This application claims priority to JP 2020-114226, filed in Japan on Jul. 1, 2020, the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present disclosure relates to an upper vehicle-body structure for a vehicle, including a deflector to be shifted to an upper side position when an opening operation of a cover member of a roof opening-closing unit is performed.
Conventionally, a roof opening-closing unit (sunroof device) includes a glass panel (cover member) being capable of opening and closing a generally rectangular opening formed in a roof panel of a vehicle. This roof opening-closing unit has a unit framework member in a generally rectangular shape in a planar view, the unit framework member being composed of a pair of left and right side frames, a front-side member coupling front end portions of the pair of side frames together in a vehicle width direction, and a rear-side member coupling rear end portions of the pair of side frames together in the vehicle width direction, and is installed in a vehicle body via this unit framework member.
When a vehicle including the roof opening-closing unit travels in a state where the glass panel is opened, an airflow along a roof is drawn into a cabin, a vortex flow thus occurs. The occurring vortex flow contacts with a rear-side edge portion of the opening, periodicity of the vortex flow is thereby increased, and an unpleasant vibration sound at a low frequency, a so-called wind throb sound occurs. A structure has been known in which in order to inhibit this, a deflector blade (hereinafter, referred to as deflector) protruding from a roof upper surface is provided along a front end edge portion of the roof opening-closing unit, but a deflector in a simple bar shape provides a small effect of inhibiting a throbbing sound.
Accordingly, a technique has been suggested which diffuses a vortex flow as a cause of occurrence of a throbbing sound. A conventional sunroof device includes a roof opening-closing unit which has a glass panel being capable of opening and closing an opening formed in a roof panel and a deflector which extends in a vehicle width direction along a front end edge portion of this roof opening-closing unit and is shifted to an upper position than the opening when an opening operation of the glass panel is performed, and this deflector is provided with plural projections each extending in a vehicle front-rear direction and plural recesses neighboring those projections.
In an exemplary implementation of an upper vehicle-body structure for a vehicle in accordance with this disclosure, the upper vehicle-body structure includes a cover that fits in an opening in a roof panel of the vehicle; a sunroof device that moves the cover between a one position in the opening and another position out of the opening; and a deflector which extends in a vehicle width direction along a front end edge portion of the sunroof device and is shifted to an upper position above the opening in a case that an opening operation of the cover is performed. The deflector includes plural raised walls having upper end portions and plural recesses which are alternately disposed with the raised walls in the vehicle width direction, each recess extending in a vehicle front-rear direction, and blocking wall portions protruding to a height not lower than the upper end portions of the raised walls are respectively provided in rear end portions of the plural recesses.
A conventional sunroof device diffuses a vortex flow by disturbing an airflow flowing along a front wall portion of a deflector, inhibits periodicity of the vortex flow, and thereby reduces a throbbing sound. However, the such a sunroof device impairs designability of a vehicle. As illustrated in
Thus, as illustrated in
Further, in a case of high-speed traveling, because force of an airflow flowing along the recesses 62 formed in the deflector 60 is strong, an airflow passing through the recesses 62 hit a rear-side edge portion of the opening 52, and a collision sound at a low frequency possibly occurs.
That is, it is not easy to realize both quietness and designability, regardless of a traveling state, in a vehicle including a roof opening-closing unit and a deflector. The inventors have developed technology, as described in the present disclosure that provides an upper vehicle-body structure for a vehicle or the like which is capable of realizing both quietness and designability of the vehicle.
In accordance with the present disclosure, an upper vehicle-body structure for a vehicle includes a roof opening-closing unit which has a cover member being capable of opening and closing an opening formed in a roof panel; and a deflector which extends in a vehicle width direction along a front end edge portion of the roof opening-closing unit and is shifted to an upper position than the opening when an opening operation of the cover member is performed, characterized in that the deflector has plural raised walls having upper end portions with generally same heights and plural recesses which are alternately disposed with the raised walls in the vehicle width direction and each extend in a vehicle front-rear direction and blocking wall portions protruding to a height not lower than the upper end portions of the raised walls are respectively provided in rear end portions of the plural recesses.
In this upper vehicle-body structure for a vehicle, the deflector has the plural raised walls having upper end portions with generally same heights and the plural recesses which are alternately disposed with the raised walls in the vehicle width direction and each extend in the vehicle front-rear direction. Thus, a vortex flow is diffused by disturbing an airflow flowing along front wall portions of the deflector, and periodicity of the vortex flow can thereby be inhibited. The blocking wall portions protruding to a height not lower than the upper end portions of the raised walls are respectively provided in the rear end portions of the plural recesses. Thus, in high-speed traveling, an airflow passing through the recess can be restricted, and hitting by the airflow passing through the recess against a rear-side edge portion of the opening can be avoided. Accordingly, occurrence of a collision sound can be inhibited. Further, an uneven shape of the deflector can be prevented from coming into the field of view of a seated occupant, and discomfort to an occupant can be removed.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the plural raised walls respectively have rear wall portions in rear end portions and an upper end of the blocking wall portion is set to a generally same height position as an upper end of the rear wall portion. With this configuration, discomfort to an occupant can further be removed by aligning the upper ends of the blocking wall portion and the rear wall portion.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the blocking wall portion is formed such that in a side view, a flow angle of leaving traveling air becomes larger than a flow angle of traveling air leaving from the rear wall portion. With this configuration, the flow angle of an airflow flowing along the blocking wall portion can be made different from the flow angle of an airflow flowing along the rear wall portion, and a vortex flow can further be diffused.
In accordance with the present disclosure, rear faces of the blocking wall portion and the rear wall portion are configured to be flat. With this configuration, annoyance recognized by an occupant can be prevented.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the recess has a recess lower wall on a front side of the blocking wall portion and the recess lower wall is formed in a rear-side upward-inclined shape which is shifted upward toward a rear side. With this configuration, a collision sound caused by collision of an airflow flowing along the recess lower wall with the blocking wall portion can be inhibited.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the blocking wall portion is formed in a rear-side upward-inclined shape which is shifted upward toward a rear side. With this configuration, air resistance can be reduced by guiding an airflow colliding with the blocking wall portion to the rear.
An upper vehicle-body structure for a vehicle of the present disclosure realizes both quietness and designability by providing a blocking wall portion which restricts an airflow passing through a recess.
Embodiments of the present disclosure will hereinafter be described in detail based on drawings.
The following descriptions describe examples where the present disclosure is applied to an upper vehicle-body structure for a vehicle but do not restrict the present disclosure, application thereof, or use thereof.
As illustrated in
First, a description will be made about an outline configuration of the vehicle V according to the present disclosure.
The roof side rail 1 has a roof rail outer 1a, a roof rail inner which forms a closed cross-section extending in the front-rear direction while cooperating with this roof rail outer 1a, and a roof rail reinforcement as a reinforcement member which has upper end portion held between the roof rail outer la and the roof rail inner and demarcates the closed cross-section of the roof side rail 1 in the vehicle width direction. Both of left and right end portions of the roof panel 2 are joined, by welding, to vehicle-width-direction inner side ends of the pair of roof rail outers 1a.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
In the roof panel 2, the opening 2a in a generally rectangular shape in a planar view is formed from a close position to the front header 6 to the close positions to the connection portions between the roof side rails 1 and the rear pillars 5. In a close portion to an outer periphery of the opening 2a and around a lower surface of the roof panel 2, a front fixing plate extending in the left-right direction, a rear fixing plate, and a pair of left and right side fixing plates are arranged. The roof opening-closing unit 10 is mounted on a vehicle body via those fixing plates formed of iron.
Next, the roof opening-closing unit 10 will be described.
The roof opening-closing unit 10 has a tilting-up function for performing a pop-up operation in which a transparent glass panel 11 (cover member) is opened and slid rearward and a front-half portion of the glass panel 11 is tilted in a rear-side upward-inclined shape, an opening function for performing an opening operation in which the glass panel 11 is opened and slid rearward and the front-half portion of the glass panel 11 is superposed on a rear-half portion, and a sunshade function as a shield against sunlight transmitted through the glass panel 11.
As illustrated in
The side frame 12 is configured to have a generally U-shaped cross-section. This side frame 12 is formed of an aluminum alloy material by extrusion. The front-side member 13 is configured to have a generally U-shaped cross-section. This front-side member 13 is molded by using a synthetic resin material.
The shade device is formed into a generally rectangular cuboid shape with a sheet-shaped shade covering a lower surface of the glass panel 11, a roll-screen shade portion winding this shade in a drawable manner, an accommodation portion which is formed of iron and accommodates the shade and the roll-screen shade portion, and so forth.
Next, the deflector mechanism 20 will be described.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
In the front wall portion 21a, a lower-half portion is perpendicularly formed, and an upper-half portion is formed in a rear-side upward-inclined shape. Traveling air (airflow) flowing along the front wall portion 21a is guided to an upper rear side so as to flow at a flow angle θ1 with respect to a horizontal plane. The rear wall portion 21b is extended flat from an upper end portion (rear end portion) of the front wall portion 21a toward a lower front side.
As illustrated in
In the recess lower wall 22a, a lower-half portion is perpendicularly formed, and an upper-half portion is formed in a rear-side upward-inclined shape. Traveling air flowing along the recess lower wall 22a is guided to an upper rear side so as to flow at a milder flow angle than the flow angle θ1. The recess rear wall portion 22b is extended flat from an upper end portion of the recess lower wall 22a toward a lower front side.
As illustrated in
Next, a description will be made about actions and effects of an upper vehicle-body structure for the vehicle V according to the present disclosure.
For describing the actions and effects, measurement using actual devices was performed.
A vehicle model A having a deflector mechanism including raised walls and recesses in which no blocking wall portion was formed and a vehicle model B having a deflector mechanism including raised walls and recesses in which a blocking wall portion was formed were made, and noise values (dB) in front-seat central positions were respectively calculated under conditions of a speed per hour of 100 km/h and a lateral wind of 0 m/s. Note that the same specification was set for the models A and B except the deflectors.
As illustrated in
In the upper vehicle-body structure for the vehicle V, the deflector 20a has the plural raised walls 21 having upper end portions with generally same heights and the plural recesses 22 which are alternately disposed with the raised walls 21 in the vehicle width direction and each extend in the front-rear direction. Thus, a vortex flow is diffused by disturbing an airflow flowing along the front wall portions 21a and so forth of the deflector 20a, and periodicity of the vortex flow can thereby be inhibited. The blocking wall portions 22c protruding to a height not lower than the upper end portions of the raised walls 21 are respectively provided in rear end portions of the plural recesses 22. Thus, in high-speed traveling, an airflow passing through the recess 22 can be restricted, and hitting by the airflow passing through the recess 22 against a rear-side edge portion of the opening 2a (a front end portion of the glass panel 11) can be avoided. Accordingly, occurrence of a collision sound can be inhibited. Further, an uneven shape of the deflector 20a can be prevented from coming into the field of view of a seated occupant, and discomfort to an occupant can be removed.
The plural raised walls 21 respectively have the rear wall portions 21b in rear end portions, and the upper end of the blocking wall portion 22c is set to a generally same height position as the upper end of the rear wall portion 21b. Discomfort to an occupant can further be removed by aligning the upper ends of the blocking wall portion 22c and the rear wall portion 21b.
The blocking wall portion 22c is formed such that in a side view, the flow angle 02 of leaving traveling air becomes larger than the flow angle θ1 of traveling air leaving from the rear wall portion 21b. Thus, the flow angle θ2 of an airflow flowing along the blocking wall portion 22c can be made different from the flow angle θ1 of an airflow flowing along the rear wall portion 21b, and a vortex flow can further be diffused.
Rear faces of the blocking wall portion 22c and the rear wall portion 21b are configured to be flat. Thus, annoyance recognized by an occupant can be prevented. The recess 22 has the recess lower wall 22a on a front side of the blocking wall portion 22c, and the recess lower wall 22a is formed in a rear-side upward-inclined shape which is shifted upward toward a rear side. Thus, a collision sound caused by collision of an airflow flowing along the recess lower wall 22a with the blocking wall portion 22c can be inhibited.
The blocking wall portion 22c is formed in a rear-side upward-inclined shape which is shifted upward toward a rear side. Thus, air resistance can be reduced by guiding an airflow colliding with the blocking wall portion 22c to the rear.
Next, a description will be made about possible modifications to the systems and devices previous discussed.
1] A description is made about an example where the opening 2a is formed from the close position to the front header 6 to the close positions to the connection portions between the roof side rails 1 and the rear pillars 5; however, the present disclosure is applicable regardless of the size of the opening 2a. For example, even when the opening 2a is formed from the close position to the front header 6 to the close positions to the connection portions between the roof side rails 1 and the center pillars 4, effects of the present disclosure can be provided.
2] A description is made about an example where the upper end of the blocking wall portion 22c and the upper end of the rear wall portion 21b are in generally same height positions; however, it is sufficient that at least the upper end of the blocking wall portion 22c is in a height position not lower than the upper end of the rear wall portion 21b.
3] A description is made about an example of the deflector 20a which rises upward by the urging means when the glass panel 11 is opened and slid; however, no particular condition is set for a driving mechanism of the deflector 20a. For example, the present disclosure may be applied to the deflector 20a which rises upward by an electric motor when the glass panel 11 is opened and slid.
4] Other than those, a person skilled in the art would be capable of realizing forms in which various changes are added or are combined together without departing from the gist of the present disclosure, and the present disclosure encompasses such changed forms.
2 roof panel
2
a opening
10 roof opening-closing unit
11 glass panel
20 deflector mechanism
20
a deflector
21 raised wall
21
b rear wall portion
22 recess
22
a recess lower wall
22
c blocking wall portion
V vehicle
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2020-114226 | Jul 2020 | JP | national |