Patent Description:
Conventionally, there is a structure shown in <FIG> as the above-described door structure of the vehicle. That is, a front door <NUM> is provided at a hinge pillar <NUM> via a door hinge <NUM> so as to be open or closed.

The above-described hinge pillar <NUM> is a vehicle-body reinforcing member which is formed by fixedly joining a hinge pillar outer <NUM>, a hinge pillar reinforcement <NUM>, and a hinge pillar inner <NUM> and has a hinge-pillar closed-cross section <NUM> extending in a vehicle vertical direction.

The above-described door hinge <NUM> is configured such that a vehicle-body-side hinge bracket <NUM> which is fastened to the hinge pillar outer <NUM> and a door-side hinge bracket <NUM> which is fastened to a door-hinge attachment face portion 94b of the front door <NUM> are pivotally connected together by a hinge pin <NUM>.

The above-described front door <NUM> comprises a door body portion <NUM> and a door sash portion, and an impact bar <NUM> which extends in a longitudinal direction and is fixed is provided inside the door body portion <NUM>. Further, the above-described door body portion <NUM> is formed integrally by joining a door outer panel <NUM> and a door inner panel <NUM> through hemming process.

The above-described door inner panel <NUM> comprises a door inside face portion 94a which constitutes an inside, in a vehicle width direction, of the door, a door-hinge attachment face portion 94b which extends toward an outside, in the vehicle width direction, of the door from the door inside face portion 94a, where the door-side hinge bracket <NUM> is fixed, and a door flange portion 94c which longitudinally extends in a direction away from a door center from an outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the door-hinge attachment face portion 94b. Further, as shown in <FIG>, a hinge reinforcement <NUM> which is fixed to the door-hinge attachment face portion 94b inside the above-described door body portion <NUM> is provided.

The hinge reinforcement <NUM> comprises a reinforcement face portion 95b which faces the door-hinge attachment face portion 94b, an inside connection portion 95a which longitudinally extends in a direction approaching the door center from an inside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion 95b, and a joint portion 95c which longitudinally extends in a direction away from the door center from an outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion 95b and is fixed to the door flange portion 94c. Further, an end portion 92a of the above-described impact bar <NUM> which is positioned on a side away from the door center is joined to the above-described joint portion 95c.

In the conventional structure shown in <FIG>, when a side-collision load denoted by an arrow x is inputted to the door body portion <NUM>, the impact bar <NUM> is bent and deformed toward the inside of the door body portion <NUM> as shown by an imaginary line α in this figure, so that a force to draw the end portion 92a of the impact bar <NUM> toward the inside of the door body portion <NUM> is generated. Accordingly, the end portion 92a of the impact bar <NUM> is forced to be peeled off and broken by a peeling-off load generated as shown by an arrow y. This peeling-off/breakage of the end portion 92a of the impact bar <NUM> makes load transmission to the hinge pillar <NUM> (vehicle body) by way of the door hinge <NUM> impossible.

Herein, while increasing plate thickness of the impact bar <NUM> or providing some additional reinforcement may be considered in order to secure the above-described load transmission to the vehicle body by way of the door hinge <NUM>, there causes a problem of causing a weight increase in this case.

In another conventional structure shown in <FIG>, in place of the joint portion 95c of the hinge reinforcement <NUM> shown in <FIG>, a joint portion 95d which longitudinally extends in a direction approaching a door center from the outside end, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion 95b is provided, and this joint portion 95d is fixedly joined to the impact bar <NUM>.

In the conventional structure shown in <FIG>, since the joint portion 95d is moved toward the inside of the door body portion <NUM> together with the impact bar when the side-collision load shown by an arrow x is inputted, the above-described peeling off generated in the structure shown in <FIG> does not occur, but when the side-collision large load is applied to the joint portion 95d, the reinforcement face portion 95b is peeled off from the door-hinge attachment face portion 94b as shown by an imaginary line β in <FIG>. Accordingly, the load transmission to the hinge pillar <NUM> (vehicle body) by way of the door hinge <NUM> is made impossible.

Herein, while the increase of the plate thickness of the impact bar <NUM> or the hinge reinforcement <NUM> or providing the additional reinforcement may be considered in order to secure the above-described load transmission to the vehicle body by way of the door hinge <NUM> as well, there occurs the problem of weight increase, too.

In <FIG>, the same elements as those shown in <FIG> are denoted by the same reference characters. In <FIG> and <FIG>, an arrow F shows a front (forward) side, in a longitudinal direction, of the vehicle, i.e., the direction away from the door center in the longitudinal direction, an arrow IN shows an inside (inward side), in a width direction, of the vehicle, and an arrow OUT shows an outside (outward side), in the width direction, of the vehicle.

Meanwhile, <CIT> (<CIT>) discloses a door structure comprising a hinge reinforcement which is similar to the one shown in <FIG>. That is, this hinge reinforcement is the one which comprises a hinge attachment portion which faces a door-hinge attachment face portion, an impact-bar j oint portion which extends in a direction approaching a door center from an outside end portion of the hinge attachment portion and is joined to an impact bar, and a joint portion which extends in the direction approaching the door center from an inside end portion of the hinge attachment portion and is joined to a door inner panel.

Even in the conventional structure disclosed in the above-described patent document, there is room for improvement in properly securing the transmission of the side-collision load to the vehicle body by way of the door hinge.

<CIT> describes that the door hinge mounting part with a hinge mounting surface on which an upper hinge is mounted has a first closed section defined by a substantially U-sectioned lower sash holding a glass run for guiding a vertical slide of a windowpane, and a platelike door inner reinforcement and door mirror reinforcement; and has, outside the first closed section, a second closed section defined by a door outer, a door inner and the lower sash.

<CIT> describes that the vehicle door comprises a door outer panel which provides the appearance of the vehicle door, a door inner panel, and a reinforcement base. The door inner panel is fixed to the inner surface of the vehicle cabin of the door outer panel, and an upper and lower pair of a door hinge member and a door lock member are attached thereto. The reinforcement base comprises four arms that are connected at mounting portions of the door hinge member to the door inner panel and at a mounting portion of the door lock member to the door inner panel.

<CIT> describes that the beam is welded inside the door, which is reinforced by the portion and hinged at the points. The ends of the beam correspond to reinforced portions of the door aperture which may correspond to the hinge mountings. The upper door hinge and the reinforcement are fixed to the "A" post, and the moulded sealing strip meets the inner door panel.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is properly suppressing the peeling off/breakage of the joint portion where the hinge reinforcement is fixed to the door flange portion and the impact bar in a vehicle side collision, while reducing the structure weight as much as possible, thereby making the load transmission to the vehicle body by way of the door hinge possible.

The present invention is the door structure for the vehicle as defined in claim <NUM>.

Particularly, the door flange portion extends forwardly from the outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the door-hinge attachment face portion.

Further particularly, the inside connection portion extends rearwardly from the inside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion.

Further particularly, the first joint portion extends rearwardly from the reinforcement face portion.

Further particularly, the second joint portion extends forwardly from the outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion.

Further particularly, the door is a front door.

According to the present invention, since the first joint portion is provided at the door-center side which is positioned on a side of a buckling point of the impact bar in the side collision of the vehicle, the hinge reinforcement follows bending deformation of the impact bar by way of the first j oint portion, so that a shearing load is inputted to the second j oint portion. Accordingly, the second j oint portion is suppressed from being peeled off from the door flange portion and consequently the load transmission to the vehicle body by way of the door hinge becomes possible.

Further, the side-collision load inputted to the hinge reinforcement is dispersed to the door body portion by the second joint portion, so that the pealing-off load inputted to the door-hinge attachment face portion can be suppressed as well. That is, even if the structure weight is kept light by avoiding any increase of the plate thickness or any additional reinforcement, the heeling-off/breakage of the joint portion where the hinge reinforcement is fixed to the door flange portion and the impact bar is properly suppressed in the vehicle side collision, so that the load transmission to the vehicle body by way of the door hinge becomes possible.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the first joint portion is arranged below the second joint portion.

According to this embodiment, the above-descried effects can be obtained by using a simple structure in which the first joint portion arranged below the second joint portion is configured to longitudinally extend in the direction approaching the door center from the outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion and be fixed to the impact bar.

In the present invention, a vertical position where the first joint portion and the second joint portion convert is located between a pair of fastening points of the door hinge.

According to the present invention, the load inputted to the fastening points of the door hinge can be reduced properly.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the inside connection portion of the hinge reinforcement comprises a first face portion which extends in the longitudinal direction and a second face portion which extends, in the vehicle width direction, toward the door inside face portion from an end portion, in the longitudinal direction, of the first face portion which is positioned on a side of the door center. Particularly, a closed-cross section portion is formed between the inside connection portion and the door body portion.

According to this embodiment, deformation of the door can be suppressed by the above-described closed-cross section portion.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the inside connection portion includes a bead which extends in the longitudinal direction.

According to this embodiment, the side-collision load can be transmitted to the door inner panel including the door inside face portion more properly.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the first joint portion and the second joint portion are located substantially at the same level.

Herein, the reinforcement face portion, the first joint portion, and the second joint portion may be formed by a single member like an extrusion article or by two separated parts. According to this embodiment, even if the structure is rather simple, the first joint portion and the second joint portion can be located substantially at the same level, so that a moment of the first joint portion which is generated at the first joint portion by the bending deformation of the impact bar can be easily transmitted to the second joint portion.

Another aspect of the present invention is the door structure of the vehicle, comprising a door body portion comprising a door inside face portion positioned on a side of an inside, in a vehicle width direction, of a door, a door-hinge attachment face portion extending toward an outside, in the vehicle width direction, of the door from the door inside face portion, where a door hinge is fixed, and a door flange portion extending rearwardly from an outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the door-hinge attachment face portion, an impact bar extending in a longitudinal direction and fixed inside the door body portion, and a hinge reinforcement provided at the door-hinge attachment face portion inside the door body portion, wherein the hinge reinforcement comprises a reinforcement face portion which faces the door-hinge attachment face portion, an inside connection portion which extends forwardly from an inside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion and is fixed to the door inside face portion, a first joint portion which extends forwardly from the reinforcement face portion and is fixed to the impact bar, and a second joint portion which extends rearwardly from an outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion and is fixed to the door flange portion.

The door structure of the vehicle according to the above-described aspect of the present invention can provide substantially the same effects as the above-described present invention.

Particularly, the reinforcement face portion is fixed to the door-hinge attachment face portion.

Further particularly, a door includes the above door structure.

Further particularly, a vehicle includes the above door.

The present invention will become apparent from the following description which refers to the accompanying drawings.

Hereafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described referring to the drawings. The drawings show a door structure of a vehicle, and <FIG> is a side view of a present door structure of the vehicle in a state where a door outer panel is removed, <FIG> is a major-part enlarged view of <FIG>, <FIG> is a sectional view taken along line A-A of <FIG>, <FIG> is a sectional view taken along line B-B of <FIG>, and <FIG> is a perspective view of a major part of the door structure of the vehicle, when viewed from a rear-upper side.

Further, <FIG> is a side view of a hinge reinforcement, <FIG> is a rear perspective view of the hinge reinforcement, <FIG> is a perspective view showing a vertical position where a first joint portion and a second joint portion convert, and <FIG> is an explanatory diagram of an operation of the door structure of the vehicle.

In the following embodiment, a front door structure will be exemplified as the door structure of the vehicle. A vehicle-body structure around a door will be described first before describing the present door structure of the vehicle.

As shown in <FIG>, a front-door opening is particularly formed by at least one of a hinge pillar <NUM> which extends in a vertical direction at a front-side portion of a cabin, a side sill <NUM> which extends rearwardly from a lower end portion of the hinge pillar <NUM>, a front pillar <NUM> which extends obliquely rearwardly-and-upwardly from an upper end portion of the hinge pillar <NUM>, a roof side rail <NUM> which extends rearwardly continuously to the front pillar <NUM>, and a center pillar <NUM> which interconnects the roof side rail <NUM> and the side sill <NUM> in the vertical direction.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the hinge pillar <NUM> is a vehicle-body reinforcing member, which has a hinge-pillar closed-cross section portion 10D extending in the vertical direction which is particularly formed by at least one of a hinge-pillar outer panel 10A, a hinge-pillar reinforcement 10B, and a hinge-pillar inner panel 10C which are fixedly joined together.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, a rear portion of an apron reinforcement <NUM> is fixedly joined to an outside face portion, in a vehicle width direction, of the hinge-pillar outer panel 10A. Further, the side sill <NUM> is another vehicle-body reinforcing member, which has a side-sill closed-cross section portion extending in a vehicle longitudinal direction which is particularly formed by at least one of a side sill outer, a side sill inner, and a side sill reinforcement which are fixedly joined together. The front pillar <NUM> is further another vehicle-body reinforcing member, which has a front-pillar closed-cross section portion extending obliquely which is particularly formed by at least one of a front pillar outer and a front-pillar inner which are fixedly joined together.

Moreover, the roof side rail <NUM> is further another vehicle-body reinforcing member, which has a roof-side closed-cross section portion extending substantially in the vehicle longitudinal direction which is particularly formed by at least one of a roof side rail outer and a roof side rail inner which are fixedly joined together. The center pillar <NUM> is further another vehicle-body reinforcing member, which has a center-pillar closed-cross section portion extending in the vehicle vertical direction which is particularly formed by at least one of a center pillar outer, a center pillar reinforcement, and a center pillar inner which are fixedly joined together.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, a door, particularly a front door <NUM> is pivotally attached to the hinge-pillar outer panel 10A of the hinge pillar <NUM> via one or a plurality of, particularly a pair of upper-and-lower door hinges <NUM>, <NUM>. This front door <NUM> covers the front-door opening enclosed by the hinge pillar <NUM>, the side sill <NUM>, the front pillar <NUM>, the roof side rail <NUM>, and the center pillar <NUM> so as to open and/or close this front-door opening.

Here, in the case of the front door <NUM>, i.e., a door that the door hinges <NUM>, <NUM> are provided at the front end of the door, a direction away from the door center particularly means the vehicle forward (front) direction, and a direction approaching the door center particularly means the vehicle rearward (rear) direction.

The front door <NUM> comprises a door body portion <NUM> which is particularly located below a beltline BL and a door sash portion <NUM> which is particularly located above the beltline BL. A door pillar outer <NUM> which extends in the vertical direction is particularly provided at a rear side portion of the door sash portion <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the door body portion <NUM> is particularly formed by integrally connecting a door inner panel <NUM> and a door outer panel <NUM> through hemming process, and the door body portion <NUM> particularly comprises a front side portion 20A where the pair of upper-and-lower door hinges <NUM>, <NUM> are attached, a lower side portion 20B, and a rear side portion 20C.

As shown in <FIG>, <FIG> and <FIG>, a beltline reinforcement inner <NUM> and a beltline reinforcement outer <NUM> which extend in the longitudinal direction along the beltline BL and are fixed to the door inner panel <NUM> are particularly provided inside the door body portion <NUM>.

Further, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, a door-mirror support bracket <NUM> to support a door mirror is particularly provided between the beltline reinforcement inner <NUM> and the beltline reinforcement outer <NUM>. Further particularly, as shown in <FIG>, a latch reinforcement <NUM> is fixedly joined to a portion of the door inner panel <NUM> at the rear side portion 20C which is positioned on a side of a door-inside space.

Additionally, as shown in <FIG>, an upper impact bar <NUM> is particularly provided between a lower portion of a middle part, in the longitudinal direction, of the beltline reinforcement outer <NUM> and a door flange portion 24a of the door inner panel <NUM> at the rear side portion 20C. This upper impact bar <NUM> particularly extends obliquely in the longitudinal direction such that its front end is located at a higher level than its rear end, and is fixed.

Further, as shown in <FIG>, a lower impact bar <NUM> is particularly provided between a door flange portion 24d of the door inner panel <NUM> which is positioned at an upper side of the front side portion 20A and the door flange portion 24a of the door inner panel <NUM> at the rear side portion 20C which is located below a rear end of the upper impact bar <NUM>. This lower impact bar <NUM> particularly extends obliquely in the longitudinal direction such that its front end is located at a higher level than its rear end, and is fixed.

The lower impact bar <NUM> is particularly arranged substantially in parallel to the above-described upper impact bar <NUM>, and extends in the longitudinal direction inside the door body portion <NUM> and is fixed to the door inner panel <NUM>. As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the door inner panel <NUM> of the door body portion <NUM> particularly comprises a door inside face portion 24b, a door-hinge attachment face portion 24c, and the door flange portion 24d.

The door inside face portion 24b particularly constitutes an inside, in the vehicle width direction, of the door body portion <NUM>. The door-hinge attachment face portion 24c particularly extends toward an outside, in the vehicle width direction, of the door from the door inside face portion 24b and particularly constitutes an attachment face portion where the door hinges <NUM>, <NUM> are fixed. Further, the door flange portion 24d is particularly a flange portion which longitudinally extends in a direction away from a door center (forwardly, in the present embodiment) from an outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the door-hinge attachment face portion 24c.

Further particularly, a step portion 24e which extends toward the outside, in the vehicle width direction, of the door from the door flange portion 24d is provided, and an end flange portion 24f which longitudinally extends in the direction away from the door center from an outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the step portion 24e is provided.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, hinge reinforcements <NUM>, <NUM> are provided at respective positions of the door-hinge attachment face portion 24c which correspond to the above-described upper-and-lower door hinges <NUM>, <NUM> inside the door body portion <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, <FIG> and <FIG>, the lower-side hinge reinforcement <NUM> particularly comprises at least one of a reinforcement face portion <NUM> which corresponds to the door-hinge attachment face portion 24c of the door inner panel <NUM>, an inside connection portion 50b which longitudinally extends in a direction approaching the door center from an inside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion 50a and is fixed to the door inside face portion 24b, and a joint portion 50c which longitudinally extends in the direction away from the door center from an outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion 50a.

While the upper-side hinge reinforcement <NUM> is formed particularly by two brackets 40A, 40B which are integrally joined together as shown in <FIG>, this hinge reinforcement <NUM> may be formed by a single bracket member. As shown in <FIG>, especially <FIG> and <FIG>, the hinge reinforcement <NUM> particularly comprises at least one of a reinforcement face portion <NUM>, an inside connection portion <NUM>, a first joint portion <NUM>, and a second joint portion <NUM>.

The reinforcement face portion <NUM> is particularly provided to face the door-hinge attachment face portion 24c of the door inner panel <NUM> and fixed to the door-hinge attachment face portion 24c. Further particularly, the inside connection portion <NUM> longitudinally extends in the direction approaching the center of the door body portion <NUM> from an inside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion <NUM> and is fixed to the door inside face portion 24b.

The first joint portion <NUM> (see <FIG>) longitudinally extends in the direction approaching the center of the door body portion <NUM> from the reinforcement face portion <NUM> and is fixed to the lower impact bar <NUM>. The second joint portion <NUM> (see <FIG>) longitudinally extends in the direction away from the center of the door body portion <NUM> from an outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion <NUM> and is fixed to the door flange portion 24d.

Thereby, since the first joint portion <NUM> is particularly provided at the door-center side which is positioned on a side of a buckling point of the lower impact bar <NUM> in a side collision of the vehicle, the hinge reinforcement <NUM> follows bending deformation of the lower impact bar <NUM> by way of the first joint portion <NUM>, so that a shearing load is inputted to the second joint portion <NUM>. Accordingly, the second joint portion <NUM> is suppressed from being peeled off from the door flange portion 24d and consequently load transmission to the hinge pillar <NUM> as the vehicle body by way of the door hinge <NUM> becomes possible.

Further particularly, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the first joint portion <NUM> longitudinally extends rearward or in the direction approaching the center of the door body portion <NUM> from the outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion <NUM> and is fixed to the lower impact bar <NUM>, and the first joint portion <NUM> is arranged below the second joint portion <NUM>.

Herein, as shown in <FIG>, the door hinge <NUM> particularly comprises at least one of a vehicle-body-side hinge bracket 16A, a door-side hinge bracket 16B, and a hinge pin 16C which pivotally connects the both brackets 16A, 16B. The door-side hinge bracket 16B is, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, fixed together to respective elements of the door-hinge attachment face portion 24c of the door inner panel <NUM>, the reinforcement face portion <NUM> of the hinge reinforcement <NUM>, and a plate <NUM> by using a pair of upper-and-lower fastening bolts <NUM>, <NUM>. As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, a vertical position where the first joint portion <NUM> positioned at a lower side and the second joint portion <NUM> positioned at an upper side convert is located between the pair upper-and-lower fastening bolts <NUM>, <NUM> as a pair of fastening points of the door hinge <NUM> (specifically, the door-side hinge bracket 16B), so that the side-collision load inputted to the fastening points (see the fastening points by the fastening bolts <NUM>) of the door hinge <NUM> is reduced properly. In other words, the upper end of the first joint portion <NUM> and/or the lower end of the second joint portion <NUM> is particularly located between the pair upper-and-lower fastening bolts <NUM>, <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the inside connection portion <NUM> particularly comprises at least one of a first face portion 42a which extends in the longitudinal direction, a second face portion 42b which extends, in the vehicle width direction, toward the door inside face portion 24b from an end portion, in the longitudinal direction, of the first face portion 42a which is positioned on a side of the door center, and a flange portion 42c which longitudinally extends rearward or in the direction approaching the door center from an inside end, in the vehicle width direction, of the second face portion 42b.

Further, a closed-cross section portion <NUM> is particularly formed between the inside connection portion <NUM> of the hinge reinforcement <NUM> and the door body portion <NUM> by fixedly joining the above-described flange portion 42c to the door inside face portion 24b of the door inner panel <NUM>. This closed-cross section portion <NUM> suppresses deformation of the front door <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, the inside connection portion <NUM> which is formed at the bracket 40A particularly includes one or plural beads <NUM> which extend in the longitudinal direction. Thereby, the side-collision load is transmitted to the door inner panel <NUM> more properly in the vehicle side collision.

Meanwhile, as shown in <FIG>, a front-side glass guide <NUM> which extends in the vertical direction along the first face portion 42a is particularly provided at the first face portion 42a of the hinge reinforcement <NUM>. Further, as shown in <FIG>, a rear-side glass guide <NUM> which extends in the vertical direction along a front portion of the door pillar outer <NUM> is particularly provided. These pair of front-and-rear glass guides <NUM>, <NUM> guide a door-side window glass (not illustrated) so that the door-side window glass can be elevated or lowered. Moreover, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, an opening portion for door-module arrangement <NUM> and an opening portion for speaker arrangement <NUM> are formed at the door inside face portion 24b of the door inner panel <NUM>.

Operations (functions) of the door structure of the vehicle which is configured as described above will be described referring to <FIG>. When a side-collision load shown by an arrow x is inputted to the lower impact bar <NUM> by way of the door outer panel <NUM>, a middle portion, in the longitudinal direction, of the lower impact bar <NUM> is bent and deformed toward the inside, in the vehicle width direction, of the door. Herein, since the first joint portion <NUM> follows the deformation of the lower impact bar <NUM>, a moment m is generated at the first joint portion <NUM> and a portion of the lower impact bar <NUM> where the first joint portion <NUM> is joined.

Accordingly, the lower impact bar <NUM> is longitudinally drawn in an arrow t direction approaching the door center and thereby a shearing load s is inputted to the second joint portion <NUM>, so that the peeling-off of the second joint portion <NUM> is suppressed. Consequently, the side-collision load inputted to the hinge reinforcement <NUM> can be transmitted to the hinge pillar <NUM> as the vehicle body by way of the door hinge <NUM>. Herein, in the figures, an arrow F shows a vehicle front (forward) side, an arrow R shows a vehicle rear (rearward) side, an arrow IN shows an inside (inward side) in the vehicle width direction, an arrow OUT shows an outside (outward side) in the vehicle width direction, and an arrow UP shows a vehicle upper (upward) side.

The above-described door structure of the first embodiment shown by <FIG> comprises the door body portion <NUM> comprising the door inside face portion 24b constituting the inside, in the vehicle width direction, of the door, the door-hinge attachment face portion 24c extending toward the outside, in the vehicle width direction, of the door from the door inside face portion 24b, where the door hinge <NUM> is fixed, and the door flange portion 24d longitudinally extending in the direction away from the door center from the outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the door-hinge attachment face portion 24c, the impact bar (the lower impact bar <NUM>) extending in the longitudinal direction and fixed inside the door body portion <NUM>, and the hinge reinforcement (the upper-side hinge reinforcement <NUM>) provided at the door-hinge attachment face portion 24c inside the door body portion <NUM>, wherein the hinge reinforcement <NUM> comprises the reinforcement face portion <NUM> which faces the door-hinge attachment face portion 24c, the inside connection portion <NUM> which longitudinally extends in the direction approaching the door center from the inside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion <NUM> and is fixed to the door inside face portion 24b, the first joint portion <NUM> which longitudinally extends in the direction approaching the door center from the reinforcement face portion <NUM> and is fixed to the impact bar (the lower impact bar <NUM>), and the second joint portion <NUM> which longitudinally extends in the direction away from the door center from the outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion <NUM> and is fixed to the door flange portion 24d (see <FIG> and <FIG>).

According to this structure, since the first joint portion <NUM> is provided at the door-center side which is positioned on the side of the buckling point of the impact bar (the lower impact bar <NUM>) in the side collision of the vehicle, the hinge reinforcement <NUM> follows the bending deformation of the impact bar (the lower impact bar <NUM>) by way of the first joint portion <NUM>, so that the shearing load is inputted to the second joint portion <NUM>. Accordingly, the second joint portion <NUM> is suppressed from being peeled off from the door flange portion 24d and consequently the load transmission to the vehicle body by way of the door hinge <NUM> is made possible.

Further, the side-collision load inputted to the hinge reinforcement <NUM> is dispersed to the door body portion <NUM> by the second joint portion <NUM>, so that the pealing-off load inputted to the door-hinge attachment face portion 24c can be suppressed as well.

That is, even if the structure weight is kept light by avoiding any increase of the plate thickness or any additional reinforcement, the heeling-off/breakage of the joint portions <NUM>, <NUM> where the hinge reinforcement <NUM> is fixed to the door flange portion 24d and the impact bar (the lower impact bar <NUM>) is properly suppressed in the vehicle side collision, so that the load transmission to the vehicle body by way of the door hinge <NUM> is made possible.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, the first joint portion <NUM> longitudinally extends in the direction approaching the door center from the outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion <NUM> and is fixed to the impact bar (the lower impact bar <NUM>), and the first joint portion <NUM> is arranged below the second joint portion <NUM> (see <FIG>).

According to this structure, the above-descried effects can be obtained by using the simple structure in which the first joint portion <NUM> arranged below the second joint portion <NUM> is configured to longitudinally extend in the direction approaching the door center from the outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion <NUM> and be fixed to the impact bar (the impact bar <NUM>).

Moreover, in the embodiment of the present invention, the vertical position where the first joint portion <NUM> and the second joint portion <NUM> convert is located between a pair of fastening points of the door hinge <NUM> (between the fastening bolts <NUM>) (see <FIG>).

According to this structure, the load inputted to the fastening points (the fastening bolts <NUM>) of the door hinge <NUM> can be reduced properly.

Also, in the embodiment of the present invention, the inside connection portion <NUM> of the hinge reinforcement <NUM> comprises the first face portion 42a which extends in the longitudinal direction and the second face portion 42b which extends, in the vehicle width direction, toward the door inside face portion 24b from the end portion, in the longitudinal direction, of the first face portion 42a which is positioned on the side of the door center, and the closed-cross section portion <NUM> is formed between the inside connection portion <NUM> and the door body portion <NUM> (see <FIG> and <FIG>).

According to this structure, the deformation of the door (the front door <NUM>) can be suppressed by the above-described closed-cross section portion <NUM>.

Additionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, the inside connection portion <NUM> includes the beads <NUM> which extend in the longitudinal direction (see <FIG>).

According to this structure, the side-collision load can be transmitted to the door inner panel <NUM> including the door inside face portion 24b more properly.

<FIG> is a sectional view of another embodiment of the door structure of the vehicle. In this second embodiment, a structure of the first joint portion <NUM> is different from the above-described first embodiment. The first joint portion <NUM> of the second embodiment comprises an extension portion 43a, a vertical wall 43b, and a flange portion 43c.

The extension portion 43a longitudinally extends rearward or in the direction approaching the center of the door body portion <NUM> from the inside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion <NUM>. The vertical wall 43b extends toward the outside, in the vehicle width direction, of the door from an door-center-side end portion of the extension portion 43a. The flange portion 43c longitudinally extends in the direction approaching the center of the door body portion <NUM> from an outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the vertical wall 43b and is fixed to the lower impact bar <NUM> as the impact bar.

In the second embodiment shown in <FIG>, when the side-collision load shown by the arrow x is inputted to the lower impact bar <NUM> by way of the door outer panel <NUM>, the middle portion, in the longitudinal direction, of the lower impact bar <NUM> is bent and deformed toward the inside, in the vehicle width direction, of the door.

Herein, since the flange portion 43c of the first joint portion <NUM> follows the deformation of the lower impact bar <NUM>, the moment m is generated at the flange portion 43c and a portion of the lower impact bar <NUM> where the flange portion 43c is joined.

Accordingly, the lower impact bar <NUM> is longitudinally drawn in the arrow t direction approaching the door center and thereby the shearing load s is inputted to the second joint portion <NUM>, so that the peeling-off of the second joint portion <NUM> is suppressed. Consequently, the side-collision load inputted to the hinge reinforcement <NUM> can be transmitted to the hinge pillar <NUM> as the vehicle body by way of the door hinge <NUM>.

As described above, the first joint portion <NUM> of the second embodiment comprises the extension portion 43a which longitudinally extends in the direction approaching the door center from the inside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion <NUM>, the vertical wall 43b which extends toward the outside, in the vehicle width direction, of the door from the end portion of the extension portion 43a which is positioned on the side of the door center, and the flange portion 43c which extends in the longitudinal direction from the outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the vertical wall 43b and is fixed to the impact bar (the lower impact bar <NUM>) (see <FIG>).

According to this structure, since the first joint portion <NUM> is formed by the extension portion 43a, the vertical wall 43b, and the flange portion 43c, the workability (processability) of the first joint portion <NUM> can be improved. In <FIG>, the same elements as those shown in the previous figures are denoted by the same reference characters, specific description of which will be omitted.

<FIG> is a sectional view of further another embodiment of the door structure of the vehicle. In this third embodiment, the structure of the first joint portion <NUM> is different from the above-described first and second embodiments. The first joint portion <NUM> of the third embodiment longitudinally extends rearward or in the direction approaching the center of the door body portion <NUM> from the outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion <NUM> and is fixed to the lower impact bar <NUM>.

Specifically, a facing face portion <NUM> which closely faces the reinforcement face portion <NUM> and is fixed together to the reinforcement face portion <NUM> particularly by the one or more fastening bolts <NUM> (see the previous figures) is provided, and the first joint portion <NUM> which longitudinally extends rearward or in the direction approaching the center of the door body portion <NUM> from an outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the facing face portion <NUM> and is fixed to the lower impact bar <NUM> is provided.

Herein, while a member which integrally forms the facing portion <NUM> and the first joint portion <NUM> in an L shape in a plan view is configured to be separate from the reinforcement face portion <NUM>, the bracket 40A including the reinforcement face portion <NUM> and the first joint portion <NUM> may be formed by a single extrusion article. Further, the first joint portion <NUM> and the second joint portion <NUM> is particularly located substantially at the same level.

In the third embodiment shown in <FIG>, when the side-collision load shown by the arrow x is inputted to the lower impact bar <NUM> by way of the door outer panel <NUM>, the middle portion, in the longitudinal direction, of the lower impact bar <NUM> is bent and deformed toward the inside, in the vehicle width direction, of the door.

Herein, since the first joint portion <NUM> follows the deformation of the lower impact bar <NUM>, the moment m is generated at the first joint portion <NUM> and a portion of the lower impact bar <NUM> where the first joint portion <NUM> is joined.

As described above, the first joint portion <NUM> of the third embodiment longitudinally extends in the direction approaching the door center from the outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion <NUM> and is fixed to the impact bar (the lower impact bar <NUM>), and the first joint portion <NUM> and the second joint portion <NUM> are located substantially at the same level (see <FIG>).

According to this structure, even if the structure is rather simple, the first joint portion <NUM> and the second joint portion <NUM> can be located substantially at the same level, so that a moment of the first joint portion <NUM> which is generated at the first joint portion <NUM> by the bending deformation of the lower impact bar <NUM> can be easily transmitted to the second joint portion <NUM>.

In correspondence between the present invention and the above-described embodiments, the door of the present invention corresponds to the front door <NUM>. Likewise, the direction away from the door center corresponds to the vehicle forward (front) direction of the front door <NUM> which is shown by the arrow F, the direction approaching the door center corresponds to the vehicle rearward (rear) direction of the front door <NUM> which is shown by the arrow R, the impact bar corresponds to the lower impact bar <NUM>, the hinge reinforcement corresponds to the upper-side hinge reinforcement <NUM>, the door hinge corresponds to the upper-side hinge <NUM>, and the fastening point of the door hinge corresponds to the fastening bolts <NUM>, <NUM>. However, the present invention should not be limited to the above-described embodiments.

Claim 1:
A door structure for a vehicle, comprising:
a door body portion (<NUM>) comprising a door inside face portion (24b) constituting an inside or positioned on a side of an inside, in a vehicle width direction, of a door (<NUM>), a door-hinge attachment face portion (24c) extending toward an outside, in the vehicle width direction, of the door (<NUM>) from the door inside face portion (24b), where a door hinge (<NUM>, <NUM>) is to be fixed, and a door flange portion (24d) longitudinally extending in a direction away from a door center from an outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the door-hinge attachment face portion (24c);
an impact bar (<NUM>) extending in a longitudinal direction and fixed inside the door body portion (<NUM>), and
a hinge reinforcement (<NUM>) provided at the door-hinge attachment face portion (24c) inside the door body portion (<NUM>),
wherein the hinge reinforcement (<NUM>) comprises a reinforcement face portion (<NUM>) which faces the door-hinge attachment face portion (24c), an inside connection portion (<NUM>) which longitudinally extends in a direction approaching the door center from an inside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion (<NUM>) and is fixed to the door inside face portion (24b), a first joint portion (<NUM>) which longitudinally extends in the direction approaching the door center from the reinforcement face portion (<NUM>) and is fixed to the impact bar (<NUM>), and a second joint portion (<NUM>) which longitudinally extends in the direction away from the door center from an outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion (<NUM>) and is fixed to the door flange portion (24d),
wherein the first joint portion (<NUM>) of the hinge reinforcement (<NUM>) longitudinally extends in the direction approaching the door center from the outside end portion, in the vehicle width direction, of the reinforcement face portion (<NUM>) and is fixed to the impact bar (<NUM>), characterized in that the impact bar (<NUM>) extends obliquely in the longitudinal direction such that its front end is located at a higher level than its rear end; and in that
a vertical position where the first joint portion (<NUM>) and the second j oint portion (<NUM>) convert is located between a pair of fastening points (<NUM>) of the door hinge (<NUM>, <NUM>).