The present invention relates to an automobile door structure.
Some door structures for preventing outer panels from deforming due to side collision to cause doors to open are proposed.
In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-53918, a handle frame is fixed on an internal surface of an outer panel. On the handle frame, a door handle is swingably supported. In a gap between the handle frame and a structure arranged near an inner panel, a filling material is located. At the time of side collision, the filling material collides with the structure in the inner panel to regulate movement of the handle frame to the inner panel. In this manner, the door handle cannot be expanded with respect to the handle frame, and the door handle is prevented from being pulled to the outside.
A door lock device disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-142115 includes a sash that guides vertical movement of a plate glass of a door and a transmission mechanism that transmits a lock-releasing operation of a door handle to a locking mechanism. A protector is formed on the sash to prevent an outer panel from abutting against a desired site of the transmission mechanism even though the outer panel deforms toward the inside due to side collision.
In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-240563, an outer reinforce is attached to an upper rear surface of an outer panel. Further, a protector is formed on a terminal portion of the outer reinforce. The protector is located between a sash that guides vertical movement of a plate glass of a door and a mechanical part of a door handle. In the protector, a stopper that can engage with a movable portion of the mechanical part of the door handle is formed. When the movable portion of the door handle turns, the stopper and the movable portion engage with each other. In this manner, since an operation of the door handle in a lock-releasing direction is suppressed, the door handle is protected to prevent the door handle from interfering with the sash due to external impact.
However, the above-described patent documents neither disclose nor suggest a response to the case in which the base of the door handle 104 is depressed by the deformed outer panel 102 to release the locking of the door and the body.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an automobile door structure that can restrain a door handle from being brought in an openable state due to deformation of an outer panel.
In order to solve the problem, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automobile door structure including a door handle located on a front surface of an outer panel, and a handle frame located on a rear surface of the outer panel and having an end portion swingably supporting the door handle. The automobile door structure includes a block configured to cover the end portion of the handle frame and a site on the rear surface of the outer panel adjacent to the end portion of the handle frame. When the outer panel deforms to dent, the block regulates deformation of the site of the outer panel covered with the block.
A first embodiment in which an automobile door structure according to the present invention is applied to a side door will be described below with reference to
As shown in
The door handle 10 is operated to swing in the direction of an arrow Q from a non-operating state shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The attachment piece 24 forms an upper portion of the block 20, and the attachment piece 26 forms a lower portion of the block 20. A notch 23 for storing the end portion 14a of the handle frame 14 is formed in the lower portion of the block portion 22. In this manner, a surface facing the outer panel 12 of the block portion 22 has an L shape.
As shown in
The attachment piece 26 has a through hole 27 in a site that comes in surface contact with the support piece 15 of the handle frame 14. The through hole 27 is formed at a position facing the fitting hole 17 of the support piece 15. The attachment piece 26 is attached to the support piece 15 by using a clip 50 while being in surface contact with the support piece 15. The clip 50 is an example of the clip section.
As shown in
When the side door is impacted by the external object, the outer panel 12, the handle frame 14 fixed on the outer panel 12, and the block 20 move toward the inner panel 60. For descriptive convenience, the illustration is made in
An action of the above-described automobile door structure will be described below with reference to
A case in which an external object collides with the side door from the side ahead of the door handle 10 will be described. In this case, as shown in
In an example of the related art that does not include the block 20, for example, the outer panel 12 tends to be bent along an L line in
Thus, according to the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) The block 20 covers the end portion 14a of the handle frame 14 and the site on the rear surface of the outer panel 12 adjacent to the end portion 14a of the handle frame 14. According to this configuration, when the outer panel 12 deforms to dent, deformation of the site of the outer panel 12 covered with the block 20 can be regulated. For this reason, the door handle 10 can be restrained from being brought in an openable state due to the deformation of the outer panel 12.
As described above, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-63918, the filling material is located in the gap between the handle frame and the structure arranged near the inner panel. According to this configuration, the filling material collides with the structure to regulate movement of the handle frame to the inner panel. In this case, since it is essential to install a structure such as a division bar that collides with the filling material at the time of the deformation of the outer panel, the position of the filling material is restricted according to the installation position of the structure. In contrast to this, the first embodiment is advantageous over the technique of the related art in that the position of the block is irrelevant to the installation position of the structure located near the inner panel.
(2) The block 20 is attached to the handle frame 14 and the outer reinforce 40 fixed on the rear surface of the outer panel 12. According to this configuration, the handle frame 14 and the block 20 can easily achieve the above-described effect (1).
(3) The block 20 is attached to the handle frame 14 by using the clip 50 and attached to the outer reinforce 40 by using the clip portion 28. According to this configuration, it is not necessary to form the block 20 in the handle frame 14 in advance. That is, the block 20 can be attached to the handle frame 14 later.
Next, a second embodiment embodying an automobile door structure according to the present invention will be described below with reference to
A block 120 in the second embodiment is different from the block 20 in the first embodiment in that attachment pieces 24 and 26 and a notch 23 are omitted and in an attachment structure of the block 120.
As shown in
As shown in
A pair of stoppers 122e is formed in the inner parts of the meshing portions 122d in the fitting concave portion 122a. The pair of stoppers 122e are caused to abut against the end portion 14a of the handle frame 14 pressed into the inner parts of the meshing portions 122d. As in the first embodiment, the block 120 is also located to cover the end portion 14a of the handle frame 14 and a site of the outer panel 12 located ahead of the end portion 14a. For this reason, an action in the case where an external object collides with a side door from the side ahead of a door handle 10 is the same as that in the first embodiment. On the other hand, the attachment structure of the block 120 is different from that in the first embodiment. The attachment pieces 24 and 26, an engagement projection 30, and the like are unnecessary, and a separate member such as a clip 50 is also unnecessary. Thus, since the number of parts, the number of assembling steps, and the like are reduced, the block 120 can be easily assembled.
Thus, according to the second embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(4) Since the block 120 can be fitted to the handle frame 14, a member for assembling the block 120 is unnecessary, and the number of assembling steps is reduced.
Next, a third embodiment embodying an automobile door structure according to the present invention will be described below with reference to
A block 220 in the third embodiment is different from the block 20 according to the first embodiment in that attachment pieces 24 and 26 and a notch 23 are omitted and in an attachment structure of the block 220.
As shown in
At an end portion 14a of a handle frame 14, a plurality of female screws 14b is formed. Screws 38 serving as fastening members pass through the through holes 236 of the attachment plate 229 and are threadly engaged with the female screws 14b of the handle frame 14. For this reason, the block 220 is attached to the handle frame 14. As in the first embodiment, the block 220 is also located to cover the end portion 14a of the handle frame 14 and a site of an outer panel 12 located ahead of the end portion 14a. For this reason, an action in the case where an external object collides with a side door from the side ahead of a door handle 10 is the same as that in the first embodiment.
Thus, according to the third embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(5) The block 220 is attached to and fixed on the handle frame 14 by using the screws 38. As a result, it is not necessary to form the block 220 in the handle frame 14 in advance. That is, the block 220 can be attached to the handle frame 14 later.
The above-described embodiments may be changed as described below.
In the first embodiment, the clip portion 28 and the clip 50 are embodied as the clip section. However, in place of the clip portion 28, a clip separate from the block 20 may be used. In this case, the attachment piece 24 of the block 20 is attached to the outer reinforce 40 by using another clip. Moreover, another clip portion having the same claw pieces as those of the clip portion 28 may be formed at a position different from that of the clip portion 28 of the block 20. In this case, the attachment piece 26 of the block 20 is attached to the fitting hole 17 of the support piece 15 of the handle frame 14 by using another clip portion.
In the first embodiment, the block 20 is attached to both the handle frame 14 and the outer reinforce 40 fixed on the rear surface of the outer panel 12. However, the block 20 may be attached to any one of the handle frame 14 and the outer reinforce 40.
In the first embodiment, since the notch 23 is formed in the lower portion of the block portion 22, the surface facing the outer panel 12 of the block portion 22 has an L shape as shown in
In the second embodiment, the block portion 22 of the block 120 may have a shape other than a nearly rectangular parallelepiped or a nearly regular hexahedron.
In the second embodiment, a portion fitted to the block 120 may be a site other than the end portion 14a of the handle frame 14, such as a central portion of the handle frame 14.
In the third embodiment, the attachment plate 229 may be omitted in the block 220 to form the entire block 220 in a shape of a regular hexahedron or a rectangular parallelepiped, and to form a through hole in the block 220. In this case, the screws 38 are threadly engaged with the female screws 14b through the through holes in the block 220 to attach the block 220 to the handle frame 14.
In each of the above-described embodiments, the automobile door structure according to the present invention may be employed as a door structure for a rear door. In this case, the door handle can be restrained from being brought in an openable state due to the deformation of the outer panel configuring the rear door.
In each of the above-described embodiments, the block may integrally be formed with the handle frame. In this case, the block and the handle frame may be formed of the same species of metal or the same type of synthetic resin. For example, the handle frame and the block may be formed by casting.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2014-024373 | Feb 2014 | JP | national |