JPH07228156A - Auxiliary machine layout structure for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain the layout of low center-of-gravity, low vehicle height and low yawing moment of inertia with extremely compact constitution, and provide auxiliary machine layout structure ideal for a vehicle of such constitution. CONSTITUTION:An engine 8 and the auxiliary machines of the engine 8 are disposed in a tunnel part 7 protrusively provided at the center part of a floor panel in the vehicle interior. The engine 8 is disposed in the tunnel 7, at the side of the lower half body of a driver in the driving position, and the auxiliary machine such as a starting motor 62 is disposed below the knees of the driver.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle auxiliary equipment arrangement structure, and more particularly to a vehicle auxiliary equipment arrangement structure in which at least a part of an engine is provided in a tunnel portion projecting in a vehicle compartment. It is a thing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to improve the running characteristics of a vehicle, it is possible to improve the power performance, reduce the weight, and maintain the yaw inertial mode generated during steering.
There are known methods for minimizing the moment, optimizing the weight distribution for the front and rear axles, and particularly for minimizing the yaw inertia moment and optimizing the weight distribution for the front and rear axles. Conventionally, various engine disposition structures, which are so-called midship systems, mounted in the central portion have been proposed.

By the way, in a vehicle having a general midship type engine arrangement structure, since the engine is arranged at the left and right center positions behind the driver's seat, there is no space for providing a luggage compartment and a low _CD value. Combined with slant-nosing to obtain (air resistance coefficient), baggage accommodability was completely sacrificed. Therefore, although the exercise performance is excellent, the layout is poor and there is a problem in practicality.

Therefore, for example, the "vehicle engine unit arrangement structure" disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-85195.
In a two-seater vehicle, the engine unit is placed vertically between the front and rear axles with the engine unit being biased to the side opposite to the driver's seat side with respect to the left and right centerlines of the vehicle body behind the front wheels. By arranging it in a place, it improves the exercise performance and layout.

[0005]

However, in the structure described in the above publication, it is necessary to cover the engine unit with the panel in order to dispose the engine unit in the vehicle compartment. Therefore, the tunnel portion is provided on the floor of the vehicle body. Although it is necessary, if the tunnel portion is made small in order to secure a large vehicle interior space, the arrangement of engine accessories is restricted.

Further, for example, auxiliary equipment such as a starting motor needs to be arranged in the vicinity of the engine.
The existence of such auxiliary equipment has been an obstacle to making the tunnel section compact.

Therefore, the present invention provides a low center of gravity, a low vehicle height, and a low vehicle height in a vehicle having a midship type engine arrangement structure among vehicles generally called a sports car.
It is an object of the present invention to make it possible to achieve a low-yaw inertia moment layout with an extremely compact structure, and to provide an auxiliary machine arrangement structure suitable for a vehicle having such a structure.

[0008]

According to the present invention, a tunnel portion is provided in a central portion of a floor panel in a vehicle compartment so that an engine is present at a side of a lower body of a driver in a driving posture. And an accessory is disposed below the driver's knee.

The above auxiliary equipment is a starting motor and / or
Alternatively, it is preferable that the engine comprises a catalyst converter for purifying exhaust gas, the starting motor being provided on one side of the engine and the catalyst converter being provided on the other side.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a service hole for the engine is provided on the outer wall of the tunnel portion, and the cover plate of the service hole doubles as a foot holder. To be done.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, the engine is attached to the vehicle body while tilting laterally when viewed from the front of the vehicle body, and the auxiliary engine is installed in a space formed below the engine due to the tilting. Machines are provided. Auxiliary equipment arranged in the space below the engine is, for example, an oil cooler.
And an air pump arranged behind the oil cooler.

[0012]

According to the present invention, the engine is disposed in the tunnel portion projectingly provided in the vehicle compartment, and an auxiliary machine such as a starting motor is disposed below the driver's knee in the tunnel portion. Since it is provided, even if a bulging portion for accommodating the auxiliary device in the tunnel portion is formed on the side wall of the tunnel portion, there is no risk of disturbing the pedal operation of the driver.

Further, the engine is mounted on the vehicle body while tilting to the side when viewed from the front of the vehicle body, and an auxiliary machine is arranged in the space formed below the engine due to the tilting, thereby effectively utilizing the space. Can be achieved.

[0014]

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

1 to 3 are views showing the construction of a vehicle to which the first embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view, FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view. It is an enlarged front view.

This vehicle has a power supply including a vertical engine.
The unit is configured as a small-sized tourer (two-seater) coupe having a midship type engine mounting structure in which units are disposed between front and rear wheel axles, in the figure, 1 is a vehicle body, 8 is an engine, and 11 Is a front wheel, 12 is a rear wheel, R attached to these reference numbers means a right wheel, and L means a left wheel. Further, in the following description, in order to distinguish right and left, reference numerals are appropriately added as needed, R for right and L for left. The same reference numerals denote the same objects throughout the drawings.

In the figure, a vehicle body 1 is divided into a slant-nosed inner space 2 of a nose portion and a vehicle compartment 3 behind it by a dash panel 4, and a luggage compartment 5 is provided at the rear portion of the vehicle body.
As shown in FIG. 3, on the floor panel 6 in the vehicle compartment 3, the dash panel 4 extends rearward from a substantially central portion in the vehicle width direction, and the inner space of the nose portion is formed. Two
A tunnel portion 7 that communicates with the is protrudingly provided. An engine 8 having the output shaft extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 1 is disposed in the tunnel portion 7.

The engine 8 is a two-rotor rotary piston engine which employs a dry sump lubrication system with the oil pan omitted, and the lower surface of the engine 8 has a flat closing plate instead of the oil pan. The engine 8 is closed by the valve 8b, and the overall height of the engine 8 is reduced by that amount. An engine cover 8a for covering an oil pump and the like attached to the front end of the engine 8 is provided at the front end of the engine 8, and a clutch housing 9 is provided at the rear end of the engine 8 at the front end of the housing 8. It is rigidly coupled via a mounting flange 9a formed integrally. Further, the transmission housing 10 is integrally rigidly connected to the rear end of the clutch housing 9. The clutch housing 9 and the transmission housing 10 are also arranged in the tunnel portion 7 together with the engine 8.

Further, the transmission housing 10
Like the conventional configuration, the extension housing 13 has an extension housing 13 integrally formed in the rear portion thereof and extended rearward. However, in the present embodiment, a tubular extension portion 13a extending further rearward from the extension housing 13 is provided.
Is integrally formed, and the rear end of the extension portion 13a is a housing 14 of a rear wheel differential gear device (differential).
Rigidly connected to. Then, the output shaft (not shown) of the transmission is extended rearward so that the extension 1
The engine 8, the clutch housing 9, the transmission housing 10 and the housing 14 of the rear wheel differential gear unit are integrally formed by being connected to the input shaft (not shown) of the rear wheel differential gear unit through the inside of 3a. The power train 15 is rigidly connected.

The driver's seat and the passenger's seat are arranged on both sides of the tunnel portion 7 in the passenger compartment 3, but in FIG. 1, only the seat back 16 of the driver's seat or the passenger's seat is shown, and The torso 17 and the lower body 18 of the driver in the driving posture are shown by hatched virtual lines. As is apparent from FIG. 1, the lower body 18 of the driver in the driving posture and the tunnel portion 7 are in an overlapped state when viewed from the side of the vehicle body 1.

2 and 3, the driver's seat is provided to the left of the tunnel section 7, and the steering wheel 19,
Although a left-hand drive vehicle in which the footrest 20, the clutch pedal 21, the brake pedal 22, and the accelerator pedal 23 are arranged on the left side of the tunnel portion 7 is shown, the engine arrangement structure of the vehicle to which this embodiment is applied is shown. Also applicable to right-hand drive vehicles.

The power train 15 includes two portions on both sides of the front portion of the engine 8 and the housing 1 of the rear wheel differential gear device.
It is mounted on the vehicle body frame at two positions on both sides of 4 via vibration-proof rubber.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a pair of left and right front side frames 24L and 24R are provided in the nose portion of the vehicle body 1 so as to extend in the vehicle longitudinal direction. , The front side frames 24L, 24R are
Cross members 25 are connected to each other at a portion slightly forward of the rear ends thereof. The cross member 25 includes a rear member 25a and a front member 25b that extend in the vehicle width direction at a predetermined distance in the vehicle front-rear direction, and left and right connecting members 25cL that connect the two members 25a and 25b.
It is formed in a ladder shape with 25 cR. And
At the left and right ends of the front member 25b, upper arms 35L, 3
5R and lower arms 36L, 36R of a double wishbone type front wheel suspension device (see FIG. 3), lower front ends 36b of bases of lower arms 36L, 36R
Are swingably attached, and the rear end portions 36a of the base portions of the lower arms 36L and 36R are swingably attached to the left and right ends of the rear member 25a.

Further, engine mounting members 26L and 26R are bridged obliquely between the rear member 25a and the rear ends of the front side frames 24L and 24R, and the front of the engine 8 is placed on these members 26L and 26R. Bracket for engine mount 37 integrally formed on both side walls of the section
L and 37R are attached via vibration-proof rubbers 27L and 27R. The engine mount member 26L,
26R is detachably attached to the rear member 25a of the cross member 25 and each of the front side frames 24L and 24R, so that the engine 8 can be removed from the vehicle body 1 regardless of the front wheel suspension device. In this way, the serviceability is improved.

Furthermore, the left and right front side frames 2
Rear ends of 4L and 24R and left and right side frames in the center of the vehicle
The front ends of the side sills 28L and 28R that form the drive shaft are torque boxes 29L and 29L having a closed cross section extending in the vehicle width direction.
Each is connected by R.

On the other hand, the rear ends of the side sills 28L and 28R are connected by a cross member 30 as shown in FIG. 2, and the left and right rear side frames which are connected to the front end of the cross member 30 and extend rearward. -M 31
L and 31R are provided, and these rear side frames 31
The housing 14 of the rear wheel differential gear device is mounted on the cross member 32 connecting between L and 31R via a vibration isolator (not shown). A fuel tank 34 is arranged above the housing 14 of the rear wheel differential gear device so as to straddle the housing 14.

Since the engine 8 employed in this embodiment is a rotary piston engine, the intake pipe 41 and the exhaust pipe 42 of the engine 8 are located at the lead-out position of the exhaust pipe 42.
Both of the engine 8 and
It is attached to the right side of the. Two intake pipes 41 are provided for each cylinder, and a total of four intake pipes 41 are led out from the engine 8 toward the internal space 2 of the vehicle body nose, and an exhaust pipe 42 is led out from the engine 8 toward the rear. Has been done.

The front ends of the four intake pipes 41 are connected to the engine 8
The valve chamber 43 (provided in the internal space 2 of the vehicle body nose portion) having a switching valve for switching the intake pipe length according to the number of revolutions of the vehicle to generate the resonance supercharging effect.
As shown in FIG. 5, the intake air introduced from the intake duct 44 at the front end of the vehicle body nose portion is connected to the air cleaner 45 arranged in the interior space 2 of the nose portion. The valve chamber 43 is supplied to the valve chamber 43 via the surge tank 46. Further, a radiator 50 is provided in the interior space 2 of the vehicle body nose portion so as to be tilted forward, so that a slant nose can be realized.

On the other hand, the exhaust gas led out from the exhaust pipe 42 to the rear of the engine 8 is a precatalyst (front catalyst converter) 47 and a main catalyst (main catalyst converter).
After being purified by passing through the air conditioner 48, it is branched to the left and right, and discharged through the left and right silencers 49L and 49R to the outside of the vehicle.

Next, in front of the engine 8, the vehicle body
The support and drive structure of the auxiliary equipment which is disposed in the internal space 2 of the groove portion and is driven by the engine 8 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8.

The above-mentioned accessories are arranged in front of the engine 8 as shown by an imaginary line A in FIG. That is, on the front surface of the engine 8, the accessory mounting bracket 51 is attached to one engine mounting bracket 37L.
And the engine cover 8a in a fixed manner, and to the accessory mounting bracket 51, an alternator 52, an air conditioner compressor 53, a power steering oil pump 54, and the like via the engine 8 via a belt. Driven auxiliaries are supported with their rotary shafts facing rearward, that is, toward the engine 8 side, and driven pulleys 52a to 54a are attached to the rotary shafts of these auxiliaries.

On the other hand, the front end of the eccentric shaft 55 of the engine 8 penetrates the engine cover 8a and projects into the internal space 2 of the vehicle body nose portion, and the drive pulley 55a is attached to the front end of the eccentric shaft 8b. Has been. And this drive pulley 55a
And a driven pump attached to the rotary shaft 56 of the water pump that projects forward through the engine cover 8a.
A belt 58 is suspended between the pulley 56a, the idler 57 rotatably attached to the engine cover 8a, and the driven pulleys 52a to 54a of the above-mentioned accessories 52 to 54. -A pentane type belt drive mechanism is configured.

A drive plug is inserted between the accessories 52 to 54 supported by the accessory mounting bracket 51.
Since there is a space in a region corresponding to the lid 55a and the idler 57, for example, the electric air pump 5
9 is attached.

FIGS. 9 to 11 are a side view, a plan view and a front view showing the arrangement structure of the auxiliary equipment arranged in the tunnel portion 7.

The auxiliary device in this case is the magnet switch 6
Starting motor (cell motor) 62 equipped with 1
And a pre-catalyst 47 (described above) which is a catalyst converter installed upstream of the exhaust system. The starting motor 62 is on the left side of the power unit 15 and the pre-catalyst 47 is on the power side. Arranged on the right side of the unit 15 in such a way that it projects laterally. Therefore, the side wall of the tunnel portion 7 at the position where the starting motor 62 and the precatalyst 47 are arranged is indicated by the symbol C in FIG.
As shown by, it is bulged toward the passenger compartment 3 side.

As described above, in the tunnel section 7,
The clutch housing 9 and the transmission housing 10 are connected to the rear of the engine 8 to form the power unit 15, and the starting motor 62 is used.
Is mounted on the power unit 15 at a position straddling both the clutch housing 9 and the transmission housing 10. Although the present embodiment is a vehicle equipped with a manual transmission,
In a vehicle equipped with an automatic transmission, the starting motor 62 will be mounted on the side wall of the housing of the automatic transmission.

At the position where the starting motor 62 is provided, as is apparent from FIGS. 9 to 11, the steering handle 19, the accelerator pedal 23 and the brake pedal 22 are located on the left side of the tunnel portion 7 (see FIG. 11). In the left-hand drive vehicle disposed on the right side), the bulging portion C is formed on the side wall of the tunnel portion 7 due to the starting motor 62, which is below the knee of the right foot of the driver sitting in the driver's seat. However, it is considered that the driver's right foot does not hinder the operation of the accelerator pedal 23. on the other hand,
In the case of a right-hand drive vehicle, the position of the precatalyst 47 is below the driver's left knee.

By the way, in this embodiment, since the engine 8 is a two-rotor / rotary-piston engine in which an oil pan is omitted and a dry sump lubrication system is adopted, two rotor housings 8c are provided. , 2d have two spark plugs 63 attached to the left side walls. Therefore, a service hole 64 for accessing the spark plug 63 is opened on the left side wall (the right side wall in FIG. 11) of the tunnel portion 7, and this service is also provided.
A lid plate 65 is provided to detachably cover the vis-hole 64. Then, a cushion material 75 is attached on the surface of the lid plate 65 on the vehicle interior 3 side, and the lid body 65 is
It functions as a foot holder that supports the occupant's feet during cornering. In addition, what is denoted by reference numeral 66 in FIG. 11 is a heat insulating / sound insulating material that covers the outer surface and the floor surface of the tunnel portion 7.

The configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention has been described above. According to the present embodiment, the engine 8 is a two-rotor-rotary rotary engine in which the oil pan is omitted and a dry sump lubrication system is adopted. It consists of a piston engine, and the engine 8
By accommodating the auxiliary components driven by the internal space 2 of the vehicle body nose portion in the manner of being attached to the front portion of the engine 8, the front projected area of the engine 8 becomes extremely small, which results in It is possible to dispose a power unit composed of a clutch 8, a transmission and a tunnel portion 7 projecting on the floor panel 6 of the passenger compartment 3. Therefore, the front-rear length of the vehicle body can be shortened, and the layout of the low center of gravity, the low vehicle height, and the low yaw inertia moment can be achieved with an extremely compact structure.

Further, the power - by housing the unit into the vehicle interior 3, a low C _D and high Daunfo - Surantono was both a scan - can be realized's, yet ensuring sufficient luggage compartment volume Became possible.

Furthermore, while being a compact and lightweight body,
The vehicle body nose portion without the power unit functions as a sufficient crushable zone against a frontal collision, and safety is ensured.

In particular, in this embodiment, since auxiliary devices such as the starting motor 62 and the precatalyst 47 are arranged below the knees of the driver in the sitting posture, the pedal operation of the driver is performed. It is possible to dispose the auxiliary device together with the engine 8 in the tunnel portion 7 in a compact manner without any trouble.

Next, the configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG.
2 to 14 will be described. In the present embodiment, as is apparent from the front view of FIG. 12, when viewed from the front of the vehicle body 1, the engine 8 is tilted to the right (left side in FIG. 12) by an angle θ (about 30 ° in FIG. 12). It is installed on the No. 1 engine, which allows the engine to use the closing plate 8 of the engine 8.
An auxiliary machine is arranged in the space formed below a.

In this case, the auxiliary equipment is the oil cooler (or automatic transmission oil cooler) 67 of the engine 8 and the upstream of the precatalyst 47 for improving the exhaust purification performance of the precatalyst 47. And an electric air pump 68 for supplying air to the side, and the air pump 68 is arranged behind the oil cooler 67. An air pipe 69 extending in the vehicle width direction below the engine 8 is connected between the air pump 68 and the exhaust system.
A silencer 70 is connected to the back of the air pump 68 via a short air pipe 71.

Also in this embodiment, the auxiliary equipment is used as the tunnel portion 7.
It becomes possible to arrange it compactly together with the engine 8.

In the first and second embodiments described above,
The entire engine 8 is completely housed in the tunnel portion 7. However, even if the front end portion of the engine 8 is slightly projected into the internal space 2 of the nose portion, the same as in the above-described embodiment. It goes without saying that the effect of can be achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a perspective front view of the same.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view showing a mount structure of a front portion of the engine.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing the configuration of the front part of the vehicle body.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view showing an example of an auxiliary machine arrangement structure in front of the engine.

[Figure 7] The same front view

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the same.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged side view showing an auxiliary device arrangement structure behind the engine.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the same.

FIG. 11 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 12 is a front view showing the configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of the same.

FIG. 14 is a side view of the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Car Body 2 Inner Space of Nose Section 3 Vehicle Room 4 Dash Panel 5 Cargo Room 7 Tunnel Section 8 Engine 9 Clutch Housing 10 Transmission Housing 11 Front Wheel 12 Rear Wheel 14 Rear Wheel Differential Gear Housing 15 Power Train 24L, 24R Front side frame 25 Cross member 27L, 27R Vibration isolator for engine mount 28L, 28R Side sill 29L, 29R Torque box 35L, 35R Upper arm 36L, 36R Lower arm 41 Intake pipe 42 Exhaust pipe 43 Valve Chamber 45 Air cleaner 46 Surge tank 47 Precatalyst 62 Starting motor 63 Spark plug 64 Service hole 65 Lid plate

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tomohiro Hori 3-1, Shinchi Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture Mazda Motor Corporation

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A tunnel portion is provided at a central portion of a floor panel in a passenger compartment, and an engine is arranged inside the tunnel portion in a manner to be present on a side of a lower body of a driver in a driving posture. An accessory arrangement structure for a vehicle, wherein an accessory is arranged below the knee. 2. The auxiliary equipment arranging structure for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary equipment comprises a starting motor. 3. The catalytic converter for purifying exhaust gas, wherein the auxiliary device is a catalyst converter.
3. The vehicle auxiliary equipment arrangement structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein 4. The auxiliary machine arrangement structure for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a starting motor is arranged on one side of the engine and a catalyst converter is arranged on the other side. 5. A service hole for the engine is provided on an outer wall of the tunnel portion, and a cover plate of the service hole doubles as a foot holder. The vehicle auxiliary equipment arrangement structure according to any one of the above. 6. The engine is mounted on a vehicle body while tilting to the side when viewed from the front of the vehicle body, and the auxiliary machine is arranged in a space generated below the engine by the tilting. The accessory arrangement structure for a vehicle according to claim 1. 7. The auxiliary machine arrangement structure for a vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the auxiliary machine comprises an oil cooler and an air pump arranged behind the oil cooler.