Protective structure for vehicle

Abstract

Provided is protective structure for a vehicle, in which the following are disposed in a housing chamber (2) in a vehicle front section: a tray (10) on which an onboard device is mounted; and a fuel system component (30). The fuel system component (30) is attached to a member (7) which forms the rear surface of the housing chamber (2), and the tray (10) is fixed, with respect to a frame member (3) of the vehicle, in front of the fuel system component (30). The tray (10) has a rear end section which faces the fuel system component (30) and which is provided with an inclined section (12) which is inclined downward toward the rear. The inclined section (12) includes: an upper edge (12a) positioned above a lower surface (30b) of the fuel system component (30); and a lower edge (12b) positioned below the lower surface (30b) of the fuel system component (30).

Description

Vehicle protective structure

[0001] The present invention relates to a protective structure for a vehicle in which a tray for placing on-board equipment and fuel system components are arranged in a storage compartment at the front of the vehicle.

[0002] In vehicles equipped with an engine, the engine and fuel system components are often located in a compartment (called an engine room, motor room, power unit room, etc.) at the front of the vehicle. This compartment also houses the engine, a power plant such as a motor and a transmission, and a battery. Because space within the compartment is limited, these on-board devices are often located close to the body components that define the compartment, and may also be located close to each other. For this reason, technologies have been proposed that aim to prevent problems that would occur if the on-board devices were to retract and hit the body components or each other in the event of a vehicle collision (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

[0003] JP 2017-30387 A JP 2011-194898 A

[0004] In the event of a vehicle collision, it is particularly important to protect fuel system components (such as a canister, fuel filter, fuel pipes, and fuel pump). For example, if on-board equipment that could interfere with the fuel system components is located in front of the fuel system components during a frontal collision (a frontal collision of the vehicle), it may be possible to install a protector to protect the fuel system components. However, because the protector must have high rigidity, adding a protector inevitably increases weight and cost.

[0005] The present vehicle protective structure was devised in consideration of these problems, and one of its objectives is to ensure the protective performance of fuel system components in the event of a vehicle frontal collision while avoiding increases in weight and cost. However, in addition to this objective, another objective of the present invention is to achieve operational effects derived from the configurations shown in the "Mode for Carrying Out the Invention" described below, which are not obtainable with conventional technology.

[0006] The disclosed vehicle protective structure can be realized as the following embodiments (application examples) and solves at least part of the above-mentioned problems. Each embodiment from embodiment 2 onwards is an embodiment that can be selected as an additional element, and each embodiment is an embodiment that can be omitted. None of the embodiments from embodiment 2 onwards discloses an embodiment or configuration that is essential to the present invention.

[0007] Aspect 1. The disclosed vehicle protective structure includes a compartment in the front of the vehicle, in which a tray on which on-board equipment is placed and a fuel system component are disposed. The fuel system component is attached to a member forming the rear surface of the compartment, the tray is fixed to a frame member of the vehicle in front of the fuel system component, and a rear end of the tray facing the fuel system component is provided with an inclined portion that slopes downward toward the rear. The inclined portion has an upper edge located above the lower surface of the fuel system component and a lower edge located below the lower surface of the fuel system component.

[0008] Aspect 2. In the above-mentioned Aspect 1, it is preferable that a mount that supports a power plant of the vehicle is fixed to the frame member, and that the inclined portion overlaps with a mount section to which the mount is fixed in a side view of the vehicle. Aspect 3. In the above-mentioned Aspect 2, it is preferable that a rear portion of the tray is fixed to a first support bracket that connects the frame member and the mount.

[0009] Aspect 4. In any of Aspects 1 to 3 above, the tray preferably has a plurality of beads extending in the front-to-rear direction. Aspect 5. In Aspect 4 above, the rear end of each of the beads is preferably located at the upper edge of the inclined portion. Aspect 6. In Aspects 4 or 5 above, the front portion of the tray is preferably fixed to a second support bracket that is fixed to the framework member. In this case, the front end of each of the beads is preferably located at the fixing portion between the tray and the second support bracket.

[0010] Aspect 7. In any of Aspects 1 to 6 above, it is preferable that the inclined portion has a vehicle width dimension greater than the vehicle width dimension of the fuel system component, and that the fuel system component is located within a vehicle width range of the inclined portion in a front view of the vehicle. Aspect 8. In any of Aspects 1 to 7 above, it is preferable that the fuel system component is attached by being inserted from above into a vehicle body-side bracket fixed to the member.

[0011] According to the disclosed vehicle protection structure, when the tray retracts during a vehicle frontal collision, the inclined portion provided at the rear end of the tray can push up the fuel system components, preventing interference between the tray and the fuel system components. By devising the shape of the tray in this way, the fuel system components can be protected without providing additional components for protecting the fuel system components. Therefore, the protection performance of the fuel system components during a vehicle frontal collision can be ensured while avoiding increases in weight and cost.

[0012] 1 is a perspective view illustrating a vehicle body structure of a vehicle to which a protective structure for a vehicle according to an embodiment is applied; FIG. 2 is a top view of the protective structure according to an embodiment; FIG. 3 is a view in which on-vehicle equipment is removed from FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view (side view of the protective structure) taken along the arrows A-A in FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a perspective view for explaining a fixing structure of a tray, showing the tray in perspective; FIG. 6 is a side view of the protective structure according to an embodiment, where (a) is a normal state and (b) is a view for explaining the operation at the time of a frontal collision.

[0013] A vehicle protection structure according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The following embodiment is merely an example, and is not intended to exclude various modifications or applications of techniques not explicitly described in the following embodiment. The configurations of the embodiments can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the embodiments. Furthermore, the configurations can be selected or combined as needed.

[0014] Regarding the definition of directions in this embodiment, the front-rear direction (vehicle length direction) is defined based on the forward / reverse direction of the vehicle, and the left-right direction (vehicle width direction) is defined based on the front-rear direction. The up-down direction is defined based on the state in which the vehicle is stopped on a flat road surface. Note that, regarding the vehicle width direction, in the portion to the left of the vehicle body centerline in a top view of the vehicle, the left is the outer side of the vehicle and the right is the inner side of the vehicle. Furthermore, in the portion to the right of the vehicle body centerline in a top view of the vehicle, the right is the outer side of the vehicle and the left is the inner side of the vehicle.

[0015] The vehicle protective structure of this embodiment is a structure that prevents damage to fuel system components due to interference between a tray disposed in a storage compartment in the front of the vehicle and the fuel system components during a frontal collision. The storage compartment referred to here includes, for example, an engine compartment, a motor compartment, a power unit compartment, etc., and is disposed in front of the passenger compartment. Examples of fuel system components include a canister, a fuel filter, a fuel pump, and fuel piping. The tray is a tray-shaped member on which on-board equipment (e.g., a battery, an air cleaner, etc.) disposed in the storage compartment is placed.

[0016] [1. Overall Configuration] First, the structure of a vehicle 1 to which a protective structure according to an embodiment is applied will be described. As shown in Fig. 1, various devices including an engine 51 and a transmission 52 are disposed in a storage compartment 2 at the front of the vehicle 1. An opening is provided at the upper end of the storage compartment 2, and a bonnet hood (not shown) is attached to this opening in a manner that allows it to be opened and closed.

[0017] A pair of left and right side frames 3 extending in the front-to-rear direction are disposed below the accommodation compartment 2. The side frames 3 are framework members that support various devices within the accommodation compartment 2 from below, and are provided at a predetermined interval in the vehicle width direction. The front ends of the left and right side frames 3 are connected to each other by an upper bar 9 (see FIG. 2). The upper bar 9 is a member that supports the front end of a bonnet hood, and is disposed, for example, along the edge of the opening to which the bonnet hood is attached.

[0018] An upper frame 4 is connected to both left and right ends of the upper bar 9. The upper frame 4 is one of the components provided to extend substantially horizontally forward from near the lower end of a front pillar (not shown) of the vehicle 1. A pair of upper frames 4 are arranged on the left and right above the accommodation compartment 2. A front fender panel 5 of the vehicle 1 is attached to the outside of the upper frame 4. In addition, front wheels and a spring house 6 (not shown) are arranged below the upper frame 4. The upper bar 9 and upper frame 4 function to support the portion of the bonnet hood from both left and right end edges to the front end edge.

[0019] A dash panel 7 that forms the rear surface of the accommodation compartment 2 is provided at the rear end of the accommodation compartment 2. The dash panel 7 is a planar member that divides the vehicle interior and the accommodation compartment 2 in the front-to-rear direction, and the space forward of the dash panel 7 forms the accommodation compartment 2. The dash panel 7 is erected to cover the rear end of the accommodation compartment 2, for example, from the upper end surface of the upper frame 4 to the upper end surface of the side frame 3. The lower end of the dash panel 7 is provided to extend rearward in a planar manner along, for example, the upper end surface of the side frame 3, and is connected to the floor panel (not shown) of the vehicle interior so as to be substantially flush with the floor panel.

[0020] A fender shield 8 is attached to the interior of the storage compartment 2. The fender shield 8 is a planar member that forms part of the bottom surface of the storage compartment 2 inside the fender panel 5 of the vehicle 1. An edge of the fender shield 8 facing outward from the vehicle is connected to the upper frame 4. An edge of the fender shield 8 facing inward from the vehicle may be connected to the side frame 3, or may be provided so as to be spaced apart and above the side frame 3.

[0021] A power plant such as an engine 51 and a transmission 52 is elastically attached to the side frame 3 via mounts. In the protective structure of this embodiment, a mount 40 (see FIGS. 2 to 4) that supports the transmission 52 is exemplified. This mount 40 is a vibration-isolating device that absorbs and damps vibrations of the transmission 52, and is fixed to the side frame 3. It is preferable that an elastic member such as vibration-isolating rubber, liquid, or vibration-isolating metal (not shown) is enclosed inside the mount 40 to elastically support the transmission 52.

[0022] As shown in Figure 4, the mount 40 has a cylindrical outer tube 41 and an inner tube (not shown) fitted inside the outer tube 41 via an elastic member. The axis of the outer tube 41 and the axis of the inner tube are approximately aligned, and both are disposed so as to extend in the vehicle width direction. The outer tube 41 is fastened and fixed to the upper surface of the side frame 3 via a mount fixing bracket 42. The mount fixing bracket 42 is a fixing device formed in the shape of a bollard that fixes the position of the cylindrical outer tube 41. The range where the mount 40 is fixed (the longitudinal section, hereinafter referred to as the "mount section M") has higher rigidity on the vehicle body side than other positions.

[0023] 1 and 2, a battery 20 and an air cleaner 50 are disposed as on-board equipment within the accommodation chamber 2. The battery 20 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped outer shape, and is placed on and fixed to a tray 10 (described below) while being placed on, for example, a tray (not shown). The air cleaner 50 is located immediately behind the battery 20, and is placed on and fixed to the tray 10.

[0024] A fuel system component 30 attached to the dash panel 7 is located behind the air cleaner 50. For example, if the fuel system component 30 is a canister, the fuel system component 30 has a generally cylindrical outer shape and is provided with a fixing bracket 31 (see FIGS. 2 to 4) on its outer circumferential surface. The fuel system component 30 of this embodiment is attached to the dash panel 7 by inserting the fixing bracket 31 from above into a vehicle body-side bracket 7A fixed to the dash panel 7.

[0025] [2. Detailed Structure] The protective structure of this embodiment is a structure that protects the fuel system component 30 by preventing the tray 10 and the fuel system component 30, which are arranged in the storage chamber 2, from interfering with each other in the event of a frontal collision of the vehicle 1. In this protective structure, no protector (separate component) is added to protect the fuel system component 30, but rather the shape of the tray 10, which is positioned in front of the fuel system component 30, is devised. Therefore, compared to when a protector is added, increases in weight and cost can be avoided.

[0026] 2 to 5, the tray 10 is fixed to the side frame 3 in front of the fuel system component 30. The tray 10 of this embodiment is fixed to the side frame 3 at two locations, front and rear, via support brackets 21 and 22. Note that Fig. 5 is a perspective view for explaining the fixing structure of the tray 10, in which the outline of the tray 10 is indicated by a thick line and the components located below the tray 10 are indicated by solid lines when viewed through the tray 10.

[0027] 5 , one end 21a of the front support bracket 21 (second support bracket) on the outer side (left side) in the vehicle width direction is fixed to the side frame 3, and a support portion 21b extending from the one end 21a toward the inner side in the vehicle width direction is fixed to the underside of the front part of the tray 10. In this way, the front part of the tray 10 is fixed to the front support bracket 21 which is fixed to the side frame 3.

[0028] The rear support bracket 22 (first support bracket) has one end 22a on the outer side (left side) in the vehicle width direction fixed to the fender shield 8, and a support portion 22b extending from the one end 22a toward the inner side in the vehicle width direction is fixed to the underside of the rear of the tray 10. Note that, as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 4 , the support portion 22b of the rear support bracket 22 is placed on or placed and fixed to the mount 40, and connects the side frame 3 and the mount 40. In this way, the rear of the tray 10 is fixed to the rear support bracket 22 that connects the side frame 3 and the mount 40.

[0029] 2 and 3, the tray 10 of this embodiment includes at least a mounting portion 11 on which the battery 20 is mounted, and an inclined portion 12 provided at the rear end of the tray 10. These will be described in order below.

[0030] In this embodiment, the tray 10 is configured to mount the battery 20 and the air cleaner 50, and therefore, as shown in Fig. 3, the mounting portion 11 includes a battery mounting portion 11a on which the battery 20 is mounted and an air cleaner mounting portion 11b on which the air cleaner 50 is mounted. The battery mounting portion 11a is a front region of the tray 10 and overlaps the front support bracket 21 in the vertical direction. The air cleaner mounting portion 11b is a rear region of the battery mounting portion 11a and overlaps the rear support bracket 22 in the vertical direction. In this embodiment, a portion of the air cleaner mounting portion 11b on the outer side in the vehicle width direction bulges upward as shown in Fig. 4 to avoid contact with the mount 40 located below.

[0031] 3 and 4 , the inclined portion 12 is a planar portion at the rear end of the tray 10 that slopes downward toward the rear. The rear end of the tray 10 faces the fuel system component 30. The inclined portion 12 is shaped like a slide, with its upper edge 12a positioned above the lower surface 30b of the fuel system component 30 and its lower edge 12b positioned below the lower surface 30b of the fuel system component 30. In other words, the lower surface 30b of the fuel system component 30 is positioned within the range of the height H of the inclined portion 12. When the tray 10 is moved backward due to a frontal collision, the inclined portion 12 abuts against the lower surface 30b of the fuel system component 30 behind the tray 10, thereby pushing up the fuel system component 30.

[0032] The tray 10 of this embodiment is disposed so that the inclined portion 12 overlaps the mounting section M in a side view of the vehicle 1. Here, "overlapping" means that at least a portion of the inclined portion 12 overlaps the mounting section M; the entire inclined portion 12 does not necessarily have to be included in the mounting section M. The range indicated by the symbol S in FIG. 4 is the longitudinal range of the inclined portion 12 (the longitudinal dimension from the upper edge 12a to the lower edge 12b). Providing the longitudinal range S of the inclined portion 12 within the mounting section M reduces the amount of deformation of the inclined portion 12 when the vehicle body is deformed in a frontal collision. In addition to the inclined portion 12, it is preferable that the air cleaner mounting portion 11b, located immediately in front of the inclined portion 12, also be located in the mounting section M.

[0033] The inclined portion 12 is formed by bending the rear edge of the mounting portion 11 (air cleaner mounting portion 11b) of the tray 10 obliquely downward. The upper edge 12a of the inclined portion 12 is also the rear edge of the mounting portion 11, and the lower edge 12b of the inclined portion 12 is also the rear edge of the tray 10. In a side view, the inclined portion 12 of this embodiment is inclined downward at an inclination angle substantially equal to the rear inclination angle of the bulging portion of the air cleaner mounting portion 11b, forming an inclined surface substantially flush with the inclined surface of that portion. In other words, a portion of the mounting portion 11 located immediately in front of the inclined portion 12 also has the same function as the inclined portion 12, improving the function of pushing up the fuel system component 30 during a frontal collision.

[0034] The inclination angle of the inclined portion 12 relative to the upper surface of the tray 10 (the upper surface of the mounting portion 11) can be set as appropriate, and is approximately 40 to 45 degrees in the example shown in Fig. 4. The inclination angle of the inclined portion 12 may be set taking into consideration the positional relationship between the tray 10 and the fuel system component 30 (the distance between them in the front-rear direction and the position in the up-down direction), the relationship with the devices and members arranged around the tray 10 and the fuel system component 30, the rigidity of each of the tray 10 and the fuel system component 30, etc.

[0035] 3, in the top view of the vehicle 1, the rear edge 12c of the inclined portion 12 on the outer side in the vehicle width direction extends diagonally forward as it goes further outward in the vehicle width direction. This is to avoid contact with peripheral components located behind the tray 10 on the outer side in the vehicle width direction, and is not essential. For example, the vehicle width direction dimension of the rear end of the tray 10 may be approximately constant, or the left and right corners may be rounded like the front end of the tray 10.

[0036] In this embodiment, the inclined portion 12 has a vehicle width dimension W (see FIG. 3) that is larger than the vehicle width dimension of the fuel system component 30, and the fuel system component 30 is located within the vehicle width range of the inclined portion 12 when viewed from the front (or top) of the vehicle 1. As a result, when the tray 10 retracts, the inclined portion 12 comes into contact with the entire lower surface 30b of the fuel system component 30, improving the function of pushing up the fuel system component 30 in the event of a frontal collision.

[0037] In addition, as shown in FIG. 3 , if the rear edge 12c of the inclined portion 12 has an obliquely extending portion, the vehicle width direction dimension W' of the lower edge 12b of the inclined portion 12 will be shorter than the vehicle width direction dimension W of the upper edge 12a. In this case, it is more preferable that the fuel system components 30 be located within the vehicle width direction range of the lower edge 12b of the inclined portion 12. In the example shown in FIG. 3 , the majority (approximately 80 to 90 percent) of the fuel system components 30 are located within the vehicle width direction range of the lower edge 12b of the inclined portion 12. In this way, it is preferable that the majority of the fuel system components 30 be located within the vehicle width direction range of the lower edge 12b of the inclined portion 12.

[0038] The tray 10 of this embodiment has multiple beads 13 extending in the front-rear direction. The beads 13 function to increase the rigidity of the tray 10, and are portions of the plate surface formed in a concave or convex shape. The tray 10 illustrated in FIG. 3 has two concave (i.e., downwardly convex) beads 13 spaced apart on the left and right. The front end 13a of each bead 13 overlaps the front support bracket 21 in the vertical direction and is located at the fixed portion between the tray 10 and the front support bracket 21. The rear end 13b of each bead 13 is located at the upper edge 12a of the inclined portion 12. In other words, the beads 13 extend in the front-rear direction from a position above the front support bracket 21 to the position of the inclined portion 12.

[0039] [3. Actions and Effects] (1) In the protective structure described above, the fuel system component 30 is attached to the dash panel 7, and the tray 10 is disposed in front of the fuel system component 30, and the rear end (the portion facing the fuel system component 30) of the tray 10 is provided with an inclined portion 12 that slopes downward toward the rear. The upper edge 12a of the inclined portion 12 is located above the lower surface 30b of the fuel system component 30, and the lower edge 12b of the inclined portion 12 is located below the lower surface 30b of the fuel system component 30.

[0040] Therefore, when the vehicle 1 is hit head-on in the normal state shown in Fig. 6(a), as shown in Fig. 6(b), a load is applied from the front to the tray 10, causing the tray 10 to move backward, and the inclined portion 12 hits the lower end of the fuel system component 30. When the amount of backward movement of the tray 10 increases further, the fuel system component 30 is pushed up along the inclined portion 12, as shown by the outline arrow in Fig. 6(b).

[0041] That is, according to the protective structure described above, when the tray 10 retracts during a frontal collision, the inclined portion 12 can push up the fuel system component 30, thereby preventing interference between the tray 10 and the fuel system component 30. In this way, by devising the shape of the tray 10, the fuel system component 30 can be protected without providing any additional components for protecting the fuel system component 30. Therefore, the protection performance of the fuel system component 30 during a frontal collision can be ensured while avoiding increases in weight and cost.

[0042] (2) In the protective structure described above, the inclined portion 12 is disposed so as to overlap the mount section M to which the mount 40 is fixed, in a side view. The mount section M is a highly rigid section that is resistant to deformation even when the vehicle 1 collides, and by disposing the inclined portion 12 so as to overlap this section M, deformation of the inclined portion 12 can also be suppressed. This allows the inclined portion 12 of the tray 10 to push up the fuel system component 30 as intended during a frontal collision, thereby improving the protection performance of the fuel system component 30.

[0043] (3) In the protective structure described above, the rear of the tray 10 is fixed to the rear support bracket 22 that connects the side frame 3 and the mount 40. This reduces the amount of deformation of the rear of the tray 10 during a frontal collision, making it possible to more effectively achieve the desired behavior. This further enhances the protection performance of the fuel system components 30.

[0044] (4) In the protective structure described above, the tray 10 has a plurality of beads 13 extending in the front-to-rear direction, which increases the rigidity of the tray 10. As a result, the tray 10 can stably support the on-board equipment (e.g., the battery 20) under normal circumstances other than during a collision, and deformation of the tray 10 itself can be suppressed during a frontal collision, making it easier to achieve the desired behavior and improving the protection performance of the fuel system components 30.

[0045] (5) In the protective structure described above, the rear end 13b of each bead 13 is located at the upper edge 12a of the inclined portion 12. That is, since each bead 13 extends to the upper edge 12a of the inclined portion 12, the bead 13 can suppress deformation of the portion immediately in front of the inclined portion 12 during a frontal collision, and the inclined portion 12 can push up the fuel system component 30 as intended. Therefore, the protective performance of the fuel system component 30 can be improved.

[0046] (6) In the above-described protective structure, the front portion of the tray 10 is fixed to the front support bracket 21, which is fixed to the side frame 3, and the front end 13a of each bead 13 is located at the fixed portion between the tray 10 and the front support bracket 21. In this way, since each bead 13 extends from the fixed portion with high rigidity, the rigidity of the tray 10 can be further improved.

[0047] (7) In the protective structure described above, the inclined portion 12 has a vehicle width dimension W that is larger than the vehicle width dimension of the fuel system component 30, and the fuel system component 30 is located within the vehicle width range of the inclined portion 12 in a front or top view of the vehicle 1. In other words, the inclined portion 12 is disposed over the entire front of the fuel system component 30. Therefore, when the tray 10 is retracted, the inclined portion 12 can contact the entire lower surface 30b of the fuel system component 30, thereby enhancing the pushing-up effect of the fuel system component 30.

[0048] (8) In the above-described protective structure, the fuel system component 30 is attached by being inserted from above into the vehicle body-side bracket 7A fixed to the dash panel 7. Therefore, the inclined portion 12 pushes up the fuel system component 30, allowing the fuel system component 30 to be detached from the vehicle body-side bracket 7A, thereby further preventing interference between the tray 10 and the fuel system component 30. This further improves the protection performance of the fuel system component 30.

[0049] [4. Other] The above-described protective structure and the configuration of the vehicle 1 to which the protective structure is applied are examples and are not limited to those described above. For example, the number and arrangement of the beads 13 of the tray 10, and the positions of the front end 13a and rear end 13b of the beads 13 are examples. For example, multiple beads with different lengths in the front-rear direction may be arranged side by side in the left-right direction. Alternatively, the beads 13 may be omitted.

[0050] The arrangement of the inclined portion 12 of the tray 10 is also one example and is not limited to the above. For example, instead of the entire inclined portion 12 being arranged within the mount section M, a portion of the inclined portion 12 may be arranged to overlap the mount section M. Alternatively, when the tray 10 is arranged away from the mount 40, the position of the inclined portion 12 may be set regardless of the mount section M.

[0051] It is sufficient that at least the in-vehicle equipment is placed on the tray 10. For example, the air cleaner 50 may be placed in a different location, and the air cleaner placement portion 11b may be omitted from the tray 10. Alternatively, in-vehicle equipment other than the air cleaner 50 may be placed on the air cleaner placement portion 11b. Even when the battery 20 is placed, the battery 20 may be disposed behind the air cleaner 50 (or an in-vehicle equipment replacing the air cleaner 50).

[0052] The method of attaching fuel system component 30 to dash panel 7 is not particularly limited. For example, instead of inserting fuel system component 30 into vehicle body bracket 7A from above, fuel system component 30 may be fixed to a vehicle body member using fasteners such as clips or bolts, adhesive, etc. Furthermore, the vehicle body configuration of vehicle 1 is not limited to the above, and the method of fixing tray 10 to a frame member is not limited to the above.

[0053] The present invention is applicable to the vehicle manufacturing industry where trays and fuel system components are placed in a compartment at the front of the vehicle.

[0054] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 vehicle 2 accommodation compartment 3 side frame (framework member) 7 dash panel (member) 7A vehicle body side bracket 10 tray 12 inclined portion 12a upper edge 12b lower edge 13 bead 13a front end 13b rear end 20 battery (vehicle equipment) 21 front support bracket (second support bracket) 22 rear support bracket (first support bracket) 30 fuel system component 30b lower surface 40 mount 51 engine (power plant) 52 transmission (power plant) M mount section

Claims

1. A protective structure for a vehicle in which a tray on which in-vehicle equipment is placed and fuel system components are arranged in a storage compartment at the front of the vehicle, the fuel system component is attached to a member that forms a rear surface of the storage chamber, the tray is fixed to a frame member of the vehicle in front of the fuel system component, a rear end portion of the tray facing the fuel system component is provided with an inclined portion that slopes downward toward the rear, The inclined portion has an upper edge located above the lower surface of the fuel system component and a lower edge located below the lower surface of the fuel system component. A protective structure for a vehicle, comprising:

2. a mount for supporting a power plant of the vehicle is fixed to the frame member; The inclined portion overlaps with a mount section to which the mount is fixed in a side view of the vehicle.

2. The vehicle protective structure according to claim 1.

3. The rear portion of the tray is fixed to a first support bracket that connects the frame member and the mount.

3. The vehicle protective structure according to claim 2.

4. The tray has a plurality of beads extending in the front-rear direction. The vehicle protective structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The rear end of each of the beads is located at the upper edge of the inclined portion.

5. The vehicle protective structure according to claim 4.

6. a front portion of the tray is fixed to a second support bracket that is fixed to the framework member; The front end of each of the beads is located at the fixed portion between the tray and the second support bracket.

5. The vehicle protective structure according to claim 4.

7. The inclined portion has a vehicle width dimension larger than a vehicle width dimension of the fuel system component, and the fuel system component is located within a vehicle width range of the inclined portion in a front view of the vehicle. The vehicle protective structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

8. The fuel system component is attached by being inserted from above into a vehicle body-side bracket fixed to the component. The vehicle protective structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3.