JP2001151152A - Pillar reinforcing structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To adapt a reinforcing member consisting of one part in the reinforcement of the through position of a part mounting bolt in a pillar to attain the reduction in cost and the improvement in workability of the fastening of the part mounting bolt and the improvement in reinforcing function. SOLUTION: In this pillar reinforcing structure, a door hinge reinforce 17 (reinforcing member) is arranged between the pillar inner 5 side forming and pillar outer 7 side forming the center pillar (pillar) of closed sectional structure, so that the through position of a part mounting bolt 10 is reinforced by the door hinge reinforce 17. The door hinge reinforce 17 has the structure having a U-shaped sectional profile when seen form the vehicle lateral direction and comprising a vertical part 17a fixed to the center pillar side and a horizontal part 17b whose tip side is cylindrical bent and integrally molded as a curl part 17c for inserting the bolt 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

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

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 4 for a cab of a small truck, in a four-door type vehicle, a center pillar 2 which rises from an appropriate position of a rocker 1 extending in the vehicle front-rear direction provides a front seat side. Between the door opening 3 and the door opening 4 on the rear seat side.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a detailed structure of the center pillar 2. The center pillar 2 shown in FIG. 5 is located between a pillar inner 5 disposed on the passenger compartment side and the pillar inner 5. A pillar reinforce 6 that protrudes outwardly to form a closed cross section at the vehicle, and a pillar outer 7 that is formed so as to substantially overlap with the outside of the pillar reinforce 6. The flange portions formed at the front and rear end portions are integrally joined by overlapping each other and spot welding together.

[0004] In addition, as a countermeasure against bending stiffness of the center pillar 2 where the door hinge 8 on the vehicle body side is mounted on the center pillar 2, a nut 9 is inserted through all of the pillar inner 5, pillar reinforcement 6, and pillar outer 7.
The door hinges 8 are attached by bolts 10 that are fastened with a bolt. Further, between the pillar inner 5 and the pillar reinforce 6, the shape of a closed cross section formed therebetween is prevented and A door hinge reinforce 12 equipped with a cylindrical collar 11 for inserting and guiding the bolt 10 is interposed.

Here, the door hinge reinforce 1
7, is formed in a box-like shape having an open front side in the vehicle front-rear direction, and a cylindrical collar 11 extending in the vehicle left-right direction is mounted in two upper and lower stages inside thereof. However, when each of the collars 11 is attached to the left and right side surfaces of the door hinge reinforce 12, as shown in FIG. 8, the hole portions opened on the left and right side surfaces of the door hinge reinforce 12 with a diameter smaller than the diameter of each of the collars 11 are formed. The collars 11 are swaged so as to be folded into the inside of both ends thereof, so that the collars 1 are attached to the edges of the holes.
Each of the collars 11 is attached by forming a caulking portion 13 which is fitted to both end portions of the collar 11.

In the drawing, reference numeral 14 denotes a front door, 15 denotes a rear door, and 16 denotes a door hinge on the door pivotally attached to a door hinge 8 disposed on the vehicle body side.

[0007]

However, in such a conventional structure, two parts, a door hinge reinforce 12 and a collar 11, are required to reinforce the penetrating portion of the bolt 10 for attaching the door hinge 8, so that the number of parts is large. In addition, caulking is required to attach the collar 11 to the door hinge reinforce 12, resulting in a significant increase in cost.

Further, when the bolt 10 is passed through the collar 11, the tip of the bolt 10 is
In addition, there is a problem that it is difficult to pass the bolt 10 by hitting the door hinge, and furthermore, since the thickness of the door hinge reinforce 12 is made thin so as to avoid this problem as much as possible, the rigidity of the door hinge reinforce 12 itself cannot be increased, There is also a problem that the door hinge reinforce 12 does not sufficiently contribute to reinforcement.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and when reinforcing a penetration portion of a component mounting bolt in a pillar, a reinforcing member consisting of one component is employed.
It is an object of the present invention to reduce costs, improve workability regarding fastening of component mounting bolts, and improve a reinforcing function.

[0010]

According to the present invention, a reinforcing member is arranged between a pillar inner side and a pillar outer side which form a pillar having a closed cross-sectional structure, and the reinforcing member reinforces a penetrating portion of a component mounting bolt. A reinforcing member having a U-shaped cross section when viewed from the vehicle left-right direction, a vertical portion thereof is fixed to the pillar side, and a distal end side of the upper and lower horizontal portions is bent into a cylindrical shape. It is characterized in that it is machined and integrally formed as a curl portion through which the bolt is inserted.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the curl portion serving as a conventional collar is integrally formed at the tip end of each horizontal portion of the reinforcing member. This makes it possible to reinforce the bolt penetration points, thereby reducing the number of parts and eliminating the need for caulking.

[0012] Further, since no interfering object such as the conventional caulked portion is generated inside the curled portion, the bolt can easily pass through the curled portion, and the restriction on the plate thickness of the reinforcing member is eliminated, thereby reducing the thickness of the reinforcing member. Can be made larger than before.

Furthermore, the precision of the part is greatly improved as compared with the case where a reinforcing member is manufactured by caulking a separate part as in the prior art, and the horizontal part of the reinforcing member is connected to the horizontal part. The curl portion is firmly supported, thereby preventing the curl portion from being inclined and deformed.

Further, in order to attach both ends of the collar to the left and right side surfaces of the reinforcing member by caulking in the prior art, the reinforcing member has been enlarged so as to hold each collar. If the curl portion which plays the role of a collar is integrally formed by bending the front end side of the cylindrical member into a cylindrical shape, the reinforcing member can be made compact.

Further, since the curl portion is formed at the front end of each horizontal portion of the reinforcing member, the harness inserted into the pillar may be damaged by contacting the plate end of the horizontal portion of the reinforcing member. Is avoided beforehand.

[0016]

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

FIGS. 1 and 2 show an example of an embodiment of the present invention, and the portions denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 4 to 6 represent the same components.

As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, the bolt 10 for attaching the door hinge 8 (part) in the center pillar 2 (pillar) is penetrated in the same manner as shown in FIGS. As for a pillar reinforcing structure for reinforcing a portion, a door hinge reinforce 17 (reinforcing member) as shown in FIG. 2 is employed.

That is, the door hinge reinforce 17 illustrated here has a U-shaped cross section when viewed from the vehicle left-right direction, and its vertical portion 17a is fixed to the pillar reinforce 6 by spot welding. Moreover, the upper and lower horizontal portions 17b are bent outward so as to form a cylindrical shape, and are integrally formed as a curl portion 17c through which the bolt 10 is inserted.

According to the pillar reinforcement structure as described above, each horizontal portion 1 of the door hinge reinforce 17 is provided.
Since the curl portion 17c serving as a conventional collar is integrally formed on the front end side of the front pillar 7b, the center pillar 2 is formed by the door hinge reinforce 17 made of one part.
It is possible to reinforce the penetrating portion of the bolt 10 for attaching the door hinge 8 in the above, whereby the number of parts can be reduced, and caulking is not required, so that the cost can be greatly reduced.

Further, since no interfering object as in the conventional caulking portion is generated inside the curl portion 17c, the curl portion 17c
In this case, the bolt 10 can easily pass therethrough, so that the workability of fastening the door hinge 8 with the bolt 10 can be greatly improved.

Furthermore, this eliminates the restriction on the thickness of the door hinge reinforce 17 and makes it possible to increase the thickness of the door hinge reinforce 17 compared to the conventional art. The center pillar 2 can be firmly fixed to the pillar 2 side, and the center pillar 2 can be reliably reinforced by the entire structure including the curl portion 17c.

Furthermore, the precision of the parts can be greatly improved as compared with the case where the collar of another part is attached by caulking as in the related art to produce a door hinge reinforce.
The horizontal portion 17b of the door hinge reinforce 17 can firmly support the curl portion 17c continuing to the horizontal portion 17b, thereby reliably preventing the curl portion 17c from being inclined and deformed.

Further, in order to attach both ends of the conventional collar to the left and right side surfaces of the door hinge reinforce by caulking, the door hinge reinforce is enlarged so as to hold each collar, as shown in this embodiment. If the front end side of each horizontal portion 17b of the door hinge reinforce 17 is bent into a cylindrical shape to integrally mold the curl portion 17c serving as a collar, the door hinge reinforce 17 can be made compact, The installation space for the door hinge reinforce 17 can be significantly reduced as compared with the related art.

Further, since the curl portion 17c is formed at the distal end of each horizontal portion 17b of the door hinge reinforce 17, the harness inserted into the center pillar 2 comes into contact with the distal end of the horizontal portion 17b of the door hinge reinforce 17. It is also possible to avoid such a problem that the user is damaged.

FIG. 3 shows another example of the door hinge reinforce 17, and the example shown in FIG.
Vertical portion 17a of the door hinge reinforce 17
And the curl portion 17c is integrally formed by bending the tip sides of the upper and lower horizontal portions 17b inward to form a cylindrical shape. The door hinge reinforcement 17 having such a shape is Can also provide the same operation and effect as described above.

However, the door hinge reinforce 17 shown in FIG. 2 can be manufactured with a higher yield than the door hinge reinforce 17 shown in FIG. 3, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced, and the installation space is reduced due to the more compact shape. There is an advantage that it can be completed.

The pillar reinforcing structure of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but may be applied to pillars other than the center pillar, and may be a reinforcing member other than the door hinge reinforcement. It is needless to say that pillar reinforcement may not necessarily be adopted, and that various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0029]

According to the pillar reinforcing structure of the present invention, various excellent effects as described below can be obtained.

(I) Since the front end side of each horizontal portion of the reinforcing member is bent into a cylindrical shape so that the curl portion serving as a collar is integrally formed, the components in the pillar are formed by the reinforcing member of one component. The penetrating portion of the mounting bolt can be reinforced, whereby the number of parts can be reduced, and caulking is not required, so that the cost can be significantly reduced.

(II) Since no interfering object such as the conventional caulking portion is generated inside the curl portion, the bolt can be easily passed through the curl portion, and workability in fastening the component mounting bolt is greatly improved. can do.

(III) Since the restriction on the plate thickness of the reinforcing member is eliminated and the plate thickness of the reinforcing member can be made larger than before, the rigidity of the reinforcing member itself is greatly increased and it is firmly fixed to the pillar side. The pillars can be reliably reinforced by the entire structure including the curl portion.

(IV) The accuracy of the component can be greatly improved as compared with the case where the reinforcing member is manufactured by caulking a color of another component as in the prior art, and the horizontal portion of the reinforcing member can The continuous curl portion can be firmly supported to reliably prevent the curl portion from being inclined and deformed.

(V) Since the front end side of each horizontal portion of the reinforcing member is bent into a cylindrical shape and the curl portion serving as a collar is integrally formed, the reinforcing member can be made compact. The installation space for the reinforcing member can be significantly reduced as compared with the related art.

(VI) By forming the curled portion at the tip of each horizontal portion of the reinforcing member, the harness inserted into the pillar may be damaged by contact with the tip of the horizontal portion of the reinforcing member. Troubles can be avoided beforehand.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the door hinge reinforce of FIG. 1 as viewed obliquely from behind.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another example of the door hinge reinforce viewed obliquely from behind.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a four-door type vehicle exemplified in the case of a cab of a small truck.

FIG. 5 is a partially broken perspective view showing details of a portion V in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional structure as viewed from a VI-VI direction in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the door hinge reinforce of FIG. 6 as viewed obliquely from behind.

8 is a cross-sectional view showing a mounting structure of each collar in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 center pillar (pillar) 5 pillar inner 7 pillar outer 8 door hinge (part) 10 bolt 17 door hinge reinforce (reinforcing member) 17a vertical portion 17b horizontal portion 17c curl portion

Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Katsutoshi Takagi 4-50, Hosoyacho, Toyota-shi, Aichi F-term (reference) in Toyota Iron Works Co., Ltd. 3D003 AA01 AA04 AA11 BB01 BB09 CA34 DA17

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pillar reinforcing structure in which a reinforcing member is disposed between a pillar inner side and a pillar outer side forming a pillar having a closed cross-sectional structure, and the reinforcing member reinforces a penetrating portion of a component mounting bolt. The reinforcing member has a U-shaped cross section when viewed from the left and right direction of the vehicle, the vertical portion thereof is fixed to the pillar side, and the tip ends of the upper and lower horizontal portions are bent into a cylindrical shape to allow the bolt to pass therethrough. A pillar reinforcement structure that is integrally molded as a curl portion.