cowl top structure that sufficiently absorbs this impact force and protects the pedestrian when the pedestrian who has jumped up to the hood during a frontal collision with the pedestrian collides with the cowl top.
JP 2003-175862 A JP-A-8-80869

  Although the two-divided cowl top described in the above-mentioned patent document has a shielding effect of preventing intrusion of water droplets into the engine room, parts below the cowl top, for example, engine parts provided in the engine room, etc. When performing maintenance, it is necessary to remove the wiper arm and all the cowl tops from the vehicle body, and there is a problem that it takes a lot of time to remove and reassemble the cowl tops.

  In addition, the conventional cowl top does not have a structure that is easily deformed when an impact force is applied, so that it is not possible to effectively absorb the impact when the pedestrian collides with the cowl top. There was a problem that was not enough.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular cowl top structure capable of achieving sufficient pedestrian protection performance.

According to the first aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle cowl top structure to be attached to the windshield lower panel for supporting the front end of the windshield, the windshield lower panel and a height rather higher than cross section schematic inverted U-shaped A plurality of mounting seats having at least a vertical wall from the upper wall of the raised portion to the windshield lower panel, which are integrally formed with the raised portion and are attached to the windshield lower panel. A vehicular cowl top structure is provided in which the upper wall has an upper surface that is substantially flush with the bonnet, the vertical wall is bent into a U-shape, and has at least two deformable portions. Is done.

  According to the vehicular cowl top structure of the present invention, when a pedestrian who collided with the front surface is bounced up to the bonnet and collides with the cowl top, the mounting seat is bent at the easily deformable portion of the vertical wall of the mounting seat, and the entire cowl top is crushed. The impact when the pedestrian collides with the cowl top can be absorbed effectively, and the pedestrian can be protected.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this specification, “front”, “rear”, “left”, “right”, “upper”, and “lower” follow the direction seen from the driver.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle equipped with a cowl top structure according to the present invention as seen from the front. In the engine room covered with a hood (hood) 2, an engine and a transmission are mounted at a position indicated by reference numeral 4. ing. The cowl top 6 for taking outside air into the passenger compartment is divided into a central panel 8, a left side panel 10, and a right side panel 12.

  A black ceramic film 15 is attached to the lower part of the windshield (front glass) 14. Reference numeral 16 is a roof, 18 is a wiper arm, 20 is a front grille, 22 is a headlight, and 24 is a front bumper.

  A pair of damper housings (strut towers) 26 for connecting and supporting dampers (struts) of the front suspension are disposed in the engine room.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of FIG. 1, and the upper surface of the central panel 8 of the cowl top 6 is disposed so as to be substantially flush with the bonnet 2.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the cowl top 6 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The cowl top 6 is divided into a center panel 8, a left side panel (left hinge cover) 10, and a right side panel (right hinge cover) 12. The left and right side panels 10 and 12 have holes 28 for inserting the rotation shaft of the wiper arm 18.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the central panel 8 has a substantially inverted U-shaped cross section, and has an upper wall 8a, a front wall 8b, a driver-side rear wall 8c, and a mounting flange 8d. The center panel 8 is a synthetic resin molded product, and the left and right side panels 10 and 12 are also synthetic resin molded products.

  As is clear from FIG. 4, the front wall 8b and the rear wall 8c have a square shape slightly inclined from the vertical direction. The front wall 8b has an air intake grille 9 that defines a plurality of holes, and the rear wall 8c also has an air intake grille 11 that defines a plurality of holes.

  Referring to FIG. 5, a back view of the connection portion between the left side panel 10 and the center panel 8 is shown. The left side panel 10 is clipped to a left fender (not shown) by a fixing portion 30, engaged with a windshield lower panel (not shown) by a clip 32, and a damper base (attached to a damper housing 26 by a clip 34 ( (Not shown).

  The center panel 8 is superimposed on the left side panel 10 and is locked to the left side panel 10 by inserting three clips 38. The clip 36 and the center panel 8 together with the left side panel 10 become a windshield lower panel. Fixed. Reference numeral 40 denotes a maintenance lid, which is detachably attached to the left side panel 10 by a claw 42.

  FIG. 6 shows an enlarged back view of the overlapping portion of the center panel 8 and the left side panel 10 on the driver's seat side. As shown in FIG. 7, which is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 6, the hook nail 44 is integrally formed on the center panel 8, and the thin wall portion with which the hook nail 44 is engaged is formed on the left side panel 10. 10a is formed.

  By pushing the hooking claws 44 of the center panel 8 into engagement with the thin portion 10a of the left side panel 10, the overlapping portion of the center panel 8 and the left side panel 10 can be prevented from being lifted. The overlapping portion of the right side panel 12 and the center panel 8 is configured similarly.

  FIG. 8 shows a rear view of the cowl top 6. In the center panel 8 of the cowl top 6, two washer nozzles 46 that open toward the air intake grill 11 formed on the rear wall 8 c of the center panel 8 are provided.

  The washer nozzle 46 is connected to a rubber hose 48, and the rubber hose 48 is locked to the central panel 8 with a clip 50.

  Referring again to FIG. 8, the central panel 8 of the cowl top 6 has four mounting seats 52 that are integrally molded, and clips 54 are fitted into these mounting seats 52.

  As shown in FIG. 9, which is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1, the driver seat side of the center panel 8 is fixed to the windshield lower panel 56 by fitting the clip 54 into the engagement hole formed in the windshield lower panel 56. Is done. FIG. 9 is also a cross section taken along line AA of FIG.

On the other hand, the clip 60 is inserted into the engagement hole 55 formed in the mounting flange 8d of the center panel 8, and the clip 60 is pushed into the engagement hole formed in the dashboard appendage 58, whereby the front side of the center panel 8 is moved. It is fixed to the dashboard appendix 58.

  A seal member 62 is designed so that when the bonnet (hood) 2 is closed with respect to the cowl top 6, the upper wall 8 a of the central panel 8 of the cowl top 6 is substantially flush with the bonnet 2. The mounting seat 52 has a vertical wall 51 extending from the upper wall 8a of the raised portion to the windshield lower panel 56. The vertical wall 51 is bent into a U-shape, and the upper wall 8a is bent at the base portion and the middle bent portion by meat stealing. Two thin portions 53 are formed. This thin portion 53 forms an easily deformable portion.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the central panel 8 of the cowl top 6 includes a raised portion having a substantially inverted U shape in cross section whose height is higher than that of the windshield lower panel 56. The plurality of mounting seats 52 are molded integrally with the raised portion.

  According to the cowl top 6 of this embodiment having such a mounting seat 52, when a pedestrian who collides frontward is jumped up on the hood 2 and collides with the cowl top 6, two mounting seats 52 of the cowl top 6 are provided. Since the thin portion (easy deformation portion) 53 is provided, the mounting seat 52 is bent at the thin portion 53, and the center panel 8 of the cowl top 6 is easily crushed as shown in FIG. Thereby, the impact when a pedestrian collides with the cowl top 6 can be effectively absorbed, pedestrian protection can be achieved, and the mounting rigidity of the cowl top is also improved by the vertical wall 51.

It is the perspective view which looked at the motor vehicle provided with the cowl top structure of this invention from the front. It is a schematic side view of FIG. It is a perspective view of a cowl top concerning an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. It is a reverse view of the overlapping part of a left side panel and a center panel. It is an enlarged back view of the overlapping part on the driver's seat side. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 in FIG. 6. It is a reverse view of the cowl top which concerns on this invention embodiment. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG.1 and FIG.8. It is a figure which shows an example of the crush shape of a cowl top.

Explanation of symbols

6 Cowl top 8 Center panel 10 Left side panel 12 Right side panel 9, 11 Air intake grill 32, 34, 36, 38 Clip 44 Hook claw 46 Washer nozzle 52 Mounting seat 53 Thin part (deformable part)
54 clips

Claims (1)

A vehicle cowl top structure mounted on a windshield lower panel that supports the front end of the windshield,
A raised portion of the windshield lower height than panel rather high and cross section schematic inverted U shape,
A plurality of mounting seats having at least a vertical wall from the upper wall of the raised portion to the windshield lower panel, which are integrally formed with the raised portion and are attached to the windshield lower panel;
The upper wall of the raised portion has an upper surface that is substantially flush with the bonnet;
A vehicular cowl top structure characterized in that the vertical wall is bent into a U-shape and has at least two easily deformable portions.

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