JP6705714B2 - Automobile - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an automobile in which an engine room is provided in a front part of a vehicle body, and is particularly characterized by a structure for taking in outside air into an air cleaner.

Passenger cars generally have an engine room at the front of the vehicle body, and an air intake (or a front grill) for taking in outside air (driving wind) is formed at the front end of the vehicle body. The air that has flowed into the engine room is sucked into the intake duct of the air cleaner and used for operating the internal combustion engine, cooling the radiator, and cooling the engine body. Except for what is sucked into the intake duct, it is discharged outside the vehicle from the space under the floor.

The radiator is placed on the floor of the engine room, but the duct of the air cleaner is located above the engine body and radiator, so that the air cleaner takes in air that has flowed in from the top of the front end of the vehicle body. Is becoming Further, the upper end of the radiator is attached to a radiator support (front support material) arranged in a horizontally long posture in the engine room.

There are various structures for introducing air into the engine room, and an example thereof is disclosed in Patent Document 1. That is, in Patent Document 1, in a configuration in which an upper grill is provided at a lower portion of a front end of a hood covering an engine room, the upper grill between the hood and the bumper cover is vertically partitioned by an intermediate wall fixed to a radiator support. It is disclosed that the radiator support stands up like a wall from the rear end of the intermediate wall.

In Patent Document 1, the upper grill passage is divided into upper and lower parts by an intermediate wall, and air is introduced into the suction duct of the air cleaner from the upper passage and into the radiator from the lower passage (running wind). Is hit. The intermediate wall is arranged on the upper side of the front grill, and the opening area of the lower passage is larger than the opening area of the upper passage of the intermediate wall. Therefore, most of the water droplets and foreign matter that have flowed into the running wind hit the lower surface of the intermediate wall, and rain and foreign matter are suppressed from flowing into the suction duct of the air cleaner.

In Patent Document 1, a front end wall that constitutes a part of the front surface of the vehicle body is fixed to the front end of the intermediate wall. However, if the distance between the front end wall and the hood is too wide, the appearance becomes poor. It can be said that the wall is located above the front grill.

JP, 2013-130186, A

In Patent Document 1, water or foreign matter that has entered during traveling of the automobile heads toward the air intake duct of the air cleaner is first significantly cut by the intermediate wall. Moreover, even if rainwater or foreign matter enters the passage on the intermediate wall, the rainwater or foreign matter collides with the radiator support and is splashed, so there is almost no problem of rainwater or foreign matter entering the air cleaner intake duct. Guessed.

However, since the upper passage of the intermediate wall has a small vertical width as described above, in the case of an automobile in which the upper and lower passages have a long front-rear length, the flow resistance of the running wind may increase and intake of outside air may be incomplete. Then, there is a concern that the air heated in the engine room is sucked into the air cleaner and the filling efficiency is reduced.

As the running speed of the automobile increases, the inflow resistance of the outside air increases, and thus it is feared that problems such as a decrease in filling efficiency become more prominent as the running speed increases. On the other hand, when the vehicle is stopped, the inflow of outside air from the upper passage of the intermediate wall disappears, so the air cleaner is forced to suck the heated air in the engine room, and therefore the above-mentioned problem occurs. It will appear more pronounced.

The present invention aims to improve the present situation.

The present invention is
"At the front of the engine room, which is covered with a hood from the top, the front support material to which the upper part of the radiator is attached is arranged in a horizontally long posture, while
An upper front member which is located below the front end of the hood and which forms a part of the front surface of the vehicle body in front of the front support member has an auxiliary air intake between the upper front member and the front end of the hood. An opening is provided, and the main air intake port is arranged below the upper front member so that the main air intake port is open.The upper front member is provided at the front end of the bracket plate protruding from the front support member to the front side of the vehicle body. Is provided,
In the car
"While the front support material includes a front wall and an upper plate that is continuous with the upper end of the front wall,
The rear end of the bracket plate has a height lower than or equal to the upper surface of the front support member,
By providing an upward protrusion on the rear portion of the bracket plate , into which a part of the air that has flowed in from the main air intake port enters , so that the rear end of the protrusion reaches above the front support member, A part of the air flowing in from the intake port is turned upward, and a rearward opening branch passage that flows backward is formed above the upper front member, and an intake duct of the air cleaner is arranged behind the branch passage. and,
Moreover, the front part of the projection is narrowed in a plan view so that the left-right width is narrowed toward the front. "
Is configured.

In the present invention, the protrusion may be integrally formed on the bracket plate by bending, or may be formed as a separate member and fixed to the bracket plate . Upper portion front member may be a bracket plate and another member may be integral.

According to the present invention, a part of the air that has flowed into the main air intake port formed on the lower side of the bracket plate can be diverted over the front support member, so the front-rear length of the auxiliary air intake port between the hood and the bracket plate Even in a vehicle having a long length, a sufficient amount of outside air can be taken into the intake duct of the air cleaner. As a result, it is possible to prevent a problem such as a decrease in filling efficiency.

Moreover, as the air is guided by the projections and moves from the main air intake port to above the front support material, the direction of the air flow changes, so even if rainwater or foreign matter is mixed in the air flowing into the main air intake port. However, the rainwater and the foreign matter collide with the front wall of the front support material and are splashed, so that the rainwater and the foreign matter can be prevented or significantly suppressed from entering the intake duct of the air cleaner.

Since the protrusion is also exposed to the auxiliary air intake, rainwater or foreign matter that has flowed into the auxiliary air intake also collides with the protrusion and is splashed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent rainwater and foreign substances that have flowed into the auxiliary air intake from flowing into the air cleaner by the protrusion, but since the front end of the protrusion is narrowed toward the front in plan view, it has flowed into the auxiliary air intake. There is also an advantage that rainwater and foreign matter can be accurately excluded from the air cleaner while suppressing air flow resistance.

Further, even when the automobile is stopped, the flow of suction air from the main air intake toward the radiator is generated by the operation of the radiator fan. Since it is possible to leak above the front support material, it is possible to take in outside air into the air cleaner even when the vehicle is stopped.

Therefore, outside air can be taken into the air cleaner as much as possible even in a state where the internal combustion engine heats up the cold-air water to the state where it has to be cooled by the radiator and heat is trapped in the engine room. As a result, a decrease in filling efficiency can be prevented and stable operation can be maintained.

Furthermore, also has the advantage of improving the rigidity of the bracket plate serve collision Kiga ribs.

It is a principal part top view of 1st Embodiment. It is the II-II sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a perspective view of the principal part. It is a vertical side view of 2nd Embodiment. It is a vertical side view of 3rd Embodiment.

(1). First Embodiment Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 will be described. 1 and 2 show a front portion of a vehicle body, and an engine room 2 covered with a hood (bonnet) 1 is formed in the front portion of the vehicle body.

A front support member (radiator support) 3 having substantially the same height as the upper surface of the engine room 2 is arranged in a laterally long posture in the front side portion of the engine room 2. The front support member 3 has a downward opening groove type cross-sectional shape having a front wall 3a and an upper plate 3b, and side supports 4 extending laterally of the vehicle body are integrally or separately provided at left and right ends thereof. It is provided.

The radiator 6 is arranged at a portion of the lower portion of the front support member 3 which is located closer to the right side from the center line 5 of the vehicle body when viewed from the front. Although the radiator 6 is roughly shown in the figure, the radiator 6 has a fan shroud with a built-in fan, an upper tank 8 and a lower tank connected by a thin tube group 7, and the upper tank 8 or the fan shroud is provided with the front support material 3 It is fixed to.

As roughly shown in FIG. 1, an engine body 9 including a cylinder block, a cylinder head, and the like is arranged in the engine room 2 behind the front support material 3 and substantially in the middle of the left and right sides of the vehicle body. Further, the air cleaner 10 is arranged behind the front support member 3 and to the right of the center line 5 and the engine body 9, and the intake duct 11 of the air cleaner 10 is arranged above the front support member 3 and the radiator 6. , And is in a posture in which the engine body 9 is opened laterally to the left and right. Note that the arrangement example of the engine body 9, the air cleaner 10, and the like is an example, and various layouts can be made.

An upper front grille 13 and a lower front grille 14 are formed at the front end of the vehicle body with the front bumper 12 interposed therebetween. The upper front grill 13 has an upper front member 15 which is arranged closer to the hood 1 side. Therefore, the intake port of the upper front grill 13 is formed between the upper front member 15 and the hood 1. The auxiliary air intake 16 is divided into a main air intake 17 formed between the upper front member 15 and the front bumper 12.

The upper front member 15 is formed in a groove shape that opens rearward, and is fixed to the front end portion of the bracket plate 18 fixed to the front support member 3. That is, a groove-shaped bent portion 18a that enters the inside of the upper front material 15 is formed at the front end portion of the bracket 18, and the upper front material 15 is fixed to the bent portion 18a by an appropriate means such as fitting using a claw. There is. In FIG. 1, the outline of the bracket plate 18 is indicated by a thick line.

The bracket plate 18 is basically arranged at a height slightly stepped down from the upper surface of the front support member 3. Therefore, as shown in FIG. A stepped portion 18b is formed on the material 3 so as to overlap from above, and the stepped portion 18b is fixed to the front support material 3. The bracket plate 18 is fixed to the front support member 3 by an appropriate means such as fitting using a claw.

As shown in FIG. 2, the hood 1 has a double structure of an upper plate (front plate) 19 that can be seen from the outside and a lower plate (back plate) 20 that cannot be seen from the outside. It is joined together. The upper plate 19 bulges upward, whereas the front part of the lower plate 20 bulges downward so as to approach the bracket plate 18 for reinforcement of the hood 1 and the like. An upper auxiliary passage 21 having a small vertical width (narrow) is formed between the hood 1 and the bracket.

Then, in the rear portion of the bracket plate 18, a portion located in front of the opening of the intake duct 11 in the air cleaner 10 has an outer peripheral plate and an upper plate, and has an upward projection 22 in the shape of a shogi piece in plan view. Are integrally formed. The front end of the projection 22 is located in front of the front support material 3, and the rear end of the projection 22 is located on the upper surface of the front support material 3. Therefore, the projection 22 is in a state of straddling the front portion of the front support member 3 in a plan view and a front view. Therefore, an inverted L-shaped branch passage 23 having different heights at the inlet and the outlet is formed between the protrusion 22 and the front support member 3.

Note that, as shown in FIG. 1, a cutout portion 24 that opens rearward is formed in the substantially left-right intermediate portion of the bracket 18. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 25 indicates a stay fixed to the front support member 3, and a part of the bracket plate 18 is fixed to the stay 25.

(2). Summary of First Embodiment In the above-described configuration, when the vehicle travels, traveling wind flows into the engine room 2 from the auxiliary air intake 16 and the main air intake 17 of the upper grille 13. Most of the air flowing into the main air intake port 17 goes straight ahead and passes through the radiator 6.

On the other hand, since the intake duct 11 of the air cleaner 10 is located above the front support member 3, the air mainly introduced from the auxiliary air intake port 16 flows into the intake duct 11 of the air cleaner 10, but the auxiliary air intake The mouth 16 has a small vertical width in order to improve the appearance of the vehicle. Therefore, there is a case where the air cleaner 10 cannot take in a sufficient amount of outside air only with the air flowing in from the auxiliary air intake 16.

However, in the present embodiment, the collision force 22 provided in the bracket plate 18, since the branch passage 23 communicating with the upper and lower bracket plate 18 is formed, a part of air flowing into the primary air inlet 17 is branched It flows through the passage 23 and onto the front support member 3, and this is sucked into the intake duct 11 of the air cleaner 10. Therefore, the required amount of outside air, which has not been heated, can be taken into the air cleaner 10. As a result, problems such as a decrease in filling efficiency can be prevented.

Further, when the air flowing into the main air intake port 17 heads for the branch passage 23, the air flow changes its direction from upward to horizontal and then into the horizontal direction. However, the rainwater and foreign substances collide with the front wall 3a of the front support member 3 and are splashed. Therefore, little or no rainwater or foreign matter flows into the main air intake port 17 into the air cleaner 10.

On the other hand, the air that has flowed into the auxiliary air intake port 16 is split by the protrusions 22 so as to be divided into right and left. It will be blown and will have little or no entry into the air cleaner 10. When the projection 22 is formed in the shape of a shogi piece in a plan view as in the embodiment, there is an advantage that the flow resistance of the air that has flowed into the auxiliary air intake 16 can be suppressed and rainwater and foreign matter can be eliminated accurately.

Further, when the intake duct 11 of the air cleaner 10 is arranged in a sideways posture as in the present embodiment, rainwater and foreign matter are not sucked even if they collide with the intake duct 11, so that rainwater and foreign matter are prevented from being sucked further. There is an advantage that can be ensured.

Although there is no inflow of air from the auxiliary air intake 16 when the vehicle is stopped, as shown by the dotted arrow in FIG. 2, part of the suction air generated by the rotation of the radiator fan flows through the branch passage 23. Since it flows therethrough and onto the front support material 3, it is possible to take in the outside air which has not been heated to the air cleaner 10.

In the present embodiment, the cutout portion 24 is formed substantially in the middle between the left and right sides of the bracket, but a part of the air that has flowed in from the main air intake port 17 passes through the cutout portion 24 toward the engine body 9, so that the engine body It is possible to improve the cooling property of 9 and the scavenging property of the engine room 2.

(3). Other Embodiments Next, other embodiments shown in FIGS. In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4, while the bracket plate 18 is set at the same height as the upper surface of the front support member 3, the protrusion 22 is formed on the rear portion of the bracket plate 18. Therefore, in this embodiment, the projections 22 and the branch passages 23 are wholly located on the front support member 3.

Contrary to the case of FIG. 4, in the third embodiment shown in FIG. 5, while the bracket plate 18 is set at the same height as the lower surface of the front support member 3, a protrusion 22 is formed on the rear portion of the bracket plate 18. There is. Therefore, in this embodiment, the front and rear lengths of the protrusions 22 are made as long as possible so that the air flowing from the main air intake port 17 flows over the front support member 3.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention can be embodied in various other ways. For example, in the embodiment, the upper and lower front grilles 13 and 14 are formed at the front end of the vehicle body, but it is also possible to form the auxiliary grille with only one step and to form the auxiliary air intake and the main air intake. Also, Ru possible der be arranged a plurality of protrusions on the left and right.

The present invention can be embodied in an automobile. Therefore, it can be used industrially.

1 Hood 2 Engine Room 3 Front Support Material 6 Radiator 9 Engine Body 10 Air Cleaner 11 Intake Duct 12 Front Bumper 13 Upper Front Grill 14 Lower Front Grill 15 Upper Front Material 16 Auxiliary Air Intake 17 Main Air Intake 18 Bracket Plate 19 Above Hood Plate 20 Lower plate of hood 21 Upper auxiliary passage 22 Protrusion 23 Branch passage

Claims (1)

At the front of the engine room, which is covered from above with a hood, the front support material to which the upper part of the radiator is attached is arranged in a laterally long posture, while
An upper front member which is located below the front end of the hood and which forms a part of the front surface of the vehicle body in front of the front support member has an auxiliary air intake between the upper front member and the front end of the hood. An opening is provided, and the main air intake port is arranged below the upper front member so that the main air intake port is open.The upper front member is provided at the front end of the bracket plate protruding from the front support member to the front side of the vehicle body. Is provided,
The configuration is
While the front support material includes a front wall and an upper plate that is continuous with the upper end of the front wall,
The rear end of the bracket plate has a height lower than or equal to the upper surface of the front support member,
By providing an upward protrusion on the rear portion of the bracket plate , into which a part of the air that has flowed in from the main air intake enters , so that the rear end of the protrusion reaches above the front support member, A part of the air flowing in from the intake port is turned upward, and a rearward opening branch passage that flows backward is formed above the upper front member, and an intake duct of the air cleaner is arranged behind the branch passage. and,
And, the front portion of the protrusion is narrowed in a plan view so that the left-right width is narrowed toward the front,
Automobile.

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