JPH01109182A - Structure for front portion of vehicle body - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To absorb energy at the time of collision in the front by forming a space between the rear end portion of a front bumper facer and the front end portion of an engine hood and allowing the front bumper facer, etc., to be retracted and deformed in this space. CONSTITUTION:In a vehicle body 10, a passenger room 12 and an engine room 13 are partitioned by a dash panel 11. The top opening portion 15 of the engine room 13 is covered with an engine hood 16 and a radiator core support 18 is provided along the front end portion 17 of the engine hood 16. In this case, the rear end portion 27 of a front bumper facer 26 is extended so as to be opposite to the front end portion 17 of the engine hood 16 and a space 29 having a top opening portion 28 is formed between these portions. A cover body 39 for covering the top opening portion 28 is provided between the rear end portion 27 and the front end portion 17. Thereby, at the time of collision in the front, the front bumper facer 26, etc., is retracted and deformed in the space 29.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a front structure of an automobile body in which an engine room is provided at the front of the vehicle body.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a front structure for an automobile, the structure shown in FIG. 5.6 has been proposed (see Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 1988-192972). That is, an engine room 2 is provided in the striking part of the vehicle body 1, and an engine hood 3 that can be opened and closed is closed at the upper opening of the engine room 2.

A front fascia and cover 4 extending in the vehicle width direction are arranged close to the front end of the engine hood 3.
The front fascia cover 4 is attached to the engine compartment 2.
It is attached to the front end panel 5 that constitutes the front wall of.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in such a conventional structure, the car body 1
The front fascia cover 4 located at the front end of the engine is disposed close to the engine hood 3 as described above, and is attached to the front end panel 5 that constitutes the front wall of the engine compartment 2. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, when the vehicle body 1 collides head-on with the obstacle O and the front bumper fascia cover 4 is crushed, the engine hood 3 and the front end panel 5 are directly hit by the obstacle 0. As a result, the engine hood 3 undergoes buckling deformation, while the front end panel 5 undergoes backward deformation toward the inside of the engine compartment 2, resulting in damage to the radiator, etc. housed within the engine compartment 5. Functional parts will be damaged. Therefore, in repair work after a collision, it is necessary to replace or repair not only the front fascia cover 4 and front end panel 5, but also important functional parts such as the radiator housed in the engine compartment 2 and the engine hood. , which necessitated an increase in repair costs.

The present invention has been made in view of these conventional problems, and by absorbing collision energy in the event of a frontal collision, damage to various important functional parts housed in the engine compartment can be prevented. The present invention provides a vehicle body front structure that makes it possible to reduce the weight.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention includes a front bumper fascia that covers a front bumper disposed at the front end of the vehicle body, and a top opening in the top opening of the engine room. A space extending in the vehicle width direction is formed between the front end of the engine hood and the front end of the engine hood, which is closed to cover the front end of the engine hood. The body is disposed between the rear end of the front bumper fascia and a support member such as a radiator core support extending along the front end of the engine hood.

In the above configuration, when the vehicle body collides head-on, collision energy is input to both the front bumper located at the front end of the vehicle body and the front bumper fascia that covers the front bumper, causing the two components to deform backward. At this time, since a space is formed between the front bumper fascia and the front end of the engine hood, the backward deformation of both members occurs within the space while crushing the lid without directly interfering with the engine room. be exposed. Therefore, the collision energy is absorbed by the backward deformation of both members within the space, and damage to the engine hood, the engine room, and various important functional parts housed within the engine room is reduced. Furthermore, the space is effectively utilized to provide functional parts that are inconveniently affected by the heat in the engine room, and these functional parts can be maintained and serviced by removing the removable lid.

Example An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

That is, as shown in FIG. 1.2, the vehicle body 10 has a dash panel 11 that separates a passenger compartment 12 located approximately in the center from an engine room 13 located in the front. A cowl box 14 with a closed cross section extending in the vehicle width direction is provided at the upper end of the dash panel 11.
An engine hood 16 closed to the upper opening 15 is pivotally mounted via a hood hinge (not shown). At the upper part of the front end of the engine room 13, there is an engine hood 1.
A radiator core support 18, which is a support member extending in the vehicle width direction, is disposed along the front end portion 17 of the engine room 13, and the radiator core support 18 partially constitutes the front wall of the engine room 13, and the radiator core support 18 extends in the vehicle width direction. A cross member 19 is provided. A condenser 20 of an air conditioner is installed between the cross member 19 and the radiator core support 18 so as to constitute the front wall of the engine room together with the radiator core support I8, and a radiator fan is mounted on the front side of the condenser 20. 21, and a radiator core 22 is provided on the rear side.

Further, on both sides of the engine compartment 13, side members 23 whose rear ends are fixed to the dash panel 11 and extend in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body are disposed, and the front ends of the side members 23 are connected to the engine compartment 13. It is extended further forward. A shock absorber 24 is attached to the front end surface of the side member 23, and a front bumper 25 extending in the vehicle width direction is attached to the shock absorber 24.
is fixed. The front bumper 25 is attached to the vehicle body 10.
The front bumper fascia 26 is covered by a front bumper fascia 26 disposed at the front end of the front bumper fascia 26.
The rear end portion 27 is connected to the front end portion 17 of the engine hood I6.
It extends in the direction opposite to. The engine hood 1
A space 29 having a top opening 28 and extending in the vehicle width direction is formed between the front end 17 of the front bumper fascia 2-6 and the rear end 27 of the front bumper fascia 2-6. The space 29 includes the front bumper fascia 26 and an air intake port 30 at the bottom of the front bumper fascia 26 at the front.
It is separated by an apron 31 that is integrally formed through the radiator core support 18 and the engine room on the rear side. It is separated by a capacitor 20 mounted so as to form a wall of No. 3.

The bottom surface of the space 29 is separated by an undercover 32 whose front end is clamped and fixed to the apron 31 and whose rear end is fixed to the lower surface of the cross member 19, and both sides of the space 29 are not shown in the figure. Not separated by a front fender panel or hood ridge.

At the rear end portion 27 of the front bumper fascia 26,
As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 3, a flange 33 is provided vertically, and a finisher retainer 3
4 is fitted. As shown in FIG. 4, weld pins 35 are intermittently implanted in a portion of the finisher retainer 34 facing the space 29, and a rubber 36 is externally fitted onto the weld pins 35. On the other hand, a bracket 37 is extended from the radiator core support 18, which is the supporting member. A lid 39 covering the upper opening 28 of the space 2''9 has a hole 4 formed at the front end.
0 on the rubber 36, and the rear end is attached to the bolt 4.
It is screwed onto the bracket 37 with an I and a nut 42, and is installed between the rear end 27 of the front bumper fascia 26 and the front end 17 of the engine hood 16. A reinforcement 43 is provided at the rear end of the lower surface of the lid body 39.
are welded thereto, and a finisher 44 made of transparent resin or the like is covered on the top surface.

A locking piece 45 is provided protruding from the front end of the finisher 44 , and the locking piece 45 is locked to the grommet 46 fitted to the lid 39 . On the other hand, a screw 47 is inserted into the rear end portion of the finisher 44.
7 is locked to a rear grommet 48 located on the lower surface side of the lid. In addition, in FIG. 1, 49 is an air cleaner disposed within the space 29.

In this embodiment with the above configuration, in the event of a light collision in which the vehicle body 10 collides head-on with an obstacle 0 at low speed as shown in FIG. 1, the collision energy is absorbed by the contraction action of the shock absorber 24, and The front portion of the front bumper fascia 26 moves backward together with the front bumper 25 as the shock absorber 24 contracts. Further, even if the front part of the front bumper fascia 26 is pushed back and pressed, the front bumper fascia 26 made of resin is elastically deformed, and the rear end part 27 is not moved backward, so that the lid body 3
9 and the finisher 44 are not deformed.

Then, when the collision load disappears and the shock absorber 24 expands, the front bumper fascia 26
returns to its original position and restores its normal shape. Therefore, in the event of such a minor collision, no damage will occur to any of the vehicle body components, and of course there will be no damage to the functional parts housed in the engine hood 16 or the engine compartment 13.

Next, in a severe collision in which the vehicle body 10 collides head-on with the obstacle 0 at such a speed that the front bumper 25 is deformed, the bread buff asia 26 is deformed backward together with the front bumper 25 by receiving the collision energy.

At this time, since a space 29 is formed between the front bumper fascia 26 and the front end portion 17 of the engine hood 16, the front bumper 25 and the front bumper fascia 26 are inserted into the lid body 39 in the formed space 29. and the finisher 44 are crushed and deformed backward. Therefore, the collision energy is absorbed as the front bumper 25 and front bumper fascia 26 are deformed backward within the space 29. Furthermore, as a result of the existence of such a space, even if the front bumper 25 and the front bumper fascia 26 deform backward, there is little possibility of direct interference with the engine compartment 13 or the engine hood 16, and the lid body 3
9 and finisher 44 were crushed, but the engine compartment 13 and engine hood! The impact on 6 will be minor. Therefore, damage to the condenser 20, radiator 22, and other expensive important functional parts housed in the engine room 13 is reduced, and relatively inexpensive parts such as the front bumper 21°, front pan buff Asia 261M body 39, etc. can be replaced. By doing so, it is possible to carry out repairs, and it is possible to reduce repair costs after a serious collision.

Of course, there is a possibility that the air cleaner 49 will be destroyed when the front bumper 25 and the front pan buff asia 26 are deformed backward, but the air cleaner 49 is one of the most functional parts installed in the engine room 13. Since it is an inexpensive component, it has little impact on repair costs.

° Moreover, the air cleaner 4 arranged in the space 29
9, the cold outside air introduced into the space through the air intake port 30 can be sucked in and transferred to the engine without being affected by the heat of the engine room 13C. Therefore, by effectively utilizing the space 29 and arranging a component, such as the air cleaner 49, which is inconvenient to be affected by heat in the engine room 13, the component 49 can be placed.
Not only can the function and durability of the engine room 13 be improved, but also the overcrowding of parts housed in the engine room 13 can be eliminated. The lid body 39 can be removed by unscrewing the bolt 41 from the nut 42 and then pulling out the hole 40 from the rubber 36, and the space 29
This allows for easy maintenance and maintenance of parts such as the air cleaner 49 located inside.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As described above, the present invention provides a structure in which a vehicle is installed between a front bumper fascia that covers a front bumper disposed at the front end of a vehicle body and a front end of an engine hood that closes an upper opening of an engine room. The structure is such that spaces extending in the width direction are separated. Therefore, in the case of a frontal collision,
The front bumper and front bumper fascia are deformed backward, thereby absorbing collision energy and reducing damage to various important functional parts housed in the engine hood and the engine compartment.

In addition, the lid disposed at the top opening of the space is configured to be removable.After a frontal collision, the lid must be replaced along with the front bumper and front bumper fascia that have been deformed backwards as described above. This not only reduces damage to the various important functional parts, but also reduces repair costs after a frontal collision.

Furthermore, by making effective use of the space, it is possible to arrange functional parts that are inconveniently affected by heat in the engine room, thereby improving the performance and durability of the functional parts. This makes it possible to eliminate overcrowding inside the space, and also makes it possible to easily maintain and service the functional parts arranged in the space by removing the removable lid.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken along the line 1-I in FIG. 2, which shows an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a vehicle body according to the same embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line IV-I' in FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of a conventional vehicle body, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line Vl-VI in FIG. 10...Vehicle body, 13...Engine room, 15...
- Upper opening (of the engine room), 16...Engine hood, 17...Front end (of the engine hood), 1
8...Radiator core support (support member), 25.
...Front bumper, 26...Front bumper fascia, 27...Rear end (of front bumper fascia), 28...Top opening (of space), 29...Space, 39...Lid body. Figure 5 Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A space extending in the vehicle width direction is formed between the front bumper fascia, which is disposed at the front end of the vehicle body and covers the front bumper, and the front end of the engine hood, which is closed to the top opening of the engine room. A removable lid is disposed in the upper opening of the space, and the lid includes a support member extending along the rear end of the front bumper fascia and the front end of the engine hood. A vehicle body front structure characterized by being installed between.