Sensor support structure for vehicle

Abstract

To inhibit galvanic corrosion from occurring at an end edge of a bracket.SOLUTION: A sensor support structure of a vehicle 100 includes a bracket 20 and an under panel 10. The bracket 20 is fixed to the under panel 10. The bracket 20 supports a sensor. The bracket 20 includes a base material 21A and a coat layer 21B. The base material 21A has a natural potential lower than that of the under panel 10. The coat layer 21B coats a surface of the base material 21A. The base material 21A is bent so that an end edge 21Z of the base material 21A is directed in a direction away from the under panel 10.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a sensor support structure for a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] The sensor support structure for a vehicle in Patent Document 1 includes an engine, an intake pipe, and a bracket. The bracket is generally plate-shaped. A first end of the bracket is fixed to the engine by a bolt that passes through the bracket. A second end of the bracket is fixed to the intake pipe by brazing. The bracket supports a sensor coupler of an oxygen concentration sensor. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2015-124654 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In a vehicle sensor support structure such as that of Patent Document 1, two types of metals with different natural potentials may be used as the material of the support member to which the bracket is fixed and as the material of the bracket. If the natural potentials are different in this way, a phenomenon in which the member with the lower natural potential corrodes due to a current flowing at the contact point between the support member and the bracket, known as galvanic corrosion, may occur. Therefore, for example, when the natural potential of the bracket material is lower than the natural potential of the support member material, it is effective to use a bracket with a coating layer applied to the surface of the bracket base material.

[0005] However, the coating layer is likely to become thin at the edge of the bracket. When the coating layer is thin like this, water or the like may penetrate into minute holes and cracks in the coating layer, causing electrical connection between the base material of the bracket and the support member. In this case, galvanic corrosion occurs at the edge of the bracket. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A vehicle sensor support structure for solving the above problem is a vehicle sensor support structure comprising a plate-shaped bracket that supports a sensor and a support member to which the bracket is fixed, wherein the bracket comprises a base material having a lower natural potential than the support member and a coating layer that covers the surface of the base material, and the bracket is bent so that an edge of the bracket faces away from the support member.

[0007] According to the above configuration, the edge of the bracket is not in contact with the support member. Therefore, even if water or the like adheres to the edge of the bracket, the base material of the bracket and the support member are unlikely to be electrically connected via the water or the like. As a result, the occurrence of galvanic corrosion at the edge of the bracket can be suppressed.

[0008] In addition, the bent portion of the bracket has a rounded shape compared to the edge of the bracket, so the thickness of the coating layer at the bent portion of the bracket is unlikely to become thin. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 4 is a bottom view showing the peripheral configuration of the bracket. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 in FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] <Outline of sensor support structure> 1 to 3, an embodiment of a sensor support structure applied to a vehicle 100 will be described. First, a schematic configuration of the sensor support structure will be described. Note that the following description will be based on the top / bottom, front / back, left / right directions of the vehicle 100.

[0011] As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 100 includes an underpanel 10. The underpanel 10 is a plate material that covers the lower part of the vehicle 100. The underpanel 10 includes a raised portion 10A that is raised so as to be convex toward the bottom of the vehicle 100 compared to other portions. Furthermore, the raised portion 10A includes a lower plate 11, a left plate 12, and a right plate 13. The lower plate 11 is a substantially rectangular plate extending from the front to the rear of the vehicle 100. One of the two main surfaces of the lower plate 11 faces downward. The main surface is the surface having the largest area. The lower plate 11 includes a through hole 11H. The through hole 11H penetrates the lower plate 11 from top to bottom.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 2, the left plate 12 protrudes upward from the left edge of the lower plate 11. The left plate 12 protrudes obliquely so that the upper part is located to the left. Therefore, the left surface 12A, which is the left of the two main surfaces of the left plate 12, faces diagonally downward to the left. The right plate 13 protrudes upward from the right edge of the lower plate 11. The right plate 13 protrudes obliquely so that the upper part is located to the right. In this embodiment, an example of a material for the underpanel 10 is an aluminum alloy. The underpanel 10 is an example of a support member.

[0013] 1 and 2, a vehicle 100 includes a bracket 20, a bolt 30, a nut 40, and a sensor 80. As shown in FIG.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 2, the bracket body 21 has a plate-like shape as a whole. The bracket body 21 includes a fixing plate 22, a restricting plate 23, and two flanges 24. The restricting plate 23 and the flanges 24 are bent with respect to the fixing plate 22. That is, the bracket body 21 has a shape in which a plate-like member is bent as a whole. The fixing plate 22 is fixed to the underpanel 10. Specifically, the fixing plate 22 includes a through hole 22H. The through hole 22H penetrates the fixing plate 22 from top to bottom. The bracket 20 is fixed to the underpanel 10 by a bolt 30 inserted through the through hole 22H of the fixing plate 22 and the through hole 11H of the lower plate 11, and a nut 40 attached to the bolt 30. That is, the bolt 30 penetrates the bracket 20 to fix the bracket 20 to the underpanel 10. Note that the vehicle 100 includes only one bolt 30 for fixing the bracket 20. An axis 30A of the bolt 30 extends vertically of the vehicle 100. The fixing plate 22 is a rectangular plate extending left and right. The left end of the fixing plate 22 is located to the left when viewed from the left end of the lower plate 11 of the underpanel 10. The right end of the fixing plate 22 is located to the right when viewed from the right end of the lower plate 11 of the underpanel 10.

[0015] The restricting plate 23 protrudes upward from the left edge of the fixed plate 22. The restricting plate 23 protrudes obliquely so that the upward position is positioned more to the left. The restricting plate 23 is approximately parallel to the left plate 12. Therefore, of the two main surfaces of the restricting plate 23, the right surface 23A located on the right side faces the left surface 12A of the left plate 12 of the underpanel 10.

[0016] 1, one of the two flanges 24 protrudes downward from the rear edge of the fixed plate 22. The other of the two flanges 24 protrudes downward from the front edge of the fixed plate 22. The left end of the flange 24 is located to the right when viewed from the left end of the fixed plate 22, and to the left when viewed from the left end of the lower plate 11 of the under-panel 10. The right end of the flange 24 is located to the left when viewed from the right end of the fixed plate 22, and to the right when viewed from the right end of the lower plate 11 of the under-panel 10.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 1, the wire 26 extends from the right end of the fixing plate 22 toward the rear of the vehicle 100. The wire 26 supports a sensor 80 located rearward as viewed from the bracket body 21. The sensor 80 includes a sensor body 81 and a cable 82. The sensor body 81 has an overall cylindrical shape. The cable 82 extends leftward from the left end of the sensor body 81. The cable 82 is, for example, a multi-core cable including a power line for supplying power to the sensor body 81 and a signal line for exchanging signals with the sensor body 81. The cable 82 is supported by the wire 26. One example of the sensor 80 is a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of exhaust gas flowing through an exhaust passage.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle 100 includes a first buffer material 60 and a second buffer material 70. The first buffer material 60 is attached to the right surface 23A of the regulating plate 23 of the bracket 20. The first buffer material 60 has a substantially rectangular plate shape. The shape of the main surface of the first buffer material 60 is substantially the same rectangular shape as the shape of the right surface 23A. The first buffer material 60 covers the entire right surface 23A. The thickness of the first buffer material 60 is substantially the same as the distance between the right surface 23A of the regulating plate 23 of the bracket 20 and the left surface 12A of the left plate 12 of the underpanel 10. Therefore, the first buffer material 60 is in contact with both the right surface 23A of the regulating plate 23 of the bracket 20 and the left surface 12A of the left plate 12 of the underpanel 10. An example of the material of the first buffer material 60 is a rubber material such as ethylene propylene rubber.

[0019] The second buffer material 70 is attached to the left surface 23B, which is the left of the two main surfaces of the regulating plate 23 of the bracket 20. That is, the second buffer material 70 is attached to the outer surface of the regulating plate 23, which faces in the opposite direction to the right surface 23A. The shape of the second buffer material 70 is substantially the same as the shape of the first buffer material 60, and is a substantially rectangular plate. Therefore, the second buffer material 70 covers the entire left surface 23B. One example of a material for the second buffer material 70 is a rubber material such as ethylene propylene rubber.

[0020] <Bracket peripheral configuration> As shown in FIG. 3, the bracket body 21 is composed of a base material 21A and a coating layer 21B. Here, as described above, the bracket body 21 includes the fixing plate 22, the restricting plate 23, and the two flanges 24. Therefore, the base material 21A is composed of a portion constituting the fixing plate 22, a portion constituting the restricting plate 23, and a portion constituting the two flanges 24. In addition, the base material 21A is formed from a single plate-like member by, for example, press processing. The base material 21A is bent so that an edge 21Z, which is the lower end of the portion of the base material 21A constituting the flange 24, faces downward, that is, faces in a direction away from the underpanel 10. In other words, the edge 21Z of the base material 21A faces downward. In this embodiment, the edge of the base material 21A refers to the edge of the plate-like member constituting the base material 21A.

[0021] An example of the material of the base material 21A is steel. Here, as described above, the material of the under-panel 10 is an aluminum alloy. In the under-panel 10, an oxide film is formed on the surface of the aluminum alloy due to exposure to air. Therefore, the natural potential of the base material 21A is lower than the natural potential of the under-panel 10 on which the oxide film is formed. The natural potential is the electrode potential when a metal naturally corrodes, and is also called the corrosion potential.

[0022] The coating layer 21B covers the entire surface of the base material 21A. An example of the coating layer 21B is a zinc-aluminum composite coating. Note that the thickness of the coating layer 21B is exaggerated in FIG.

[0023] In this embodiment, for example, the bracket body 21 is manufactured by the following procedure. First, the base material 21A is formed by pressing. Then, in order to apply the coating layer 21B, the base material 21A is immersed in a treatment liquid. After that, the base material 21A with the treatment liquid attached thereto is heated. As a result, the coating layer 21B is applied to the surface of the base material 21A.

[0024] <Action of this embodiment> When the vehicle 100 runs on a road that is wet due to rain or the like, water or the like located below the vehicle 100 may splash up. When water or the like splashes up in this way, the water or the like may adhere to the bracket 20. Here, when the coating layer 21B is applied to the bracket body 21, the amount of treatment liquid that adheres to the periphery of the edge 21Z of the base material 21A is reduced due to the surface tension of the treatment liquid. Due to this, the coating layer 21B is likely to become thin around the edge 21Z. And when water or the like adheres to the part of the bracket body 21 where the coating layer 21B is thin, the water or the like may penetrate into the coating layer 21B through fine holes and cracks in the coating layer 21B and reach the base material 21A.

[0025] <Effects of this embodiment> (1) As shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the edge 21Z of the base material 21A is bent so as to face downward, that is, in a direction away from the underpanel 10. That is, the edge of the bracket body 21 is not in contact with the underpanel 10 and is spaced apart from the underpanel 10. As a result, even if water or the like adheres to the edge of the bracket body 21, the edge of the bracket body 21 and the underpanel 10 are unlikely to be electrically connected through the water or the like. Therefore, even if water or the like penetrates into the coating layer 21B on the edge of the bracket body 21, the edge 21Z of the base material 21A and the underpanel 10 are unlikely to be electrically connected through the water or the like. As a result, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of galvanic corrosion at the edge 21Z of the base material 21A.

[0026] (2) As shown in FIG. 3, the folded portion 21R of the substrate 21A, which is the folded portion, has a rounded shape compared to the edge 21Z of the substrate 21A. This is because the folded portion 21R cannot be made into a perfect "corner" shape when the substrate 21A is formed by pressing or the like. With such a rounded shape, a sufficient amount of treatment liquid adheres when the coating layer 21B is applied. For this reason, the coating layer 21B is unlikely to become thin around the folded portion 21R. As a result, the possibility of galvanic corrosion occurring around the folded portion 21R of the substrate 21A is low.

[0027] (3) As shown in FIG. 1, the left end of the fixing plate 22 is located to the left when viewed from the left end of the lower plate 11 of the underpanel 10. The right end of the fixing plate 22 is located to the right when viewed from the right end of the lower plate 11 of the underpanel 10. The left end of the flange 24 is located to the left when viewed from the left end of the lower plate 11 of the underpanel 10. The right end of the flange 24 is located to the right when viewed from the right end of the lower plate 11 of the underpanel 10. That is, in the portion where the bracket main body 21 and the underpanel 10 contact each other, there is no edge of the plate-like member constituting the base material 21A of the bracket main body 21. Therefore, galvanic corrosion of the base material 21A does not occur starting from the edge of the bracket main body 21.

[0028] (4) In this embodiment, the coating layer 21B is a zinc-aluminum composite coating. When the coating layer 21B is applied, the coating layer 21B is particularly prone to the treatment liquid not adhering to the edge 21Z of the substrate 21A. Therefore, when the coating layer 21B is a zinc-aluminum composite coating, it is particularly effective to employ the above-described technology of the present invention.

[0029] <Example of change> This embodiment can be modified as follows: This embodiment and the following modifications can be combined with each other to the extent that there is no technical contradiction.

[0030] In the above embodiment, the shape of the bracket 20 may be changed. For example, the flange 24 may protrude obliquely so as to be positioned further forward as it approaches the lower side, or may protrude obliquely so as to be positioned further rearward as it approaches the lower side. In other words, as long as the base material 21A is bent so that the edge 21Z of the base material 21A faces in a direction away from the underpanel 10, the angle of the flange 24 with respect to the underpanel 10 may be changed.

[0031] For example, the configuration of the bracket 20 for supporting the sensor 80 may be changed. As a specific example, the fixing plate 22 of the bracket body 21 may support the sensor 80. In this case, the bracket 20 may not include the wire 26.

[0032] In the above embodiment, the coating layer 21B of the bracket body 21 is not limited to a zinc-aluminum composite coating. As a specific example, plating or the like can be used as the coating layer 21B. That is, the coating layer 21B can be changed according to the material of the base material 21A and the material of the underpanel 10.

[0033] In the above embodiment, the material of the base material 21A of the bracket body 21 may be changed. Specifically, the material of the base material 21A may be changed within a range in which the natural potential of the base material 21A is lower than the natural potential of the under-panel 10 on which the oxide film is formed.

[0034] In the above embodiment, the material of the underpanel 10 may be changed. Specifically, the material of the underpanel 10 may be changed as long as the natural potential of the underpanel 10 is higher than that of the base material 21A of the bracket body 21 under the conditions in which the bracket 20 or the like is used.

[0035] In the above embodiment, the object to which the bracket 20 is fixed, that is, the support member, is not limited to the underpanel 10. For example, a frame constituting the framework of the vehicle 100 may be used as the support member. [Explanation of symbols]

[0036] 10…Underpanel 10A…Bump 11…Lower plate 12…Left board 13...Right plate 20…Bracket 21…Bracket body 21A…Base material 21B…Coating layer 21R…Bending part 21Z…Edge 22…Fixing plate 22H...Through hole 23...Regulation board 24…Flange 26…Wire 30…Volts 40…Nut 60...First buffer material 70…Second buffer material 80…Sensor 81…Sensor body 82…Cable 100…Vehicle

Claims

[Claim 1] A plate-shaped bracket for supporting the sensor; a support member to which the bracket is fixed; A sensor support structure for a vehicle comprising a cushioning material made of a rubber material, The support member has a raised portion that is raised toward the side where the bracket is located, the bracket is configured with a base material having a natural potential lower than that of the support member and a coating layer covering a surface of the base material, The bracket is a fixing plate that is fixed to the first surface in a state where a portion of the raised portion is in surface contact with the first surface; a flange connected to an edge of the fixed plate and bent relative to the fixed plate such that an edge of the bracket faces away from the support member; a regulating plate connected to an edge of the fixing plate and in contact with a second surface of the raised portion, which is different from the first surface, via the buffer material. Sensor support structure for a vehicle.

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