JP2009067329A - Cowl structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cowl structure which sufficiently deforms in response to an input from above to achieve further reduction in Head Injury Criteria (HIC). <P>SOLUTION: The cowl structure 1 comprises a cowl 11 and a shield member 6 disposed inside the cowl 11 to prevent the entry of air from an engine room, wherein the shield member 6 constitutes the cowl structure 1 comprising an elastic sheet 8 formed along a cross-sectional inner wall of the cowl 11 and a shield plate 7 supporting the elastic sheet 8 and joined at one end to the inner wall of the cowl 11. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cowl disposed between a windshield glass and a hood of a vehicle, and in particular, a structure for reducing impact at the time of a collision in a cowl configured to block air entering the cowl from the fender side. About.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a cowl structure for a vehicle in which outside air is introduced into a cross-sectional structure portion of a cowl through a ventilator air introduction port and a vehicle interior is ventilated is adopted for the cowl outer panel. In such a cowl structure, the cowl and the fender communicate with each other in order to discharge the water that has entered the cowl, and hot air is prevented from entering the cowl from the engine room or the like through the drain port on the fender side. Therefore, a shielding structure with a seal member or the like is provided. This technique is described in detail in Patent Document 1.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a conventional cowl structure, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line AA. The cowl 10 is provided on the front side of the windshield glass 12 of the automobile. When hot air from an engine room or the like enters the cowl as indicated by an arrow C, it is necessary to prevent a situation where the air flows into the room as indicated by an arrow D in FIGS. Therefore, shielding structures are provided at locations 10a and 10b that are appropriately displaced from the center of the cowl 10 in the vehicle width direction to the left and right.

  6 is a BB cross-sectional view of the shielding structure portion of the cowl of FIG. 4, and FIG. 7 is a DD cross-sectional view of FIG. The cowl structure 20 is installed below the hood hood (not shown) and below the front lower edge 12a of the windshield glass 12. The cowl structure 20 includes a cowl 10 and a shielding member 30 that prevents inflow of hot air. The cowl 10 is connected to and supports the windshield glass 12, a cowl louver 13 that is joined to the front end of the cowl louver 13 at the front end, and a front cowl inner panel 14 that is joined to the body 17 at the lower end and forms the bottom of the cowl. The rear cowl inner panel 15 joined to the rear end of the front cowl inner panel 14 and the cowl upper panel 16 joined to the rear end of the rear cowl inner panel 15 along the windshield glass 12 have an open cross section. It is composed.

  The cowl structure 20 is sealed with a shielding member 30 in order to block warm air as described above. The shielding member 30 includes a shielding plate 30a and an ept sealer 30b. Specifically, the shielding plate 30a is made of a resin such as polypropylene, and has a contour shape that is offset inward by the thickness of the opt sealer 30b from the inner peripheral shape of the closed cross section formed by the cowl structure 20 described above. As shown in FIG. 8, the claw portion 30c provided at the lower end is engaged with the engagement hole 17a provided in the body 17. The gap between the outer periphery of the shielding plate 30a and the inner surface of the cowl structure 20 is sealed by filling the ept sealer 30b with a constant thickness.

By the way, for safety, it is required to reduce the pedestrian head injury reference value at the time of collision with the pedestrian, that is, the HIC (Head Injury Criteria) value. For this reason, the cowl structure which improved the pedestrian protection performance by facilitating the deformation | transformation of the cowl structure at the time of a collision is disclosed by patent document 2. FIG. In this cowl structure, the cowl upper panel has a support part that supports the windshield glass, and a front part that extends downwardly in the vehicle front direction of the support part, and this front part is connected to the cowl inner panel. In this way, the cowl upper panel does not interfere with the downward deformation of the cowl structure.
JP 2005-263002 A JP 2005-193873 A

  However, in the above-described conventional cowl structure 20 or the like, the shielding member 30 including the shielding plate 30a and the ept sealer 30b may prevent the cowl structure 20 from being deformed. Specifically, although the opt sealer 30b has flexibility, the shielding plate 30a has a higher hardness than that, and the plate direction is provided parallel to the vertical direction as shown in FIG. However, even if it is about to compress and deform in the vertical direction, the shielding plate 30a is stretched up and down, so that an effective stroke margin cannot be secured, which is a factor that hinders the deformation of the cowl structure 20.

  Further, in the conventional cowl structure 20, the shielding plate 30 a is locked by engaging the claw portion 30 c provided at the lower end thereof with the engaging hole 17 a provided in the body 17. On the other hand, the shielding plate 30a is stretched on the body, and the reaction force from the body is returned.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a cowl structure that is sufficiently deformed when a force is applied from above and realizes further reduction of HIC.

  In order to achieve the above object, a cowl structure of the present invention is a cowl structure having a cowl and a shielding member for preventing air from entering from the engine room inside the cowl, and the shielding member is formed on a cross-sectional inner wall of the cowl. An elastic sheet having a contoured outer edge shape and a shield plate having one end joined to the inner wall of the cowl and supporting the elastic sheet, and the shield plate has an outer edge shape spaced from the sectional inner wall of the cowl to the inside of the cowl. It is characterized by. Here, the elastic sheet refers to a flexible film-like or plate-like member such as a rubber sheet.

  The cowl includes a cowl louver disposed below the rear end of the hood, a cowl inner panel joined to one end of the cowl louver, and a cowl upper panel joined to the rear end of the cowl inner panel. The shielding member is a cowl louver. It is desirable that it is supported by being joined to. Further, it is desirable that this joining is performed by heat welding.

According to the cowl structure of the present invention, the shielding member includes the shielding plate and the elastic sheet. The elastic sheet has flexibility and can be formed into a free size and shape before installation. By forming the outer edge shape of the plate away from the inner wall of the cross section of the cowl, a necessary stroke allowance can be ensured.
In addition, when the shielding member is heat-welded to the cowl louver, the shielding plate is held only at the upper end, and when subjected to an impact from above, the shielding plate is released, which may affect the collapse of the cowl. Absent.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a BB cross section in FIG. 4 of the cowl structure 1 according to the embodiment. Since the cowl structure 1 is basically the same as the cowl structure of the conventional example shown in FIG. 4 except for the cross-sectional structure, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and are appropriately illustrated and described. Omitted. In the figure, FR indicates the forward direction of the vehicle, UP indicates the upward direction, and LH indicates the left direction.

  The cowl structure 1 is formed behind the hood (not shown) and below the front lower edge 12a of the windshield glass 12. The cowl structure 1 includes a cowl 11 and a shielding member 6 installed in the cowl 11. The cowl 11 is joined to a cowl louver 13 disposed below the rear end of the hood, one end of the cowl louver 13, a front cowl inner panel 2 that forms the bottom of the cowl 11, the front cowl inner panel 2, and a sealing material 5. The rear cowl inner panel 3 is connected to the rear cowl inner panel 3 and the cowl upper panel 4 is joined to the rear end of the rear cowl inner panel 3. The shielding member 6 includes a shielding plate 7 and a rubber sheet 8.

  The cowl louver 13 is integrally formed of resin or the like so that a cross section perpendicular to the vehicle width direction has a substantially concave shape opened downward. The cowl louver 13 forms a horizontal portion 13a substantially horizontally in front of the vehicle. The horizontal portion 13a is connected to the hood inner panel in a vehicle front region (not shown). From the rear end of the horizontal portion 13a, the first inclined portion 13b is inclined and extended so as to form an acute angle obliquely upward on the front side of the vehicle. From the upper end of the first inclined portion 13b, the second inclined portion 13c extends obliquely downward in the vehicle rearward direction so as to form an acute angle with the first inclined portion 13b. From the rear end of the second inclined portion 13c, an extending portion 13d extends in accordance with the inclination of the windshield glass 12, and the extending portion 13d supports the windshield glass support 13e at the rear end. The windshield glass support 13e supports the front lower edge 12a of the windshield glass 12.

  The front cowl inner panel 2 is a panel that is disposed in the vicinity of a vertically lower end of the front lower edge 12a of the windshield glass 12 and that has an opening having a substantially concave sectional shape that extends upward in the vehicle width direction. The front end joining flange 2 a of the front cowl inner panel 2 is connected to the horizontal portion 13 a of the cowl louver 13. From the rear end of the front end joining flange 2a, a front inclined portion 2b is inclined and extended downward and rearward. A bottom portion 2c extends from the front inclined portion 2b in the vehicle rearward direction as the bottom of the cowl 11.

  A rear cowl inner panel 3 is provided at the rear end of the bottom portion 2 c via a sealing material 5. The rear cowl inner panel 3 has a horizontal part 3a connected to the bottom 2c of the front cowl inner panel 2, and a first inclined part 3b extending obliquely upward and rearward behind the horizontal part 3a. A second inclined portion 3c that is substantially parallel to the first inclined portion 3b extends upward from the upper portion of the first inclined portion 3b. From the second inclined portion 3c, a third inclined portion 3d extends obliquely upward and forward of the vehicle. Furthermore, the 4th inclination part 3e is inclined and extended in the vehicle back diagonally upward. A joining flange 3f extends substantially parallel to the windshield glass 12 at the rear end of the fourth inclined portion 3e.

  The shielding member 6 includes a shielding plate 7 and a rubber sheet 8 that is an elastic sheet that overlaps with the shielding plate 7 and has a larger outline shape than the shielding plate 7. The rubber sheet 8 is formed in an outer edge shape along the inner wall of the cross section of the cowl 11, and specifically, the peripheral edge of the rubber sheet 8 is close to the inner wall of the cowl 11 to prevent air from entering from the engine room.

  The shield plate 7 has an outer edge smaller than the inner wall of the cross section of the cowl 11. That is, the shielding plate 7 is formed in an outer edge shape that is spaced apart from the inner wall of the cowl 11 to the inside of the cowl 11 to some extent. Further, holes 71, 72, 73 are provided on the surface along the vehicle front-rear direction, and two notches 74 extending in the vehicle front-rear direction are provided in parallel so that when an impact is applied to the shielding plate 7. It is configured so that it can be easily destroyed. Further, the shielding plate 7 is bonded to the rubber sheet 8 at an adhesion point 7 p provided as appropriate on the front surface along the outer periphery, and supports the rubber sheet 8.

  Since the rubber sheet 8 can be freely designed in shape and size and is more flexible than the shielding plate 7, the area ratio of the shielding plate 7 in the shielding member 6 is reduced, that is, the cross section of the cowl 11. By increasing the number of portions that are shielded only by the rubber sheet 8, the stroke when the cowl 11 is crushed by the input from above can be increased. Therefore, it is desirable that the shielding plate 7 has an area and an outer edge shape that are necessary and sufficient to support the rubber sheet 8, and that the remaining portion of the shielding member 6 is composed of only the rubber sheet 8.

  The rear edge 7d of the shielding plate 7 corresponds to the shape of the rear first inclined portion 3b, the rear second inclined portion 3c, the rear third inclined portion 3d, and the fourth inclined portion 3e of the rear cowl inner panel 3. It does not have the uneven shape, but has an inclined linear shape. When the cowl 11 is compressed and deformed in the vertical direction by an input from above, the rear cowl inner panel 3 is folded to be folded into a bellows shape as a whole and compressed in the vertical direction, and the upper end of the rear cowl inner panel 3 is compressed. The cowl upper panel 4 connected to the upper plate 4 also moves downward along with this. However, as described above, the rear edge 7d of the shielding plate 7 is formed into an inclined straight line so that the shielding plate 7 is located in the region where the deformation movement is performed. Since it does not exist, deformation of the rear cowl inner panel 3 is not hindered.

  The shielding plate 7 is fixed to the cowl louver 13 via an interposition part 77 provided near the center in the front-rear direction of the upper edge 7a. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2 as a CC cross-sectional view of FIG. 1, the interposition part 77 is formed integrally with the shielding plate 7, protrudes upward from the shielding plate 7, and is provided at the upper end thereof. The flat plate portion 77a is provided with a welding hole (not shown), and a pin 77b extending from the lower surface of the cowl louver 13 is inserted into the welding hole and thermally fixed thereto, thereby being fixed to the cowl louver 13. The pin 77b is formed to be moderately thin, and the pin 77b or its heat welded portion is easily broken by an input from above.

  The rubber sheet 8 is a rubber film or plate. As shown in FIG. 1, the contour shape is formed so as to substantially conform to the cross-sectional inner wall shape of the cowl 11, and is adhered to the shielding plate 7 at a plurality of adhesion points 7 p provided near the outer edge of the shielding plate 7.

  In the cowl structure 1 as described above, an operation when the collision object S as a pedestrian collides with the vicinity of the front lower end edge 12a of the windshield glass 12 of the vehicle will be described. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a deformed state when the collision object S as a pedestrian collides with the vicinity of the front lower edge 12a of the windshield glass 12 of the vehicle in the cowl structure 1 of the embodiment. In addition, about the member before a deformation | transformation, it shows with a dashed-two dotted line.

  When the collision body S collides with the vicinity of the front lower edge 12a of the windshield glass 12 and enters the rear lower side as indicated by S3, the front cowl inner panel 2 and the rear cowl inner panel 3 constituting the cowl structure 1 are The notches 2p, 2q and 3g, 3h, 3i, etc. are bent, respectively, and the cowl 11 is compressed and deformed substantially in the vertical direction.

  At this time, the rubber sheet 8 may interfere with the rearward downward movement of the third inclined portion 3d and the fourth inclined portion 3e of the cowl upper panel 4 and the rear cowl inner panel 3 due to compression deformation. Is flexible and does not interfere with these movements. Further, the rear edge 7d of the rear end of the shielding plate 7 is formed in a straight line and does not interfere with the movement of the cowl upper panel 4, the third inclined portion 3d, and the fourth inclined portion 3e.

  Further, the notches 2p and 2q of the front cowl inner panel 2 are bent due to compression deformation. From this, the front cowl inner panel 2 is flattened. Further, the shielding member 6 descends as the cowl louver 13 descends. However, since the rubber sheet 8 has flexibility and the lower edge 7c of the shielding plate 7 is linear, the rubber sheet 8 becomes the front cowl inner. The lower edge 7c of the shielding plate 7 abuts against the bottom of the panel 2 and does not prevent the shielding member 6 from descending.

  When the shielding member 6 is further lowered, the pin 77b of the interposition part 77 and its heat welded portion are broken, so that the shielding plate 7 is tilted forward or backward in FIG. Further, the shielding plate 7 is broken with the holes 71, 72, 73 and the notch 74 as a cut. Therefore, the shielding plate 7 does not stretch up and down.

  As described above, in the cowl structure of the present invention, the shielding member is composed of the shielding plate and the rubber sheet, and in particular, the stroke margin is secured by using only the rubber sheet near the inner wall of the cowl cross section, and the shielding plate is also heated. The HIC value has been reduced by bonding to the cowl louver by welding and weakening the cross-sectional structure by providing holes and notches and preventing the cowl from compressing and deforming. The present invention can be implemented in various forms within a range not to be performed. For example, the presence or absence of each notch or hole and the selection of the place to be provided can be appropriately selected.

It is sectional drawing of the BB part in FIG. 4 which shows the cowl structure which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is CC sectional drawing which shows the cowl structure of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state after a deformation | transformation of the cowl structure of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the conventional cowl structure. It is AA sectional drawing which shows the cowl structure of FIG. It is BB sectional drawing which shows the cowl structure of FIG. It is DD sectional drawing in FIG. 6 which shows the conventional cowl structure. It is a figure which shows the cross section of the attaching part of the cowl structure of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 cowl structure 2 front cowl inner panel 2a front end joint flange 2b front inclined part 2c bottom 2p, 2q notch 3 rear cowl inner panel 3a horizontal part 3b rear first inclined part 3c rear second inclined part 3d rear third Inclined portion 3e Fourth inclined portion 3f Joint flange 3g Notch 3j Rear inclined portion 4 Cowl upper panel 4a Proximity portion 4b Front portion 4c Joint flange 5 Sealing material 6 Shielding member 7 Shield plate 7a Upper edge 7b Front edge 7c Lower edge 7d Rear Edge 7p Contact 8 Rubber sheet 10 Cowl 10a Location 11 Cowl 11a Hood inner panel 12 Wind shield glass 12a Front lower edge 13 Cowl louver 13a Horizontal portion 13b First inclined portion 13c Second inclined portion 13d Extension portion 13e Wind shield glass support 14 Front cowl inner panel 15 rear cowl inner panel 16 cowl upper panel 17 body 17a engagement hole 20 cowl structure 30 shielding member 30a shielding plate 30b ept sealer 30c claw part 71 hole 74 notch 77 interposition part 77a flat plate part 77b pin C, D arrow FR front of vehicle S collision body

Claims (3)

A cowl structure having a cowl and a shielding member for preventing air from entering from the engine room inside the cowl,
The shielding member is composed of an elastic sheet having an outer edge shape along the inner wall of the cross section of the cowl, and a shielding plate having one end joined to the inner wall of the cowl and supporting the elastic sheet,
2. The cowl structure according to claim 1, wherein the shielding plate has an outer edge shape that is separated from an inner wall of a cross section of the cowl to the inside of the cowl.   The cowl includes a cowl louver disposed below the rear end of the hood, a cowl inner panel joined to one end of the cowl louver, and a cowl upper panel joined to the rear end of the cowl inner panel. The cowl structure according to claim 1, wherein the cowl louver is joined to the cowl louver via an interposed member.   The cowl structure according to claim 2, wherein the shielding member is joined to the cowl louver by heat welding.