JP2022112149A - bumper absorber - Google Patents

Abstract

To reduce an unbroken portion of a bumper absorber over an entire range in a vehicle width direction.SOLUTION: A bumper absorber 30 is used as a buffer material in a vehicular bumper and includes: an absorber body part 320 which receives a buffer load to be crushed; and an absorber attachment part 340. The absorber body part 320 is formed into a box shape by a vertical plate part 321 forming a load receiving surface extending in a vehicle width direction, an upper plate part 323 and a lower plate part provided at the upper side and the lower side of the vertical plate part 321, and side plate parts 325 which connect ends of the vertical plate part 321, the upper plate part 323, and the lower plate part with each other at both ends as seen in the vehicle width direction. Openings 50, each of which extends in a vehicle fore and aft direction and is formed so as to cross the absorber body part 320, are provided at the upper plate part 323 and the lower plate part at both ends of the absorber body part 320.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to a bumper absorber used as a cushioning material in a vehicle bumper.

Patent Document 1 describes a technology related to a bumper absorber for a vehicle bumper. A bumper absorber 100 described in Patent Literature 1 is, as shown in FIG. 11, a cushioning material attached to the front surface of a beam-shaped bumper reinforcement 103 connected to the front portion of a vehicle body. The bumper absorber 100 is made of polystyrene foam or the like and is formed in the shape of a horizontal column with a substantially rectangular cross section. Accordingly, when a collision load is applied to the front portion of the vehicle, the bumper cover 105 and the bumper absorber 100 are crushed, thereby absorbing the collision load.

However, since the bumper absorber 100 is made of polystyrene foam or the like and formed in the shape of a solid horizontal column, when it receives a collision load and is crushed rearward of the vehicle, there is a residual crush. For this reason, the collision load absorbing performance is lowered in the latter stage of the process of the bumper absorber 100 being crushed. In order to reduce the remaining amount of crushing of the bumper absorber 100, it has been proposed to form the bumper absorber 100 into a box shape from a thin resin plate.

JP 2019-14461 A

However, when the bumper absorber 100 is formed in the shape of a box extending in the vehicle width direction, the central portion in the vehicle width direction is relatively easily crushed, whereas the side plates at both ends in the vehicle width direction, i.e., the ends of the box, are deformed. Since it has a structure that supports the front plate and the upper and lower plates, it is less likely to be crushed. Therefore, when the bumper absorber 100 is formed in a box-like shape extending in the vehicle width direction, crushing remains are generated at both ends in the vehicle width direction.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and the problem to be solved by the present invention is to reduce the remaining amount of crushing of the bumper absorber over the entire range in the vehicle width direction.

The above problems are solved by each invention. A first invention is a bumper absorber used as a cushioning material in a vehicle bumper, comprising: an absorber main body that is crushed by receiving a collision load; and an absorber attachment part for attaching the absorber main body to a frame on the vehicle body side. The absorber main body includes a vertical plate portion forming a load receiving surface extending in the vehicle width direction, an upper plate portion and a lower plate portion provided above and below the vertical plate portion, and a vehicle width direction The vertical plate portion, the upper plate portion, and the side plate portion connecting the ends of the lower plate portion to each other at both ends of the absorber main body portion are formed into a box shape, and the upper plate portion at both ends of the absorber main body portion, and / Alternatively, the lower plate portion is provided with an opening or a weakened portion that extends in the vehicle front-rear direction and is formed to traverse the absorber main body portion, and the weakened portion receives the collision load. configured to break.

According to the present invention, the absorber main body is box-shaped and has a space inside. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the remaining amount of crushing at the portions other than the both end portions of the absorber main body, as compared with the case where the absorber main body is formed in a solid state with foamed polystyrene or the like. Further, the upper plate portion and/or the lower plate portion at both ends of the absorber main body portion are provided with openings or weakened portions extending in the vehicle front-rear direction and formed so as to cross the absorber main body portion. ing. Therefore, when a collision load is applied to the end portion of the absorber main body, the upper plate portion and the side plate portion and/or the lower plate portion and the side plate portion are separated at the position of the opening or the fragile portion, and are individually separated. become crushed. That is, since the side plate portions do not support the upper plate portion and/or the lower plate portion, both ends of the absorber main body portion are easily crushed. As a result, it is possible to reduce the remaining amount of crushing at both ends of the absorber main body.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a bending horizontal line extending in the vehicle width direction is formed in a ridge-like shape at the central portion of the upper plate portion and the lower plate portion of the absorber main body portion in the vehicle front-rear direction. Vertical bending lines are formed on the side plate portions so as to be continuous with horizontal bending lines between the upper plate portion and the lower plate portion. Therefore, the collision load causes the upper plate portion and the lower plate portion of the absorber main body portion to bend at the positions of the horizontal bending lines, and the side plate portions to bend at the positions of the vertical bending lines, so that the absorber main body portion is easily crushed in the vehicle front-rear direction. .

According to the third invention, the opening or fragile portion of the absorber main body is formed along the side plate portion. That is, since the openings or fragile portions can be formed in the immediate vicinity of the edge line between the side plate portion and the upper plate portion and/or the edge line between the side plate portion and the lower plate portion, the side plate portion can be easily bent.

According to the fourth invention, the opening or the weakened portion is formed in the curved portion of the absorber main body, which is located at a position other than both end portions, where the absorber main body bends rearward. Therefore, the center side and the end side of the curved portion of the absorber main body are separated and crushed separately. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the bending portion from being difficult to be crushed due to interference between the crushing of the center side and the end side of the absorber main body.

According to the fifth invention, the fragile portion is formed by a plurality of through holes arranged in the vehicle front-rear direction.

According to the sixth invention, the fragile portion is formed by a linear cut extending in the vehicle front-rear direction.

According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the remaining amount of crushing of the bumper absorber over the entire range in the vehicle width direction.

1 is a side view of a vehicle equipped with a bumper absorber according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a vehicle bumper including the bumper absorber; FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the bumper absorber, bumper reinforcement, etc. of the vehicle bumper (a plan view taken along arrow III in FIG. 2). FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the bumper absorber and bumper reinforcement seen from the front right of the vehicle. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the right end portion of the bumper absorber; FIG. 8 is an enlarged plan view of the right end portion of the bumper absorber according to Modification 1. FIG. FIG. 11 is an enlarged plan view of the right end portion of the bumper absorber according to Modification 2; FIG. 11 is an enlarged plan view of a right end portion of a bumper absorber according to Modification 3; FIG. 4 is a deformation image diagram (schematic diagram) showing how the right end portion of the bumper absorber is crushed by receiving a collision load. 4 is a graph showing how a bumper absorber is crushed by receiving a collision load. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional vehicle bumper; FIG.

[Embodiment 1]
A bumper absorber according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10. FIG. The bumper absorber according to this embodiment is a bumper absorber 30 used as a cushioning material for the front bumper 20 of the vehicle 10 . Here, front, rear, left, right, and up and down shown in the drawing correspond to front, rear, left, right, and up and down of the vehicle 10 including the front bumper 20 .

<Overview of Front Structure of Vehicle 10>
As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of front side members 14 extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle are provided on both left and right sides of the engine room E in the front portion of the vehicle body of the vehicle 10 . Crash boxes 16 are attached substantially coaxially to the front end positions of the left and right front side members 14, respectively. Left and right ends of bumper reinforcements 40 forming the front bumper 20 are connected to the left and right crash boxes 16 . The crash box 16 is configured to be crushed between the front bumper 20 and the front side member 14 at the time of a frontal collision of the vehicle 10 so as to absorb the collision load.

<Regarding the configuration of the front bumper 20>
The front bumper 20 includes the bumper reinforcement 40, the bumper absorber 30, the lower absorber 35, the bumper cover 21, and the bumper grille 23, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the bumper reinforcement 40 is a beam-shaped member extending in the vehicle width direction, and both left and right ends of the bumper reinforcement 40 are connected to the left and right crash boxes 16 as described above.

The bumper absorber 30 is attached to the front surface 42 of the bumper reinforcement 40 as shown in FIGS. The bumper absorber 30 is a cushioning material that extends in the vehicle width direction along the bumper reinforcement 40, and is formed, for example, by a thin resin plate in the shape of a box whose rear side is open. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bumper cover 21 is a resin member that forms the external design of the front bumper 20, and is configured to cover the bumper absorber 30, the lower absorber 35, and the bumper reinforcement 40. . A central portion of the bumper cover 21 in the height direction is supported from the rear side by the front surface of the bumper absorber 30 , and a lower end portion of the bumper cover 21 is supported by the lower absorber 35 . Further, a bumper grille 23, which functions as an air intake and is a decorative member, is attached to the central position of the bumper cover 21. As shown in FIG.

<Construction of Bumper Absorber 30>
The bumper absorber 30 is a resin injection molded product, and as shown in FIGS. 340. The bumper absorber 30 is molded from polypropylene (PP) resin, for example.

<Regarding the absorber mounting portion 340>
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the absorber mounting portion 340 is formed in a cover shape so as to cover the front surface 42 to the upper surface 43 and the lower surface 44 of the bumper reinforcement 40 . That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the absorber mounting portion 340 includes an upper front plate portion 341 and a lower front plate portion 342 that respectively cover the upper side and the lower side of the front surface 42 of the bumper reinforcement 40, and the upper surface 43 of the bumper reinforcement 40. and the lower surface 44, respectively. 4, the absorber mounting portion 340 includes side plate portions 345 that cover the left and right end surfaces (numbers omitted) of the bumper reinforcement 40. As shown in FIG.

Connecting means (not shown) such as clips are provided on the back surfaces of the upper front plate portion 341 and the lower front plate portion 342 of the absorber mounting portion 340 . 4, a connecting hole 42h is formed in the front surface 42 of the bumper reinforcement 40 at a position corresponding to the clip of the absorber attachment portion 340 or the like. As a result, the clip or the like of the absorber mounting portion 340 is inserted into the connecting hole 42 h of the bumper reinforcement 40 , thereby fixing the absorber mounting portion 340 to the bumper reinforcement 40 .

<Regarding Absorber Body 320>
The absorber body portion 320 is formed to protrude forward from the absorber mounting portion 340 as shown in FIG. 2 and the like. That is, the absorber main body portion 320 has a substantially lateral U-shaped cross section and is formed in a box shape with an open rear side. 2 and 4, the absorber main body 320 includes a front vertical plate portion 321 forming a load receiving surface extending in the vehicle width direction, and upper plate portions provided above and below the front vertical plate portion 321. 323 and a lower plate portion 324 . Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the absorber main body 320 includes end portions of a front vertical plate portion 321, an upper plate portion 323, and a lower plate portion 324 at both ends in the vehicle width direction (only the right end is shown in FIG. 4). is provided with a side plate portion 325 that interconnects the . Thereby, the absorber main body portion 320 is formed in a box shape with an open rear side. Side plate portion 325 of absorber body portion 320 is integrated with side plate portion 345 of absorber mounting portion 340 .

As shown in FIG. 3, the absorber main body 320 is gently curved so that the central portion other than both ends (the left end and the right end) in the vehicle width direction protrudes forward. 3 and 4, the right end portion and the left end portion of the absorber main body portion 320 are curved rearward at a curved portion W with respect to the central portion. In addition, bending horizontal lines 323x and 324x extending in the vehicle width direction in parallel with the front vertical plate portion 321 are formed at the central portions of the upper plate portion 323 and the lower plate portion 324 of the absorber main body portion 320 in the vehicle front-rear direction (width direction). It is shaped like a ridgeline. Further, on the side plate portion 325 of the absorber main body portion 320, as shown in FIG. is formed so as to cross vertically.

4 and 5, the upper plate portion 323 and the lower plate portion 324 at the right end (left end) of the absorber main body portion 320 extend in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle in the vicinity of the side plate portion 325 and extend upward. An opening 50 is provided across the plate portion 323 and the lower plate portion 324 . 4 and 5, the left end portion of the absorber body portion 320 is omitted from illustration. The opening 50 is formed in the shape of a slit that is wide on the front side and narrow on the rear side, and is formed from the front end to the rear end of the upper plate portion 323 and the lower plate portion 324 . Thereby, the bending horizontal lines 323x and 324x formed in the upper plate portion 323 and the lower plate portion 324 are cut at the position of the opening portion 50. As shown in FIG.

<Operation of bumper absorber 30>
When a collision load is applied to the right end (left end) of the front bumper 20, as shown in FIG. will collapse behind the vehicle. At the right end (left end) of the absorber main body 320, as shown in FIG. A portion of the portion 324 closer to the side plate portion 325 and a portion closer to the center are separated. As a result, the side plate portion 325 of the absorber main body portion 320 and the central portions of the upper plate portion 323 and the lower plate portion 324 are crushed independently and individually.

That is, as shown in FIG. 9, the side plate portion 325 of the absorber main body portion 320 is crushed so as to protrude outward in the vehicle width direction at the position of the vertical bending line 325y. Further, the upper plate portion 323 of the absorber main body portion 320 is crushed so as to protrude upward at the position of the horizontal bending line 323x. Further, the lower plate portion 324 of the absorber main body portion 320 is crushed so as to protrude downward at the position of the horizontal bending line 324x. As described above, since the side plate portion 325 of the absorber main body portion 320 does not support the upper plate portion 323 and the lower plate portion 324, the right end (left end) of the absorber main body portion 320 is easily crushed, and the remaining part of the crushed portion is reduced.

Characteristic I (solid line) in FIG. 10 is a graph showing the relationship between the collision load F applied to the absorber main body 320 and the crushing stroke according to the present embodiment. Characteristic II (dotted line) is a graph showing the relationship between the collision load F applied to the absorber main body 320 and the crushing stroke when the opening 50 is not provided. As is clear from FIG. 10, by providing the opening 50 at the end of the absorber main body 320, the end of the absorber main body 320 is easily crushed, and when the impact load F is applied, the remaining crushed portion is reduced. In addition, since the upper plate portion 323 and the lower plate portion 324 are separated from the side plate portion 325 at the central portion of the absorber main body portion 320 in the vehicle width direction, they are not affected by the side plate portion 325 and are easily crushed.

<Correspondence between terms used in the present embodiment and terms in the present invention>
The front bumper 20 in this embodiment corresponds to the vehicle bumper in the present invention, and the bumper reinforcement 40 corresponds to the vehicle body side frame in the present invention. Further, the front vertical plate portion 321 of the absorber main body portion 320 in this embodiment corresponds to the vertical plate portion forming the load receiving surface in the present invention.

<Advantages of bumper absorber 30 according to the present embodiment>
According to the bumper absorber 30 according to this embodiment, the absorber main body 320 is box-shaped and has a space formed therein. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the remaining amount of crushed portions other than the end portions of the absorber main body portion 320 as compared with the case where the absorber main body portion 320 is formed in a solid state from foamed polystyrene or the like. Further, the upper plate portion 323 and the lower plate portion 324 at both ends of the absorber main body portion 320 are provided with openings 50 extending in the vehicle front-rear direction and formed so as to cross the absorber main body portion 320 . Therefore, when a collision load is applied to the end portion of the absorber main body portion 320, the upper plate portion 323 and the side plate portion 325, and the lower plate portion 324 and the side plate portion 325 are separated at the position of the opening 50, and are crushed individually. become. That is, since the side plate portions 325 do not support the upper plate portion 323 and the lower plate portion 324, both ends of the absorber main body portion 320 are easily crushed. As a result, the remaining amount of crushing can be reduced at both end portions of the absorber main body portion 320 as well.

[Change example]
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a slit-shaped opening having a wide front side and a narrow rear side is provided near the side plate portion 325 of the upper plate portion 323 and the lower plate portion 324 of the absorber main body portion 320. An example in which the portion 50 is provided is shown. However, as shown in FIG. 6 , it is also possible to provide slit-shaped openings 51 having the same width dimension in the upper plate portion 323 and the lower plate portion 324 of the absorber body portion 320 along the side plate portion 325 . In this way, since the openings 51 can be formed in close proximity to the ridgeline between the side plate portion 325 and the upper plate portion 323 and the ridgeline between the side plate portion 325 and the lower plate portion 324, the side plate portion 325 can be easily bent.

Moreover, it is also possible to provide slit-like openings 52 extending in the front-rear direction at the positions of the curved portions W of the upper plate portion 323 and the lower plate portion 324 of the absorber body portion 320 . As a result, the upper plate portion 323 and the lower plate portion 324 on the central side with respect to the curved portion W of the absorber main body portion 320 and the upper plate portion 323 and the lower plate portion 324 on the end portion side are separated and crushed separately. become. Therefore, the crushing of the center side and the end part side of the absorber main body 320 does not interfere with each other, and the bending portion W does not become difficult to crush.

5 and 6, instead of forming the slit-shaped openings 50, 51, 52 in the upper plate portion 323 and the lower plate portion 324, a large number of through holes are provided as shown in FIG. It is also possible to provide weakened portions 53, 54 arranged one behind the other. Note that the fragile portions 53 and 54 have a structure that can be linearly broken in the front-rear direction by receiving a collision load. Also, as shown in FIG. 8, it is possible to provide fragile portions 55 and 56 formed of linear cuts.

Moreover, in this embodiment, the example in which the openings 50, 51, 52 or the fragile parts 53, 54, 55, 56 are provided in both the upper plate portion 323 and the lower plate portion 324 of the absorber main body portion 320 is shown. However, a configuration in which the openings 50 , 51 , 52 or the fragile portions 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 are provided in either the upper plate portion 323 or the lower plate portion 324 is also possible. Moreover, in this embodiment, the front bumper 20 is illustrated as a vehicle bumper, but the bumper absorber 30 according to the present invention can also be applied to a rear bumper.

20... front bumper (vehicle bumper)
30 Bumper absorber 40 Bumper reinforcement (frame on vehicle body side)
50... Opening 51... Opening 52... Opening 53... Vulnerable part 54... Vulnerable part 55... Vulnerable part 56... Vulnerable part 320 . . . Absorber main body 321 .. Front vertical plate portion (vertical plate portion forming a load receiving surface)
323 Upper plate portion 323x Bending horizontal line 324 Lower plate portion 324x Bending horizontal line 325 Side plate portion 325y Bending vertical line 340 Absorber mounting portion W Curved Department

Claims (6)

A bumper absorber used as a cushioning material in a vehicle bumper,
an absorber main body that is crushed by receiving a collision load;
an absorber attachment portion for attaching the absorber body portion to a frame on the vehicle body side;
and
The absorber main body includes a vertical plate portion forming a load receiving surface extending in the vehicle width direction, an upper plate portion and a lower plate portion provided above and below the vertical plate portion, and both ends in the vehicle width direction. It is formed in a box shape by the side plate portion that connects the ends of the plate portion, the upper plate portion, and the lower plate portion,
The upper plate portion and/or the lower plate portion at both ends of the absorber main body portion are provided with openings or weakened portions extending in the vehicle front-rear direction and formed to cross the absorber main body portion. and
The bumper absorber, wherein the fragile portion is configured to break when receiving the collision load. A bumper absorber according to claim 1,
A bending horizontal line extending in the vehicle width direction is formed in the shape of a ridge line at a central portion in the vehicle front-rear direction of the upper plate portion and the lower plate portion of the absorber main body,
A bumper absorber according to claim 1, wherein a vertical bending line is formed on the side plate portion of the absorber main body portion so as to be continuous with the horizontal bending line between the upper plate portion and the lower plate portion. A bumper absorber according to either claim 1 or claim 2,
The bumper absorber, wherein the opening or weakened portion of the absorber main body portion is formed along the side plate portion. A bumper absorber according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A bumper absorber according to claim 1, wherein said opening or fragile portion is formed in said absorber main body portion at a position other than said end portions and at a curved portion where said absorber main body portion curves rearward. A bumper absorber according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The bumper absorber, wherein the fragile portion is formed of a plurality of through holes arranged in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. A bumper absorber according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A bumper absorber in which the weakened portion is formed by a linear cut extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

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