Mount for vehicle front support structure

Abstract: An improved mounting arrangement for an automotive vehicle cross car beam (18) provides a connector (20,22) arranged on each end of the beam configured to wedgingly engage receiver slides formed in the front pillars (12,14) of the vehicle.

Description: The present invention relates generally to automotive vehicle body structures and more particularly to the mounting of cross car beams and mounting structure for such beams. It is known in the automotive vehicle body structural arts to provide a transversely extending beam between the stamped front pillars of an automotive body to enhance the torsional stiffness of the body and to provide a simply supported structure on which vehicle components, such as steering columns and instrument panels, may themselves be mounted. In previously known vehicle constructions, cross car beams have been secured to the front pillars of the vehicle through mounting brackets employing a plurality of fasteners. U.S. 4,432,565 to Suzuki et all and U.S. 4,671,536 to Yoshimura are exemplary of such approaches. These designs are inconvenient and expensive to assemble because of their use of multiple fasteners. They also provide a mounting that is not ideal with respect to vehicle noise, vibration and harshness. A more recent solution to the problem is exemplified in U.S. 4,826,234 to Komatsu on which the preamble of claim 1 is based and which employs a specially shaped bracket and pillar formation to surround the ends of a tubular cross car support beam. In this prior art, a vehicle body has left and right front pillars, each formed of an inner panel and an outer panel and having a closed cross-section, and a dashboard upper panel extending in the transverse direction of the vehicle body between the left and right front pillars. A steering shaft support member which supports a steering shaft and extends in the transverse direction of the vehicle body is connected to the corresponding front pillar at each end thereof by way of a bracket which forms a closed cross-section together with the corresponding front pillar. While tending to reduce the number of fasteners necessary to fix the ends of the beam to the vehicle structure, the design suffers from certain disadvantages, including the necessity to have close conformation of the outer surface of the beam with the inner surface of the bracket to ensure secure rattle-free engagement, as well as the additional complexity in the pillar stampings necessitated by the design. According to the present invention, there is provided a front support structure for a vehicle body, the body having left and right front vertically extending pillars, the front support structure comprising: an elongated beam extending transversely between said pillars and connected at each end thereof to the corresponding pillar by a connector assembly characterized in that each connector assembly includes means to effect wedging engagement between the beam end and the corresponding pillar. It is additionally advantageous that the connection scheme embodying the invention results in increased torsional stiffness of the cross car beam. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a pair of converging slides is formed in each front vertical pillar to engage with slide surfaces formed on end plates of the cross car beam. The wedging engagement is effected through movement in a plane positioned below the horizontal plane of the vehicle for ease of assembly during construction of the vehicle. Positioned in the same plane of insertion is a single fastener at each connector assembly operative to urge the end plate connectors into wedging engagement with the slides and to fixedly secure the beam to the pillars. The invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a forward looking interior view of an automotive vehicle showing the front support structure installed; Figure 2 is a partial lower perspective view of one end of the support structure of the present invention illustrating its mounting componentry; Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the connector assembly shown in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 4-4 of Figure 2; and Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 5-5 of Figure 2. Turning now to the drawings and in particular to Figure 1 thereof, an automotive vehicle 10 is illustrated as including a pair of vertically extending front pillars, a left pillar 12 and a right pillar 14, and a front support assembly indicated generally at 16 extending between the pillars 12 and 14. The front support assembly 16 is illustrated as including an elongated tubular beam 18 and a pair of symmetrically identical connectors 20, 22. Turning next to Figure 2, the connector 20 is illustrated as including a pair of converging slides 24 formed in the pillar 12 as by stamping, an end plate 26, and a fastener assembly 28. The slides 24 preferably form an angle of about 30° in convergence and are arranged symmetrically about a plane about 35° below the horizontal plane of the vehicle body. The slides 24 are struck out of the stamping of the pillar 12 and include a retaining lip 30 for laterally guiding the end plate 26, as may best be seen in Figure 4. The end plate 26 is illustrated as comprising a generally hat-shaped plate having slide surfaces 32 formed on it substantially parallel with the slides 24 for effecting wedging engagement between the plate 26 and the slides 24. Control of parallelism tolerances to enhance the wedging engagement is also contemplated for this embodiment. The plate 26 further includes an upstanding receiver section 34 for accepting the end 36 of the beam 18, as may best be seen in Figure 4. The beam end 36 may be welded to the receiver section 34 or otherwise suitably secured to it. A fastener clearance hole 38 pierces the receiver section 34 in a central location between the converging slide surfaces 32 for alignment with a nut 40 carried in a pocket 42 formed in the pillar stamping 12. The nut 40 forms a portion of the fastener assembly 28 and defines a fastening axis extending in an angle about 30° from the vertical plane of the pillar stamping 12. A bolt 42 and load bearing washer 46 complete the fastener assembly 28. As may best be seen in Figure 5, the bolt 44 threadedly engages the nut 40 to complete the assembly of the connector 20. The angular relationship of the fastener axis is chosen to urge the end plates 26 into full-contact wedging engagement of the slide surfaces 32 with the slides 24. In assembling the beam 18 into a vehicle, an efficient and simple assembly operation is possible through fixing the end plates 26 to the beam 18 and sliding the plates 26 into engagement with slides 24. Final securement through agency of the fastener assembly 28 is then facilitated by the described arrangement even when a steering column has been previously assembled, as shown.

Claims: A front support structure (16) for a vehicle body (10), the body having left and right front vertically extending pillars (12,14), the front support structure (16) comprising: an elongated beam (18) extending transversely between said pillars (12,14) and connected at each end thereof to the corresponding pillar (12,14) by a connector assembly (20,22), characterised in that each connector assembly (20,22) includes means (24,26) to effect wedging engagement between the beam end and the corresponding pillar (12,14). A front support structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said means (24,26) includes an end plate (26) considers the beam end and a pair of converging slides (24) provided on the corresponding pillar (12,14) the end plate (26) having slide surfaces (32) formed thereon to extend substantially parallel with the converging slides (24) to facilitate wedging engagement therebetween. A front support structure as claimed in claim 2, and further comprising: only one fastener (40,44) operative to releasably secure the end plate (26) in wedging engagement with the corresponding pillar (12,14). A front support structure as claimed in claim 3, wherein said converging slides (24) converge about a plane defining an acute angle below the horizontal plane of said vehicle body. A front support structure as claimed in claim 4, wherein said converging slides (24) define an angle about 30° therebetween. A front support structure as claimed in claim 4 or 5, wherein said acute angle is 35°. A front support structure as claimed in claim 4, wherein said fastener (40,44) comprises a threaded fastener axially engaged in said converging slide's plane. A front support structure as claimed in claim 7, wherein said threaded fastener (40,44) defines an engaging axis forming an acute angle with the longitudinal plane of the pillar. A front support structure as claimed in claim 8, wherein said engaging axis acute angle is 30°. A front support structure as claimed in claim 7, wherein said fastener comprises a nut (40) carried in said pillar (12,14) and a bolt (44).

Inventors: MCCREADIE DAVID ALEXANDER, MCCREADIE, DAVID ALEXANDER
Applicants: FORD FRANCE, FORD MOTOR CO, FORD WERKE AG, FORD FRANCE S. A., FORD MOTOR COMPANY LIMITED, FORD-WERKE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
Application year: 1992
Main classification: B62D25
IPC codes: B62D1, B62D25