JP2003112663A - Engine undercover for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an engine undercover for preventing air flow hitting on a front surface of a vertical wall from becoming turbulence and preventing infiltration of water, even if the vertical wall exists in an engine cover. SOLUTION: A plurality of ventilation grooves 111 are provided by partially expanding a continuous surface 11 to a lower surface of a front bumper 20 upward on the continuous surface 11 at a front end of the engine under cover 10 having the vertical wall 13. Air flow in traveling vehicle is allowed to flow along a lower surface of the engine undercover 10 from the ventilation grooves 111.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an engine undercover that covers a lower surface of an engine room of a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to prevent damage to the engine and the like due to flying stones in the engine room when the vehicle is running, to reduce the diffusion of engine noise to the outside of the vehicle, and to reduce the air resistance by rectifying the air flow on the underside of the vehicle. Is provided with an engine undercover that smoothly covers the lower surface of the engine room of the vehicle.

It is desirable that this engine undercover be made as flat as possible in order to reduce the air resistance of the vehicle, but in order to avoid interference with the engine, radiator, and other auxiliary equipment located above it. , There is no choice but to form unevenness. If there are such irregularities, particularly downward convex portions, as shown in FIG. 6, the airflow collides with the vertical wall, and the airflow that strikes the front surface of the vertical wall becomes turbulent, increasing air resistance.

That is, the engine undercover 50 is
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the continuous surface 51 at the front end of the engine undercover 50 is connected to the lower surface 23 of the bumper 20, and the upper bottom 52 is lowered from the continuous surface 51 by one step and is substantially horizontal.
The vertical wall 53 continues downward from the upper bottom 52, and further, the vertical wall 53 continuously extends to the horizontal lower bottom 54, and is bent upward again at the rearmost portion.

On the other hand, the bumper 20 has a U-shaped cross section composed of a substantially horizontal upper surface 21, a front surface 22 and a lower surface 23.
An air inlet 221 for taking air into the engine room at the time of traveling is provided at a predetermined position 2. The upper surface of the lower surface 23 of the bumper 20 is overlapped with the lower surface of the continuous surface 51 of the engine undercover 50 described above.

When the vehicle travels in this state, an air flow toward the vehicle is generated as indicated by the one-dot chain line arrow in FIG. 6, and the vertical wall 53 of the engine undercover 50 is introduced from below the lower surface 23 of the bumper 20. The air flow impinging on the vertical wall 53 receives resistance by the vertical wall 53, and the portion F shown by the diagonal lines in FIG. 6 on the front surface thereof becomes a turbulent flow. When the airflow becomes turbulent, air resistance and noise increase.

[0007]

By the way, in order to prevent the airflow from becoming turbulent, the engine undercover 5
In the upper bottom 52 in front of the vertical wall 53 of 0, a plurality of long ventilation holes 511 are provided in the vehicle width direction as shown in FIG.
The airflow entering from the air introduction port 221 or the like provided on the front surface 22 of the No. 0 goes out of the engine undercover 50 through the ventilation hole 511, and the front surface of the vertical wall 53 is indicated by a double-dashed white arrow. The turbulent flow is rectified so as to form a laminar flow. However, if the vent hole 511 is opened in the engine undercover 50, when the vehicle travels in the flooded channel, water enters from the vent hole 511 as indicated by the broken white arrow and the lower bottom 54 of the engine undercover 54. The weight of the water that has collected and entered may cause the engine undercover 50 to drop off or be damaged.

Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, the present invention prevents an air flow hitting the front surface of the vertical wall from becoming turbulent even if the engine undercover has a vertical wall, and prevents water from entering. The purpose is to provide an undercover.

[0009]

An engine undercover for a vehicle according to the present invention covers a lower surface of an engine room of the vehicle, and a substantially horizontal continuous surface which is continuous along a lower surface of a front bumper, and from the continuous surface. In an engine undercover having a vertical wall extending downward, a plurality of openings for introducing an air flow from the upper surface along the vertical wall are provided in the continuous surface. Therefore, the air flow that hits the vertical wall from the lower surface of the front bumper is rectified by the air flow that goes downward from above the continuous surface of the front bumper through the plurality of openings to form a laminar flow. Can be prevented and the air resistance can be reduced.

The engine undercover for a vehicle according to the present invention is characterized in that the opening is formed by a groove projecting upward from the continuous surface. Therefore, even when the vehicle travels on the flooded passage, the opening is located higher than the vertical wall of the engine undercover, so that water can be prevented from entering the upper surface of the engine undercover.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, an embodiment of an engine undercover of a vehicle according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Here, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the vehicle as viewed from below, FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of an essential portion of the vehicle, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an engine undercover.

As shown in FIG. 1, the engine undercover 10 of the engine room 40 is surrounded by the rear part of the bumper 20, the left and right wheel houses 60, and the front part of the passenger compartment floor 70, as in the conventional case. It is attached so as to cover the lower surface of the front part. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the engine undercover 10 includes a bumper 20 over the entire length in the vehicle width direction.
A continuous surface 11 at the front end that overlaps the upper surface of the lower surface 23, a substantially horizontal upper bottom 12 located below the cross member 30 while inclining slightly downward from the continuous surface 11, and the upper bottom 1
The vertical wall 13 has a steep slope that descends from 2, a lower bottom 14 that extends substantially horizontally from the vertical wall 13, and a rear wall 15 that is a rear end that rises upward at the rear portion.

As is apparent from the perspective view of FIG. 3, the continuous surface 11 at the front end is a portion where the continuous surface 11 and the lower surface 23 of the bumper 20 overlap each other, with a predetermined interval in the width direction of the vehicle. A plurality of ventilation grooves 111 are formed by partially bulging upward. In the engine room 40 above the engine undercover 10, a radiator 42, a cooling fan 43 and an engine 41 are arranged in front, and the engine undercover 10 is covered from below so as not to interfere with these devices. . In addition, this engine under cover 1
As shown in FIG. 3, left and right mounting holes 16 and a middle mounting hole 17 for mounting on a vehicle are provided at 0, and an under member (not shown) provided at a substantially central portion in the front-rear direction of the vehicle. A notch portion 18 is provided to avoid this.

(Operation) The flow of air when the vehicle having the engine undercover constructed as described above is mounted will be described with reference to FIG. First, the air flow passing through the lower surface of the bumper 20 is the same as in the conventional case.
A turbulent flow is generated on the front surface of the vertical wall 13 of the engine, but an air flow coming from above the inner surface of the bumper 20 (indicated by a white double-dashed line arrow) is provided on the continuous surface 11 of the engine undercover 10 in the ventilation groove 111. Through the engine undercover 10
And flows downward along the front surface of the vertical wall 13. Due to the air flow from the inner surface of the bumper 20, the air flow directly hitting from the lower surface of the bumper is rectified so that it does not become a turbulent flow but becomes a laminar flow. As a result, the airflow on the front surface of the vertical wall 13 that spreads widely in the lateral width of the vehicle becomes a laminar flow, so that the air resistance during traveling of the vehicle is reduced.

On the other hand, when the vehicle travels on the flooded path, the ventilation groove 111 of the engine undercover 10 is opened at a position higher than the lower surface 23 of the bumper 20, and the ventilation groove 111 and the lower surface 23 of the bumper 20. Water does not easily enter because it is polymerized in the front-back direction. Furthermore, since there is no opening in the upper bottom 12 of the engine undercover 10, water is
As indicated by the broken white arrow in FIG. 4, it flows along the lower surface of the engine undercover 10. Therefore, water does not enter the inside of the engine under-cover 10, and there is no risk of the engine under-cover 10 falling off or being damaged.

As described above, the continuous surface 11 of the front end of the engine undercover 10 having the vertical wall 13 is provided with a plurality of ventilation grooves 111 by partially bulging the continuous surface 11 upward so that the vehicle is running. Since the air flow of the above is made to flow from the ventilation groove 111 along the lower surface of the engine undercover 10, even if the vertical wall 13 is formed on the engine undercover 10, it is likely to be a turbulent flow on the front surface of the vertical wall 13. Since the air flow is rectified by the air flow from the ventilation groove 111 to form a laminar flow, it is possible to reduce the air resistance when the vehicle is traveling, and it is possible to prevent the ingress of water when the vehicle is traveling in a flooded channel. It has become possible.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, in the above embodiment,
Although the invention is applied to the engine undercover and the front bumper on the front side of the vehicle, the invention is not limited to this and can be applied to the relationship with the engine undercover or the fuel tank cover on the rear side of the vehicle.

[0018]

The present invention provides an engine undercover having a substantially horizontal continuous surface that covers the lower surface of the engine room of a vehicle and is continuous along the lower surface of the front bumper, and a vertical wall extending downward from the continuous surface. Since the continuous surface is provided with a plurality of openings for introducing the airflow from the upper surface along the vertical wall, the turbulent flow is brought into contact with the front surface of the vertical wall of the engine undercover when the vehicle is traveling. It is possible to rectify the air flow which becomes the laminar flow by the air flow passing through the opening,
It has become possible to reduce air resistance when the vehicle is running and prevent water from entering the engine undercover.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention seen from a lower surface.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a main part of the vehicle according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an engine undercover according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing an air flow and a water flow of a main part of the vehicle according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional engine undercover.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing an air flow and a water flow of a conventional vehicle main part.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 engine undercover 11 continuous plane 111 Ventilation groove 12 Upper floor 13 vertical walls 14 Bottom 20 bumpers

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A lower surface of an engine room of a vehicle is covered,
In an engine undercover having a substantially horizontal continuous surface that is continuous along the lower surface of the front bumper and a vertical wall that extends downward from the continuous surface, an air flow from the upper surface is provided along the vertical wall on the continuous surface. An engine undercover for a vehicle, which is provided with a plurality of openings for introduction. 2. The engine undercover for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the opening is formed by a groove protruding upward from the continuous surface.