Vehicle cowl portion structure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9452785-B2
Application number	US-201615019789-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 9, 2016
Priority date	Feb 16, 2015
Publication date	Sep 27, 2016
Grant date	Sep 27, 2016

Abstract

A vehicle cowl portion structure includes: a cowl top panel extending in a vehicle width direction; a cowl inner panel extending in the vehicle width direction at a lower side of the cowl top panel, including an inner panel-side joint portion joined to the cowl top panel and an extension wall extending from the inner panel-side joint portion toward the lower side and having a bent portion; and a reinforcement extending in the vehicle width direction, and including (i) an upper end portion that is joined to the cowl inner panel or the cowl top panel at a position above the bent portion, (ii) a lower end portion that is joined to the cowl inner panel below the bent portion, and (iii) a vertical wall extending in a vehicle up-down direction as seen in a side sectional view and that has a hole.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle cowl portion structure comprising:
a cowl top panel that is configured to extend in a vehicle width direction along a lower end portion of a windshield;
a cowl inner panel that is configured to extend in the vehicle width direction on a vehicle lower side of the cowl top panel, the cowl inner panel including an inner panel-side joint portion that is joined to the cowl top panel and an extension wall that extends from the inner panel-side joint portion toward the vehicle lower side and has a bent portion, the cowl inner panel bending at the bent portion upon receipt of a predetermined impact load toward the vehicle lower side; and
a reinforcement that is configured to extend in the vehicle width direction, the reinforcement including (i) an upper end portion that is joined to the cowl inner panel or the cowl top panel at a position that is on a vehicle upper side of the bent portion, (ii) a lower end portion that is joined to the cowl inner panel at a position that is on a vehicle lower side of the bent portion, and (iii) a vertical wall that extends in a vehicle up and down direction as seen in a side sectional view, the vertical wall having a hole through the vertical wall.

2. The vehicle cowl portion structure according to claim 1 , wherein the reinforcement is located at a vehicle rear side of the extension wall.

3. The vehicle cowl portion structure according to claim 1 , wherein the reinforcement is located at a vehicle front side of the extension wall.

4. The vehicle cowl portion structure according to claim 1 , wherein the cowl inner panel has a recessed shape that opens toward the vehicle upper side as seen in the side sectional view, and
the lower end portion of the reinforcement is joined to a bottom wall of the cowl inner panel.

5. The vehicle cowl portion structure according to claim 1 , wherein the cowl top panel includes
a top panel-side joint portion that is joined to the inner panel-side joint portion,
an opposing wall that is configured to be placed opposing the lower end portion of the windshield, and
a coupling wall that couples the top panel-side joint portion and the opposing wall to each other, and
the upper end portion of the reinforcement is joined to the coupling wall.

6. The vehicle cowl portion structure according to claim 1 , wherein the upper end portion of the reinforcement is joined to a joint location where the cowl top panel and the inner panel-side joint portion of the cowl inner panel are joined to each other.

7. The vehicle cowl portion structure according to claim 1 , further comprising a recessed cowl top reinforcement that is disposed at the vehicle lower side of the cowl top panel and opens substantially upward and obliquely forward as seen in the side sectional view,
wherein a front end portion of the cowl top reinforcement is joined to a front end portion of the cowl top panel, and a rear end portion of the cowl top reinforcement is interposed between a rear end portion of the cowl top panel and the inner panel-side joint portion of the cowl inner panel and interconnects the cowl top panel and the cowl inner panel.

8. The vehicle cowl portion structure according to claim 1 , wherein the bent portion of the cowl inner panel is bent so as to project toward the vehicle front side.

9. The vehicle cowl portion structure according to claim 1 , wherein the bent portion of the cowl inner panel is bent so as to project toward the vehicle rear side.

10. The vehicle cowl portion structure according to claim 1 , wherein the cowl inner panel has a recessed shape that opens toward the vehicle front side as seen in the side sectional view.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Tsuneyama Teppei
• Hayakawa Tatsunori

Classifications

• B62D21/157 Primary

  for side impacts · CPC title

• B62D25/081 Primary

  Cowls (ventilating openings situated directly in front of the vehicle front window B60H1/28) · CPC title

• B62D25/08 Primary

  Front or rear portions {(sub-frames for mounting engine or suspensions B62D21/11)} · CPC title

• B60R2021/343

  using deformable body panel, bodywork or components · CPC title