Trunk lid structure for vehicle

A vehicular trunk lid structure is formed by overlapping the end of the outer panel upon the end of the inner panel, to be followed by hemming process, wherein recesses are defined adjacent to the end of said inner panel, and said recesses are deepened toward and welded to said outer panel. By such arrangement, the weld bead due to the spot-welding is concealed inside the trunk room to be obscured from the outside and thus the need of finishing work to remove the weld bead is eliminated. As a consequence, an aesthetic improvement and a manufacturing cost reduction are accomplished.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a trunk lid structure for a vehicle. 
In this prior art arrangement of a trunk lid structure, a trunk lid 1 has 
been formed by overlapping the end 2a of the outer panel 2 upon the end 3a 
of the inner panel 3, followed by a hemming process and a spot welding 
which secures the arrangement. 
In the above-described structure, since a weld bead is left on a 
spot-welded portion of the outer panel, the finished trunk lid is impaired 
aesthetically. Therefore, such a traditional structure requires a 
finishing process to remove such weld bead. This is disadvantageous as it 
relates in an increase in cost. 
SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention has been accomplished with the above state of the art 
as a background, and a main object of the present invention is therefore 
to provide a trunk lid structure for a vehicle which can be manufactured 
at a reduced cost. 
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a trunk lid 
structure for a vehicle, said structure being formed by overlapping the 
end of the outer panel upon the end of the inner panel, to be followed by 
a hemming process, wherein said inner panel is provided adjacent to its 
end with a recess which is deepened toward and welded to said outer panel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
A preferred embodiment of the vehicular trunk lid structure according to 
the principle of the present invention will be described hereinbelow, with 
reference to several accompanying drawings. 
FIG. 1 through FIG. 3 illustrate one embodiment of the present invention. 
The trunk lid structure of the present invention comprises a trunk lid 
generally designated 11 a vehicle 10 with an outer panel 12 and an inner 
panel 13. These outer and inner panels 12 and 13 have substantially (panel 
12 is substantially L-shaped in cross section and panel 13 is 
substantially step shaped including an L-shaped portion) a crank-shaped 
cross sections. In this case, the end 12a of the outer panel 12 adjacent 
panel portion 12d is overlapped upon the end 13a of the inner panel 13 and 
then hemmed so that the end 12a may overwrap the end 13a. A plurality of 
recesses 14 are defined adjacent to the end 13a of the inner panel 18. The 
recesses 14 which extend toward the outer panel 12 each have bottom 
portions 14a spot-welded to the interior surface of the outer panel 12. At 
this location the outer panel defines a recess zone 21 with a side wall or 
an outer panel recess was 21a. Moreover, a trim element 15 is secured to 
the exterior surface of the outer panel 12 by means of a bolt 16 as in the 
prior art. The trim element 15 is formed with dimensions sufficiently 
large to cover the weld bead 17 on the outer panel 12. The presence of the 
trim panel 15 serves to conceal the weld bead 17 on the outer panel to be 
obscured from the outside. 
FIG. 3 shows the door panel in its normally closed position wherein the 
inner panel 13 includes an inner panel first wall 13" which is connected 
to an inner panel second wall second 13' in a substantially L-shape. These 
two walls are also connected to a third inner wall 13'" and together the 
three inner walls form a step-shaped member 13. The outer panel 12 
includes an outer first wall 12' which is normally substantially 
horizontal and an outer second wall 12" which is normally in a vertical 
position. As can be seen in FIG. 3 the inner third wall 13'" is 
substantially parallel and spaced apart from the outer first wall 12'. The 
inner second wall 13' is positioned parallel to and spaced from the outer 
second panel 12". The outer second wall 12" and inner second wall 13' are 
normally in a vertical position. The first inner panel 13" is disposed 
normally in a substantially horizontal position. 
Since the recess 14 is not oriented in the direction of the exterior 
surface of the outer panel 12 as illustrated in FIG. 3, it is concealed 
inside the trunk room 18 when the trunk lid 11 is closed and thus the weld 
bead 17 due to the spot welding is also concealed to be obscured from the 
outside. 
Consequently, the need for a finishing operation to remove the weld bead 17 
is eliminated, and thereby an improvement in the aesthetics of the 
appearance is realized. 
According to the preferred embodiment, the outer panel is provided with a 
plurality of recesses, but the scope of the present invention is not 
limited to this arrangement, and a series of recesses may be formed 
instead of said plurality of recesses. 
As described hereinbefore, the vehicular trunk lid structure of the present 
invention is arranged such that recesses are defined adjacent to the end 
of the inner panel and the bottoms of the recesses are spot-welded to the 
outer panel. Thus, when the trunk lid is closed, the weld bead due to the 
spot-welding is concealed inside the trunk room to be obscured from the 
outside, and therefore a finishing step, to remove the weld bead, is not 
required. As a consequence, an aesthetic improvement can be realized and a 
manufacturing cost can be reduced. 
In addition, the presence of the recesses may serve to increase the 
strength of the trunk lid and the selection of area to be spot-welded 
adjacent to the end of inner panel results in the reinforcement of the 
hemmed portion.