Fuel component protection structure for internal combustion engines

Abstract

To efficiently avoid an interference of a fuel system component and a vehicle component.SOLUTION: A fuel component protection structure for an internal combustion engine avoids an interference of a fuel system component arranged at a rear end part of the internal combustion engine arranged in an engine room which is provided in a front part of a vehicle and a vehicle component arranged behind the fuel system component, and protects the fuel system component. The fuel component protection structure comprises a projection part which is arranged in front of the vehicle component, protrudes upward, is in the form of an uphill slope from a rear side toward a front side, and has an inclined surface lying opposite the vehicle component. The vehicle component is arranged in a region which is an extention of a range in which the fuel system component is present in a width direction of the vehicle to the rear side of the vehicle. The vehicle component is a wiper unit that is mounted on a cowl installed above a rear end part of the engine room. The wiper unit is fixed to the cowl via a bracket. The projection part is formed on a protection member having a bridge part which straddles the fuel system component.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a fuel component protection structure for an internal combustion engine.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a fuel pipe protection structure for an engine has been known that aims to suppress interference between a connection portion of a fuel pipe and a fuel hose and vehicle components during a vehicle collision or the like (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Specifically, Patent Document 1 discloses a protection member that is disposed at an intermediate position between a fuel pipe and a vehicle component and intervenes between a connection portion of the fuel pipe and the fuel hose and the vehicle component when the engine body retreats due to a vehicle collision, and protects the connection portion of the fuel pipe and the fuel hose. An example in the embodiment disclosed in Patent Document 1 shows a protection member as a hollow pipe member extending in the vertical direction.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Patent Document 1 discloses a structure for suppressing a collision between a connection portion of a fuel pipe and a fuel hose and a brake reserve tank, which is an example of a vehicle component. Further, Patent Document 1 describes that the vehicle components to be suppressed from colliding are not limited to the brake reserve tank. However, there are a wide variety of vehicle components that may interfere with fuel system components such as fuel pipes and fuel hoses, and it is required to efficiently avoid interference between these vehicle components and fuel system components. The protection member in Patent Document 1 is a hollow pipe member, and from the viewpoint of efficiently avoiding interference between vehicle components and fuel system components, the fuel pipe protection structure disclosed in Patent Document 1 has room for improvement.

[0005] Therefore, the invention disclosed herein aims to efficiently avoid interference between fuel system components and vehicle components. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The above problem is solved by an internal combustion engine fuel component protection structure that avoids interference between a fuel system component located at the rear end of an internal combustion engine, which is located in an engine compartment at the front of the vehicle, and a vehicle component located behind the fuel system component, and protects the fuel system component, and comprises a projection that is located in front of the vehicle component, protrudes upward, has an upward slope from rear to front, and has an inclined surface facing the vehicle component.

[0007] In the fuel component protection structure for an internal combustion engine with the above configuration, the vehicle component may be positioned in a region that extends the area where the fuel system component is located in the width direction of the vehicle toward the rear of the vehicle.

[0008] Furthermore, in the fuel component protection structure for the internal combustion engine with the above configuration, the vehicle component may be a wiper unit mounted on a cowl installed above the rear end of the engine compartment.

[0009] The wiper unit may be fixed to the cowl via a bracket.

[0010] Furthermore, in the fuel component protection structure of the internal combustion engine with the above configuration, the projection can be formed in a protective member having a bridging portion that straddles the fuel system component. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] The invention disclosed herein can efficiently avoid interference between fuel system components and vehicle components. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0012] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a schematic plan view showing the area around the engine compartment of a vehicle equipped with the fuel component protection structure of the embodiment. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is an enlarged view of section X1 in Figure 1. [Figure 3] Figures 3(A) to 3(D) are four-view drawings of the protective member forming the fuel component protection structure, with Figure 3(A) being a front view, Figure 3(B) a top view, Figure 3(C) a right side view, and Figure 3(D) a left side view. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing the area around the fuel component protection structure of the embodiment as viewed from the side of the vehicle. [Figure 5] Figure 5 schematically shows how interference between fuel system components and the first wiper unit is avoided by the fuel component protection structure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0013] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the dimensions and proportions of each part in the drawings may not be shown to be exactly the same as those of the actual parts. Also, some details may be omitted in the drawings.

[0014] (Embodiment) [Vehicle configuration] First, with reference to Figure 1, a vehicle 1 equipped with the fuel component protection structure 50 of this embodiment will be described. The vehicle 1 has an engine room 3 at the front of the vehicle body 2, and a passenger compartment 4 is formed behind the engine room 3. A gasoline engine (hereinafter simply referred to as "engine") 5, which is an internal combustion engine, is installed in the engine room 3. The engine 5 is equipped with fuel system components 6, which will be described in detail later. A windshield 30 is installed at the front of the passenger compartment 4, and a first wiper unit 8 and a second wiper unit 9 are installed on the windshield 30 to wipe away raindrops and dirt adhering to it. The first wiper unit 8 and the second wiper unit 9 are examples of vehicle components. The fuel component protection structure 50 is formed by attaching a protective member 10 to the engine 5. In this embodiment, the fuel component protection structure 50 avoids interference between the fuel system components 6 and the first wiper unit 8.

[0015] <Engine> The engine 5 is mounted on the vehicle body 2 with the arrangement direction of the cylinders provided on the engine body 5a aligned with the front-rear direction of the vehicle 1. In other words, the vehicle 1 in this embodiment is a so-called longitudinally mounted engine vehicle. The engine 5 is equipped with fuel system components 6 at the rear end of the engine body 5a. In this embodiment, the fuel system components 6 include a fuel pump 6a and a fuel pipe 6b. The fuel pipe 6b is connected to the fuel pump 6a. In addition to the fuel pump 6a and fuel pipe 6b, the vehicle 1 is equipped with other components that form a path for fuel to flow, such as fuel hoses (not shown), and are included in the fuel system components. In this embodiment, due to their layout, the fuel pump 6a and fuel pipe 6b are protected by the fuel component protection structure 50, but other components can also be included in the protection structure depending on their layout.

[0016] Furthermore, the engine 5 is not limited to a longitudinal layout; even in the case of a transverse layout where the cylinder arrangement direction matches the vehicle's width, the fuel component protection structure 50 can be adopted if the vehicle has a layout in which the fuel system components 6 are located at the rear end of the engine compartment 3.

[0017] <First Wiper Unit> The first wiper unit 8 includes a first bracket 8a, a first motor 8b, a first wiper arm 8c, and a first wiper blade 8d. The first wiper arm 8c is rotatably mounted on the rotation axis of the first motor 8b. The first wiper blade 8d is mounted on the end of the first wiper arm 8c opposite to the end mounted on the first motor 8b. The first wiper unit 8 is mounted on the cowl 7. The cowl 7 is fixed to the vehicle body 2. The cowl 7 is a generally plate-shaped member extending in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle 1 and is installed above the rear end portion of the engine room 3. The first bracket 8a is attached to the cowl 7. The first wiper unit 8 is attached to the cowl 7 via the first bracket 8a.

[0018] Here, referring to FIG. 2, the first bracket 8a and the first motor 8b are arranged within the region Ar shown with hatching in FIG. 2. The region Ar is a region obtained by extending the range where the fuel system components 6 exist in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle 1 rearward. That is, the region Ar is a region where the vehicle 1 may collide and the engine 5 may be pushed out. If vehicle components arranged in such a region Ar interfere with the fuel system components 6, there is a possibility of damaging the fuel system components 6. In particular, due to their structure, the first bracket 8a and the first motor 8b have high strength, and when they interfere with the fuel system components 6, there is a high possibility of damaging the fuel system components 6. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the first bracket 8a and the first motor 8b arranged in such a region Ar are set as objects to avoid interference with the fuel system components 6.

[0019] <Second Wiper Unit> The second wiper unit 9 includes a second bracket 9a, a second motor 9b, a second wiper arm 9c, and a second wiper blade 9d. The second wiper arm 9c is rotatably mounted on the rotation axis of the second motor 9b. The second wiper blade 9d is mounted on the end of the second wiper arm 9c opposite to the end mounted on the second motor 9b. The second wiper unit 9 is mounted on the cowl 7. The second bracket 9a is attached to the cowl 7. The second wiper unit 9 is attached to the cowl 7 via the second bracket 9a.

[0020] Unlike the first bracket 8a and the first motor 8b of the first wiper unit 8, the second bracket 9a and the second motor 9b in this embodiment are installed outside the region Ar. Therefore, even if the engine 5 is pushed backward in the vehicle 1, the possibility of the second bracket 9a or the second motor 9b interfering with the fuel system components 6 is low. Thus, in this embodiment, the second bracket 9a and the second motor 9b are excluded from the objects to avoid interference with the fuel system components 6. However, depending on the arrangement of the fuel system components 6, various components included in the second wiper unit 9 can be included in the objects to avoid interference with the fuel system components 6. Also, although various modes of the wiper unit are assumed other than the mode in this embodiment, any mode of the wiper unit can be set as an object to avoid mutual interference according to the positional relationship with the fuel system components.

[0021] <Protective member> Next, the protective member 10 will be described. Referring to FIGS. 3(A) to 3(D), the four views of the protective member 10 are shown. FIG. 3(A) is a front view, FIG. 3(B) is a plan view, FIG. 3(C) is a right side view, and FIG. 3(D) is a left side view. In these four views, when looking at the front side of the vehicle 1 from the side of the passenger compartment 4 (see FIG. 1), the surface facing the observer is set as the front. The protective member 10 is shown shaded in FIGS. 1 and 2 so that its arrangement can be easily understood.

[0022] Referring to the front view shown in Figure 3(A), the protective member 10 has a bridge shape extending in the left-right direction, with a first mounting portion 11 at one end and a second mounting portion 12 at the other end. It also has a projection 13 that protrudes upward near the first mounting portion 11. The projection 13 has an inclined surface 13a that slopes upward from rear to front when the protective member 10 is installed on the vehicle 1, and faces the first bracket 8a and the first motor 8b. The inclination of the inclined surface 13a is clearly shown in Figures 3(C) and 3(D).

[0023] The protective member 10 has a bridging portion 14 between the first mounting portion 11 and the second mounting portion 12. The protective member 10 is attached to the engine body 5a via the first mounting portion 11 and the second mounting portion 12, thereby forming a fuel component protection structure 50. In this case, the bridging portion 14 is installed so as to straddle the fuel system components 6. Such a bridging portion 14 not only avoids contact between the fuel system components 6 and vehicle components, but can also improve the strength of the protective member 10 itself.

[0024] Referring to Figure 4, the protective member 10 is attached to the engine body 5a such that its inclined surface 13a faces the cowl 7, the first bracket 8a, and the first motor 8b.

[0025] [Effect] Next, the operation of the fuel system component 6 will be explained with reference to Figure 5. Let's assume that vehicle 1 (see Figure 1) collides with another vehicle or a wall from the front. In such a case, the engine body 5a moves towards the rear of the vehicle, as indicated by arrow 20a in Figure 5, and the first wiper unit 8 and the engine body 5a move relatively closer together. The first bracket 8a and the first motor 8b of the first wiper unit 8, which has moved relatively to the front of vehicle 1 as indicated by arrow 20b, come into contact with the projection 13. The first bracket 8a and the first motor 8b come into contact with the inclined surface 13a of the projection 13. The inclined surface 13a has an upward slope from rear to front. Therefore, the first bracket 8a and the first motor 8b, which are in contact with the inclined surface 13a, move relative to the fuel system component 6 diagonally upward and forward of vehicle 1, along the inclined surface 13a as indicated by arrow 20c. This prevents interference between the first bracket 8a and the first motor 8b and the fuel system components 6. Furthermore, it allows for the distribution of loads resulting from collisions. As a result, damage to the fuel system components 6 is suppressed.

[0026] In this embodiment, the protective member 10 also moves the cowl 7 relative to the fuel system components 6 in a forward and upward direction relative to the vehicle 1. Depending on the nature of the collision with the vehicle 1, the cowl 7 may also damage the fuel system components 6, but in this embodiment, interference between the cowl 7 and the fuel system components 6 can be avoided.

[0027] In this way, by providing the projection 13 having an inclined surface 13a, interference between fuel system components and vehicle components can be efficiently avoided. Conventionally, protective members for suppressing damage to fuel system components have often protected the fuel system components by increasing their rigidity. However, increasing rigidity increases the weight of the protective member. An increase in the weight of the protective member leads to an increase in the weight of the vehicle. Therefore, it is desirable to minimize the increase in the weight of the protective member. With the fuel component protection structure 50 of this embodiment, since it is equipped with a projection 13 having an inclined surface 13a that relatively moves the vehicle component away from the fuel system component 6, it is possible to avoid interference between the vehicle component and the fuel system component 6 while suppressing the increase in the weight of the protective member 10. In other words, the fuel component protection structure 50 of this embodiment has high mass efficiency in terms of impact resistance.

[0028] [effect] According to the fuel component protection structure 50 of this embodiment, since it has a projection that protrudes upward and has an upward slope from rear to front, and has an inclined surface that faces the vehicle component, interference between the fuel system component and the vehicle component can be efficiently avoided.

[0029] The embodiments described above are merely examples for carrying out the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto. Various modifications of these embodiments are within the scope of the present invention, and it is obvious from the above description that various other embodiments are possible within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0030] 1 vehicle, 1 car body 3. Engine compartment 4. Passenger compartment 5 Engine 5a Engine body 6 Fuel system components 6a Fuel pump 6b Fuel pipe 7 Cowl 8 First wiper unit 8a First bracket 8b First motor 8c First wiper arm 8d First wiper blade 9 Second wiper unit 9a Second bracket 9b Second motor 9c Second wiper arm 9d Second wiper blade 10 Protective member 11 First mounting part 12 Second mounting part 13 Projection 13a Slope 14 Bridge section

Claims

1. A fuel component protection structure for an internal combustion engine that protects the fuel system component by avoiding interference between the fuel system component located at the rear end of the internal combustion engine, which is located in the engine compartment at the front of the vehicle, and a vehicle component located behind the fuel system component, The vehicle component is positioned in front of the vehicle component, protruding upward and having an upward slope from rear to front, and is equipped with a projection having an inclined surface facing the vehicle component. The aforementioned projection is formed on a protective member having a bridging portion that straddles the fuel system component, The projection having the inclined surface is integrally formed as part of the bridging portion, When the aforementioned vehicle collides, the vehicle component comes into contact with the inclined surface of the projection, The aforementioned bridging portion prevents direct interference between the fuel system components and the vehicle components. Fuel component protection structure for internal combustion engines.

2. The vehicle component is located in a region that extends the area where the fuel system component is located in the width direction of the vehicle toward the rear of the vehicle. A fuel component protection structure for an internal combustion engine according to claim 1.

3. The aforementioned vehicle component is a wiper unit mounted on a cowl located above the rear end of the engine compartment. A fuel component protection structure for an internal combustion engine according to claim 1.

4. The wiper unit is fixed to the cowl via a bracket, The fuel component protection structure for an internal combustion engine according to claim 3.

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