Title of Invention

AN ASSEMBLING STRUCTURE FOR A VEHICLE BODY

Abstract

An assembling structure for a vehicle body which is provided with a first structural member (4), a second structural member (5), and a third structural member (3) composing the vehicle body (7) of an automobile, and has an upper flange provided on said second structural member (5) and is lapped on the lower side of said upper flange, and a lower flange which is provided on said upper flange, and a lower flange which is provided on said third structural member (3) and is lapped on the lower side of said middle flange, characterized in that a step portion for accommodating the end portion of the middle flange of said second structural member (5) is formed on the end side of the upper flange of said first structural member(4).

Full Text

The present invention relates to an assembling structure for a vehicle body in which a panel or a member can be assembled easily to the vehicle body of an automobile. 2- Description of Related Art FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of an opening portion 1 of a back door for an automobile, viewed from the vehicle outside, and FIG. 7 is a view showing a state in which the members have been assembled. As shown in FIG. 6, the lower side part of the opening portion 1 is formed by a side body A in which a rear combination inner panel 2 and a rear combination lamp house 3 are lapped on each other, and the lower part of the opening portion 1 is formed by a rear underbody B in which a tail end member 4 and a rear skirt panel 5 are lapped on each other. The side body A is formed by lapping a flange portion 2b of the rear combination inner panel 2 on the upper part of a flange portion 3b of the rear combination lamp house 3. The rear underbody B is formed by lapping a flange portion 4b of the tail end member 4 on the upper part of a flange portion 5b of the rear skirt panel 5. Of the flange portions of the side body A and the rear underbody B, the flange portions 2b and 3b of the side body A are lapped on the lower part of the flange portions 4b and 5b on the side of the rear underbody B, and are joined to it. FIG. 8 shows a state before the side body A and the rear underbody B are lapped on each other. At a flange portion 5a of the rear skirt panel 5, the flange portion 4b of the tail end member 4 disposed on the upside projects to the outside in the vehicle width direction from the flange portion 5b of the rear skirt panel 5 disposed on the downside at the opening portion 1. Therefore, unless a height difference a of an end of the flange portion 3b, which is curved in an arc shape, of the rear combination lamp house 3 is large, an end face 3a of the rear combination lamp house 3 may collide with an end face 5a of the rear skirt panel 5, sometimes causing a trouble in assembling. OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To solve this problem, an inclined face 3c may be provided at the end of the rear combination lamp house 3 as shown in FIG. 9 to prevent an interference with the end face 5a of the rear skirt panel 5. However, because a weather strip 6 is mounted on the flange portions 4b and 5b of the rear underbody B and the flange portions 2b and 3b of the side body A, floating is caused by the inclined face 3c, so that there is a fear of water leakage. The present invention has been made to solve the above problem, and accordingly an object thereof is to provide an assembling structure for a vehicle body which can make assembling easy when a joining portion of a panel, a member, and other components constituting an opening portion such as a door frame of a vehicle body is assembled. To achieve the above object, the present invention provides an assembling structure for a vehicle body which is provided with a first structural member (for example, a tail end member), a second structural member (for example, a rear skirt panel), and a third structural member (for example, a rear combination lamp house) composing the vehicle body of an automobile, and has an upper flange provided on the first structural member, a middle flange which is provided on the second structural member and is lapped on the lower side of the upper flange, and a lower flange which is provided on the third structural member and is lapped on the lower side of the middle flange, characterized in that a step portion for accommodating the end portion of the middle flange of the second structural member is formed on the end side of the upper flange of the first structural member. Accordingly the present invention provides an assembling structure for a vehicle body which is provided with a first structural member, a second structural member, and a third structural member composing the vehicle body of an automobile, and has an upper flange provided on said second structural member and is lapped on the lower side of said upper flange, and a lower flange which is provided on said upper flange, and a lower flange which is provided on said third structural member and is lapped on the lower side of said middle flange, characterized in that a step portion for accommodating the end portion of the middle flange of said second structural member is formed on the end side of the upper flange of said first structural member. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle body rear part of an automobile using an assembling structure for a vehicle body in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a state before a side body forming an opening portion of a back door for an automobile shown in FIG. 1 is joined to a rear underbody; FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view of a joint portion of the side body and the rear underbody shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view showing a state in which the side body and the rear underbody shown in FIG. 3 have been joined to each other; FIG. 5 is an enlarged front view of flange portions of a modified example in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state before a side body forming an opening portion of a back door for a conventional automobile is joined to a rear underbody; FIG. 7 is an enlarged front view showing a state in which the side body and the rear underbody shown in FIG. 6 have been joined to each other; FIG. 8 is an enlarged front view for illustrating a problem caused on a flange portion when the side body and the rear underbody shown in FIG. 6 are joined to each other; and FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a state in which an inclined face is provided at an end of a flange portion of a conventional rear combination lamp house. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An assembling structure for an vehicle body in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. A description will be made by applying the same reference numerals to the elements that are essentially the same as the elements of the related art. FIG. 1 shows a rear part of a vehicle body 7 of an automobile, which is provided with an opening portion 1 that is a frame for a back door. At the lower part of the opening portion 1, there are provided a tail end member 4 extending in the width direction of the vehicle body 7 and a rear skirt panel 5 which is lapped on the lower side of the tail end member 4 and extends to the lower part of the vehicle body 7. As shown in FIG. 2, a rear underbody B formed by lapping these panels on each other forms the lower part of the opening 1 by lapping a flange portion 4b of the tail end member 4, which is positioned at the opening portion 1 and has a tip end extending to the rear side of the vehicle body, on a flange portion 5b of the rear skirt panel 5. As shown in FIG. 3, the end portion in the vehicle width direction of the flange portion 4b of the tail end member 4 is slightly curved upward, and the curved portion is formed with a concave portion 4e projecting upward. Also, the end portion in the vehicle width direction of the flange portion 5b of the rear skirt panel 5 disposed under the flange portion 4b is not formed to an end face 4d of the flange portion 4b, and merely extends to a step portion 4c provided at the concave portion 4e. That is to say, the end portion of the flange portion 5b is made a tier higher by being provided with a bend portion 5c, and is accommodated in the concave portion 4e. Regarding the relationship between the step portion 4c and an end face 5d, the depth of the step portion 4c is larger than the thickness of the end face 5d, but the gap should preferably be narrower. In this embodiment, the gap is within 0.5 mm. As shown in FIG. 2, a side body A forming the lower side part of the opening portion 1 is formed by a rear combination inner panel 2 and a panel-shaped rear combination lamp house 3. The side body A is formed by lapping a flange portion 2b of the rear combination inner panel 2 on a flange portion 3b of the rear combination lamp house 3. The flange portions 2b and 3b extend to the rear side of the vehicle body 7, and also extend from the lower part of the opening portion 1 toward the side. A portion of the side body A corresponding to the lower side part of the opening portion 1 is curved in an arc shape, and the end of the rear combination inner panel 2 is formed with an insertion portion 2a which is joined to the rear underbody B. The insertion portion 2a is formed with a step portion 2c so that the joint surface becomes flat when the insertion portion 2a is inserted into and joined to the rear underbody B. The flange portion 2b of the rear combination inner panel 2 does not extend to the insertion portion 2a of the rear combination inner panel 2, and the flange 3b of the rear combination lamp house 3 extends to the side of the rear underbody B beyond the flange 2b, In order to assemble the side body A to the rear underbody B, as shown in FIG. 4, the flange portions of the side body A and the rear underbody B, disposed in the vehicle width direction, are lapped on each other. At this time, even if a height difference a (see FIG, 8) is small, since the end face 5d of the rear skirt panel 5 is accommodated in the concave portion 4e of the tail end member 4, the contact of the end face 5d with an end face 3a of the flange portion 3b of the rear combination lamp house 3 can be prevented. Further, if a portion near the end face 5d of the rear skirt panel 5 is spot welded to the flange portion 4b of the tail end member 4, the contact does not occur-Also, even after the side body A is lapped on the rear underbody B, the flange portions 2b to 5b have a smooth surface, so that a weather strip can be mounted easily, preventing water leakage. The above is a description of an embodiment of the present invention. Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various modifications and changes can be made on the basis of the technical concept of the present invention. For example, although the flange portion 4b of the tail end member 4 has the step portion 4c in the above-described embodiment, a convex bead 4f may be provided in place of the step portion 4c in front of the concave portion 4e as shown in FIG, 5. The shape of the bead 4f makes the forming work easy. Also, although the opening portion 1 of the back door is taken as an example in the above-described embodiment, the present invention can be applied to any other structural portion forming the vehicle body where three or more flange portions are lapped on each other- As described above, according to the present invention, in an assembling structure for a vehicle body which is provided with a first structural member, a second structural member, and a third structural member composing the vehicle body.of an automobile, and has an upper flange provided on the first structural member, a middle flange which is provided on the second structural member and is lapped on the lower side of the upper flange, and a lower flange which is provided on the third structural member and is lapped on the lower side of the middle flange, a step portion for accommodating the end portion of the middle flange of the second structural member is formed on the end side of the upper flange of the first structural member. Therefore, when the flanges are joined to each other by lapping, the assembling is made easy. WE CLAIM 1. An assembling structure for a vehicle body which is provided with a first structural member (4), a second structural member (5), and a third structural member (3) composing the vehicle body (7) of an automobile, and has an upper flange provided on said second structural member (5) and is lapped on the lower side of said upper flange, and a lower flange which is provided on said upper flange, and a lower flange which is provided on said third structural member (3) and is lapped on the lower side of said middle flange, characterized in that a step portion for accommodating the end portion of the middle flange of said second structural member (5) is formed on the end side of the upper flange of said first structural member(4). 2. The assembling structure for a vehicle body as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step portion of said first structural member (4) is formed into a bead shape. 3. The assembling structure for a vehicle body as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the depth of the step portion of said first structural member (4) is within a range in which 0.5mm is added to the thickness of said middle flange portion. 4. An assembling structure for a vehicle body substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

936-chenp-1999 abstarct granted.pdf

936-chenp-1999 claims granted.pdf

936-chenp-1999 description (complete) granted.pdf

936-chenp-1999 drawings granted.pdf

936-mas-1999-abstract.pdf

936-mas-1999-claims.pdf

936-mas-1999-correspondence others.pdf

936-mas-1999-correspondence po.pdf

936-mas-1999-description complete.pdf

936-mas-1999-drawings.pdf

936-mas-1999-form 1.pdf

936-mas-1999-form 19.pdf

936-mas-1999-form 26.pdf

936-mas-1999-form 3.pdf

936-mas-1999-form 5.pdf