JP2012071663A - Cowl louver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cowl louver which suppresses a molding failure such as short shot.SOLUTION: The cowl louver 1 includes a glass-side edge 11 disposed along the lower edge 51 of a windshield 5 and held by the lower edge 51, a panel-side edge 12 disposed closer to a hood panel 8, and a general part 13 formed between the glass-side edge 11 and the panel-side edge 12. The general part 13 has a platelike portion 14 extending in a sheet form between the glass-side edge 11 and the panel-side edge 12, and a ventilating portion 15 having a plurality of small holes. The glass-side edge 11 has a thick-walled portion 17 thicker than the platelike portion 14. A part of the platelike portion 14 that is adjacent to the thick-walled portion 17 is formed as a gradually thinning portion 10 which gradually reduces in its wall thickness from the thick-walled portion 17 toward the platelike portion 14. The thick-walled portion 17 is provided with a plurality of gate points P disposed along a direction in which the glass-side edge 11 extends.

Description

  The present invention relates to a cowl louver for a vehicle, and more particularly to a cowl louver formed by injection molding.

  Conventionally, a cowl louver of an automobile is a long plate-like injection-molded product, which is provided between a hood panel and a windshield, covers a wiper motor and the like to improve design, and has an outside air intake port into a vehicle interior. It has a ventilation part. When injection molding a cowl louver, gate points are provided at multiple locations so that the resin is uniformly injected into the long cavity formed in the mold, and from the gates installed at these gate points At the same time, resin is injected into the cavity.

  In the formation of such a cowl louver, a weld line or a short shot may occur and the appearance may be impaired.

  Therefore, for example, in Patent Document 1, conventionally, a thick wall portion thicker than the general portion is provided at the periphery of the ventilation portion so that the molten resin surrounds the periphery of the ventilation portion before the molten resin fills the entire ventilation portion. By forming the molten resin from the peripheral part to the ventilation part and the molten resin does not substantially flow out of the ventilation part, gas is sealed in the ventilation part, and defects such as flow marks are stopped in the ventilation part. Is disclosed.

  Moreover, in patent document 2, the site | part which forms the said thin part by the side of a metal mold | die comprises the molten resin amount suppression part by forming the vicinity of the gate point provided in the periphery of the ventilation part thinly, The molten resin that gradually flows into the ventilation portion by the molten resin amount suppression portion and the molten resin that flows in by the portion that forms the periphery of the ventilation portion other than the molten resin amount suppression portion are merged at the portion that forms the ventilation portion. It is disclosed that generation of a weld line in the ventilation portion suppresses generation of a weld line around the ventilation portion.

JP 2009-107465 A JP 2007-168538 A

  By the way, in recent years, in order to reduce the weight of the vehicle, the cowl louver is also required to be light.

  However, if the cowl louver, which is a long product, is thinly formed, molding defects such as short shots occur. By simply making the perimeter of the ventilation part thick as in Patent Document 1, molding defects of the entire cowl louver are suppressed. It is difficult to do.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, it is disclosed that the periphery of the ventilation portion is thinned. However, in recent years, the entire cowl louver tends to be thin in order to reduce the weight of the vehicle. This is difficult, and not only a short shot occurs in the ventilation portion, but also a molding defect of the entire cowl louver occurs.

  This invention is made | formed in view of this situation, and makes it a subject to provide the cowl louver which can suppress molding defects, such as a short shot.

  (1) The cowl louver of the present invention has a long plate shape formed by injecting a molding material from a gate installed at a gate point, and is disposed between a vehicle windshield and a hood panel, A glass side edge disposed along the lower edge of the windshield and held by the lower edge, a panel side edge disposed on the food panel side, the glass side edge and the panel A general portion provided between the side edge portion, the general portion including a plate-like portion extending in a thin plate shape between the glass side edge portion and the panel side edge portion, and a plurality of small holes. In the cowl louver having the ventilation portion, the glass side edge portion is provided with a thicker portion thicker than the plate-like portion, and the portion adjacent to the thick-walled portion in the plate-like portion is provided with the thick-walled portion. Gradually reduced the wall thickness toward the plate-shaped part Be provided changing portions, the thick walled portion is characterized in that along the extension direction of the glass edge portion is made to dispose the plurality of the gate point.

  A thick part having a thickness larger than that of the plate part of the general part is formed on the side edge of the glass held by the windshield, and a plurality of gate points are arranged in the thick part. For this reason, when the molding material is injected from the gate installed at the gate point in the cavity of the mold for injection molding the cowl louver, the flow resistance at the portion where the thick part is formed forms the general part. Since it is smaller than the flow resistance at the site, the injected molding material tends to flow at the site where the thick part is formed. The molding material spreads in the extending direction of the thick portion and joins at an intermediate portion between adjacent gate points. For this reason, the molding material is likely to spread widely to the part where the thick part of the cavity is molded. In a state where the thick part is widely spread, the molding material flows from almost the entire thick part to the part forming the general part of the cavity as if the entire thick part is a gate. Furthermore, by having a gradual change part between the thick part and the general part, the flow of the resin in the general part of the thin-walled cowl louver with high flow resistance can be improved, and the occurrence of a short shot of the entire cowl louver can be suppressed. .

  Furthermore, the gradual change portion can suppress molding defects such as sink marks and warpage due to a change in thickness between the thick portion and the general portion.

  Further, the entire thick portion of the glass side edge portion acts like a gate, and the molding material is poured into the portion forming the general portion of the cavity at the same timing. For this reason, the molding material flows from the portion forming the glass side edge portion of the cavity toward the portion forming the panel side edge portion, and can quickly fill the entire cavity forming the cowl louver. Therefore, the occurrence of short shots and weld lines can be suppressed.

  In addition, since the gate point is provided in the thick part where the molding material is easy to flow, the molding material can be spread widely in the thick part without increasing the number of gate points. It can be made to function as follows.

  In this way, in the cowl louver that is thinner than the conventional one, even if the flow resistance of the molding material in the general part is large, the molding material changes from the whole part that forms the thick part of the cavity to the part that forms the general part. Therefore, the occurrence of short shots can be suppressed in both the general part and the thick part.

  Further, in the cowl louver, the glass side edge portion in the plate-like portion often has a relatively wide flat surface compared to the panel side edge portion. For this reason, by providing a thick portion on the side edge of the glass and disposing a gate point on the thick portion, the molding material can smoothly flow over a wide range for forming the plate-like portion in the cavity. It is possible to spread the molding material throughout the cavity at an early stage.

  The thick part is a part having a thickness larger than that of the general part. The thick part may be formed in a part of the glass side edge part in the longitudinal direction, but the one formed in the entire longitudinal direction of the glass side edge part is fluidity of the molding material in the longitudinal direction. From the point of view, it is preferable.

  In this case, the flow resistance of the molding material is increased over the entire length of the glass side edge, and the injection of the molding material injected over the entire glass side edge makes the entire glass side edge like a gate. Can function.

  The plate-like portion is a portion having a thin plate shape that extends between the glass side edge portion and the panel side edge portion of the cowl louver. The plate-like portion includes not only a flat portion but also a curved or bent portion.

  The thickness of the plate-like portion is substantially uniform, and the entire plate-like portion is formed into a thin shape smaller than the thickness of the thick portion formed on the glass side edge portion. In this case, the thickness of the plate portion is the same as the average thickness of the entire plate portion.

  There may be a slight change in the thickness of the plate-like portion. Also in this case, the thickness of the plate-like portion refers to the average thickness of the entire plate-like portion, and is thinner than the thick portion of the glass side edge portion. Even when there is a slight change in the thickness, the thickness of the maximum thickness portion in the plate-like portion is preferably smaller than the thickness of the thick portion.

  In the cowl louver, not only the plate-shaped part but also the ventilation part and the panel side edge part can be formed as a thin part.

  As the molding material, for example, a resin material such as polypropylene, polypropylene / polyethylene blend, and modified polypropylene is used.

  (2) The ratio of the thickness of the plate-like part of the general part to the thickness of the thick part of the glass side edge part is preferably 0.3 to 0.75, and more preferably 0.4 to It is desirable that it is 0.75.

  In this case, it is possible to reduce the thickness of the thin plate-shaped portion while ensuring the fluidity of the molding material in the thin-walled portion, and to realize the weight reduction of the entire cowl louver.

  (3) A branch portion that holds the lower edge portion of the windshield is connected to the glass side edge portion, and the thick portion extends from at least the gate point in the glass side edge portion to the branch portion. It is preferable that the connection part is formed.

  In this case, the molding material easily flows into the branch portion, and it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a weld line or a short shot at the branch portion.

  According to the cowl louver of the present invention, a thick portion having a thickness larger than that of the plate-like portion is formed on the glass side edge portion, and a plurality of gate points are disposed in the thick portion. For this reason, in a state where the molding material is widely spread over the thick-walled portion, the molding material can be flowed to the plate-like portion that is thin and difficult to flow resin. Therefore, it is possible to prevent defects such as short shots from occurring in the entire cowl louver, and the formability of the entire cowl louver is improved.

It is sectional drawing of the cowl louver which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a whole perspective view of a cowl louver concerning a 1st embodiment. It is a principal part expanded sectional view of the cowl louver which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a partial top view of the cowl louver which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is an expansion plane explanatory view of a cowl louver concerning a 1st embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cowl louver according to the embodiment of the present invention is a long plate-like body formed by injecting molten resin into a cavity of a mold. As shown in FIG. 1, the cowl louver 1 is disposed between a vehicle windshield 5 and a hood panel 8 so as to extend in the vehicle width direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cowl louver 1 is disposed along the lower edge portion 51 of the windshield 5, and is disposed on the glass side edge portion 11 held on the lower edge portion 51 and the hood panel 8 side. Panel side edge portion 12, and glass side edge portion 11 and general side portion 13 provided between panel side edge portion 12.

  The glass side edge 11 of the cowl louver 1 is one end edge in the width direction of the cowl louver 1, and the panel side edge 12 is the other edge in the width direction of the cowl louver 1. The general part 13 is formed with a thin plate-like part 14 and a ventilation part 15 for taking outside air into the passenger compartment.

  A branching portion 16 protrudes downward at the boundary portion of the glass side edge portion 11 with the general portion 13 over the entire longitudinal direction of the glass side edge portion 11. The branching portion 16 is provided with clamping members 41 projecting at a plurality of locations at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction. The sandwiching member 41 is made of a nonwoven fabric, one end of which is attached to the distal end surface of the branching portion 16, and the other end is held by a thin plate-like rib 16 a protruding from the bottom of the branching portion 16. The other end portion of the clamping member 41 is pressed toward the glass side edge portion 11 by the rib 16 a and sandwiches the windshield 5 with the glass side edge portion 11. On the back surface side of the glass side edge portion 11, ribs 11 b are protruded at positions facing the clamping member 41 to reinforce the glass side edge portion 11. A claw-like locking member 42 having elasticity such as rubber is attached to the tip of the glass side edge 11 at a position facing the clamping member 41. The front end of the locking member 42 is pressed against the windshield 5 to prevent the windshield 5 from coming off.

  The panel side edge portion 12 holds seal members 43 at a plurality of locations along the longitudinal direction. The seal member 43 is made of rubber and has a hollow shape or an L-shaped cross section. The bottom portion is held by the panel side edge portion 12 and elastically contacts the back surface of the hood panel 8 at the top. When the hood panel 8 is closed, the hood panel 8 is elastically contacted with the seal member 43 to shield air from the engine room.

  The glass side edge portion 11 is composed of a thick portion 17 having a substantially uniform thickness as a whole. That is, a thick portion 17 is formed in the glass side edge portion 11 along the longitudinal direction. As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of gate points P are arranged at a pitch of 150 to 300 mm along the longitudinal direction of the thick portion 17. As shown in FIG. 3, the width H of the thick portion 17 is 1 cm, and the thickness T1 is 2.5 mm.

  Moreover, the width | variety of the panel side edge part 12 is about 1 cm, and thickness is 1.5 mm. The thickness of the panel side edge portion 12 is the same as the thickness T of the plate-like portion 14.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the general portion 13 provided between the glass side edge portion 11 and the panel side edge portion 12 includes a pair of thin plate-like plate-like portions 14, a ventilation portion 15, and a wiper. A hole 18 is formed. The plate-like portion 14 is adjacent to both the glass side edge portion 11 and the panel side edge portion 12 over the entire longitudinal direction of the cowl louver 1. Among these, the adjacent part 14d adjacent to the glass side edge part 11 in the plate-like part 14 has a relatively wide width and has a substantially flat surface. The plate-like portion 14 has the same thickness T2 (1.5 mm) as a whole, and the whole plate-like portion 14 is formed with a thickness thinner than the thick-walled portion 17 provided on the glass side edge portion 11. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the plate-like portion 14 has a shape in which the cross section in the width direction is bent into a substantially V shape, and is bent and positioned at the lowermost portion, and the glass side edge than the bent portion 14 a. A first inclined portion 14b formed on the side of the portion 11 and gently inclined with respect to the horizontal direction; and formed on the panel side edge portion 12 side of the bent portion 14a and inclined at a relatively large angle with respect to the horizontal direction. It consists of the 2nd inclination part 14c.

  On the back surface of the bent portion 14a of the plate-like portion 14, a rib-like protrusion 13a protrudes. The protrusion 13a is in pressure contact with a sponge-like elastic member 43 disposed on the cowl inner panel 6 fixed to the vehicle body at the tip. Moreover, from the back surface of the 2nd inclination part 14c of the plate-shaped part 14, the holding part 13b is protrudingly provided in the multiple places along the longitudinal direction. The holding portion 13b is formed with an engaging protrusion 13c that extends in the vertical direction and has a tip bent in a hook shape. The engagement protrusion 13 c is engaged with a holding hole 61 formed in the cowl inner panel 6.

  The first inclined portion 14b of the plate-like portion 14 has an adjacent portion 14d adjacent to the glass side edge portion. The adjacent portion 14 d has a gradually changing portion 10 whose thickness gradually decreases from the thick portion 17 of the glass side edge portion 11. In order to suppress the occurrence of sink marks and warping due to the change in thickness between the glass side edge portion 11 and the general portion 13, the gradual change portion 10 is preferably provided over a width of 8 to 20 mm. 10 mm is good.

  The first inclined portion 14b of the plate-like portion 14 is provided with a ventilation portion 15 at a position spaced apart from the glass side edge portion 11 by a predetermined distance. As shown in FIG. 5, the ventilation part 15 has a large number of small holes 15c that are partitioned by a large number of vertical frames 15a and a large number of horizontal frames 15b intersecting in a lattice pattern. Outside air is taken in from the small holes 15c and sent into the passenger compartment. The width | variety of the vertical frame 15a and the horizontal frame 15b is 1.0-1.5 mm, and thickness is 3 mm.

  In manufacturing the cowl louver of this example, it is molded by injection molding using a mold. As shown in FIG. 4, the mold has a cavity having a shape corresponding to a cowl louver, and gates are formed at portions corresponding to the glass side edge 11 of the cavity at a plurality of locations along the longitudinal direction of the glass side edge 11. Point P is arranged.

  A molten resin made of a resin material such as polypropylene, modified polypropylene, or polypropylene / polyethylene blend is injected into the cavity from the gate installed at the gate point P. As shown in FIG. 5, the glass side edge portion 11 is composed entirely of a thick portion 17, so that the flow resistance of the molding material is small. For this reason, the molten resin spreads in the extending direction of the glass side edge portion 11 and merges at an intermediate portion between the adjacent gate points P. For this reason, the molten resin tends to spread over the entire glass side edge portion 11. In a state where the glass side edge portion 11 is widely spread, the molten resin flows into the general portion 13 from almost the entire glass side edge portion 11 as if the entire glass side edge portion 11 is a gate. For this reason, the portion of the general portion 13 where there is no portion with the ventilation portion 15 improves the fluidity of the molten resin and can suppress the occurrence of short shots of the entire cowl louver. In addition, since the gradually changing portion is provided between the thick portion 17 and the general portion 13, the resin flow in the general portion 13 of the thin-walled cowl louver having high flow resistance is improved, and a short shot of the entire cowl louver is prevented. it can. Further, by providing the gradual change portion 10 between the thick portion 17 and the general portion 13, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of sink marks and warping due to the change in the thickness of the thick portion 17 and the general portion 13.

  Further, the entire thick wall portion 17 of the glass side edge portion 11 works like a gate, and the molten resin is poured into the general portion 13 at a relatively same timing. For this reason, molten resin flows toward the panel side edge part 12 from the glass side edge part 11, and can fill the whole cavity quickly. Therefore, the occurrence of short shots and weld lines can be suppressed.

  Further, even if the entire plate-like portion 14 is thin and the molten resin has a large flow resistance, the molten resin flows into the plate-like portion 14 from the entire thick-walled portion 17. The occurrence of shots can be suppressed. Moreover, since the thickness of the whole plate-shaped part 14 is thin, a cowl louver can be reduced in weight significantly.

  The thickness T2 of the thin portion 19 constituting the entire plate-like portion 14 of the general portion 13 is 1.5 mm, and the thickness T1 of the thick portion 17 constituting the entire glass side edge portion 11 is 2.5 mm, which is thick. The ratio (T2 / T1) of the thickness T2 of the thin portion 19 to the thickness T1 of the meat portion 17 is 0.6. For this reason, while ensuring the fluidity of the resin in the plate-like portion 14, the thickness of the plate-like portion 14 can be reduced, and the entire cowl louver 1 can be significantly reduced in weight.

  Further, the thick portion 17 is formed up to the connecting portion of the branch portion 16 in the glass side edge portion 11. For this reason, it becomes easy for molten resin to flow into the branch part 16, and it is possible to suppress the occurrence of weld lines and short shots at the branch part 16.

  Moreover, in the said Example, although the glass side edge part 11 whole is comprised by the thick part 17, you may provide the thick part 17 in a part of glass side edge part 11. FIG. In this case, since the ventilation portion 15 has a large flow resistance of the resin, a portion of the glass side edge portion 11 at a position facing the ventilation portion 15 is preferably constituted by at least the thick portion 17.

  Moreover, you may form the some thick part 17 in the glass side edge part 11 along the longitudinal direction. In this case, at least two gate points may be disposed in one thick portion 17. In this case, in the thick portion 17, the molten resin that has flowed out from the adjacent gate points merges, and the entire thick portion functions like a gate, from the entire thick portion toward the general portion 13. The molten resin can be made to flow.

1: Cowl louver, 5: Windshield, 6, Cowl inner panel, 8: Hood panel, 10: Gradual change part, 11: Glass side edge part, 12: Panel side edge part, 13: General part, 14: Plate-like part , 14a: bent portion, 14b: first inclined portion, 14c: second inclined portion, 14d: adjacent portion, 15: vent portion, 16: branch portion, 17: thick portion, 18: hole portion, 19: thin portion , P: Gate point.

Claims (3)

It is a long plate shape molded by injecting molding material from the gate installed at the gate point, and is arranged between the windshield of the vehicle and the hood panel,
A glass side edge disposed along the lower edge of the windshield and held by the lower edge;
A panel side edge disposed on the food panel side;
It consists of a general part provided between the glass side edge and the panel side edge,
In the cowl louver, the general part has a plate-like part spreading in a thin plate shape between the glass side edge part and the panel side edge part, and a ventilation part having a plurality of small holes.
The glass side edge portion is provided with a thicker portion thicker than the plate-like portion, and the portion adjacent to the thick-walled portion in the plate-like portion is gradually moved from the thick-walled portion toward the plate-like portion. With a gradually changing part with reduced wall thickness,
The cowl louver, wherein the thick portion is provided with a plurality of the gate points along the extending direction of the glass side edge portion.   2. The cowl louver according to claim 1, wherein a ratio of a thickness of the plate-like portion of the general portion to a thickness of the thick-walled portion of the glass side edge portion is 0.3 to 0.75. A branch portion that holds the lower edge portion of the windshield is connected to the glass side edge portion,
The cowl louver according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the thick part is formed from at least the gate point in the glass side edge part to a connection part of the branch part.

Images