Vehicle upper body structure

Abstract

To provide a vehicle upper body structure that can further increase rigidity of a rail part.SOLUTION: In an upper body structure provided with a brace portion 5 connected to another end in a front-back direction of a rail portion 4, there is provided a reinforcement member 6 that includes a main wall 61, whose one end side in the front-back direction is welded to one end side flange 43 of the rail portion 4 and whose other end side in the front-back direction is welded to the other end side flange 45 of the rail portion 4 and one end side in the front-back direction of the brace portion 5. A flange 63 of the reinforcement member 6 is welded to a bottom wall 41 of the rail portion 4, thereby bonding a roof panel to the main wall 61 of the reinforcement member 6.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an upper body structure of a vehicle in which a rail portion extending in the left-right direction and a brace portion extending in the front-rear direction are arranged below a roof panel. [Background technology]

[0002] A known vehicle upper body structure has a front header extending in the vehicle width direction between the upper ends of the left and right front pillars, and a front end of a longitudinal roof reinforcement is connected to the front header at a substantially central position in the vehicle width direction (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the upper body structure described in Patent Document 1, a joint member is provided inside the front header at the same position in the vehicle width direction as the longitudinal roof reinforcement. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2016-150700 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the upper body structure described in Patent Document 1, the joint members, which are reinforcing members, and the longitudinal roof reinforcement, which is a brace portion, are provided separately and independently, so that improvement in rigidity of the rail portion is limited.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an upper body structure of a vehicle that can further improve the rigidity of the rail portion. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to the present invention, there is provided a roof panel, a rail section having a bottom wall arranged below the roof panel, extending in the left-right direction and extending approximately front-rear in side cross section, one end wall extending approximately upward from one end of the bottom wall in the front-rear direction, a one-end flange extending in one front-rear direction from an upper end of the one end wall, an other end wall extending approximately upward from the other end of the bottom wall in the front-rear direction, and an other-end flange extending in the other front-rear direction from an upper end of the other end wall, a brace section arranged below the roof panel, connected to the other end side of the rail section in the front-rear direction and extending from the rail section in the other front-rear direction, and reinforcing a connection portion of the rail section with the brace section. an upper body structure for a vehicle is provided, the upper body structure including a reinforcing member, the reinforcing member having, in a front cross section, a main wall extending generally left and right, a pair of left and right side walls extending generally downward from both left and right ends of the main wall, and a pair of left and right flanges extending generally left and right outward from the lower ends of each side wall, the main wall of the reinforcing member having one front-to-rear end side welded to the one-end flange of the rail section and the other front-to-rear end side welded to the other-end flange of the rail section and the one front-to-rear end side of the brace section, the flanges of the reinforcing member welded to the bottom wall of the rail section, and the roof panel adhered to the main wall of the reinforcing member.

[0007] According to this vehicle upper body structure, the main wall of the reinforcing member is connected to one end of the brace section in the fore-aft direction, and connects one end flange and the other end flange of the rail section, so that the load from the brace section is mainly received by the reinforcing member, and the fore-aft movement of each flange of the rail section is restricted, thereby suppressing deformation of the side cross section of the rail section. In addition, by joining each flange of the reinforcing member to the bottom wall of the rail section so that the reinforcing member and the rail section form a closed cross section when viewed from the front, and by bonding the roof panel to the main wall of the reinforcing member, the rigidity near the connection portion of the rail section with the brace section can be improved.

[0008] In addition, in the upper body structure of the above-mentioned vehicle, the one end side flange of the rail portion has a protrusion that protrudes in the other fore-aft direction in a planar view and is welded and joined to the main wall of the reinforcing member, the main wall of the reinforcing member has a pair of left and right beads extending in the fore-aft direction and spaced apart in one and the other left-right directions from a predetermined joining position of the protrusion, each of the beads has one fore-aft end located to the fore-aft side of the joining position of the protrusion, and the bottom wall of the rail portion may have an on-board equipment mounting portion formed below the main wall of the reinforcing member.

[0009] According to this vehicle upper body structure, the beads of the reinforcing member further improve the rigidity of the rail section near the connection with the brace section, and further suppress deformation of the bottom wall of the rail section where the on-board device mounting section is formed. This allows the weight of the on-board device to be attached to the rail front to be increased. In addition, since one front-rear end of each bead is located to one side in the front-rear direction from the joining position of the protruding portion of the one-end flange of the rail section, deformation in the vicinity of the joining position, where deformation is relatively easy in the reinforcing member, is suppressed.

[0010] In addition, in the upper body structure of the above-mentioned vehicle, the protrusion of the one end flange of the rail portion is welded to the main wall of the reinforcing member at three or more locations, and among the joint positions between the protrusion of the one end flange of the rail portion and the main wall of the reinforcing member, at least one joint position located on the central side in the left-right direction may be positioned on the other side in the fore-aft direction than the two joint positions located outermost.

[0011] According to this upper body structure of the vehicle, by shifting the joint position on the center side in the left-right direction among the multiple joint points between the protruding portion of the flange on one end of the rail portion and the main wall of the reinforcing member to the other side in the front-to-rear direction, deformation near the joint position, which is relatively prone to deformation in the reinforcing member, is suppressed.

[0012] Furthermore, in the upper body structure of the vehicle, the brace portion has, in a front cross section, a main wall extending approximately left and right, a pair of left and right vertical walls extending approximately upward from both left and right ends of the main wall, and a pair of left and right flanges extending approximately left and right outward from the upper ends of each vertical wall, the main wall of the reinforcing member has a recess extending in the fore-and-aft direction including a pair of left and right vertical wall portions and a bottom portion connecting each of the vertical wall portions, the vertical walls of the brace portion and each of the vertical wall portions of the reinforcing member are formed continuously, and one fore-and-aft end of the vertical wall portion of the reinforcing member may be located to one side in the fore-and-aft direction of the other fore-and-aft ends of each of the beads.

[0013] According to this vehicle upper body structure, the vertical walls of the brace section and the vertical wall sections of the reinforcing member are integrally formed across the other front-rear end of the rail section, so that the load from the brace section is hardly transmitted to the other end of the rail section, and deformation of the side cross section of the rail section can be further suppressed. Also, since the one front-rear end of the vertical wall section of the reinforcing member is located to one side of the other front-rear ends of each bead, the rigidity of the reinforcing member can be ensured throughout the front-rear direction.

[0014] In addition, in the upper body structure of the above-mentioned vehicle, at a predetermined position in the left-right direction, the joint position between the one end flange of the rail portion on the main wall of the reinforcing member and the other end flange of the rail portion on the main wall of the reinforcing member may be approximately the same height from the bottom wall of the rail portion.

[0015] According to this upper body structure of the vehicle, the height from the bottom wall of the joint position of the main wall of the reinforcing member to the rail portion is approximately the same at one end and the other end in the fore-and-aft direction, so that the main wall of the reinforcing member is approximately parallel to the bottom wall of the rail portion. Compared to a case where the main wall of the reinforcing member is non-parallel to the bottom wall of the rail portion, the cross-sectional shape formed by the reinforcing member and the rail portion can be made more rigid. Effect of the Invention

[0016] According to the vehicle upper body structure of the present invention, the rigidity of the rail portion can be further improved. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1 is an external perspective view of a vehicle showing an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which a roof panel and an interposition plate of the vehicle body upper structure have been removed. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a portion of the rail front. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the vehicle body upper structure. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a schematic perspective view of a portion of the rail front showing the state in which the reinforcing member and the brace are joined. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] Figures 1 to 5 show one embodiment of the present invention, where Figure 1 is an external oblique view of a vehicle showing one embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a schematic oblique view showing the state where the roof panel and intervening plate of the carbody upper structure have been removed, Figure 3 is a schematic oblique view of a portion of the rail front, Figure 4 is a schematic side cross-sectional view of the carbody upper structure, and Figure 5 is a schematic oblique view of a portion of the rail front showing the state where the reinforcing member and brace have been joined.

[0019] As shown in Fig. 1, the vehicle 1 is equipped with a roof panel 2 that separates the upper part of the interior space. The roof panel 2 forms an outer panel of the vehicle 1, and its front end side is covered from above by the rear end side of a windshield glass 100. In this embodiment, the roof panel 2 is made of aluminum.

[0020] 2, the body structure of this vehicle 1 includes a rail front 4 that connects the upper ends of a pair of left and right front pillars 3 arranged below the roof panel 2 and extends in the left-right direction, a brace 5 that is arranged below the roof panel 2 and connected to the left-right center of the rail front 4 and extends in the front-rear direction, and a reinforcing member 6 that reinforces the connection portion of the rail front 4 with the brace 5. In this embodiment, the front pillars 3, rail front 4, brace 5 and reinforcing member 6 are made of steel plates.

[0021] As shown in Fig. 3, the rail front 4 has, in a side cross section, a bottom wall 41 extending substantially forward and backward, a front wall 42 extending substantially upward from the front end of the bottom wall 41, a front flange 43 extending substantially forward from the upper end of the front wall 42, a rear wall 44 extending substantially upward from the rear end of the bottom wall 41, and a rear flange 45 extending substantially rearward from the upper end of the rear wall 44. As shown in Fig. 4, in this embodiment, an intervening plate 7 made of aluminum is provided between the roof panel 2 and the rail front 4. The intervening plate 7 is joined to the flange of the roof panel 2 by welding, and is joined to the front flange 43 of the rail front 4 by crimping.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 2, the brace 5 has a main wall 51 extending substantially left and right in a front cross section, a pair of left and right vertical walls 52 extending substantially upward from both left and right ends of the main wall 51, and a pair of left and right flanges 53 extending substantially left and right outward from the upper ends of the vertical walls 52. The front end of the brace 5 is connected to the rear flange 45 of the rail front 4. As shown in FIG. 3, the rear flange 45 of the rail front 4 has a recess 45a having the same shape as the main wall 51 and each vertical wall 52 of the brace 5 in a front view, and the rail front 4 and the brace 5 are joined by overlapping and welding the front end of the brace 5 to the recess 45a. In FIG. 3, the joint position of the brace 5 and the reinforcing member 6 on the rail front 4 is indicated by a circle with a cross mark. In this embodiment, the reinforcing member 6 is interposed in the joint portion between the rail front 4 and the brace 5, and is joined together with the rail front 4 and the brace 5 by spot welding.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 5, the reinforcing member 6 has a main wall 61 extending substantially left and right in a front cross section, a pair of left and right side walls 62 extending substantially downward from both left and right ends of the main wall 61, and a pair of left and right flanges 63 extending substantially left and right outward from the lower ends of each side wall 62. The main wall 61 also has a recess 64 extending in the front and rear direction including a pair of left and right vertical wall portions 64a and a bottom portion 64b connecting each vertical wall portion 64a. The rear end side of the recess 64 is formed in the same shape as the recess 45a of the rear flange 45 in a front view. As described above, the rear end side of the main wall 61 is welded to the rear flange 45 of the rail front 4 and the front end side of the brace 5, and the front end side is welded to the front flange 43 of the rail front 4. In FIG. 5, the joint positions of the reinforcing member 6, the rail front 4, and the brace 5 are indicated by circles with crosses. Each flange 63 is welded to the bottom wall 41 of the rail front 4. In this embodiment, a plurality of upwardly protruding beads 63a extending in the left-right direction are formed on each flange 63, and a portion of each flange 63 where each bead 63a is not formed is welded to the bottom wall 41. As shown in FIG. 3, an in-vehicle device mounting portion 41a is formed below the main wall 61 of the reinforcing member 6 on the bottom wall 41 of the rail front 4. In FIG. 3, a hole formed in the bottom wall 41 is shown as the in-vehicle device mounting portion 41a, and a weld nut through which a mounting screw on the in-vehicle device side can be inserted is welded to the in-vehicle device for mounting the in-vehicle device.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 3, the front flange 43 of the rail front 4 has a protruding portion 43a that protrudes rearward in a plan view and is welded to the main wall 61 of the reinforcing member 6. The protruding portion 43a is formed to have a substantially triangular shape in a plan view and to be tapered toward the rear. As shown in FIG. 5, the protruding portion 43a of the rail front 4 and the main wall 61 of the reinforcing member 6 are joined by spot welding. In this embodiment, the bottom 64b of the recess 64 of the main wall 61 is joined to the protruding portion 43a. In this embodiment, the protruding portion 43a of the rail front 4 and the main wall 61 of the reinforcing member 6 are joined at one point on the tip side of the protruding portion 43a and two points on the base end side of the protruding portion 43a. As shown in FIG. 5, the joint position 43b on the tip side is located rearward of each joint position 43c on the base end side. In addition, each joint position 43c on the base end side is located outside the left and right joint positions 43b on the tip side. 4, each of the joining positions 43b, 43c between the bottom 64b of the recess 64 of the main wall 61 and the front flange 43 and each of the joining positions 45b between the bottom 64b of the recess 64 of the main wall 61 and the rear flange 45 are configured to have substantially the same height from the bottom wall 41 of the rail front 4. In this embodiment, the rear end side of the main wall 61 is joined to the rear flange 45 even on the outer side of the recess 64 in the vehicle width direction.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 5, the main wall 61 of the reinforcing member 6 is provided with beads 65 extending in the front-rear direction so as not to overlap with the respective joining positions 43b, 43c of the protruding portion 43a. The beads 65 are formed on the bottom 64b of the recess 64 of the main wall 61 so as to protrude upward. In this embodiment, the beads 65 are arranged in pairs on the left and right, spaced apart from the joining position 43b on the tip side of the protruding portion 43a. More specifically, the beads 65 are arranged between the joining position 43b on the tip side and each joining position 43c on the base side in the left-right direction. In this embodiment, the front end of the bead 65 is located forward of the joining position 43b on the tip side. More specifically, the front end of the bead 65 is located between the joining position 43b on the tip side and each joining position 43c on the base side in the front-rear direction. On the other hand, the rear end of each bead 65 is located immediately before a joining position 45 b between the main wall 61 and the rear flange 45 .

[0026] The rear end sides of the vertical wall portions 64a of the recessed portion 64 in the main wall 61 of the reinforcing member 6 are formed continuously with the vertical walls 52 of the brace 5, and are formed to approximately the same position in the front-rear direction as the front ends of the beads 65. In other words, the front ends of the vertical wall portions 64a of the reinforcing member 6 are located forward of the rear ends of the beads 65. In addition, adhesive portions 66 for connection to the roof panel 2 are formed on the left and right outer sides of the recessed portion 64 in the main wall 61 of the reinforcing member 6.

[0027] According to the carbody structure configured as described above, the main wall 61 of the reinforcing member 6 is connected to the front end of the brace 5, and also connects the front flange 43 and the rear flange 45 of the rail front 4. This allows the load from the brace 5 to be mainly received by the reinforcing member 6, and restricts the longitudinal movement and collapse of the flanges 43, 45, the front wall 42, and the rear wall 44 of the rail front 4, thereby suppressing deformation of the side cross section of the rail front 4. Furthermore, by joining each flange 63 of the reinforcing member 6 to the bottom wall 41 of the rail front 4 to form a closed cross section when viewed from the front together with the reinforcing member 6 and the rail front 4, and by bonding the roof panel 2 to the main wall 61 of the reinforcing member 6, deformation of the side cross section including the bottom wall 41 of the rail front 4 can also be suppressed. Furthermore, each bead 65 of the reinforcing member 6 also suppresses deformation of the side cross section of the rail front 4. Therefore, when an on-board unit is attached to the on-board unit mounting portion 41a of the rail front 4 and an upward or downward force acts on the roof panel 2 and the rail front 4, deformation of the side cross section of the rail front 4 can be suppressed, and the on-board unit can be held accurately.

[0028] In addition, since the front end of each bead 65 is located forward of the joint position 43b on the tip side of the protruding portion 43a of the front flange 43 of the rail front 4, deformation near the joint position 43b on the tip side, which is relatively susceptible to deformation, is suppressed in the reinforcing member 6. Furthermore, by shifting the joint position 43b on the tip side, which is located on the central side in the left-right direction, of the three joint positions 43b, 43c between the front flange 43 and the reinforcing member 6, forward of the two joint positions 43c on the base end side, which are located on the outermost sides, deformation near each of the joint positions 43b, 43c on the reinforcing member 6, which is relatively susceptible to deformation, is also suppressed.

[0029] In addition, since the heights from the bottom wall of the joining positions 43b, 43c, 45b of the main wall 61 of the reinforcing member 6 to the rail front 4 are approximately the same at one end side and the other end side in the front-to-rear direction, the main wall 61 of the reinforcing member 6 is approximately parallel to the bottom wall 41 of the rail front 4, the cross-sectional shape formed by the reinforcing member 6 and the rail front 4 can be made more rigid than when the main wall 61 of the reinforcing member 6 is non-parallel to the bottom wall 41 of the rail front 4. In this embodiment, the bottom 64b of the recess 64 in the main wall 61 is approximately parallel to the bottom wall 41 of the rail front 4, as shown in FIG.

[0030] Furthermore, because each vertical wall 52 of the brace 5 and each vertical wall portion 64a of the reinforcing member 6 are integrally formed across the rear end of the rail front 4, the load from the brace 5 is hardly transmitted to the rear end of the rail front 4, effectively suppressing deformation of the side cross section of the rail front 4. Also, because the front end of the vertical wall portion 64a of the reinforcing member 6 is located forward of the rear ends of the beads 65, the rigidity of the reinforcing member 6 in the front-to-rear direction can be ensured.

[0031] In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the rail front 4 connecting the upper ends of the front pillars 3, but the present invention can be applied to the rail rear connecting the upper ends of the rear pillars, and can be applied arbitrarily to a location where one end of the brace in the front-rear direction is connected to a rail portion extending in the left-right direction in the upper part of the vehicle body. Also, the rail front 4 has a bottom wall 41 formed with an on-board device mounting portion 41a, but the rail front 4 may not be configured to have an on-board device mounted thereon.

[0032] In the above embodiment, the protrusion 43a of the front flange 43 of the rail front 4 is joined to the main wall 61 of the reinforcing member 6 at three points, but it may be joined at two points or less, or at four points or more. When joined at four points or more, it is preferable that at least one joining position located on the central side in the left-right direction is located rearward of the two joining positions located on the outermost sides.

[0033] In the above embodiment, the joint positions 43b, 43c between the main wall 61 and the front flange 43 and the joint position 45b between the main wall 61 and the rear flange 45 are configured to be approximately the same height from the bottom wall 41, but they do not necessarily have to be the same as long as the required rigidity can be ensured. Also, the protrusion 43a on the front flange 43 of the rail front 4 and the beads 65 of the reinforcing member 61 can be omitted as appropriate as long as the required rigidity can be ensured.

[0034] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, each vertical wall portion 64a of the main wall 61 of the reinforcing member 6 is formed continuously with each vertical wall 52 of the brace 5, but if the necessary rigidity is ensured by joining the rear end side of the main wall 61 of the reinforcing member 6 to the rear flange 45 of the rail front 4 and the brace 5 and the front end side to the front flange 43 of the rail front 4, each vertical wall portion 64a continuous with each vertical wall 52 may be omitted.

[0035] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the invention according to the claims is not limited to the embodiments described above. It should be noted that not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential to the means for solving the problems of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0036] 2 Roof Panel 4. Railfront 5. Braces 6 Reinforcement members 41 Bottom wall 41a Vehicle-mounted device mounting section 42 Front wall 43 Front flange 43a Protrusion 43b Joint position 43c Joint position 44 Back wall 45 Rear flange 45b Joint position 51 Main wall 52 Side wall 53 Flange 61 Main wall 62 Side wall 63 Flange 64 Recess 64a Vertical wall 64b bottom 65 Bead

Claims

1. A roof panel; a rail portion disposed below the roof panel, extending in the left-right direction and having a bottom wall extending substantially in the front-rear direction in side cross section, one end wall extending substantially upward from one end of the bottom wall in the front-rear direction, a one end flange extending in one of the front-rear directions from an upper end of the one end wall, another end wall extending substantially upward from the other end of the bottom wall in the front-rear direction, and another end flange extending in the other front-rear direction from the upper end of the other end wall; a brace portion disposed below the roof panel, connected to the other end of the rail portion in the front-rear direction, and extending from the rail portion in the other front-rear direction; a reinforcing member that reinforces a connection portion between the rail portion and the brace portion, the reinforcing member has, in a front cross section, a main wall extending generally in the left-right direction, a pair of left and right side walls extending generally downward from both left-right ends of the main wall, and a pair of left and right flanges extending generally outward in the left-right direction from lower ends of each side wall, The main wall of the reinforcing member has one end side in the front-rear direction welded to the one end flange of the rail portion, and the other end side in the front-rear direction welded to the other end flange of the rail portion and the one end side in the front-rear direction of the brace portion, Each of the flanges of the reinforcing member is welded to the bottom wall of the rail portion, The roof panel is attached to the main wall of the reinforcement member of the upper body structure of the vehicle.

2. The one end flange of the rail portion has a protruding portion that protrudes in the other direction in the front-rear direction in a plan view and is welded to the main wall of the reinforcing member, The main wall of the reinforcing member has a pair of left and right beads extending in the front-rear direction and spaced apart from each other in the left-right direction and at a predetermined joining position of the protrusion, a front-rear end of each of the beads is located on one side of the joining position of the protruding portion in the front-rear direction; 2. The vehicle upper body structure according to claim 1, wherein the bottom wall of the rail portion has an in-vehicle equipment mounting portion formed below the main wall of the reinforcing member.

3. The protruding portion of the one end flange of the rail portion is welded to the main wall of the reinforcing member at three or more locations, 3. An upper body structure of a vehicle as described in claim 2, wherein at least one of the joint positions between the protruding portion of the one end flange of the rail portion and the main wall of the reinforcing member, which is located on the central side in the left-right direction, is located on the other side in the fore-aft direction than the two joint positions located on the outermost sides.

4. The brace portion has, in a front cross section, a main wall extending generally in the left-right direction, a pair of left and right vertical walls extending generally upward from both left-right ends of the main wall, and a pair of left and right flanges extending generally outward in the left-right direction from upper ends of each vertical wall, The main wall of the reinforcing member has a recess extending in the front-rear direction including a pair of left and right vertical wall portions and a bottom portion connecting the vertical wall portions, The vertical walls of the brace portion and the vertical wall portions of the reinforcing member are formed continuously, 4. The vehicle upper body structure according to claim 2, wherein one front-rear end of the vertical wall portion of the reinforcing member is located one side in the front-rear direction relative to the other front-rear ends of each of the beads.

5. 5. An upper body structure of a vehicle as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein at a predetermined position in the left-right direction, the joint position between the one end flange of the rail portion on the main wall of the reinforcing member and the other end flange of the rail portion on the main wall of the reinforcing member are approximately the same in height from the bottom wall of the rail portion.

Images