JPH0529189Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) This invention relates to a vehicle body structure in which the body panel of a vehicle is constituted by a honeycomb panel structure having a sandwich structure in which both sides of a honeycomb core material having numerous honeycomb-shaped spaces formed therein are sandwiched between face plates for integration.

(Prior art) Traditionally, such honeycomb panel structures have been known for their light weight and resistance to bending and compressive stress.
It is widely used in various industrial fields as vehicle body material, aircraft body material, construction material, etc. Generally, the honeycomb core material used in this honeycomb panel structure is produced by stretching a prismatic laminate made by laminating and bonding a large number of strip-shaped core sheets in the sheet lamination direction.
A substantially regular hexagonal honeycomb-like space having the same shape is defined between the core sheets, and the above characteristics can be provided by this honeycomb-like space.

As an application of such a honeycomb panel structure to the body material of vehicles such as automobiles, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 57-114774, a floor panel of a car body is constructed of a honeycomb panel structure. What has been done is known.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) By the way, vehicles such as automobiles have a suspension device which is a device for mounting the vehicle body on the wheels, but the suspension tower of this device usually has an upper and a lower part that are positioned vertically. It is firmly attached by joining it to a support frame that extends in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. However, since the uplifting load from the wheels is received by both support frames, the load placed on both support frames increases.In order to reduce this load, it is possible to increase the size of both support frames. In this case, the weight of the vehicle body increases by that amount, which is not preferable in terms of weight reduction. This also applies when the honeycomb panel structure is applied to the vehicle body panel as described above, and it is possible to improve the mounting strength of the suspension tower without impeding the weight reduction that is a characteristic of the honeycomb panel structure. desired.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and its purpose is to use the constituent members of the honeycomb panel structure in suspension when the honeycomb panel structure as described above is applied as a body material for a vehicle such as an automobile. By commonly using the suspension tower as a mounting member, the uplift load from the wheels can be received by the entire honeycomb panel structure via the component, and the mounting strength of the suspension tower can be improved. The purpose is to reduce the weight of the vehicle by reducing the number of support frames.

(Means for Solving the Problem) In order to achieve the above object, the solution of the present invention consists of a honeycomb core material in which a large number of honeycomb-shaped spaces are formed, and a honeycomb core material that is bonded to both sides of the core material. The vehicle body panel is constituted by a honeycomb panel structure consisting of a face plate having a base plate and an outer frame member disposed around the core member so as to surround the outer periphery of the core member. Further, the upper part of the suspension tower is joined to the support frame joined to the outer frame member of the vehicle body panel, and the lower part of the suspension tower is joined to the outer frame member.

(Function) With the above configuration, in the present invention, the suspension tower has its lower part joined to the outer frame member of the vehicle body panel composed of the honeycomb panel structure, and its upper part joined to the support frame joined to the outer frame member. Therefore, even if the uplifting load acts on the suspension tower when a wheel bumps while driving on a rough road, the uplifting load will be transmitted to the entire vehicle body panel via the outer frame member and support frame. Therefore, the mounting strength of the suspension tower can be improved. Furthermore, since the lower mounting member of the suspension tower is shared by the outer frame member of the vehicle body panel, the number of parts can be reduced accordingly, simplifying the vehicle body structure and reducing the vehicle weight.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the underbody of an automobile, where 1 is a floor panel, 2, 2 are a pair of side sills extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, and 2, 2 are disposed at both ends of the front floor panel 3 of the floor panel 1, and 4, 4 are respective side sills. A pair of rear side support frames connected to the rear end of each side sill 2 and extending toward the rear of the vehicle at a position above the rear floor panel 5 surface of the floor panel 1. The side sills 2, 2 each have a fitting groove (not shown) extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, and are made of a prismatic extruded material made of, for example, aluminum and having a hollow part to achieve a closed cross section. The front floor panel 3 is formed in both fitting grooves.
The front floor panel 3 is horizontally supported by fitting both side end portions of the front floor panel 3 into a horizontal position.

The front floor panel 3 includes an aluminum honeycomb core material 7 in which a large number of honeycomb-shaped spaces 6, 6, . . . are formed, and an aluminum face plate 8 bonded to both sides of the core material 7. 8 (only the upper face plate 8 is visible in the figure) and the core material 7
and a substantially rectangular annular outer frame member 9 with a U-shaped cross section and arranged so as to surround the outer periphery of the outer frame member 9,
Its front end side extends upward from the front end position of both side sills 2, 2, and constitutes a dash panel 10.

The honeycomb core material 7 is formed by a manufacturing method generally called a so-called stretching method. In other words, a prismatic laminate obtained by laminating and bonding a large number of strip-shaped core sheets so that the adhesive application areas are positioned with a certain regularity is stretched by pulling it from both sides in the sheet lamination direction. As a result, a honeycomb core material 7 is formed in which substantially regular hexagonal honeycomb-shaped spaces 6, 6, . When forming the core material 7, the core material 7, which has a higher rigidity than other parts, is used at the boundary between the front floor panel 3 and the dash panel 10, that is, at the bent part, and the expansion ratio at the bent part is small. This allows the core material 7 to be bent into a desired shape without saddle-shaped deformation. After the core material 7 bent and formed in this manner is fitted into the outer frame member 9, face plates 8, 8 are attached to both sides thereof so as to seal the honeycomb-shaped spaces 6, 6, . . . between the core sheets. By joining, a honeycomb panel structure having a predetermined shape is formed in which the core material 7 is integrated with the face plates 8, 8 into a sandwich structure.

On the other hand, like the front floor panel 3, the rear floor panel 5 is also composed of a honeycomb panel structure having a predetermined shape, in which an aluminum core material 7 is integrated with aluminum face plates 8, 8 into a sandwich structure. As shown in the diagram, the middle part of the vehicle body on both sides in the longitudinal direction is narrow.
As shown in enlarged detail in FIG. 2, the rear suspension towers 12, 12 have their upper portions attached to the support frames 4, 4 on both rear side sides, and their lower portions attached to the rear floor panel 5 (honeycomb panel structure). They are joined to and supported by the outer frame member 9 via brackets 11, 11, respectively.

Further, vertical frames 22, 22 are provided upright at the front ends of the side sills 2, 2, and extend upwardly, and at the upper ends of the vertical frames 22, 22, a front side support frame 13, which extends forward of the dash panel 10, is provided. 13 are jointly supported, and front side frames 14, 14 as frame members extending in the same direction as both support frames 13, 13 are arranged at the lower inner side of both support frames 13, 13. , the front suspension towers 20, 20 are supported by having their upper portions connected to the support frames 13, 13 on both front side sides via brackets 23, 23, and their lower portions being connected to the front side frames 14, 14, respectively. ing. Further, the front ends of both the support frames 23, 23 are connected via a connecting frame 24 extending in the vehicle width direction.
A U-shaped connecting frame member 25 extending downward is connected to the connecting frame member 25, and the front ends of the front side frames 14, 14 are connected to the lower end of the connecting frame member 25, so that the front side frames 14, 14 are connected to the supporting frame. It is suspended and supported by 13,13. on the other hand,
The rear ends of the front side frames 14, 14 are supported via arms 16, 16 extending upward at the tips of suspension support members 15 that protrude forward from below the front floor panel 3, and the rear ends of the front side frames 14, 14 are supported by the dash panel 3. It is supported by 10.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the lower parts of the rear suspension towers 12, 12 are joined to the outer frame member 9 of the rear floor panel 5 (honeycomb panel structure), and the upper parts are joined to the outer frame member 9. Since the suspension towers 12 and 12 are connected to the support frames 4 and 4 via brackets 11 and 11, respectively, when the wheels bump while driving on a rough road, the uplifting load acts on the suspension towers 12 and 12, for example. However, the uplift load is received by the entire rear floor panel 5 via the outer frame member 9 and the support frames 4, 4, so that the mounting strength of the suspension towers 12, 12 can be improved. In addition, since the lower mounting members of the suspension towers 12, 12 are shared by the outer frame member 9 of the rear floor panel 5, the number of parts is reduced accordingly, simplifying the vehicle body structure and reducing the vehicle weight. can be achieved.

Although the above embodiment shows the case where the engine room is located on the front side, the application is not limited thereto, and can also be applied to a case where the engine room is located on the rear side, for example, and in this case, the engine room is located on the front side.
Similarly to the above, it is also possible to vertically support the support frame and the outer frame member of the floor panel made of the honeycomb panel structure so that the support frame is firmly attached.

In addition, in the above example, a case was shown where an aluminum honeycomb core material and a face plate were bonded using an adhesive, but other bonding methods include a core sheet and a face plate provided with a layer of brazing material or solder material. The honeycomb panel may be constructed by brazing or soldering. Further, in the above embodiment, the honeycomb shape is approximately hexagonal, but it does not necessarily have to be hexagonal.

(Effects of the invention) As explained above, according to the invention, the upper part of the suspension tower is attached to the support frame joined to the outer frame member of the vehicle body panel composed of the honeycomb panel structure. Since the lower parts of the suspension towers were joined together,
The uplift load on the suspension tower is received by the entire vehicle body panel via the outer frame member and the support frame, and the suspension tower can sufficiently withstand even if a large uplift load acts on the suspension tower. The installation strength of the tower will be improved. Furthermore, since the lower mounting member of the suspension tower is shared by the outer frame member of the vehicle body panel, the number of parts can be reduced accordingly, simplifying the vehicle body structure and reducing the vehicle weight.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the underbody of an automobile;
The figure is an enlarged perspective view showing how the rear suspension tower is attached. 4... Support frame, 5... Rear floor panel, 6... Honeycomb shaped space, 7... Honeycomb core material, 8... Face plate, 9... Outer frame member, 12... Suspension tower.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A honeycomb panel consisting of a honeycomb core material in which a large number of honeycomb-shaped spaces are formed, a face plate joined to both sides of the core material, and an outer frame member disposed around the core material so as to surround the outer periphery of the core material. The structure constitutes a vehicle body panel, and the upper part of the suspension tower is joined to a support frame joined to the outer frame member of the vehicle body panel, and the lower part of the suspension tower is joined to the outer frame member. The body structure of the vehicle.