Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B62—LAND VEHICLES FOR TRAVELLING OTHERWISE THAN ON RAILS
  • B62D—MOTOR VEHICLES; TRAILERS
  • B62D25/00—Superstructure or monocoque structure sub-units; Parts or details thereof not otherwise provided for
  • B62D25/08—Front or rear portions
  • B62D25/088—Details of structures as upper supports for springs or dampers
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60G—VEHICLE SUSPENSION ARRANGEMENTS
  • B60G15/00—Resilient suspensions characterised by arrangement, location or type of combined spring and vibration damper, e.g. telescopic type
  • B60G15/02—Resilient suspensions characterised by arrangement, location or type of combined spring and vibration damper, e.g. telescopic type having mechanical spring
  • B60G15/06—Resilient suspensions characterised by arrangement, location or type of combined spring and vibration damper, e.g. telescopic type having mechanical spring and fluid damper
  • B60G15/067—Resilient suspensions characterised by arrangement, location or type of combined spring and vibration damper, e.g. telescopic type having mechanical spring and fluid damper characterised by the mounting on the vehicle body or chassis of the spring and damper unit
  • B60G15/068—Resilient suspensions characterised by arrangement, location or type of combined spring and vibration damper, e.g. telescopic type having mechanical spring and fluid damper characterised by the mounting on the vehicle body or chassis of the spring and damper unit specially adapted for MacPherson strut-type suspension
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60G—VEHICLE SUSPENSION ARRANGEMENTS
  • B60G2204/00—Indexing codes related to suspensions per se or to auxiliary parts
  • B60G2204/10—Mounting of suspension elements
  • B60G2204/12—Mounting of springs or dampers
  • B60G2204/128—Damper mount on vehicle body or chassis

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a motor vehicle structure comprising a housing receiving an insert and whose upper part is capped by a closure element.
• the closure element is adapted to allow attachment and / or operation of the insert.
• This insert may in particular be a suspension damper disposed in a housing adjacent to a wheel well of the vehicle.
• the structure of the vehicle must be adapted each time to ensure the feasibility of the vehicle and the proper functioning of the shock absorbers, the closure element must then, for each type of vehicle, be the object of a specific development so that it is adapted to allow the attachment and operation of the damper.
• this complex part comprising a first substantially planar surface disposed in a plane substantially perpendicular to the vertical axis of the vehicle and flanges disposed in a plane substantially parallel to the vertical axis of the vehicle, requires expensive tools to to achieve stamping.
• each closure element only admits a position for a given suspension damper. Indeed, the large forces transmitted by the road via the suspension damper on the body prevent the development of a closure element having a large clearance and remaining compatible for different positions of dampers corresponding to different spacings of wheels.
• the invention aims to provide a vehicle structure that avoids the aforementioned problems.
• the invention relates to a motor vehicle structure comprising a housing receiving an insert and whose upper part is capped by a closure member, said closure member being adapted to allow the attachment and / or operation of the insert, characterized in that the closure element comprises two distinct elements, a first element adapted to be mounted on the housing and a second element adapted to be fixed on said first element and allow the attachment and / or the operation of said insert.
• the structure comprises one or more of the following characteristics, taken separately or in any technically possible combination:
• the second element may be intended to be placed in an opening belonging to the first element, the second element comprising a fixing edge adapted to allow the attachment of the second element on the first element;
• the first element may comprise flanges extending substantially in the vertical direction of the vehicle and for fixing the first element on the housing;
• first element and the second element may form a surface substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction of the vehicle, the surface being adapted to allow the attachment and / or operation of the insert;
• the second element can be adapted to occupy different positions with respect to the first element according to the silhouette of the vehicle to which it belongs;
• the two elements forming the closure element can be assembled together by welding;
• the insert may be a suspension damper
• the second element may comprise a hole adapted to allow the operation of the damper.
• the invention also relates to a motor vehicle, characterized in that it comprises a structure as described above.
• FIG. 1 is an overall view showing the structure of a motor vehicle
• FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view showing a portion of the front structure of the vehicle for receiving a damper of the vehicle;
• FIG. 3 is a sectional view along the line III-III of Figure 2.
• FIGS. 4 and 5 are perspective views of the upper part of an element of the structure receiving a shock absorber of the vehicle belonging respectively to a first and a second type of vehicle.
• the figures have been oriented according to the system of axes X, Y, Z defining the usual orientation of a motor vehicle, and in which:
• the X axis is the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, oriented from rear to front;
• the Y axis is the transverse axis oriented from right to left;
• the Z axis is the vertical axis oriented from bottom to top.
• Figure 1 shows a structure 2 of a motor vehicle, comprising conventionally an apron 4 separating the passenger compartment 6 of the vehicle from its engine compartment 8.
• the apron 4 extends over the entire width of the vehicle between two liners of wing 10.
• Each wing liner 10 comprises a curved area, attached and welded, forming a wheel well 12, intended to surround the upper part of a front wheel of the vehicle, not shown.
• a suspension comprising a suspension damper 14 is fixed to the structure 2 of the vehicle at each wheel arch 12.
• the suspension damper 14 is connected at its lower end to the wheel of the vehicle, also by a not shown ball joint, the upper end of this damper 14 is connected to the structure 2 of the vehicle by a conventional fastening device which will not be detailed here.
• the wheel arch 12 comprises on its inner side facing the engine compartment 8 of the vehicle a housing 16, in which the body 18 of the damper 14 and its displaceable rod 20 are housed. in translation inside this body.
• the upper portion of the housing 16 is capped with a closure member 22 for retaining the damper 14 and to allow its operation.
• the closure member 22 has a first substantially planar surface 22a disposed in a plane substantially perpendicular to the vertical axis Z and substantially vertically disposed flanges 22b adjacent said first surface 22a.
• the first surface 22a of the closure element 22 is adapted to allow the attachment of the upper end of the damper 14, and holes for allowing the passage of fasteners are formed on the first surface 22a.
• first surface 22a is also adapted to allow the operation of the damper and in particular its displacement, and comprises for this purpose an orifice 34.
• the closure element 22 consists of two distinct elements 24 and 26 intended to be assembled together in order to form said element.
• the first element 24 comprises the flanges 22b of the closure element 22 and a substantially flat portion of the surface 22a.
• the first element 24 has at its portion partially forming the surface 22a, an opening 28 and orifices 30; in the example shown in Figures 4 and 5, these holes are four in number. and are disposed substantially at the four corners of the portion partially forming the surface 22a.
• the second element 26 forms the other part of the substantially planar surface 22a and is intended to be placed in the opening 28 of the first element 24.
• the second element 26 comprises the orifice 34 adapted to allow the displacement of the shock absorber during of its operation.
• the second element 26 is larger than the opening 28 and has an attachment edge concealed by the first element 24 in FIGS. 4 and 5.
• the second element 26 is fixed on the inner face of the first element 24, disposed opposite the damper 14.
• the two elements 24 and 26 are preferably assembled together by welding.
• the fixing edge of the second element 26 has orifices 32 arranged opposite the orifices 30 of the first element 24 when the two elements 24 and 26 forming the closure element 22 are assembled.
• the damper can be fixed on the closure element 22 by means of fasteners passing through said orifices.
• the vehicle structure according to the invention makes it possible to standardize many elements of the structure; thus, the first element 24 of the closure element, a complex piece provided with flanges, can be extended for vehicles having different shapes, and in particular different wheel spacings, only the part forming the second element 26 of the element closure 22 to be adapted.
• This second element 26, consisting of a substantially flat part, is simpler to produce, the cost of the tooling for stamping this part is reduced compared to that used to stamp the closure element consisting of a only piece of the prior art.
• Figures 4 and 5 illustrate a closure member 22 for allowing the operation of the left shock absorber of the vehicle; in the case of Figure 4, the closure member 22 is adapted for a vehicle having a large wheel spacing, and in the case of Figure 5, the closure member 22 is adapted for a vehicle having a spacing of reduced wheel.
• the same second element 26 can be used for two different types of silhouette, by subjecting the second element 26 a rotation of 180 °.
• the second element 26 may also be common to different types of silhouettes, the latter then being slidably displaced in a direction substantially perpendicular to the Z axis, then being fixed by virtue of its fixing edge on the first element 24.
• the second member 26 can be welded at the end of the various operations for assembling the vehicle structure, the second member 26 can thus be assembled on the structure with extreme precision, the latter then being particularly stable. This increases the benefits of the vehicle.
• the invention also makes it possible to simplify the management of the parts in the factory, the first element 24 being common to vehicles having different wheel spacings, the second element 26, having a small bulk, can be delivered assembled with the shock absorber by the provider.
• the invention can be adapted to other parts of the structure in which one of the elements occupies different positions depending on the silhouette of the vehicle to which it belongs.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Transportation (AREA)
• Vehicle Body Suspensions (AREA)
• Body Structure For Vehicles (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=42333531

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Families Citing this family (3)

Family Cites Families (11)

• 2009
  • 2009-12-11 FR FR0958884A patent/FR2953794B1/fr active Active
• 2010
  • 2010-12-02 RU RU2012129167/11A patent/RU2539704C2/ru active
  • 2010-12-02 BR BR112012013687-9A patent/BR112012013687B1/pt active IP Right Grant
  • 2010-12-02 EP EP10807453A patent/EP2509811A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2010-12-02 CN CN201080055718.0A patent/CN102652069B/zh active Active
  • 2010-12-02 WO PCT/FR2010/052591 patent/WO2011070270A1/fr active Application Filing

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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