JP2002337635A - Automobile bumper - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To carry out good impact mitigation by preventing an impact load from being locally applied to an obstacle S at the time of collision of the obstacle S in a bumper 1 having a bumper face 4 formed with air-introducing openings 16, 17 to an engine room E; a first bumper reinforcement 6 fixed to front side frames 5, 5 above the openings 16, 17; and a first energy absorbing member 8 disposed on the front side of the bumper reinforcement 6. SOLUTION: Stays 35, 35 downwardly extending from the front end side of the front side frames 5, 5 as compared with the openings 16, 17 are provided and a second bumper reinforcement 7 is fixed to the stays 35, 35. The large number of first and second energy absorbing ribs 33, 33, etc., 38, 38, etc., are provided between the fist and second bumper reinforcements 6, 7 and the bumper face 4 in parallel while integrally formed with the back side of the bumper face 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure of a bumper mounted on a front portion of a vehicle body of an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this kind of vehicle bumper, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-35377, a bumper provided at the front of the vehicle body of the vehicle is generally used. And a second bumper formed to cover the entire front side of the first bumper and having a more cushioning property than the first bumper. I have. The second bumper includes a bumper face (skin member) constituting a design surface of a front end portion of the vehicle, and a plurality of energy absorbing springs disposed between the bumper face and the first bumper in a vehicle width direction. Consists of

In this device, the first bumper suppresses the intrusion of the obstacle into the vehicle body, while the energy absorbing spring of the second bumper reduces the impact on the obstacle in the case of a relatively low-speed collision. Can be eased.

[0004]

By the way, generally,
An opening for introducing air for introducing air into an engine room behind the bumper face has a large opening at an intermediate portion in a vertical direction of a bumper face attached to a front portion of an automobile. For this reason, even if an energy absorbing member is provided at the front end of the bumper to reduce the impact on the obstacle as in the conventional example, the vertical dimension of the energy absorbing member can be made sufficiently long. However, since the impact load per unit area of the energy absorbing member is likely to be large, it is difficult to satisfactorily reduce the impact, and it is difficult to sufficiently reduce damage to obstacles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to devise a structure for disposing an energy absorbing member between a bumper face of an automobile bumper and a member on a vehicle body side. It is an object of the present invention to prevent a local impact load from acting on an obstacle at the time of collision of the obstacle, thereby enabling good impact relaxation.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, an energy absorbing member is provided above and below an air introduction opening formed in a bumper face.

More specifically, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a bumper reinforcement is provided at a front portion of a vehicle body so as to extend in a vehicle width direction, and is provided at a front side of the bumper reinforcement. It is assumed that an automobile bumper includes a first energy absorbing member, and a resin skin member that covers the bumper reinforcement and the first energy absorbing member from the front of the vehicle body. An opening for introducing air into the engine room is formed in a skin member below the bumper reinforcement when viewed from the vehicle front-rear direction, and at least corresponds to a position below the opening. A second energy absorbing member disposed at a rear side of the vehicle body with respect to the skin member and having a front end substantially aligned with a front end of the first energy absorbing member when viewed from the vehicle vertical direction; And a strength member that supports the energy absorbing member from the rear side with respect to the vehicle body.

[0008] With the above structure, at the front of the vehicle body of the automobile, the energy absorbing members are disposed behind the skin member at both the upper and lower sides of the air introduction opening, respectively. The front ends will substantially coincide. Then, when an obstacle collides with the front part of the vehicle, the two energy absorbing members that have been impacted are prevented from retreating by the bumper reinforcement and the strength member, and are crushed and deformed as intended. However, at this time, since the front ends of the two energy absorbing members are positioned so as to coincide with each other, the impact load is distributed to upper and lower parts of the obstacle corresponding to the position where the energy absorbing members are disposed. It can be made to act substantially simultaneously.

That is, according to the present invention, the impact is absorbed as intended by the two energy absorbing members while reliably preventing the impact load from acting intensively on the local part of the obstacle from the start of the collision. As a result, good impact relaxation can be performed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, at least one of the first and second energy absorbing members has a plurality of energy absorbing ribs extending in the vehicle longitudinal direction. Thereby, the rib having a predetermined shape can be deformed, and the intended energy absorption characteristic can be stably obtained.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a front side frame extending in a vehicle longitudinal direction is disposed on both sides of the engine room in a vehicle width direction, and the strength member is attached to the front side frame. To be supported by a stay provided so as to extend downward from the front end side.

Thus, the strength member is firmly supported on the front side frame by the stay, and when the obstacle collides with the front portion of the vehicle, the second energy absorbing member is reliably prevented from retreating. it can.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a front part of an automobile provided with a bumper 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. This bumper 1
Is provided so as to be continuous with the hood hood 2 and the left and right front fenders 3, 3 covering the upper part of the engine room E of the automobile, and constitutes a front nose portion of the automobile together with the hood hood 2 and each front fender 3. I have. The bumper 1 is arranged on a bumper face 4 constituting a design surface of a front end portion of the automobile, and on the upper and lower sides behind the bumper face 4, and both are fixed to the front side frames 5 and 5. A first bumper reinforcement 6 and a second bumper reinforcement 7, and first and second energy absorbing members 8 and 9 disposed in front of the first and second bumper reinforcements 6 and 7, respectively; It has.

The bumper face 4 is formed by injection molding a resin material so as to be substantially continuous with the hood 2 and the front fenders 3. More specifically, the bumper face 4 is gently inclined such that the front side is closer to the front end side of the left and right tire houses 11, 11 for accommodating the left and right front wheels 10, 10, respectively, so that the front side is closer to the inside of the vehicle body. And left and right side walls extending to the left and right sides, and a front wall that is continuous with the front end of each of the side walls and that is curved forward so as to be located forward toward the center in the vehicle width direction. A central notch 13 for disposing a front grill 12 (shown only in FIGS. 4 and 8) between the front edge of the bonnet hood 2 and the center portion in the vehicle width direction above the front wall portion is formed. As well as
A pair of left and right headlight mounting portions 15 for mounting left and right headlights 14 are formed on both left and right sides of the center notch portion 13 so as to largely wrap around both side walls of the bumper face 4, respectively. Have been.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the center notch 13 of the bumper face 4 and the headlight mounting portion 1
An upper edge of a face upper portion 4a having a substantially U-shaped cross section with an open rear portion is continuous below the upper and lower portions 5 and 15, and a vertical position of the face upper portion 4a is located on a front side of the front side frames 5 and 5. The two parts 4a and 5 overlap when viewed from the vehicle front-back direction. Below the face upper part 4a, openings 16, 17, 17 for introducing air into the engine room E are opened side by side in the vehicle width direction, and the center of the openings 16, 17, 17 is opened. The opening 16 is formed in a rectangular shape that is long in the vehicle width direction, while the openings 17 on both sides are formed in a relatively small rectangular shape. These openings 16, 17, 17
An upper edge of the lower face 4b, which has a substantially U-shaped cross section smaller than that of the upper face 4a, is continuous with the upper face 4a. The front wall of the lower face 4b is located at the front end of the bumper 1, that is, the front end of the automobile, together with the front wall of the upper face 4a.
The front wall portion b substantially coincides. Furthermore, the lower face 4
A bottom wall 4c that extends gently downward and extends rearward from the lower edge of the front wall of b.

Then, the bumper face 4 is arranged as shown in FIG.
The upper mounting flanges 20, 20 are respectively provided at the upper ends of the intermediate portions between the central cutouts 13 and the headlight mounting portions 15, and a pair of upper left and right upper mounting flanges 20, 20 are provided. 20 are respectively fixed to a shroud upper panel (not shown) by bolts. The bottom wall 4c of the lower face 4b is fixed to a shroud drawer panel (not shown) by bolts. Furthermore, three lower mounting flange portions 21 and 3 are provided at the lower end sides of the left and right side walls of the bumper face 4 respectively.
1 are provided, each of which has a front side frame 5,
5 is fixed by bolts to a sub-frame (not shown) disposed below, whereby the bumper face 4 is attached to the vehicle body.

The first bumper reinforcement 6
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the cross member 23 has a gentle arc shape when viewed from the top and bottom, and is provided so as to extend rearward from the left and right ends of the cross member 23, respectively. Crash tubes 24, 24 for connecting and supporting the cross member 23 to the front side frames 5, 5
Consists of

More specifically, the cross member 23 has a substantially rectangular hollow cross section whose vertical dimension is shorter than the vertical dimension of the face upper portion 4a, and has a front surface similar to that of the front wall portion of the face upper portion 4a. It extends almost vertically. The cross member 23 includes an outer panel 25 having a U-shaped cross section formed by roll forming a high-tensile steel plate, and an inner panel 2 having a flat plate shape.
And No. 6 by welding.

The crash pipes 24, 24 are crushed in the front-rear direction in the event of a frontal collision of an automobile to absorb shocks. 27 and the lower wall 28, and both walls 27,
A front wall 29 is provided so as to connect the front ends of the front and rear walls 28, and a pair of left and right rectangular plate-like side walls 30 and 30 are provided. The openings are closed by a rectangular plate member 31. Further, a flange portion is formed on the outer peripheral side of the plate member 31 and is fixed to a fastening fixing portion having high rigidity provided on the front end side of the front side frames 5 and 5 with bolts.

The upper wall 27, the lower wall 28, and the front wall 2
9 is made of one steel plate member, and the upper wall portion 27 and the lower wall portion 2
8 are press-formed so as to be substantially parallel to each other. On the other hand, the pair of left and right side walls 30, 3
0 are individually press-formed and disposed between the upper wall portion 27 and the lower wall portion 28 so that the distance between the upper wall portion 27 and the lower wall portion 28 is increased toward the front side of the vehicle body. Welded to section 28. Therefore, the crash tube 2
In Nos. 4 and 24, the closed sectional area gradually increases from the rear side to the front side of the vehicle body. The upper and lower walls 27, 2
8 and left and right side wall portions 30 and 30 are formed such that oblong beads are arranged in the vehicle longitudinal direction, respectively.
Crash pipes 24, 2 subjected to a compressive load in the vehicle longitudinal direction
4 is surely crushed and deformed as a whole.

The upper face 4 of the bumper face 4
a first energy absorbing member 8 composed of a number of first energy absorbing ribs 33, 33,... is arranged between the first energy absorbing rib 33 and the cross member 23 of the first bumper reinforcement 6, as shown in FIG. And the first energy absorbing rib 3
Are arranged side by side at equal distances from each other in the vehicle width direction across both ends of the cross member 23 in the vehicle width direction.
The plurality of ribs 33, 33,... Are formed in a flat plate shape having the same thickness, and are integrally formed with the bumper face 4 such that the upper end, the lower end, and the front end are respectively continuous with the back side of the upper face 4a. The rear end portion is formed so as to be in contact with the front surface of the first bumper reinforcement 6. The rear end of each first energy absorbing rib 33 is formed so as to extend substantially vertically along the front surface of the first bumper reinforcement 6 as a whole, and the lower end edge of this rear end is directed forward. It is inclined downward.

Below the first bumper reinforcement 6, the stays 35, 35 are provided so as to extend downward from the pair of front side frames 5, 5, respectively. A second bumper reinforcement 7 (strength member) having left and right ends fixed at the lower end is disposed.

The stays 35, 35 extend substantially vertically from the lower wall portion at the front end side of the front side frames 5, 5 to a position corresponding to the vicinity of the lower face 4b of the bumper face 4, and front members 36, 36, Rear members 37, 37 which are connected to lower ends of the front members 36, 36, and which are gently inclined upward and upward to be located rearward of the vehicle body and extend to lower walls of the front side frames 5, 5; Consists of Left and right end portions of the second bumper reinforcement 7 are fixed to front surfaces of lower ends of the front members 36, 36, respectively. This second
The bumper reinforcement 7 is a cross member 23 of the first bumper reinforcement 6 as a whole.
To form a gentle arc so as to correspond to.
Furthermore, this second bumper reinforcement 7
It has a rectangular hollow cross section that is long in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, and its front surface extends substantially vertically in the vertical direction, and its vertical dimension is substantially the same as the vertical dimension of the face lower part 4b. .

The lower face 4 of the bumper face 4
and a second energy absorbing member 9 composed of the second energy absorbing ribs 38, 38, in substantially the same manner as the first energy absorbing ribs 33, 33,. Are arranged. That is, each of the second energy absorbing ribs 38 is formed integrally with the bumper face 4 such that the upper end, the lower end, and the front end thereof are respectively continuous with the back side of the lower face 4b. The front end thereof substantially coincides with the front end of the first energy absorbing rib 33. On the other hand, the rear end is positioned so as to be in contact with the front surface of the second bumper reinforcement 7, and extends substantially vertically along the front surface of the second bumper reinforcement 7. This second
The vertical dimensions of the energy absorbing ribs 38, 38,.
The length is substantially the same as the vertical dimension of the second bumper reinforcement 7.

Next, the energy absorbing action of the first and second energy absorbing ribs 33 and 38 when the obstacle S collides with the bumper 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, when the obstacle S collides with the bumper face 4, the front ends of the first and second energy absorbing members 8, 9 located above and below the opening 16 of the bumper face 4 are substantially the same. Since they are located on the surface, impact loads act on the ribs 33 and 38 of both members substantially simultaneously, so that the concentration of impacts on obstacles is reduced. Here, the first and second energy absorbing members 8 and 9 are:
Since they are held by the first and second bumper reinforcements 6 and 7 respectively from the rear of the vehicle body,
The entire retreat is reliably prevented, and the ribs 33, 33, ..., 38, 3 of the first and second energy absorbing members 8, 9 are provided.
Since the upper and lower ends and the front end are held by the face upper part 4a and the face lower part 4b, positioning of the ribs 33 and 38 is ensured. The collision energy can be made to act on each of the ribs 33 and 38 as intended.

Then, each of the ribs 33, 38 which has received the impact
The rear end receives the reaction force toward the front of the vehicle body from the first and second bumper reinforcements 6 and 7, respectively,
The whole is largely buckled and deformed to absorb the collision energy. Thus, bumper face 4
The first and second energy absorbing ribs 33, 33,..., 38, 38,... Provided on the upper side and the lower side respectively absorb the impact, so that the two energy absorbing ribs 33, 33,. , 38,... Can be dispersed to each part corresponding to the disposition position, and the impact load per unit area on the obstacle S can be reduced. In addition, each rib 33 having a preset thickness and shape,
38 is deformed so as to absorb energy, so that energy absorption characteristics as designed can be stably obtained as compared with urethane foam or the like.

Assuming that the obstacle S is a leg of a pedestrian as shown in FIG. 1, the first and second energy absorbing ribs 33, 33,..., 38, 38,. In this case, energy is absorbed by colliding near the knee of the person's leg and below the knee, whereby the load can be prevented from being concentrated on the vicinity of the joint which is particularly susceptible to damage.

Therefore, in the first embodiment, the rear ends of the upper face 4a and the lower face 4b provided above and below the air introduction openings 16, 17, 17 into the engine room E have rear ends, respectively. First and second energy absorbing ribs 33, 33,.
Are integrally formed, the impact load can be dispersed to upper and lower portions with respect to the obstacle S and absorbed as intended, and excellent impact mitigation can be performed.

(Other Embodiments) The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but includes other various embodiments. That is, in the embodiment,
The energy absorbing ribs 33, 33, ..., 38, 38, ... are integrally formed on the back surface of the bumper face 4, but the invention is not limited to this. For example, the energy absorbing ribs 33 are formed separately from the bumper face 4, and the bumper reinforcement 6, 7 or on the back side of the bumper face 4.
In this case, the first and second energy absorbing ribs 33, 33,
, 38, 38,... May be positioned so that they substantially coincide with each other when viewed from the vertical direction of the vehicle body, and the front ends of the face upper portion 4a and the face lower portion 4b do not need to coincide with each other.

In the above embodiment, the energy absorbing member 8,
9, resin ribs 33, 33,..., 38, 38,.
However, for example, urethane foam or the like may be used.

In the above-described embodiment, the second bumper reinforcement supported by the stays 35, 35 is provided as a strength member. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a rectangular shape is provided below the front side frames 5, 5. A frame-shaped perimeter frame may be provided. In this case, the perimeter frame includes a pair of side members extending in the same direction as the front side frames 5 and 5, and a front member and a suspension cross member having left and right ends continuous with the front and rear ends of the side members. Shall be. The front surface of the front member supports the rear end of each second energy absorbing rib 38.

[0034]

As described above, according to the vehicle bumper according to the first aspect of the present invention, the rear side of the skin member is located above and below the air introduction opening formed in the front part of the vehicle body of the vehicle. Since the first and second energy absorbing members supported by the first and second bumper reinforcements are provided, and the front ends of the both substantially coincide when viewed from the vehicle vertical direction, the front and rear of the vehicle When an obstacle collides, the impact load is distributed to the upper and lower parts of the obstacle corresponding to the position where the energy absorbing member is arranged, and the impact is absorbed as intended, so that good impact mitigation is achieved. It can be carried out.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, by providing at least one of the first and second energy absorbing members with the energy absorbing rib, the intended energy absorbing characteristic can be stably obtained. .

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the strength member is firmly supported on the front side frame by the stay, the second energy absorbing member can be reliably prevented from retreating.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a front part of an automobile equipped with a bumper according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the bumper of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a left side view of the bumper of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the bumper of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a first bumper reinforcement.

FIG. 7 is a top view showing a structure of a first bumper reinforcement and a first energy absorbing rib.

FIG. 8 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 4, showing a state when an obstacle collides;

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 bumper 4 bumper face (skin member) 5 front side frame 6 first bumper reinforcement (bumper reinforcement) 7 second bumper reinforcement (strength member) 8 first energy absorbing member 9 second energy absorbing member 16 , 17 opening 33 first energy absorbing rib 35 stay 38 second energy absorbing rib E engine room

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Tsukiji 3-1 Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Mazda Co., Ltd. (72) Eiji Fujita 3-1 Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Mazda Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masao Hara 3-1, Fuchi-machi, Shinchu, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture Mazda Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yuji Matsuda 3-1, Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture Mazda Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroshi Okukawa 3-1 Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Mazda Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masanori Ogawa 3-1 Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Pref. Mazda Co., Ltd. (72) Kazuhiro Tanaka, Aki-gun, Hiroshima 3-1 Fuchi-cho Shinchi Mazda Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A bumper reinforcement provided at a front portion of a vehicle body so as to extend in a vehicle width direction; a first energy absorbing member provided at a front side of the bumper reinforcement; A vehicle bumper comprising: a reinforcement and a resin-made skin member that covers the first energy absorbing member from the front of the vehicle body. An opening for air introduction is formed, and is disposed at a rear side of the body of the skin member so as to correspond at least to a position below the opening, and a front end portion of the first energy absorbing member when viewed from a vertical direction of the body. A second energy absorbing member positioned so as to substantially coincide with a front end of the vehicle; and attaching the second energy absorbing member to the vehicle body from the rear side. Automotive bumpers, characterized in that it comprises a strength member to support. 2. The vehicle bumper according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second energy absorbing members includes a plurality of energy absorbing ribs extending in a vehicle longitudinal direction. 3. The front side frame according to claim 1, wherein a front side frame extending in a vehicle longitudinal direction is disposed on both sides of the engine room in a vehicle width direction, and the strength member extends downward from a front end side of the front side frame. An automobile bumper, which is supported by a stay provided so as to protrude.