JP7052332B2 - Vehicle front structure - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle front structure.

In recent vehicles, panel members such as front bumpers and front end panels constituting the front surface may be devised to absorb the impact at the time of a front collision. For example, the technique of Patent Document 1 relates to a cab-over type vehicle in which an engine is provided below a passenger compartment. In the technique of Patent Document 1, as shown in paragraph 0027 and FIG. 7, the front bumper is supported by the front cross member 6a bridged to the upper member 2 and the cross member 6 bridged to the front side member 1. Has been done. The upper member 2 is provided with a shock absorbing unit 2b, and the front side member 1 is provided with a shock absorbing unit 10, which makes it possible to absorb the impact at the time of a collision.

Japanese Patent No. 3960293

However, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, since the upper member 2 has a structure extending from the dash panel 4 to the front of the vehicle, it is expected that the load from the front bumper or the like is likely to be collected at the root portion. If the upper member 2 is deformed and hangs down, the uniformity of the boundary (parting line) between the front bumper and the surrounding members is also lost. Since the front surface of the vehicle is easily noticeable, whether or not the parting line of the panel member such as the front bumper can be formed accurately has a great influence on the appearance quality of the vehicle.

In view of such problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle front structure capable of achieving both shock absorption performance and improvement in appearance quality.

In order to solve the above problems, a typical configuration of the vehicle front structure according to the present invention is a dash panel provided on the front side of the passenger compartment of the vehicle, and the outer surface of the vehicle protruding from the dash panel to the front of the vehicle. It is characterized by including a bracket that supports a predetermined panel member forming the above, a bumper member that extends in the vehicle width direction below the bracket, and a brace that is passed to the bracket and the bumper member.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicle front structure capable of achieving both shock absorption performance and improvement in appearance quality.

It is a figure which shows the outline of the vehicle front structure which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which showed the use state of the bracket of FIG. 1 (b). It is an enlarged view near the bracket of FIG. 1 (b). FIG. 1 (b) is a diagram showing the lower part of the brace. FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of the vehicle front structure of FIG. 1A. It is a figure which shows the modification of the bracket of FIG. 3A.

The vehicle front structure according to an embodiment of the present invention supports a dash panel provided on the front side of the passenger compartment of the vehicle and a predetermined panel member that protrudes from the dash panel to the front of the vehicle and forms the outer surface of the vehicle. It is characterized by including a bracket, a bumper member extending in the vehicle width direction below the bracket, and a brace that is passed to the bracket and the bumper member.

According to the above configuration, first, since the panel member is supported by the bracket protruding from the dash panel, the deformation of the panel member is prevented from being transmitted to the passenger compartment in front of the dash panel at the time of front collision, so-called shock absorption. It is possible to secure the stroke area of. Then, the brace is handed over to the bracket and the bumper member below it to prevent the bracket from hanging down. According to this configuration, the support rigidity of the bracket to the panel member (front bumper, front end panel, etc.) is improved, and it is possible to accurately form and maintain the parting line of the panel member to improve the appearance quality of the vehicle. Become.

The above configuration is also characterized in that the bracket is supported from below with a brace, rather than simply increasing the rigidity of the entire bracket, leaving room for deformation to the rear of the vehicle. As a result, the bracket fully supports the panel member in normal times, while it can be deformed to the rear of the vehicle in the case of a frontal collision to exhibit shock absorbing performance. With these configurations, it is possible to achieve both shock absorption performance and improvement in appearance quality with the above configuration.

The lower contour of the bracket as seen from the vehicle width direction may have a shape extending diagonally upward from the dash panel to the front side of the vehicle.

With the bracket having the above shape, the support rigidity for the panel member is further improved, and the parting line of the panel member can be formed with high accuracy.

The bracket has one or more legs joined to the dash panel and extending forward of the vehicle and a front supported by the one or more legs, with the panel members and braces at the front. It may be connected to.

With the above configuration, by connecting the panel member to the front part of the bracket and supporting this front part with a brace, the support rigidity of the bracket to the panel member is improved, and the parting line of the panel member is accurately formed and maintained. It is possible to improve the appearance quality of the vehicle. In addition, since the brace supports the front part of the bracket, the bracket normally supports the weight of the panel member more fully, but at the time of a front collision, it deforms to the rear of the vehicle and exhibits shock absorption performance. be able to.

The one or more legs described above include a lower leg supporting the lower end of the anterior portion and an upper leg portion supporting the upper end of the anterior portion, or a left leg portion and an anterior portion supporting the left end of the anterior portion. It may include a right leg supporting the right end.

The bracket having any of the above configurations is reinforced by the brace described above, and can suitably support the panel member.

The vehicle front structure further comprises reinforcements that are delivered to the vehicle front-rear midway points of the lower and upper legs, or to the vehicle front-rear midway points of the left and right legs. You may.

The above reinforcement makes it possible to reinforce the bracket to improve the support rigidity of the panel member and further improve the appearance quality of the vehicle in normal times. In particular, Reinforce does not reinforce the entire bracket, but reinforces only the middle part of each leg in the vehicle front-rear direction, leaving room for deformation on the front and rear sides of the bracket during a front collision. ..

The panel member may overlap the brace and be connected to the front portion of the bracket.

According to the above configuration, by stacking the panel member on the brace and attaching it to the bracket, it is possible to efficiently improve the support rigidity of the bracket with respect to the panel member and further improve the appearance quality of the vehicle.

The vehicle front structure further comprises a crash box on the front side of the vehicle side frame that is weaker than the side frame, bumper members are provided on the vehicle front side of the crash box, and brackets and crash boxes are in the vehicle width direction. It may be provided at a position where a part of each other overlaps with each other.

According to the above configuration, the bracket and the crash box can cooperate with each other to absorb the impact at the time of a front collision, and it is possible to suitably prevent the deformation of the passenger compartment behind the vehicle.

The brace may have a lamp connection to which a predetermined headlamp is connected in the vicinity of a range overlapping the front of the bracket.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to improve the support rigidity of the headlamp, accurately form a parting line around the headlamp, and further improve the appearance quality of the vehicle.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The dimensions, materials, and other specific numerical values shown in the examples are merely examples for facilitating the understanding of the invention, and are not limited to the present invention unless otherwise specified. In the present specification and the drawings, elements having substantially the same function and configuration are designated by the same reference numerals to omit duplicate description, and elements not directly related to the present invention are not shown. do.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a vehicle front structure 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing the vehicle 102 on which the vehicle front structure 100 is implemented from slightly above on the left front side. Hereinafter, in FIG. 1 and all other drawings of the present application, the front-rear direction of the vehicle is indicated by arrows F (Forward) and B (Backward), and the left and right directions of the vehicle width are indicated by arrows L (Leftward) and R (Rightward), respectively. Are illustrated by arrows U (Upward) and D (Downward), respectively.

The vehicle front structure 100 includes a plurality of panel members forming the outer surface of the vehicle 102. Specific examples of the panel member include a front bumper 104, a front end panel 106 on the upper side thereof, and fender panels 108 (see FIG. 2) on both sides of the front end panel 106. Although the vehicle 102 is assumed to be a cab-over type vehicle in this embodiment, the technical concept of the vehicle front structure 100 can also be applied to a bonnet type vehicle.

FIG. 1B is a diagram in which the panel members, headlamps 110a, 110b, etc. of FIG. 1A are removed. The dash panel 112 shown in FIG. 1 (b) is a partition provided on the front side of the passenger compartment. On the front side of the vehicle of the dash panel 112, a plurality of brackets 113, 114, 115, 116, 117 for supporting each panel member are provided. Each bracket projects from the dash panel 112 to the front of the vehicle, and although the dimensions vary, it has a hat-shaped shape when viewed from the vehicle width direction.

In this embodiment, a total of five brackets 113, 114, 115, 116, and 117 are provided. Of these, the brackets 114, 115, and 116 on the center side are used for mounting the front bumper 104 and the front end panel 106. Brackets 113 and 117 at both ends in the vehicle width direction are used for mounting the fender panel 108 (see FIG. 2).

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a usage state of the bracket 117 of FIG. 1 (b). In FIG. 2, it is shown through the fender panel 108 on the left side of the vehicle. The fender panels 108 are panel members provided on both sides of the front end panel 106 and on the upper side of the front wheels. The bracket 117 is attached to the fender panel 108 by fastening bolts or the like at the front portion 117c provided at the front end of the leg portions 117a and 117b.

Refer to FIG. 1 (b) again. In this embodiment, the braces 118 and 120 are provided in order to increase the support rigidity of the brackets 114 and 116 with respect to the panel members. The braces 118 and 120 are passed to the brackets 114 and 116 and the lower bumper member 122, and are configured to mainly support the front end side of the brackets 114 and 116 from below.

The bumper member 122 to which the lower ends of the braces 118 and 120 are connected is provided below each bracket so as to extend in the vehicle width direction on the back side of the front bumper 104 (see FIG. 1A). .. The bumper member 122 is installed on the front side of a pair of side frames 124a and 124b extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle at the lower part of the vehicle via the crash boxes 126a and 126b. The crash boxes 126a and 126b are members provided on the front side of the vehicle of the side frames 124a and 124b, and have a weaker structure than the side frames 124a and 124b. Prevent it from being transmitted to the room.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the bracket 116 of FIG. 1 (b). FIG. 3A shows the entire bracket 116. In the bracket 116 of the present embodiment, the upper and lower upper legs 128 and the lower legs 130 extend from the dash panel 112 to the front of the vehicle, and the front ends 132 having a predetermined area are formed at the front ends of the upper legs 128 and the lower legs 130. It has a structure.

The upper leg 128 and the lower leg 130 are joined to the dash panel 112 at the hem 128a and 130a, respectively, and extend from there while inclining toward the front of the vehicle so as to approach each other, and the upper end and the lower end of the front 132 are respectively. I support it. Further, the upper leg portion 128 and the lower leg portion 130 are provided with beads 128b and 130b along the longitudinal direction, respectively. The beads 128b and 130b bulge upward or downward, respectively, and increase the moment of inertia of area of each leg to increase the bending rigidity.

The brace 120 is joined to the front 132 of the bracket 116 by using bolts 134 and the like, and extends downward from the brace 120 and is joined to the bumper member 122 (see FIG. 1 (b)). A plurality of through holes are provided in a region of the upper portion of the brace 120 that overlaps with the front portion 132 of the bracket 116. Bolts 134, clips 136 (see FIG. 3B) and the like are used for these through holes, and they are connected to panel members such as the bracket 116 and the front bumper 104.

FIG. 3 (b) is a diagram showing the brace 120 of FIG. 3 (b) slightly downward. In FIG. 3B, the front bumper 104 is transmitted through the front bumper 104 and is shown by a two-dot chain line. The front bumper 104 is connected to the front portion 132 of the bracket 116 after being overlapped with the brace 120 by using, for example, a clip 136.

With the above configuration, since the weight of the front bumper 104 is supported not only by the bracket 116 but also by the brace 120, it is possible to efficiently improve the support rigidity of the front bumper 104 and further improve the appearance quality of the vehicle. There is. The front bumper 104 can be connected not only to the area where the brace 120 and the bracket 116 overlap, but also to other parts of the brace 120 by a clip 138 or the like.

See FIG . 3A again. The bracket 116 is provided with a reinforcing reinforcement 140 inside. The reinforcement 140 is delivered in the vertical direction at a position in the middle of the lower leg portion 130 and the upper leg portion 128 in the vehicle front-rear direction. By reinforcing the bracket 116 with the reinforcement 140, it is possible to improve the support rigidity of the panel member such as the front bumper 104 (see FIG. 3B) and further improve the appearance quality of the vehicle.

In this embodiment, the reinforcement 140 does not reinforce the entire bracket 116, but connects and reinforces only the middle portion of the upper leg portion 128 and the lower leg portion 130 in the vehicle front-rear direction. As a result, the bracket 116 has room for deformation on the front side and the rear side of the reinforcement 140, and can be deformed at the time of a front collision or the like to absorb an impact.

The reinforcement 140 is spread so as to make surface contact between the lower surface of the upper leg portion 128 and the upper surface of the lower leg portion 130, but as a modification, the upper surface of the upper leg portion 128 and the lower surface of the lower leg portion 130 It is also possible to make face-to-face contact with each other.

Refer to FIG. 3 (b) again. The brace 120 has a lamp connecting portion 142 to which the headlamp 110b (see FIG. 1A) is connected in the vicinity of a range overlapping the front portion 132 of the bracket 116. The lamp connecting portion 142 is also formed as a through hole, and the headlamp 110a is connected via a fastener such as a clip or a bolt. For example, if the lamp connecting portion 142 has a long hole having a long axis in a predetermined direction, it is preferable because a certain degree of positioning error can be tolerated.

As described above, since the front portion 132 of the bracket 116 has high support rigidity, by connecting the headlamp 110b to the brace 120 in the vicinity thereof, the support rigidity of the headlamp 110b is also improved, and the support rigidity around the headlamp 110b is improved. It is possible to form the parting line with high accuracy and further improve the appearance quality of the vehicle. Further, since the connecting portions of each component are gathered near the front end 132 of the bracket 116, the connecting work can be efficiently performed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the lower part of the brace 118 of FIG. 1 (b). The lower portion of the brace 118 is joined to the front surface of the bumper member 122 via the brace bracket 144. At this time, for example, the lower portion of the brace 118 is fastened to the brace bracket 144 by the bolt 146, and the brace bracket 144 is brought into surface contact with the bumper member 122 and joined by welding or the like. By joining the brace 118 and the bumper member 122 in this way, it is possible to realize a structure having high rigidity against the shear load applied from the front bumper 104 and the front end panel 106.

The brace 118 is also used as a place for installing the horn 148 of the vehicle. The horn 148 is attached to a horn bracket 150 extending from the brace 118. Since the brace 118 exists in the vicinity of the front bumper 104 (see FIG. 1A), it is also suitable as a place for installing the horn 148 that emits a warning sound or the like. If the back surface of the front bumper 104 is provided with a bulging portion 152 (see FIG. 5A) that bulges to the rear of the vehicle, rainwater or the like on the horn 148 can be avoided, which is preferable.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of the vehicle front structure 100 of FIG. 1A. FIG. 5A shows the entire cross section of AA. In the vehicle front structure 100, each panel member such as the front bumper 104 and the front end panel 106 is supported by the bracket 116 protruding from the dash panel 112. Therefore, in front of the dash panel 112, it is possible to secure a wide stroke area for shock absorption, which prevents the impact transmitted from each panel member from being transmitted to the passenger compartment at the time of front collision. Further, by securing a wide stroke area, the crash box (see FIG. 1B) can be extended to the front of the vehicle by that amount, and the shock absorption performance can be further improved.

The bracket 116 and the crash box 126b are provided at positions where parts of the bracket 116 and the crash box 126b overlap each other in the vehicle width direction. With this configuration, the bracket 116 and the crash box 126a can cooperate with each other to absorb the impact at the time of a front collision, and it is possible to suitably prevent the impact from being transmitted to the passenger compartment on the rear side of the vehicle.

The bracket 116 not only has a shape extending from the dash panel 112 to the front of the vehicle, but also has a lower leg portion 130 forming a lower contour when viewed from the vehicle width direction diagonally upward from the dash panel 112 to the front of the vehicle. It has a shape that extends toward it. With the bracket 116 having this shape, the support rigidity for each panel member is further improved, and the parting line of each panel member can be formed with high accuracy.

As described above, the brace 120 is delivered to the front 132 of the bracket 116 and the bumper member 122 below it. By supporting the front portion 132 of the bracket 116 by the brace 120, the bracket can be prevented from hanging so as to rotate downward from the root.

5 (b) is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the front portion 132 of the bracket 116 of FIG. 5 (a). As shown in FIG. 5B, the brace 120 is overlapped with the front portion 132 of the bracket 116 and is joined by bolts 134, and the front end panel 106 and the front bumper 104 are joined by clips 136 from above. There is. With this configuration, the front end panel 106 and the front bumper 104 are supported not only by the bracket 116 but also by the brace 120, the support rigidity is improved, and the parting line with the surrounding members is accurately formed and maintained. It is possible to improve the appearance quality.

In particular, in this embodiment, instead of simply increasing the overall rigidity of the bracket, the bracket 116 is supported from below by the brace 120, leaving room for deformation of the bracket 116 to the rear of the vehicle, and hitting the bracket 116 forward. The shock absorption performance is exhibited at times, etc., which makes it possible to achieve both improvement in appearance quality and shock absorption performance.

(Modification example)
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a modified example (bracket 200) of the bracket 116 of FIG. 3 (a). Hereinafter, the same components as those already described will be omitted by assigning the same reference numerals. Further, even if the components have the same names as those already described, even if they have different reference numerals, they have the same functions unless otherwise specified.

FIG. 6A is a perspective view showing the bracket 200 from the upper left in the vehicle width direction. The bracket 200 is different from the bracket 116 shown in FIG. 3A in that the bracket 200 protrudes from the dash panel 112 in a U shape when viewed from above. The bracket 200 has a left leg portion 202 and a right leg portion 204 in the vehicle width direction, the left leg portion 202 supports the left end of the front portion 206, and the right leg portion 204 supports the right end of the front portion 206. It has become.

FIG. 6B is a view of the bracket 200 of FIG. 6A as viewed from the left side in the vehicle width direction. The bracket 200 also has a shape in which the lower contour 208 seen from the width direction extends diagonally upward from the dash panel 112 on the front side of the vehicle. With the bracket 200 having this shape, the support rigidity for each panel member such as the front bumper 104 described above is further improved, and the parting line of each panel member can be formed accurately.

The bracket 200 can also be provided with a predetermined reinforcement (not shown) in the middle of the left leg portion 202 and the right leg portion 204 (see FIG. 6A) in the vehicle front-rear direction. The reinforcement can reinforce the bracket 200 to improve the support rigidity of each panel member such as the front bumper 104, and further improve the appearance quality of the vehicle. Further, the reinforcement does not reinforce the entire bracket 200, but reinforces only the middle part of the left leg portion 202 and the right leg portion 204 in the vehicle front-rear direction, thereby reinforcing the front side of the bracket 200 and the front side of the bracket 200 at the time of a front collision or the like. It is possible to leave room for deformation on the rear side.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to such examples. It is clear that a person skilled in the art can come up with various modifications or modifications within the scope of the claims, which naturally belong to the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

The present invention can be used for the vehicle front structure.

100 ... vehicle front structure, 102 ... vehicle, 104 ... front bumper, 106 ... front end panel, 108 ... fender panel, 110a ... vehicle right headlamp, 110b ... vehicle left headlamp, 112 ... dash panel, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117 ... Bracket, 117a, 117b ... Bracket leg, 117c ... Bracket front, 118 ... Vehicle right brace, 120 ... Vehicle left brace, 122 ... Bumper member, 124a ... Vehicle right side Frame, 124b ... Side frame on the left side of the vehicle, 126a ... Crash box on the right side of the vehicle, 126b ... Crash box on the left side of the vehicle, 128 ... Upper leg of the bracket, 128a ... Hem of the upper leg, 128b ... Bead of the upper leg , 130 ... Bracket lower leg, 130a ... Lower leg hem, 130b ... Lower leg bead, 132 ... Bracket front, 134 ... Bolt, 136 ... Upper clip, 138 ... Lower clip, 140 ... Lin Force, 142 ... Lamp connection, 144 ... Brace bracket, 148 ... Horn, 150 ... Horn bracket, 152 ... Front bumper bulge, 200 ... Modified bracket, 202 ... Bracket left leg, 204 ... Bracket Right leg, 206 ... front of bracket, 208 ... lower contour of bracket

Claims (8)

The dash panel on the front side of the passenger compartment of the vehicle and
A bracket that protrudes from the dash panel to the front of the vehicle and supports a predetermined panel member that forms the outer surface of the vehicle.
A bumper member extending in the vehicle width direction below the bracket,
A vehicle front structure comprising the bracket and a brace delivered to the bumper member. The vehicle front structure according to claim 1, wherein the lower contour of the bracket as viewed from the vehicle width direction has a shape extending diagonally upward from the dash panel to the front side of the vehicle. The bracket is
One or more legs joined to the dash panel and extending in front of the vehicle,
Having an anterior portion supported by one or more of the legs,
The vehicle front structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the panel member and the brace are connected to the front part. At least two of the one or more legs are provided.
The vehicle front structure according to claim 3, wherein the vehicle front structure further includes a reinforcement delivered to an intermediate portion of each of the two legs in the vehicle front-rear direction. The two legs include a lower leg that supports the lower end of the anterior portion and an upper leg that supports the upper end of the anterior portion, or a left leg portion that supports the left end of the anterior portion and the anterior portion. The vehicle front structure according to claim 4 , further comprising a right leg portion that supports the right end of the portion. The vehicle front structure according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the panel member overlaps with the brace and is connected to the front portion of the bracket. The vehicle front structure further comprises a crash box on the vehicle front side of the vehicle side frame, which is weaker than the side frame.
The bumper member is provided on the front side of the vehicle of the crash box.
The vehicle front structure according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the bracket and the crash box are provided at positions where parts of the bracket and the crash box overlap each other in the vehicle width direction. The vehicle front structure according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the brace has a lamp connection portion to which a predetermined headlamp is connected in the vicinity of a range overlapping the front portion of the bracket. ..

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