Vehicle-body stiffening device
View Patent ↗In a vehicle-body stiffening device, a wind-receiving plate that receives traveling wind is fixed to a main bar portion of a lower bar that connects brackets formed at left and right lower sections of a suspension cross member to each other and supporting suspension lower arms. The wind-receiving plate receiving a traveling-wind pressure biases the main bar portion so as to generate bending stress. Due to this bending stress, a preload is generated between the left and right brackets. Since the preload is generated by the traveling-wind pressure, the preload is 0 (kg/mm) when the vehicle speed is 0 (km/h), but increases as the vehicle speed increases.
1. A vehicle-body stiffening device comprising:
a stiffening member that connects spaced-apart regions of a vehicle body; and
a wind-receiving plate that is fixed to the stiffening member and that receives a traveling-wind pressure, the wind-receiving plate being configured to bias the stiffening member by receiving the traveling-wind pressure so as to generate a preload between the spaced-apart regions,
wherein a free end of the wind-receiving plate is provided with a flap portion that is inclined toward a direction from which the traveling-wind pressure is received.
2. The vehicle-body stiffening device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the spaced-apart regions are arm support portions that are provided at left and right sides, in a vehicle-width direction, of a lower section of a suspension cross member and that support a suspension lower arm, and
wherein the stiffening member is a lower bar that connects the left and right arm support portions.
3. The vehicle-body stiffening device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the spaced-apart regions are a pair of side frames disposed at left and right sides in a vehicle-width direction,
wherein the stiffening member is an undercover that covers a lower surface of an engine room and that is fixed to the side frames, and
wherein opposite ends of the wind-receiving plate are fixed to a bottom surface of the undercover.
4. The vehicle-body stiffening device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the spaced-apart regions are two opposite positions, in a vehicle-width direction, that flank a floor tunnel formed in a floor panel in a front-rear direction of the vehicle body, and
wherein the stiffening member is a main bar portion that connects the two opposite positions.
5. The vehicle-body stiffening device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the spaced-apart regions are strut towers disposed at left and right sides in a vehicle-width direction, and
wherein the stiffening member is a strut tower bar that connects the strut towers.
6. The vehicle-body stiffening device according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle body is provided with a traveling-wind duct that guides traveling wind toward the wind-receiving plate.