Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R19/00—Wheel guards; Radiator guards, e.g. grilles; Obstruction removers; Fittings damping bouncing force in collisions
  • B60R19/02—Bumpers, i.e. impact receiving or absorbing members for protecting vehicles or fending off blows from other vehicles or objects
  • B60R19/04—Bumpers, i.e. impact receiving or absorbing members for protecting vehicles or fending off blows from other vehicles or objects formed from more than one section in a side-by-side arrangement
  • B60R19/12—Bumpers, i.e. impact receiving or absorbing members for protecting vehicles or fending off blows from other vehicles or objects formed from more than one section in a side-by-side arrangement vertically spaced
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R19/00—Wheel guards; Radiator guards, e.g. grilles; Obstruction removers; Fittings damping bouncing force in collisions
  • B60R19/02—Bumpers, i.e. impact receiving or absorbing members for protecting vehicles or fending off blows from other vehicles or objects
  • B60R19/24—Arrangements for mounting bumpers on vehicles
  • B60R19/26—Arrangements for mounting bumpers on vehicles comprising yieldable mounting means
  • B60R19/34—Arrangements for mounting bumpers on vehicles comprising yieldable mounting means destroyed upon impact, e.g. one-shot type
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R19/00—Wheel guards; Radiator guards, e.g. grilles; Obstruction removers; Fittings damping bouncing force in collisions
  • B60R19/02—Bumpers, i.e. impact receiving or absorbing members for protecting vehicles or fending off blows from other vehicles or objects
  • B60R19/18—Bumpers, i.e. impact receiving or absorbing members for protecting vehicles or fending off blows from other vehicles or objects characterised by the cross-section; Means within the bumper to absorb impact
  • B60R2019/1806—Structural beams therefor, e.g. shock-absorbing
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R19/00—Wheel guards; Radiator guards, e.g. grilles; Obstruction removers; Fittings damping bouncing force in collisions
  • B60R19/02—Bumpers, i.e. impact receiving or absorbing members for protecting vehicles or fending off blows from other vehicles or objects
  • B60R19/18—Bumpers, i.e. impact receiving or absorbing members for protecting vehicles or fending off blows from other vehicles or objects characterised by the cross-section; Means within the bumper to absorb impact
  • B60R2019/1806—Structural beams therefor, e.g. shock-absorbing
  • B60R2019/1833—Structural beams therefor, e.g. shock-absorbing made of plastic material
  • B60R2019/1846—Structural beams therefor, e.g. shock-absorbing made of plastic material comprising a cellular structure
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R21/00—Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks
  • B60R21/34—Protecting non-occupants of a vehicle, e.g. pedestrians

Definitions

• the present invention relates to an energy absorption beam, particularly for a motor vehicle, and a motor vehicle equipped with such a beam.
• Car manufacturers are concerned with improving passenger safety and reducing vehicle repair costs in the event of an impact, while avoiding a significant increase in vehicle weight.
• the vehicles must meet certain constraints, especially during standard shocks corresponding in particular to the shock called “pedestrian” and shock called “low speed”, also called “parking”.
• a pedestrian impact is a shock at 40 km / h against adapted elements which makes it possible to verify that the risks of serious injuries of a pedestrian at the level of his legs are limited.
• a parking shock is a shock at 4 km / h against a rigid obstacle. During such an impact, the energy absorbing beam of the vehicle must, in principle, undergo only elastic deformations so that no repair is necessary.
• the pedestrian impact requires an absorption beam whose impact behavior is soft whereas the low speed impact requires a beam whose impact behavior is rigid.
• Document FR-A-2 840 574 discloses a bumper beam which makes it possible to satisfy these contradictory requirements and which comprises a larger rear region of greater impact stiffness and a lower front region of impact stiffness.
• the front region of the lower impact stiffness beam has an outward curve and the two regions, ie the front region and the back region, are placed one behind the other.
• This provision has a disadvantage that lies mainly in the fact that, during a pedestrian impact, the deformation of the front portion along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle is small, which causes a bias of the entire beam according to a transverse axis perpendicular to this longitudinal axis. As a result, the beam must be changed and the parts placed near this beam can also be damaged.
• the object of the invention is to propose an energy absorption beam which avoids this disadvantage.
• the subject of the invention is therefore an energy absorption beam, in particular for a motor vehicle, characterized in that it comprises a cross-member portion intended to absorb the weakest impacts and two lateral branches extending the ends of said portion towards the rear and intended to absorb larger shocks.
• said portion is curved outwards
• each lateral branch comprises, at its free end, a mounting plate on a spar or on the cradle of the motor vehicle,
• said portion is formed of two vertical flanges interconnected by horizontal and vertical ribs defining cells
• each lateral branch is formed of two vertical and parallel soles interconnected by horizontal and vertical ribs defining the cells
• the ribs have an increasing thickness from front to rear
• the beam comprises a horizontal airtight partition extending between said part and the lateral branches.
• the invention also relates to a motor vehicle comprising an energy absorption beam, characterized in that the beam is a beam as previously mentioned.
• FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an energy absorption beam according to the invention
• FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view along the line 2-2 of the FIg. 1,
• FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along line 3-3 of FIG. 1, and
• FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing an example of implantation of an energy absorption beam on a front face of a motor vehicle.
• orientations used are the usual orientations of a motor vehicle and the terms "front” and “rear” meaning in relation to the direction of normal operation of the motor vehicle.
• FIG. 1 there is diagrammatically represented an energy absorbing beam generally designated by the reference 1 and which makes it possible to meet the constraints of shocks known as “pedestrian” and “parking".
• This beam 1 is formed in one piece which comprises a central crosspiece 10 and two lateral branches each designated by the reference 20.
• the central cross member 10 constitutes a first zone A for absorbing pedestrian shocks and the side branches 20 constitute a second part B for absorbing shocks at low speed.
• the central cross member 10 is curved outwardly, that is towards the front of the motor vehicle, and the two lateral branches 20 extend the ends of the cross member 10 toward the rear of the motor vehicle.
• Each lateral branch 20 comprises, at its free end 20a, a fixing plate 21, the latter allows the attachment of the beam 1, by appropriate means, not shown, on a spar or a cradle of the motor vehicle, as it is will see later.
• the crosspiece 10 is formed of two vertical flanges, respectively 11 and 12, leaving between them a space. These flanges 11 and 12 are connected to each other by horizontal ribs 13 and vertical 14 (FIGS 1 and 2) determining cells 15. Similarly, each lateral branch 20 of the part is formed of two vertical and parallel flanges, respectively 22 and 23 (FIG 1), interconnected by horizontal ribs 24 and vertical 25 defining cells 26 ( Figure 3).
• the part constituting the energy absorbing beam 1 is calibrated to absorb the impact energy as a function of the speed and the desired level of effort and, for this, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ribs 13, 14, 24 and 25 have an increasing thickness from front to rear.
• the part forming the energy absorption beam 1 comprises an airtight partition 30 extending between the crossmember 10 and the two lateral branches 20.
• This airtight partition 30 is designed to channel the air, optimize cooling and vehicle performance just needed, avoiding losses.
• the air thus channeled makes it possible to ensure optimum cooling of the engine and proper operation of the air conditioning.
• FIG. 4 there is shown the front part of the structure of a motor vehicle which comprises a technical front 40 supporting in particular the cooling radiator, not shown, and the ventilation unit, not shown.
• This technical front 40 is supported by the two side members 41 of the vehicle body and by the cradle 42 for supporting the engine of the motor vehicle.
• the part of the energy absorbing beam 1 is mounted at the bottom on the front face 40 and is fixed on the cradle 42 by appropriate means, not shown.
• an absorber 43 of conventional type is mounted at the top between the longitudinal members 41.
• the part of the energy absorbing beam 1 can be mounted in the upper part on the front face 40 between the longitudinal members 41.
• a part forming a first energy absorption beam 1 can be mounted in the lower part on the cradle 42 and a part forming another energy absorbing beam 1 can be mounted between the longitudinal members 41 according to the energy needs to be absorbed.
• the sealing partition 30 is sized to bend or crush or tear locally depending on the areas not to impact. This partition 40 works in bending and compression and retransmits low forces to the front technical 40.
• the partition 30 is connected to the part 1 in areas determined by a thin connection.
• the central cross member 10 dedicated to pedestrian impact moves towards the rear of the vehicle along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, without stressing along an axis perpendicular to this longitudinal axis, the lateral branches 20 dedicated to shocks at low speed and without soliciting parts located in their environment.
• the energy absorbing beam does not need to be changed for this type of shock.
• the energy absorption beam according to the invention makes it possible to satisfy the requirements of the so-called pedestrian impact and the requirements of the so-called low-speed parking collision.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Vibration Dampers (AREA)
• Body Structure For Vehicles (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=35632743

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Families Citing this family (16)

Family Cites Families (4)

• 2005
  • 2005-06-22 FR FR0506346A patent/FR2887508B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2006
  • 2006-06-09 EP EP06764858A patent/EP1893470A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2006-06-09 WO PCT/FR2006/050538 patent/WO2006136745A2/fr not_active Application Discontinuation

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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