Vehicle body structure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9815498-B2
Application number	US-201314782525-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 27, 2013
Priority date	Apr 9, 2013
Publication date	Nov 14, 2017
Grant date	Nov 14, 2017

Abstract

A vehicle body structure includes a roof side rail, resin first and second reinforcement members, and a front pillar. The roof side rail is disposed along a vehicle front-rear direction at both vehicle width direction sides of a roof, and is configured, by roof side rail inner and outer panels and a side outer panel, as a beam-shaped vehicle body framework member with a closed hollow cross-section structure including third and fourth closed cross-section portions. The first reinforcement member, as viewed from the side of the vehicle, is disposed to contain a connection position, at a front portion of the roof side rail, to a front roof header disposed along an upper end portion of a windshield glass, and is provided along a length direction of the front portion to fill at least a portion of a space inside a closed hollow cross-section portion at the front portion.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A vehicle body structure, comprising:
a front pillar outer reinforcement that is disposed on a vehicle width direction outer side of a front pillar, and that is disposed along a vehicle front-rear direction along an extension line of a roof side rail;
an auxiliary pillar portion that configures a portion of the front pillar, that extends in a vehicle vertical direction along a rear end portion of a fixed window disposed at a vehicle lower side of the front pillar outer reinforcement, and that has a front pillar side portion of a door opening flange, which is disposed around a peripheral edge portion of a door opening section of a side door, formed at a vehicle rear side end portion thereof; and
an elongated reinforcement member that is disposed on the vehicle width direction inner side of the front pillar outer reinforcement so as to straddle the front pillar side portion of the door opening flange.

2. The vehicle body structure of claim 1 , wherein:
the front pillar outer reinforcement includes a plurality of ridge line portions that extend along a length direction of the front pillar outer reinforcement in a row in the vehicle width direction; and
the reinforcement member exhibits a reinforcing effect with respect to a vertical bending moment acting to vertically fold the plurality of ridge line portions in the vehicle vertical direction, and includes one, or two or more, rigidity tuning portions formed so as to act as folding origin points with respect to a horizontal bending moment acting to horizontally fold the plurality of ridge line portions in the vehicle width direction.

3. The vehicle body structure of claim 2 , wherein the rigidity tuning portion is a recessed groove-shaped vertical bead formed orthogonally to the plurality of ridge line portions.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Yamamoto Yohei
• Hata Koui
• Minei Taichi

Classifications

• B62D25/04 Primary

  Door pillars {; windshield pillars} · CPC title

• B62D25/06

  Fixed roofs (non-fixed roofs or like shelters B60J7/00; roof liners B60R13/02; insulating elements B60R13/08) · CPC title

• B62D29/04

  predominantly of synthetic material (working of plastics or substances in a plastic state B29) · CPC title

• B62D29/002

  a foamable synthetic material or metal being added in situ (shaping of substances in a plastic state by foaming, in general B29C44/00) · CPC title

• B62D21/152

  Front or rear frames · CPC title