JP2000190868A - Car body structure - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To increase rigidity of a back door opening. SOLUTION: In a motor vehicle having a back door opening 2 between left and right rear pillars 4, a closed cross section 14 is provided which extends from a substantially middle portion in the vertical direction of the periphery of the back door opening 2 of the rear pillar 4 to the rear wheel house 12. It is.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle body structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a hatchback type or one-box type automobile, a back door opening is formed so as to straddle right and left rear pillars.

[0003]

In such a type of vehicle, since the rear wheel is disposed near the back door opening, when the rear wheel rides on a curb or the like, a large thrust load is applied to the back door opening. May act, and the closeability of the back door may be deteriorated. Conventionally, the thickness of the rear pillars and rear roof rails was increased to deal with
An increase in body weight was inevitable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0004] In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an automobile body structure in which the rigidity of a back door opening is increased by structural improvement.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided an automobile having a back door opening between left and right rear pillars, and a substantially vertical intermediate portion of a peripheral edge of the back door opening of the rear pillar. And a closed cross-section structure extending from the rear wheel house to the rear wheel house.

The closed cross-section structure is formed by joining a reinforcement having a substantially hat-shaped cross section to the outer surface of the rear pillar inner panel and the outer surface of the outer panel of the rear wheel house, and forming a rear pillar reinforcement having a substantially hat-shaped cross section. The side edge may be joined along the periphery of the back door opening of the rear pillar inner panel to form a closed cross section of the rear pillar, and the rear edge of the reinforcement may be joined to the rear pillar reinforcement.

The reinforcement includes a vertical wall rising from the rear wheel house outer panel and reaching the side window opening of the rear pillar inner panel, and extending substantially rearward from an upper end of the vertical wall to form the rear pillar reinforcement. It may be configured with a horizontal wall portion that reaches up to.

The lateral wall of the reinforcement may be integrally formed with the rear pillar reinforcement, and a front edge of the lateral wall may be joined to the vertical wall.

[0009] Another reinforcement may be joined to the inner surface of the rear pillar inner panel so as to face the vertical wall portion of the reinforcement.

[0010] The closed section of the rear pillar may be connected to a joint between the closed section of the roof side rail and the closed section of the rear roof rail.

The closed section of the rear pillar may be connected to the closed section of the roof side rail and the closed section of the rear roof rail via a three-pronged brace.

The rear pillar reinforcement, the brace and the roof side rail reinforcement may be integrally formed.

[0013]

According to the present invention, the pushing load when the rear wheel rides on a curb or the like is transmitted to the rear pillar through the reinforcement, so that the rigidity of the back door opening is greatly improved. For this reason, even if the thickness of the rear pillar, roof side rail, roof rail, etc. is not increased, the closeability of the back door does not deteriorate, which not only helps to reduce the weight of the body, but also increases the rigidity of the body behind the rear axle. Dramatic improvement in driving stability is also improved.

[0014] According to the second aspect of the invention, the torsion load of the rear pillar acts on the joint between the reinforcement and the rear pillar reinforcement in the shear direction,
This is advantageous in strength.

According to the third and fourth aspects of the present invention, the rigidity around the side window opening of the rear pillar inner panel is increased, and the vertical and horizontal walls of the reinforcement are simply separated from the rear pillar reinforcement. The number of parts can be reduced as compared with the case of molding into a single piece.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the rigidity around the side window opening of the rear pillar inner panel with respect to the pushing load from the rear suspension is further increased.

According to the structure as described in claim 6, the thrust load transmitted from the reinforcement to the closed cross section of the rear pillar can be dispersed also to the roof side rail side and the rear roof rail side, and the rigidity of the back door opening can be improved. Is further improved.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the rear pillar reinforcement, the roof side rail reinforcement forming the upper surface of the rear side rail, and the rear roof rail outer panel can be formed separately, which makes the molding extremely easy. .

According to the configuration of claim 8, the number of parts is reduced, which is advantageous in cost.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the vehicle body components shown in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a rear pillar inner panel, which is joined to a rear pillar reinforcement 3 having a substantially hat-shaped cross section along a peripheral edge of the back door opening 2 side. Further, a roof side rail reinforcement 6 is formed by joining a roof side rail reinforcement 5 to a portion 1a extending forward from the upper end of the rear pillar inner panel 1. The rear roof rail 7 is formed by joining inner and outer panels 7a and 7b. The rear roof rail 7 is connected to the rear pillar 4 and the roof side rail 6 via a three-pronged brace 8.

At the lower end of the rear pillar 4, a lower rail 9 for opening a back door, which is formed by joining inner and outer panels 9a and 9b, is connected. Further, a rear wheel house outer panel 10 is joined to a lower end of the rear pillar inner panel 1, and the outer panel 10 and the inner panel 1 are connected to each other.
1, the rear wheel house 12 is separated. In the present embodiment, illustrations of the rear pillar outer panel, the roof panel, and the like are omitted.

An outer surface of the rear pillar inner panel 1 and the rear wheel house outer panel 10 is joined to a reinforcement 13 having a substantially hat shape in cross section. A closed cross section 14 in the reinforcement 13 is formed between the rear wheel house 12 and the upper and lower parts of the rear pillar 4. It is arranged so as to straddle a substantially middle part in the direction (see FIGS. 3 and 4). That is, the reinforcement 13 rises substantially vertically from the bulging portion 10 a of the rear wheel house outer panel 10 to reach the side window opening 15 of the rear pillar inner panel 1, and gently extends from the upper end of the vertical wall portion 16. And a lateral wall portion 17 extending rearward while standing up to reach the rear pillar reinforcement 3.

The reinforcement 13 has a side wall 17.
A flange 18 is provided around the rear end of the vehicle body, and the flange 18 is joined to the rear pillar inner panel 1 and the rear wheel house outer panel 10, and is extended inward from the rear end of the lateral wall 16. The tongue piece 19 is joined to the top surface 3a of the rear pillar reinforcement 3.
On the other hand, a reinforcement 20 having substantially the same length is joined to the inner surface of the rear pillar inner panel 1 so as to face the vertical wall portion 16 of the reinforcement 13.

According to the structure of this embodiment, the thrust load when the rear wheel rides on a curb or the like is transmitted to the rear pillar 4 via the reinforcement 13 and is further passed through the roof side rail 6 and the rear roof rail 7 to form the entire roof. The rigidity of the back door opening 2 is dramatically improved. Therefore, even if the thickness of the rear pillar 4, the roof side rail 6, the roof rail 7, and the like are not increased, the closeability of the back door is not deteriorated, and not only is the weight of the vehicle body reduced, but also the rear axle As the rigidity of the vehicle body improves dramatically, steering stability also improves.

The reinforcement 13 extends the tongue piece 19 from the rear end of the lateral wall portion 17 toward the inside of the vehicle body.
Since the tongue piece 19 is joined to the top surface 3a of the rear pillar reinforcement 3, the torsional load of the rear pillar 4 acts on the joint in the shearing direction, which is advantageous in strength.

Further, the reinforcement 13 causes the vertical wall portion 16 to rise from the rear wheel house outer panel 10 to reach the side window opening 15 of the rear pillar inner panel 1, and the horizontal wall portion 17 from the upper end of the vertical wall portion 16 to be raised. Since it extends rearward and reaches the rear pillar reinforcement 3, the rigidity around the side window opening 15 of the rear pillar inner panel 1 is increased. Further, since the vertical wall portion 16 and the horizontal wall portion 17 are integrally formed, the number of parts can be reduced.

Further, since another reinforcement 20 is joined to the inner surface of the rear pillar inner panel 1 so as to be opposed to the vertical wall portion 16 of the reinforcement 13, the side window opening against a thrust load from the rear suspension. The rigidity around 15 is further increased.

By the way, conventionally, the upper end of the rear pillar 4 is connected only to the roof rail 7 to form the framework of the back door opening 2, but in this embodiment, the upper end of the rear pillar 4 is also connected to the roof side rail 6. As a result, the rigidity of the back door opening 2 is improved as described above.

In particular, since these closed cross-section members are connected using the three-pronged brace 8, it is possible to separately form the rear pillar reinforcement 3, the roof side rail reinforcement 5, and the roof rail outer panel 7b. And the molding becomes extremely easy. Further, the rear pillar reinforcement 3, the brace 8, and the roof side rail reinforcement 5 may be integrally formed. In this case, the number of components is reduced, which is advantageous in cost.

In this embodiment, the reinforcement 13 in which the vertical wall portion 16 and the horizontal wall portion 17 are integrally formed is used, but the horizontal wall portion 17 is integrated with the rear pillar reinforcement 3 as shown in FIG. It may be formed, and the front edge 17 a of the horizontal wall portion 17 may be joined to the top surface 16 a of the vertical wall portion 16. Even in this case, the number of parts is reduced and the rigidity around the side window opening 15 of the rear pillar inner panel 1 is increased as compared with the case where the vertical wall portion 16 and the horizontal wall portion 17 are simply formed separately. This is the same as in the present embodiment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a vehicle body structure of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a modification of FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Rear pillar inner panel 2 ... Back door opening 3 ... Rear pillar reinforcement 4 ... Rear pillar 12 ... Rear wheel house 14 ... Closed cross section

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A motor vehicle having a back door opening between left and right rear pillars, wherein a closed cross-section structure portion extending from a substantially middle portion in a vertical direction of a periphery of the back door opening of the rear pillar to a rear wheel house is provided. Vehicle body structure characterized by the following. 2. The closed cross-section structure portion is formed by joining a reinforcement having a substantially hat-shaped cross section to an outer surface of the rear pillar inner panel and an outer surface of an outer panel of the rear wheel house, and a rear pillar reinforcement having a substantially hat-shaped cross section. The rear edge of the reinforcement is joined to the rear pillar reinforcement by joining the side edges of the rear pillar along the periphery of the back door opening of the rear pillar inner panel to form a closed cross section of the rear pillar. The vehicle body structure of an automobile according to claim 1. 3. A vertical wall portion rising from the rear wheel house outer panel to reach a side window opening of the rear pillar inner panel, and extending substantially rearward from an upper end of the vertical wall portion to form the rear pillar reinforcement. 3. The vehicle body structure according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle body structure includes a lateral wall portion that reaches to the forcing. 4. The automobile according to claim 3, wherein a horizontal wall portion of said reinforcement is integrally formed with said rear pillar reinforcement, and a front edge of said horizontal wall portion is joined to said vertical wall portion. Body structure. 5. The reinforcement according to claim 3, wherein another reinforcement is joined to an inner surface of the rear pillar inner panel so as to face a vertical wall portion of the reinforcement.
An automobile body structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. The vehicle body structure according to claim 2, wherein the closed cross section of the rear pillar is connected to a joint between the closed cross section of the roof side rail and the closed cross section of the rear roof rail. . 7. The vehicle body structure according to claim 6, wherein the closed cross section of the rear pillar is connected to the closed cross section of the roof side rail and the closed cross section of the rear roof rail via a three-pronged brace. 8. The rear pillar reinforcement,
The vehicle body structure according to claim 7, wherein the brace and the roof side rail reinforcement are integrally formed.