JP2025097517A - Vehicle Structure - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a vehicle structure that is excellent in productivity when attaching a luggage compartment box to a luggage bed.
[Solution] A vehicle structure comprising a back panel arranged at the rear of the passenger compartment, a luggage bed arranged behind the back panel, a luggage compartment box forming a space above the luggage bed, a guard frame protecting the rear surface of the back panel, and a gutter member arranged between the rear surface of the back panel and the guard frame, wherein the luggage compartment box has a stop portion that is stopped in abutment against the upper surface of the bottom of the gutter member, and the luggage compartment box and the guard frame are fixed to each other.
[Selected Figure] Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle structure that is highly productive when attaching a luggage compartment box to a luggage bed.

Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle that includes a van having a cargo bed located at the rear of the passenger compartment, a roof panel, a left panel, and a right panel that form a space above the cargo bed, a dust cover body that covers the outside of the van, and a slide mechanism that slides the dust cover body back and forth relative to the van.

Patent document 2 discloses a vehicle that includes a cabin back panel disposed at the rear of the vehicle interior, a luggage rack disposed behind the cabin back panel, and a guard frame that protects the rear surface of the cabin back panel.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 6-199174 JP 2008-162300 A

Vehicles with a cargo bed generally have a gutter member between the back panel and the guard frame that directs rainwater and the like outward in the width direction of the vehicle. From the viewpoint of improving the productivity of such vehicles, it is desirable to attach a cargo box including the above-mentioned panels that form a space above the cargo bed to the cargo bed.

One of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a vehicle structure that is highly productive when attaching a luggage compartment box to a luggage bed.

A vehicle structure according to one aspect of the present invention includes a back panel disposed at the rear of a passenger compartment, a cargo bed disposed behind the back panel, a cargo box forming a space above the cargo bed, a guard frame protecting the rear surface of the back panel, and a rain gutter member disposed between the rear surface of the back panel and the guard frame. The cargo box has a stop portion that stops against the upper surface of the bottom of the rain gutter member. The cargo box and the guard frame are fixed to each other.

The vehicle structure can assemble the cargo box and the guard frame together by fixing the abutment portion to the bottom surface of the gutter member. That is, the vehicle structure can align the fixed portion of the cargo box to the guard frame and the fixed portion of the guard frame to the cargo box simply by bringing the abutment portion into contact with the bottom surface of the gutter member during the process of assembling the components. Therefore, the vehicle structure has excellent assembly workability between the cargo box and the guard frame, and the cargo box can be easily attached to the cargo bed. In this way, the vehicle structure can use the existing gutter member and guard frame to attach the cargo box to the cargo bed, so the cargo box can be easily and inexpensively retrofitted to the cargo bed. Therefore, the vehicle structure has excellent productivity. Guard frames generally have high rigidity. The vehicle structure has the cargo box fixed to the highly rigid guard frame, so the cargo box can be firmly attached to the cargo bed.

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing an outline of a vehicle structure according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of area A in FIG. FIG. 3 is a partially exploded perspective view showing an outline of the vehicle structure according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VV of FIG.

An embodiment of the vehicle structure of the present invention will be described below with reference to Figures 1 to 5. The same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same or equivalent parts. The sizes of the members shown in each drawing are expressed for the purpose of clarifying the description and do not necessarily represent the actual dimensions. In the drawings, "UP" indicates the top of a vehicle equipped with the vehicle structure 1 of the embodiment, "LWR" indicates the bottom, "FR" indicates the front, "RR" indicates the rear, "RH" indicates the right, and "LH" indicates the left. In the following description, "up," "down," "front," "rear," "right," and "left" respectively correspond to the "up," "down," "front," "rear," "right," and "left" of the vehicle.

<<Embodiment>>
[Vehicle structure]
As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle structure 1 of the embodiment includes a back panel 21, a cargo bed 3, a luggage compartment box 4, a guard frame 8, and a rain gutter member 9. The back panel 21 is disposed at the rear of the vehicle interior 2. The cargo bed 3 is disposed behind the back panel 21. The luggage compartment box 4 forms a space above the cargo bed 3. The guard frame 8 protects the rear surface of the back panel 21. The rain gutter member 9 is disposed between the back panel 21 and the guard frame 8. One of the features of the vehicle structure 1 of the embodiment is that, as shown in FIG. 4, the luggage compartment box 4 and the rain gutter member 9 are fixed to each other in a state in which abutment stop portion 51, which is a part of the luggage compartment box 4 and will be described later, is abutted against an upper surface 911 of a bottom portion 91a of the rain gutter member 9.

[Back Panel]
The back panel 21 constitutes a boundary between the passenger compartment 2 and the cargo bed 3. A rear window 21a is fitted into an upper portion of the back panel 21, as shown in Figures 2 and 3 .

[Cargo platform]
1, the loading platform 3 is an area on which a load is placed in order to transport the load. The loading platform 3 has an upper surface 31 on which the load is placed. The upper surface 31 is configured to have a generally flat shape. Although not shown in the figure, the upper surface 31 is provided with a reinforcing bead.

[Luggage compartment box]
The luggage compartment box 4 in this example has a cover member 5, a back door 6, and a support member 7. The cover member 5 covers the upper, left, and right sides of the upper surface 31 of the luggage platform 3. The back door 6 opens and closes the rear of the cover member 5. The support member 7 supports the cover member 5. The cover member 5 in this example has a front cover member 51 and a rear cover member 52. The support member 7 in this example has a frame 71, two base plates 72, and four slide rails 73.

(Front cover member)
The front cover member 51 is disposed in front of the loading platform 3. When viewed from the rear of the vehicle, the front cover member 51 has a U-shape that opens downward, as shown in Fig. 3. The front cover member 51 in this example has a roof panel 51a, a left panel 51b, a right panel 51c, and an upper front wall portion 51d.

The roof panel 51a extends in the left-right direction. As shown in FIG. 4, the roof panel 51a covers the front beam portion 71c of the support member 7 and the upper side of the upper horizontal portion 81 of the guard frame 8, which will be described later. The left panel 51b and the right panel 51c extend downward from the left and right edges of the roof panel 51a. The left panel 51b and the right panel 51c are formed as a continuation of the roof panel 51a. The lower ends of the left panel 51b and the right panel 51c are fixed to the base plate 72, which will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 4, the upper front wall 51d protrudes downward from the front end of the roof panel 51a. In this example, the upper front wall 51d is provided over the entire length of the front end of the roof panel 51a. Unlike this example, the upper front wall 51d may be provided on a part of the front end of the roof panel 51a. The upper front wall 51d has an abutment stopper 511 that abuts against the upper surface 911 of the bottom 91a of the upper horizontal side portion 91 of the rain gutter member 9 described later. The abutment stopper 511 is provided at the lower end of the upper front wall 51d.

Aerodynamic parts (not shown) may be provided between the roof panel 22 arranged above the passenger compartment 2 and the roof panel 51a of the front cover member 51. The aerodynamic parts cover the space between the roof panel 22 and the roof panel 51a from above.

3, the front cover member 51 may further have a left front wall portion 51e and a right front wall portion 51f. The left front wall portion 51e protrudes inward in the vehicle width direction, i.e., to the right, from the front end of the left panel 51b. The right front wall portion 51f protrudes inward in the vehicle width direction, i.e., to the left, from the front end of the right panel 51c. The configuration of the left front wall portion 51e is the same as that of the right front wall portion 51f. The following description will be given only for the right front wall portion 51f. The right front wall portion 51f in this example is provided over the entire length of the front end of the right panel 51c. Unlike this example, the right front wall portion 51f may be provided in a part of the front end of the right panel 51c. As shown in FIG. 5, the right front wall portion 51f is in contact with the right surface 931 of the bottom portion 93a of the right vertical side portion 93 in the rain gutter member 9 described later. In this example, the right front wall 51f is formed in a continuous manner with the upper front wall 51d. Unlike this example, the right front wall 51f may be separate from the upper front wall 51d. When placing the front cover member 51 on the upper surface 31 of the loading platform 3, the front cover member 51 can be moved from above to below while aligning the right front wall 51f and the left front wall 51e with the right surface 931 of the bottom 93a of the right vertical side 93 of the gutter member 9 and the left surface of the bottom of the left vertical side 92. Therefore, the front cover member 51 is less likely to shift position during the assembly process, making it easy to place the front cover member 51 in the specified position.

(Rear cover member)
1, the rear cover member 52 is disposed rearward of the cargo bed 3 relative to the front cover member 51. The rear cover member 52 has a roof panel 52a, a left panel 52b, and a right panel 52c.

The roof panel 52a is disposed above so as to face the upper surface 31 of the cargo bed 3. The left panel 52b and the right panel 52c extend downward from the left and right edges of the roof panel 52a. The left panel 52b and the right panel 52c are formed as a single unit with the roof panel 52a. At least one of the left panel 52b and the right panel 52c may be provided with a door 52d that can be opened and closed to allow access to the inside of the cargo box 4. In this example, the door 52d is provided on both the left panel 52b and the right panel 52c.

The rear cover member 52 in this example is provided so as to be slidable along the front and rear of the loading platform 3 relative to the frame 71 described below. Slide rollers 53 that are slidable relative to the slide rails 73 described below are provided on the inner surfaces of the left panel 52b and right panel 52c of the rear cover member 52 in this example. There are four slide rollers 53 in this example. The four slide rollers 53 are fixed near the upper and lower ends of the inner surface of the left panel 52b of the rear cover member 52, and near the upper and lower ends of the inner surface of the right panel 52c. Each slide roller 53 is provided so as to extend along the front and rear.

When the rear cover member 52 slides forward, the front ends of the roof panel 52a and the right panel 52c of the rear cover member 52 abut against the rear ends of the roof panel 51a and the right panel 51c of the front cover member 51, respectively, as shown by the two-dot chain lines in Figures 1, 4, and 5. Although not shown in the figures, the front end of the left panel 52b of the rear cover member 52 also abuts against the rear end of the left panel 51b of the front cover member 51. Although not shown in the figures, a weather strip is disposed at the abutment point between the front cover member 51 and the rear cover member 52. This weather strip prevents rainwater and the like from entering the interior of the luggage compartment box 4 when the rear cover member 52 is closed.

The rear cover member 52 may have two leg members 54 that support the rear of the rear cover when the rear cover member 52 slides rearward, as shown by solid lines in FIG. 1. The two leg members 54 are provided so as to be movable up and down. Each leg member 54 is configured so as to be fixable at a predetermined length. Each leg member 54 is raised and lowered, for example, by an air cylinder. The two leg members 54 are disposed on each of the inner surfaces of the left panel 52b and the right panel 52c.

(back door)
The back door 6 is connected to one or two of the rear edges of the roof panel 52a, the left panel 52b, and the right panel 52c of the rear cover member 52 so as to be freely opened and closed. The back door 6 of this example is connected to the rear edge of the roof panel 52a so as to be freely opened and closed. That is, the back door 6 of this example is an upward opening door. Unlike this example, the back door 6 may be connected to the left panel 52b or the right panel 52c so as to be freely opened and closed. In this case, the back door 6 is a side opening door. Unlike this example, the back door 6 may be connected to each of the left panel 52b and the right panel 52c so as to be freely opened and closed. In this case, the back door 6 is a double door.

(Frame)
The frame 71 supports the rear cover member 52. The frame 71 in this example is a frame body that combines a left front column 71a, a right front column 71b, a front beam 71c, a left rear column 71d, a right rear column 71e, a rear beam 71f, a left girder 71g, a right girder 71h, an inner girder 71i, a left vertical frame portion 71j, and a right vertical frame portion 71k.

The left front pillar 71a is disposed on the left side of the front of the loading platform 3. The lower end of the left front pillar 71a is fixed to the right side of the left base plate 72. The right front pillar 71b is disposed on the right side of the front of the loading platform 3. The lower end of the right front pillar 71b is fixed to the left side of the right base plate 72. The front beam 71c connects the upper end of the left front pillar 71a and the upper end of the right front pillar 71b. The front beam 71c is fixed to the upper horizontal edge 81 of the guard frame 8, which will be described later. Details will be described later. The front beam 71c is composed of a hollow cylindrical body. The left rear pillar 71d is disposed on the left side of the rear of the loading platform 3. The lower end of the left rear pillar 71d is fixed to the right side of the left base plate 72. The right rear pillar 71e is disposed on the right side of the rear of the loading platform 3. The lower end of the right rear column 71e is fixed to the left surface of the right base plate 72. The rear beam 71f connects the upper end of the left rear column 71d to the upper end of the right rear column 71e. The left girder 71g extends from front to back and connects the upper end of the left front column 71a to the vicinity of the upper end of the left rear column 71d. The right girder 71h extends from front to back and connects the upper end of the right front column 71b to the vicinity of the upper end of the right rear column 71e. The inner beam 71i extends from front to back and connects the middle parts of the front beam 71c to the rear beam 71f. The left vertical frame 71j connects the vicinity of the lower end of the left front column 71a to the vicinity of the lower end of the left rear column 71d. The right vertical frame section 71k connects the lower end of the right front pillar section 71b to the lower end of the right rear pillar section 71e.

(Base plate)
Each base plate 72 fixes the frame 71 to the loading platform 3. Each base plate 72 is arranged on the left and right sides of the upper surface 31 of the loading platform 3 along the front-rear direction. In this example, the cross-sectional shape of each base plate 72 cut by a plane perpendicular to the front-rear direction is L-shaped. Each base plate 72 has a horizontal plate and a vertical plate. The horizontal plate and the vertical plate are formed in a continuous manner. Each horizontal plate is fixed to the upper surface 31 of the loading platform 3. Each vertical plate protrudes upward from the inner end of each horizontal plate. A left front pillar 71a and a left rear pillar 71d are fixed to the right surface of the left vertical plate. A left vertical frame portion 71j may also be fixed to this right surface. A right front pillar portion 71b and a right rear pillar portion 71e are fixed to the left surface of the right vertical plate. A right vertical frame portion 71k may also be fixed to this left surface. A slide rail 73 is fixed to the left surface of the left vertical plate and to the right surface of the right vertical plate.

(Slide rail)
Each of the four slide rails 73 slides each of the four slide rollers 53. Each slide rail 73 is provided to extend along the front and rear. The four slide rails 73 and the four slide rollers 53 constitute a slide mechanism that supports the rear cover member 52 slidably along the front and rear of the loading platform 3 relative to the frame 71. Each of the four slide rails 73 is fixed to the left surface of the left vertical plate, the right surface of the right vertical plate, the left surface of the left beam 71g, and the right surface of the right beam 71h. In this example, the lower ends of the left front column 71a, the right front column 71b, the left rear column 71d, and the right rear column 71e are fastened together with each of the slide rails 73 and each of the vertical plates.

[Guard frame]
The guard frame 8 is disposed on the upper part of the rear surface of the back panel 21 so as to protect the rear window 21a. The guard frame 8 is fastened to the rear surface of the back panel 21 by a bracket (not shown). As shown in FIG. 3, the guard frame 8 in this example is a frame body in which an upper horizontal side portion 81, a lower horizontal side portion 82, a left vertical side portion 83, a right vertical side portion 84, and an inner vertical side portion 85 are combined. The upper horizontal side portion 81 in this example is configured as a hollow cylindrical body. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, the upper horizontal side portion 81 is disposed between the upper front wall portion 51d and the front beam portion 71c. The upper horizontal side portion 81 and the upper front wall portion 51d are fixed to each other, and the upper horizontal side portion 81 and the front beam portion 71c are fixed to each other. In this example, the upper front wall portion 51d, the upper horizontal side portion 81, and the front beam portion 71c are fastened together by a bolt 100. The bolt 100 is tightened by a nut 101. Unlike this example, the upper front wall portion 51d, the upper horizontal side portion 81, and the front beam portion 71c may be fixed to each other by a resin clip. The left vertical side portion 83 and the left front wall portion 51e are fixed to each other, and the right vertical side portion 84 and the right front wall portion 51f are fixed to each other.

[Gutter components]
The gutter member 9 directs rainwater, etc., running down from the roof panel 22 of the passenger compartment 2, etc., outward in the vehicle width direction. The gutter member 9 is joined to the back panel 21 by, for example, welding. The welding may be, for example, burn-out plug welding, arc welding, or spot welding. As shown in Fig. 3, the shape of the gutter member 9 as viewed from the rear of the vehicle is a U-shape that opens downward. The gutter member 9 has an upper horizontal side portion 91, a left vertical side portion 92, and a right vertical side portion 93.

The upper horizontal side portion 91 is disposed slightly below the upper horizontal side portion 81 of the guard frame 8. In this example, the cross-sectional shape of the upper horizontal side portion 91 cut along a plane perpendicular to the left-right direction is a U-shape that opens upward. As shown in FIG. 4, the upper horizontal side portion 91 is composed of a bottom portion 91a, a front wall portion 91b that protrudes upward from the front end of the bottom portion 91a, and a rear wall portion 91c that protrudes upward from the rear end of the bottom portion 91a. The abutment stop portion 511 is abutted against the upper surface 911 of the bottom portion 91a of the upper horizontal side portion 91. The left vertical side portion 92 and the right vertical side portion 93 extend downward from the left and right edges of the upper horizontal side portion 91. The left vertical side portion 92 and the right vertical side portion 93 are formed in a continuous manner with the upper horizontal side portion 91. The configuration of the left vertical side portion 92 is the same as that of the right vertical side portion 93. The following description will be given only of the right vertical side portion 93. As shown in FIG. 5, the cross-sectional shape of the right vertical side portion 93 cut on a plane perpendicular to the vertical direction is a U-shape that opens outward in the vehicle width direction, i.e., to the right. The right vertical side portion 93 is composed of a bottom portion 93a, a front wall portion 93b that protrudes to the right from the front end of the bottom portion 93a, and a rear wall portion 93c that protrudes to the right from the rear end of the bottom portion 93a. Although not shown in the figure, the cross-sectional shape of the left vertical side portion 92 cut on a plane perpendicular to the vertical direction is a U-shape that opens outward in the vehicle width direction, i.e., to the left. The left vertical side portion 92 is composed of a bottom portion, a front wall portion that protrudes to the left from the front end of the bottom, and a rear wall portion that protrudes to the left from the rear end of the bottom.

Unlike this example, the cross-sectional shape of at least one of the upper horizontal side portion 91, the left vertical side portion 92, and the right vertical side portion 93 may be L-shaped. In this case, at least one side portion is composed of a bottom portion and a rear wall portion. At least one side portion is joined to the rear surface of the back panel 21 so that the at least one side portion and the rear surface of the back panel 21 form a U-shape that opens upward or outward.

The vehicle structure 1 is assembled as follows. The gutter member 9 is fixed to the rear surface of the back panel 21. The abutment stop portion 511 of the upper front wall portion 51d of the front cover member 51 is brought into contact with the upper surface 911 of the bottom 91a of the upper horizontal side portion 91 of the gutter member 9. With the abutment stop portion 511 and the upper surface 911 in contact, the upper front wall portion 51d, the upper horizontal side portion 81 of the guard frame 8, and the front beam portion 71c of the frame 71 are fastened together by the bolt 100 and the nut 101. Through this process, the front cover member 51, the guard frame 8, and the frame 71 are assembled to each other. In the vehicle structure 1, the abutment stop portion 511 and the upper surface 911 can align the mutual fixing points of the upper front wall portion 51d and the upper horizontal side portion 81 and the mutual fixing points of the upper horizontal side portion 81 and the front beam portion 71c. In this example, the through holes through which the bolts 100 are inserted in the upper front wall portion 51d, the upper horizontal side portion 81, and the front beam portion 71c can be aligned with each other. Therefore, the vehicle structure 1 has excellent assembly workability between the front cover member 51, the guard frame 8, and the frame 71, so that the front cover member 51 and the frame 71 can be easily attached to the cargo bed 3. Furthermore, the vehicle structure 1 can easily attach the luggage compartment box 4 to the cargo bed 3. Since the vehicle structure 1 can utilize the existing gutter member 9 and guard frame 8 to attach the front cover member 51 and the frame 71 to the cargo bed 3, the front cover member 51 and the frame 71, and therefore the luggage compartment box 4, can be easily and inexpensively retrofitted to the cargo bed 3. Therefore, the vehicle structure 1 has excellent productivity. The guard frame 8 generally has high rigidity. Since the front cover member 51 and the frame 71 are fixed to the guard frame 8 having high rigidity, the vehicle structure 1 can firmly attach the front cover member 51 and the frame 71 to the cargo bed. Therefore, the vehicle structure 1 can firmly attach the luggage compartment box 4 to the luggage platform 3.

The present invention is not limited to these examples, but is indicated by the claims, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims.

For example, the front cover member may not have an upper front wall portion, and the front beam portion of the frame may have a portion that is disposed inside the upper horizontal side portion of the gutter member. In this case, the front beam portion has a stop portion that is stopped by abutting against the upper surface of the bottom of the upper horizontal side portion. The front beam portion and the upper horizontal side portion of the guard frame may be fixed to each other.

For example, the cover members may be configured such that the front cover member and the rear cover member are not independent of each other but are configured as a single unit. In this case, the cover members are fixed to the loading platform and are not slidable. In this case, the cover members can be retrofitted to the loading platform.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 vehicle structure 2 vehicle compartment 21 back panel 21a rear window 22 roof panel 3 luggage bed 31 upper surface 4 luggage compartment box 5 cover member 51 front cover member 51a roof panel 51b left panel 51c right panel 51d upper front wall portion 511 abutment stop portion 51e left front wall portion 51f right front wall portion 52 rear cover member 52a roof panel 52b left panel 52c right panel 52d door 53 slide roller 54 leg member 6 back door 7 support member 71 frame 71a left front pillar portion 71b right front pillar portion 71c front beam portion 71d left rear pillar portion 71e right rear pillar portion 71f rear beam portion 71g left beam portion 71h right beam portion 71i Inner girder portion 71j Left vertical frame portion 71k Right vertical frame portion 72 Base plate 73 Slide rail 8 Guard frame 81 Upper horizontal side portion 82 Lower horizontal side portion 83 Left vertical side portion 84 Right vertical side portion 85 Inner vertical side portion 9 Gutter member 91 Upper horizontal side portion 91a Bottom portion 911 Top surface 91b Front wall portion 91c Rear wall portion 92 Left vertical side portion 93 Right vertical side portion 93a Bottom portion 931 Right surface 93b Front wall portion 93c Rear wall portion 100 Bolt 101 Nut

Claims (1)

A back panel disposed at the rear of the vehicle cabin;
A loading platform disposed behind the back panel;
A luggage compartment box that forms a space above the luggage bed;
a guard frame for protecting a rear surface of the back panel;
a gutter member disposed between the rear surface of the back panel and the guard frame,
The luggage compartment box has an abutment portion abutted against an upper surface of the bottom of the rain gutter member,
The luggage compartment box and the guard frame are fixed to each other.
Vehicle structure.

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