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JP-2026075815-A - Vehicle pillar

JP2026075815AJP 2026075815 AJP2026075815 AJP 2026075815AJP-2026075815-A

Abstract

[Problem] To increase the strength of the vehicle pillar against the load applied during a collision, while also making it possible to reduce the weight of the pillar. [Solution] One embodiment is a vehicle pillar (10) comprising a main member (20) having a closed cross-section and a reinforcing member (50) disposed inside the main member. The reinforcing member has an outer wall (51) disposed on the outside side of the vehicle, a front wall (52) disposed on the front side, a rear wall (53) disposed on the rear side, and inclined support walls (57, 58) that connect the outer wall and the front wall, and the outer wall and the rear wall in a planar manner in at least a portion of the longitudinal direction of the reinforcing member. The reinforcing member is welded to the main member by the outer wall, the front wall, and the rear wall. [Selection Diagram] Figure 3

Inventors

  • 木戸間 由訓

Assignees

  • 豊田鉄工株式会社

Dates

Publication Date
20260511
Application Date
20241023

Claims (6)

  1. It is a vehicle pillar, It comprises a main member having a closed cross-section and a reinforcing member disposed inside the main member, The reinforcing member comprises an outer wall positioned on the outside of the vehicle, a front wall positioned on the front side, a rear wall positioned on the rear side, and inclined support walls that connect the outer wall and the front wall, and the outer wall and the rear wall, in a planar manner in at least a portion of the longitudinal direction of the reinforcing member. A vehicle pillar in which the reinforcing member is welded to the main member at the outer wall, the front wall, and the rear wall.
  2. A vehicle pillar according to claim 1, wherein the outer wall of the reinforcing member has a recessed bead extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle pillar.
  3. A vehicle pillar according to claim 1, wherein the front wall and the rear wall each have a plurality of welding protrusions along the longitudinal direction for welding to the main member, and each of the welding protrusions has a planar welding surface.
  4. A vehicle pillar according to claim 3, wherein the inclined support wall is in contact with at least one of the plurality of welding protrusions of the front wall and the rear wall.
  5. A vehicle pillar according to claim 1, wherein the outer angle formed by the inclined support wall with respect to the outer wall is greater than the outer angle formed with respect to the front wall and the rear wall.
  6. A vehicle pillar according to claim 1, wherein the inclined support wall has an outer angle of 40 degrees or more with respect to the outer wall.

Description

This invention relates to a vehicle pillar. Vehicle pillars are generally structural members of the vehicle body with a closed cross-section, and are typically composed of an outer member and an inner member. Between the outer and inner members, a reinforcing member, also called a hinge reinforcement, is provided in a certain longitudinal range (particularly including the height of the door hinge). Such a reinforcing member is designed not only to reinforce the door hinge mounting area but also to prevent the pillar from bending significantly inward in the center during a side collision, thereby threatening the occupant's survival space. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2021-095048 describes such a vehicle pillar. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2021-095048 This is a perspective view of the B-pillar of a vehicle as one embodiment.This is a perspective view of a reinforcing member having an inclined support wall.This is a cross-section of the B-pillar.This is a cross-sectional view of the B pillar in Figure 3 when it is deformed under a bending moment.This figure shows the relationship between load and displacement (stroke) of a B-pillar having the cross-section shown in Figure 3.This is a cross-sectional view of the B-pillar as a comparative example.This is a cross-sectional view of the B pillar in Figure 6 when it is deformed under a bending moment.This figure shows the relationship between the load and displacement of the B-pillar corresponding to each size of exterior angle in Table 1.This is a cross-sectional view of a B-pillar in which, as another embodiment, an inclined support wall is also provided on the outer member. The embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. [B-pillar] Figure 1 shows a B-pillar 10 of a vehicle as one embodiment. The B-pillar 10 (also called the center pillar) is a structural member that makes up the side of the vehicle body and extends vertically to connect the roof side rail 12 and the side sill 14. The rear door is attached to the B-pillar 10 via a door hinge. The B-pillar 10 provides strength in particular when the vehicle is subjected to a side collision. The B-pillar 10 is generally curved in a convex shape towards the outside. The B-pillar 10 is installed with an incline such that the upper end is behind the lower end. The features of the B-pillar 10 will be described below, but in other embodiments, the features described below can also be applied to the A-pillar (front pillar) and C-pillar (rear pillar). As shown in Figure 3, the B-pillar 10 comprises a main member 20 having a closed cross-section. The main member 20 can be composed of an elongated outer member 30 and an inner member 40 in the vertical direction. Both the outer member 30 and the inner member 40 can be formed by press forming of steel plates. The outer member 30 generally has a hat-shaped cross-section and has an outer wall 31 located on the outside side of the vehicle, a front wall 32 located on the front side, a rear wall 33 located on the rear side, and flanges 34 and 35 extending away from each other from the ends of the front wall 32 and the rear wall 33. A recessed bead 36 extending in the longitudinal direction of the B-pillar 10 can be provided on the outer wall 31 of the outer member 30. The depth of the recessed bead 36 is not limited. In another embodiment not shown, the recessed bead on the outer wall 31 may be omitted. The inner member 40 closes the open side of the outer member 30 which has a hat-shaped cross-section. The inner member 40 has flanges 42 and 44 on both the front and rear edges. The flanges 42 and 44 of the inner member 40 are superimposed on the flanges 34 and 35 of the outer member 30, respectively, and joined by, for example, spot welding. [Reinforcement member] As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the B-pillar 10 includes a reinforcing member 50 inside the main member 20. The outer wall 31 of the outer member 30 is provided with a door hinge fixing portion 37 (see Figure 1) to which a door hinge for the rear door is fixed, and the reinforcing member 50 can also serve to reinforce this door hinge fixing portion 37. Such a reinforcing member 50 is also called a hinge reinforcement. The reinforcing member 50 can be formed by cold, warm, or hot pressing, and high-tensile steel plates or ultra-high-tensile steel plates can be used. The thickness of the reinforcing member 50 is not limited and can be set to a size according to requirements. The reinforcing member 50 has an outer wall 51 located on the outside of the vehicle, a front wall 52 located on the front side, and a rear wall 53 located on the rear side. The reinforcing member 50 is joined to the outer member 30 by, for example, spot welding, using the outer wall 51, front wall 52, and rear wall 53. The outer wall 51 and front wall 52 of the reinforcing member 50 can be provided with welding protrusions 54 that project toward the outer member 30 and have a flat weldin