1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an automobile body structure, and more particularly, to the structure of an automobile rear body in the vicinity of rear pillars and rear fenders.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, an automobile rear body structure includes rear fender panels which form outer surfaces of the side walls of the rear portion of an automobile. Each of the rear fender panels is provided, in the vicinity of a rear portion of a room compartment, with an upwardly extending portion forming an outer surface of each rear pillar.
The Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Application No. 61-146475 discloses one example of the upwardly extending portion of the rear fender panel, the upper end of which is bent inwardly and joined to a roof panel which forms an upper surface of a roof portion of the automobile body.
In this rear body structure, however, the upwardly extending portion of the rear fender panel and the roof panel must be tightly joined to each other so as to form a strong bond along the entire joint to prevent rain water or the like from entering the room compartment. Accordingly, spot welding, which is superior in workability, can not be used. Rather, MIG welding or the like is generally employed to provide a continuous weld.
Because of this, the conventional automobile rear body structure is not easily assembleable and requires a relatively large number of man-hours to assemble. The manufacturing costs therefor are thus relatively high.
It has, therefore, been proposed to eliminate the need for MIG welding by forming a downwardly extending portion, which constitutes the outer surface of the rear pillar, at a rear side portion of the roof panel and by joining the lower end of the downwardly extending portion to the rear fender panel. However, this structure results in a body structure having insufficient rigidity.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds