Mazda Motor Corporation

Masatoki Kito

Hiroshi Sogabe

Takayuki Nakamae

Tsutomu Watanabe

Arihiro Furumoto

Ryuma Murakami

Hirofumi Takada

Kuniyoshi Tashiro

Nobuyuki Nakayama

Shigeaki Watanabe

Yamato Matsuda

Susumu Kuroda

Reiko Yoshiura

Hiroyuki Yoshimoto

Hayato Miyazaki

Hirofumi Miyamoto

Hideaki Onishi

Qiang Wang

Kazumichi Takeshige

Ryo Komuta

Tomohiro Shimada

Ryuichi Takahashi

Kenji Ohtani

Toshihiro Nakaza

Satoru Eguchi

Kazuya Matsumoto

There is provided a bracket which connects an apron reinforcement provided below a bonnet and an upper portion of a fender provided on an outward side, in a vehicle width direction, of the bonnet. The bracket comprises a fender fixing portion fixed to a flange portion of an upper end portion of the fender, a body portion extending downwardly from the fender fixing portion and positioned on the outward side of the apron reinforcement, and an apron-reinforcement fixing portion extending from an inward side, in the vehicle width direction, of the body portion toward the apron reinforcement and fixed to the apron reinforcement. The body portion is provided with a curved part which is configured to be curved outwardly in the vehicle width direction.

Front vehicle-body structure of vehicle

An impact absorbing member is provided below a fascia upper member (upper-face forming member) which forms an upper face of a front end portion of a vehicle. The impact absorbing member comprises a front side part which includes a front wall portion, a top wall portion, and a rear wall portion so as to have a U-shaped cross section opening downward and a flat-plate shaped rear side part which extends rearward from a lower end of the rear wall portion. A rear end portion of the rear side part is held at a radiator shroud as a vehicle-body-side member, and the rear side part is configured to slant obliquely forward and downward.

Front vehicle-body structure

A pair of right-and-left brackets which extend obliquely downward and forward from respective front portions of a pair of right-and-left side frames are provided. A stiffener which extends in a vehicle width direction below a bumper beam is attached to respective front ends of the pair of right-and-left brackets. The stiffener is configured such that its front end portion slants downward and forward and has an open cross section, and its rear end portion thereof has a closed cross section. An obstacle can be prevented from coming in below a vehicle-body front portion, and also the sufficient energy absorption in a collision and the prompt flicking-up of an obstacle can properly achieved.

Vehicle-body front structure of vehicle

A protecting member comprises a pair of right-and-left brackets extending obliquely downward and forward from front portions of a pair of right-and-left side frames and a stiffener extending in a vehicle width direction below a bumper beam and attached to front ends of the brackets. The stiffener has a closed cross section extending in the vehicle width direction, and an upper face of its central portion in the vehicle width direction has a concaved portion. A lower face of the stiffener extends horizontally substantially straightly. It is preferable that the closed cross section of the central portion of the stiffener be configured such that its vertical distance is relatively small and its longitudinal width is relatively large, compared with the other part of the stiffener.

A protecting member includes a pair of right-and-left brackets which extend obliquely downward and forward from front portions of a pair of right-and-left side frames and a stiffener which extends in a vehicle width direction below a bumper beam and attached to front ends of the pair of right-and-left brackets. The protecting member has a load/deformation characteristic including a first stage from a collision start, a second stage after the first stage, and a third stage after the second stage. Herein, the first stage is set so as to restrain the obstacle from coming in below a vehicle-body front portion, the second stage is set so as to absorb collision energy to restrain a local deformation of the obstacle, and the third stage is set so as to flick the obstacle up.

A pair of sub frames is provided on the outside of a heat exchanger in a vehicle width direction, there is provided a stiffener which interconnects front ends of the sub frames and projects forward, and the stiffener is connected to lower portions of the sub frames. Accordingly, the sufficient attachment rigidity of the stiffener can be secured in the normal state, whereas in the vehicle collision state the stiffener can be easily separated off the sub frames without resisting improperly, so that the safety of pedestrian can be secured.

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Hiroshima, Japan

Masatoki Kito