JP6056543B2 - Front pillar structure for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle front pillar structure that includes a front front pillar and a rear front pillar that are disposed in front and rear in front of a front door opening of a vehicle.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a front pillar structure of a vehicle with a triangular window having a triangular window surrounded by two front pillars, an inclined frame portion and a vertical frame portion. According to Patent Document 1, the inclined frame portion that is the front front pillar is thicker than the vertical frame portion that is the rear front pillar.

JP 2003-237622 A

  The reason why the front pillar is thickened in Patent Document 1 is to secure rigidity and to improve the resistance against the impact of the frontal collision. However, in such a case, the visibility of the diagonally forward view as seen from the passenger is reduced. On the other hand, if the front pillar is made thin, the rigidity is lowered, and there is a possibility that it cannot withstand the impact at the time of a frontal collision.

  In view of such a problem, the present invention, in a vehicle including two front pillars on the front and rear, ensures the occupant more reliably against an impact caused by a frontal collision while ensuring oblique visibility seen from the occupant. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle front pillar structure that can be protected.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a vehicle front pillar structure according to the present invention includes a front front pillar and a rear front pillar that are disposed in front of a front door opening of the vehicle and spaced in the front-rear direction. In the pillar structure, the front pillar lower panel constituting the side surface of the vehicle that continues downward from the lower ends of the front front pillar and the rear front pillar, and the front pillar lower panel are fixed at one or more fixing points to reduce the force from the front of the vehicle. And a cowl side member that transmits to the front pillar lower panel via one or more fixing points, the one or more fixing points including a first fixing point closest to the lower end of the rear front pillar, The distance from the lower end of the pillar to the first fixed point is one or more fixed points from the lower end of the front front pillar. Both shorter than the distance to, the cross-sectional area of the front the front pillar, and is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the rear front pillar.

  According to said structure, since the front front pillar is thinner than the back front pillar, the visibility of the diagonal front seen from the passenger | crew improves. However, the rigidity of the front front pillar is reduced as compared with that of the rear front pillar.

  Therefore, in the present invention, as described above, the first fixing point in which the distance to the lower end of the rear front pillar is shorter than any distance to the lower end of the front front pillar is provided. Therefore, of the front or rear front pillars, the force coming from the front of the vehicle at the time of a frontal collision is directly transmitted to the rear front pillar having a relatively large cross-sectional area close to the first fixed point.

  In the present invention, the structure in which the collision energy is positively passed through the rear front pillar in this way is designed to minimize the burden on the front front pillar.

  The vehicle front pillar structure according to the present invention may further include a front door outer force that is passed along the belt line of the front door from the lower end of the rear front pillar to the center pillar.

  This is because part of the energy at the time of the frontal collision can be distributed to the belt line of the front door via the cowl side member according to the above configuration. This dispersed energy can be further dispersed to the rear of the vehicle body via the center pillar.

  The lower end of said front front pillar is good to be welded to the dash side panel located inside the vehicle of the front pillar lower panel.

  According to said structure, since the lower end of the front front pillar is welded to the dash side panel, the force to back is applied to this welding point. Then, at the time of a frontal collision, the welding front becomes the center of rotation, and the front front pillar rotates slightly in the direction in which the upper side is directed forward. As a result, the rearward movement of the vehicle body can be prevented.

  The upper part of the front front pillar may be more fragile than the rear front pillar. This is because deformation is likely to occur at the upper part of the front front pillar, and the rearward movement of the vehicle body can be prevented.

  According to the present invention, in a vehicle including two front pillars on the front and rear, a vehicle that can more reliably protect an occupant against an impact caused by a frontal collision while ensuring oblique visibility seen from the occupant. A front pillar structure can be provided.

1 is a perspective view of a vehicle to which an embodiment of a vehicle front pillar structure according to the present invention is applied. It is a perspective view which shows the internal structure of the vehicle of FIG. FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. It is BB sectional drawing of FIG. It is CC sectional drawing of FIG. It is the figure which looked at FIG. 2 from the vehicle inner side.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The dimensions, materials, and other specific numerical values shown in the embodiments are merely examples for facilitating understanding of the invention, and do not limit the present invention unless otherwise specified. In the present specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted, and elements not directly related to the present invention are not illustrated. To do.

(Front front pillar and rear front pillar)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle 100 to which an embodiment of a vehicle front pillar structure according to the present invention is applied. Although the vehicle front pillar structure is provided on both sides of the vehicle 100, they are symmetrical, so the vehicle front pillar structure on the right side of the vehicle will be described below. As shown most clearly in FIG. 1, the main feature of this embodiment is that the cross-sectional area of the front front pillar 120 is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the rear front pillar 130. Thereby, the visibility of the diagonally forward direction seen from the passenger | crew (illustration omitted) sitting in the driver's seat improves clearly.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the vehicle 100 of FIG. FIG. 2 shows the vehicle 100 of FIG. 1 with the front door 102, the fender panel 104, the front hood 106, and the front bumper 108 removed. As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle front pillar structure includes a front front pillar 120 and a rear front pillar 130, which are disposed in front of the front door opening 110 and spaced in the front-rear direction.

  Both the front front pillar 120 and the rear front pillar 130 are inclined so as to rise upward. A front pillar glass 132 (see FIG. 1) that cannot be opened and closed is attached to the two front pillars 120 and 130 and a quadrilateral portion surrounded by the upper and lower sides connecting the upper and lower ends of each of the front pillars 120 and 130. .

  The vehicle front pillar structure further includes a front pillar lower panel 140 </ b> A, which constitutes a vehicle side surface that continues downward from the lower ends of the front front pillar 120 and the rear front pillar 130. In the present embodiment, for convenience, the front front pillar 120, the rear front pillar 130, and the front pillar lower panel 140A are indicated by different reference numerals. However, the front front pillar 120, the rear front pillar 130, and the front pillar lower panel 140 </ b> A shown in FIG. 2 are actually configured by a single side body outer panel 140. That is, the front pillar lower panel 140A is a part of the side body outer panel 140.

(Cowlside member)
FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2, and shows an area 160 of FIG. 2 in an enlarged manner. The vehicle front pillar structure further includes a cowl side member 150, which is fixed to the front pillar lower panel 140A at one or more fixing points. In this embodiment, there are two fixing points, which are the first fixing point 162 and the second fixing point 164. A cowl side member reinforcement 166 as a reinforcing material is attached to the cowl side member 150. The cowl side member 150 is fixed to the front pillar lower panel 140 </ b> A together with the cowl side member reinforcement 166 at the first fixing point 162 and the second fixing point 164.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the cowl side member 150 has a shape that rises toward the rear, and terminates toward the lower end of the rear front pillar 130. The cowl side member 150 forms a closed cross section (not shown) with the cowl side panel 168 located inside thereof in the front half portion, and forms a closed cross section 188 (FIG. 5) with the front pillar lower panel 140A in the rear half portion.

  The cowl side member 150 that has such a closed cross section and is reinforced by the cowl side member reinforcement 166 has high rigidity. Therefore, the cowl side member 150 transmits rearward the force that occurs through the lamp support 170 and the apron 172 on the front surface of the vehicle when a frontal collision occurs. That is, the cowl side member 150 transmits the force to the front pillar lower panel 140A via the first fixed point 162 and the second fixed point 164.

(First fixed point)
4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. The first fixing point 162 is a fixing point located at the upper rear end of the cowl side member 150. At the first fixing point 162, the cowl side member reinforcement 166, the cowl side member 150, the front pillar lower panel 140A (side body outer panel 140), and the hinge pillar front reinforcement 176 are overlapped in order from the outside, and these are bolts 174. Is bolted by. Further, a dash side panel 180 is disposed on the inner side of the vehicle with a gap formed by the spacer 178.

  5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. The second fixed point 164 is located forward and below the first fixed point 162. Also at the second fixing point 164, the cowl side member reinforcement 166, the cowl side member 150, the front pillar lower panel 140A (side body outer panel 140), and the hinge pillar front reinforcement 176 are overlapped in order from the outside, and these are bolts 182. Is bolted by.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the first fixing point 162 is closest to the lower end 184 of the rear front pillar 130. The distance D1 from the lower end 184 of the rear front pillar 130 to the first fixed point 162 is any of the distances D2 and D3 from the lower end 186 of the front front pillar 120 to the first fixed point 162 and the second fixed point 164, respectively. Shorter than.

(Both visibility and impact resistance)
As already described with reference to FIG. 1, according to the present embodiment, the front front pillar 120 that is thinner than the rear front pillar 130 can be viewed obliquely forward as viewed from an occupant (not shown) sitting in the driver's seat. Is improving. However, the rigidity of the front front pillar 120 is reduced as compared with that of the rear front pillar 130 by the thinning.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the first fixing point 162 in which the distance D1 to the rear front pillar 130 is shorter than either of the distances D2 and D3 to the front front pillar 120 is provided. Therefore, of the front or rear front pillars 120 and 130, the force coming from the front of the vehicle at the time of frontal collision is directly transmitted to the rear front having a relatively large cross-sectional area close to the first fixed point 162. A pillar 130. In the present embodiment, by adopting a structure in which collision energy is actively sent to the rear front pillar 130 in this manner, the front front pillar 120 thinned for visibility is prevented from being burdened as much as possible.

  In addition, the cowl side member 150 in this embodiment has a shape which rises so that it goes back, as already shown and demonstrated in FIG. This shape is desirable for providing the first fixing point 162 close to the lower end 184 of the rear front pillar, but is not essential. That is, the cowl side member 150 may have any shape as long as the conditions of D1 <D2 and D1 <D3 are satisfied.

(Front door outer force)
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the vehicle front pillar structure according to the present embodiment further includes a front door outer force 192. This is passed along the belt line of the front door 102 from the lower end 184 of the rear front pillar 130 to the center pillar 190. The elements arranged on the back side of the front door 102, such as the front door outer force 192, are not visible from the outside, and are indicated by broken lines in FIG. In FIG. 2 in which the front door 102 is not shown, the front door outer force 192 and the like are virtual elements and are indicated by a two-dot chain line.

  According to the above configuration, part of the energy at the time of the frontal collision can be transmitted to the front door outer force 192 along the belt line of the front door 102 via the cowl side member 150 of FIG. This energy can be further distributed to the rear of the vehicle body via the center pillar 190.

  In the present embodiment, a front door outer center reinforcement 194 is further arranged behind the rear end lower portion of the cowl side member 150 of FIG. A front door beam pipe 196 is further disposed below the front door outer center force 194. Even with the elements 194 and 196, although not as direct as the front door outer force 192, a part of the energy at the time of the frontal collision can be further distributed to the rear of the vehicle body via the center pillar 190.

(Welding point at the lower end of the front front pillar)
6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the lower end 186 of the front front pillar 120 is welded to a dash side panel 180 located on the vehicle inner side of the front pillar lower panel 140A.

  As shown in FIG. 6, there is a slight distance from the closed cross section 188 formed by the cowl side member 150 to the lower end 186 of the front front pillar 120. The front pillar lower panel 140A (side body outer panel 140), the front pillar inner front panel 198, and the dash side panel 180 are welded in this order from the outside with the lower end 186 of the front front pillar remote from the closed section 188 as a welding point. ing. The front pillar inner front panel 198 is a panel constituting the front front pillar 120 by overlapping the side body outer panel 140 from the vehicle inner side to form a closed cross section.

  The hinge pillar front reinforcement 176 is disposed between the front pillar lower panel 140A and the front pillar inner front panel 198, but is not welded because it is an opening around the welding point 186.

  According to the above configuration, since the lower end 186 of the front front pillar 120 is welded to the dash side panel 180, a rearward force is applied to the lower end (welding point) 186 of the front front pillar 120. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the welding point 186 becomes the center of rotation at the time of a frontal collision, and the front front pillar 120 rotates slightly in the direction of the arrow 200 with the upper part facing forward. Since the impact force is absorbed by the deformation, the rearward movement of the vehicle body can be prevented. In addition, as shown in FIGS. 3, 5, and 6, the periphery of the welding point 186, in particular, the upper side is concave on the inner side in the vehicle width direction, so that deformation is likely to occur.

(Vulnerability at the top of the front front pillar)
FIG. 7 is a view of FIG. 2 as seen from the inside of the vehicle. 7A shows the hinge pillar front reinforcement 176 with the dash side panel 180 omitted, and FIG. 7B shows the hinge pillar front reinforcement 176 and the front pillar inner front panel 198. The front pillar inner rear panel 202 and the like are not shown.

  The upper end of the hinge pillar front reinforcement 176 in FIG. 7A is a window frame of the front pillar glass 132 (FIG. 1), that is, a window frame having a shape close to a parallelogram including the front front pillar 120 and the rear front pillar 130. Configure the bottom side of The front pillar inner panel 202 is welded from the inner side in the vehicle width direction to a flange (not shown) of the window frame edge formed by the upper end of the hinge pillar front reinforcement 176. The front pillar inner panel 202 constitutes a lower side and a rear side of the window frame (a part of the rear front pillar 130).

  A front pillar inner front panel 198 is disposed on the inner side in the vehicle width direction of the front side of the window frame (a part of the front front pillar 120).

  The rear front pillar 130 includes a vehicle inner front pillar inner rear panel 202 shown in FIG. 7 (a) and a vehicle outer side body outer panel 140 shown in FIG. 7 (b). Having a closed cross section formed by In this closed cross section, as shown in FIG. 7B, a front pillar reinforcement 204 is disposed as a reinforcing member from the upper end to the lower end. As a result, the rigidity of the rear front pillar 130 is improved.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7A, such a reinforcing member is not arranged on the upper part of the front front pillar 120, and on the lower part, as shown in FIG. Only the force 206 is attached. Thus, at the upper part of the front front pillar 120, a closed cross section is formed only by the front pillar inner front panel 198 and the side body outer panel 140, and no reinforcing member is attached thereto.

  Thus, according to this embodiment, the upper part of the front front pillar 120 is more fragile than the rear front pillar 130. Therefore, deformation is likely to occur in the upper part of the front front pillar 120. Since the impact force is absorbed by the deformation, the rearward movement of the vehicle body can be prevented.

  In addition, since the lower end 186 of the front front pillar is located at the front end portion of the instrument panel (not shown) and is not located in the occupant's living space, even if it is slightly deformed, it does not affect the occupant.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to the example which concerns. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for a vehicle front pillar structure including a front front pillar and a rear front pillar that are arranged in front and rear directions at an interval in front of a front door opening of a vehicle.

104 ... Fender panel, 106 ... Front hood, 108 ... Front bumper, 110 ... Front door opening, 120 ... Front front pillar, 130 ... Rear front pillar, 132 ... Front pillar glass, 140 ... Side body outer panel, 140A ... Front pillar Lower panel, 150 ... Cowl side member, 162 ... First fixing point, 164 ... Second fixing point, 166 ... Cowl side member reinforcement, 168 ... Cowl side panel, 170 ... Ramp support, 172 ... Aprons, 174,182 ... Bolt, 176 ... Hinge pillar front reinforcement, 178 ... Spacer, 180 ... Dash side panel, 184 ... Lower end of rear front pillar, 186 ... Lower end of front front pillar (welding point), 188 ... Closed section, 190 ... Center pillar, 192 ... Front door outer center force, 194 ... Front door outer center force, 196 ... Front door beam pipe, 198 ... Front pillar inner front panel, 202 ... Front pillar inner rear panel, 204 ... Front pillar Reinforce, 206 ... Front Pillar Inner Front Reinforce

Claims (4)

In a vehicle front pillar structure including a front front pillar and a rear front pillar that are arranged in the front-rear direction in front of a front door opening of the vehicle,
A front pillar lower panel constituting a side surface of the vehicle continuous downward from the lower ends of the front front pillar and the rear front pillar;
A cowl side member that is fixed to the front pillar lower panel at one or more fixing points and transmits a force from the front of the vehicle to the front pillar lower panel through the one or more fixing points;
The one or more fixing points include a first fixing point closest to the lower end of the rear front pillar and a second fixing point located below and in front of the first fixing point. The distance from the lower end of the front pillar to the first fixed point is shorter than any of the distances from the lower end of the front front pillar to each of the one or more fixed points,
A front pillar structure for a vehicle, wherein a cross-sectional area of the front front pillar is smaller than a cross-sectional area of the rear front pillar.   2. The vehicle front pillar structure according to claim 1, further comprising a front door outer force that is passed along a belt line of the front door from a lower end of the rear front pillar to a center pillar.   3. The vehicle front pillar structure according to claim 1, wherein a lower end of the front front pillar is welded to a dash side panel positioned inside the vehicle of the front pillar lower panel.   The vehicle front pillar structure according to claim 3, wherein an upper portion of the front front pillar is weaker than the rear front pillar.

Images