JP2005067519A - Vehicular movable bumper structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular movable bumper structure capable of ensuring the sufficient energy absorption performance even when a collision surface of a movable portion is not perpendicular. <P>SOLUTION: A front bumper has a movable portion 18 which is protruded to the forward side of a vehicle when the collision with an obstacle is predicted. An upper rib 40 and a lower rib 42 are protruded on upper and lower end parts of a front side of a cross bar 32 disposed along the longitudinal direction of the movable portion 18, respectively. In addition, the length of the lower rib 42 is set to be larger than the length of the upper rib 40 so as to be matched with the sectional shape of an outer surface thereof when the obstacle is a rocker of a counter vehicle. Therefore, even when the movable portion 18 is collided with the outer surface of the rocker, the sufficient energy absorption performance can be ensured by preventing the movable portion 18 from being slipped to the downward side of the vehicle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a movable bumper structure for a vehicle in which a bumper is formed integrally with each other in a normal state, and a movable part protrudes from a non-movable part when a collision with an obstacle is predicted.

  In recent years, when a collision with an obstacle in front of a vehicle is predicted, a technique for projecting a part or all of the front bumper cover to the front side of the vehicle has been developed. As an example of disclosure of this type of technology, there is one disclosed in Patent Document 1 below, which will be briefly described below.

  In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the front bumper cover is divided into a movable part and a non-movable part. A long bumper reinforcement is arranged on the back side of the movable part. Further, the bumper reinforcement is provided with a shock absorber, and the movable portion and the bumper reinforcement are connected to each other by a piston rod of the shock absorber. Further, a compression coil spring is interposed between the rear surface of the movable portion and the front surface of the bumper reinforcement, and always presses and urges the movable portion in the protruding direction.

  Further, an annular locking groove is formed at a predetermined position in the axial direction of the piston rod of the shock absorber, and the movable part is a compression coil spring by locking the lock plate of the lock mechanism in the locking groove. It is held at the normal assembly position against the urging force. Furthermore, on the bumper reinforcement side, an unlocking mechanism including an actuator made of a shape memory alloy is disposed.

According to the above configuration, when a collision with an obstacle in front of the vehicle is predicted, the lock release mechanism is activated, and the lock plate of the lock mechanism is disengaged from the locking groove of the shock absorber rod. As a result, the movable portion protrudes forward of the vehicle by the biasing force of the compression coil spring.
JP 11-291845 A

  However, in the case of the above configuration, if the movable part protruding toward the front side of the vehicle comes into contact with the side sill (rocker) near the side of the vehicle, the outer surface of the side sill is generally in the direction of the protrusion of the movable part. In many cases, the movable part does not form a vertical plane and is inclined toward the inside of the vehicle, so that the movable part may slide down the vehicle along the inclined surface of the side sill after contacting the side sill. It is done. When such a slip occurs, there arises a problem that the energy absorbing member that moves the movable part cannot sufficiently absorb the collision energy.

  In order to solve such a problem, it is sufficient to make the cross section of the movable part large in the vertical direction of the vehicle. However, since the part for moving the movable part is usually arranged below the radiator or the like, the installation space in the vertical direction of the vehicle It is difficult to expand.

  An object of the present invention is to obtain a movable bumper structure for a vehicle that can ensure sufficient energy absorption performance even when the collision surface of the movable portion is not a vertical surface in consideration of the above facts.

  In the movable bumper structure for a vehicle according to the first aspect of the present invention, in a normal state, the movable part and the non-movable part are integrated to form a bumper, and when a collision with an obstacle is predicted, the movable part is A movable bumper structure for a vehicle that protrudes from a non-movable part, wherein the bumper beam is arranged on the back side of a bumper cover provided in the movable part with the vehicle width direction as a longitudinal direction and the cross-sectional shape is a substantially rectangular frame shape And at least one of the upper end portion and the lower end portion of the bumper beam is provided with a protruding portion that protrudes toward the bumper cover.

  A movable bumper structure for a vehicle according to a second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect of the present invention, the protrusion is provided on both the upper end and the lower end of the bumper beam. .

  A movable bumper structure for a vehicle according to a third aspect of the present invention is the movable bumper structure for a vehicle according to the second aspect, wherein the protrusion is provided at the lower end of the bumper beam rather than the upper protrusion provided at the upper end of the bumper beam. It is characterized in that the side protrusion is formed longer.

  A movable bumper structure for a vehicle according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the vehicle bumper structure according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the vehicle is elastic in the vehicle front-rear direction between the bumper cover and the bumper beam. The deformable energy absorbing member is arranged along the longitudinal direction of the bumper beam.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the movable bumper structure for a vehicle according to the fourth aspect, wherein the energy absorbing member is integrated with a protrusion provided on the bumper beam. Yes.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, in a normal state, the movable portion and the non-movable portion are integrated to form a bumper. On the other hand, when a collision with an obstacle is predicted, the movable part protrudes from the non-movable part. Thus, the obstacle comes into contact with the movable part of the bumper before coming into contact with the vehicle.

  Here, in the present invention, the bumper cover is provided on the back surface side of the bumper cover provided in the movable portion with the vehicle width direction as the longitudinal direction and the cross-sectional shape is a substantially rectangular frame shape. Since the protrusion that protrudes toward the bumper cover side is provided on at least one of the lower ends, even if the collision surface of the obstacle is not a vertical surface but an inclined surface, The collision surface of the obstacle is suppressed. Therefore, the movable part is less likely to be displaced in the vehicle vertical direction with respect to the obstacle collision surface. Accordingly, the energy absorption efficiency is improved accordingly.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the above-described protrusions are provided on both the upper end portion and the lower end portion of the bumper beam, the collision surface of the obstacle is pressed down at two upper and lower points of the bumper beam. For this reason, it becomes difficult to produce the shift | offset | difference to the vehicle up-down direction of the movable part with respect to the collision surface of an obstacle.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the lower protrusion provided at the lower end of the bumper beam is formed longer than the upper protrusion provided at the upper end of the bumper beam, the obstacle is a vehicle and Even if the outer surface (collision surface) of the rocker (side sill) is an inclined surface, the rocker can be pressed with a substantially equal pressing force by a pair of upper and lower protrusions having different lengths.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the energy absorbing member that can be elastically deformed in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle is disposed between the bumper cover and the bumper beam along the longitudinal direction of the bumper beam. In such a case, the lower side (low position) of the pedestrian's knee receives a load ahead of the upper side (high position) of the knee.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the energy absorbing member is integrated with the protrusion provided on the bumper beam, the energy absorbing member is removed from the bumper beam in the middle of removing the pedestrian's foot. It can be prevented from coming off.

  As described above, the movable bumper structure for a vehicle according to the first aspect of the present invention is arranged on the back side of the bumper cover provided in the movable portion with the vehicle width direction as the longitudinal direction and the cross-sectional shape is a substantially rectangular frame shape. Since the bumper beam is provided with a protrusion protruding toward the bumper cover on at least one of the upper end portion and the lower end portion of the bumper beam, the movable portion is not easily displaced in the vehicle vertical direction with respect to the collision surface of the obstacle. As a result, even if the collision surface of the movable part is not a vertical surface, there is an excellent effect that sufficient energy absorption performance can be ensured.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the movable bumper structure for a vehicle according to the first aspect of the present invention has the above-described protrusions on both the upper end portion and the lower end portion of the bumper beam. The movable part is less likely to be displaced in the vertical direction of the vehicle, and as a result, the energy absorption performance can be ensured with high accuracy.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the movable bumper structure for a vehicle according to the second aspect, wherein the lower protrusion provided at the lower end portion of the bumper beam is more than the upper protrusion portion provided at the upper end portion of the bumper beam. Since the obstacle is a vehicle and the outer surface (collision surface) of the rocker (side sill) is an inclined surface, the rocker is moved up and down with a pair of upper and lower protrusions having different lengths. It is possible to hold down with equal pressing force, and as a result, it has an excellent effect that energy absorption performance can be secured with higher accuracy.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the movable bumper structure for a vehicle according to the first aspect is elastically deformable in the vehicle front-rear direction between the bumper cover and the bumper beam. Since the energy absorbing member is disposed along the longitudinal direction of the bumper beam, when the obstacle is a pedestrian, a load can be applied to the lower side than the upper side of the pedestrian's knee. In the case where the obstacle is a pedestrian, the burden on the knee joint can be reduced.

  The movable bumper structure for a vehicle according to the present invention as set forth in claim 5 is the invention according to claim 4, wherein the energy absorbing member is integrated with the protrusion provided on the bumper beam. It is possible to prevent the energy absorbing member from being removed from the bumper beam in the middle of removing the energy, and as a result, the energy absorbing member can achieve sufficient energy absorption.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, the arrow FR suitably attached | subjected to these figures has shown the vehicle front side, the arrow UP has shown the vehicle upper side, and the arrow OUT has shown the vehicle width direction outer side.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the vehicle movable bumper device 10 according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, a front bumper 12 formed in a substantially U shape in a plan view is disposed at the front end portion of the vehicle. The front bumper 12 includes a non-movable portion 14 that is fixedly arranged regardless of the prediction of a collision with an obstacle, and a band-shaped opening 16 that is normally formed on the lower side of the non-movable portion 14. And a movable portion 18 that forms a part of the front bumper 12 and protrudes a predetermined stroke toward the front side of the vehicle when a collision with an obstacle is predicted.

  The vehicle movable bumper device 10 includes the movable portion 18 of the front bumper 12 described above. That is, the vehicular movable bumper device 10 includes a movable portion 18 of the front bumper 12, a collision object detection sensor 20 disposed at the center of the front end of the vehicle, and a collision object detection sensor 20 disposed at a predetermined position of the vehicle. A controller 22 connected to the front bumper 12 and a feeding device 24 that is connected to the controller 22 and is operated by an operation command of the controller 22 to project the movable portion 18 toward the vehicle front side. It is configured.

  In a broad sense, the collision object detection sensor 20, which is an element grasped as a collision object detection means, is composed of, for example, a combination of a millimeter wave radar and a camera, and the detection result of the collision object (the presence or absence of the collision object, the image of the collision object). Information etc.) is output to the controller 22. Further, the controller 22 grasped as a control means in a broad sense determines whether or not a collision body has been detected based on the detection signal input from the collision body detection sensor 20, and if detected, detects the collision body. The type (pedestrian, vehicle, building, etc.) is discriminated, the relative speed between the collision object and the own vehicle is calculated, and the feeding device 24 is operated when a predetermined condition is satisfied.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the feeding device 24 is a predetermined part of the vehicle body (for example, the front ends of a pair of left and right front side members disposed on both sides of the front portion of the vehicle with the longitudinal direction of the vehicle as a longitudinal direction) 26. It is fixed to. A main portion 24A of the feeding device 24 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and an energy absorbing member 24B is inserted therein so as to be movable in the axial direction. Each of the main portion 24A and the energy absorbing member 24B is formed in a rectangular frame shape ("B" shape) in cross section. Furthermore, the front end portion of the energy absorbing member 24B is a long crossbar as a bumper beam disposed on the back side of the movable portion bumper cover 30 constituting a part of the front bumper cover 28 with the vehicle width direction as the longitudinal direction. 32 is fixed to the rear end face side. A urethane absorber 34 as an energy absorbing member is disposed between the cross bar 32 and the movable part bumper cover 30. Further, as a driving method of the feeding device 24, a gas generation method using an inflator or the like, a hydraulic control method, a mechanical method using a spring or the like can be applied.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 1, an upper rib 40 as a pair of upper and lower upper protrusions projecting toward the front side of the vehicle and a lower protrusion as a lower protrusion are formed on the upper and lower ends of the front surface of the crossbar 32. The ribs 42 are formed integrally and in parallel. These upper rib 40 and lower rib 42 are formed over substantially the entire length of the cross bar 32. Note that the upper rib 40 and the lower rib 42 may be formed separately from the cross bar 32 in advance and attached to the cross bar 32 later.

  The protruding length A of the upper rib 40 is set shorter than the protruding length B of the lower rib 42. More specifically, the protruding lengths of the upper rib 40 and the lower rib 42 are set so as to match the cross-sectional shape (inclined shape) of the outer surface 44A of the rocker (side sill) 44 shown in FIG. Yes.

  Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described.

  The state indicated by the solid line in FIG. 3 is the state of the vehicle movable bumper device 10 during normal vehicle travel.

  On the other hand, when an obstacle is detected by the collision object detection sensor 20, the detection information is input to the controller 22. When the controller 22 predicts a collision with an obstacle, the controller 22 activates the feeding device 24. As a result, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3, the feeding device 24 operates to extend the energy absorbing member 24 </ b> B, and the movable portion 18 protrudes toward the vehicle front side with respect to the non-movable portion 14. Thus, the obstacle comes into contact with the movable portion 18 of the front bumper 12 before coming into contact with the vehicle. In addition, if the energy absorbing member 24B is configured as a composite of two types of members having different energy absorption characteristics, the energy that is different between the case where the obstacle is a pedestrian and the case where the obstacle is a vehicle, a building, or the like. Absorption can be performed.

  Here, FIG. 4A schematically shows a state immediately before the own vehicle collides with the vehicle side of another vehicle. As shown in this figure, when the movable portion 18 protrudes toward the vehicle front side (arrow C direction side) and collides with the vehicle side rocker 44 in this state, the outer side surface 44A of the rocker 44 is Due to the downward inclination, the movable portion 18 can slide to the vehicle lower side (arrow D direction side) along the inclination of the outer surface 44A after colliding with the outer surface 44A of the rocker 44. There is sex. In this case, since the pair of energy absorbing members 24B of the feeding device 24 is inclined toward the vehicle lower side, it is not possible to sufficiently absorb energy at the time of collision.

  However, according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the movable portion 18 collides with the outer surface 44A of the rocker 44, the movable portion bumper cover 30 and the absorber 34 are not only elastically deformed. Since the load is strongly input locally from the upper rib 40 and the lower rib 42, the outer surface 44A of the rocker 44 is locally depressed (pressed) at two upper and lower points (arrow P and arrow Q portions), and the crossbar 32, and hence the movable portion 18 is less likely to shift in the vehicle vertical direction with respect to the outer surface 44A of the rocker 44 (shift in the vehicle vertical direction is restricted). Accordingly, the perpendicularity of the pair of energy absorbing members 24B of the feeding device 24 with respect to the rocker 44 is maintained, and sufficient energy absorption is performed. As a result, according to the present embodiment, sufficient energy absorption performance can be ensured even when the collision surface of the movable portion 18 is not a vertical surface.

  In the present embodiment, the lower rib 42 provided at the lower end portion of the front surface of the cross bar 32 is formed longer than the upper rib 40 provided at the upper end portion of the front surface of the cross bar 32. Even if the outer surface 44A (collision surface) of the rocker 44 is an inclined surface, the rocker 44 can be pressed down by the upper and lower ribs 40 and 42 having different lengths with substantially equal pressing force. . As a result, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to further ensure energy absorption performance with high accuracy.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the absorber 34 elastically deformable in the vehicle front-rear direction is disposed between the movable part bumper cover 30 and the cross bar 32 along the longitudinal direction of the cross bar 32, so that an obstacle is In the case of a pedestrian, the lower side (low position) of the pedestrian's knee receives a load preceding the upper side (high position) of the knee. For this reason, the burden to the knee joint of a pedestrian can be reduced. As a result, according to this embodiment, when the obstacle is a pedestrian, the burden on the knee joint can be reduced.

  In addition, in the present embodiment, since the absorber 34 is integrally formed in a state of being fitted between the upper rib 40 and the lower rib 42 of the cross bar 32, the absorber 34 is in the middle of removing the pedestrian's feet. The absorber 34 can be prevented from being detached from the cross bar 32. As a result, according to the present embodiment, the absorber 34 can sufficiently absorb energy.

[Supplementary explanation of the embodiment]
In each of the first and second embodiments described above, the present invention is applied to the front bumper 12. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention may be applied to the rear bumper.

  In each of the first and second embodiments described above, the upper rib 40 and the lower rib 42 are provided on both the upper end portion and the lower end portion of the front surface of the crossbar 32. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and only one of them is provided. You may take the structure which provides a rib. Even in this case, the effect as the means for preventing the movable portion 18 from shifting in the vehicle vertical direction relative to the rocker 44 can be obtained as it is.

  Furthermore, in each of the first and second embodiments described above, the lower rib 42 is formed longer than the upper rib 40 assuming a normal rocker shape. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the reverse may occur depending on the assumed obstacle. In other words, the upper rib may be formed longer than the lower rib, or both may have the same length.

  Further, in each of the first and second embodiments described above, the absorber 34 of the movable part bumper cover 36 and the cross bar 32 is interposed, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the absorber may be omitted. In this case, since the upper rib 40 and the lower rib 42 bite into the outer surface 44A of the rocker 44, the effect of preventing the movable portion 18 from shifting in the vehicle vertical direction with respect to the rocker 44 becomes greater. .

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 1-1 of FIG. 2 showing a main part of the movable bumper structure for a vehicle according to the first embodiment. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of a vehicle movable bumper cover device according to a first embodiment. It is a top view which shows the whole structure of the movable bumper cover apparatus for vehicles which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which shows the state before and behind a collision.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vehicle movable bumper apparatus 12 Front bumper 14 Non-movable part 18 Movable part 20 Colliding body detection sensor 30 Movable part bumper cover 32 Crossbar (bumper beam)
34 Absorber (energy absorbing member)
40 Upper rib (upper projection)
42 Lower rib (lower protrusion)
44 Rocker (obstacle)

Claims (5)

In a normal time, the movable part and the non-movable part integrally form a bumper, and when a collision with an obstacle is predicted, the movable bumper structure for a vehicle protrudes from the non-movable part. ,
The bumper beam is disposed on the back side of the bumper cover provided in the movable portion with the vehicle width direction as the longitudinal direction and the cross-sectional shape is a substantially rectangular frame shape,
Protruding portions projecting toward the bumper cover side are provided on at least one of the upper end portion and the lower end portion of the bumper beam.
A movable bumper structure for vehicles. The protrusions are provided on both the upper end and the lower end of the bumper beam.
The movable bumper structure for a vehicle according to claim 1. The protrusion is formed such that the lower protrusion provided at the lower end of the bumper beam is longer than the upper protrusion provided at the upper end of the bumper beam.
The movable bumper structure for vehicles according to claim 2 characterized by things. Between the bumper cover and the bumper beam, an energy absorbing member that is elastically deformable in the vehicle longitudinal direction is disposed along the longitudinal direction of the bumper beam.
The movable bumper structure for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The energy absorbing member is integrated with a protrusion provided on the bumper beam.
The movable bumper structure for vehicles according to claim 4 characterized by things.

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