1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to front constructions of motor vehicles, and more particularly to the front constructions of a type that is equipped with a heat exchanger support frame.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, to simplify the process for mounting heat exchangers, such as radiator, condenser and the like, onto a front base of motor vehicle body flowing on a vehicle body assembling line, a sub-assembly system has been widely employed. That is, in this system, before being mounted to the front base of motor vehicle body, the heat exchangers are mounted to a heat exchanger support frame to constitute a so-called xe2x80x9cfront end modulexe2x80x9d, and then, the front end module is mounted to the front base of motor vehicle body flowing on the main assembling line.
One of known heat exchanger support frames is shaped rectangular and generally includes upper and lower horizontal members and right and left side stays or vertical members. In this known technique, for mounting the front end module, which has the heat exchangers previously mounted thereon, onto the front base of vehicle body, the side stays of the heat exchanger support frame are fixed to front ends of right and left side members of the front base by means of bolts and nuts respectively.
However, in the above-mentioned technique, because of necessity of assuring the mechanical strength and matching the size thereof with the front ends of the side members of the front base of vehicle body, the side stays of the heat exchanger support frame are compelled to have an enlarged width. This however means narrowing of an air passing aperture defined by the heat exchanger support frame, which of course affects the performance of the heat exchangers held by the support member.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a front construction of a motor vehicle body, which is free of the above-mentioned drawback.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a front construction of a motor vehicle body which comprises a front base of the vehicle body; a heat exchanger support frame having an air passing aperture which is defined by upper and lower horizontal members and two mutually spaced side stays which extend between the upper and lower horizontal members; a skirt portion integral with the lower horizontal member and extending along a lower portion of the lower horizontal member, the skirt portion facing forward with respect to the vehicle body keeping a given inclination relative to the heat exchanger support member to serve as an air guide for the air passing aperture; recessed seat portions integrally formed by the skirt portion; and fixing members which fix the recessed seat portions to the front base.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heat exchanger support frame which is to be mounted on a front base of vehicle body. The heat exchanger support frame comprises upper and lower horizontal members; two mutually spaced side stays which extend between the upper and lower horizontal members thereby to define a generally rectangular air passing aperture therebetween; a skirt portion integral with the lower horizontal member and extending along a lower portion of the same, the skirt portion facing forward keeping a given inclination relative to the heat exchanger support frame to serve as an air guide for the air passing aperture; and recessed seat portions integrally formed by the skirt portion, the recessed seat portions causing the skirt portion to have a three dimensional structure having an increased mechanical strength.