JP6004182B2 - Front pillar air noise reduction structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an air noise reduction structure in a front pillar portion of a vehicle.

  In small vehicles that place emphasis on comfort and compactness, the rising angle of the front pillar and windshield is set large. The airflow from the front received by the windshield when the vehicle is traveling flows to the roof side and both sides. However, when the front pillar and the windshield are standing, the tendency to go around from the front pillar to the vehicle body side becomes remarkable.

  At that time, in the front pillar portion, the air flow in the vehicle width direction peels off from the surface of the vehicle body in the process of suddenly deflecting backward beyond the step from the windshield, and a vortex flow is generated on the side portion of the vehicle body. This eddy current generates air noise when it collides with the mainstream behind the side of the vehicle body. The air noise at this position is a problem because it is close to the driver's seat and front passenger seat.

  In order to reduce the eddy current, it is assumed that the cross-sectional shape of the front pillar is adapted to the flow, and a wind guide plate is provided around the front pillar. However, since the front pillar needs to satisfy various conditions such as load absorption at the time of collision, cabin rigidity, and ensuring the driver's visibility, it cannot be designed for the purpose of airflow alone. For example, if the front pillar is made thick and streamlined to improve the air flow, the driver's field of view deteriorates.

  On the other hand, even in a small vehicle, there are cases where the rising angle of the front pillar or the windshield is set small, that is, the inclination is set large (see Patent Document 1). In such a vehicle, since the air wraps around the side of the vehicle body is small, the air noise is small as described above, and conversely, the air wraps around the vehicle body side by increasing the step from the windshield to the front pillar. Although it is possible to suppress this, such a measure cannot be taken in a vehicle having a large windshield rising angle.

JP 2008-87616 A

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object thereof is to provide a structure for reducing air noise in a front pillar portion of a vehicle having a large rising angle of a windshield.

In order to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, the present invention provides:
An air noise reduction structure for a front pillar extending vertically along both side edges of the windshield, wherein the front pillar rises from both sides of the windshield in the thickness direction of the windshield, and the vertical pillar A pillar ridge extending along the front end of the wall surface, and a pillar surface extending along the rear side of the pillar ridge and defining a part of the surface of the vehicle body. Having a rising angle of at least degrees, and comprising pillar moldings attached to the surface sides of both side edges of the windshield along the vertical wall surface,
The pillar molding has a substantially square cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and the width (Lm) from the vertical wall surface to the front end edge is the height of the pillar ridge portion (H) with respect to the windshield surface (H ) And the ratio (Hm / Lm) of the height (Hm) of the front edge to the width (Lm) to the front edge is 0.2 to 0.4. The air noise reduction structure of the front pillar is characterized by being in the range.

According to the above configuration, the present invention has the following effects.
The pillar moldings affixed to both side edges of the windshield have a substantially square cross section, so that the airflow that flows laterally along the windshield when the vehicle travels before the pillar edge reaches the pillar ridge. It is deflected and merges with the air flow from the front within the width of the pillar molding. At this time, if the front end edge of the pillar molding is in a position defined by the above range with respect to the pillar ridge, the deflected and merged air flow does not collide with the vertical wall surface of the front pillar, and the pillar ridge , And flows behind the side of the vehicle body along the pillar surface, so that air noise due to separation from the pillar surface and generation of eddy currents is suppressed.

  It should be noted that the width (Lm) from the vertical wall surface to the front edge is smaller than 1.5 times the height (H) of the pillar ridge with respect to the windshield surface, or the width (Lm) to the front edge. When the ratio (Hm / Lm) of the height (Hm) of the front end edge is smaller than 0.2, it is difficult to form an air flow exceeding the pillar ridge. Conversely, when the width (Lm) from the vertical wall surface to the front edge is greater than three times the height (H) of the pillar ridge relative to the windshield surface, or the front edge relative to the width (Lm) to the front edge When the ratio (Hm / Lm) of the edge height (Hm) is greater than 0.4, the air resistance increases and does not contribute to the reduction of wind noise, and the influence on the driver's view cannot be ignored.

  In addition, the pillar molding has a substantially square cross section and has a front end edge, which is advantageous not only for deflecting the air flow but also for generating fine turbulence and preventing separation at the portion. . Incidentally, with a curved cross-sectional shape, a sufficient deflection action against the air flow cannot be obtained, and the effect of reducing the air noise cannot be obtained.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the height (Hm) of the front edge is equal to or less than the height (H) of the pillar ridge. Since the pillar molding is an addition, it is of course preferable that the pillar molding is as small as possible. However, if the height of the pillar ridge is exceeded, separation or vortex flow is generated on the rear end side, which does not contribute to noise reduction. From the viewpoint of ensuring the driver's field of view, it is preferable to make it as small as possible.

  Moreover, in this invention, the width | variety (Lm) from the said vertical wall surface to the said front end edge may reduce as it goes to the upper end from the lower end of the both-sides edge of the said windshield. The airflow that flows from the windshield across the front pillar to the side of the vehicle body is more conspicuous as the lower part of the front pillar, so it is not necessary to have a uniform cross-sectional area over the entire length of the windshield, depending on the degree of airflow Reducing the width is also advantageous in reducing air resistance and securing the driver's field of view.

1 is a perspective view showing a vehicle in which an air noise reduction structure according to the present invention is implemented. It is a principal part perspective view which shows the front pillar base part of the vehicle which implemented the air noise reduction structure which concerns on this invention. It is a plane sectional view showing the neighborhood of the front pillar of the vehicle which implemented the air noise reduction structure concerning the present invention. It is a plane sectional view showing the neighborhood of a front pillar of a vehicle before implementing an air noise reduction structure as a comparative example. It is a schematic diagram corresponding to FIG. 3 which shows the range which the front-end edge of the air noise reduction structure pillar molding concerning this invention can take.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a typical vehicle 1 in which the air noise reduction structure of the present invention is implemented. The vehicle 1 is a small passenger car having a hood 2 (engine hood) at the front, and the space in the passenger compartment is shown. In order to ensure, a windshield 3 and a front pillar 4 having a large rising angle are provided.

  In such a vehicle 1, the airflow received by the windshield 3 from the front during traveling is guided to the roof 5 side by the inclination of the windshield 3, or guided to the curve of the windshield 3 to the side of the vehicle body side 6. However, as described above, when the front pillar 4 and the windshield 3 are standing as in the illustrated example, the tendency to go around from the front pillar 4 to the vehicle body side portion 6 is remarkable as described above.

  At that time, in the vicinity of the front pillar 4, as shown in FIG. 4, when the air flow along the windshield 3 in the vehicle width direction exceeds the vertical wall surface 42 (ridge Q) of the front pillar 4, It collides with the airflow flowing backward along the part, and peels off from the pillar surface 41 in the process of suddenly deflecting backward, generating a vortex. We have already mentioned that this is a noise source. Therefore, air noise can be reduced by suppressing such separation and vortex flow. The windshield 3 is supported on the support surface 43 of the front pillar 4 through the windshield fixing cushioning material 7.

  Here, in FIG. 4, if the pillar surface (41) has an arcuate cross section that fits the streamline of the air flow from the ridge Q, that is, the pillar surface (41 following the ridge Q). If the ridge part Q has an angle close to 90 degrees so that it is substantially parallel to the windshield 3, it is expected that the occurrence of peeling and eddy currents will be reduced. In the vehicle 1, the pillar surface 41 is formed along the side surface of the vehicle body and the ridge portion Q is formed at an acute angle, and the adoption of the above shape narrows the field of view of the windshield 3.

  Therefore, in the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the pillar molding 8 is attached to the surface of the windshield 3 adjacent to the front pillar 4, and the shape of the windshield 3 is devised to narrow the field of view of the windshield 3. The air noise reduction effect is obtained without. In each figure, the pillar molding 8 extends vertically along both side edges of the windshield 3, has a uniform rectangular cross section in the longitudinal direction, and has a standing front edge P.

The pillar molding 8 may be in contact with the vertical wall surface 42 of the front pillar 4 or may be affixed with a gap as shown in the example, but with respect to the height H of the ridge Q of the front pillar 4. It has been confirmed by wind tunnel experiments and the like that a significant air noise reduction effect can be obtained when the position (Lm, Hm) of the front edge P is within the range described below. That is, the width (Lm) from the ridge portion Q (vertical wall surface 42) of the front pillar 4 to the front end edge P with respect to the windshield surface, the height (Hm) of the front end edge, and the height (H) of the ridge portion Q In
1.5 ≦ Lm / H ≦ 3 and 0.2 ≦ Hm / Lm ≦ 0.4
It is in the range.

  In other words, the width (Lm) to the front edge P is in the range of 1.5 to 3 times the height (H) of the ridge Q, and the width (Lm) to the front edge P is This means that the ratio (Hm / Lm) of the height (Hm) of the front edge P is in the range of 0.2 to 0.4. The possible range (PL, PH) of the front edge P is shown in FIG. Generally, as the width (Lm) of the pillar molding 8 increases, the height (Hm) of the front edge P tends to increase.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the airflow that flows laterally along the surface of the windshield 3 is away from the windshield 3 at the front end edge P of the pillar molding 8 before reaching the vertical wall surface 42 of the front pillar 4. If the position of the front end edge P of the pillar molding 8 is within the above range, it is deflected. The combined air flow passes through the ridge Q without colliding with the vertical wall surface 42 of the front pillar 4, and flows to the rear side of the vehicle body along the pillar surface 41. Therefore, peeling from the pillar surface 41 and generation of vortex are suppressed, and air noise is reduced.

  The width (Lm) from the vertical wall 42 to the front edge P is less than 1.5 times the height (H) of the ridge Q, or the height of the front edge P relative to the width (Lm) to the front edge P. When the ratio (Hm / Lm) of the length (Hm) is smaller than 0.2, it is difficult to form an air flow over the ridge Q. Conversely, when the width (Lm) from the vertical wall 42 to the front edge P is greater than three times the height (H) of the ridge Q, or the height (Hm) relative to the width (Lm) to the front edge P. When the ratio (Hm / Lm) is greater than 0.4, air resistance increases and does not contribute to reduction of air noise.

  When a wind tunnel experiment was conducted using a vehicle with a front pillar rising angle = 50 degrees, the height of the ridge Q (H) = 10 mm, while (i) the pillar mall height (Hm) = 5 mm, the front edge In the case of the width to L (Lm) = 18 mm (pillar molding width 15 mm, spacing 3 mm from the vertical wall surface), and (ii) pillar molding height (Hm) = 10 mm, the width to the front edge P (Lm) = A good noise reduction effect was confirmed in the case of 28 mm (pillar molding width 25 mm, distance 3 mm from the vertical wall surface).

  In addition, regarding the cross-sectional shape of the pillar molding 8, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 to 3, by forming a square shape having a square front end edge P, not only the air flow is simply deflected but also fine turbulence is generated. Experiments have confirmed that peeling at the portion can be prevented. For comparison, when an experiment was conducted with a pillar molding having a curved cross-sectional shape with the same width and height as described above, a sufficient deflection action with respect to the air flow was not obtained, and an effect of reducing air noise was recognized. There wasn't.

  On the other hand, when the front end edge P of the pillar molding 8 is lower than the height (H) of the ridge Q, the upper surface of the pillar molding 8 is a ridge within a range not exceeding the height (H) of the ridge Q. You may have the inclination which becomes higher than the front-end edge P in the rear-end edge side adjacent to the part Q. FIG.

  The material of the pillar molding 8 is not particularly limited, but a synthetic foamed resin material such as a sponge whose surface hardness and smoothness are moderately suppressed in order to prevent peeling and reduce air resistance and air noise. Is advantageous. The frequency of the air noise is reduced as compared with the case of using a hard material. In this case, the surface of the pillar molding 8 can be made of sponge and the solid part can be made of another material.

As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to said each embodiment, Based on the technical idea of this invention, a various deformation | transformation and change are further possible.
For example, in the said embodiment, although the width | variety (Lm) and height (Hm) of the pillar molding 8 showed the case where it was uniform in the length direction, the direction of the pillar molding 8 is approached from the lower end of the windshield 3 to an upper end. The width (Lm) and / or the height (Hm) may be decreased.

1 Vehicle 2 Bonnet (Engine Hood)
3 Windshield 4 Front Pillar 8 Pillar Mall 41 Pillar Surface 42 Vertical Wall P Front Edge Q Ridge

Claims (3)

An air noise reduction structure for a front pillar extending vertically along both side edges of the windshield, wherein the front pillar rises from both sides of the windshield in the thickness direction of the windshield, and the vertical pillar A pillar ridge extending along the front end of the wall surface, and a pillar surface extending along the rear side of the pillar ridge and defining a part of the surface of the vehicle body. Having a rising angle of at least degrees, and comprising pillar moldings attached to the surface sides of both side edges of the windshield along the vertical wall surface,
The pillar molding has a substantially square cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and the width (Lm) from the vertical wall surface to the front end edge is the height of the pillar ridge portion (H) with respect to the windshield surface (H ) And the ratio (Hm / Lm) of the height (Hm) of the front edge to the width (Lm) to the front edge is 0.2 to 0.4. Front pillar air noise reduction structure characterized by being in range.   2. The air noise reduction structure for a front pillar according to claim 1, wherein a height (Hm) of the front end edge is equal to or less than a height (H) of the pillar ridge.   3. The air noise reduction structure for a front pillar according to claim 1, wherein a width (Lm) from the vertical wall surface to the front end edge decreases from the lower end to the upper end of both side edges of the windshield. .

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