FR3021267A1 - ALERT DEVICE FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE WITH TWO SOUND ALARMS. - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a warning device for a motor vehicle comprising at least one audible alarm (3, 4) fixed on a mounting bracket (10) comprising securing means (23) on a member (4) of said vehicle; characterized in that said support (10) comprises a mounting portion (20) comprising said securing means (23), a U-shaped vibrating portion (30) comprising two legs (31, 32) connected by a cross member ( 33), and an intermediate bending region (40) connecting said mounting portion (20) to the cross member (33) of said vibrating portion (30), said apparatus further comprising two said horns (3, 4), each being fixed near the free end of a said corresponding branch (31, 32).

Description

ALERT DEVICE FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE WITH TWO SOUND ALARMS. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to sound warning devices for a motor vehicle, and aims in particular at such a device comprising two audible warning devices. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The presence of audible warning devices in motor vehicles contributes to the improvement of road safety by making it possible to warn the vehicle environment (pedestrians, cyclists and motorized vehicles) of a situation. immediate danger. These devices comprise at least one audible alarm whose operating principle is well known from the prior art and in particular the French application FR 2 518 293. Connected to the vehicle electrical network, such a horn thus conventionally comprises a housing pot shape and a membrane fixed on the open end face of this housing. The latter 20 is excited by an oscillating motor comprising an excitation winding housed in the housing, an electromagnetic armature fixed to the membrane, and a switch actuable by this armature. The diaphragm delimits a pressure chamber having an outlet opening connected to a spiral-shaped acoustic amplification horn through which sound waves issuing from this opening are delivered to the open air. When the driver of the vehicle activates the audible warning device, an electric current passes through the horn of the horn and the armature attached to the diaphragm is attracted by the magnetic field produced by this horn roll. The armature then actuates the breaker which causes the opening of the circuit and cuts the excitation winding, so that the armature returns to its initial position and closes the breaker again.

The repetition rate of this continuous process determines the frequency spectrum of the sound waves emitted by the vibrating membrane. For optimum efficiency, the horn should be able to deliver maximum sound pressure over an extended spectral range corresponding to the audible frequencies. Current alarms are not able to achieve such a performance, high-end vehicles are commonly equipped with two horns working respectively at 10 high frequencies and low frequencies. These two horns are mounted at the front of the vehicle through two metal brackets as illustrated in particular in Figure 6 of Japanese Patent Application JP H09290770. Each of these fixing lugs is connected at one end to a buzzer and at the other end to an element of the vehicle structure such as the radiator or one of the side rails supporting the front bumper. In addition to the fact that the use of two separate fastening tabs substantially increases the mounting time, the latter also have the disadvantage of damping the vibrations emitted by the horns and thus to choke off some of the decibels released. OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is therefore to provide such an alarm device with two audible warning devices whose installation on the vehicle is facilitated and which has a minimum absorption coefficient of the acoustic waves emitted by these alarms. It proposes for this purpose, a warning device for a motor vehicle comprising at least one audible alarm fixed on a mounting bracket comprising means for securing on a body of said vehicle; characterized in that said support comprises a mounting portion comprising said securing means, a U-shaped vibrating portion comprising two branches connected by a cross member, and an intermediate bending zone connecting said mounting portion to the cross member of said portion vibrator, said device further comprising two said horns, each being fixed near the free end of a said corresponding branch. The warning device according to the invention comprising a single mounting bracket carrying two horns, the stowage of the latter on the vehicle is carried out simultaneously which causes a significant reduction in the assembly time. On the other hand, the U-shaped vibrating portion carrying sound horns at the free ends of its branches ensures, as a tuning fork, a very good transmission of the vibrations generated by these horns causing an increase in the acoustic resonance phenomenon. In addition, the fact that the lashing of the support on the vehicle is not carried out directly at the crossbar of the U-shaped vibrating portion but at a fastening portion connected to this cross member by a bending zone, allows this cross to present a certain flexibility and also ensure a good transmission of vibrations. According to preferred features of the warning device according to the invention, taken alone or in combination: - said intermediate bending zone extends along a longitudinal edge of said cross member over a portion of the latter, between two indentations; said securing means consist of an orifice formed in a portion of said mounting portion adjoining said intermediate bending zone; said intermediate bending zone has a length of between 20 and 35 mm; said mounting portion carries at least one fastening clip provided with a clamping collar; said staple is molded in one piece from a thermoplastic material, the latter comprising a fir-type fastening foot snapped into a correspondingly shaped slot in said mounting portion; said mounting portion comprises means for angular indexing of said support with respect to said body of said vehicle; said indexing means comprise a lug protruding from said mounting portion and intended to cooperate with an orifice made in said member of said vehicle; the two said branches of the vibrating portion have substantially different lengths so that the said horns can not come into contact with each other; and / or - said support is obtained from a metal strip cut and folded. Brief description of the drawings The description of the invention will now be continued by the detailed description of an exemplary embodiment, given below by way of illustration but without limitation, with reference to the appended drawings, in which: FIG. a perspective view of the audible warning device according to the invention, shown in its service configuration in which it is stowed on the front end of a side sill of a motor vehicle; and - Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the mounting bracket that comprises the sound alert device according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EXAMPLE With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the warning device 1 according to the invention comprises two electromagnetic sound horns 2, 3 working for one at low frequencies and for the other for high frequencies, the latter being fixed on a mounting bracket 10 obtained from a steel strip cut and bent steel. This support 10 comprises a first mounting portion 20 intended to be stowed on a member of a motor vehicle (such as the side spar 4 illustrated in Figure 1), and a second vibrating portion 30 supporting the two horns audible 2, 3. The mounting portion 20 comprises a flat rectangular tongue 21 extending at a first longitudinal end by a right angle return 22. The tongue 21 has a circular orifice 23 for fixing the support 10 on the lateral spar 4 with a screw (not visible in Figure 1) cooperating with a threaded bore of the spar. The second longitudinal end of the tongue 21 carries a projection 24 protruding perpendicularly to the plane thereof and intended to be inserted into a correspondingly sized orifice in the spar 4. This lug 24 provides the angular indexing of the support 10 vis- 4, allowing the operator in charge of mounting the support 10 to avoid any positioning error, and preventing any rotation of the support 10 after its installation on the spar 4. The return of Angle bracket 22 located opposite the lug 24 carries a fastening clip 25 comprising a clamping collar 26 for an electrical harness or a pipe 5 (FIG. 1). The staple 25, which has been integrally molded from a thermoplastic material, also comprises an elongated fir-type fastening foot 27 forcibly snapped through a correspondingly shaped slot (FIG. not visible in the figures) formed in the return bracket 22. The fact of integrating such a clip 25 on this portion 20 of the support 10 makes it possible to dispense with a specific fixing lug for this clip, which generates cost optimization and reduced assembly time.

We will now describe in detail the vibrating portion 30 of the support 10. This is generally in the form of a U whose two branches 31, 32 are connected to one another by a cross member 33 ' extending here in the same plane as the tongue 21 of the mounting portion 20. Each of these two branches 31, 32 has, near its free end, a respective circular orifice 34 intended to allow the bolting of the horns 2, 3 .

The latter conventionally have a threaded stud welded to the outer face of their metal casing which is introduced through the orifice 34 of the corresponding branch 31, 32 and onto which a tightening nut 6 is then screwed. Anti-rotation washers not visible in Figure 1 are preferably interposed between the nuts 6 and the periphery of the orifices 34 to prevent the loosening of the horns 2, 3 due to vibrations generated. As can be seen in the figures, the two branches 31, 32 here have substantially different lengths, preferably between 60 and 120 mm for the branch 31 and between 30 and 60 mm for the branch 32. Although this difference in length between the two branches 31, 32 is not essential, it prevents the sound horns 2, 3 fixed at their ends do not come into contact despite the oscillatory movements of these branches resulting from the transmission of acoustic waves generated by these alarms. This offset also facilitates the operations of fixing these horns on the mounting bracket 10 leaving enough space around the areas concerned for the use of an automatic screwdriver. The branches 31, 32 preferably have a width of between 15 and 25 mm which enables them to provide effective support of the horns 2, 3 while allowing them a certain flexibility of flexion with respect to the crossbar 33.

The mounting portion 20 and the vibrating portion 30 are connected to one another by an intermediate bending zone 40 located between one of the longitudinal edges of the crossmember 33 and one of the longitudinal edges of the tongue 21.

This intermediate zone 40 whose width (preferably between 1 and 5 mm) is much smaller than those of the portions 20 and 30, extends only along the central portion of a longitudinal edge of the crosspiece 33 between two In practice, and in order to ensure a certain bending flexibility at the vibrating portion 30, this intermediate zone 40 has a length generally of between 20 and 35 mm, and preferably between 25 and 30 mm. The orifice 23 is further preferably provided in the portion of the tongue 21 adjacent to the intermediate zone 40, so as to preserve optimum plating of the mounting portion 20 on the spar 4 despite the vibrations generated by the horns 2 3. In the service configuration of the warning device 1 illustrated in FIG. 1, the immediate environment of the vibrating portion 30 of the support 10 is disengaged (the latter appearing in "levitation"), so that it can vibrate and flex freely around the intermediate bending zone 40 without coming into contact with any vehicle member that could absorb some of the vibrations emitted by the horns and thus stifle some of the decibels released. According to alternative embodiments not shown, the mounting portion of the support carries no staple. According to other embodiments not shown, this mounting portion on the contrary carries several fastening clips similar or not to the staple 25. According to yet other embodiments not shown, the support does not include means angular indexing and / or antirotation, or the latter are different.

Finally, it is recalled that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described and shown, but encompasses any embodiment within the scope of the skilled person.

Claims (10)

REVENDICATIONS1. Warning device for a motor vehicle comprising at least one audible warning device (3, 4) fixed on a mounting support (10) comprising securing means (23) on a member (4) of said vehicle; characterized in that said support (10) comprises a mounting portion (20) comprising said securing means (23), a U-shaped vibrating portion (30) comprising two legs (31, 32) connected by a cross member ( 33), and an intermediate bending region (40) connecting said mounting portion (20) to the cross member (33) of said vibrating portion (30), said apparatus further comprising two said horns (3, 4), each being fixed near the free end of a said corresponding branch (31, 32). 2. Warning device according to claim 1, characterized in that said intermediate bending zone (40) extends along a longitudinal edge of said cross member (33) on a portion of the latter, between two indentations ( 41, 42). 3. Warning device according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that said securing means are constituted by an orifice (34) formed in a portion of said mounting portion (20) adjoining said intermediate zone flexion (40). 4. Warning device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said intermediate bending zone (40) has a length of between 20 and 35 mm. 5. Warning device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said mounting portion (20) carries at least one fastening clip (25) provided with a clamping collar (26). 6. Warning device according to claim 5, characterized in that said clip (25) is integrally molded from a thermoplastic material, the latter comprising a foot fastening (27) fir-type latched through a correspondingly shaped slot in said mounting portion (20). 7. Warning device according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said mounting portion (20) comprises angular indexing means (24) of said support (10) relative to said member (4) of said vehicle. 8. Warning device according to claim 7, characterized in that said indexing means comprise a lug (24) projecting from said mounting portion (20) and adapted to cooperate with an orifice formed in said member (4) of said vehicle. 9. Warning device according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the said two branches (31, 32) of the vibrating portion (30) have substantially different lengths so that the said horns (2 , 3) can not come into contact with each other. 10. Warning device according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that said support (10) is obtained from a metal strip cut and folded.