EP4263329A1

EP4263329A1 - Device for attaching a wing to a side structure of a motor vehicle

Info

Publication number: EP4263329A1
Application number: EP21827400.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Herve Simon
Original assignee: PSA Automobiles SA
Current assignee: Stellantis Auto SAS
Priority date: 2020-12-15
Filing date: 2021-11-30
Publication date: 2023-10-25
Also published as: FR3117442A1; WO2022129727A1

Abstract

A motor vehicle bodywork element (1) comprising a wing (2) comprising an inner face (21) and an outer face, a bracket (3) comprising a first contact portion (31) attached to the inner face (21) of the wing, the bodywork element (1) comprising an attachment interface (32) intended to attach the bodywork element (1) to a body side panel (9) of the vehicle, characterised in that the bracket (3) comprises a remote part of the inner face (21) of the wing comprising the attachment interface (32), the bracket (3) being attached to the wing (2) at the first contact portion (31) by a joining means arranged only on the inner face side.

Description

TITLE: DEVICE FOR ATTACHING A FENDER TO A MOTOR VEHICLE SIDE STRUCTURE

[0001JTECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION.

The present invention claims the priority of French application 2013248 filed on December 15, 2020, the content of which (text, drawings and claims) is incorporated herein by reference. The invention relates to motor vehicles comprising at least one wing fixed in its lower part to the structure of the vehicle by a fixing device. The invention also relates to such wing attachment devices. The invention relates in particular to the attachment of a vehicle front fender.

The invention also relates to a method for assembling a wing to a motor vehicle structure, according to the invention.

[0004] TECHNOLOGICAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION.

[0005] The fenders of vehicles are bodywork elements which are fixed to the structure of the vehicle in different places and in particular in their lower part. This fixing is done by means of support parts, for example assembled by welding to a structural element of the vehicle. The supports therefore have a fixing interface for fixing a fender. In the case of a vehicle front wing, the fixing of the wing on its support can be done by screwing so that the support will, for example, present a fixing interface with at least one opening for the passage of a fixing screw forming a fixing interface.

[0006] The document FR2924085 thus discloses a wing support fixed by screws to a lower wall of the wing. The screws pass through a horizontal wall of a support arranged in the lower part of a front foot and a horizontal lower wall of the wing so as to fix the wing to the support.

[0007] This configuration is particularly suitable in the case where the wing can be fixed in the lower part of the vehicle structure invisibly. In case such a binding cannot be positioned low enough or not visible, the wing binding becomes visible. In addition, it should be noted that for reasons of ease and cost of separability of the wing, for example following an impact, the wing must be able to be replaced without dismantling other parts of the vehicle.

[0008] This prior state of the art is therefore not effective enough to propose a definition of the attachment of the wing to the structure of the vehicle in a position where it is invisible from outside the vehicle while respecting the dismantling conditions.

The object of the invention is to solve the problems of the prior art. In particular, one of the objectives of the invention is to propose a fixing of the wing to the structure of the vehicle which is invisible from the outside of the vehicle, only the wing thus being visible, while respecting the criterion of the dismountability of the wing in relation to the structure of the vehicle.

[00010] GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[00011] To this end, the invention proposes a motor vehicle bodywork element comprising a wing comprising an inner face and an outer face, a support comprising a first contact part fixed to the inner face of the wing and comprising an interface fixing intended to fix the bodywork element to a lateral structure of the vehicle, said bodywork assembly being remarkable in that the support comprises a part remote from the face of the wing comprising the fixing interface), and in that that the support is fixed to the wing at the level of the first contact part by an assembly means arranged only on the side of the inner face of the wing.

[00012] Thus the means for fixing the fender to the side structure of the vehicle do not cross the fender and are not visible on the side opposite the inner face of the fender.

[00013] Thus the assembly of the support to the wing is not visible on the side opposite to the inner face of the wing.

[00014] In one embodiment of the invention, the support comprises a first contact part and a second contact part fixed on the inner face of the wing each by an assembly means arranged only on the side of the inner face.

[00015] Thus the assembly of the support to the wing is not visible on the side opposite to the inner face of the wing.

[00016] In one embodiment of the invention, the first contact part or one of the two contact parts is fixed to the inner face of the wing by welding or a bonding means.

[00017] Thus the assembly by gluing is not apparent on the side opposite to the inner face of the wing. [00018] An assembly by welding leads to a mark on the side opposite the inner face of the wing, said mark being easily sanded or coated with a coating so as to no longer be visible on the side opposite the inner face of the wing. the wing.

In one embodiment of the invention, the bodywork element comprises a first contact part and a second contact part, said second contact part being fixed by a bonding means to the inner face of the fender.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first contact part is fixed to the inner face of the wing by welding.

[00021] In a particular embodiment of the invention, the second contact part is fixed using a wedging mastic to the inner face of the wing.

In one embodiment of the invention, the second contact part is arranged between the first contact part and the fixing interface.

[00023] In one embodiment of the invention, the wing comprises a wing root part, a wheel arch intended to be arranged opposite a wheel arch of the vehicle, a rear edge intended to extend along a door pillar of the vehicle, said wing root part being arranged between the wheel arch and the rear edge, the support being fixed to the wing root part, at the end of the wing root part.

The invention relates to a vehicle comprising a bodywork element according to the invention.

The invention relates to a vehicle, comprising a hooking lug fixed to the side structure element of the vehicle, said hooking lug being vertically remote from the lower edge of the side structure of the vehicle, said hooking lug attachment being fixed to the support by the fixing interface.

[00026] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the fixing of the hooking lug to the support fixing interface is removable, for example the fixing is of the screw-nut type.

[00027] The invention also relates to a method for assembling a wing on a vehicle side structure, comprising the following successive steps:

A first step of assembling a bodywork element according to the invention, the support being fixed to an inner face of the wing at least using a bonding means. A second step of assembling the bodywork element by fixing by screwing the fixing interface of the support to the structure of the vehicle, preferably to a hooking lug fixed to the side structure of the vehicle,

A third stage of polymerization and/or hardening of the bonding means.

[00028] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention will be better understood on reading the following description, given solely by way of example and made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[00030] [Fig .1] represents the side of a wing attached to a vehicle structure.

[00031] [Fig.2] shows a view from inside the vehicle of the fender and its attachment to the vehicle structure.

[00032] [Fig.3] represents a section in a transverse vertical plane of the fender and its attachment to the structure of the vehicle according to the invention.

[00033] In the following description, the term "understand" is synonymous with "include" and is not limiting in that it authorizes the presence of other elements. It is understood that the term “include” includes the terms “consist of”. In the various figures, the same references designate identical or similar elements.

[00034] The X direction is the longitudinal axis of the vehicle in running order, oriented from the front of the vehicle to the rear of the vehicle

[00035] The Y direction is the transverse direction of the vehicle in running order.

[00036] The Z direction is the vertical of the vehicle oriented upwards.

Figure 1 shows a side view, from outside the vehicle, of the fender attached to the vehicle structure. The bodywork element 1 according to FIG. 1 therefore comprises a vehicle front wing.

[00037] Those skilled in the art will be able to transpose the invention to a configuration in which the bodywork element comprises a vehicle rear wing.

[00038] According to Figure 1, an element 1 of the motor vehicle body comprises a wing 2 comprising an inner face 21 (not visible in Figure 1) and an outer face, and a support 3, not visible from the outside of the vehicle, fixed to the inner face 21 of the fender 2. Said bodywork element 1 is fixed to the vehicle's structural element 9, in this case a side of the vehicle body. In the representation of Figure 1, the bodywork element 1 is fixed at a vehicle front pillar 91 . The bodywork element comprises a wing 2 comprising a vertical rear edge 29 substantially parallel to a front edge 99 of the door opening.

[00039] Figure 2 shows a view of the invention according to a vantage point located internally with respect to the bodywork element 1. [00040] The motor vehicle bodywork element 1 comprises a wing 2 comprising an inner face 21 and an outer face. The bodywork element 1 also comprises a support 3 comprising a first contact part 31 fixed to the inner face 21 of the wing 2. The support 3 comprises a fixing interface 32 intended to fix the bodywork element 1 to one side body 9 of the vehicle. The support 3 comprises a part remote from the inner face 21 of the wing, said remote part comprising the fixing interface 32. The support 3 is fixed to the wing 2 at the level of the first contact part 31 by a means of assembly arranged only on the side of the inner face 21 .

[00041] In other words, the remote part comprising the fixing interface 32 is not in contact with the inner face 21 and tends to move away from the inner face 21.

[00042] By means of assembly arranged only on the side of the inner face 21 is meant the fact that the means of assembly does not cross the wing 2 right through. That is to say that no fastening means fixing the support 3 to the wing 2 crosses said wing 2. The assembly means is therefore not visible directly from the outer face of the wing 2.

[00043] According to a variant of the invention, the support 2 and its fixing interface 32 are arranged opposite the inner face 21 . The same applies to the first contact part assembled on the inner face 21 .

[00044] As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the support 3, the fixing interface 32 and the first contact 31 are visible only on the side of the inner face 21 of the wing 2.

In a variant of the invention, the bodywork element 1 as shown in Figure 3, comprises a support device 3 comprising two contact parts, respectively 31 and 33, fixed on the inner face 21 of the wing 2, each by an assembly means arranged only on the inner face side 21 . In a variant of the invention, and as shown in Figure 3, the two contact parts 31 and 33 are not adjacent, the support 3 comprising an intermediate part 34 located between the contact parts 31 and 33. The part intermediate 34 is arranged facing the inner face 21 . In the embodiment of Figures 2 and 3, the intermediate part 33 does not touch the inner face 21 .

[00047] The two contact parts 31 and 33, as well as the intermediate part 34 are therefore not visible on the side opposite the inner face 21 .

In the representation of the invention made in Figures 2 or 3, the first contact part 31 is arranged at the end of the support 3 and is fixed at the lower end of the wing 2, that is to say to a lower end of the wing 2 in position on the vehicle.

In a variant of the invention, the first contact part 31 is fixed by welding to the inner face 21 or is fixed to the inner face of the wing 21 by gluing, and the part 33 is fixed by gluing to the inner face 21 or is fixed by welding to the inner face of the wing 21 .

[00050] In a variant of the invention in which the wing 2 is made of a material of the plastic or composite type, an assembly by bonding is carried out between the contact parts 31, 33 and the inner face 21 of the wing 2.

In a variant of the invention in which the wing is made of sheet steel, the assemblies of the contact parts 31, 33 with the inner face 21 of the wing 2 are made by welding and/or gluing.

In another variant of the invention, in which the wing 2 is made of sheet steel, the assembly by bonding or bonding is carried out by means of a wedging mastic, said wedging mastic polymerizing and adhering fixed to the surfaces in contact following a rise in temperature.

In the variant of the invention shown in Figure 3, the wedging mastic is arranged between the second contact part 33 and the inner face 21 of the wing 2, in contact with the inner face 21 and the second part contact 33.

In the representation of Figure 3, the first contact part 31 is arranged at one end of the support 3 and is assembled by welding at the lower end of the wing. The second contact part 33 assembled according to FIG. 2 or 3 by means of a wedging mastic on the inner face 21 is remote from the first contact part 31 . [00055] Thus the fact of making an assembly by gluing or by means of a wedging sealant between the first contact part 31 and/or the second contact part 33 of the support 3 and the inner face 21 of the wing 2 , that this assembly is not apparent from the side of the inner face 21 .

[00056] The fact of making an assembly by welding between the support 3 and the wing 2 at the level of a first contact part 31 and/or a second contact part 33, can cause marks to appear on the side opposite to the inner face 21 . These marks remain light and can be touched up easily, for example by sanding and/or depositing an appearance treatment so that they can no longer be discerned on the side opposite to the inner face 21 once the surface of the wing 2 painted. [00057] In the representation of Figure 3, the second contact part 33 is arranged between the fixing interface 32 and the first contact part 31 .

In another particular variant of the invention, not shown, the fixing interface 32 is arranged between the first contact part 31 and the second contact part 33.

[00059] The support 3 as shown in FIG. 3 comprises a fixing lug 35 intended to fix equipment exterior to the vehicle, for example a mudguard or bodywork trim-type equipment. The fixing lug 35 is arranged between the first contact part 31 and the second contact part 33. The fixing lug 35 extends opposite the inner face 21 of the wing 2, moving away from the inner face 21 . Thus the fixing lug 35 remains invisible on the side opposite to the inner face 21 .

In another variant of the invention, the fixing lug 35 is arranged between the second contact part 33 and the fixing interface 32.

[00061] The bodywork element 1 comprises a wing root part 22 disposed between an arch intended to be heard along a wheel arch, and a rear edge 29 of the wing 2. The rear edge 29 is intended to extend along a vehicle door pillar.

[00062] The support 2 is fixed to the wing root 22.

In the particular variant of the invention shown in Figure 2, the support 3 has an end adjacent to an edge of the wing root 22. In this variant the first contact part 31 is assembled by welding, for example by points welding with the inner face 21 of the wing, and is arranged as close as possible to the edge of the wing root. The first contact part 31 is then coated with a anti-chipping treatment applied to the underbody and the lower parts facing the road of the vehicle structure. Thus coated with the anti-chip treatment, the welding points are not visible from the outside of the vehicle. [00064] The support 3 is made of bonded sheet metal and has flanged edges so as to have sufficient rigidity to support the wing 2 and fix it to the structure of the vehicle without the wing being able to move or vibrate under the effect stresses exerted on the outer face of the wing 2, such as aerodynamic forces when rolling, or pressure on the outer face of the wing 2.

[00065] The flanged edges are for example substantially perpendicular to the inner face 21 and move away from the inner wall of the wing 21.

[00066] The vehicle has a hooking lug 4 fixed to a structural element of the vehicle. The attachment lug 4 is vertically removed from a lower edge of the vehicle structure. The hooking lug 4 is fixed to the fixing interface 32.

[00067] In a variant of the invention, the assembly between the attachment lug and the fixing interface 32 is a removable assembly.

[00068] According to the invention, the attachment tab 4 extends opposite the inner wall 21 of the wing so as to be visible only from the inner face 21 of the wing. In other words, the attachment lug 4 is invisible on the side opposite the inner face 21 of the wing 2.

[00069] In the variant of Figure 2 or 3, the attachment lug 4 is square-shaped and is fixed to a front foot 91 of the vehicle structure. The bracket comprises a first portion disposed against the side element of the vehicle structure and a second flat part portion extending substantially perpendicular to the first portion vis-à-vis the inner face 21 of the wing in the direction of the inner face 21 of the wing 2, said second portion of the bracket being intended to cooperate with the fixing interface 32 so as to be able to fix the fixing interface 32 to the second portion of the bracket by removable means, for example screwing means.

[00070] The wing 2 is curved with a concavity oriented towards the inside of the vehicle, and the wing as shown in FIG. 2 comprises a wing root 22 curving so as to be close to the horizontal at its end. lower which is also directed substantially transversely relative to the vehicle. The first contact part 31 is assembled by welding with the inner face 21 of the wing, this first part contact 31 being arranged as close as possible to the lower end of the wing root. Thus, welding marks will not be visible to users.

The invention further relates to a method for assembling a wing 2 on a vehicle structure comprising the following successive steps:

[00072] - a first step of assembling a bodywork element 1 according to the invention, the support 3 comprising at least a first contact part, 31 and/or a second contact part 33, assembled by a bonding means with the wing 2, [00073] - a second assembly step of the bodywork element 1 to the structure of the vehicle by screwing with a hooking lug 4 placed on the structure of the vehicle.

[00074] - a third stage of polymerization and/or hardening of the bonding means so as to securely assemble the support 3 to the wing 2.

[00075] In a variant of the invention in which the support 3 and the wing 2 are made of sheet steel and in which the support 3 comprises a first contact part 31, and/or a second contact part 33, assembled by welding with the wing, the first step includes a sub-step of welding the support 3 with the inner wall 21 of the wing 2.

[00076] In a variant of the invention, the bonding means is a wedging mastic, and the third step comprises a step of polymerization and/or hardening of the wedging mastic produced when the vehicle passes through a cataphoresis bath. and/or in a curing oven, for example for drying or curing a bodywork treatment or for painting. Thus in this variant the means already implemented for the manufacture and assembly of the vehicle are used without additional cost to carry out the polymerization and/or the hardening of the wedging mastic to firmly adhere the support 3 to the wing 2.

Claims

[Claim 1] Bodywork element (1) of a motor vehicle comprising a wing (2) comprising an inner face (21) and an outer face, a support (3) comprising a first contact part (31) fixed to the inner face of the wing, and comprising a fixing interface (32) intended to fix the bodywork element (1) to a lateral structure (9) of the vehicle, characterized in that the support (3) comprises a part remote from the front of the wing comprising the fixing interface (32), the support (3) is fixed to the wing (2) at the level of the first contact part (31) by an assembly means arranged only on the side of the inner face (21) of the wing (2).

[Claim 2] Bodywork element (1) according to Claim 1, in which the support (3) comprises a first contact part (31) and a second contact part (33) fixed to the inner face (21) of the wing (2 ) each by an assembly means arranged only on the side of the inner face (21).

[Claims] Bodywork element (1) according to one of the preceding claims, one of the contact parts (31, 33) is fixed to the inner face (21) of the wing (2) by welding or a means of bonding.

[Claim ^ bodywork element (1) according to claims 2 and 3, the second contact part (33) is fixed by a bonding means to the inner face (21) of the wing (2), preferably to the using a wedging mastic.

[Claims] Bodywork element (1) according to claim 4, the first contact part (31) of which is fixed to the inner face (21) of the wing (2) by welding. [Claims] Bodywork element (1) according to one of Claims 4 or 5, the second contact part (33) of which is arranged between the first contact part (31) and the fixing interface (32).

[Claim?] Bodywork element (1) according to one of the preceding claims, the wing (2) of which comprises a wing root part (22) arranged between a wheel arch arch intended to be arranged opposite vis-a-vis a wheel arch of the vehicle, and a rear edge (29), the rear edge (29) being intended to extend along a pillar (99) of the door of the vehicle, the support (3 ) being attached to the end of the wing root part (22). [Claims] Vehicle comprising a bodywork element according to one of the preceding claims, said bodywork element (1) being fixed to an element of the side structure (9) of the vehicle.

[Claim 9] Vehicle, according to the preceding claim, comprising a hooking lug (4) fixed to the side structure element (9) of the vehicle, said hooking lug (4) being vertically remote from the lower edge of the structure side (9) of the vehicle, said attachment lug (4) being fixed to the support (3) by the attachment interface (32), preferably from the attachment of the attachment lug (4) to the support (3 ) is removable.

[Claim 10] Method of assembling a wing (2) on a side structure (9) of a vehicle, comprising the following successive steps:

A first step of assembling a wing to a support so as to form a bodywork element (1) according to one of Claims 3 to 7, the support (3) being fixed to the internal face (21) of the wing at least using a bonding means.

A second step of assembling the bodywork element (1) by fixing by screwing the fixing interface (32) of the support (3) to the structure of the vehicle, preferably to a hooking lug (4) fixed on the side structure of the vehicle, A third stage of polymerization and/or hardening of the bonding means.