JP2008307939A - Front bumper of automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase an absorbing efficiency of impact energy by a front bumper by simple structure in the front bumper of an automobile comprising a bumper cover, a bumper reinforcement member disposed rear of the front part of the bumper cover positioned at the foremost part, and an impact absorbing member disposed between the bumper reinforcement member and front part of the bumper cover. <P>SOLUTION: A cutout 11 is formed at the upper portion of the impact absorbing member 10 opposed to the bumper reinforcement member 9. When the surface of the cutout opposed to the bumper reinforcement member is used as a cutout wall surface, the cutout wall surface is diagonally formed so that the interval between the cutout wall surface and the bumper reinforcement member is gradually increased from the bottom end toward the top end of the cutout wall surface. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is a bumper cover, a bumper reinforcing member disposed rearward of a front surface portion which is the foremost portion of the bumper cover, and disposed between the bumper reinforcing member and the front surface portion of the bumper cover. The present invention relates to a front bumper of an automobile having an impact absorbing member.

  When an impact is applied to the front part of an automobile, the front bumper of the above type is provided on the vehicle body in order to absorb the impact energy and protect the vehicle body and reduce the external force applied to the collision object. It is well known. The bumper is described in Patent Document 1.

  The impact absorbing member of the front bumper described at the beginning serves to absorb impact energy applied from the front, and the bumper reinforcing member serves to receive the impact. Therefore, the impact absorbing member should be configured to effectively absorb the energy of impact applied from the front, and to minimize the external force applied to the collision object hitting the front surface portion of the bumper cover. For this reason, conventionally, the hardness of the shock absorbing member has been set so that the absorption efficiency of the shock energy is maximized, but it is not easy to determine the hardness of the shock absorbing member in this way, and many As a result of repeated trial and error, the most preferable hardness of the shock absorbing member could be found.

  If the hardness of the impact absorbing member is too hard, the impact energy absorption efficiency is reduced, and the external force applied to the impacted object is increased. Conversely, if the impact absorbing member is too soft, due to the impact applied to the impact absorbing member, The shock absorbing member is excessively compressed and deformed, whereby a large reaction force from the bumper reinforcing member acts on the collision object, and a large external force is applied to the collision object. For this reason, it is not easy to set the hardness of the impact absorbing member so as to minimize the external force that can be applied to the collision object in accordance with the form of the impact absorbing member determined by the model of the automobile.

JP 2005-67308 A

  An object of the present invention is to easily configure an impact absorbing member so as to minimize the external force applied to a collision object that hits the front surface of the bumper cover, and to further improve the impact energy absorption efficiency. The object is to provide a front bumper for a vehicle of the type described at the beginning.

  According to the present invention, in the front bumper of the automobile of the type described at the beginning, when an impact is applied from the front to the front portion of the bumper cover, the impact absorbing member is rearwardly centered on the lower portion due to the impact. A notch is formed in an upper portion of the shock absorbing member facing the bumper reinforcing member so as to rotate to the side.

  Further, in the front bumper of the automobile, when the surface of the notch facing the bumper reinforcing member is a notched wall surface, an interval between the notched wall surface and the bumper reinforcing member is set to an upper end portion from a lower end portion of the notched wall surface. The notch wall surface may be formed as an inclined surface so as to gradually increase toward the surface.

  Furthermore, in the front bumper of each automobile, a large number of notches formed in the impact absorbing member may be arranged at intervals in the vehicle width direction.

  According to the present invention, the shock absorbing member can be configured so that the external force applied to the collision object hitting the front surface of the bumper cover is minimized by simply selecting the shape of the notch of the shock absorbing member. In addition, since the impact absorbing member is rotated by the impact applied to the front surface portion of the bumper cover, the impact energy absorbing efficiency by the impact absorbing member can be increased.

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

  FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an example of an automobile having a bumper cover according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. Symbol Fr in these drawings indicates the forward direction of the automobile, and “front” and “rear” in this specification mean front and rear with reference to the forward direction. 1 indicates the vehicle width direction of the automobile (the same applies to FIG. 3).

  As shown in FIG. 1, a front bumper 2 is disposed in the body 1 of the automobile, that is, in the front part of the main body. As shown in FIG. 2, the front bumper 2 has a bumper cover 3 made of, for example, a resin plate. The bumper cover 3 is fixed to a vehicle body 1 (FIG. 1) not shown in FIG. ing. In addition, a lower radiator grille 5 fixed to the bumper cover 3 is disposed in the opening 4 formed in the bumper cover 3, and an upper side fixed to the bumper cover 3 is also provided above the bumper cover 3. The radiator grille 6 is arranged. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, an under cover 7 that divides the lower portion of the engine compartment is connected to the lower end portion of the bumper cover 3, and this under cover 7 is also fixed to a vehicle body not shown in FIG. Yes. In FIG. 2, the illustration of the license plate 16 shown in FIG. 1 is omitted.

  Here, if the foremost portion 8 of the bumper cover 3 is referred to as the front surface portion of the bumper cover 3, the front bumper 2 has a bumper reinforcing member 9 disposed rearward of the front surface portion 8 of the bumper cover 3. And an impact absorbing member 10 disposed between the bumper reinforcing member 9 and the front surface portion 8. The bumper reinforcing member 9 is made of a highly rigid material such as metal, and is also a member called a bumper inhose. The bumper reinforcing member 9 extends long in the vehicle width direction W (FIG. 1), and is firmly fixed to the vehicle body 1 not shown in FIG. The shock absorbing member 10 is a member made of a softer material than the bumper reinforcing member 9, for example, a resin foam, and is also called a bumper absorber. The impact absorbing member 10 also extends long in the vehicle width direction W and is fixed to the bumper reinforcing member 9. As shown in FIG. 2, the front surface portion 8 of the bumper cover 3, the impact absorbing member 10, and the bumper reinforcing member 9 are arranged in the state of being close to or in contact with each other in the front-rear direction of the automobile.

  As described above, the front bumper 2 of the automobile of this example includes the bumper cover 3, the bumper reinforcing member 9 disposed behind the front surface portion 8 that is the foremost part of the bumper cover 3, and the bumper reinforcement thereof. An impact absorbing member 10 is disposed between the member 9 and the front surface portion 8 of the bumper cover 3.

  Here, when the front bumper 2 hits a colliding object (not shown) positioned in front of the front bumper 2 and the bumper cover 3 receives an impact indicated by an arrow P in FIG. It is transmitted to the absorbing member 10 and received by the bumper reinforcing member 9. At this time, the impact absorbing member 10 is compressed and deformed by the impact received thereby to absorb the impact energy. In this way, the front bumper 2 can absorb impact energy, protect the vehicle body 1 and reduce the external force applied to the collision object.

  By the way, as described above, according to the conventional front bumper, it is easy to set the hardness of the shock absorbing member so that the external force applied to the collision object can be reduced when an impact is applied to the bumper from the front. It wasn't. Therefore, in the front bumper 2 of this example, as shown in FIG. 2, a notch 11 is formed in the upper portion of the shock absorbing member 10 facing the bumper reinforcing member 9. Due to the difference in the size of the notch 11, the amount of compressive deformation of the shock absorbing member 10 changes in the event of a collision. Therefore, by setting the size of the notch 11 as appropriate, a collision object hits the front bumper 2. The external force applied to the collision object can be changed. Accordingly, by selecting the size of the notch 11 according to the form of the shock absorbing member 10 determined by the model of the automobile, the size, and the material thereof, the external force applied to the collision object at the time of the collision is the smallest. Can be. By merely adjusting the size of the notch 11, the external force applied to the collision object hitting the front surface portion 8 of the bumper cover 3 can be easily made the smallest.

  Further, since the notch 11 is formed in the impact absorbing member 10, when the impact indicated by the arrow P in FIG. 2 is applied to the front surface portion 8 of the bumper cover 3 from the front, the impact is absorbed by the impact. The member 10 rotates around the lower part thereof as shown by an arrow A in FIG. Thus, the notch 11 is formed in the shock absorbing member 10 so that the shock absorbing member 10 rotates. When the impact absorbing member 10 rotates at the time of collision, the impact absorbing member 10 can efficiently absorb impact energy. In this way, the function of the front bumper 2 can be easily enhanced.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, when the surface of the notch 11 facing the bumper reinforcing member 9 is referred to as a notched wall surface 12, the distance D between the notched wall surface 12 and the bumper reinforcing member 9 is the notch. The notched wall surface 12 is formed as an inclined surface so as to gradually increase from the lower end portion 13 to the upper end portion 14 of the wall surface 12. Thus, by forming the notched wall surface 12 on an inclined surface, when an impact is applied to the front surface portion 8 of the bumper cover 3 from the front, the shock absorbing member 10 can reliably rotate in the direction of arrow A. it can.

  In addition, the notch 11 can be formed over the entire length of the shock absorbing member 10 in the vehicle width direction. However, in this way, the shock absorbing member 10 can absorb the shock only by applying a relatively small external force to the front surface portion 8 of the bumper cover 3. There exists a possibility that the member 10 may rotate. Since the front bumper 2 is a device that efficiently absorbs the impact energy when a large impact is applied from the front, the impact absorbing member 10 is rotated only by applying a small external force to the front bumper 2. It is not preferable to end up.

  Therefore, in the front bumper 2 of this example, as shown in FIG. 3, a large number of notches 11 are formed at intervals in the vehicle width direction W of the shock absorbing member 10. A number of notches 11 formed in the shock absorbing member 10 are arranged at intervals in the vehicle width direction W. As described above, since the shock absorbing member portion 15 exists between the adjacent notches 11, the shock absorbing member 10 does not rotate when a small external force is applied to the front bumper 2 from the front. Only when a large impact is applied, the impact absorbing member portion 15 is compressed and deformed, the impact absorbing member 10 is rotated, and the impact energy can be efficiently absorbed.

  The present invention can be widely applied to front bumpers of various types of automobiles other than the type shown in FIG.

1 is an external perspective view of an automobile. It is the II-II line expanded sectional view of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows a part of impact-absorbing member.

Explanation of symbols

2 Front bumper 3 Bumper cover 8 Front part 9 Bumper reinforcement member 10 Shock absorbing member 11 Notch 12 Notch wall surface 13 Lower end part 14 Upper end part D Interval
W Vehicle width direction

Claims (3)

A bumper cover, a bumper reinforcing member disposed rearward of a front surface portion which is the foremost portion of the bumper cover, and an impact absorbing member disposed between the bumper reinforcing member and the front surface portion of the bumper cover. In the front bumper of a car having
When an impact is applied from the front to the front part of the bumper cover, the impact absorbing member is opposed to the bumper reinforcing member so that the impact absorbing member rotates rearward about the lower part due to the impact. A front bumper for an automobile, wherein a notch is formed in an upper portion of the member. When the surface of the notch facing the bumper reinforcing member is a notched wall surface, the interval between the notched wall surface and the bumper reinforcing member is gradually increased from the lower end portion to the upper end portion of the notched wall surface. The automobile front bumper according to claim 1, wherein the notch wall surface is formed as an inclined surface. The automobile front bumper according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a plurality of notches formed in the shock absorbing member are arranged at intervals in the vehicle width direction.

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