JP2008201247A - Body front structure - Google Patents

Abstract

A structure for a front part of a vehicle body that can reduce damage to an opponent vehicle at the time of a collision while ensuring a sufficient approach angle is provided.
In a structure of a front part of a vehicle body including a front side member 1 formed by coupling a front bumper beam 5 to a front end, a position not in contact with a boundary surface of an approach angle and a virtual vertical plane in contact with a front surface of the front bumper beam A lower beam 7 is provided below the front side member.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a structure of a front part of a vehicle body, and more particularly to a structure of a front part of a vehicle body that can reduce damage to an opponent vehicle at the time of a vehicle collision.

By providing a bumper beam with two upper and lower steps at the front end of the vehicle body, it will not get on the bumper beam of the opponent vehicle or sink under the bumper beam at the time of frontal collision or rear-end collision. Patent Document 1 proposes a vehicle body front part structure that reduces damage to a vehicle compartment of an opponent vehicle so as to abut against a side sill of the vehicle.
JP 2006-76455 A

  However, according to this conventional structure, the minimum ground clearance at the front end of the vehicle body must be lower than before, for example when entering a steep slope such as a rampway to a parking lot or overcoming a step. For example, the auxiliary bumper beam provided below the front bumper beam may hit the road surface.

  The present invention has been devised in order to eliminate the disadvantages of the prior art, that is, the approach angle tends to be insufficient when the position of the front bumper beam is lowered. Another object of the present invention is to provide a structure of the front part of the vehicle body that can reduce the damage to the opponent vehicle in the event of a collision while ensuring a proper approach angle.

  In order to solve such a problem, claim 1 of the present invention provides a vehicle front portion structure including a front side member 1 formed by coupling a front bumper beam 5 to a front end, and a position not in contact with a boundary surface of an approach angle. Between the front bumper beam and a virtual vertical plane that is in contact with the front surface of the front bumper beam, the front surface of the front side member can be moved forward and backward by the driving means 10 that is driven based on the signal of the collision prediction sensor. It shall be provided below. Further, in claim 2 of the present invention, the tip of the lower beam is connected to the front side member via the link 8.

  According to the configuration of the first aspect of the present invention, since the front end of the lower beam is normally retracted to a position where it does not interfere with the approach angle, entry to a steep rampway, step over a step, etc. Will not be disturbed. When a collision is predicted, the lower beam advances to the same position as the front surface of the front bumper beam and expands the receiving surface of the collision load. In addition, it is possible to reduce damage to the opponent vehicle in the event of a side collision. Moreover, according to the structure of Claim 2, a link exhibits the effect | action as an interfering object which suppresses the boarding to an other party vehicle.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of left and right front side members 1 are extended in the front-rear direction at the front of the vehicle body constructed according to the present invention. The front side member 1 extends substantially linearly in the front-rear direction on the inner side of the front wheel 2, and passes through a kick-up portion 3 set so as to bend obliquely downward from its rear end portion. It continues to the floor member extended below.

  The inner sides of the front end portions of the left and right front side members 1 are connected by a front bulkhead 4 in the vehicle width direction. A front bumper beam 5 extending in the vehicle width direction is fixed to the front ends of the left and right front side members 1. Thereby, the impact load applied to the front bumper beam 5 at the time of a collision is efficiently transmitted to the left and right front side members 1.

  A bumper skin 6 made of a synthetic resin material or the like is provided on the front surface of the front bumper beam 5.

  Below the left and right front side members 1, a pair of left and right movable lower beams 7 extend substantially parallel to the front side members 1. The left and right movable lower beams 7 have appropriate front-rear direction dimensions, and their front end portions are connected to the front side member 1 via links 8. Further, the rear end portion is coupled to a linear drive actuator 10 that is hydraulically operated and provided at the front end of the support member 9 that extends forward from the coupling portion with the floor member.

  The front ends of the left and right movable lower beams 7 are connected to each other by a member parallel to the front bumper beam 5.

  The linear drive actuator 10 is composed of, for example, a piston / cylinder device that operates with the combustion pressure of propellant. The cylinder 11 is integrally coupled to the front end of the support member 9 and the piston rod 12 is integrally coupled to the rear end of the movable lower beam 7. It is made up of. The actuator 10 ignites the propellant 13 incorporated in the bottom of the cylinder 11 by a signal from a collision prediction sensor (not shown) using a radar or a binocular stereoscopic camera, and the combustion pressure The movable lower beam 7 having the front end connected to the side member 1 via the link 8 is pushed forward. A return prevention mechanism such as a latch mechanism is provided between the cylinder 11 and the piston rod 12 so that the position of the movable lower beam 7 once advanced is maintained even if the internal pressure of the cylinder 11 is lowered. It is good to leave.

  Next, the operating procedure of the device of the present invention will be described. The movable lower beam 7 according to the present invention has its front end positioned inside the boundary surface A of the approach angle because the linear drive actuator 10 maintains the contracted state during normal traveling (FIG. 1). Accordingly, there is no problem in entering a steep rampway or overcoming a step.

  When an object ahead is detected by a collision prediction sensor such as a radar or a binocular stereoscopic camera and it is determined that a collision is unavoidable, the propellant 13 of the linear drive actuator 10 is ignited, and the combustion pressure causes the piston to ignite. The movable lower beam 7 is advanced together with the rod 12. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, the front end surface of the movable lower beam 7 is arranged in the same vertical plane as the front surface of the front bumper beam 5, so that the impact load receiving surface expands downward, and the front or rear surface of the vehicle In the event of a collision, it is possible to prevent the opponent vehicle from getting into and getting on. At this time, the link 8 connecting the front side member 1 and the movable lower beam 7 extends in the vertical direction, and this acts as an interfering object that suppresses climbing onto the opponent vehicle at the time of a collision.

  With such a configuration, at the time of a side collision with the vehicle body, as shown in FIG. 3, the average value of the collision load input height to the center pillar P of the opponent vehicle is made lower than the conventional one shown in FIG. (H1> h2). As a result, the bending moment around the coupling portion of the center pillar of the counterpart vehicle due to the collision load at the time of the side collision with the vehicle body is reduced (δ1> δ2), and the amount of the center pillar entering the vehicle interior is reduced. The occupant protection performance of the vehicle is improved.

  In particular, since the floor portion surrounded by the side sill and the floor frame is more rigid than the door, by making the position of the movable lower beam 7 approximate to the position of the side sill, the collision load at the time of a side collision is caused by the other vehicle Therefore, the amount of entry into the passenger compartment can be reduced, and passenger protection performance is improved.

It is a schematic side view of the vehicle body front part at the normal time by this invention. It is a schematic side view at the time of the collision of the vehicle body front part by this invention. It is action | operation explanatory drawing of the collision load in the vehicle body structure by this invention. It is action | operation explanatory drawing of the collision load in the conventional vehicle body structure.

Explanation of symbols

1 Front side member 5 Front bumper beam 7 Movable lower beam 8 Link 10 Drive actuator

Claims (2)

A structure of the front part of the vehicle body including a front side member formed by coupling a front bumper beam to the front end,
The front surface of the front bumper beam can be moved forward and backward between a position not in contact with the boundary surface of the approach angle and a virtual vertical surface with which the front surface of the front bumper beam is in contact. The structure of the front part of the vehicle body, wherein the lower beam is provided below the front side member.   The structure of the front portion of the vehicle body according to claim 1, wherein the lower beam is connected to the front side member via a link.

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