CN112839859B

CN112839859B - Front fender support improved for pedestrian impact

Info

Publication number: CN112839859B
Application number: CN201980064974.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: L·里维埃; P·雷盖姆; J·C·加莱尔纳
Original assignee: PSA Automobiles SA
Current assignee: PSA Automobiles SA
Priority date: 2018-10-03
Filing date: 2019-09-18
Publication date: 2023-10-27
Anticipated expiration: 2039-09-18
Also published as: FR3086916A1; WO2020070404A1; CN112839859A; FR3086916B1; EP3860902A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a support (13) for the upper side edge (5A) of a front fender (5) of a motor vehicle, said support (13) comprising: a first fixing interface fixed with the front fender (5); a second fixing interface fixed with the wheel arch liner (3); an absorption region coupling the first interface with the second interface, the absorption region being capable of compressive deformation when a head of a pedestrian impinges on an edge (5A) of the fender (5); the absorbent region, the first interface and the second interface are formed by undulating strips (15), each of the interfaces comprising a plurality of different securing regions (23 b, 25).

Description

Front fender support improved for pedestrian impact

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of motor vehicles, and more particularly to the front structure of motor vehicles.

Background

The impact between the pedestrian and the vehicle occurs mainly between the leg of the pedestrian and the bumper and between the head of the pedestrian and the upper portion of the hood and/or the vehicle fender, depending on the lateral position of the pedestrian at the time of impact. Therefore, it is necessary to add a cushion support and/or impact absorber under the front fender of the vehicle in order to reduce the impact of the collision on the pedestrian.

Published patent document EP2296958A1 discloses an impact absorbing support for a front fender of a motor vehicle. The support includes upper and lower interfaces coupled to the intermediate absorbent region. The absorption zone comprises a plurality of V-shaped connecting elements which have the ability to be crushed upon impact by a pedestrian situated in front of the vehicle. The support comprises a plurality of connecting elements which makes the support complex, time consuming to manufacture and time consuming to put in place on the vehicle.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the present invention is to overcome at least one of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art. More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to simplify existing supports and to facilitate replacement of the supports after impact.

The present invention aims to provide a support for the upper side edge of the front fender of a motor vehicle, said support comprising: a first securement interface secured with the front fender; a second securing interface secured to the wheel arch liner (doublure de passage de roue); an absorption region coupling the first interface with the second interface, the absorption region being capable of compressive deformation when a head of a pedestrian impacts on an edge of the fender, notably the absorption region, the first interface and the second interface being formed by undulating strips, each of the interfaces comprising a plurality of different (discrete) securing regions.

Advantageously, the strip forms one piece connected together, the piece being structurally one piece.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the fixing area is formed by the top of the undulation of the band.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, each of the tops of the undulations of the band extends longitudinally so as to form two different fixing areas of the first interface.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, each of the fixing areas of the first fixing interface comprises an aperture and a nut integral with the band.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, each of the fixing areas of the second fixing interface comprises an auxiliary aperture on said area, said auxiliary aperture being laterally offset with respect to the longitudinal central axis of the belt.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, each of said auxiliary apertures has a diameter of less than 5 mm.

Advantageously, the apertures are of a mission that allows fixing the support for replacement after a pedestrian impact.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, one end of the support further comprises a third fixing interface fixed with the headlight.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the third interface is directly adjacent to the fixed area of the first interface.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the belt has longitudinal stiffening ribs at folds (plis) of the belt between the first interface and the second interface.

Advantageously, the fixed zone of the second interface comprises two zones on one of the tops of the undulations of the belt, said tops being longitudinally extended by a bulge (ressaut) between said zones.

The invention also aims to provide a motor vehicle, the front of which comprises on each side: a head lamp; wheel arch liners; a front fender adjacent to the wheel arch liner; and a support coupling the wheel arch liner with an upper side edge of the front fender; it is noted that the support is a support according to the invention and that the headlight is fixed to the support.

Advantageously, the head lamp is fixed to the front end of the support, more advantageously to a third interface of the support, which is directly adjacent to the fixing zone of the first interface.

The measure of the invention is advantageous in that it enables a reduction in the number of parts required in the assembly of the front structure of the vehicle and also in the number of electric welding points for maintaining said structure. Incidentally, the present invention can reduce the total mass of the vehicle, and can reduce the manufacturing cost of the vehicle itself and the tools required for its manufacture. In addition, the support can perform triple fixation with a front headlight located at the front, with a front fender located laterally relative to the support, and with a wheel arch lining located below the support. Since the support includes the undulation, this can improve the flexibility of the front fender of the vehicle, and thus can limit damage to pedestrians at the time of a front impact. The support also has the advantage after the vehicle is sold, as the presence of the auxiliary aperture can facilitate replacement of the support after a front impact. In fact, these apertures serve as guides to drill holes in the wheel arch liner in order to fix the new support into the aperture in question by means of rivets. Finally, the support does not comprise a large number of different parts and therefore the working time at the time of replacement of the support is short. Therefore, parts are more easily replaced.

Drawings

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings in which:

fig. 1 is a perspective view of a motor vehicle according to the invention;

figure 2 is a perspective view of a support according to the invention,

figure 3 is a perspective view of the support of figure 2 assembled on the front structure of a vehicle,

fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the fixation area between the headlight and the support;

fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the support of fig. 2 to 4 fitted on a wheel arch liner.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a motor vehicle according to the invention. The front of the motor vehicle 1 comprises a wheel arch liner 3 adjacent to a front fender 5 on each side. The head lamp 7 is located in front of the front fender 5 to improve the driver's view. Upon a front impact with a pedestrian, the impact mainly occurs between the leg of the pedestrian and the front bumper 9, and then between the head of the pedestrian and the front hood 11 or the front fender 5 laterally with respect to the hood 11. Therefore, improvement in the front fender 5 position is required in order to cushion the impact and thereby limit damage to the pedestrian's head. The improvement is in the form of a support as depicted on fig. 2-4. A longitudinal direction (x-axis) is also defined, which corresponds in fig. 1 to the direction of movement of the vehicle 1 and in the following figures to the longitudinal centre axis of the support.

Fig. 2 shows a view of a front fender support according to the invention. The support 13 takes the form of a rugged belt 15, preferably having two undulations 17 separated by a middle portion 31. Each relief 17 comprises a front branch 19 and a rear branch 21 joined by a top 23. The top 23 of each undulation 17 of the band 15 extends longitudinally to form a securing region 23B, each of which includes an aperture 23C. The intermediate portion 31 of the undulating ribbon 15 comprises two flat branches (31 a,31 b) parallel to each other and joined by an inclined branch 31C. The first branch 31A is at a higher level with respect to the second branch 31B.

The undulating strip 15 further comprises folds 29 positioned at each connection of the different portions of the strip 15, some folds 29 also having longitudinal stiffening ribs 29A. The undulating strip 15 forming the support 13 also has a plurality of different fixing areas (23 b, 25). Each of the ends of the front branches 19 of the undulations 17 positioned at the front of the belt 15 and of the rear branches 21 of the undulations 17 at the rear of the belt 15 has a fixing zone 25 with auxiliary orifices 25A offset with respect to the longitudinal median axis (x) of the belt 15. The branches (31 a,31 b) of the intermediate portion 31 of the band 15 also form two additional fixing areas 25, each of which carries an auxiliary aperture 25A offset with respect to the longitudinal median axis (x) of said band 15. The auxiliary aperture 25A has a diameter of less than 5mm, which is compatible for receiving rivets. The front end of the strap 15 also has a third fixing interface 27 (not visible in this figure 2) with the head lamp, this interface 27 forming an aperture 27A able to allow the fixing of said head lamp. The interface 27 is directly adjacent to the fixed region 23B of the front relief 17.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a support according to the invention fitted on a wheel arch liner. The wheel arch liner 3 has a flat central portion 3A joined to two lateral portions 3B by two inclined intermediate portions 3C. The central portion 3A, lateral portion 3B and intermediate portion 3C are below the intermediate portion 31 of the belt 15. It can also be seen on this figure that the belt 15 is in contact with the upper side edge 5A of the front fender 5, said belt 15 being fixed to said upper side edge at the location of the fixing area 23B described above. These fixing areas 23B are thus positioned at the first fixing interface fixing the belt 15 with the front fender 5. The fastening areas 25 are positioned at a second interface between the belt 15 and the wheel arch lining 3, these areas 25 preferably being fastened to the underlying wheel arch lining 3 by welding (resistance welding points) and/or by adhesive bonding. The belt 15 thus forms an absorption zone between the first interface and the second interface.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a connection portion between a support and a head lamp. The front end portion of the support 13 has a third fixing interface 27 to which the headlamp 7 is fixed. The fixing is preferably performed by means of a nut 27B.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a support member assembled to a wheel arch liner. On this figure, a nut 23D can be seen, which creates a connection between the upper side edge of the fender (not visible on this fig. 5) and the top 23 of the undulation 17 of the band 15. This fig. 5 also shows the offset (a) between the front inclined middle portion 3C and the inclined piece 31C of the middle portion 31 of the belt 15. The offset (a) is important for compensating manufacturing tolerances and is preferably between 2mm and 8 mm.

In general, the use of the auxiliary aperture 25A described above allows the support 13 for replacement to be positioned on the wheel arch liner 3 after sale in the event that the support 13 fails after impact. The purpose of these apertures is to allow a good positioning of the support 13 on the liner 3, and then to allow fixing of said support 13 by means of rivets (not visible on these figures) after drilling the liner, so as to allow said support 13 to remain on said liner 3.

Claims

1. A support (13) for an upper side edge (5A) of a front fender (5) of a motor vehicle (1), the support (13) comprising:

-a first fixing interface fixed with the front fender (5);

-a second fixing interface with the wheel arch liner (3);

-an absorption zone coupling the first and second fixing interfaces, the absorption zone being capable of compression deformation when the head of a pedestrian impacts on the upper side edge (5A) of the front fender (5);

characterized in that the absorption region, the first fixing interface and the second fixing interface are formed by undulating strips (15), each of the first fixing interface and the second fixing interface comprises a plurality of different fixing regions (23 b, 25), the fixing regions (23 b, 25) are formed by tops (23) of undulations (17) of the strips (15), wherein the fixing regions (25) of the second fixing interface are fixed with the underlying wheel arch lining (3) by welding and/or gluing, and the fixing regions (25) of the second fixing interface each comprise auxiliary apertures (25A) on the fixing regions (25) which are laterally offset with respect to the longitudinal central axis (x) of the strips (15), the auxiliary apertures (25A) allowing the support (13) to be well positioned on the wheel arch (3) and used for guiding the wheel arch (3) to bore holes after the wheel arch (3) is perforated in case the support (13) is damaged after a frontal impact.

2. The support (13) according to claim 1, characterized in that each of the tops (23) of the undulations (17) of the belt (15) extends longitudinally so as to form two different fixing areas (23 b, 25) of the first fixing interface.

3. The support (13) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that each of the fixing areas (23B) of the first fixing interface comprises an aperture (23C) and a nut (23D) integral with the band (15).

4. Support (13) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that each of said auxiliary apertures (25A) has a diameter of less than 5 mm.

5. The support (13) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that one end of the support (13) further comprises a third fixing interface (27) to the headlight (7).

6. The support (13) according to claim 5, characterized in that the third fixing interface (27) is directly adjacent to the fixing area (23B) of the first fixing interface.

7. The support (13) according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 6, characterized in that the belt (15) has longitudinal stiffening ribs (29A) at the folds of the belt (15) between the first and second fixing interfaces.

8. A motor vehicle (1), the front of which comprises on each side: a headlight (7); a wheel arch liner (3); a front fender (5) adjacent to the wheel arch liner (3); and a support (13) coupling the wheel arch liner (3) with an upper side edge (5A) of the front fender (5);

-characterized in that the support (13) is a support according to any one of claims 1 to 7, and that the headlight (7) is fixed with the support.