Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Structural detail
Reexamination Certificate
2002-06-04
2003-09-16
Patel, Kiran (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Structural detail
C296S182100, C296S203010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06619729
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a side body structure of a vehicle in which a door-opening is provided for getting on and off the vehicle, and the door-opening is opened and closed by a front door and a rear door of a freestyle type door.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In conventional, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,836 corresponding to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 2-20423, there has been disclosed a body structure of a vehicle in which a door-opening is provided in a side body, and the door-opening is opened and closed by a front door and a rear door which constitute a free-style type door.
In the prior art, a door opening with a center pillar less structure is formed in a side body of the vehicle. And, a front door is supported to open and close via front door hinges on a front line portion of the door-opening, while a rear door is supported to open and close via rear door hinges on a rear line portion of the door-opening.
The above-mentioned door-opening is opened and dosed by means of the front door and the rear door by setting the side-sill to the lower line. In generally, the side-sill is formed as a closed cross sectional member extending in the vehicle longitudinal direction at side portions of a floor panel. However, in a vehicle having a-door opening with a center pillar less structure, at a time of a side collision of the vehicle, moving amount of the side body and the doors to inside of a crew's cabin become considerably larger than in a usual type of side body. This problem is remarkable, when the size of the door-opening is set to be larger in order to secure the convenience in getting on and off the vehicle.
In order to enhance the convenience in getting on and off the vehicle having such a body structure, it is preferable to determine the above-mentioned door opening to be larger. However, it is difficult to secure sufficient body rigidity and tortional rigidity of the vehicle body when the door opening is so large.
Further, in the above-mentioned body structure, a latch is provided at an upper part in forward of the rear door, and a keeper is mounted to a portion corresponding to the latch in the door opening. However, when rigidity of the mounting portion of the keeper is not sufficient, moving amount of the side body and the doors to inside of a crew's cabin at a time of a side collision of the vehicle become larger. This problem is also remarkable, when the size of the door opening is set to be larger in order to secure the convenience in getting on and off the vehicle, as explained above.
In generally, a fuel pipe extending from a fuel tank is arranged so that an end thereof is located to a side portion of the vehicle body between a lower line portion of a rear window-opening and a wheel house. The side portion of the vehicle body is set relatively slender due to design requirement, although it has to bear load input from a rear suspension. This lower the body strength, and there is a problem that positional deviation of a filler cap mounted on the end of the fuel pipe is apt to occur when the vehicle is subject to a collision.
Specifically, in a vehicle side body having a free-style type of doors as described above, the body strength of the side body in which the fuel pipe is arranged is further lowered when the above-mentioned type of door-opening is set larger in order to secure the convenience in getting on and off the vehicle,
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a side body structure of a vehicle which is capable of enhancing the body rigidity of the vehicle regardless of the size of the door-opening. It is preferable that the above-mentioned object is achieved in a vehicle having a side body with a free-style type of doors.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a side body structure of a vehicle which is capable of enhancing the rigidity of the locking portion for the door is enhanced regardless of the size of the door-opening. It is preferable that the above-mentioned object is achieved in a vehicle having a side body with a free-style type of doors.
Further, another object of the present invention is to provide a side body structure of a vehicle which is capable of receiving efficiently a collision load inputted into the side body at the time of a side collision of the vehicle, thereby restraining the moving amount of the side body and the doors into a crew's cabin at a time of a side collision of the vehicle. It is preferable that the above-mentioned object is achieved in a vehicle having a center pillar less type side body.
Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to provide a side body structure of a vehicle which is capable of restraining deformation of the side body portion near the fuel pipe by securing sufficient body rigidity. It is preferable that the above-mentioned object is achieved in a vehicle having a center pillar less type side body.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a side body structure of a vehicle having a door-opening which is opened and closed by doors, wherein an annular door-opening member is provided along said door-opening, the annular door-opening member being formed in closed cross sectional shape by a side outer panel and a side inner panel jointed to inside of the side outer panel, and wherein said door-opening member is provided with an annular reinforcement which integrally and continuously extends in an annular manner along the door opening.
The above-mentioned side outer panel may consist of a roof side rail outer, a front pillar outer, a hinge pillar outer, a side-sill outer, a rear pillar outer and the like. And the above-mentioned side inner panel may consist of a roof side rail inner, a front pillar inner, a hinge pillar inner, a side-sill inner, a rear pillar inner and the like. The above-mentioned annular reinforcement is preferably formed in one body, however it may be constructed by connecting separate parts in an annular manner.
According to the structure mentioned above, a closed cross sectional annular door-opening member is provided along a periphery of the door-opening, and the door-opening member is provided with an annular reinforcement which integrally and continuously extends in an annular manner along the periphery of the door-opening. By employing this construction, it is possible to enhance the body rigidity of the vehicle regardless of the size of the door-opening. Specifically, it is possible to restrain the movement of the side body and the doors toward the inside of the crew's cabin, in a center pillar less type of vehicle, when the vehicle is subject to a side collision. Further, since the tortional rigidity of the vehicle body is enhanced by the annular reinforcement, it is possible to enhance the operating stability of the vehicle.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned annular reinforcement is jointed between the side outer panel and the side inner panel, and is disposed in a closed cross sectional portion of the door-opening member.
In this case, since the annular reinforcement is disposed in a closed cross sectional portion of the door-opening member, the strength of the door-opening member is enhanced, thereby, it is possible to further enhance the body rigidity and the tortional rigidity of the vehicle body.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a rear pillar reinforcement extends rearward along a lower line portion of an rear window opening provided in a rear portion of the vehicle is provided in a rear line portion of the door-opening member.
The lower line portion of the rear window opening is set relatively slender due to design requirement of the vehicle, although it has to bear load input from a rear suspension. However, by employing the construction mentioned above, it is possible to sufficiently reinforce the lower line portion of the rear window opening by the rear pillar reinforcement and enhance the strength thereof.
In one embodimen
Kimura Takayuki
Matsuoka Hidenori
Shibutake Nobuyuki
Mazda Motor Corporation
Patel Kiran
Studebaker Donald R.
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