Back door for vehicle and vehicle comprising back door for vehicle

Abstract

A back door for a vehicle according to the present invention comprises a back panel and a center lamp fixed to the back panel.　The center lamp has an electrical component inside a lamp chamber that is enclosed by a housing and a lamp lens, and because a connector for electrically connecting an electrical component to an external circuit is fixed to a surface of the housing facing the back panel, the connector can be positioned simultaneously by positioning the center lamp, making it possible to provide a back door for a vehicle for which the work of attaching the center lamp is easy.

Description

Rear door for a vehicle and a vehicle equipped with the rear door for a vehicle

[0001] The present invention relates to a rear door for a vehicle and a vehicle equipped with the rear door for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a rear door for a vehicle provided with a single-character tail lamp connected across the entire width of the vehicle and a vehicle equipped with the rear door for a vehicle.

[0002] As a design of the tail lamp of a vehicle, a single-character tail lamp that appears to be connected across the entire width of the vehicle is known. The single-character tail lamp is composed of a center lamp provided on the back panel of the rear door and side lamps provided on the left and right sides of the rear door, respectively. (For example, Patent Document 1)

[0003] International Publication No. 2021 / 221154 pamphlet

[0004] When attaching the center lamp to the back panel, the operator needs to hold the center lamp with one hand and hold the connector connected to the harness extending from the housing of the center lamp with the other hand, and work so as not to sandwich the connector between the center lamp and the back panel.

[0005] However, since the center lamp has the same width as the width of the rear door and is a larger and heavier part than the side lamps, its attachment work is difficult.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the problems of such conventional technologies, and an object thereof is to provide a rear door for a vehicle in which the center lamp of a single-character tail lamp can be easily attached to a back panel.

[0007] As a result of intensive studies to achieve the above object, the present inventor has found that the above object can be achieved by fixing the connector of the center lamp to the surface of the housing of the center lamp facing the back panel, and has completed the present invention.

[0008] In other words, the vehicle back door of the present invention comprises a back panel and a central lamp fixed to the back panel. The central lamp has electrical components in a lamp chamber enclosed by a housing and a lamp lens, and a connector for electrically connecting the electrical components to an external circuit is fixed to the surface of the housing facing the back panel.

[0009] Furthermore, the vehicle of the present invention is equipped with a single-line taillight that extends across the entire width of the vehicle. The single-line taillight is composed of a central lamp fixed to the back panel of the back door and side lamps provided on the left and right sides of the back door, and the back door is a back door for the vehicle described above.

[0010] According to the present invention, since the connector is directly fixed to the housing without extending a harness from the housing of the central lamp, the positioning of the connector can be performed simultaneously with the positioning of the central lamp, and a vehicle back door can be provided that facilitates the installation of the central lamp.

[0011] This is a rear view of a vehicle equipped with a single-line taillight. The front-to-rear cross-sectional view shows the positional relationship between the connector for the central lamp and the through-hole in the back panel. The back panel is viewed from the passenger compartment side.

[0012] The vehicle tailgate of the present invention will now be described in detail. The tailgate is a vehicle tailgate equipped with a single-line taillight that appears to be continuous across the entire width of the vehicle 1. As shown in Figure 1, the single-line taillight consists of a central lamp 4 fixed to the back panel 3 of the tailgate 2 and side lamps 5 provided on the left and right rear fenders of the tailgate.

[0013] The central lamp 4 described above has electrical components inside a lamp chamber enclosed by a housing 41 and a lamp lens 42. These electrical components include, for example, lamps 43 such as stop lamps, reverse lamps, and fog lamps, as well as a rear-view monitor camera 44.

[0014] As shown in Figure 2, the vehicle back door 2 of the present invention has a central lamp-side connector 45 in the cross-section in the front-rear direction of the vehicle that electrically connects the above-mentioned electrical components with an external circuit (a power supply or controller provided on the vehicle body). The central lamp-side connector 45 is electrically coupled to the lamp 43 or the rear monitor camera 44 via the central lamp-side harness 46. The central lamp-side harness 46 is routed within the lamp compartment surrounded by the housing 41 and the lamp lens 42. The electrical circuit that electrically connects the lamp 43, the central lamp-side harness 46, and the central lamp-side connector 45, and the electrical circuit that electrically connects the rear monitor camera 44, the central lamp-side harness 46, and the central lamp-side connector 45 are each composed of separate, independent electrical circuits. These multiple central lamp-side connectors (45, 45) are directly fixed to the housing 41, protruding from the housing 41 toward the back panel 3, on the surface of the housing 41 facing the back panel 3, that is, the surface that is not visible from the rear of the vehicle when the central lamp 4 is attached to the back panel 3, without any harnesses extending from the housing 41.

[0015] Therefore, when attaching the central lamp 4 to the back panel 3, aligning the mounting position of the central lamp 4 also aligns the connector 45 at the same time. As a result, the worker does not need to hold the connector 45 and can attach the central lamp body with both hands, making it easy to install despite the central lamp being a large and heavy component.

[0016] The central lamp has a vehicle-side connector 34 that is electrically connected to a power supply or controller provided on the vehicle body via a vehicle-side harness, and is located on the back panel side (vehicle body side). As for the method of connecting the central lamp side connector 45, which is fixed to the housing 41 of the central lamp, to the vehicle-side connector 34, a through hole 31 is provided in the back panel 3 at a position opposite to the central lamp side connector 45 through which the central lamp side connector 45 passes. When the central lamp 4 is attached to the back panel 3, the central lamp side connector 45 is inserted into the through hole 31. Therefore, the two can be connected by pressing the vehicle-side connector 34 against the central lamp side connector 45 from the passenger compartment side (from the inside of the back panel) via the through hole 31 (by fitting them together).

[0017] Furthermore, it is possible to pre-fix the vehicle body-side connector 34 into the through-hole 31, so that when the central lamp 4 is attached to the back panel 3, the connectors (34, 45) on the vehicle body side (back panel side) and the central lamp side are mated together.

[0018] Furthermore, instead of providing a through-hole 31 in the back panel 3 for inserting the central lamp-side connector 45, the vehicle body-side connector 34 may be fixed to the surface of the back panel 3 on the central lamp side and in a position opposite to the central lamp-side connector 45, and the central lamp-side connector 45 may be fitted and connected to the vehicle body-side connector 34 at the same time as the central lamp is attached to the back panel.

[0019] As shown in Figure 3, the back panel 3 has a multi-layered reinforcing structure 32 formed of an outer plate and an inner plate, and a single structure 33 formed of an outer plate only, in its in-plane direction. In other words, the back panel 3 has a multi-layered reinforcing structure 32 formed of an outer plate located on the rear side and an inner plate located on the front side, and a single structure 33 formed of an outer plate only, in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

[0020] The central lamp-side connector 45, fixed to the housing 41, is preferably positioned opposite the single structural unit 33 when the central lamp 4 is attached to the back panel 3.

[0021] When connecting the central lamp-side connector 45 and the vehicle body-side connector 34 via the through-hole 33, the multi-layered reinforcing structure 32 requires through-holes to be formed in both the outer and inner plates. Furthermore, because the reinforcing structure 32 is thicker than the single-layer structure 33, the central lamp-side connector 45 is located further away from the passenger compartment, making it difficult to connect the vehicle body-side connector 34 to the central lamp-side connector 45 from the passenger compartment.

[0022] By positioning the central lamp-side connector 45, which is fixed to the housing 41, opposite the single structural part 33, the position of the central lamp-side connector 45 from the passenger compartment side becomes closer, making it easier to connect the vehicle body-side connector 34 to the central lamp-side connector 45.

[0023] Examples of the reinforcing structure 32 include a bag-shaped structure 32a formed by joining an outer panel with the outer shape of the back door and an inner panel with a hat shape, as shown in Figure 3, and a structure in which an inner panel such as an inner panel 32b is provided around the door opener at the bottom of the back door.

[0024] The through-hole 31 through which the central lamp-side connector 45 passes is preferably provided near the reinforcing structure 32. The single structure 33 in which the through-hole 31 is provided has lower strength than the reinforcing structure 32, and therefore may bend when subjected to external force.

[0025] If water has entered between the back panel and the central lamp, even if the area around the through-hole 31 is sealed, the bending will reduce the sealing performance, and there is a risk that water will enter the vehicle interior through the through-hole 31.

[0026] By providing the through-hole 31 through which the connector passes near the reinforcing structure 32, deflection near the through-hole can be suppressed, thereby improving watertightness.

[0027] Specifically, as shown in Figure 3, the area near the back door opener provided on the back panel 3 is the area where the greatest load is applied when opening and closing the back door 2, and is reinforced by an inner panel such as the inner panel 32b. Therefore, the watertightness is improved by positioning the central lamp-side connector 45, which is fixed to the housing 41, near the area facing the back door opener.

[0028] Furthermore, if the central lamp 4 is attached to the back panel with bolts on its center side in the vehicle width direction and attached to the back panel 3 with clips on both ends in the vehicle width direction, the through hole 31 through which the connector passes is positioned closer to the bolt fixing point than the clip fixing point in the vehicle width direction, so that it is located near the point opposite the back door opener, thereby improving watertightness.

[0029] When the lamp housing of the central lamp includes a lamp fixture 43 and a camera 44, it is preferable to provide a separate central lamp-side connector 45 for the lamp fixture and a separate central lamp-side connector 45 for the camera, and to route the internal harness (central lamp-side harness) 46 connecting the lamp fixture and its central lamp-side connector 45, and the internal harness (central lamp-side harness) 46 connecting the camera and its central lamp-side connector 45, separately rather than bundling them together.

[0030] By routing the internal harness 46 of the light fixture and the internal harness 46 of the camera separately, it is possible to suppress the camera's internal harness from being affected by noise generated by the current used to power the light fixture.

[0031] 1. Vehicle 2. Back door 3. Back panel 31. Through hole 32. Reinforcement structure 32a. Bag structure (inner panel) 32b. Inner panel (inner panel) 33. Single structure (outer panel) 34. Vehicle body side connector (back panel side connector) 4. Center lamp 41. Housing 42. Lamp lens 43. Light fixture 44. Camera 45. Center lamp side connector 46. Center lamp side harness (internal harness) 5. Side lamps

Claims

1. A vehicle back door comprising a back panel and a central lamp fixed to the back panel, wherein the central lamp has electrical components in a lamp chamber enclosed by a housing and a lamp lens, and a connector for electrically connecting the electrical components to an external circuit is fixed to the surface of the housing facing the back panel.

2. The vehicle back door according to claim 1, wherein the back panel has a reinforcing structure having an outer plate located on the rear side in the front-rear direction and an inner plate located on the front side, and a single structure formed only of the outer plate, and the connector fixed to the housing is provided at a position facing the single structure when the central lamp is attached to the back panel.

3. The vehicle back door according to claim 2, characterized in that the back panel is equipped with a back door opener, and the connector is provided near the location facing the back door opener.

4. The vehicle back door according to claim 3, characterized in that the above electrical components include a light fixture and a camera, and a connector for the light fixture and a connector for the camera are provided separately.

5. A vehicle equipped with a single-line taillight that appears to be continuous across the entire width of the vehicle, wherein the single-line taillight is composed of a central lamp fixed to the back panel of the back door and side lamps provided on the left and right sides of the back door, and the back door is a vehicle back door according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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