1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a vehicle body structure such as a motor vehicle and a method for producing a vehicle body.
2. Related Art
A vehicle body structure of a front part of a motor vehicle is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2004-299633, JP-A No. 2012-096717, and JP-A No. 2011-235688. In these patent documents, each of a pair of A-pillars is connected with a corresponding side of a dash panel in the panel width direction. The dash panel is used as a toe board panel that divides a vehicle body into a front compartment and a passenger compartment. The passenger compartment is formed by joining the toe board panel and the pair of A-pillars.
Since the pair of A-pillars are connected with the right and left sides of the toe board panel, a side structure of the vehicle body having an A-pillar can be set on and connected with a side face of a center structure having the toe board of the vehicle body, thereby facilitating production of the vehicle body.
However, in order to superpose and join the toe board panel and the A-pillar, it is necessary to provide an inner flange on an end of the toe board panel in its width direction and to provide an outer flange on a side panel of the A-pillar, and further to superpose the inner flange and the outer flange and to join the inner and outer flanges by spot welding and the like. As a result, a joined section having the inner and outer flanges extends forward from the faces of the toe board panel and the A-pillar.
Although there is a possibility of a vehicle such as a motor vehicle colliding with an oncoming vehicle travelling at a high speed, this type of collision is not tested in present collision safety standards. Such a collision causes a strong impact on the vehicle. As a result, there is a possibility of a front wheel of the crashed vehicle becoming detached from the vehicle body and the detached front wheel being pushed against the toe board panel or the like.
When the detached front wheel is pushed against the toe board panel from the front side, there is a possibility of the toe board panel being deformed and a pulling-off force being applied to the joined section which extends forward. If the outer flange is peeled off from the inner flange, the connection is broken to form a gap between the toe board panel and the A-pillar.
Thus, it is required that the pulling-off force be negligibly applied to a joined section between a partition panel such as the toe board panel and a side panel such as the A-pillar and that collision safety performance of the vehicle be further enhanced.