Pipe holding structure

Abstract

To achieve a pipe holding structure which protects a peripheral member by controlling a direction of movement of a bracket fixed to a pipeline and a pipeline at rear collision of a vehicle.SOLUTION: A pipe holding structure comprises a fuel-tank 12, a rear axle 14 which is provided on rear of the fuel-tank 12, a pipeline 16 which is provided between the fuel-tank 12 and the rear axle 14 in a cross direction and a first bracket 18 and a second bracket 20 which are fixed to the pipeline 16. The first bracket 18 includes a bent part 18c which bends so that a front end part 18a is disposed in lower side than a rear end part 18b. The front end part 18a is disposed between a floor panel 22 and the fuel-tank 12 below it in a vertical direction. The second bracket 20 is provided on a rearward direction of the first bracket 18 and moreover is high in rigidness. When rear of the vehicle is collided, the first bracket 18 bends at the bent part 18c and the second bracket 20 rotates the front end part 20a as a fulcrum.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle underbody structure, and more particularly to a pipe holding structure. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various structures have been proposed for the underbody structure of a vehicle, particularly for the arrangement of various components below a floor panel, according to various purposes.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a low-floor bus. In this low-floor bus, a fuel tank is provided under the front end of the raised floor and in front of the rear axle. This configuration makes it possible to effectively utilize the space below the raised floor, and also makes it unnecessary to partially raise the aisle floor, which was previously required to install a fuel tank, etc., so that the aisle floor can be made as flat as possible.

[0004] Patent Document 2 discloses a vehicle equipped with a drive unit that drives the rear wheels. Patent Document 2 states that because the rear end of the drive unit is located forward of the rear end of the rear cross member, the drive unit can be protected by the rear cross member in the event of a rear-end collision (hereinafter referred to as "rear impact") even if the drive unit is disposed at the rear of the vehicle. Furthermore, the design of the length of the drive unit in the front-rear and vehicle width directions allows deformation of the vehicle frame members, and the drive unit can be more reliably protected. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-020663 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2020-40576 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In the vehicle undercarriage, pipes such as fuel pipes and cooling pipes, and high-pressure wire harnesses may be arranged between the fuel tank and the rear axle. For example, in a vehicle in which the fuel tank, high-pressure wire harness, pipes, and rear axle are arranged in this order from the front of the vehicle, in the event of a rear-end collision, the pipes pushed out from the rear axle may collide with the fuel tank or the high-pressure wire harness. Therefore, it is necessary to design the vehicle undercarriage (more specifically, the pipe holding structure) taking into consideration the movement direction of the pipes and further the brackets fixed to the pipes during a vehicle rear-end collision.

[0007] In view of this, this specification provides a pipe holding structure that protects surrounding components by controlling the movement direction of the pipe and the bracket fixed to the pipe during a vehicle rear collision. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The piping retention structure disclosed in this specification comprises a fuel tank provided below a floor panel in the vertical direction of the vehicle, a rear axle provided behind the fuel tank in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, piping provided between the fuel tank and the rear axle in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and a first bracket and a second bracket both fixed to the piping and supporting the piping to the vehicle, wherein the first bracket is crank-shaped and has a bent portion that extends in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and is bent so that its front end is positioned lower than its rear end, the front end being positioned between the floor panel and the fuel tank in the vertical direction of the vehicle, the second bracket is provided rearward of the first bracket and has higher rigidity than the first bracket, and in the event of a rear-end collision of the vehicle, the first bracket bends at the bent portion and the second bracket rotates around its front end as a fulcrum. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the pipe holding structure disclosed in this specification, the first bracket and the second bracket fixed to the pipe have different rigidities, so that in the event of a rear-end collision or the like where a load is applied, the first bracket, which has low rigidity, becomes a weak part and bends. The second bracket, which has high rigidity, only rotates around its front end as a fulcrum. In other words, the movement direction of the pipe and both the first and second brackets can be controlled so that they do not move in the vertical direction. As a result, it is possible to avoid collisions between the pipe and both the brackets and surrounding components, and ultimately to protect the surrounding components. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the pipe holding structure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a bracket fixed to a pipe. [Diagram 3] FIG. 11 is a perspective view for explaining a state of the bracket during a rear-end collision. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] The pipe holding structure will be described below with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, "Fr", "Up" and "Rh" respectively indicate the front, upper and right sides of the vehicle.

[0012] 1 is a schematic side view of a pipe holding structure for a vehicle 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the pipe holding structure for a vehicle 10 includes a fuel tank 12, a rear axle 14, a pipe 16, a first bracket 18, and a second bracket 20.

[0013] The fuel tank 12 stores fuel to be supplied to an engine (not shown). The fuel tank 12 is provided below a floor panel 22 in the up-down direction of the vehicle 10.

[0014] The rear axle 14 is an axle that connects left and right rear wheels 24. The rear axle 14 is provided rearward of the fuel tank 12 in the front-rear direction of the vehicle 10. Note that in Fig. 1, the rear wheels 24 are shown by two-dot chain lines for illustrative purposes.

[0015] The pipe 16 is, for example, a metallic cooling pipe that is connected to a radiator (not shown) to supply a coolant. The pipe 16 is provided between the fuel tank 12 and the rear axle 14 in the front-rear direction of the vehicle 10.

[0016] The first bracket 18 is fixed to the pipe 16 and is a support member that supports the pipe 16. In this example, the first bracket 18 and the pipe 16 are fixed by brazing. The first bracket 18 extends in the front-rear direction of the vehicle 10 and has an overall crank shape. As shown in FIG. 1, a front end portion 18a of the first bracket 18 is provided at a position between the floor panel 22 and the fuel tank 12 in the up-down direction of the vehicle 10. Note that the first bracket 18 is shown as a dark black portion to distinguish it from the surrounding members. The same applies to FIGS. 2 and 3 below.

[0017] The second bracket 20 is a support member that is fixed to the pipe 16 and supports the pipe 16. In this example, the second bracket 20 and the pipe 16 are fixed by brazing. The second bracket 20 is provided behind the first bracket 18. Note that the second bracket 20 is shown as a light-shaded portion in order to distinguish it from the surrounding members. The same applies to Figs. 2 and 3 below.

[0018] Next, the first bracket 18 and the second bracket 20 will be further described with reference to Figures 2 and 3. Figure 2 is a perspective view of the bracket fixed to the pipe. Figure 3 is a perspective view for explaining the state of the bracket during a rear-end collision.

[0019] The first bracket 18 has a front end 18a and a rear end 18b. The first bracket 18 further has a bent portion 18c that is bent so that the front end 18a is positioned lower than the rear end 18b. In Fig. 3, a double-headed arrow is shown to indicate the difference in height between the front end 18a and the rear end 18b.

[0020] The second bracket 20 has a front end 20a, a central portion 20b extending from the front end 20a in a substantially vertical direction, and a rear portion 20c extending from the central portion 20b in a substantially parallel manner to the vehicle longitudinal direction. Here, the second bracket 20 is set to have a higher rigidity than the first bracket 18. Specifically, for example, when the plate thickness of the first bracket 18 is 2.0 mm, the plate thickness of the second bracket 20 is set to 2.5 mm. This configuration will be further described with reference to FIG. 3.

[0021] In FIG. 3, thick arrows are shown at the front and rear of the pipe 16. The black arrow A shown at the rear of the pipe 16 represents the input load applied to the pipe 16 from the rear when the vehicle 10 is rear-ended. The white arrow B shown at the front of the pipe 16 represents the direction in which the pipe 16 is pushed out and moves when the vehicle 10 is rear-ended. Furthermore, in FIG. 3, the line C shown by the two-dot chain line represents an image of the shape in which the first bracket 18 is bent when the vehicle 10 is rear-ended. That is, when a load is input from the rear, the first bracket 18 is bent in a Z shape as shown by the line C. This is because, as described above, the second bracket 20 is set to have a higher rigidity than the first bracket 18 (in other words, the first bracket 18 is intentionally weakened), and when the pipe 16 and the first bracket 18 and the second bracket 20 fixed thereto are viewed as a single unit, the first bracket 18, which has a low rigidity, becomes a weak part. In addition, the first bracket 18, which is the weak part, has a crank shape with a difference in height between the front end 18a and the rear end 18b, so that it is easily bent at the bent part 18c by the input of a load from the rear. And, because of this configuration that easily bends into a Z shape, even in the case of a rear collision, the pipe 16 and the first bracket 18 are suppressed from moving in the vertical direction, and the first bracket 18 is pushed forward so as to slip between the fuel tank 12 and the floor panel 22. On the other hand, the second bracket 20, which has higher rigidity, only rotates with the front end 20a as a fulcrum. More specifically, when a load is input from the rear, the rear part 20c is pushed out and moves forward in parallel, but the front end 20a is held still because it has high rigidity. Then, the center part 20b rotates with the front end 20a as a fulcrum. As a result, like the first bracket 18, the pipe 16 and the second bracket 20 are suppressed from moving in the vertical direction. That is, according to the pipe holding structure disclosed in this specification, the movement direction of the pipe 16 and the first bracket 18 and the second bracket 20 fixed thereto can be controlled so as not to move in the vertical direction. As a result, collision between the pipe 16 and both brackets 18, 20 and surrounding components such as the fuel tank 12 can be avoided, and the surrounding components can be protected.

[0022] Note that the above description is merely an example, and in the pipe holding structure disclosed in this specification, the two brackets that fix the pipes are set to have different rigidities, and the bracket with the lower rigidity has a crank shape with a bent portion that is bent so that the front end is positioned lower than the rear end (i.e., there is a height difference between the rear end and the front end), and is configured to bend during a rear-end collision. In other words, it is sufficient that the settings take into consideration the movement direction of the pipes and the brackets fixed to the pipes during a vehicle rear-end collision, and other configurations may be changed as appropriate. [Explanation of symbols]

[0023] 10 vehicle, 12 fuel tank, 14 rear axle, 16 piping, 18 first bracket, 18c bend, 20 second bracket, 22 floor panel, 24 rear wheel.

Claims

[Claim 1] a fuel tank provided below a floor panel in the vertical direction of the vehicle; a rear axle provided behind the fuel tank in a front-rear direction of the vehicle; a pipe provided between the fuel tank and the rear axle in the front-rear direction of the vehicle; a first bracket and a second bracket, both of which are secured to the pipe and support the pipe to the vehicle; Equipped with The first bracket is Extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, The crank shape has a bent portion bent so that the front end is positioned lower than the rear end, the front end portion is disposed between the floor panel and the fuel tank in the vertical direction of the vehicle, The second bracket is Located rearward of the first bracket, The first bracket has a higher rigidity than the first bracket, When the vehicle undergoes a rear-end collision, the first bracket bends at the bent portion, and the second bracket rotates about a front end portion. A pipe holding structure characterized by the above.

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