Rear part structure of vehicle

Abstract

A rear part structure of a vehicle is disclosed which includes a groove formed in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle at a junction portion of a roof panel and a side frame of the vehicle and in which a hinge is attached for a tailgate to be installed at a rear part of the vehicle. The hinge includes a hinge base member attached into the groove, a gate hinge member attached to the tailgate which is pivotally attached to the hinge base member, and a cover which is fitted in the groove to conceal the hinge base member from view.

Description

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The present application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application Nos. 2003-309919prior art ceilinghingemember(hereinafter merely called a “hinge member”)memberamember members 202, 202 and hinge cover covers 205 205 are assembled respectively at the right rear part as in and the left rear part.

When forming the rear part structure, first, the hinge base members 203 of the respective tailgate hinge members 202 are fixed in the rear end bottom portions of the grooves 208 disposed at both the upper left and right ends of the rear part opening portion of the vehicle. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 20 and FIG. 21, the gate hinge portion portions 204, 204 is are axially supported on the rotating axis axes of the hinge base member members 203, 203 so as to turn thereon, and the tailgate 201 attached to the hinge body bodies 223, 223 of the gate hinge portion portions 204, 204 is are supported so as to turn.

Next, as shown in FIG, 18, in order to cover up the each hinge base member 203, the rear part of the corresponding roof moulding 236 fitted into the corresponding groove 208 along the longitudinal direction of a vehicle is placed between the narrow end portion 225a of the moulding braid connection portion 226 of the corresponding hinge cover 205 and the engagement tongue portion 229, and at. At the same time, the fitting portion 234d of the each fitting member 234 mounted at the corresponding engagement portion 227 is pushed into the engagement hole 217 of the corresponding hinge base member 203, whereby the fitting portion 234d of the each fitting member 234 passes through the engagement hole 217 of the corresponding hinge base member 203 with the pressing bifurcated portions 235a and 235b bent pressed toward each other as shown in FIG. 20 and FIG. 24, and the head portion of the 211a of the corresponding cover attaching portion 211 is placed between the pressing bifurcated portions 235a, 235b and the flange portion 234c. Thereby, the each fitting portion 234d is fitted in the corresponding engagement hole 217.

At this time, as As shown in FIG. 20, the each hinge cover 205 can be easily assembled at one fixing point (the cover attaching portion 211) of the corresponding cover attaching portion 211 and thereby secured at one point in the hinge base member 203 of the corresponding tailgate hinge member 202. At this time, the hinge supporting portion 219 of the corresponding hinge base member 203 and the turning arm portion 221 of the corresponding gate hinge portion 204 pivotally supported on the hinge supporting portion 219 by the rotating axis pivot shaft 218 are accommodated in the curved cover 228d of the corresponding hinge cover 205 as shown in FIG. 22 (that is, the sectional view taken along the arrow line C-C in. FIG. 20), and the turning arm portion 221 idly moves vertically in the groove 228c secured between the cover ends 228a and 228b of the corresponding hinge cover 205.

On the other hand, in the moulding braid connection portion 226 of the each hinge cover 205, as shown in FIG. 23(a) and FIG. 23(b) (that is, the sectional view taken along the arrow line E-E 23(b)-23(b) in FIG. 23(a), the rear end 237 of the corresponding roof moulding 236 placed between the narrow end portion 225a and the engagement tongue portion 229 is held and secured between the upper engagement linear projection 230 and the lower engagement linear projection 231. At this time, it is preferable that, in the for each roof moulding 236, the upper engagement linear projection 230 is engaged with the upper surface of the shoulder portion 236b secured at the rear end upper portion of the corresponding roof moulding 236, the side plane 236c of the shoulder portion 236b is brought into contact with the tip end of the narrow end portion 225a of the moulding braid connection portion 226, and the rear end of the corresponding roof moulding 236 and the tip end of the corresponding hinge cover 205 continuously form a substantially continuous flush surface.

As described above, as shown in FIG. 19, a rear part structure of a vehicle in which the tailgate 201 is attached so as to be freely opened and closed by the tailgate hinge members 202 disposed at both upper left and right ends of the rear part opening portion of the vehicle is thus constructed. At this time, the tailgate hinge member 202 is composed of a hinge base member 203 fixed on the rear end bottom portion of the groove 208 disposed between the roof panel R and the side frame S and the gate hinge portion 204 attached to the tailgate 201 and simultaneously axially supported on the hinge base member 203 so as to freely turn. The upper part of the hinge base member 203 is covered up by the hinge cover 205 fitted into the groove 208, wherein the outer appearance of the vehicle can be ornamentally improved.

In the above, some embodiments of the invention were described. However, it is a matter of course that the shapes, layouts and quantities of the respective components are subject to change within a scope not deviating from the spirit of the invention.

Claims

1. A rear part structure of a vehicle, which includes a groove formed in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle at a junction portion of a roof panel and a side frame of the vehicle and in which a tailgate to be installed at a rear part of the vehicle is attached by a hinge; wherein

the hinge comprises: a hinge base member attached into the groove; and

a gate hinge member attached to the tailgate which is pivotally attached to the hinge base member.

2. A rear part structure of a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the gate hinge member extends along a direction where the tailgate is opened and closed.

3. A rear part structure of a vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the gate hinge member is attached to a side plane portion of the tailgate.

4. A rear part structure of a vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the gate hinge member is adjustable in at least one of the longitudinal direction and the vertical direction of the vehicle with respect to the tailgate.

5. A rear part structure of a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein an open stay for fixing the tailgate is provided in the vicinity of an attaching portion of the gate hinge member.

6. A rear part structure of a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the hinge base member is covered by a hinge cover continuously extending from a roof moulding secured in the groove.

7. A rear part structure of a vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the hinge cover includes a front portion which is connected to a rear end of a roof moulding fitted in the groove, and an outer surface of the hinge cover is substantially flush with an outer surface of a rear part of the vehicle.

8. A rear part structure of a vehicle according to claim 7, wherein the outer surface of the hinge cover has a design appearance which is continuous with that of an outer surface of a roof moulding fitted in the groove.

9. A rear part structure of a vehicle according to claim 8, wherein the hinge cover is connected to a rear end of the roof moulding so as to allow a relative displacement of the hinge cover with respect to a longitudinal direction of the roof moulding.

10. A rear part structure of a vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the hinge cover has positioning ribs along a longitudinal direction thereof and at both ends in a width direction of an underside thereof, the positioning ribs being brought into contact with the side edge of the roof panel and the upper edge of the side frame and allowing an adjustment of a position of the hinge cover.

11. A rear part structure of a vehicle according to claim 10, wherein the hinge cover includes an engagement portion engaged with and secured at a cover attaching portion of the hinge base member.

12. A method for attaching a tailgate hinge member and a hinge cover, comprising the steps of:

fixing a hinge base member of a tailgate hinge member on a rear end bottom portion of a groove, which extends longitudinally of a vehicle at a junction portion between a side edge of a roof panel and an upper edge of a side frame, and which opens upwards to have a channel-shaped section;

thereafter connecting one end of a hinge cover for covering the hinge base member to a rear end of a roof moulding fitted in the groove; and

engaging the other end of the hinge cover with a cover attaching portion of the hinge base member.