JP-7854772-B2 - Vehicle structure

JP7854772B2JP 7854772 B2JP7854772 B2JP 7854772B2JP-7854772-B2

Inventors

濱岡由典

Assignees

ダイハツ工業株式会社

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20220310

Claims (1)

At the front of the vehicle, a pair of left and right front side members are positioned spaced apart from each other in the vehicle width direction and extend in the vehicle's longitudinal direction, The floor portion, which is positioned above these pair of front side members and forms a floor tunnel, A pair of left and right tunnel reinforcements, each having a pair of reinforcement body portions extending in the vehicle longitudinal direction along the floor tunnel portion, spaced apart from each other in the vehicle width direction, on the inward side in the vehicle width direction from the pair of front side members, and a pair of front extension portions that are bent or curved outward in the vehicle width direction from the front of the pair of reinforcement body portions and joined to the pair of front side members, It is equipped with, In the vehicle structure, of the pair of front side members, a pair of rearward-flaring inclined portions are provided at a position further rearward than the joint with the pair of front extensions, with the rearward-flaring portion being further outward in the vehicle width direction, The vehicle further includes a cross member that bridges and connects the front ends of the pair of rearward-flaring inclined sections, and is joined to the floor section in a configuration that extends straight in the vehicle width direction so as to linearly cross the lower opening region of the floor tunnel section and the pair of reinforcement body sections in both a bottom view and a vehicle front-rear view. A vehicle structure characterized in that the front extension portion of each tunnel reinforcement, the front region of the reinforcement body, the region of the cross member near the outer end in the vehicle width direction, and a part of each front side member are configured as frame-shaped structural parts that form a frame shape when viewed from the bottom of the vehicle and are directly or indirectly joined to each other.

Description

This invention relates to the structure of a vehicle, such as an automobile. One example of a vehicle structure is described in Patent Document 1. The vehicle structure described in the document includes a pair of front side members as structural members at the front of the vehicle. These front side members are positioned at a distance from each other in the width direction of the vehicle and extend in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle at the lower part of the vehicle. On the other hand, a floor tunnel is provided approximately in the center of the vehicle's floor in the width direction, and a tunnel reinforcement (inner torque member) is provided as a means of reinforcing this floor tunnel. This tunnel reinforcement consists of a reinforcement body that extends in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle along the base of the floor tunnel, and a front extension that bends or curves outward in the width direction from the front of the reinforcement body and has one end joined to the front side member. This front extension corresponds to a so-called inner torque box, and the presence of this front extension further enhances the strength of the vehicle body. However, the aforementioned prior art still had room for improvement, as described below. In other words, for example, when a vehicle is a hybrid or battery electric vehicle, a method of mounting a relatively large battery on the floor (front floor) is often employed. In this case, it is desirable that a pair of front side members be positioned further outward in the vehicle width direction than the battery. One way to achieve this is to provide a pair of rearward-flaring inclined sections on a pair of front side members, which are inclined in a plan view so that they are positioned further outward in the vehicle width direction towards the rear of the vehicle, and to position these rearward-flaring inclined sections on the outward side (left and right sides) of the battery in the vehicle width direction. However, adopting this method makes it impossible to have the front side member and the tunnel reinforcement extend in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle at approximately the same distance, resulting in a large distance between the rearward-flaring inclined section and the tunnel reinforcement in the vehicle width direction. Furthermore, the front end of the rearward-flaring inclined section is bent in plan view and acts as a rigid point of failure. Therefore, when a large load is applied to the front side member from the front of the vehicle, the front side member is prone to bending deformation starting from this front end. As a result, there is a risk of a decrease in vehicle body strength. Furthermore, the floor tunnel and tunnel reinforcement can only be installed on the front side of the vehicle, beyond the battery mounting location, thus reducing their size. As a result, the vehicle's structural strength will decrease even further. This will worsen the vehicle's load-bearing capacity (impact resistance) in the event of a frontal collision. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2021-88270 This is a side cross-sectional view of a main part showing an example of a vehicle structure according to the present invention.Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of the main part.Figure 1 is a schematic bottom view of the main part.Figure 3 is a schematic bottom view of the main parts of the vehicle structure with the suspension members removed.This is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line V-V in Figure 2.This is a schematic cross-sectional view of line VI-VI in Figure 2.This is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII in Figure 2.This is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another example of a vehicle structure . Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. The vehicle structure A shown in Figures 1 to 7 comprises a pair of left and right front side members 3 (shown as halftone patterns in Figures 3 and 4) as skeletal members of the front of the vehicle 1, suspension members 4 as components of the front suspension that suspends the front wheels 19, a floor section 11 with a floor tunnel section 12 formed therein, a pair of left and right tunnel reinforcements 13 (shown as light gray areas in Figure 4), a cross member 6, additional cross members 7A and 7B, and a battery 8. It also comprises a pair of left and right frame-shaped structural sections B. Note that the additional cross members 7A and 7B do not correspond to the cross members in claim 1 of this application. A pair of front side members 3 extend in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle at the lower front of the vehicle 1, spaced apart from each other in the vehicle width direction. As shown in Figures 5 and 6, each front side member 3 is constructed using, for example, a member with a hat-shaped cross-section, and is welded to the lower surface of the floor portion 11 where the fl