JP2561024Y2 - Vehicle bumper structure - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bumper structure for a vehicle, and more particularly to a structure for absorbing shock energy in a vehicle collision.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A bumper for a vehicle is required to have a function of preventing damage to a vehicle body in a light collision and absorbing as much impact energy as possible in a further collision to protect an occupant.

[0003] Therefore, conventionally, an energy absorber such as urethane foam is attached to the front of the reinforcement.
A bumper consisting of a structure with a design skin on it is adopted, and in an extremely light collision, the impact energy is absorbed by an energy absorber generally called an absorber, which is formed of foam, and the foam is deformed When a shock that cannot be absorbed by itself is applied, the reinforcement is buckled to absorb shock energy.

Recently, there has been a demand for a further increase in the amount of energy absorption due to a demand for improved safety. However, due to the design of the vehicle, there is a limit to the increase in the amount of protrusion of the bumper at the front or rear of the vehicle. Therefore, a lightweight, low-cost bumper structure has been required.

Therefore, as such a solution, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
A structure disclosed in US Pat. No. 2,348,861 has been proposed, but the structure is complicated and the weight must be increased, and energy absorption in the second buffer member can be expected to some extent. Improvement of energy absorption by deformation of itself cannot be expected.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a structure that can absorb more impact energy in a reinforcement and is low cost and excellent in space saving.

[0007]

According to the present invention, when a collision impact is applied from the front of a bumper reinforcement, energy is absorbed by deformation resistance of a substantially horizontal rib of the bumper reinforcement. As a result of an in-depth study of the mechanism, it has been found that the buckling deformation of the paired ribs while interfering with each other is much larger than the amount of energy absorbed by falling down alone.

Therefore, the ribs are formed into a substantially arc shape so that the paired ribs buckle while interfering with each other, and the chord side is located outside the paired ribs.

[0009]

According to the structure of the present invention, when an impact is applied to the bumper / reinforcement, the substantially horizontal ribs begin to fall in the opposite directions to the center of the arc. Then, when the amount of deformation increases, the ribs forming a pair have an effect of deforming while interfering with contact.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Needless to say, as long as the configuration according to the present invention is adopted, it can be appropriately changed as necessary. The length and interval of the paired ribs can be set according to the required amount of impact energy absorption.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a case where a bumper / reinforcement 4 according to the present invention is fastened (not shown) to a member bracket 6 of a vehicle body by bolts or the like.

The bumper cover 1 is fixed to the cover support 3 with a clip 8 via a cover pressing plate 7.

The bumper reinforcement 4 has substantially horizontal ribs 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d formed in a substantially arc shape, and a pair of ribs 4a, 4b, and 4c, 4d.
Are set so that each chord side is arranged outside the corresponding rib.

The bumper cover 1 is deformed and the absorber 2
Is compressed, a load is applied to the bumper reinforcement 4, and the ribs 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d buckle and absorb impact energy.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show a deformed state at the time of a vehicle collision.

FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the displacement of the front part of the bumper reinforcement and the load.

Curve I is a case according to the present invention. For comparison, a curve II is shown in which the ribs are not arranged in an arc but are arranged horizontally and no interference occurs during buckling deformation. According to this, it is clear that the load drop after the start of buckling becomes gentle, and the amount of impact energy absorbed improves by about 20%.

[0018]

According to the present invention, the amount of impact energy absorption can be easily improved without increasing the size, thickness, etc. of the bumper / reinforcement, and it is very inexpensive and has a space-saving effect.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a side member 5 when a bumper reinforcement is attached to a vehicle.

FIG. 2 shows an intermediate state between FIGS. 1 and 3;

FIG. 3 shows a deformed state at the time of a collision.

Fig. 4 Displacement of bumper reinforcement during collision-
3 shows a load curve.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Bumper cover 2 ... Absorber 3 ... Cover supporter 4 ... Bumper reinforcement 5 ... Side member 6 ... Member bracket 7 ... Cover holding plate 8 ···clip

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-58-78844 (JP, A) JP-A-51-31426 (JP, A) JP-A-4-303046 (JP, A) 91959 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] The present invention is characterized in that it has one or more pairs of substantially horizontal ribs, and the paired ribs are arranged in a substantially circular arc shape so that the chord side is outside the paired ribs. Bumper structure with a bumper reinforcement.