JP4445804B2 - Front body structure of the vehicle - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a front body structure of a vehicle.

  In recent vehicles, various elements tend to be modularized, and a front-end module is adopted as a front component of the vehicle. As seen in Patent Document 1, the front end module includes a radiator shroud for supporting a radiator, a headlamp, a bumper reinforcement, and the like, and the front end module is connected to a front fender.

  For vehicles using front end modules, the work of assembling the front end modules is performed during the outfitting process, but there is variation in the distance between the left and right front fenders, ensuring the alignment accuracy of the headlamps and front fenders. Has the problem of being difficult.

In response to this problem, Patent Document 1 proposes to provide a notch in the radiator core upper frame that allows adjustment of the substantial length of the radiator core upper frame in the vehicle width direction.
JP 2001-10534 A

  By the way, when the vehicle collides forward, the front end module will be displaced backward, but since the headlamp is fixed to this front end module, the headlamp tends to be displaced rearward together, The rearward movement of the headlamp may damage the front fender. For example, even if the headlamp is damaged by a light collision, it is not preferable that the damaged portion extends to the front fender. That is, since the front fender is a member constituting the appearance of the vehicle, that is, the design surface, when the front fender is damaged, the user is forced to bear a large repair cost. In particular, recent vehicles have a shape in which the outer end portion of the headlamp wraps backward, so that the design surface of the front fender is easily damaged when the headlamp is retracted.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle front body structure that can prevent a damaged part from expanding to a front fender in the event of a forward collision of a vehicle, particularly a light collision.

According to the present invention, the above technical problem is
A vehicle front body structure having a radiator shroud for supporting a radiator disposed at a front portion of the vehicle, and a front fender constituting a side surface of the vehicle,
A lamp unit that is interposed between the radiator shroud and the front fender and connected to the radiator shroud and the front fender;
The lamp unit has a first coupled to said radiator shroud, a second connecting portion, the front fender connected to and relative to the first, third located behind the second coupling part A connecting portion,
The first, second, and third connecting portions have axes extending in the vertical direction,
The lower part of the lamp unit is connected to the radiator shroud by the first connecting part,
The upper part of the lamp unit is connected to the radiator shroud by the second connecting part,
This is achieved by providing a vehicle front body structure characterized in that the second connecting portion is disposed behind the first connecting portion relative to the vehicle body.

  A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. A headlamp unit 3 is interposed between a radiator shroud 1 and a front fender 2 as a connecting member for connecting them. Yes. The head lamp unit 3 has an inner end in the vehicle width direction connected to the radiator shroud 1 so as to be rotatable about a first axis 4 extending in the vertical direction, and an outer end in the vehicle width direction extended to the front fender 2 in the vertical direction. The second axis 5 is connected to be rotatable.

  The radiator shroud 1 generally includes a bumper reinforcement 6 extending in the vehicle width direction. However, a load F from the front to the rear is applied to the bumper reinforcement 6 due to a frontal collision of the vehicle, so that the radiator shroud 1 is When moving rearward, the headlamp unit 3 functions like a link and rotates about the first and second axes 4 and 5, so that the headlamp unit 3 can damage the front fender 2. Can be reduced. In particular, since the possibility of damage to the front fender 2 due to a light collision can be reduced, the repair cost borne by the vehicle owner can be kept low.

  Further, a front end module is made by the radiator shroud 1 and the headlamp unit 3, and when the front end module is assembled to a vehicle, the headlamp unit 3 which is rotatable with respect to the radiator shroud 1 is swung. Variations can be absorbed in the space between the left and right front fenders 2 and 2.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 3 is a front view of the front end module, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the front end module extracted from the right side when viewed from the front of the vehicle. The illustrated front end module 10 includes a radiator shroud 11. The radiator shroud 11 has a central opening 11a defined by a core upper frame 12 and a core lower frame 13 extending in the vehicle width direction, and left and right core side frames 14 and 14, and a radiator (not shown) is formed in the central opening 11a. ) Is installed.

  The front end module 10 also includes a bumper reinforcement 15 that protrudes from the front surface and extends in the vehicle width direction. The bumper reinforcement 15 is connected to lower portions of the left and right core side frames 14, 14. A retainer 17 is provided above each of the left and right ends of the force 15 so as to protrude forward from each core side frame 14.

  The front end module 10 further includes a pair of left and right headlamp units 18, which have a shape that is elongated in the vehicle width direction, and that gradually wrap around to the outer end in the vehicle width direction. Have The headlamp unit 18 is fixed to the front end module 10 with screws.

  5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VV in FIG. 3, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 3, and FIGS. The connection structure of the headlamp unit 18 with respect to is shown.

The headlamp unit 18 is fastened at its inner end in the vehicle width direction to the retainer 17 by using a first screw 20 (corresponding to a first connecting portion in claims) , and the radiator shroud 11 It is fastened to the core upper frame 12 using a second screw 21 (corresponding to a second connecting portion in claims) . These first and second screws 20 and 21 have their axes extending in the vertical direction. As can be best understood from FIG. 6, the retainer 17 has a shape that projects forward from the headlamp unit 18, and the first screw 20 is positioned forward of the second screw 21. . Therefore, the headlamp unit 18 has an inner end in the vehicle width direction in the imaginary axis L (FIG. 6) connecting the first and second screws 20 and 21 disposed in the front and rear direction, that is, toward the rear of the vehicle body. It can be rotated around an axis L inclined to the center.

When the front end module 10 is mounted on a vehicle, the left and right core side frames 14 of the radiator shroud 11 are fixed to the front end of a front frame F (FIG. 4) which is a vehicle body skeleton member extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. It is connected to the front fender 22 via the unit 18. FIG. 5 shows a connection structure of the headlamp unit 18 to the front fender 22. The headlamp unit 18 is fastened with a third screw 23 (corresponding to a third connecting portion in claims) , as can be understood from FIG . The third screw 23 extends in the vertical direction.

As can be seen from the above description, the front end module 10 has the first and second screws 20, 21 (the first and second screws 20, 21 ( first) in which the headlamp unit 18 projecting outward from both ends extends in a direction perpendicular to the radiator shroud 11 . 1 and 2) , the front-end module 10 including the headlamp unit 18 has a substantial length in the vehicle width direction. It can be adjusted by swinging around the screws 20 and 21. Therefore, when the front end module 10 is assembled to the vehicle, variations between the left and right front fenders 22 can be absorbed by the swinging of the headlamp unit 18.

  When a vehicle equipped with the front-end module 10 collides forward at a relatively low speed, the retainer 17 located immediately below the innermost portion of the headlamp unit 18, that is, the frontmost portion of the headlamp unit 18 portion, is The retainer 17 functions as a contact member for protecting the headlamp unit 18 because it protrudes forward from the headlamp unit 18.

  Further, since the left and right core side frames 14 of the front end module 10 are fixed to the front frame F, which is a skeleton member of the vehicle, the collision load due to the front collision is also distributed to the front frame F, and the radiator shroud 11 The load applied to can be reduced.

  Even if the radiator shroud 11 moves rearward due to a light collision, the headlamp unit 18 rotates about the first and second screws 20 and 21 extending in the vertical direction with respect to the radiator shroud 11 and the retainer 17. Therefore, the backward movement following the movement of the radiator shroud 11 can be prevented. In particular, the first and second screws 20 and 21 are arranged at the front and rear, and constitute a virtual axis L that is inclined rearward as the vehicle heads upward. It can be moved in a direction away from the front fender 22 at an early stage.

  The phenomenon accompanying this depends on the appearance of the light collision. However, since the first and second screws 20 and 21 are arranged at the front and rear, the headlamp is driven by the virtual axis L inclined toward the rear of the vehicle body as it goes upward. The unit 18 operates in the initial stage of the light collision. From the initial stage of the light collision, the outer end portion of the headlamp unit 18 is moved around the inner end portion of the headlamp unit 18 where the first screw 20 is located. It tends to be displaced forward. The operation in which the outer end portion of the headlamp unit 18 is displaced forward can be accompanied by a rotation operation in which the outer end portion of the headlamp unit 18 is centered on the third screw 23 with respect to the front fender 22. This not only prevents the front fender 22 from being damaged by the headlamp unit 18, but also prevents an excessive force from acting on the headlamp unit 18. In particular, the possibility of damage to the lens surface of the headlamp can be reduced. In particular, in a vehicle in which the headlamp unit 18 is elongated in the lateral direction and the outer end portion thereof wraps around the rear of the vehicle body as in a recent vehicle, the headlamp unit 18 is moved to the front fender 22 by a forward collision. However, the head end in the vehicle width direction of the headlamp unit 18 can be forcibly moved forward from the initial stage of the light collision as in the embodiment. The possibility that the lamp unit 18 damages the front fender 22 can be greatly reduced.

It is a principal part perspective view for demonstrating the typical example of the preferable embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the effect | action accompanying a front collision in relation to FIG. It is a front view of the front end module included in the front body structure of the vehicle of the embodiment. It is the fragmentary perspective view which extracted the vehicle width direction edge part of the front end module of FIG. It is sectional drawing along the VV line of FIG. It is sectional drawing along the VI-VI line of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

10 Front-end module 11 Radiator shroud (1)
11a Central opening of radiator shroud 17 Retainer 18 Head lamp unit 20 1st screw 21 2nd screw 22 Front fender 23 3rd screw F Front frame L Axis inclined toward the rear of the vehicle body as it goes upward

Claims (4)

A vehicle front body structure having a radiator shroud for supporting a radiator disposed at a front portion of the vehicle, and a front fender constituting a side surface of the vehicle,
A lamp unit that is interposed between the radiator shroud and the front fender and connected to the radiator shroud and the front fender;
The lamp unit has a first coupled to said radiator shroud, a second connecting portion, the front fender connected to and relative to the first, third located behind the second coupling part A connecting portion,
The first, second, and third connecting portions have axes extending in the vertical direction,
The lower part of the lamp unit is connected to the radiator shroud by the first connecting part,
The upper part of the lamp unit is connected to the radiator shroud by the second connecting part,
The front vehicle body structure of a vehicle, wherein the second connecting portion is disposed rearward of the vehicle body with respect to the first connecting portion . The lamp unit is connected to the radiator shroud at two locations of the first and second connecting portions, and is connected to the front fender at one location of the third connecting portion. The front vehicle body structure of the vehicle according to 1. Further comprising a front body structure of a vehicle according to claim 1 or 2 ahead contact member extending forward from the front end of and the lighting unit provided in said radiator shroud. The vehicle front body structure according to claim 3 , wherein the radiator shroud is connected to a front end of a frame which is a vehicle body skeleton member extending in the vehicle body longitudinal direction.

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