D column upper joint, vehicle body structure and vehicle

Abstract

The utility model relates to a D column upper connector, a vehicle body structure and a vehicle. The D-column upper connector comprises an inner plate, an outer plate and a reinforcing piece. Wherein the inner plate is connected with the outer plate, and a cavity is defined by the outer plate and the inner plate; the reinforcing piece is arranged in the cavity and connected with the inner plate and the outer plate. The D-column upper joint can support an inner plate and an outer plate under the condition of not occupying space, the torsional rigidity of a vehicle body is improved, and meanwhile light weight is considered.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of vehicle sheet metal structural components technology, specifically to a D-pillar connector, a body structure, and a vehicle. Background Technology

[0002] With the rapid development of automobiles, the requirements for dynamic comfort are becoming increasingly stringent, among which torsional stiffness of the vehicle body is particularly crucial. High torsional stiffness means that the car is less prone to deformation, resulting in less vibration and noise, and better NVH (Noise, Vibration, Harshness, and other indicators related to vehicle noise, vibration, and comfort). The D-pillar, located at the rear side of the vehicle, has torsional stiffness that is especially important for the overall comfort and safety of the vehicle.

[0003] In related technologies, the D-pillar connector improves torsional stiffness in two ways: increasing the thickness of the component and increasing the cavity area. Increasing the thickness increases the overall vehicle weight, while increasing the cavity area reduces headroom inside the vehicle. Utility Model Content

[0004] The purpose of this disclosure is to provide a D-pillar top connector, a body structure, and a vehicle that can support the inner and outer panels without encroaching on space, thereby improving the torsional rigidity of the body and achieving lightweighting.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, according to a first aspect of this disclosure, a D-pillar connector is provided, comprising:

[0006] Inner panel;

[0007] The outer plate, together with the inner plate, forms a cavity; and

[0008] A reinforcing member is disposed inside the cavity and is connected to the inner plate and the outer plate respectively.

[0009] Optionally, the reinforcing member includes a body portion and a first flange portion and a second flange portion respectively connected to the body portion;

[0010] The first flange is connected to the inner panel, and the second flange is connected to the outer panel.

[0011] Optionally, the first flange is located on one side of the body portion, and the second flange is located on the opposite side of the body portion.

[0012] Optionally, the first flange, the second flange, and the body are integrally formed.

[0013] Optionally, the reinforcing member is generally Z-shaped; or

[0014] The first side of the outer panel is connected to the first side of the inner panel, the second side of the outer panel is connected to the inner panel, and the second side of the outer panel also has a third flange portion, which extends in a direction away from the first side and the inner panel.

[0015] Optionally, the first flange is welded to the inner plate; and / or

[0016] The second flange is welded to the outer plate.

[0017] Optionally, the outer plate is formed with welding gun through holes.

[0018] Optionally, the D-pillar connector further includes a first connecting portion for connecting to the rear crossbeam of the roof, and a second connecting portion for connecting to the side panel.

[0019] According to a second aspect of this disclosure, a vehicle body structure is provided, the vehicle body structure including the above-described D-pillar joint.

[0020] According to a third aspect of this disclosure, a vehicle is provided, the vehicle including the above-described body structure.

[0021] The above-mentioned technical solution, namely the D-pillar joint disclosed herein, involves adding a reinforcing member connecting the inner and outer panels within the cavity formed by the inner and outer panels. This reinforcing member can support the inner and outer panels without encroaching on space, thereby improving the torsional rigidity of the vehicle body while also achieving lightweight design.

[0022] Other features and advantages of this disclosure will be described in detail in the following detailed description section. Attached Figure Description

[0023] The accompanying drawings are provided to further illustrate the present disclosure and form part of the specification. They are used together with the following detailed description to explain the present disclosure, but do not constitute a limitation thereof. In the drawings:

[0024] Figure 1 This is a structural diagram of the D-pillar connector provided in some embodiments of this disclosure;

[0025] Figure 2 This is a structural diagram of the D-pillar connector provided in some embodiments of this disclosure, wherein the outer panel is hidden;

[0026] Figure 3 This is a connection structure diagram of the inner plate and the reinforcing member provided in some embodiments of this disclosure;

[0027] Figure 4 This is a cross-sectional view of the connector on the D-pillar provided in some embodiments of this disclosure.

[0028] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures

[0029] 101-Cavity; 102-First connecting part; 103-Second connecting part; 104-Third connecting part; 110-Inner plate; 120-Outer plate; 121-Welding gun through hole; 122-Third flange; 130-Reinforcing member; 131-Main body; 132-First flange; 133-Second flange;

[0030] 200 - Rear crossbeam of the top cover; 210 - Upper plate; 220 - Lower plate. Detailed Implementation

[0031] The specific embodiments of this disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are for illustration and explanation only and are not intended to limit this disclosure.

[0032] In this disclosure, unless otherwise stated, directional terms such as "left" and "right" refer to the left and right of the corresponding drawing planes; "inner" and "outer" refer to the inner and outer contours of the corresponding components; and "far" and "near" refer to the corresponding structure or component being farther from or closer to another structure or component. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," etc., used in this disclosure are for distinguishing one element from another and do not have sequential or importance implications. In addition, in the following description, when referring to the drawings, unless otherwise explained, the same reference numerals in different drawings denote the same or similar elements. The above definitions are for explanation and illustration only and should not be construed as limiting this disclosure.

[0033] In related technologies, there are currently two common methods for reinforcing the D-pillar joint: Method 1 involves designing the inner and outer panels of the D-pillar as a through-cavity structure, increasing the thickness of the parts, and thereby improving the torsional resistance and deformation resistance of the D-pillar cavity to enhance the torsional rigidity of the vehicle body; Method 2 involves designing the inner and outer panels of the D-pillar as a through-cavity structure, increasing the cavity area (especially in the X-direction of the vehicle interior), and increasing the cavity surface area to further enhance the torsional resistance and deformation resistance of the D-pillar cavity to enhance the torsional rigidity of the vehicle body. Method 1, by increasing the thickness of the inner and outer panels of the D-pillar, causes an increase in overall vehicle weight; Method 2, by enlarging the D-pillar joint cavity, affects the headroom inside the vehicle.

[0034] In view of this, the present disclosure provides a D-pillar top connector, a body structure including the D-pillar top connector, and a vehicle including the body structure. The D-pillar top connector can support the inner panel 110 and the outer panel 120 without encroaching on space, thereby improving the torsional rigidity of the body and achieving lightweighting.

[0035] To achieve the above objectives, such as Figures 1 to 4As shown, according to a first aspect of this disclosure, a D-pillar connector is provided, the D-pillar connector including an inner plate 110, an outer plate 120, and a reinforcing member 130. The inner plate 110 is connected to the outer plate 120, and the outer plate 120 and the inner plate 110 form a cavity 101; the reinforcing member 130 is disposed inside the cavity 101 and is connected to both the inner plate 110 and the outer plate 120.

[0036] Through the above technical solution, namely the D-pillar connector of this disclosure, by adding a reinforcing member 130 connecting the inner panel 110 and the outer panel 120 in the cavity 101 formed by the inner panel 110 and the outer panel 120, the reinforcing member 130 can support the inner panel 110 and the outer panel 120 without encroaching on space, thereby improving the torsional rigidity of the vehicle body and taking into account weight reduction.

[0037] It should be noted that the reinforcing member 130 is arranged inside the cavity 101 formed by the inner plate 110 and the outer plate 120, and the reinforcing member 130 is connected to the side wall of the inner plate 110 facing the outer plate 120 and the side wall of the outer plate 120 facing the inner plate 110, thereby forming a support inside the cavity 101 and improving the overall torsional stiffness.

[0038] The reinforcing member 130 can be constructed using any suitable structure, such as Figure 4 As shown, in some embodiments of this disclosure, the reinforcing member 130 may include a body portion 131 and a first flange portion 132 and a second flange portion 133 respectively connected to the body portion 131; wherein the first flange portion 132 and the second flange portion 133 are respectively connected to opposite sides of the body portion 131, the first flange portion 132 is connected to the inner plate 110, and the second flange portion 133 is connected to the outer plate 120.

[0039] In some embodiments, the first flange 132 is located on one side of the body portion 131, and the second flange 133 is located on the opposite side of the body portion 131. For example... Figure 4 As shown, the first flange 132 extends to the right side of the body 131 and is fixedly connected to the inner plate 110, while the second flange 133 extends to the left side of the body 131 and is fixedly connected to the outer plate 120, thereby supporting the inner plate 110 and the outer plate 120 formed inside the cavity 101.

[0040] like Figure 4 As shown, the reinforcing member 130 generally has a Z-shaped structure. That is, the whole formed by the first flange 132, the body 131, and the second flange 133 is as follows: Figure 4 The cross-section shown is roughly Z-shaped, used to transmit the force on the inner plate 110 to the outer plate 120 or the force on the outer plate 120 to the inner plate 110. It also provides support between the two within the cavity 101, improving torsional resistance and resistance to deformation.

[0041] like Figure 4 As shown, in some embodiments, the first side of the outer plate 120 is connected to the first side of the inner plate 110, and the second side of the outer plate 120 is connected to the inner plate 110. The second side of the outer plate 120 also forms a third flange 122, which extends away from the first side and the inner plate 110. Specifically, the outer plate 120 and the inner plate 110 are connected to each other on the first side, and the second side (root) of the outer plate 120 is fixedly connected to the inner plate 110. The third flange 122 is located on the side opposite to the first side at the connection point between the second side of the outer plate 120 and the inner plate 110, and extends a distance away from the inner plate 110 and the first side to increase the rigidity of the part. It should be noted that the extension length of the third flange 122 (from the first side to the second side) can be 3 mm or more.

[0042] In some embodiments, the first flange 132, the second flange 133, and the body portion 131 are integrally formed. For example, the reinforcing member 130 can be a metal or non-metal part, and the body portion 131, the first flange portion, and the second flange portion 133 are integrally formed.

[0043] The first flange 132 and the second flange 133 can be connected to the inner panel 110 and the outer panel 120 respectively in any suitable manner. Optionally, in some embodiments, the first flange 132 is welded to the inner panel 110; the first flange 132 can be fixedly connected to the inner panel 110 by spot welding. It should be noted that the first flange 132 may be provided with a structure such as through holes to facilitate welding connection with the inner panel 110.

[0044] In other embodiments, the second flange 133 is welded to the outer plate 120. That is, the second flange 133 can be fixedly connected to the outer plate 120 by spot welding. It is understood that the second flange 133 may also be formed with a corresponding structure for welding to the outer plate 120, for example, a through hole may be formed in the second flange 133.

[0045] To facilitate the welding connection between the first flange 132 and the inner plate 110, in some embodiments, the outer plate 120 is provided with a welding gun through hole 121. The welding gun can pass through the welding gun through hole 121 on the outer plate 120 to weld the reinforcing member 130 to the inner plate 110.

[0046] It should be noted that, without affecting the strength of the outer plate 120, the outer plate 120 may have multiple welding gun through holes 121 for welding to the inner plate 110 with multiple welding points along the extension direction of the first flange portion 132.

[0047] It is understood that the first flange 132 and the second flange 133 described above can also be connected to the inner plate 110 and the outer plate 120 respectively by other connection methods. For example, the first flange 132 can be connected to the inner plate 110 by riveting or bolting, and the second flange 133 can also be connected to the outer plate 120 by riveting or bolting.

[0048] To improve torsional stiffness, a Z-shaped reinforcing member 130 is added inside the cavity 101 of the D-pillar connector to enhance the torsional resistance and deformation resistance of the cavity 101 of the D-pillar connector, thereby improving the torsional stiffness of the vehicle body. The second flange 133 of the reinforcing member 130 is first welded to the outer panel 120, and then the first flange 132 is welded to the inner panel 110. A welding gun through hole 121 is designed on the outer panel 120 so that the welding gun can weld the first flange 132 of the reinforcing member 130 to the inner panel 110 through the welding through hole of the outer panel 120.

[0049] Considering that the connector on the D-pillar is used to connect with the rear crossbeam 200 of the roof and the side panel, such as Figure 1 As shown, in some embodiments, the connector on the D-pillar further includes a first connecting portion 102 and a second connecting portion 103. The first connecting portion 102 is used to connect with the rear crossbeam 200 of the roof, and the second connecting portion 103 is used to connect with the side panel (not shown in the figure). It should be noted that the rear crossbeam 200 of the roof may also include an upper plate 210 and a lower plate 220, which can also form a cavity 101 structure. The inner plate 110 is connected to the upper plate 210, and the inner plate 110 is connected to the lower plate 220, so that the inner plate 110, the outer plate 120 and the upper plate 210 and the lower plate 220 of the rear crossbeam 200 of the roof form a complete through cavity 101 structure, ensuring a smooth force transmission path.

[0050] It should be noted that, in some embodiments, the D-pillar connector may further include a third connecting portion 104 for connecting to the lower section of the D-pillar. It is understood that when the length of the D-pillar connector is sufficiently long, it can be directly connected to the structure below, eliminating the need for the third connecting portion 104 and the lower section of the D-pillar.

[0051] According to a second aspect of this disclosure, a vehicle body structure is provided that includes the aforementioned D-pillar connector. Therefore, this vehicle body structure also possesses all the advantages of the aforementioned D-pillar connector, which will not be elaborated upon here.

[0052] The vehicle body structure may also include a rear crossbeam 200 of the roof and a side panel, wherein the rear crossbeam 200 of the roof is connected to a first connecting part 102 of the upper connector of the D-pillar, and the side panel is connected to a second connecting part 103 of the upper connector of the D-pillar.

[0053] According to a third aspect of this disclosure, a vehicle is provided that includes the aforementioned body structure, and thus the vehicle also possesses all the advantages of the aforementioned body structure.

[0054] The D-pillar connector, body structure, and vehicle disclosed herein enhance the torsional rigidity of the vehicle body while also achieving lightweighting by adding a reinforcing member 130 connecting the inner panel 110 and the outer panel 120 within the cavity 101 formed by the inner panel 110 and the outer panel 120. This reinforcing member 130 can support the inner panel 110 and the outer panel 120 without encroaching on space.

[0055] The preferred embodiments of this disclosure have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, this disclosure is not limited to the specific details of the above embodiments. Within the scope of the technical concept of this disclosure, various simple modifications can be made to the technical solutions of this disclosure, and these simple modifications all fall within the protection scope of this disclosure.

[0056] It should also be noted that the various specific technical features described in the above specific embodiments can be combined in any suitable manner without contradiction. In order to avoid unnecessary repetition, this disclosure will not describe the various possible combinations separately.

[0057] Furthermore, various different embodiments of this disclosure can be combined in any way, as long as they do not violate the spirit of this disclosure, they should also be regarded as the content disclosed in this disclosure.

Claims

1. A D-pillar connector, characterized in that, For connection with the rear crossbeam and side panels of the roof, including: Inner panel; The outer plate, together with the inner plate, forms a cavity; and A reinforcing member is disposed inside the cavity and is connected to the inner plate and the outer plate respectively.

2. The D-pillar connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The reinforcing member includes a body portion, and a first flange portion and a second flange portion respectively connected to the body portion; The first flange is connected to the inner panel, and the second flange is connected to the outer panel.

3. The D-pillar connector according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first flange is located on one side of the body portion, and the second flange is located on the opposite side of the body portion.

4. The D-pillar connector according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first flange, the second flange, and the main body are integrally formed.

5. The D-pillar connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The reinforcing member is generally Z-shaped; or The first side of the outer panel is connected to the first side of the inner panel, the second side of the outer panel is connected to the inner panel, and the second side of the outer panel also has a third flange portion, which extends in a direction away from the first side and the inner panel.

6. The D-pillar connector according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first flange is welded to the inner plate; and / or The second flange is welded to the outer plate.

7. The D-pillar connector according to claim 6, characterized in that, The outer plate has welding gun through holes.

8. The D-pillar connector according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, The D-pillar connector also includes a first connecting part for connecting to the rear crossbeam of the roof, and a second connecting part for connecting to the side panel.

9. A vehicle body structure, characterized in that, The vehicle body structure includes the D-pillar connector as described in any one of claims 1-8.

10. A vehicle, characterized in that, The vehicle includes the body structure as described in claim 9.

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