JP7850008B2 - Cowl top cover - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a cowl top cover for an automobile.

Automobiles are generally equipped with a wiper system to wipe away rainwater and other debris from the front windshield. In a wiper system, a pivot shaft is connected to a main unit containing an electric motor, and a wiper element that swings along the front windshield is attached to this pivot shaft.

Furthermore, a cowl top cover is positioned between the front windshield of an automobile and the front hood that covers the engine compartment. This cowl top cover covers at least a portion of the main body of the wiper device. Moreover, the cowl top cover has a through-hole for inserting the pivot shaft of the wiper device. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2013-230711 (Patent Document 1) discloses an invention relating to the structure of the area surrounding the through-hole for inserting the pivot shaft.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2013-230711

In the structure disclosed in Patent Document 1, the pivot shaft of the wiper device is inserted through a through-hole provided in the cowl top cover. Furthermore, in Patent Document 1, a gap is set between the pivot shaft and the cowl top cover, taking into consideration the machining dimensional accuracy of the wiper device and cowl top cover, as well as ease of installation.

As described above, when a gap is provided between the pivot shaft and the cowl top cover, a cover member with a cup shape for receiving liquids such as rainwater is usually installed below the insertion hole in the cowl top cover to prevent rainwater or other liquids from entering the main body of the wiper device through that gap.

Furthermore, if rainwater or other liquids flow into the cowl top cover's insertion hole from the front windshield, for example, the cup-shaped cover component described above may not be able to contain it, potentially causing the liquid to overflow. Therefore, conventionally, even when a cup-shaped cover component was installed, a sealing material to prevent liquid ingress into the wiper device body was attached to the required area on the underside of the cowl top cover. However, installing such a cover component and sealing material around the insertion hole of the cowl top cover resulted in increased manufacturing costs and reduced ease of installation.

This invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its objective is to provide a cowl top cover that offers good ease of installation on the vehicle body and can prevent liquids such as rainwater from entering the main body of the wiper device.

To achieve the above objective, the cowl top cover provided by the present invention is a cowl top cover disposed on the front side of a front windshield, and has a cover body portion disposed to cover at least a part of a wiper device, the cover body portion has at least one insertion hole for inserting a part of the wiper device, and an opening periphery portion disposed to surround the insertion hole and formed to be elastically deformable, the opening periphery portion has a contact portion that abuts against the wiper device, the opening periphery portion is provided with at least one drain portion for discharging liquid to the back side of the cover body portion, the opening periphery portion is provided with a plurality of separation portions extending from the insertion hole, the opening periphery portion has a plurality of elastic pieces divided by the separation portion, and the drain portion is formed by the separation portion .

Furthermore, it is preferable that the through-hole is formed in a circular shape, and at least a portion of the peripheral edge of the opening is formed in a substantially U-shape when viewed in a cross-section perpendicular to the circumferential direction of the through-hole.

Furthermore, it is preferable that the opening periphery has at least one guide rib protruding from the back surface of the contact portion, and that the guide rib has an inclined portion that inclins so as to narrow the space on the back side of the opening periphery toward the insertion hole with respect to the insertion direction through which the wiper device is inserted.

The cowl top cover of the present invention eliminates the need for sealing material, resulting in excellent installation ease on the vehicle body, and reliably prevents liquids such as rainwater from entering the main body of the wiper device.

This is a schematic plan view showing a cowl top cover and a part of the front windshield according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the main parts of the cowl top cover. This is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the opening periphery of the cowl top cover and the pivot shaft portion of the wiper device. This is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the positional relationship when attaching the cowl top cover to the pivot shaft of the wiper device.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited in any way to the embodiments described below, and various modifications are possible as long as they have substantially the same configuration as the present invention and produce similar effects.
For example, the overall shape of the cowl top cover and its mounting position on the vehicle body are not particularly limited and can be changed according to the shape of the vehicle.

Figure 1 is a schematic plan view showing the cowl top cover and a portion of the front windshield according to this embodiment, and Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the main part of the cowl top cover. Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the opening periphery of the cowl top cover and the pivot shaft portion of the wiper device. Note that the wiper device is not shown in Figure 1. Figures 2 and 3 show a portion of the wiper device (the pivot shaft portion, which will be described later), but other parts are not shown.

Furthermore, in the following explanation, the forward/backward direction refers to the direction along the vehicle's length, with forward movement being defined as the forward direction and backward movement as the rearward direction. The left/right direction refers to the direction along the vehicle's width, with the left and right sides being defined as the left and right directions, respectively, when the driver is facing forward. The up/down direction refers to the direction along the vehicle's height, with the direction towards the ground relative to the vehicle being defined as down and the direction opposite to that being defined as up.

In this embodiment, the automobile has a front windshield (windshield) 1 positioned at the front of the passenger compartment. A front hood (bonnet hood), not shown, is provided to cover the engine compartment located at the front of the vehicle from above and is retractable. Furthermore, the automobile is equipped with a wiper system for wiping away rainwater from the front windshield 1.

The wiper device comprises a main body (not shown) equipped with an electric motor, two pivot shafts 5 connected to the main body, and two wiper members (not shown) attached to each pivot shaft 5 and swinging on the front windshield 1. In this embodiment, each pivot shaft 5 of the wiper device is arranged linearly along a direction inclined forward and upward.

In this embodiment, the cowl top cover 10 is attached to the vehicle body so as to cover the area sandwiched between the front windshield 1 and the front hood (for example, the cowl area). This cowl top cover 10 is formed from a hard thermoplastic resin such as polypropylene, and also possesses appropriate elasticity so that a portion of the cowl top cover 10 can be elastically deformed, as will be described later. In this invention, the material of the cowl top cover is not particularly limited. Furthermore, the mounting structure for attaching the cowl top cover to the vehicle body is not particularly limited, and generally known conventional mounting structures can be used.

The cowl top cover 10 in this embodiment has a cover body portion 11 that extends forward from the front end of the front windshield 1. This cover body portion 11 is formed to be elongated in the left-right direction along the vehicle width direction and covers at least a portion of the wiper device body portion (not shown).

The cover body portion 11 comprises at least a thin, plate-like outer plate portion 12 exposed to the outside, two through holes 13 through which the pivot shaft portion 5 of the wiper device is inserted, and an opening peripheral portion 20 provided around each through hole 13 (see Figure 1). In this invention, the number of through holes provided in the cover body portion is not particularly limited; the cover body portion may have one through hole, or it may have three or more through holes.

In this embodiment, a cover body 7 is installed below the opening periphery 20 of the cover body 11 (see Figure 3). This cover body 7 prevents liquids such as rainwater, drained through the slit portion 30 (described later) of the opening periphery 20, from entering the main body of the wiper device, while also allowing them to be discharged outside the vehicle. The shape and structure of the cover body 7 are not particularly limited in this invention, and the installation of the cover body may be omitted.

The two through-holes 13 in the cover body 11 each penetrate from the front to the back surface of the cover body 11. Each through-hole 13 has a circular shape when viewed from either side (the front surface side of the cover body 11) or the other side (the back surface side of the cover body 11) in the insertion direction 6 of the pivot shaft 5, when the pivot shaft 5 is not inserted through it. Furthermore, the through-holes 13 are formed to have a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the portion of the pivot shaft 5 corresponding to the through-hole 13 when the pivot shaft 5 is inserted through the through-hole 13.

The opening periphery portion 20 is provided around the insertion hole 13 and is formed in a recessed shape on the back side of the cover body portion 11 relative to the outer plate portion 12. The two opening periphery portions 20 are integrally formed with the outer plate portion 12 of the cover body portion 11. These opening periphery portions 20 are not formed separately and attached to the cover body portion 11 later, but are formed as a single, seamless molded body using the same synthetic resin.

In this embodiment, one opening periphery 20 is provided for each of the two insertion holes 13, and it has a first opening periphery 20a formed surrounding the right-hand insertion hole 13 and a second opening periphery 20b formed surrounding the left-hand insertion hole 13. The first opening periphery 20a and the second opening periphery 20b in this embodiment have substantially the same shape and structure. Therefore, the following description will mainly focus on the first opening periphery 20a, and a detailed description of the second opening periphery 20b will be omitted to avoid redundancy.

As shown in Figure 2, the opening periphery 20 (first opening periphery 20a) of this embodiment has an outer periphery wall portion (first wall portion) 21 that surrounds the pivot shaft portion 5 and connects to the cover body portion 11, a bottom surface portion 22 extending inward from the lower end of the outer periphery wall portion 21, an inner wall portion (second wall portion) 23 that rises from the inner periphery end of the bottom surface portion 22 and is formed to face the outer periphery wall portion 21, a contact portion 24 that curves and extends continuously from the upper end of the inner wall portion 23, and a plurality of guide ribs 25 protruding from the back surface of the contact portion 24.

Furthermore, the opening periphery 20 is provided with four slit portions 30 that extend radially outward from the circular insertion hole 13. Each slit portion 30 extends from the insertion hole 13 to the boundary between the bottom surface portion 22 and the outer peripheral wall portion 21, forming a separation portion that divides the contact portion 24, the inner wall portion 23, and the bottom surface portion 22 of the opening periphery 20 into four sections.

In this embodiment, each slit portion 30 is provided on the back side of the cover body portion 11 to function as a drainage portion capable of discharging liquids such as rainwater. For example, when a large amount of liquid such as rainwater flows into the opening periphery portion 20, the slit portion is formed to be large enough (slit width) to store the liquid in the opening periphery portion 20 while simultaneously draining the liquid accumulated in the opening periphery portion 20. In this invention, instead of the slit portion 30, or together with the slit portion 30, a small hole portion with an opening area smaller than the insertion hole 13 may be provided in the opening periphery portion 20 as a liquid drainage portion.

The outer peripheral wall portion 21 of the opening periphery portion 20 curves downward from the outer plate portion 12 and extends toward the back side of the outer plate portion 12. The outer surface of this outer peripheral wall portion 21 is positioned to face the pivot shaft portion 5 that passes through the insertion hole 13, and is formed by a continuous curved surface without breaks or large irregularities, surrounding the pivot shaft portion 5 360 degrees. Note that the outer surface of the outer peripheral wall portion 21 is the outer surface exposed to the outside, not the back side of the cover body portion 11.

The bottom surface 22 of the opening periphery 20 is formed continuously from the lower end of the outer periphery wall 21. Furthermore, when viewing a cross-section of the opening periphery 20 perpendicular to the circumferential direction of the insertion hole 13 (see Figure 3), the bottom surface 22 is formed as a curved portion that curves downward in a convex or substantially arc-shaped manner. The inner wall 23 of the opening periphery 20 is formed continuously extending upward from the bottom surface 22.

The contact portion 24 of the opening periphery 20 is formed to bend inward at approximately 90° from the upper end of the inner wall portion 23. The contact portion 24 abuts against the outer circumferential surface of the portion of the pivot shaft portion 5 that is inserted into the insertion hole 13 when the pivot shaft portion 5 is inserted into the insertion hole 13. In this embodiment, the contact portion 24 is formed by bending inward from the upper end of the inner wall portion 23. However, in the present invention, the contact portion only needs to be formed to abut against the outer circumferential surface of the pivot shaft portion. For example, it may be integrally provided at the tip of the inner wall portion by being formed to extend straight and continuously from the inner wall portion.

The outer peripheral wall portion 21, bottom surface portion 22, inner wall portion 23, and contact portion 24 of the opening periphery 20 are provided around the entire circumference of the insertion hole 13, except for the slit portion 30. Furthermore, the outer peripheral wall portion 21, bottom surface portion 22, and inner wall portion 23 are formed in a roughly U-shape and continuously curved when viewed in cross-section perpendicular to the circumferential direction of the insertion hole 13.

Multiple guide ribs 25 are provided on the back surface (bottom surface) of the contact portion 24 of the opening periphery 20. Each of the multiple guide ribs 25 is formed in a plate shape, projecting downward from the back surface of the contact portion 24, and is spaced apart from one another in the circumferential direction of the insertion hole 13. For example, in this embodiment, four guide ribs 25 are arranged between two adjacent slit portions 30 in the circumferential direction.

Each guide rib 25 is integrally formed by connecting the contact portion 24 and a part of the inner wall portion 23 (the upper end portion). The provision of such guide ribs 25 increases the strength of the area near the insertion hole 13 in the opening periphery 20 (i.e., the strength of the contact portion 24 and the upper end portion of the inner wall portion 23). This allows the contact portion 24 of the opening periphery 20 to stably contact the outer circumferential surface of the pivot shaft portion 5.

Furthermore, each guide rib 25 has an inclined portion 25a that narrows the space on the back side of the opening periphery 20 toward the insertion hole 13 in the insertion direction 6 for inserting the pivot shaft portion 5 into the insertion hole 13. Because such inclined portions 25a are provided on the guide ribs 25, for example, when attaching the cowl top cover 10 to the vehicle body, as shown in Figure 4, when the cover body 11 is brought close to the pivot shaft portion 5 of the wiper device and the pivot shaft portion 5 is inserted into the insertion hole 13 from the back side of the cowl top cover 10, the multiple guide ribs 25 can guide the pivot shaft portion 5 toward the insertion hole 13. Therefore, the pivot shaft portion 5 can be smoothly inserted into the insertion hole 13, and a portion of the pivot shaft portion 5 can protrude toward the surface (upper surface) of the cover body 11 (see Figure 3).

In this embodiment, as described above, the outer peripheral wall portion 21, the bottom surface portion 22, and the inner wall portion 23 of the opening periphery 20 are bent in a substantially U-shape, and the contact portion 24, the inner wall portion 23, and the bottom surface portion 22 of the opening periphery 20 are divided into four parts by the slit portion (separation portion) 30. As a result, the opening periphery 20 of this embodiment has four elastically deformable elastic pieces 31 formed by the inner wall portion 23 and the bottom surface portion 22.

Because of the formation of such elastic pieces 31 (i.e., the inner wall portion 23 and the bottom surface portion 22), when the contact portion 24 of the opening periphery portion 20 comes into contact with, for example, the pivot shaft portion 5 and is pushed radially outward by the pivot shaft portion 5, the inner wall portion 23 can bend (elastically deform) in a direction approaching the outer periphery portion 21.

The bending of the elastic piece 31 allows the contact portion 24 to easily move to follow the pivot shaft portion 5, making it easy to insert the pivot shaft portion 5 into the insertion hole 13 when attaching the cowl top cover 10 to the vehicle body. This improves the ease of installation of the cowl top cover 10. Furthermore, the bending of the elastic piece 31 allows the contact portion 24 to stably maintain contact with the pivot shaft portion 5. Therefore, even if the pivot shaft portion 5 moves forward, backward, left, or right, the elastic deformation of the elastic piece 31 (inner wall portion 23 and bottom surface portion 22) maintains contact between the contact portion 24 and the pivot shaft portion 5, preventing or suppressing the formation of a gap between the contact portion 24 and the pivot shaft portion 5.

In the cowl top cover 10 of this embodiment, even if liquids such as rainwater or water used during car washing flow into the recessed opening perimeter 20 of the cowl top cover 10 from the front windshield 1 side, the liquid can be drained at an appropriate flow rate through the narrow slit portion 30 provided in the opening perimeter 20. This allows the liquid to be drained at a reduced rate through the slit portion 30 of the opening perimeter 20, even if a strong flow of liquid enters the opening perimeter 20. Furthermore, the liquid that has passed through the slit portion 30 can be smoothly discharged outside the vehicle using the structure provided on the underside of the cowl top cover 10.

Therefore, the cowl top cover 10 of this embodiment solves the conventional problem of liquid overflowing and entering the main body of the wiper device, without the need to install a sealing material to prevent liquid ingress. This is achieved by the relatively simple structure of the opening periphery 20 integrated into the cowl top cover 10. Furthermore, this reduces manufacturing costs. Moreover, since the opening periphery 20 of this embodiment has only four narrow slits 30 (excluding the through hole 13), it prevents debris such as fallen leaves from falling into the back side of the cowl top cover 10.

Furthermore, according to the cowl top cover 10 of this embodiment, as described above, the pivot shaft portion 5 can be easily inserted into the insertion hole 13, and the work can be simplified by eliminating the need for sealing material, thus ensuring good workability for attaching the cowl top cover 10 to the vehicle body.

In the cowl top cover 10 of the above-described embodiment, four slit portions 30 are formed in the opening periphery 20, thereby providing four elastic pieces 31. However, in the present invention, the number of slit portions provided in the opening periphery is not particularly limited.

For example, depending on the shape and material of the cowl top cover, and the size of the opening perimeter, one, six, or eight slits may be formed around a single opening perimeter. When an elastic piece is formed around the opening perimeter, it is preferable to have two or more slits. Furthermore, by changing the number and/or size (slit width) of the slits provided around a single opening perimeter, it is possible to adjust the flexibility and amount of deflection of the elastic piece.

1. Front windshield (windshield)
5 Pivot shaft portion 6 Insertion direction 7 Cover body 10 Cowl top cover 11 Cover main body portion 12 Outer plate portion 13 Insertion hole 20 Opening periphery portion 20a First opening periphery portion 20b Second opening periphery portion 21 Outer periphery wall portion (first wall portion)
22 Bottom part 23 Inner wall part (second wall part)
24 Contact section 25 Guide rib 25a Inclined section 30 Slit section (separation section)
31 Elastic piece

Claims (3)

A cowl top cover located on the front side of the front windshield,
It has a cover body portion that is positioned to cover at least a part of the wiper device,
The cover body has at least one through hole through which a part of the wiper device is inserted, and an opening periphery that is arranged to surround the through hole and is formed to be elastically deformable.
The opening periphery has a contact portion that contacts the wiper device,
At least one drainage section is provided on the periphery of the opening, which discharges liquid to the back side of the cover body .
Multiple separation portions extending from the insertion hole are provided on the periphery of the opening.
The opening periphery has a plurality of elastic pieces that are divided by the separation portion,
The drainage section is formed by the separation section.
A cowl top cover characterized by the following features. The aforementioned insertion hole is formed in a circular shape,
The cowl top cover according to claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the peripheral edge of the opening is formed to be bent in a substantially U-shape when viewed in cross-section perpendicular to the circumferential direction of the insertion hole. The opening periphery has at least one guide rib protruding from the back surface of the contact portion,
The cowl top cover according to claim 1 , wherein the guide rib has an inclined portion that inclins so as to narrow the space on the back side of the opening periphery toward the insertion hole with respect to the insertion direction through which the wiper device is inserted.