Vehicle front structure
09950603 ยท 2018-04-24
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
B62D21/15
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B60Y2306/01
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B62D21/11
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
International classification
B62D21/15
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
Abstract
A vehicle front structure includes a connecting member (10) formed of a belt-shaped metal plate, the connecting member (10) has a plate-shaped bottom section (11), a first folded section (12) formed by folding a circumferential edge of the bottom section (11) and a circumferential wall section (13) that is formed in a continuous annular shape and that continues to the bottom section (11) via a folded section (12), and the bottom section (11) of the connecting member is formed in a V shape upward or downward in a longitudinal direction.
Claims
1. A vehicle front structure comprising: a connecting member formed of a belt-shaped metal plate configured to couple a power unit and a vehicle body, wherein the connecting member has a first fastening section provided at one end portion of the connecting member in a longitudinal direction and a second fastening section provided at other end portion of the connecting member in the longitudinal direction, the first fastening section being fastened to a connecting bracket fixed to a damper housing of the vehicle body and the second fastening section being fastened to a mount section of the power unit, wherein the connecting member includes a plate-shaped bottom section, a first folded section formed by folding a circumferential edge of the bottom section and a circumferential wall section that is formed in a continuous annular shape and that continues to the bottom section via the first folded section, wherein the bottom section of the connecting member is formed between the first fastening section and the second fastening section in the longitudinal direction and is formed in a V shape protruding upward or downward in the longitudinal direction.
2. The vehicle front structure according to claim 1, wherein a second folded section bent upward or downward is formed at the bottom section, and wherein a hole forming section is formed in the first folded section of the connecting member at a position that corresponds to a position where the second folded section is formed at the bottom section, wherein the hole forming section includes a hole which is formed to a size such that the circumferential wall section remains.
3. The vehicle front structure according to claim 1, wherein the connecting member connects the mount section of the power unit and the damper housing of the vehicle body in the longitudinal direction with respect to a front side frame of the vehicle body.
4. The vehicle front structure according to claim 2, wherein the connecting member connects the mount section of the power unit and the damper housing of the vehicle body in the longitudinal direction with respect to a front side frame of the vehicle body.
5. The vehicle front structure according to claim 2, wherein a third folded section bent in a lateral direction is formed in the connecting member at a position different from the second folded section of the bottom section when seen in a plan view, and wherein a bead shape that does not cross the second folded section is formed at the third folded section.
6. The vehicle front structure according to claim 3, wherein the connecting bracket includes a sidewall section fixed to an inner sidewall of the damper housing of the vehicle body and, a lateral wall section having a fastening seat surface formed by folding a lower end of the sidewall section toward a center in a vehicle body widthwise direction, wherein a plurality of fixing sections for fixing the side wall section to the inner sidewall of the damper housing of the vehicle body is formed at front and rear sides of the sidewall section, wherein the plurality of fixing sections respectively include a plurality of coupling sections arranged in upward and downward direction, wherein the plurality of fixing sections are arranged so that each of central axes of the plurality of fixing sections are defined by alignments of the plurality of coupling sections, respectively, and, among the plurality of fixing sections, the central axis of the fixing section which is positioned closer to the rear sides more inclined rearward than the central axis of the fixing section which is positioned closer to the front side, and wherein bead shapes in a vertical direction are formed between the plurality of fixing sections.
7. The vehicle front, structure according to claim 3, wherein the connecting bracket includes a clearance-shaped section with respect to a cable of an electronic part and an attachment seat surface configured to attach a band clip of the cable.
8. The vehicle front structure according to claim 7, wherein the second, fastening section of the connecting member is arranged at the substantially same vertical height as the first fastening section.
9. The vehicle front structure according to claim 8, wherein the mount section of the power unit includes a front fastening section and a rear fastening section fixed to the front side frame at front and rear sides of the folded section of the forward side of the front side frame.
10. The vehicle front structure according to claim 3, further comprising the power unit including a fuel cell stack, a motor and a, transmission, the front side frame and a sub-frame fixed to the front side frame, wherein the power unit is mounted on a sub-frame, wherein the fuel cell stack is fixed to the mount section and a stack sub-frame fastening section of the sub-frame, wherein the motor and the transmission are fixed to a trio or/mission sub-frame fastening, section of the sub-frame, wherein the front side frame is folded and deformed upon collision from a forward side, and wherein the sub-frame is able to be folded and deformed in a V shape protruding downward upon collision from the forward side to fall from the front side frame.
11. The vehicle front structure according to claim 10, further comprising a power control unit, wherein, in the power unit, the fuel cell stack is arranged above the motor and the transmission and, wherein the power control unit is arranged in front of the power unit.
12. A vehicle front structure comprising: a connecting member formed of a belt-shaped metal plate configured to couple a power unit and a vehicle body, wherein the connecting member includes a plate-shaped bottom section, a first folded section formed by folding a circumferential edge of the bottom section and a circumferential wall section that is formed in a continuous annular shape and that continues to the bottom section via the first folded section, wherein the bottom section of the connecting member is formed in a V shape protruding upward or downward in a longitudinal direction, and wherein a second folded section bent upward or downward is formed at the bottom section, and wherein a hole forming section is formed in the first folded section of the connecting member at a position that corresponds to a position where the second folded section is formed at the bottom section, wherein the hole forming section includes a hole which is formed to a size such that the circumferential wall section remains.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
(18) Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings. Further, directions of forward, rearward, leftward, rightward, and so on, in the following description are the same as directions of a vehicle in the following description unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(19) In addition, an arrow FR showing a forward side of a vehicle, an arrow LH showing a left side of the vehicle, and an arrow UP showing an upward side of the vehicle are shown at appropriate places in the drawings used for the following description.
(20) As shown in
(21) Here, as shown in
(22) Upper members 114a extending in the vehicle longitudinal direction are installed at both side sections in the vehicle body widthwise direction above the engine room R1. The upper members 114a are disposed above the front side frame 114 and outside in the vehicle body widthwise direction, and the damper housing 104 is installed to cross between the upper member 114a and the front side frame 114. A radiator core support 114b is bridged between front sections of the left and right upper members 114a. The front sections of the upper members 114a are curved downward and disposed outside in the vehicle body widthwise direction of the front section of the front side frame 114, and the front sections are coupled to each other. A front bumper beam 114c is coupled to a forward side of the front side frame 114 via a bumper beam extension 114d to configure a circumferential wall section formed in a continuous annular shape.
(23) Returning to
(24) The connecting member 10 extends in a longitudinal direction while being appropriately bent. The connecting member 10 fastens a front fastening section 14 (second fastening section) having a front end section to the mount section 102 and fastens a rear fastening section 15 (first fastening section) having a rear end section to the damper housing 104. A mount-side fastening section 102a configured to fasten the front fastening section 14 is formed at the mount section 102, and a connecting bracket 106 configured to fasten the rear fastening section 15 is joined to the damper housing 104.
(25) As shown in
(26) Further, the V-shaped section 16V may be formed in an inverted V shape protruding upward, instead of the V shape protruding downward in the longitudinal direction.
(27) As shown in
(28) As shown in
(29) As shown in
(30) The sidewall section 111 has a front fixing section 107, an intermediate fixing section 108 and a rear fixing section 109 formed in forward and rearward direction. The fixing sections 107, 108 and 109 have a plurality of spot-welded sections SP (plurality of coupling sections) formed in upward and downward direction, and central axes SL1, SL2 and SL3 defined by the alignments of the spot-welded sections SP become gradually more inclined toward rearward as the central axe is positioned at more rear side. The beads 110a and 110b extending upward and downward are formed between the central axes SL1, SL2 and SL3 formed in forward and rearward direction.
(31) As shown in
(32) The front fastening section 14 and the rear fastening section 15 of the connecting member 10 are disposed at substantially the same vertical height T1. The connecting member 10 connects the mount section 102 of the power unit 101 fastened to the front side frame 114 and the connecting bracket 106 of the damper housing 104 in the longitudinal direction, and the V-shaped section 16V is disposed between the mount section 102 and the connecting bracket 106.
(33) As shown in
(34) As shown in
(35) The fuel cell stack 123 is elastically supported both of left and right sides of the front section by the left and right mount sections 102 of the front side frame 114, and left and right intermediate sections of a rear lower section are supported by a stack sub-frame fastening section 126. The front section and the rear section of the motor 124 and the transmission 125 are supported at front and rear motor/mission sub-frame fastening sections 127a and 127b, respectively. The stack sub-frame fastening section 126 and the motor/mission sub-frame fastening sections 127a and 127b are formed at a sub-frame 128 having a double cross form when seen in a plan view.
(36) As shown in
(37) The sub-frame 128 couples frame coupling sections 128a disposed at four corners when seen in a plan view to the front side frame 114. The front side frame 114 folds and deforms in a lateral direction from three folded sections substantially horizontally upon collision from the forward side. Meanwhile, the sub-frame 128 has front and rear split configurations, is folded and deformed in a V shape protruding downward upon collision from the forward side, and falls downward from the front side frame 114 together with the power unit 101.
(38) As shown in
(39) As shown in
(40) As shown in
(41) As described above, according to the vehicle front structure of the embodiment, since the connecting member 10 formed of the belt-shaped metal plate includes the plate-shaped bottom section 11, a folded section 12 formed by folding a circumferential edge of the bottom section 11 and the circumferential wall section 13 that is formed in a continuous annular shape and that continues to the bottom section 11 via the folded section 12 and the bottom section 11 of the connecting member 10 is formed in the V shape upward or downward in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, it is possible to provide sufficient strength and stiffness in the connecting member 10 by the folded section 12 and the circumferential wall section 13, an absorption amount of energy by deformation can be increased, and support stiffness of the power unit 101 can be increased to decrease vibrations of the power unit 101.
(42) In addition, upon full flat collision, since the connecting member 10 is deformed while being folded in the V shape to absorb energy, absorption of energy upon deformation of the front side frame 114 is not interfered with and stress concentration of the fastening sections 14 and 15 can be suppressed.
(43) In addition, upon small overlap collision, since the connecting member 10 is deformed while flatly stretching the V shape to absorb energy, stress concentration of the fastening sections 14 and 15 can be similarly suppressed, and the power unit 101 can be suppressed from jumping out to the front.
(44) In this way, in either of small overlap collision and full flat collision, energy absorption by the connecting member 10 becomes possible, stress concentration of the fastening sections 14 and 15 with respect to the power unit 101 and the vehicle body 103 of the connecting member 10 can be avoided, vibrations of the vehicle body can be decreased, and collision performance can be increased.
(45) In addition, according to the vehicle front structure, since the hole forming section 17A is formed in the connecting member 10 and the hole forming section 17A forms the holes 17 at positions that corresponds to or coincide with the second folded sections 16a, 16b and 16c in the first folded section 12 and the holes 17 are formed to a size at which the circumferential wall section 13 remains. Therefore, support stiffness of the power unit 101 due to the connecting member 10 is not lost due to the annular circumferential wall section 13, folding and deformation of the V shape of the connecting member 10 upon full flat collision becomes easy because a low strength section can be set from the folded sections 16a, 16b and 16c serving as starting points of folding when the connecting member 10 is deformed upon collision, and since deformation of the front side frame 114 is not further interfered with the connecting member 10, an energy absorption amount of the front side frame 114 can be increased.
(46) In addition, according to the vehicle front structure, since the connecting member 10 connects the mount section 102 of the power unit 101 the damper housing 104 of the vehicle body 103 in the longitudinal direction with respect to the front side frame 114 of the vehicle body 103. Therefore, a sufficient deformation space is set between the mount section 102 of the power unit 101 and the damper housing 104 of the vehicle body 103. Accordingly, upon full flat collision, the connecting member 10 does not interfere with absorption of energy upon deformation of the front side frame 114 as the connecting member 10 is deformed while being folded in a V shape. Additionally, upon small overlap collision, the power unit 101 can be suppressed from jumping out to the front as the V shape is deformed while being flatly stretched.
(47) In addition, according to the vehicle front structure, since the connecting member 10 forms the folded section 18 at a position different from the folded sections 16a, 16b and 16c of the bottom section 11 when seen in a plan view and forms the bead shapes 19a and 19b that do not cross the folded sections 16a, 16b and 16c at the folded section 18. Therefore, a disposition space of the power unit 101 and peripheral parts can be secured by displacing the connecting member 10 in the lateral direction without interference with deformation of the folded sections 16a, 16b and 16c of the connecting member 10.
(48) In addition, according to the vehicle front structure, since the rear fastening section 15 of the connecting member 10 is fastened to the connecting bracket 106 fixed to the inner sidewall 105 of the damper housing 104, the connecting bracket 106 includes the sidewall section 111 fixed to the damper housing 104 and the lateral wall section 113 having the fastening seat surface 112 formed by folding the lower end of the sidewall section 111 toward a center in the vehicle body widthwise direction, the sidewall section 111 has plurality of the fixing sections 107, 108 and 109 at front and rear sides, the plurality of fixing sections 107, 108 and 109 extend in the vertical direction and in sequence from the fixing section of the forward side, the central axes SL1, SL2 and SL3 are gradually inclined rearward, and the beads 110a and 110b in the vertical direction are formed between the plurality of fixing sections 107, 108 and 109. Therefore, even when the connecting bracket 106 configured to fasten the connecting member 10 is fixed to the damper housing 104 by welding, support strength can be improved by a load in a shearing direction of a welded section SP, and the power unit 101 can be further suppressed from jumping out.
(49) In addition, according to the vehicle front structure, since the rear fastening section 15 of the connecting member 10 is fastened to the connecting bracket 106 fixed to the damper housing 104 and the connecting bracket 106 has the clearance-shaped section 120 with respect to the cable 119 of the electronic parts 118 and the attachment seat surface 122 configured to attach the band clip 121 of the cable 119. Therefore, overhanging of the cable 119 into the mounting space of the power unit 101 can be suppressed, and the mounting space of the power unit 101 can be effectively used.
(50) In addition, according to the vehicle front structure, since the front fastening section 14 of the connecting member 10 is fastened to the mount section 102 of the power unit 101 and disposed at the same vertical height T1 as the rear fastening section 15. Therefore, upon full flat collision, the connecting member 10 can be easily deformed while being folded in a V shape, and upon small overlap collision, since the V shape can be easily deformed while being flatly stretched, energy can be effectively absorbed.
(51) In addition, according to the vehicle front structure, since the mount section 102 of the power unit 101 has the front fastening section 116 and the rear fastening section 117 fixed to the front and rear sides of the folded section 115 of the forward side of the front side frame 114. Therefore, upon small overlap collision, when the front side frame 114 is folded at the folded section 115, since the front fastening section 116 and the rear fastening section 117 of the mount section 102 are similarly broken, movement in the vehicle body widthwise direction of the mount section 102 is suppressed, and the connecting member 10 maintains a posture in the longitudinal direction. Accordingly, separation of the connecting bracket 106 from the damper housing 104 can be suppressed, the connecting bracket 106 and the connecting member 10 can be supported by a strong shearing load, and the power unit 101 can be further suppressed from jumping out.
(52) In addition, according to the vehicle front structure, since the power unit 101 includes the fuel cell stack 123, the motor 124 and the transmission 125 and is mounted on the sub-frame 128 fixed to the front side frame 114, the fuel cell stack 123 is fixed to the mount section 102 and the stack sub-frame fastening section 126 of the sub-frame 128, the motor 124 and the transmission 125 are fixed to the motor/mission sub-frame fastening sections 127a and 127b of the sub-frame 128, the front side frame 114 is folded and deformed leftward and rightward upon collision from a forward side thereof, and the sub-frame 128 can be folded and deformed in a V shape protruding downward upon collision from a forward side to fall from the front side frame 114. Therefore, upon full flat collision and small overlap collision, the power unit 101 can be suppressed from being retracted and deforming the dash lower panel DL toward the vehicle compartment.
(53) In addition, according to the vehicle front structure, since the fuel cell stack 123 is disposed above the motor 124 and the transmission 125 and the power control unit 129 is disposed at a forward side in the power unit 101. Therefore, the power unit 101 and the power control unit 129 can be efficiently disposed, and the mounting space of the power unit 101 can be effectively used.
(54) Further, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment but various design changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the present invention is not limited to the configuration in which the mount section overhanging outward in the vehicle body widthwise direction of the power unit and the damper housing overhanging inward in the vehicle body widthwise direction of the vehicle body are connected by the connecting member but may be applied to a configuration in which the connecting member connects other portions. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the fuel cell vehicle but may be applied to an engine vehicle including an internal combustion engine, an electrically driven vehicle including a secondary battery instead of a fuel cell, or a hybrid vehicle including an engine and a motor.
(55) Further, the configuration according to the embodiment is an example of the present invention and various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, even when the circumferential wall section formed in a continuous annular shape is cut out at a portion of an end section in the longitudinal direction, it is included in the present invention as long as the above-mentioned effects are exhibited.
(56) While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated above, it should be understood that these are exemplary of the invention and are not to be considered as limiting. Additions, omissions, substitutions, and other modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as being limited by the foregoing description, and is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.