EP4594123A1

EP4594123A1 - Grill assembly for bumper, bumper assembly and vehicle

Info

Publication number: EP4594123A1
Application number: EP23769186.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Hongri Wang; Jun Zhu; Dan Dennis LI; Xinyu Fan; Zhenghong Larky YAN
Original assignee: Stellantis Auto SAS
Current assignee: Stellantis Auto SAS
Priority date: 2022-09-27
Filing date: 2023-09-12
Publication date: 2025-08-06
Also published as: CN117818524A; WO2024068262A1

Abstract

Provided are a bumper grille assembly, a bumper assembly, and a vehicle. The bumper grille assembly comprises: a grille body; an adapter, which has a first surface conformally fitting to an inner surface of the grille body, and a second surface facing away from the grille body and configured as a smooth fitting surface; and a guide assembly, which is at least partially in sealing contact with the second surface to form an airflow passage. In the bumper grille assembly, the first surface of the adapter conformally fits to the inner surface of the grille body, avoiding a large amount of gas leakage between the adapter and the grille body. The second surface of the adapter is in a sealing fit with the guide assembly. Thus, there will be no significant leakage when a gas flows through the grille body and the airflow passage, which helps to improve the heat dissipation performance.

Description

Grill assembly for bumper, bumper assembly and vehicle

RELATED FIELD

[0001] The present invention claims the priority of Chinese application 202211184610.2 filed on September 27, 2022, the content of which (text, drawings and claims) is incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present disclosure relates to the field of car parts, and in particular to a bumper grille assembly. The present disclosure further relates to a bumper assembly comprising the bumper grille assembly and a vehicle.

BACKGROUND

[0003] In the prior art, a bumper grille is mounted on a front bumper of a car. The bumper grille may be used for providing air intake for a car front cabin to dissipate heat from a cooling module mounted in the car front cabin. In order to ensure good heat dissipation performance, a guide element is typically mounted on an inner surface of the bumper grille and is arranged to extend towards the car front cabin, enabling an airflow to directly blow towards the cooling module and reducing airflow deviation from a predetermined direction.

[0004] However, the inner surface of the bumper grille is typically configured with wavy grille slots which are difficult to be blocked with the guide element during an assembly process. This causes airflow to leak through the grille slots and counts against improvement of heat dissipation performance.

SUMMARY

[0005] In view of the above technical problem, a first aspect of the present disclosure provides a bumper grille assembly. The bumper grille assembly comprises: a grille body; an adapter, which has a first surface conformally fitting to an inner surface of the grille body, and a second surface facing away from the grille body and configured as a smooth fitting surface; and a guide assembly, which is at least partially in sealing contact with the second surface to form an airflow passage.

[0006] In one embodiment, a first concavo-convex structure is configured on the inner surface of the grille body, and a second concavo-convex structure matching the first concavo-convex structure is configured on the first surface of the adapter. [0007] In one embodiment, the first concavo-convex structure and the second concavo-convex structure are in a clearance fit with respect to each other.

[0008] In one embodiment, two edges of the second surface along a length direction of the adapter are respectively configured with convex ribs protruding away from the grille body.

[0009] In one embodiment, the second surface has a width ranging from 10 mm to 20 mm.

[0010] In one embodiment, two ends of the adapter are provided with mounting structures which are offset from the length direction of the adapter.

[0011] In one embodiment, the adapter is made of rubber or plastic.

[0012] In one embodiment, the guide assembly comprises a guide body and an elastomeric seal arranged on an edge of the guide body facing the grille body, the elastomeric seal being in sealing contact with the second surface.

[0013] In one embodiment, the elastomeric seal is configured as a sealing sheet, which has an edge region laterally bent away from the airflow passage.

[0014] In one embodiment, an interference amount ranging from 2 mm to 3 mm is formed between the edge region of the sealing sheet and the second surface.

[0015] A second aspect of the present disclosure provides a bumper assembly. The bumper assembly comprises a bumper, and the bumper grille assembly as described above. The bumper grille assembly is mounted on the bumper.

[0016] A third aspect of the present disclosure provides a vehicle. The vehicle comprises: a vehicle body, and a bumper assembly as described above. The bumper assembly is mounted on the vehicle body.

[0017] The present disclosure has the following beneficial effects as compared with the prior art: in the bumper grille assembly of the present disclosure, the first surface of the adapter conformally fits to the inner surface of the grille body, avoiding a large amount of gas leakage between the adapter and the grille body. The second surface of the adapter is configured as a smooth fitting surface and is in a sealing fit with the guide assembly. Thus, there will be no significant leakage when a gas flows through the grille body and the airflow passage, which helps to improve the heat dissipation performance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0018] The present disclosure will be further described in the subsequent detailed description based on multiple accompanying drawings by means of non-limiting examples of typical embodiments of the present disclosure. The accompanying drawings are not drawn to an actual scale:

[0019] FIG. 1 schematically shows a vehicle according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0020] FIG. 2a schematically shows a bumper assembly according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0021] FIG. 2b is an exploded view of FIG. 2a;

[0022] FIG. 2c is an enlarged view of Part I in FIG. 2b;

[0023] FIG. 3 a schematically shows an adapter from a first perspective;

[0024] FIG. 3b schematically shows the adapter from a second perspective;

[0025] FIG. 4 shows a fitting form between the adapter and a grille body;

[0026] FIG. 5 schematically shows a guide assembly; and

[0027] FIG. 6 schematically shows a fit between an edge region of an elastomeric seal and the adapter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The details presented here are exemplary and used only for illustrative discussion of the embodiments of the present disclosure. They are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the present disclosure. At this point, no attempt is made to show structural details of the present disclosure in more detail than is necessary for the fundamental understanding of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art may clearly understand how to implement several forms of the present disclosure in practice from the description and accompanying drawings.

[0029] FIG. 1 schematically shows a vehicle 1 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 1 comprises a vehicle body 12 and a bumper assembly 15 mounted on the vehicle body 12.

[0030] As shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b, the bumper assembly 15 comprises a bumper 13, and a bumper grille assembly 2 according to the above text. The bumper grille assembly 2 is mounted on the bumper 13, and may be used for providing air intake to a car front cabin to dissipate heat from a cooling module mounted in the car front cabin.

[0031] The bumper grille assembly 2 will be described below.

[0032] As shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b, the bumper grille assembly 2 comprises a grille body 20, an adapter 30 mounted on an inner surface of the grille body 20, and a guide assembly 40 in sealing contact with the adapter 30. Specifically, a first surface 301 of the adapter 30 conformally fits to an inner surface of the grille body 20, and a second surface 302 of the adapter 30 facing away from the grille body 20 is configured as a smooth fitting surface. At least a portion of the guide assembly 40 is in sealing contact with the second surface 302 to form an airflow passage 14.

[0033] In the bumper grille assembly 2 of the present disclosure, the first surface 301 of the adapter 30 conformally fits to the inner surface of the grille body 20, which prevents a large clearance from occurring between the adapter 30 and the grille body 20, thereby avoiding a large amount of gas leakage. The second surface 302 of the adapter 30 is configured as a smooth fitting surface, and thus a sealing fit is formed between the guide assembly 40 and the second surface 302, which also helps to avoid a large amount of gas leakage as well. Thus, there will be no large amount of leakage when a gas flows through the grille body 20 and the airflow passage 14, which helps to improve the heat dissipation performance.

[0034] In addition, compared with the guide assembly 40, the adapter 30 is an independent and small part, and may thus be conveniently assembled to the inner surface of the grille body 20, without having to contact the guide assembly 40 to the inner surface of the grille body 20. This simplifies an assembly process of the bumper grille assembly 2.

[0035] Optionally, according to actual situation, the second surface 302 may be configured as a planar surface or a smooth curved surface, as long as it may be in sealing contact with a corresponding portion of the guide assembly 40.

[0036] Optionally, as shown in FIG. 4, a first concavo-convex structure 211 is configured on the inner surface of the grille body 20. A second concavo-convex structure 312 is configured on the first surface 301 of the adapter 30. The second concavo-convex structure 312 matches the first concavo-convex structure 211. When the adapter 30 is assembled to the grille body 20, the second concavo-convex structure 312 may be accurately assembled with and fill the first concavo-convex structure 211, thereby avoiding gas leakage caused by the first concavo-convex structure 211 on the grille body 20 or the second concavo-convex structure 312 on the adapter 30. For example, when the inner surface of the grille body 20 is configured in a wave-shaped structure, the first surface 301 of the adapter 30 will be configured in a wave-shaped structure matching the wave-shaped structure of the grille body 20.

[0037] Optionally, the adapter 30 is made of rubber or plastic. Thus, the adapter 30 may have a proper rigidity. This facilitates quick and accurate alignment of the second concavo-convex structure 312 with the first concavo-convex structure 211, thereby achieving quickly assemble of the adapter 30 to the grille body 20 and improving assembly efficiency. Those skilled in the art may select appropriate materials to manufacture the adapter 30 according to actual situation, which will not be described here.

[0038] Optionally, the adapter 30 may also be made of silicone rubber with relatively large elasticity. In this way, the adapter 30 has relatively large elasticity and can be pressed by the guide assembly 40 to deform, so as to better seal the first concavo-convex structure 211 on the grille body 20, thereby further reducing the risk of gas leakage.

[0039] Optionally, as shown in FIG. 2c and FIG. 4, the first concavo-convex structure 211 and the second concavo-convex structure 312 are in a clearance fit. A clearance 404 (as shown in FIG. 4) is formed between the first concavo-convex structure 211 and the second concavo-convex structure 312. Through this structure, the second concavo-convex structure 312 and the first concavo-convex structure 211 may be easily plugged together during the assembly process, thereby easily assembling the adapter 30 and the grille body 20 together.

[0040] In one embodiment, the clearance 404 between the first concavo-convex structure 211 and the second concavo-convex structure 312 is very small. For example, the clearance 404 may range from 0.5 mm to 1 mm. Such a small clearance will create a large resistance against gas flow. Therefore, the gas in the airflow passage 14 can hardly leak through the clearance 404, and heat dissipation will thus not be affected.

[0041] As further shown in FIG. 3a, two edges of the second surface 302 along a length direction of the adapter 30 are configured with convex ribs 303 protruding away from the grille body 20. In such a structure, the two convex ribs 303 help to prevent deviation of a portion matching the second surface 302 of the guide assembly 40 from the second surface 302, and thus a stable sealing contact between the guide assembly 40 and the adapter 30 is formed.

[0042] Optionally, the second surface 302 has a width ranging from 10 mm to 20 mm, which is a relatively large width. This reduces the difficulty in aligning the guide assembly 40 with the adapter 30 and facilitates assembly. Optionally, the width of the second surface 302 may be 15 mm or 16mm. Of course, those skilled in the art may also configure the width of the second surface 302 to be other dimensions, which will not be described here.

[0043] Optionally, as further shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b, mounting structures 304 are provided at both ends of the adapter 30. The mounting structures 304 are offset from the length direction of the adapter 30. The adapter 30 may be connected to the bumper 13 by means of the two mounting structures 304, so that the adapter 30 is mounted more stable. In addition, since the two mounting structures 304 are offset from the length direction of the adapter 30, the guide assembly 40 will not contact the mounting structures 304 during the assembly process. This avoids the risk of air leakage which would be otherwise caused by poor sealing between the guide assembly 40 and the mounting structures 304.

[0044] In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b, the two mounting structures 304 are respectively located at both lateral sides of the adapter 30, so as to be connected to corresponding structures on the bumper 13. Of course, the two mounting structures 304 may also be configured at a same lateral side of the adapter 30 according to the actual situation, the details of which will not be described here.

[0045] In one embodiment, the mounting structure 304 may be a clip or a bolt hole to facilitate connection to the bumper 13.

[0046] FIG. 5 schematically shows the structure of the guide assembly 40. As shown in FIG. 5, the guide assembly 40 comprises a guide body 401 and an elastomeric seal 402 disposed on an edge of the guide body 401 facing the grille body 20. The elastomeric seal 402 is in sealing contact with the second surface 302.

[0047] Optionally, the guide body 401 is a rigid tubular element to form the airflow passage 14. For example, the guide body 401 may be a prismatic tube structure, a cylindrical tube structure, or other types of tubular structures, which will not be described here.

[0048] As further shown in FIG. 6, the elastomeric seal 402 is configured as a sealing sheet. An edge region 403 of the sealing sheet is bent laterally away from the airflow passage 14. For example, when a cross-section of the airflow passage 14 is circular or polygonal, the edge region 403 of the sealing sheet is bent radially outward relative to the airflow passage 14. During assembly, the bending structure allows the sealing sheet to be further bent under pressure in a radially outward direction of the airflow passage 14, so that the sealing sheet can be in tight sealing contact with the second surface 302.

[0049] In one embodiment, the elastomeric seal 402 may be made of ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber (i.e., EPDM rubber) or thermoplastic vulcanizate rubber (i.e., TPV rubber). Of course, those skilled in the art may also use other suitable materials to manufacture the elastomeric seal 402, which will not be described here.

[0050] In addition, the convex ribs 303 at two length edges of the second surface 302 may limit the edge region 403 to prevent accidental detachment of the edge region 403 from the second surface 302.

[0051] Optionally, an interference amount ranging from 2 mm to 3 mm is formed between the edge region 403 of the sealing sheet and the second surface 302. In this case, the edge region 403 and the second surface 302 are in an abutting compression state, which helps to improve a sealing effect.

[0052] List of reference numerals

[0053] 1 vehicle

[0054] 12 vehicle body

[0055] 13 bumper

[0056] 14 airflow passage

[0057] 15 bumper assembly

[0058] 2 bumper grille assembly

[0059] 20 grille body

[0060] 211 first concavo-convex structure

[0061] 30 adapter

[0062] 301 first surface

[0063] 302 second surface

[0064] 303 convex rib [0065] 304 mounting structure

[0066] 312 second concavo-convex structure

[0067] 40 guide assembly

[0068] 401 guide body [0069] 402 elastomeric seal

[0070] 403 edge region

[0071] 404 clearance

[0072] It should be noted that the foregoing examples have been provided merely for explanatory purposes and are in no way to be considered as limiting of the present disclosure.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that words which have been used herein are words of description and illustration, rather than words of limitation. Changes may be made to the present disclosure within the scope presently described without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Although the present disclosure has been described herein with reference to particular means, materials, and embodiments, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the details disclosed herein; rather, the present disclosure may extend to all functionally equivalent structures, methods and applications, such as are within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A bumper grille assembly, comprising: a grille body (20); an adapter (30), which has a first surface (301) conformally fitting to an inner surface of the grille body (20), and a second surface (302) facing away from the grille body (20) and configured as a smooth fitting surface; and a guide assembly (40), which is at least partially in sealing contact with the second surface (302) to form an airflow passage (14).

2. The bumper grille assembly according to claim 1, wherein a first concavo-convex structure (211) is configured on the inner surface of the grille body (20), and a second concavo-convex structure (312) matching the first concavo-convex structure (211) is configured on the first surface (301) of the adapter (30).

3. The bumper grille assembly according to claim 2, wherein the first concavo-convex structure (211) and the second concavo-convex structure (312) are in a clearance fit with respect to each other.

4. The bumper grille assembly according to claim 1, wherein two edges of the second surface (302) along a length direction of the adapter (30) are respectively configured with convex ribs (303) protruding away from the grille body (20).

5. The bumper grille assembly according to claim 4, wherein the second surface (302) has a width ranging from 10 mm to 20 mm.

6. The bumper grille assembly according to claim 1, wherein two ends of the adapter (30) are provided with mounting structures (304) which are offset from the length direction of the adapter (30).

7. The bumper grille assembly according to claim 1, wherein the adapter (30) is made of rubber or plastic.

8. The bumper grille assembly according to claim 1, wherein the guide assembly (40) comprises a guide body (401) and an elastomeric seal (402) arranged on an edge of the guide body (401) facing the grille body (20), the elastomeric seal (402) being in sealing contact with the second surface (302).

9. The bumper grille assembly according to claim 8, wherein the elastomeric seal (402) is configured as a sealing sheet, which has an edge region (403) laterally bent away from the airflow passage (14).

10. The bumper grille assembly according to claim 9, wherein an interference amount ranging from 2 mm to 3 mm is formed between the edge region (403) of the sealing sheet and the second surface (302).

11. A bumper assembly, comprising: a bumper (13), and the bumper grille assembly (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, the bumper grille assembly (2) being mounted on the bumper (13).

12. A vehicle, comprising: a vehicle body (12); and the bumper assembly (15) according to claim 11, the bumper assembly (15) being mounted on the vehicle body (12).