Vehicle

Abstract

To solve the problem that in a conventional vehicle, a wind throb reduction device operates when a predetermined condition is satisfied during running, thereby making it difficult to reduce a power amount consumed by the vehicle.SOLUTION: In a vehicle 10 according to the present invention, a gap 22 as an air duct is formed in front, in a vehicle length direction, of a window opening part 18E of a vehicle body 11, and window throb reduction structures 31 are formed in the air duct. When the vehicle 10 travels, traveling wind flowing into the air duct passes through the wind throb reduction structures 31 and then is caused to blow toward the window opening part 18E. These structures disturb the traveling wind blowing out from the air duct, so that frequencies of the traveling wind vary from frequencies of the traveling wind of when entering the air duct and therefore the frequencies deviate from resonant frequencies in a vehicle interior 13, so as to reduce wind throb. In addition, by utilizing the traveling wind, a power amount consumed by the vehicle 10 can be prevented from increasing.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle that reduces wind throbbing. [Background technology]

[0002] A conventional vehicle structure for reducing wind slump is known, for example, from the structure described in Patent Document 1. The conventional vehicle is equipped with a wind deflector for reducing wind slump, and the wind deflector is attached to the door frame of the vehicle's rear door. The wind deflector includes a deflector plate and a plurality of legs for fixing the deflector plate to the door frame. The deflector plate has a wing-shaped cross section, and is fixed at an angle such that the tip end of the deflector plate in the vehicle length direction approaches the door frame.

[0003] With this structure, when the vehicle is moving, the wind blowing rearward along the side of the vehicle passes through the deflector plate, changing its direction so that it is away from the rear door window opening. This makes it difficult for most of the wind to blow into the passenger compartment via the window opening, thereby reducing wind throbbing.

[0004] Furthermore, a conventional vehicle structure for reducing wind slump is known, for example, as described in Patent Document 2. The conventional vehicle is equipped with a wind slump reduction device, which is disposed inside the B-pillar of the vehicle. The wind slump reduction device is an air blower that has a blower and a duct and blows air from the inside of the vehicle toward the window opening.

[0005] This structure activates the blower when certain conditions are met, such as when the rear door glass is open a predetermined amount or more, and blows air from the vehicle interior toward the window opening. At the window opening in the area where the rear door glass is lowered, the airflow blown toward the rear of the vehicle is pushed outward by the blown air. This reduces the amount of airflow blowing into the vehicle interior and the amount of airflow hitting the rear door division bar, thereby reducing wind throttling. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-301943 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-174128 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] In the vehicle described in Patent Document 1, a wind deflector is attached to the door frame of the rear door of the vehicle so that traveling wind is directed away from the window opening of the rear door. Therefore, there is a problem that the wind deflector protrudes outward in the vehicle width direction more than necessary from the design surface of the rear door, which increases wind noise while traveling. In addition, there is a problem that the wind deflector protrudes from the design surface of the rear door, which reduces the design of the vehicle.

[0008] Furthermore, the vehicle described in Patent Document 2 has a problem in that a new wind throbbing reduction device is installed on the vehicle body, which increases manufacturing costs. Furthermore, in the vehicle, in order to reduce wind throbbing, the wind throbbing reduction device operates each time the predetermined conditions described above are met, and air is blown from the blower toward the window opening. As a result, there is a problem in that the amount of power consumed by the vehicle battery increases. In particular, in electric vehicles, it is necessary to ensure a minimum amount of power supply to the electronic control device that controls the vehicle's running, stopping, and steering, and measures to reduce the overall power consumption of the vehicle are required.

[0009] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and relates to a vehicle in which a wind slump reduction structure is formed on the front side of the window opening in the vehicle body in the vehicle length direction, thereby reducing wind slump without increasing the vehicle's power consumption. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] One embodiment of the present invention is a vehicle having a window opening on the side of the vehicle body, and is characterized in that it comprises an air passage formed in the vehicle body longitudinally forward of the window opening, and a wind slob reduction structure arranged in the air passage, and the wind generated by driving passes through the wind slob reduction structure in the air passage and is blown toward the window opening. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] In one embodiment of the present invention, a vehicle has an air passage formed longitudinally forward of a window opening on the vehicle body, and a wind throbbing reduction structure formed within the air passage. When the vehicle is traveling, wind entering the air passage passes through the wind throbbing reduction structure and is then blown toward the window opening. This structure causes the wind blown out of the air passage to be disturbed from its rectified state, causing the frequency of the wind to fluctuate from the frequency at which it entered the air passage and move away from the resonant frequency within the vehicle cabin, thereby reducing wind throbbing. Furthermore, utilizing the wind generated by the vehicle's travel prevents an increase in power consumption by the vehicle. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view illustrating a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] 1 is a side view illustrating a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 3] 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a wind throbbing reduction structure for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a wind throbbing reduction structure for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] 1 is a side view illustrating a wind throbbing reduction structure for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] A vehicle 10 equipped with a wind throb reduction structure 31 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In describing this embodiment, the same components will generally be designated by the same reference numerals, and repeated description will be omitted. Furthermore, the front-to-rear direction on the paper indicates the vehicle length direction of the vehicle 10, the left-to-right direction on the paper indicates the vehicle width direction of the vehicle 10, and the up-to-down direction on the paper indicates the vehicle height direction of the vehicle 10.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a vehicle 10 according to this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating a rear side door 18 of the vehicle 10 according to this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a wind throbbing reduction structure 31 of the vehicle 10 according to this embodiment, taken along line AA in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the wind throbbing reduction structure 31 of the vehicle 10 according to this embodiment, taken along line BB in FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is a side view illustrating the wind throbbing reduction structure 31 of the vehicle 10 according to this embodiment. For ease of explanation, the impeller 32 constituting the wind throbbing reduction structure 31 is omitted from FIG. 3.

[0015] 1, for example, a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), an HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle), or a PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) may be used as the vehicle 10. Note that the vehicle 10 is not limited to the above-mentioned electric vehicles, but also includes vehicles 10 that run on an internal combustion engine fueled by gasoline or the like.

[0016] The left and right sides of the body 11 of the vehicle 10 are provided with side sills (not shown) extending in the vehicle length direction below the passenger compartment 13 (see FIG. 2), side rails (not shown) extending in the vehicle length direction above the passenger compartment 13, and A-pillars 14, B-pillars 15, and C-pillars 16 extending in the vehicle height direction and joined to the side sills and side rails. Note that although the A-pillars 14, B-pillars 15, and C-pillars 16 are disposed inside the body panels in FIG. 1, for convenience of explanation, their locations are shown.

[0017] A front side door 17 is attached to the front opening between the A pillar 14 and the B pillar 15 so as to be openable and closable relative to the vehicle body 11. Similarly, a rear side door 18 is attached to the rear side opening between the B pillar 15 and the C pillar 16 so as to be openable and closable relative to the vehicle body 11.

[0018] The roof 19 is joined to the vehicle body 11 so as to extend from the upper end of the windshield 20 rearward in the vehicle length direction. The roof 19 is a member that forms the ceiling of the passenger compartment 13, and is formed as a hollow structure made up of a roof panel 19A and a roof trim (not shown). The roof carrier 12 is then assembled to the upper surface of the roof 19. The roof carrier 12 has, for example, two roof rails 12A, 12B that extend in the vehicle length direction.

[0019] 2, the rear side door 18 has a main body 18A, a door glass 18B, a sash 18C, and a pillar cover 18D. The main body 18A is located below the window shoulder and is formed, for example, by press-molding a steel plate. A mechanism (not shown) for raising and lowering the door glass 18B and other components are disposed inside the main body 18A.

[0020] The door glass 18B is disposed in a window opening 18E surrounded by the main body 18A and the sash 18C. The door glass 18B moves up and down relative to the window opening 18E via the lifting mechanism. When the door glass 18B moves up and down to the top end of the window opening 18E, the window opening 18E is fully closed.

[0021] The sash 18C is attached to the main body 18A and extends above the main body 18A to surround the window opening 18E. The sash 18C is a frame-shaped member that holds the edge of the door glass 18B when the door glass 18B moves up and down. The sash 18C is formed, for example, by roll-forming a steel plate.

[0022] The pillar cover 18D is an exterior member fixed to the sash 18C so as to cover the outside of the B-pillar 15 in the vehicle width direction when the rear side door 18 is fully closed relative to the vehicle body 11. The pillar cover 18D is formed by injection molding using a resin material such as PP.

[0023] Fig. 3 shows a cross section of the rear side door 18 shown in Fig. 2 taken along line AA. As shown in the figure, a glass run 21, which functions to seal out water, dust, etc., is fitted into a channel 18F formed in a sash 18C for inserting a window glass. The door glass 18B is held by the glass run 21. The glass run 21 can be made of a highly elastic soft synthetic resin such as EPDM.

[0024] A weather strip (not shown) is attached to the channel 18G of the sash 18C. The weather strip is disposed between the sash 18C and the B-pillar 15, ensuring airtightness when the rear side door 18 is fully closed.

[0025] As shown in the figure, the pillar cover 18D is fixed to the outer side of the sash 18C in the vehicle width direction so as to leave a gap 22 between the pillar cover 18D and the sash 18C. The pillar cover 18D has, for example, a plurality of locking portions 18H formed in the vehicle height direction. The pillar cover 18D is then fixed to the sash 18C via the locking portions 18H.

[0026] In this embodiment, the pillar cover 18D is disposed so as to protrude outward in the vehicle width direction relative to the pillar cover 17A (see FIG. 2) at the rear end side in the vehicle length direction of the front side door 17. With this structure, in the area where the rear side door 18 is disposed, the gap 22 serves as an airflow path for the traveling wind that flows rearward in the vehicle length direction along the left and right sides of the vehicle body 11 while the vehicle 10 is traveling. As a result, as indicated by dashed arrows 23 and 24, most of the traveling wind that passes through the gap 22 flows toward the window opening 18E of the rear side door 18.

[0027] As described above, the pillar cover 18D is disposed to extend in the vehicle height direction along the sash 18C located forward in the vehicle length direction of the rear side door 18. The gap 22 serving as the air passage is formed across the opening width W1 (see FIG. 2) of the window opening 18E in the vehicle height direction. The gap 22 is used as an area for arranging the wind throbbing reduction structure 31.

[0028] The pillar cover 18D has a plate shape and is disposed so as to be substantially parallel to the flat surface 18I of the sash 18C. With this structure, the wind generated by the vehicle is divided at the leading end of the pillar cover 18D in the vehicle length direction into two paths: one that flows toward the gap 22 and one that flows toward the outside of the pillar cover 18D. The pillar cover 18D has a plate thickness of only a few millimeters, which does not create significant flow resistance and prevents an increase in wind noise.

[0029] Furthermore, the leading end of the sash 18C in the vehicle length direction has a sloped shape that is inclined outward in the vehicle width direction. With this structure, a portion of the traveling wind that branches off at the leading end of the pillar cover 18D in the vehicle length direction can easily flow into the gap 22 by utilizing the sloped shape.

[0030] As shown in Fig. 4, the wind throb reduction structure 31 of this embodiment is a structure for changing the traveling wind, which is in a rectified state before entering the gap 22, into a new traveling wind in a disturbed state by passing through the gap 22. An impeller 32 is used as an example of the wind throb reduction structure 31.

[0031] The impeller 32 is formed with a width substantially equal to the width W2 of the gap 22. The impeller 32 has, for example, three blades 34, 35, and 36 (see FIG. 5), which are rotatably disposed about a rotation shaft 33 at the center thereof. The three blades 34, 35, and 36 are also disposed radially about the rotation shaft 33. The vehicle 10 of this embodiment has a plurality of impellers 32 as the wind throb reduction structure 31. As shown in FIG. 2, the plurality of impellers 32 are disposed side by side in the vehicle height direction of the gap 22 which serves as the air passage.

[0032] With this structure, the road-related wind that enters gap 22 inside pillar cover 18D varies in its airflow velocity, frequency, flow direction, and other characteristics before and after entering impeller 32. As will be described in detail later, in this embodiment, the shapes of blades 34, 35, and 36 of impeller 32 are different, or the spacing between blades 34, 35, and 36 of impeller 32 is different. As a result, new road-related wind that is blown out from gap 22 toward window opening 18E is disturbed and its frequency deviates from that at which it entered gap 22, moving away from the resonant frequency within passenger compartment 13, thereby reducing wind throbbing.

[0033] Here, as shown in FIG. 2, in the vehicle 10 of this embodiment, when the door glass 18B of the rear side door 18 is opened while the vehicle 10 is traveling, the new traveling wind that has passed through the gap 22 enters the passenger compartment 13 through the window opening 18E, or collides with the sash 18C or the like on the rear side of the window opening 18E in the vehicle length direction, resulting in wind throttling as in the conventional case.

[0034] However, in this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 5, the three blades 34, 35, and 36 of the impeller 32 are different in size. For example, blade 34 is the smallest, blade 36 is the largest, and blade 35 is of intermediate size. The arrangement of the blades 34, 35, and 36 can be arbitrarily modified in design.

[0035] With this structure, in the gaps 22 serving as the air passage, the rectified airflow that enters the impeller 32 is discharged from the impeller 32 at a flow velocity different from that at which it entered, due to the sizes of the blades 34, 35, and 36 that collide inside the impeller. The flow direction of the airflow discharged from the impeller 32 is disturbed by the rotational motion of the blades 34, 35, and 36. On the other hand, the airflow of the airflow that passes through the gaps 22 between the impellers 32 is in a rectified state similar to that at which it entered, and flows straight through the gaps 22 toward the rear in the vehicle length direction.

[0036] As a result, the frequency of the new road wind blown out from gap 22 toward window opening 18E varies due to the collision and disturbance of air currents with different flow speeds and directions. The frequency of the new road wind, or the frequency component due to pressure fluctuations caused by the new road wind colliding with sash 18C or the like, varies so as to move away from the resonant frequency within passenger compartment 13, thereby reducing wind throbbing.

[0037] Furthermore, the wind throbbing reduction structure 31 of this embodiment uses an impeller 32 that rotates using wind generated by running, and does not employ an electronically controlled structure. With this structure, the battery of the vehicle 10 is not used when the wind throbbing reduction structure 31 is operating, and an increase in the amount of power consumed by the vehicle 10 is prevented.

[0038] In this embodiment, the three blades 34, 35, 36 of the impeller 32 are different in size, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the three blades 34, 35, 36 of the impeller 32 may be the same in size, but the thicknesses of the three blades 34, 35, 36 may be different. Similarly, the three blades 34, 35, 36 may be different in both size and thickness. In these cases, the wind throb reduction structure 31 also achieves the same effects as those described above.

[0039] Furthermore, although the wind throb reduction structure 31 has been described as having a plurality of impellers 32, the present invention is not limited to this. The wind throb reduction structure 31 may be any structure that disrupts the airflow of the traveling wind that has entered the gap 22, and may be, for example, a blade-shaped member whose tip is movably fixed to a rotating shaft and that flutters in the vehicle width direction or vehicle height direction due to the traveling wind. The wind throb reduction structure 31 in this case also achieves the same effects as those described above. In addition, various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0040] 10 vehicles 11 Body 12 Roof carrier 12A Roof rails 12B roof rails 13 Cabin 14 A-pillar 15 B-pillar 16 C-pillar 17 Front side door 17A Pillar cover 18 Rear side door 18A Main body 18B Door glass 18C Sash 18D Pillar Cover 18E Window opening 18F Channel 18G Channel 18H Locking part 19 Roof 19A Roof panel 20 Windshield 21 Glass Run 22 Gap 31 Wind throbbing reduction structure 32 Impeller 33 Rotation axis 34 Feather 35 Feather 36 Feather

Claims

1. A vehicle equipped with a window opening on the side of the vehicle body, an air passage formed in the vehicle body forward of the window opening in the vehicle length direction; a wind throbbing reduction structure disposed in the wind path, A vehicle characterized in that wind generated while the vehicle is running passes through the wind throbbing reduction structure of the air passage and is blown toward the window opening.

2. a pillar of the vehicle body located forward of the window opening in a vehicle length direction; a door portion assembled to the pillar; a pillar cover fixed to the sash of the door portion, 2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the air passage is a gap between the sash and the pillar cover.

3. The wind throbbing reduction structure has an impeller disposed in the wind passage, 3. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of impellers are arranged in the vehicle height direction of the air passage.

4. The impeller is formed by a plurality of blades, 4. The vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the blades are different in size.

5. The impeller is formed by a plurality of blades, 4. The vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the blades have different thicknesses.

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