Vehicle structure

Abstract

[Problem] To suppress an obstacle such as a curb from coming into contact with a drive unit when a vehicle moves backward. [Solution] The present invention has: a torsion beam suspension 20 that has a pair of trailing arms 21 disposed on both sides in a vehicle width direction Y and extending in a front-rear direction X, and a torsion beam 22 bridged between the pair of trailing arms and extending in the vehicle width direction; and a rear drive unit 10 disposed on the front side of the torsion beam and having a lower end that changes in a height direction Z in accordance with an occupant boarding the vehicle. The torsion beam has a guard member 26 having a lower end positioned below the lower end of the rear drive unit.

Description

Vehicle Structure

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle structure.

[0002] There are various types of suspensions for automotive wheel suspension devices, and one of them is the torsion beam type suspension used for the rear wheels. The torsion beam type suspension adopts a structure in which left and right trailing arms are connected by a torsion beam extending in the vehicle width direction. In the prior art related to the torsion beam type suspension, a structure is disclosed in which a jack-up bracket is provided at the center in the left-right direction of the torsion beam of the rear suspension.

[0003] Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-200711

[0004] In the case where a drive unit including a motor or the like is arranged in front of the torsion beam as in the above prior art, if the drive unit protrudes below the torsion beam, there is a risk that an obstacle such as a curb will contact the drive unit when the vehicle reverses.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle structure that suppresses contact between an obstacle such as a curb and a drive unit when the vehicle reverses.

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is a vehicle structure having a rear suspension and a rear drive unit. The rear suspension has a pair of trailing arms arranged on both sides in the vehicle width direction and extending in the vehicle front-rear direction, and a torsion beam bridged on the pair of trailing arms and extending in the vehicle width direction. The rear drive unit is arranged on the front side of the torsion beam and is configured such that the lower end changes in the height direction according to the boarding of the occupant. The torsion beam has a guard member whose lower end is located below the lower end of the rear drive unit.

[0007] According to the above vehicle structure, it is possible to suppress contact between an obstacle such as a curb and the drive unit when the vehicle reverses.

[0008] It is a schematic bottom view showing a vehicle structure according to an embodiment. It is a schematic cross-sectional view along the front-rear direction at approximately the center of the rear shaft of the vehicle structure according to the embodiment. It is a schematic rear view showing a vehicle structure according to the embodiment.

[0009] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the attached drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals are used for identical components, and redundant descriptions are omitted. In the drawings, the size and proportions of each component are exaggerated to facilitate understanding of the embodiments and may differ from the actual size and proportions.

[0010] Furthermore, in each figure, arrows (coordinate system) represented by X and Y indicate the orientation of the components constituting the vehicle structure according to the embodiment. X represents the longitudinal direction and is denoted as longitudinal direction X. Y represents the vehicle width direction and is denoted as vehicle width direction Y. Z represents the height direction and is denoted as height direction Z.

[0011] Figure 1 is a schematic bottom view showing the vehicle structure according to the embodiment. Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view along the longitudinal direction at approximately the center of the rear shaft of the vehicle structure according to the embodiment. Figure 3 is a schematic rear view showing the vehicle structure according to the embodiment.

[0012] The vehicle structure according to this embodiment can be applied to vehicles that have a drive unit mounted on the rear side of a four-wheeled vehicle, such as a two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive vehicle. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the vehicle structure according to this embodiment has a rear drive unit 10 and a torsion beam type suspension 20. A detailed description follows below.

[0013] (Rear Drive Unit) The rear drive unit 10 is provided to drive the rear wheels. The rear drive unit 10 is positioned in front of the torsion beam 22, which will be described later, and is configured so that the position of its lower end changes in the height direction Z according to the number of occupants. The rear drive unit 10 is configured to be positioned below the cargo space of the vehicle. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the rear drive unit 10 comprises an inverter 11, a drive motor 12, a reduction gear 13, and a housing 14.

[0014] The inverter 11 is configured to convert the DC current supplied from the battery located in front of the rear drive unit 10 via a harness or the like into AC current and supply it to the drive motor 12. In this embodiment, the inverter 11 is located in the lower part of the rear drive unit 10 in the height direction Z, but its specific position does not have to be the same as shown in the drawing.

[0015] The drive motor 12 is configured to generate driving force using the current output from the inverter 11. In this embodiment, the drive motor 12 is positioned above the inverter 11. The reduction gear 13 houses multiple gears and pulleys with different numbers of teeth, and is configured to adjust the driving force generated by the drive motor 12 by transmitting the driving force while changing the gears that mesh or changing the width of the pulleys. The reduction gear 13 is configured to connect its output shaft to a pair of drive shafts S. In this embodiment, the reduction gear 13 is positioned adjacent to the drive motor 12 in the axial direction (vehicle width direction Y).

[0016] The housing 14 operably houses the inverter 11, the drive motor 12, and internal components such as the gears of the reduction gear 13. The rear drive unit 10 is configured to be connected to the side members (rear side inner members) and other body components that constitute the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction Y via mounting parts.

[0017] (Torsion beam type suspension) As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the torsion beam type suspension 20 includes a trailing arm 21, a torsion beam 22, a spring seat 23, a spring 24, a shock absorber 25, and a guard member 26.

[0018] As shown in Figure 1, the trailing arms 21 are provided to extend in the front-rear direction X and are arranged on both sides in the vehicle width direction Y as a pair. The trailing arms 21 are configured to connect to vehicle body parts such as side members via collars or the like on their front side. The rear side of the trailing arms 21 is configured to connect to the tires. The trailing arms 21 have a portion for connecting to the torsion beam 22, and in this embodiment, the portion for connecting to the torsion beam 22 is configured to be located near the portion for connecting to the tires.

[0019] As shown in Figure 1, the torsion beam 22 is provided to extend approximately in the vehicle width direction Y so as to connect (bridge) the left and right trailing arms 21. The torsion beam 22 has a hollow cross-section intersecting the vehicle width direction Y, as shown in Figure 2. However, the specific shape does not have to be a hollow cross-section as long as a predetermined strength and rigidity can be obtained.

[0020] As shown in Figure 1, the torsion beam 22 is formed in a curved shape when viewed from above in order to avoid the approximately central part (intermediate part) in the vehicle width direction Y being positioned further back than both ends, due to its layout relationship with the reduction gear 13 that constitutes the rear drive unit 10. In this specification, this part is referred to as the curved part b (see Figure 1). The torsion beam 22 is configured to be set behind the rear drive unit 10 together with the guard member 26 which will be described later. This makes it difficult to see the exterior of the rear drive unit 10 from the rear of the vehicle.

[0021] As shown in Figure 3, the spring seat 23 is located at the lower end of the spring 24 that constitutes the rear suspension and is configured as the part where the spring 24 is installed. The spring seat 23 is configured to have a shape substantially parallel to the horizontal plane and is located near the connection between the trailing arm 21 and the torsion beam 22, and in this embodiment, it is located in front of the connection. The shape of the spring seat 23 when viewed from above can be configured as a polygon such as a rectangle, depending on the surrounding layout. The spring seat 23 can be located above the drive shaft S in the height direction Z.

[0022] The spring 24 has its upper end connected to a vehicle body component such as a rear side member, and its lower end placed on the spring seat 23, and is configured to be elastically deformable in approximately the height direction Z. The spring 24 can be configured as a coil spring or the like.

[0023] The shock absorber 25 is configured such that its upper end is connected to a vehicle body component such as the rear wheel house inner, and its lower end is attached to the trailing arm 21. The shock absorber 25 is configured such that a cylindrical member moves closer to and further apart in the longitudinal direction in response to the expansion and contraction of the spring 24.

[0024] The guard member 26 is integrally formed with the torsion beam 22, and its lower end is positioned below the lower end of the rear drive unit 10. This configuration prevents obstacles such as curbs from contacting the rear drive unit 10 when the vehicle is reversing, even if it is not possible to install parts such as protectors due to the relatively short rear overhang (distance from the axle to the rear end of the vehicle; see length d1 in Figure 2).

[0025] Furthermore, since the ground clearance of the rear drive unit 10 does not need to be increased, the cargo space can be kept from being reduced. Also, since there is no need to set up separate parts such as protectors, the number of parts can be prevented from increasing. In addition, by positioning the guard member 26 below the torsion beam 22, it can be made to bear the load when the vehicle is jacked up. Moreover, when viewed from the rear of the vehicle, the rear drive unit 10 and the guard member 26 are positioned lower than the shape of the lower edge of the bumper and other parts at the rear end of the vehicle.

[0026] By positioning the guard member 26 behind the rear drive unit 10, the shape (appearance) of the rear drive unit 10 can be made less visible from the rear. The method of joining the guard member 26 to the torsion beam 22 is not particularly limited, as long as it can be integrally constructed with the torsion beam 22, and can be welding, bonding, fitting, etc.

[0027] In this embodiment, the component that is likely to come into contact with an obstacle may be the inverter 11. However, any component located below that is likely to come into contact with an obstacle when the vehicle is reversing does not have to be the inverter 11. Furthermore, the guard member 26 has a cross-section that intersects the vehicle width direction Y in a U-shape (or V-shape), and the bottom (or lower part) of the U-shape (or V-shape) can be positioned to come into contact with the torsion beam 22 or not (see Figure 2).

[0028] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 1, the guard member 26 is formed and installed so that at least a portion of it covers the bent portion b of the torsion beam 22. This reinforces the strength of the bent portion b of the torsion beam 22. In addition, to protect the rear drive unit 10, the guard member 26 can be positioned in a vehicle mounting location with its dimensions in the vehicle width direction Y set so that its size in the vehicle width direction Y covers approximately the lower half of the rear drive unit 10.

[0029] Furthermore, the guard member 26 is configured such that even when the vehicle is fully loaded (with the maximum number of passengers, each weighing 55 kg, seated) and the rear suspension strokes towards the bump (compresses, lowering the vehicle height), its lower end remains below the lower end of the rear drive unit 10. Therefore, regardless of the vehicle's load, contact of obstacles with the rear drive unit 10 when the vehicle is reversing can be suppressed.

[0030] The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims.

[0031] 10 Rear drive unit, 21 Trailing arm, 22 Torsion beam, 26 Guard member, b Bent section, Y Width direction, Z Height direction.

Claims

1. A vehicle structure comprising: a rear suspension having a pair of trailing arms positioned on both sides in the vehicle width direction and extending in the vehicle longitudinal direction, and a torsion beam bridged between the pair of trailing arms and extending in the vehicle width direction; and a rear drive unit positioned in front of the torsion beam, the lower end of which changes in the height direction according to the presence of occupants, wherein the torsion beam has a guard member whose lower end is located below the lower end of the rear drive unit.

2. The vehicle structure according to claim 1, wherein the torsion beam has a bent portion formed in which the middle portion in the vehicle width direction is bent in the front-rear direction more than the ends, and the guard member is installed on the torsion beam so as to cover at least a part of the bent portion.

3. The vehicle structure according to claim 1, wherein the guard member is set such that even when the rear suspension strokes in the direction of compression when the vehicle is fully loaded, the lower end of the guard member is lower than the lower end of the rear drive unit.

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