Patent Grant
11358646
This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0160986, filed on Dec. 5, 2019, which application is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to a structure for forming a vehicle body.
Recently, eco-friendly vehicles such as ultra-small electric vehicles have been actively developed and such ultra-small vehicles are suitable for small quantity batch production to meet various needs of consumers.
Therefore, a vehicle body structure which incurs a relatively low cost and saves investment cost for production, while realizing small quantity batch production, is required.
The contents described as the related art have been provided only to assist in understanding the background of the present disclosure and should not be considered as corresponding to the related art known to those having ordinary skill in the art.
An embodiment of the present disclosure may provide a vehicle body forming structure which rarely needs processes requiring large investments, such as pressing, welding, painting, and the like, thus ensuring relatively high productivity, while incurring a relatively low cost and saving investment cost for production, and which has such high design freedom as to be more suitable for small quantity batch production, and a vehicle body using the same.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a vehicle body forming structure in which a plurality of linear members each including a bent portion in at least a portion thereof to form different spaces overlap each other in at least a partial section to form overlapping extending portions extending in the same direction, and the overlapping extending portions of the linear members are fastened by a fastening member to form a vehicle body frame.
Three or more of the linear members which are at least partially adjacent to each other may have a spatial joint formed of a space in which none of the linear members overlap each other, between the overlapping extending portions formed therebetween.
The linear member may be formed of a hollow member in which at least a partial section forms a closed cross-section.
The linear member may be formed of a channel member having a C-shaped cross-section in which a portion is open.
The linear members may include a hollow member in which at least a partial section forms a closed cross-section and a channel member having a C-shaped cross-section in which a portion is open, and the hollow member and the channel member may be used in combination.
The fastening member may include a bolt or a screw fastened through two linear members forming the overlapping extending portion, and when the linear member is the hollow member, the fastening member may be inserted through a fastening hole formed at the hollow member so as to be fastened, and when the linear member is the channel member, the fastening member may be inserted through an opening so as to be fastened.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a vehicle body includes side members formed of linear members forming side spaces of the vehicle body, a front glass member formed of a linear member forming an overlapping extending portion with the side members on both sides and forming a front windshield glass installation space, a rear glass member formed of a linear member forming the overlapping extending portion with the side members on both sides and forming a rear windshield glass installation space, and a roof member formed of a linear member forming the overlapping extending portion with the side members on both sides, forming the overlapping extending portion with the front glass member at the front, and forming the overlapping extending portion with the rear glass member on the rear side.
The side members, the front glass member, the rear glass member, and the roof member may each be formed with a closed curve.
The vehicle body may further include a cowl member formed of a linear member forming the overlapping extending portion with the front glass member on an upper side and forming the overlapping extending portion with the side member on a rear side.
The cowl member may be formed with a closed curve.
The vehicle body may further include a floor under member formed of a linear member extending in a front-rear direction of the vehicle body on a lower side of the cowl member, and a vertical support member installed on an upper side of the floor under member to support the cowl member from a lower side.
A suspension mounting portion may be provided between a lower portion of the cowl member and an upper portion of the vertical support member.
The vehicle body may further include a back member formed of a linear member forming the overlapping extending portion with the rear glass member on the upper side and forming the overlapping extending portion with the side member at the front.
The back member may be formed with a closed curve.
Referring to
The side members 1, the front glass member 3, the rear glass member 5, and the roof member 7 each form a closed curve.
That is, in the vehicle body according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the side members 1 forming both sides of the vehicle body, the front glass member 3 provided on a front upper side of the vehicle body between the side members 1, the rear glass member 5 provided on a rear upper side of the vehicle body, and the roof member 7 therebetween are configured as linear members each forming a closed curve and are connected to each other by fastening members of the overlapping extending portions M.
The vehicle body of an embodiment of the present disclosure further includes a cowl member 9 formed of a linear member forming the overlapping extending portion M with the front glass member 3 on an upper side and forming the overlapping extending portion M with the side member 1 on a rear side, and the cowl member 9 is a structure forming a closed curve.
In addition, the vehicle body according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may further include a floor under member 11 formed of a linear member extending in a front-rear direction of the vehicle body on a lower side of the cowl member 9, and a vertical support member 13 installed on an upper side of the floor under member 11 to support the cowl member 9 from a lower side. A suspension mounting portion 15 is provided between a lower portion of the cowl member 9 and an upper portion of the vertical support member 13.
Accordingly, a suspension may be configured by installing a shock absorber, a suspension spring, and the like, at the suspension mounting portion 15.
In addition, the vehicle body of an embodiment of the present disclosure further includes a back member 17 formed of a linear member forming the overlapping extending portion M with the rear glass member 5 on the upper side and forming the overlapping extending portion M with the side member 1 at the front, and the back member 17 is a structure forming a closed curve.
Accordingly, in the vehicle body of the present embodiment, the cowl member 9 and the back member 17, as well as the side members 1, the front glass member 3, the rear glass member 5, and the roof member 7, are formed of the linear members forming a closed curve and connected to each other and fixed through the overlapping extending portions M formed therebetween, thereby forming a frame of the vehicle body.
For reference, side sills 19 on both sides of the vehicle body of
In the vehicle body forming structure as described above, referring to
For example, the side members 1 are formed of linear members formed of bent portions overall to form closed curves forming the side spaces of the vehicle body and are combined with each of the front glass member 3, the rear glass member 5, the roof member 7, the cowl member 9, and the back member 17, while forming the overlapping portions M, to form the vehicle body frame.
Besides the side members 1, the front glass member 3, the rear glass member 5, the roof member 7, the cowl member 9, and the back member 17 are formed of the linear members in which bent portions are at least partially formed to form spaces, respectively, and combined with each other, while forming the overlapping extending portions M.
Referring to
That is, for example, the side members 1, the front glass member 3, and cowl member 9 are combined with each other to form the spatial joints S as the overlapping extending portion M formed by the side member 1 and the front glass member 3, the overlapping extending portion M formed by the front glass member 3 and the cowl member 9, and the overlapping extending portion M formed by the cowl member and the side member 1 form spaces between the three overlapping extending portions M.
Compared with the related art in which a structure such as a separate assembly bracket or the like is provided at portions where the three members are combined with each other, thereby combining the three members, in the present disclosure, the three linear members configuring the vehicle body are combined, while forming the overlapping extending portions M and the spatial joints S, without such a component as the assembly bracket.
The spatial joint S as described above is substantially not a component but a space incidentally formed as the linear members which are adjacent to each other to be combined as described above are combined, while forming the overlapping extending portions M therebetween, obtaining an advantage in that a component such as the assembly bracket or the like is not required and an advantage in that the space enhances noise vibration harshness (NVH) performance of the vehicle because the space serves as a buffer against various impacts applied from the outside.
The linear member may be formed of a hollow member 25 in which at least a portion thereof forms a closed cross-section.
Here, since the hollow member 25 substantially has a structure of a closed tube or pipe in an elongated closed cross-sectional shape as illustrated in
For reference, the left side of
In addition, the linear member may be formed of a channel member 31 having a C-shaped cross-section in which a portion of the cross-section is open.
Alternatively, as the linear members, a linear member formed of the hollow member 25 in which at least a partial section forms a closed cross-section and a linear member formed of the channel member 31 having a C-shaped cross-section with a portion thereof open may be used in combination.
That is, all the linear members configuring the vehicle body as illustrated in
The fastening member includes a bolt 29 or a screw fastened through the two linear members forming the overlapping extending portion M. If the linear member is the hollow member 25, the fastening may be inserted through the fastening hole 27 formed at the hollow member 25 so as to be fastened, and if the linear member is the channel member 31, the fastening member may be inserted through an opening 33 of the channel member 31 so as to be fastened.
Of course, the fastening member may be a flow drill screw (FDS) or the like.
Meanwhile, it is more preferable that the two linear members forming the overlapping extending portion M overlap in a surface contact state with each other to advantageously ensure a coupling force of the overlapping extending portion M.
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide the vehicle body forming structure and the vehicle body which rarely need processes requiring large investments, such as pressing, welding, painting, and the like, thus ensuring relatively high productivity, while incurring a relatively low cost and saving investment cost for production, and which have such high design freedom as to be suitable for small quantity batch production, and the vehicle body.
Although the present disclosure has been shown and described with respect to specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art that the present disclosure may be variously modified and altered without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2019-0160986 | Dec 2019 | KR | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4325448 | Pivar | Apr 1982 | A |
| 4660345 | Browning | Apr 1987 | A |
| 5209541 | Janotik | May 1993 | A |
| 5332281 | Janotik et al. | Jul 1994 | A |
| 5549352 | Janotik et al. | Aug 1996 | A |
| 5829219 | Sugawara et al. | Nov 1998 | A |
| 6022070 | Ashina et al. | Feb 2000 | A |
| 6042163 | Reiffer | Mar 2000 | A |
| 6099084 | Bungarten et al. | Aug 2000 | A |
| 6241310 | Patelczyk | Jun 2001 | B1 |
| 6318775 | Heatherington et al. | Nov 2001 | B1 |
| 6695368 | Weykamp et al. | Feb 2004 | B1 |
| 6869136 | Igarashi et al. | Mar 2005 | B2 |
| 6926350 | Gabbianelli et al. | Aug 2005 | B2 |
| 7001097 | Wang et al. | Feb 2006 | B2 |
| 7386938 | Bruggemann et al. | Jun 2008 | B2 |
| 7758107 | Ratsos | Jul 2010 | B2 |
| 8371642 | Baccouche et al. | Feb 2013 | B2 |
| 8640814 | Deckard et al. | Feb 2014 | B2 |
| 9505293 | Bowles et al. | Nov 2016 | B2 |
| 9849920 | Kawata et al. | Dec 2017 | B2 |
| 10618489 | Hisamura et al. | Apr 2020 | B2 |
| 10686304 | Wagner, III | Jun 2020 | B2 |
| 20010000119 | Jaekel et al. | Apr 2001 | A1 |
| 20060059807 | Zimmerman et al. | Mar 2006 | A1 |
| 20060192375 | Davis et al. | Aug 2006 | A1 |
| 20090121106 | An | May 2009 | A1 |
| 20130277137 | Kawaguchi et al. | Oct 2013 | A1 |
| 20150252586 | Schaefer | Sep 2015 | A1 |
| 20150259011 | Deckard et al. | Sep 2015 | A1 |
| 20150298739 | Buschjohann et al. | Oct 2015 | A1 |
| 20170136874 | Harris et al. | May 2017 | A1 |
| 20190208741 | Huthmaker et al. | Jul 2019 | A1 |
| 20210171125 | Yong et al. | Jun 2021 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 102005026791 | Jan 2007 | DE |
| 1329374 | Jul 2003 | EP |
| 2822431 | Sep 2002 | FR |
| 2508075 | Sep 2013 | GB |
| H0411581 | Jan 1992 | JP |
| 2013208968 | Oct 2013 | JP |
| 100243584 | Mar 2000 | KR |
| 20090035148 | Apr 2009 | KR |
| WO-2010071664 | Jun 2010 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20210171125 A1 | Jun 2021 | US |
