JP6295466B2 - Vehicle body structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a structure for mainly suppressing deformation (roof crash) of a roof when the vehicle rolls over, for example.

  In general, for evaluation of a roof crash when a vehicle rolls over, it is customary to secure the strength against the load with a B-pillar. Since it contacts the A pillar first, the load received by the A pillar increases. As a result of receiving the load from the road surface from the A-pillar first, the windshield is damaged early and the deformation of the roof is large. It becomes difficult.

  Techniques for suppressing the deformation of the roof at the time of rolling over the vehicle are disclosed in the following patent documents. In Patent Document 1 below, a technique is provided in which an input bracket is provided between the front pillar and the center pillar in the roof side portion, thereby dispersing the initial input points from the road surface at the time of rollover and suppressing deformation of the roof side portion. Is disclosed. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses a technique for connecting a tilt pillar between a front pillar and a hood ridge member to suppress deformation of the front pillar at the time of rollover.

  When rolling over the vehicle, the load from the road surface added to the front pillar or center pillar through the roof is efficiently received, so that deformation and displacement of the roof are suppressed, and passenger space is secured even during rollover, In addition, breakage of the front window glass is prevented.

JP 2008-62713 A JP 2005-161938 A

  However, according to the conventional body structure, it is necessary to add a new member, and there is a problem that the weight and cost increase. An object of the present invention is to efficiently suppress deformation of a roof side portion mainly at the time of rollover without adding a new member.

The above problems are solved by the following invention. A first invention is a structure of an A pillar and a B pillar that supports a roof side of a vehicle, wherein the A pillar and the B pillar have closed sections of an outer panel and an inner panel, respectively . The upper part of the closed cross section is coupled to the front part of the roof side, the upper part of the closed cross section of the B pillar is coupled to the rear part of the roof side, and the roof panel is disposed above the A pillar, the upper part of the B pillar, and the to as to cover the roof side is provided with the upper end of the closed cross section of the B-pillar is set at a position higher than the upper end of the closed cross section of the a-pillar.

  According to the first invention, for example, when the vehicle rolls over, the load received from the road surface can be input to the B pillar side before the A pillar. Thereby, without adding new members, such as the conventional input bracket, the load from a road surface can be received as axial force with the more upright B-pillar. By receiving the load from the road surface as an axial force by the B pillar, the load received by the A pillar can be reduced, and thereby deformation of the roof side portion can be suppressed without increasing the vehicle weight and cost.

  According to a second invention, in the first invention, the B pillar and the A pillar are body structures each having a closed cross section in which a reinforcement is interposed between the outer panel and the inner panel.

  According to the second invention, the strength of the A pillar and the B pillar is increased with respect to the load from the road surface at the time of vehicle rollover, and thereby deformation of the roof side can be more reliably suppressed.

  According to a third invention, in the first or second invention, the upper mating surface of the closed cross section of the B pillar is projected in the vehicle width direction so that the closed cross section of the B pillar is more roof than the closed cross section of the A pillar. It is a body structure set at a high position close to the panel.

  According to the third aspect of the invention, the mating surface (B coupling portion) that forms the upper part of the closed cross section of the B pillar is provided in a state of projecting in the vehicle width direction (lateral direction). For this reason, the vertical space occupied by the mating surface is made more compact than the mating surface extending in the vertical direction. Since the space in the vertical direction is made compact, the closed cross section of the B pillar can be extended upward and set at a higher position closer to the roof panel than the A pillar. By extending the B pillar to a height closer to the roof panel, it is possible to receive the load by bringing the B pillar into contact with the road surface before the A pillar at the time of vehicle rollover. As described above, according to the third aspect of the invention, it is possible to more reliably receive the load at the time of vehicle rollover by the B pillar before the A pillar without adding a new member as in the prior art. The deformation of the A pillar can be more reliably suppressed.

It is a side view around the passenger compartment of a vehicle. It is a disassembled perspective view around A pillar and B pillar. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of A pillar concerning this embodiment. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of B pillar concerning this embodiment. It is the figure which compared and showed the difference in the height of the upper part of the closed cross section of A pillar and B pillar. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the conventional B pillar.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, the roof side 2 a on the right side (the front side in the drawing) of the roof 2 of the vehicle 1 is supported by a front A pillar (front pillar) 3 and a rear B pillar (center pillar) 4. As shown in the drawing, the B pillar 4 stands more than the A pillar 3. A passenger compartment (cabin) 5 is defined by the roof 2, the A pillar 3, and the B pillar 4. In the present embodiment, a pickup type vehicle 1 having an A pillar 3 and a B pillar 4 and having no C pillar (rear pillar) is illustrated. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 6 indicates an engine room on the front side of the passenger compartment 5, and 7 indicates a loading platform on the rear side of the passenger compartment 5. In the figure, a door panel for opening and closing the passenger compartment 5 is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 1, when the vehicle 1 rolls over, the roof 2 is turned upside down and the roof 2 comes into contact with a virtual road surface (hereinafter simply referred to as the road surface G). As a result, the weight (load) of the vehicle 1 is applied to the roof 2. Added. The road surface G is set so as to be inclined 5 ° toward the side where the front side of the vehicle becomes lower than the horizontal plane. The load applied from the road surface G to the roof 2 is distributed and added to the A pillar 3 and the B pillar 4 as loads F3 and F4, respectively.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the A pillar 3 has a closed cross section of an outer panel 3a and an inner panel 3c. A reinforcement 3b is interposed between the outer panel 3a and the inner panel 3c. The outer panel 3a, the inner panel 3c, and the peripheral portions (mating surfaces) of the reinforcement 3b are coupled to each other to form a closed cross section.

  A mating surface 3aa is provided at the upper end of the outer panel 3a. In accordance with this, mating surfaces 3ba and 3ca are also provided at the upper ends of the reinforcement 3b and the inner panel 3c, respectively. The mating surfaces 3aa, 3ba, 3ca are provided so as to protrude upward. The upper part of the closed cross section of the A pillar 3 is constituted by an A coupling portion JA in which the mating surfaces 3aa, 3ba, 3ca are coupled to each other by spot welding. The A coupling portion JA is positioned so as to protrude upward (vertically) from the upper part of the closed cross section.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the B pillar 4 has a closed cross section of the outer panel 4a and the inner panel 4c. A reinforcement 4b is interposed between the outer panel 4a and the inner panel 4c. The outer panel 4a, the inner panel 4c, and the peripheral portions (mating surfaces) of the reinforcement 4b are joined together to form a closed cross section.

  A mating surface 4aa is provided at the upper end of the outer panel 4a. In accordance with this, mating surfaces 4ba and 4ca are also provided at the upper ends of the reinforcement 4b and the inner panel 4c, respectively. The mating surfaces 4aa, 4ba, 4ca are provided in a state of projecting toward the vehicle interior side in the vehicle width direction. The upper part of the closed cross section of the B pillar 4 is configured by a B coupling portion JB in which the mating surfaces 4aa, 4ba, 4ca are coupled to each other by spot welding. The B coupling portion JB is located in a state of projecting in the vehicle width direction (lateral direction) from the upper part of the closed cross section.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the A-joint portion JA of the A-pillar 3 projects upward (vertical direction), and the B-joint portion JB of the B-pillar 4 is provided so as to project laterally (lateral direction). The closed cross section 4 extends upward by a height dimension H from the closed cross section of the A pillar 3, and the upper part thereof reaches a higher position closer to the roof panel 2c. Each of the mating surfaces 4aa, 4ba, 4ca of the B pillar 4 is tilted in the lateral direction so that the B coupling portion JB protrudes in the vehicle width direction, so that the vertical space occupied by the B coupling portion JB is compact. The upper part of the closed cross section of the B pillar 4 can be extended to a position higher than the A pillar 3 by that amount (height dimension H).

  In this specification, the high position refers to the height at which the load is input when the vehicle 1 rolls over, for example, a road surface G that is inclined by 5 ° toward the lower side of the vehicle at an earlier timing. Say the position.

  The upper part of the closed cross section of the A pillar 3 is coupled to the front part of the roof side 2a, and the upper part of the closed cross section of the B pillar 4 is coupled to the rear part of the roof side 2a. The right side of the roof panel 2c is joined so as to cover the upper part of the A pillar 3, the upper part of the B pillar 4, and the roof side 2a. Drip rails 2b are respectively provided on the left and right end edges of the roof panel 2c.

  FIG. 6 shows a conventional B pillar 10. The B pillar 10 also has a closed cross section in which the outer panel 11 and the inner panel 12 are coupled to each other. The B coupling portion 13, which is the upper end portion of the closed cross section of the outer panel 11 and the inner panel 12, has a configuration in which the vertical mating surfaces provided on the upper end portions of both the panels 11 and 12 are respectively connected upward. Have. This point was configured similarly to the A pillar 3 described above. For this reason, the upper part of the closed cross section of the conventional B pillar 10 is located at a height position that is lower than the above-illustrated embodiment in the height direction and that has a large gap with the roof side 14. Was. For this reason, even if the heights of the upper portions of the closed cross sections of the conventional A pillar and B pillar are the same, the closed cross section on the A pillar side with respect to the road surface G inclined by 5 ° toward the lower side of the vehicle front side. As a result, the load on the road surface is first applied to the A pillar before the B pillar, so that the roof side 14 is greatly deformed.

  As described above, the B pillar 4 on the rear side is provided in a standing state with respect to the A pillar 3 on the front side. For this reason, it is more advantageous in terms of anti-roof crash performance that the load from the road surface G is received as an axial force by the standing B pillar 4. In this respect, in this embodiment, the B coupling portion JB of the B pillar 4 is extended in the vehicle width direction so that the upper portion of the closed cross section extends upward as compared with the conventional one, and the roof of the A pillar 3 is closed. By setting the position higher than 2 and setting the upper part of the B pillar 4 as an initial input point, the load from the road surface G can be received by the B pillar 4 before the A pillar 3. Become.

  According to the body structure of the vehicle 1 configured as described above, the upper part of the closed cross section of the B pillar 4 with respect to the roof side 2a is higher by the height dimension H than the upper part of the closed cross section of the A pillar 3 with respect to the roof side 2a. Set to position. For this reason, when the vehicle 1 is rolled over, for example, the upper part of the B pillar 4 comes into contact with the road surface G inclined by 5 ° toward the lower side of the vehicle before the upper part of the A pillar 3. A load applied from G to the roof 2 is input to the B pillar 4 at a timing earlier than that of the A pillar 3.

  Accordingly, the load F4 received by the A pillar 3 can be reduced by receiving the larger load F4 from the road surface G to the roof 2 and receiving the larger load F4 from the B pillar 4. By reducing the load F3 applied to the A-pillar 3, it becomes easy to suppress the deformation of the roof side 2a and secure an appropriate passenger space (roof crash resistance).

  As described above, according to the body structure of the present embodiment, the load from the road surface at the time of vehicle rollover can be efficiently distributed and received by the A pillar and the B pillar, thereby increasing the vehicle weight and cost. It is possible to prevent the roof side 2a from being deformed and to secure the roof crash resistance.

  Moreover, according to the body structure of the present embodiment, the B coupling portion JB of the B pillar 4 is extended to the side, and the closed cross section of the B pillar 4 is extended upward by the height dimension H from the A pillar 3. As a result, since the initial input point at the time of rollover is set to the B pillar 4 side, the roof crash resistance can be improved without adding a new member such as a conventional input bracket.

  Various modifications can be made to the embodiment configured as described above. For example, the road surface G tilted by 5 ° in the downward direction to the front side of the vehicle is illustrated, but the initial load input point of the load is on the B pillar side with respect to the road surface inclined at a horizontal or other angle, for example. Thus, the same effect can be obtained.

  Further, the body structure on the right side of the vehicle has been described, but the same applies to the left side. Furthermore, although a pickup truck having a single row of seats having no rear pillar is illustrated as the vehicle 1, a similar body structure can be applied to a passenger car or a freight vehicle having a rear pillar.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle 2 ... Roof 2a ... Roof side, 2b ... Drip rail, 2c ... Roof panel 3 ... A pillar (front pillar)
3a ... Outer panel, 3b ... Reinforcement, 3c ... Inner panel 3aa, 3ba, 3ca ... Matching surface JA ... A coupling part, F3 ... Load received by A pillar 4 ... B pillar (center pillar)
4a ... Outer panel, 4b ... Reinforcement, 4c ... Inner panel 4aa, 4ba, 4ca ... Mating surface JB ... B joint, F4 ... Load received by B pillar 5 ... Crew compartment (cabin)
6 ... Engine room 7 ... Loading platform 10 ... B pillar (conventional)
11 ... Outer panel 12 ... Inner panel 13 ... B coupling part 14 ... Roof side

Claims (3)

A pillar and B pillar structure that supports the roof side of the vehicle,
The A pillar and the B pillar each have a closed cross section of an outer panel and an inner panel,
The upper part of the closed cross section of the A pillar is coupled to the front part of the roof side, the upper part of the closed cross section of the B pillar is coupled to the rear part of the roof side, and the roof panel is the upper part of the A pillar, the B pillar. Is provided so as to cover the upper part of the roof and the roof side,
Body structure upper end portion of the closed cross section of the B-pillar is set at a position higher than the upper end of the closed cross section of the A-pillar. The body structure according to claim 1,
The B pillar and the A pillar each have a closed cross section in which a reinforcement is interposed between the outer panel and the inner panel. The body structure according to claim 1 or 2,
A high position where the upper mating surface of the closed cross section of the B pillar projects in the vehicle width direction and the upper end of the closed cross section of the B pillar is closer to the roof panel than the upper end of the closed cross section of the A pillar. Body structure set to.

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