Buffer structure

Abstract

This buffer structure is a buffer structure of a resin component and an air guide, an edge part of the air guide abutting on the back surface of the resin component.　The air guide is a two-color molded body in which a soft part is provided at an edge of a hard part. The soft part has a curved part which is curved from an in-plane direction of the hard part and in which the distal end thereof faces in an out-of-plane direction of the hard part in at least a part of the edge direction of the hard part. Since a side surface of the curved part and the back surface of the resin component are in contact with each other, a contact-possible region of the air guide is expanded, positional deviation between the air guide and the resin component abutting on the air guide can be absorbed, and sealing properties can be improved.

Description

buffer structure

[0001] The present invention relates to a shock-absorbing structure, and more particularly to a shock-absorbing structure in which a resin part and an air guide abut against each other.

[0002] An air guide is provided between the radiator of an automobile and the front bumper or front grille to guide air to the radiator and prevent hot air from being blown back from the engine compartment.

[0003] The air guides are fixed to both ends of the radiator, extend toward the front of the vehicle, and are provided so as to abut against the front bumper and the front grille.

[0004] Patent Document 1 discloses that a seal portion inclined outward in the vehicle width direction is formed on the front end peripheral edge of the main body of the air guide, and this seal portion is abutted against surrounding components such as the front bumper to form a seal, so that when an impact force is transmitted during a vehicle collision, the seal portion will incline outward and absorb the impact force.

[0005] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-276659

[0006] As described above, the rear end of the air guide is fixed to the radiator, while its front end is merely abutted against a plastic part and is not fixed thereto. Therefore, it is prone to misalignment in the vehicle width direction, and if the sealing performance between the air guide and the front bumper, etc. is reduced, the efficiency of air guidance to the radiator will decrease.

[0007] However, in the case of the seal described in Patent Document 1, the shape of the seal portion is flat and is arranged at an angle, so the contact point between the seal portion and the surrounding material is the edge portion of the end face of the seal portion, and since the seal portion contacts the surrounding material in a line, it is not possible to absorb positional misalignment in the vehicle width direction.

[0008] The present invention was made in consideration of the problems associated with the prior art, and its purpose is to provide a buffer structure that can absorb misalignment between the air guide and the resin part that abuts against the air guide.

[0009] As a result of extensive research into achieving the above-mentioned objective, the inventor discovered that the above-mentioned objective can be achieved by curving the contact portion of the air guide that contacts the resin part and having its side surface contact the resin part, and thus completed the present invention.

[0010] That is, the cushioning structure of the present invention is a cushioning structure between a resin part and an air guide whose edge abuts against the back surface of the resin part, characterized in that the air guide is a two-color molded body having a soft part on the edge of a hard part, the soft part has a curved part in at least a part of the edge direction of the hard part that is curved from an in-plane direction of the hard part and has a tip pointing in an out-of-plane direction of the hard part, and a side surface of the curved part abuts against the back surface of the resin part.

[0011] According to the present invention, the contact portion of the air guide that contacts the resin part is curved and its side is made to contact the resin part, thereby expanding the contact area of ​​the air guide and absorbing misalignment between the air guide and the resin part that contacts the air guide, thereby providing a buffer structure that improves sealing performance.

[0012] Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating an attachment state of an air guide. Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hard portion and a soft portion of a two-color molded body. Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the part surrounded by a square in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a curved portion abuts against a rib of a resin member. Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating the bending direction of the curved portion. Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a straight portion abuts against a resin member.

[0013] The cushioning structure of the present invention is described in detail below. The cushioning structure of the present invention is a cushioning structure in which the front edge of a plate-shaped air guide, which is provided so as to protrude toward the front of the vehicle from both side ends of the radiator in the vehicle width direction, abuts against the back surface of a plastic part such as a front bumper or a front grille.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 1, the air guide is fixed by a trim clip to the radiator, which is attached to the radiator core support via a rubber mount, and its front edge abuts against the rear surface of the resin part.

[0015] In this way, the air guide and the resin part are only in contact with each other and are not fixed together, so misalignment is likely to occur, reducing the sealing between the air guide and the resin part and reducing the efficiency of air guidance to the radiator.

[0016] Furthermore, if the air guide is thrust hard against the resin part to prevent misalignment, stress is applied to the resin part, stretching the resin, causing small white scratch-like patterns to appear on the surface and whitening to occur.

[0017] Resin parts such as the front bumper and front grille form shaped surfaces, and therefore it is necessary to prevent the whitening.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 2, the air guide of the present invention is a two-color molded body having a soft portion on the edge of a hard portion, the hard portion being formed from a resin material such as PP (polypropylene) or PE (polyethylene), and the soft portion being formed from an elastic material such as rubber.

[0019] In this way, the air guide of the present invention has a soft portion that abuts against the resin part, which is formed from an elastic material and is capable of elastic deformation by compression, so that the reaction force when it abuts against the resin part can be reduced and whitening of the resin part can be suppressed.

[0020] In addition, the soft portion has a curved portion at least in a portion of the edge direction of the hard portion, specifically, at a portion where the shape of the contact portion with the resin part is such that sealing properties are likely to be reduced, or where the resin part is made of a soft material that is likely to whiten, and the side of this curved portion contacts the resin member.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 3 , the curved portion is curved from the in-plane direction of the hard portion, with the tip pointing in the out-of-plane direction of the hard portion. In other words, the curved portion faces forward of the vehicle at its base where it is joined to the hard portion, gradually bends, changes direction by 90°, and points in the vehicle width direction. The curved portion has slits at the inside corner and outside corner.

[0022] By having such a curved portion, the side surface comes into contact with the plastic part, allowing it to bend due to elastic deformation, and combined with the fact that it can be compressed due to the elastic deformation, this further reduces the reaction force when it is hit against the plastic part, thereby preventing the above-mentioned whitening from occurring.

[0023] In addition, the tip of the curved portion faces in the vehicle width direction and has a surface that is approximately parallel to the shaped surface of the resin part, so that even if the air guide and the resin part are misaligned in the vehicle width direction, they can reliably abut and seal.

[0024] In other words, if the edge of the air guide faces the front of the vehicle, the area that can come into contact with the resin part is limited by the thickness of the air guide.

[0025] However, if it extends in the vehicle width direction, all of the parts facing in the vehicle width direction can come into contact, expanding the contactable area. Therefore, even if misalignment occurs in the vehicle width direction, this can be absorbed and the edge of the air guide can be abutted and sealed at the desired position on the resin member, preventing a decrease in the efficiency of guiding air to the radiator.

[0026] When the resin part has a rib on the back surface, it is preferable to make the side surface of the curved portion abut against the end surface of the rib, as shown in FIG.

[0027] The air guide of the present invention has a wide contact area with the resin part, so even if the contact area on the resin member side is narrow, it can absorb misalignment and provide a reliable seal.In addition, the ribs of the resin part are strong areas where whitening is unlikely to occur, so by contacting them here, whitening can be prevented.

[0028] It is preferable that the curved portion bends outward in the vehicle width direction as shown in Fig. 5. By opening the front end of the air guide outward, a large amount of air can be introduced between the left and right air guides, improving the efficiency of guiding air to the radiator.

[0029] The air guide does not necessarily have to have all of its soft portion curved, and may have a straight portion extending in the in-plane direction of the hard portion.

[0030] When a resin part has a hard-to-whiten portion that is not likely to whiten, such as a thick portion or a hard portion, the straight portion can be brought into contact with the hard-to-whiten portion as shown in Figure 6. The straight portion has a simpler structure than the curved portion, and therefore the cost of the molding die can be reduced.

[0031] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Air guide 2 Hard portion 3 Soft portion 31 Curved portion 311 Slit 32 Straight portion 4 Resin part (front grille) 41 Rib 5 Radiator core support 6 Radiator

Claims

1. A buffer structure between a resin part forming a shaped surface and an air guide whose edge is in contact with the back surface of the resin part, wherein the air guide is a two-color molded body having a soft part at the edge of a hard part, the soft part has a curved part that curves from the in-plane direction of the hard part at at least a part of the edge direction of the hard part and whose tip faces the out-of-plane direction of the hard part, and the side surface of the curved part is in contact with the back surface of the resin part.

2. The buffer structure according to claim 1, wherein the resin part has ribs on the back surface, and the end surface of the rib is in contact with the side surface of the curved part.

3. The buffer structure according to claim 1, wherein the resin part is a front bumper and / or a front grille of an automobile, and the curved part curves outward in the vehicle width direction.

4. The buffer structure according to claim 1, wherein the resin part has a difficult-to-whiten part, the soft part has a straight part extending in the in-plane direction of the hard part at a part of the edge direction of the hard part, and the difficult-to-whiten part is in contact with the end surface of the straight part.

Images