Vehicle undercarriage

Abstract

To diminish air which blows out from a front compartment to a wheel house, and thus upgrade an aerodynamic characteristic of a vehicle.SOLUTION: A vehicle understructure 10 includes front side members 3 that are disposed on both sides in a vehicle width direction of a vehicle front part and extending in a fore-and-aft direction, and has openings 13, which allow a front compartment 2 that accommodates at least one of an engine and an electric motor for traveling a vehicle to communicate with respective wheel houses 1, formed on wall surfaces of the wheel houses 1 each of which accommodates a front wheel. The vehicle understructure further includes shield plates 4 each of which has an upper part 4a fastened to the front side member 3 via a bracket 41 and is disposed at a position of intercepting an air current which flows through the opening 13 from the front compartment 2 to the wheel house 1. The shield plate 4 has rigidity that is so high as not to deform the shield plate with the air current flowing through the opening 13.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle underbody structure, and more particularly to a structure around a front wheel house. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle underbody structure in which an opening is formed in a wall of a wheel house, the opening communicating between a power unit room and the wheel house. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2017-087975 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] An opening is provided in the wall of the wheelhouse that houses the front wheels of a vehicle, connecting the wheelhouse to a front compartment that houses a power unit such as an engine. This opening is provided to allow an arm that connects the wheel carrier that rotatably supports the front wheels to the front suspension member to pass through. Since this arm is swingably supported by the front suspension member and the wheel carrier, the opening needs to be large enough not to interfere with the range of motion of the arm.

[0005] Most of the air that flows into the front compartment from the front when the vehicle is running flows backward through a tunnel provided behind the front compartment and is discharged outside the vehicle. However, since an opening is provided that communicates the front compartment with the wheel house as described above, part of the air that flows into the front compartment from the front when the vehicle is running is blown out from the opening into the wheel house and discharged to the side of the vehicle via the wheel house. If there is a lot of airflow discharged from the front compartment to the side of the vehicle via the wheel house in this way, that airflow may hit an airflow flowing backward along the side of the vehicle when the vehicle is running, causing turbulence on the side of the vehicle, which may deteriorate the aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle. In order to suppress such deterioration of the aerodynamic characteristics, it is necessary to reduce the opening that communicates the front compartment with the wheel house and reduce the amount of air that blows out from the front compartment to the wheel house.

[0006] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENT An object of the present invention is to improve the aerodynamic characteristics of a vehicle by reducing the amount of air blowing out from the front compartment into the wheel house. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The vehicle underbody structure according to the present invention includes front side members disposed on both sides of a front portion of the vehicle in a vehicle width direction and extending in a front-rear direction. an under member disposed below a front portion of the front side member and extending in the front-rear direction; an arm connecting a wheel carrier that rotatably supports a front wheel to a front suspension member; an apron seal that closes the gap between the front portion of the front side member and the under member forward of the arm and forms a part of a wall surface of a side wall on an inner side in the vehicle width direction of a wheel house that houses the front wheel; Equipped with The above An opening is provided on a wall of the wheel house, the opening communicating the wheel house with a front compartment that houses at least one of an engine and an electric motor for driving the vehicle. , below the front side member and rearward of the apron seal in order to pass the arm through A vehicle underbody structure formed, a part of a side surface of the front side member on an outer side in the vehicle width direction constitutes a part of a wall surface of a side wall of the wheel house on an inner side in the vehicle width direction, The vehicle has an upper portion fastened to the front side member via a bracket and a shielding plate disposed at a position to block the airflow flowing through the opening from the front compartment toward the wheel house, and the shielding plate is Located behind the movable range of the arm, It is characterized by having such high rigidity that it is not deformed by the airflow passing through the opening. Effect of the Invention

[0008] The present invention can improve the aerodynamic characteristics of a vehicle by reducing the amount of air that blows out from the front compartment into the wheel house. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a side view showing a vehicle underbody structure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure as viewed from the left side of the vehicle. [Diagram 2] 1 is a side view showing the vehicle underbody structure of the present embodiment in a state before the shielding plate and bracket are attached, as viewed from the left side of the vehicle. FIG. [Diagram 3] 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, a vehicle underbody structure 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The arrows FR, UP, and RH shown in each of the drawings described below indicate the forward direction (travel direction), upward direction, and rightward direction of the vehicle, respectively. The opposite directions of the arrows FR, UP, and RH indicate the rearward direction, downward direction, and leftward direction of the vehicle, respectively. Hereinafter, when the directions of front-rear, left-right, and up-down are used in the description, they are intended to indicate 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 side view showing a vehicle underbody structure 10 as viewed from the left side of the vehicle. As shown in Fig. 1, a wheel house 1 in which a front wheel (not shown) is housed is provided on the outer side of the vehicle width direction of the vehicle underbody structure 10. Although wheel houses 1 are provided on both the left and right sides of the vehicle underbody structure 10, Fig. 1 shows the wheel house 1 provided on the left side of the vehicle. Note that since the vehicle underbody structure 10 has a symmetrical configuration on both the left and right sides, the following description will be given with the left side of the vehicle illustrated, and the configuration of the right side of the vehicle will be omitted.

[0012] The wall surface of the wheel house 1 is composed of a side wall 11 on the inside in the vehicle width direction and an arch-shaped fender liner 12. The fender liner 12 has an inverted U-shaped curved shape that opens downward when seen from the side of the vehicle, and is configured to cover the upper part of the front wheel.

[0013] A front compartment 2 is provided between the right wheel house 1 and the left wheel house 1, in which at least one of an engine and an electric motor is housed as a power source for driving. For example, in the case of a gasoline-powered vehicle, a gasoline engine is housed inside the front compartment 2. In the case of an electric vehicle, a driving electric motor is housed inside the front compartment 2, and in the case of a hybrid car, an engine and a driving electric motor are housed inside the front compartment 2.

[0014] The vehicle understructure 10 includes front side members 3 extending in the fore-and-aft direction on both sides in the vehicle width direction of the front part of the vehicle. Fig. 2 is a side view showing the vehicle understructure 10 as viewed from the left side of the vehicle before a shielding plate 4 and a bracket 41, which will be described later, are attached. As shown in Fig. 2, the front side member 3 is composed of a rear portion 31 extending in the fore-and-aft direction, a middle portion 32 extending obliquely upward and forward from the front end of the rear portion 31, and a front portion 33 extending forward from the front end of the middle portion 32.

[0015] A part of the side surface of the front part 33 of the front side member 3 on the outer side in the vehicle width direction is exposed as a part of the wall surface of the side wall 11 of the wheel house 1. A part of the side surface of the middle part 32 of the front side member 3 on the outer side in the vehicle width direction is also exposed as a part of the wall surface of the side wall 11 of the wheel house 1. In other words, a part of the side surface of the front part 33 on the outer side in the vehicle width direction and a part of the side surface of the middle part 32 on the outer side in the vehicle width direction form a part of the wall surface of the side wall 11 of the wheel house 1. The front part 33 of the front side member 3 extends further forward beyond the length shown in FIG. 2, but the part extending further forward is hidden behind the side wall 11 of the wheel house 1 and cannot be seen when the wheel house 1 is viewed from the outer side in the vehicle width direction.

[0016] An under member 5 extending in the front-rear direction is disposed below a front portion 33 of the front side member 3. An apron seal 6 is attached between the front portion 33 of the front side member 3 and the under member 5. The apron seal 6 is fixed to both the front portion 33 of the front side member 3 and the under member 5. The apron seal 6 closes the gap between the front portion 33 of the front side member 3 and the under member 5, forward of a first arm 8 and a second arm 9 that connect a wheel carrier (not shown) that rotatably supports a front wheel and a front suspension member 7, and constitutes a part of the wall surface of a side wall 11 of the wheel house 1.

[0017] An opening 13 that connects the front compartment 2 and the wheel house 1 is formed in the wall surface of the side wall 11 of the wheel house 1 below the front side member 3 and behind the apron seal 6. The opening 13 is provided to allow the first arm 8 and the second arm 9 to pass from the front compartment 2 to the wheel house 1. Since the first arm 8 and the second arm 9 are both supported by the front suspension member 7 and the wheel carrier so as to be able to swing, the opening 13 needs to be large enough not to interfere with the range of motion of the first arm 8 and the second arm 9.

[0018] Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3, the vehicle underbody structure 10 includes a shielding plate 4 attached to the middle portion 32 of the front side member 3 via a bracket 41. The bracket 41 has an L-shape when viewed from the front of the vehicle, and is composed of an upper plate portion 41a fixed to the lower surface of the front side member 3, and a side plate portion 41b extending downward from the outer end of the upper plate portion 41a in the vehicle width direction.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 1, when viewed from the outside in the vehicle width direction, the shielding plate 4 has a generally trapezoidal shape with both the front end and the rear end extending in the vertical direction, and the vertical length of the front end is greater than the vertical length of the rear end. As shown in FIG. 3, the shielding plate 4 is composed of an upper portion 4a fastened to a bracket 41 and a lower portion 4b extending downward from the lower end of the upper portion 4a. The upper portion 4a of the shielding plate 4 is fastened to the bracket 41 using a bolt 42 and a nut 43 in a state where it is overlapped with the side plate portion 41b of the bracket 41. The lower portion 4b of the shielding plate 4 extends downward to the vicinity of the upper end of the front suspension member 7. In this way, only the upper portion 4a of the shielding plate 4 is fastened to the front side member 3 via the bracket 41, and the lower portion 4b is not fastened anywhere.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 1, the shielding plate 4 is provided behind the movable range of the first arm 8 and the second arm 9, and is disposed at a position where it blocks the airflow flowing through the opening 13 from the front compartment 2 toward the wheel house 1. The shielding plate 4 has such high rigidity that it is not deformed by the airflow flowing through the opening 13, so that it can block the airflow flowing through the opening 13 even if only the upper part 4a is fixed to the front side member 3 via the bracket 41 and the lower part 4b is not fixed. Since the shielding plate 4 blocks the airflow flowing through the opening 13 in this way, the vehicle underbody structure 10 can reduce the air blown out from the front compartment 2 to the wheel house 1. As a result, the vehicle underbody structure 10 can suppress the generation of turbulent air on the side of the vehicle while it is traveling, and can improve the aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle.

[0021] Furthermore, by providing the shielding plate 4, the vehicle undercarriage structure 10 can prevent muddy water splashed by the front wheels while driving from entering the front compartment 2 through the opening 13, and prevent snow adhering to the front wheels from entering the front compartment 2 through the opening 13 due to the rotation of the front wheels.

[0022] Furthermore, if the front side member 3 is provided with a bracket for attaching a lashing hook used for lashing down a tire, the bracket for attaching the lashing hook may be used as the bracket 41 for attaching the shielding plate 4 to the front side member 3. In that case, even in an existing platform equipped with a bracket for attaching a lashing hook, by attaching the shielding plate 4 to the front side member 3 instead of the lashing hook, it is possible to reduce the amount of air blowing out from the front compartment 2 to the wheel house 1 and improve the aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle without adding a bracket or machining additional holes for attachment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0023] 1 wheel house, 2 front compartment, 3 front side member, 4 shielding plate, 4a upper part, 4b lower part, 5 under member, 6 apron seal, 7 front suspension member, 8 first arm, 9 second arm, 10 vehicle underbody structure, 11 side wall, 12 fender liner, 13 opening, 31 rear part, 32 middle part, 33 front part, 41 bracket, 41a upper plate part, 41b side plate part, 42 bolt, 43 nut.

Claims

[Claim 1] front side members disposed on both sides of a front portion of the vehicle in a vehicle width direction and extending in a front-rear direction; an under member disposed below a front portion of the front side member and extending in a front-rear direction; an arm that connects a wheel carrier that rotatably supports a front wheel and a front suspension member; an apron seal that closes a gap between a front portion of the front side member and the under member forward of the arm and constitutes a part of a wall surface of a side wall on an inner side in a vehicle width direction of a wheel house that accommodates the front wheel therein; a vehicle underbody structure, wherein an opening portion communicating the wheel house with a front compartment that houses at least one of an engine and an electric motor for vehicle driving therein is formed in a wall surface of the wheel house below the front side member and behind the apron seal in order to pass the arm therethrough, a part of a side surface of the front side member on an outer side in the vehicle width direction constitutes a part of a wall surface of a side wall of the wheel house on an inner side in the vehicle width direction, a shielding plate whose upper portion is fastened to the front side member via a bracket and disposed at a position to block the airflow flowing through the opening from the front compartment toward the wheel house; The vehicle underbody structure, wherein the shielding plate is provided rearward of the range of motion of the arm and has high rigidity so as not to be deformed by the airflow flowing through the opening.

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