GB2265583A

GB2265583A - A construction for installing automobile bumpers

Info

Publication number: GB2265583A
Application number: GB9306536A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Shinya Yakumaru
Original assignee: Suzuki Motor Corp
Current assignee: Suzuki Motor Corp
Priority date: 1992-03-31
Filing date: 1993-03-29
Publication date: 1993-10-06
Anticipated expiration: 2013-03-29
Also published as: GB2265583B; GB9306536D0; JPH05278538A

Abstract

An automobile bumper comprises a bumper body 3 made of synthetic resin and a reinforcement 4. A plurality of ribs 6 having a rearwardly extending engagement portion 6a are formed on the back side of a top wall 5 of the bumper body 3. Engagement holes 10. into which the engagement portions 6a are inserted, are formed in a top wall of the reinforcement 4. The reinforcement 4 is fixed to the bumper body 3 by screws 21 and by bolts 22 located in recesses 13 provided for the indicator lights. <IMAGE>

Description

DESCRIPTION A CONSTRUCTION FOR INSTALLING AUTOMOBILE BUMPERS This invention relates to a construction for installing automobile bumpers.

In general, an automobile bumper is installed on a car body by mounting a reinforcement on the rear surface of the bumper body and installing the bumper body together with the reinforcement on the car body.

When an automobile bumper is installed on a car body, a reinforcement has hitherto been mounted to the bumper body as shown in Figs. 7 to 10 of the accompanying drawings.

The construction of the bumper shown in Figs. 7 and 8 is described hereinafter.

A bumper body 101 has a flange 103 protruding from the end of a top wall 102 thereof, and a plurality of bolt holes 104 are formed in the flange 103.

On the other hand, a reinforcement 105 has bolt holes 107 formed in an upper flange 106 at positions corresponding to the bolt holes 104 of the bumper body 101.

The reinforcement 105 is lapped over the bumper body 101, and bolts 108 are inserted into the bolt holes 104 and 107 from the front side of the bumper body 101. The bolts are screwed into nuts 109 installed on the back side of the reinforcement 105.

Thus, the reinforcement 105 is mounted to the bumper body 101.

Figs. 9 and 10 show another construction for installing an automobile bumper. In this construction, a plurality of lugs 110 are disposed at the end of a top wall 102 of a bumper body 101, and bolt holes 111 are formed in the lugs 110. On the other hand, a reinforcement 105 has bolt holes 113 formed in a top wall 112 thereof. The reinforcement 105 is mounted to the bumper body 101 by means of bolts 108 and nuts 109.

The above-described automobile bumpers require nuts 109 as well as bolts 108, which increases both the weight and cost. Also , the heads of the bolts 108 are exposed at the top portion of the bumper body 101, so that they are sometimes visible through the gap between the bumper body 101 and a grille 114 on the body side after the bumper body 101 is installed on the car body, whereby the vehicle appearance can be impaired. Furthermore, the bumper body may droop of float from the reinforcement 105 when the bumper body 101 is installed on the car body.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a construction for installing an automobile bumper which provides good appearance and reduces the number of parts and installation cost by solving the above described problems associated with the prior art techniques.

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a construction for installing an automobile bumper in which a reinforcement is mounted at the back of a bumper body and said bumper body is installed on the car body together with said reinforcement, wherein a plurality of ribs having a rearwardly extending portion are formed on the back side of a top wall of said bumper body, and engagement holes into which said engagement portions of said ribs of said bumper body are inserted are formed in a top wall of said reinforcement, whereby, during installation, said engagement portions of said ribs of said bumper body are engaged with said engagement holes of said reinforcement, and then said reinforcement is fixed to said bumper body.

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a construction for installing an automobile bumper in which a reinforcement is mounted at the back of a bumper body and said bumper body is installed on the car body together with said reinforcement, wherein a plurality of ribs having a rearwardly extending engagement portion are formed on the back side of a top wall of said bumper body, a plurality of bosses are provided on the back side of a front wall of said bumper body, engagement holes into which said engagement portions of said rib of said bumper body are inserted are formed in a top wall of said reinforcement, and screw holes are formed in a front wall of said reinforcement, so that a screw can be inserted into said screw hole in said reinforcement from the back side of said reinforcement and screwed into said boss of said bumper body with said ribs of said bumper body being inserted into said engagement holes of said reinforcement.

Preferably, bumper stays are installed to the right and left of said reinforcement so that said bumper stay and bumper body can be fixed to the car body by inserting a bolt through a bolt hole formed in a recess provided for housing a turn indicator light.

With the construction for installing an automobile bumper in accordance with the present invention, the top wall of the bumper body is prevented from drooping or floating by inserting the plurality of ribs disposed on the back side of the top wall into the engagement holes formed in the reinforcement. Since the reinforcement is fixed to the bumper body by threadedly engaging screws inserted from the back side of the reinforcement into a plurality of bosses mounted on the back side of the front wall of the bumper body, the screw heads are invisible from the outside of the bumper body, whereby the external appearance of the vehicle is improved.

Also, since the bumper body is fixed to the car body together with the bumper stay by installing bolts through the bolt holes formed in the turn indicator light recesses of the bumper body, the bolt heads are invisible from the outside, whereby the vehicle appearance is improved. Further, since the bumper stays and the bumper body can be fastened to the car body by bolts, the number of parts can be reduced and installation costs can be saved.

The invention is described further hereinafter, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a car using a construction for installing a bumper in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a bumper body, reinforcement, and car body in the form of exploded view; Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the main portion of an embodiment in accordance with the present invention, in an expanded form; Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line C-C of Fig. 3; Fig. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional construction for installing a bumper; Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line X-X of Fig. 7; ; Fig. 9 is an exploded perspective view of another conventional construction for installing a bumper; and Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line Y-Y of Fig. 9.

Referring now to Figs. 1 to 6, reference numeral 1 denotes a car body. A front bumper 2 is installed at the front end of the car body 1. The front bumper 2 comprises a bumper body 3 made of synthetic resin and a reinforcement 4 for reinforcing the bumper body 3. The reinforcement 4 is mounted to the bumper body 3 by a construction shown in Fig. 2 and subsequent Figs. 3-6.

A plurality of ribs 6 are integrally formed on the back side of a top wall 5 of the bumper body 3 at the rear end thereof, and a respective protrusion 6a for engagement is formed on each rib 6. A plurality of bosses 8 having a female thread 8a are positioned on the back side of a front wall 7 of the bumper body under and near the ribs 6. On the top wall 9 of the reinforcement 4, engagement holes 10, into which the protrusions 6a for engagement of the ribs 6 of the bumper body 3 are inserted, are formed at the corresponding position, and screw holes 12 are formed in a front wall 11 of the reinforcement 4 at positions corresponding to the bosses 8.

A bolt hole 15 is formed in a back wall 14 of respective recesses 13 for housing turn indicator lights, which are formed at the right and left hand portions of the front wall 7 of the bumper body 3. At a position corresponding to the bolt holes 15, respective bumper stays 16 are installed in such a manner as to depend to the right and left of the reinforcement 4, each bumper stay 16 being provided with a bolt hole 17 corresponding to the respective bolt hole 15.

Respective bolt holes 19 are formed at right and left-hand positions on a bottom wall 18 of the bumper body, while a bolt hole 20 is formed at the lower end of the bumper stay 16 at a position corresponding to the bolt hole 19.

To mount the reinforcement 4 to the bumper body 3 thus constructed, the reinforcement 4 is first positioned relative to the bumper body 3 by inserting the protrusions 6a for engagement of the ribs 6 disposed on the back side of the top wall of the bumper body 3 into the engagement holes 10 of the reinforcement 4. Then, screws 21 are screwed into the bosses 8 mounted on the back side of the front wall of the bumper 3 through the screw holes 12 of the reinforcement 4 from the back side of the reinforcement 4 (see Fig. 3) Next, bolts 22 are inserted into the bolt holes 15 formed in the back wall 14 of the turn indicator light recesses 13 of the bumper body 3 and the bolt holes 17 formed in the bumper stays 16. The bolts 22 are fastened by nuts 22a installed at the back of the bumper stay 16 through bolt holes la in the body panel X at the back of the bumper stay 16 (see Figs. 4 and 5).Another bolt hole 20' is formed at the lower part of the bumper stay 16 to attach the bumper stay 16 to the body panel X. A bolt 23 is inserted into the bolt hole 20' and a bolt hole 1b of the body panel X and fastened by means of a nut 23a installed on the back side. Also, a bolt 24 is installed into the bolt hole 19 formed in the bottom wall of the bumper body 3 and the bolt hole 20 of the bumper stay 16 and fastened by means of a nut 24a (see Fig. 5). The bumper stay 16 is installed in advance to the right and left of the reinforcement 4 by a bolt 25 and a nut 25a.

The bumper body 3 to which the reinforcement is mounted is attached to the body panel X at the front centre via upper and lower bolts 26 in addition to the bolt holes 15 of the turn indicator light recesses 13.

With the front bumper 2 installed by the construction described above, the bumper body 3 is assembled to the reinforcement 4 by inserting the plurality of protrusions 6a into the engagement holes 10 formed in the reinforcement 4. Since the bumper body 3 is locked by the ribs 6, it does not droop or float from the reinforcement 4 when the bumper body 3 is installed to the body panel X. Also, the upper part of the bumper body 3 is fixed to the reinforcement 4 by screws 21 which are screwed into the plurality of bosses 8 disposed at the back side of the front wall 7 of the bumper body 3 from the back of the reinforcement 4. Therefore, the head of the screw 21 is not seen from the outside of the bumper body 3, whereby the external appearance is improved significantly.

Further, as described in connection with the illustrated embodiment, the reinforcement 4 is fixed to right and left-hand intermediate positions of the bumper body 3 at the back wall 14 of the turn indicator recesses 13 by using a bolt when the bumper body 3 is installed to the car body 1. This construction reduces the number of parts, and the head of the bolt 22 is made invisible by the turn indicator light mounted in front of the bolt 22, whereby the external appearance is again improved.

As described above, the construction for installing an automobile bumper in accordance with the present invention provides good appearance, and reduces the number of parts and installation cost.

Claims

1. A construction for installing an automobile bumper in which a reinforcement is mounted at the back of a bumper body and said bumper body is installed on the car body together with said reinforcement, wherein a plurality of ribs having a rearwardly extending portion are formed on the back side of a top wall of said bumper body, and engagement holes into which said engagement portions of said ribs of said bumper body are inserted are formed in a top wall of said reinforcement, whereby, during installation, said engagement portions of said ribs of said bumper body are engaged with said engagement holes of said reinforcement, and then said reinforcement is fixed to said bumper body.

2. A construction for installing an automobile bumper in which a reinforcement is mounted at the back of a bumper body and said bumper body is installed on the car body together with said reinforcement, wherein a plurality of ribs having a rearwardly extending engagement portion are formed on the back side of a top wall of said bumper body, a plurality of bosses are provided on the back side of a front wall of said bumper body, engagement holes into which said engagement portions of said rib of said bumper body are inserted are formed in a top wall of said reinforcement, and screw holes are formed in a front wall of said reinforcement, so that a screw can be inserted into said screw hole in said reinforcement from the back side of said reinforcement and screwed into said boss of said bumper body with said ribs of said bumper body being inserted into said engagement holes of said reinforcement.

3. A construction for installing an automobile bumper as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein bumper stays are installed to the right and left of said reinforcement so that said bumper stay and bumper body can be fixed to the car body by inserting a bolt through a bolt hole formed in a recess provided for housing a turn indicator light.

4. An automobile bumper assembly substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.