Fender liner

Abstract

To provide a fender liner that has a simple structure capable of immediately discharging water or pebbles splattered by a tire, and absorbing noise arising from the tire during travel.SOLUTION: A fender liner 10 that covers an upper part of a wheel includes an internal component 1, and an external component 2 fixed to the internal component 1 while being superposed on at least part of the periphery 111 of the internal component 1. A communication pipe 7 is formed to extend in a circumferential direction between the internal component 1 and external component 2 and communicate with a space on the side of the wheel and a space on the side of a vehicle body.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a fender liner that covers the upper part of a wheel. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a fender liner that has a Helmholtz resonator in which multiple substantially rectangular parallelepiped air chambers are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the fender liner and the air chambers communicate with the wheelhouse via through holes, with the air chambers acting as resonance chambers and the through holes as openings of the resonance chambers. This fender liner is able to absorb noise generated by the tires while driving by using the Helmholtz resonator thus provided. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2012-008458 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Because electric vehicles do not produce engine noise, noise generated from the tires while driving accounts for a higher proportion of the interior noise compared to vehicles equipped with engines. Therefore, there is a demand to reduce the noise generated from the tires while driving, especially for electric vehicles.

[0005] The fender liner disclosed in Patent Document 1 is capable of absorbing noise generated by tires during driving using a Helmholtz-type resonator. However, this fender liner has a complex configuration with multiple air chambers on its outer circumferential surface, which increases costs. In addition, this fender liner has a structure that makes it difficult for water, pebbles, etc. that are splashed up by the tire and enter the air chamber through the through-holes to be discharged from the air chamber, which raises concerns that water that accumulates in the air chamber may cause corrosion or rust of parts, and that pebbles that enter the air chamber may cause abnormal noise.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a fender liner that has a simple configuration and a structure that can immediately expel water, pebbles, etc. splashed up by the tire, while also absorbing noise generated by the tire during driving. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The fender liner of the present invention is a fender liner that covers an area above a wheel and is characterized in that it comprises an inner component and an outer component that is fixed to the inner component in a state where it is overlapped with at least a portion of the outer peripheral surface of the inner component, and a communicating pipe that extends in the circumferential direction between the inner component and the outer component and communicates between a space on the wheel side and a space on the vehicle body side. Effect of the Invention

[0008] The present invention has a simple configuration and a structure that can immediately discharge water, pebbles, and the like that are splashed up by the tire, while being able to absorb noise generated by the tire during driving. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the fender liner of the first embodiment. [Diagram 2] 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a fender liner according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] <First embodiment> A fender liner 10 according to a first embodiment will be described below with reference to Figures 1 and 2. The arrows FR, UP, and RH shown in the following drawings indicate the forward direction (traveling direction), upward, and rightward directions of the vehicle, respectively. The opposite directions of the arrows FR, UP, and RH indicate the rearward direction, downward, and leftward directions of the vehicle, respectively. Hereinafter, when the directions of front-rear, left-right, and up-down are used in the description, they refer to front-rear in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, left-right in the left-right direction of the vehicle (vehicle width direction), and up-down in the up-down direction of the vehicle, unless otherwise specified.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a fender liner 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the fender liner 10 includes an inner component 1 and an outer component 2. The inner component 1 is composed of a substantially semicylindrical arch portion 11, a side wall portion 12 arranged on the inner side in the vehicle width direction, and a front flange portion 13. A substantially semicylindrical groove 14 is formed in the rear end of an outer circumferential surface 111 of the arch portion 11, the groove 14 being recessed radially inward of the arch portion 11 and extending in the circumferential direction. The outer component 2 is composed of an arc portion 21 that is fixed to the inner component 1 in a state where it is overlapped with the rear end of the outer circumferential surface 111 of the arch portion 11 of the inner component 1, a side wall portion 22 arranged on the inner side in the vehicle width direction, and a rear flange portion 23.

[0012] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 also shows a tire 3 and a vehicle body panel 4, which are not shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, the tire 3 is shown by a dashed line, and the vehicle body panel 4 is shown by a two-dot dashed line. The tire 3 is a wheel on the right side of the vehicle. A fender liner 10 covers the upper part of the tire 3 and forms a wheel arch on the right side of the vehicle. A wheel house 5 is formed radially inward of the fender liner 10 as a space on the tire 3 side. A vehicle body panel 4 is disposed radially outward of the fender liner 10, and a back space 6 is formed between the fender liner 10 and the vehicle body panel 4.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 1, the arc portion 21 of the outer component 2 is fixed to the inner component 1 in a state where it is overlapped with the rear end of the outer peripheral surface 111 of the arch portion 11 of the inner component 1, so that the arc portion 21 of the outer component 2 covers the groove 14, and thus a communication pipe 7 that communicates the wheel house 5 and the rear space 6 is formed between the inner component 1 and the outer component 2. Therefore, in the fender liner 10, a Helmholtz type resonator is formed in which the rear space 6 serves as a resonance chamber and the communication pipe 7 serves as an opening of the resonance chamber. The fender liner 10 allows noise generated from the road contact position of the tire 3 during driving to enter the rear space 6 from the communication pipe 7, and utilizes the rear space 6 and the communication pipe 7 as a Helmholtz type resonator, thereby absorbing noise generated from the tire 3. The fender liner 10 thus absorbs noise generated from the tire 3 during driving, thereby reducing noise heard by occupants in the vehicle cabin.

[0014] Regarding the frequency f at which a Helmholtz resonator absorbs sound, the following equation 1 holds true if the speed of sound is c, the volume of the resonance chamber is V, the cross-sectional area of ​​the passage of the communicating tube extending from the resonance chamber is S, and the length of the communicating tube is L.

[0015]

number

[0016] Therefore, in the fender liner 10, by appropriately setting the value of the volume of the rear space 6, the value of the cross-sectional area of ​​the passage of the communicating pipe 7, and the value of the length of the communicating pipe 7, it is possible to adjust the frequency of the noise absorbed by the Helmholtz resonator.

[0017] It is also known that noise generated by tires 3 while the vehicle is running becomes particularly loud near the point where the tire 3 contacts the road surface and at a position rear of that point. For this reason, the sound absorbing effect of fender liner 10 can be increased by providing communicating pipe 7 at a position rear of fender liner 10 close to the road surface, as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

[0018] Furthermore, by providing the communicating pipe 7 at the rear of the fender liner 10 in this manner and fixing the outer component 2 in an overlapping state to the rear of the outer circumferential surface 111 of the arch portion 11 of the inner component 1, the rigidity of the rear portion of the fender liner 10 can be improved.

[0019] The fender liner 10 is composed of two parts, an inner part 1 and an outer part 2, and a Helmholtz-type resonator can be provided by fixing the outer part 2 to the inner part 1 and forming a communicating pipe 7, so it has a simpler configuration than the fender liner disclosed in Patent Document 1.

[0020] Furthermore, because the communicating pipes 7 provided in the fender liner 10 to extend in the circumferential direction are inclined, even if water, pebbles, etc., splashed up by the tire 3 enter the communicating pipe 7, they can be immediately discharged downward from the communicating pipe 7. In particular, by providing the communicating pipe 7 at the rear of the fender liner 10 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the inclination of the communicating pipe 7 becomes greater, making it even easier to discharge water, pebbles, etc. Furthermore, even if water accumulates on the outer circumferential surface 111 of the arch portion 11 of the inner component 1 due to condensation or other factors, the water can be discharged from the communicating pipe 7. As a result, the fender liner 10 can suppress the occurrence of corrosion and rust on the components.

[0021] In this way, the fender liner 10 has a simple configuration and is structured to immediately expel water, pebbles, and the like splashed up by the tire 3, while still being able to absorb noise generated by the tire 3 during driving.

[0022] The sound absorbing effect of the fender liner 10 may be further improved by attaching a fiber material such as Thinsulate (registered trademark) to the outer circumferential surface 111 of the arch portion 11 of the inner part 1.

[0023] <Second embodiment> Next, a fender liner 20 of a second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 3. The fender liner 20 of the second embodiment has the same configuration as the fender liner 10 of the first embodiment, except that three communicating pipes 7a-7c are provided between the inner component 1a and the outer component 2, and a partition wall 15 is provided on the outer circumferential surface 111a of the arch portion 11a of the inner component 1a. Therefore, the same components as the fender liner 10 of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0024] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the fender liner 20. As shown in FIG. 3, the fender liner 20 includes an inner part 1a and an outer part 2. The inner part 1a is composed of an arch portion 11a having a substantially semicylindrical shape, a side wall portion 12 disposed on the inner side in the vehicle width direction, and a front flange portion 13. Three grooves 14a to 14c having a substantially semicylindrical shape are formed at the rear end of an outer peripheral surface 111a of the arch portion 11a, the grooves 14a to 14c being recessed toward the radially inner side of the arch portion 11a and extending in the circumferential direction. The three grooves 14a to 14c are arranged in parallel to each other in the vehicle width direction. A partition wall 15 is provided on the outer peripheral surface 111a of the arch portion 11a of the inner part 1a. When the fender liner 20 is attached to the vehicle body, the partition wall 15 comes into contact with the vehicle body panel 4, and three resonance chambers 6a to 6c are formed in the back space 6 between the fender liner 20 and the vehicle body panel 4.

[0025] By fixing the arc portion 21 of the outer component 2 to the inner component 1a in a state where it is overlapped with the rear end portion of the outer peripheral surface 111a of the arch portion 11a of the inner component 1a, the arc portion 21 of the outer component 2 covers the three grooves 14a to 14c, so that a communication pipe 7a that communicates the wheel house 5 and the resonance chamber 6a, a communication pipe 7b that communicates the wheel house 5 and the resonance chamber 6b, and a communication pipe 7c that communicates the wheel house 5 and the resonance chamber 6c are formed between the inner component 1a and the outer component 2. Therefore, in the fender liner 20, a Helmholtz-type resonator constituted by the resonance chamber 6a and the communication pipe 7a, a Helmholtz-type resonator constituted by the resonance chamber 6b and the communication pipe 7b, and a Helmholtz-type resonator constituted by the resonance chamber 6c and the communication pipe 7c are formed.

[0026] By utilizing these three Helmholtz resonators, the fender liner 20 can absorb noise generated from the tires 3 while the vehicle is running, thereby reducing the noise heard by passengers inside the vehicle cabin. By providing three Helmholtz resonators in this way, the fender liner 20 can increase the degree to which noise generated from the tires 3 while the vehicle is running penetrates the Helmholtz resonators, improving the sound absorption effect. In addition, by appropriately setting the value of the volumetric size of the resonance chambers 6a-6c, the value of the cross-sectional area of ​​the passages of the communicating pipes 7a-7c, and the value of the length of the communicating pipes 7a-7c, the fender liner 20 can adjust the frequency of the noise absorbed by the Helmholtz resonators.

[0027] Furthermore, by providing the three communicating pipes 7a-7c in this manner at the rear of the fender liner 20 and fixing the outer component 2 in an overlapping state to the rear of the outer circumferential surface 111a of the arch portion 11a of the inner component 1a, the rigidity of the rear portion of the fender liner 20 can be further improved compared to the fender liner 10 of the first embodiment.

[0028] The fender liner 20 is composed of two parts, an inner part 1a and an outer part 2, and a Helmholtz-type resonator can be provided by fixing the outer part 2 to the inner part 1a and forming the three communicating pipes 7a to 7c, so it has a simpler configuration than the fender liner disclosed in Patent Document 1.

[0029] Furthermore, since the three communicating pipes 7a-7c provided in the fender liner 20 to extend in the circumferential direction are all inclined, even if water, pebbles, and the like splashed up by the tire 3 enter the communicating pipes 7a-7c, they can be immediately discharged downward from the communicating pipes 7a-7c. In particular, by providing the communicating pipes 7a-7c at the rear of the fender liner 20 as shown in FIG. 3, the inclination of the communicating pipes 7a-7c becomes greater, making it even easier to discharge water, pebbles, and the like. Furthermore, even if water accumulates on the outer circumferential surface 111a of the arch portion 11a of the inner component 1a due to condensation or other factors, the water can be discharged from the three communicating pipes 7a-7c. Therefore, the fender liner 20 can suppress the occurrence of corrosion and rust on the components.

[0030] In this way, the fender liner 20 has a simple configuration and is structured to immediately discharge water, pebbles, and the like splashed up by the tire 3, while absorbing noise generated by the tire 3 during driving. The number of communicating pipes formed between the inner component 1a and the outer component 2 may be a number other than three, such as 2 or 4. Also, the partition wall 15 may not be provided on the outer circumferential surface 111a of the arch portion 11a of the inner component 1a, and the wheel house 5 and the rear space 6 may be communicated with each other through a plurality of communicating pipes. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 1, 1a inner part, 2 outer part, 3 tire, 4 body panel, 5 wheel house, 6 rear space, 6a, 6b, 6c resonance chamber, 7, 7a, 7b, 7c connecting pipe, 10, 20 fender liner, 11, 11a arch portion, 12 side wall portion, 13 front flange portion, 14, 14a, 14b, 14c groove, 15 partition wall, 21 arc portion, 22 side wall portion, 23 rear flange portion, 111, 111a outer peripheral surface.

Claims

[Claim 1] A fender liner that covers the upper part of a wheel, An inner component and an outer component fixed to the inner component in a state overlapping at least a portion of an outer circumferential surface of the inner component, a communication pipe extending in a circumferential direction between the inner component and the outer component for communicating between a space on the wheel side and a space on the vehicle body side,

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