JP6020081B2 - Energy absorption structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an energy absorption structure for a vehicle such as an automobile.

  Conventionally, in order to protect a pedestrian from an impact at the time of a frontal collision with a vehicle, an energy absorption structure is adopted on the vehicle body side. Specifically, the amount of deformation on the vehicle body side at the time of a collision is increased, and the peak of the load momentarily applied to the pedestrian side is reduced. As one of them, it is disposed inside the lower part of the front bumper cover, as disclosed in Patent Document 1 below, which reduces the load on the pedestrian's knees and prevents the pedestrian from getting below the vehicle body. A structure having a lower absorber is known.

  Such a lower absorber employs a structure as shown in FIG. 4, for example, in an SUV vehicle (Sport Utility Vehicle) having a relatively high vehicle height.

  That is, the lower absorber 120 in FIG. 4 is a member disposed on the front side of the front cross member 128 (a vehicle width direction member provided so as to connect the front ends of the front side frames on both sides of the vehicle body). A front end 122 that receives a load F from the front on the inside of the front bumper cover 110, an intermediate portion that inclines so as to descend toward the rear of the vehicle body, and a rear end 126 that is attached to the front cross member 128 are provided.

JP 2009-269564 A UK Patent Application Publication No. 2384215

  However, particularly when employed in a vehicle having a high vehicle height, there has been a problem in achieving both shock absorption and design. That is, in order to reduce the influence on the pedestrian at the time of a frontal collision with the pedestrian, it is preferable to absorb the impact energy farther below the pedestrian's center of gravity, and below the pedestrian. It is also preferred for the purpose of preventing entrainment.

  On the other hand, in an SUV vehicle having a high vehicle height, if only the front bumper cover and the lower absorber or the lower absorber are conspicuously lower, the design as a vehicle is impaired. As one means for solving this problem, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 2, it is conceivable to adopt a structure in which a part of the shock absorbing member is moved downward immediately before the collision. However, in order to predict a collision with a pedestrian in advance, a complicated mechanism for driving the shock absorbing member is required.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an energy absorbing structure that is easy to be compatible with the design without adding a complicated mechanism and in which the position for absorbing impact energy is reduced.

  An energy absorbing structure according to the present invention is an energy absorbing structure in which a lower absorber is disposed inside a lower portion of a front bumper cover, and the lower absorber is disposed at an inner side of the lower portion of the front bumper cover, and a front end portion. A rear end portion that is disposed rearward and attached to the vehicle body, and an intermediate portion that is interposed between the front end portion and the rear end portion, and the rear end surface of the front end portion and the front end surface of the intermediate portion have an oblique slit. And the middle part is pivotably attached to the rear end part via the hinge part, and when the front end part moves backward, the rear end face of the front end part is in the middle. The intermediate portion is displaced so as to rotate downward while contacting the front end surface of the portion.

  In this energy absorbing structure, when a load at the time of impact is input to the front end portion located on the foremost side of the lower absorber and the front end portion moves rearward, the rear end surface of the front end portion is located in the middle facing the diagonal slit. Abuts against the front end face of the part. Then, an intermediate part is displaced so that it may rotate below with respect to the rear-end part attached via the hinge part. When the intermediate portion is displaced, the intermediate portion protrudes downward from the front bumper cover. If a part of the front bumper cover and the front end portion is deformed rearward due to the load at the time of collision, the intermediate portion comes into contact with the pedestrian and the load at the time of impact is absorbed. Therefore, in this energy absorption structure, impact energy can be absorbed at a low position.

  Moreover, the aspect which inclines so that a rear-end part may be arrange | positioned in a position lower than a front-end part, and an intermediate part falls toward back may be sufficient.

  Moreover, the aspect by which the front-end part, the rear-end part, and the intermediate part were comprised by one member may be sufficient. In this case, the lower absorber can be produced by resin injection molding or the like.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the energy absorption structure in which the compatibility with design property is easy, without adding a complicated mechanism, and the fall of the position which absorbs impact energy was aimed at is provided.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an energy absorption structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a part of the lower absorber of FIG. FIG. 3 is a view showing an aspect of the energy absorbing structure of FIG. 1 during impact absorption. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an energy absorption structure according to the related art.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the same or equivalent element, and the description is abbreviate | omitted when description overlaps.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the energy absorbing structure 1 according to the present invention includes a lower absorber 20 disposed inside a lower portion of a front bumper cover 10.

  The lower absorber 20 is a member functioning as an auxiliary bumper that is disposed below a main bumper (not shown). At the time of a frontal collision with a pedestrian, the lower absorber 20 pays a foot below the pedestrian's knee, It is equipped with a function to place it on top.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the lower absorber 20 includes a front end portion 22 disposed inside the lower portion of the front bumper cover 10, a rear end portion 26 disposed at a position lower than the front end portion 22 and at the rear of the vehicle body, and a front end An intermediate portion 24 that is interposed between the portion 22 and the rear end portion 26 and is inclined so as to descend toward the rear of the vehicle body is provided.

  The lower absorber 20 is integrally formed of a resin, and as a resin material, for example, PP (polypropylene), PE (polyethylene), ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene), or the like can be used.

  The front end portion 22 is a portion located on the foremost side of the lower absorber 20, and is disposed immediately behind the front bumper cover 10 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of beads extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body (X-axis direction in the drawing) are provided in the front end portion 22 along the left-right direction of the vehicle body (Y-axis direction in the drawing). In parallel. The rear end surface 22a of the front end portion 22 is inclined such that the normal direction thereof is directed obliquely downward.

  The rear end portion 26 is attached to the lower surface of the front cross member 28 of the vehicle body (a vehicle width direction member provided so as to connect the front ends of the front side frames on both sides of the vehicle body). It extends. The rear end portion 26 is disposed lower than the above-described front end portion 22 in the vehicle vertical direction (Z-axis direction in the drawing) and rearward in the vehicle longitudinal direction (X-axis direction in the drawing).

  The intermediate portion 24 is interposed between the front end portion 22 and the rear end portion 26 described above. As described above, since the rear end portion 26 is disposed at a position lower than the front end portion 22 and rearward, the intermediate portion 24 is inclined so as to be lowered toward the rear of the vehicle body. As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of beads extending in the vehicle longitudinal direction (X-axis direction in the figure) are provided in the intermediate portion 24, as in the front end portion 22, in the vehicle left-right direction (Y-axis in the figure). Direction).

  The front end surface 24a of the intermediate portion 24 is inclined so that the normal line direction thereof is obliquely upward, and is opposed to the rear end surface 22a of the front end portion 22 by a predetermined distance in parallel. Thereby, an oblique slit 23 is formed between the front end surface 24 a of the intermediate portion 24 and the rear end surface 22 a of the front end portion 22. The intermediate portion 24 is connected to the front end portion 22 via portions 21A and 21B located at both ends in the vehicle width direction of the lower absorber 20 in order to maintain a relative position with the front end portion 22.

  The intermediate portion 24 is attached to the upper end portion on the rear end portion 26 side via an upper end portion of the rear end portion 26 and a hinge portion 25 made of an integral hinge. In the hinge portion 25, ribs (not shown) are formed at a plurality of locations over the intermediate portion 24 and the rear end portion 26. Thus, the intermediate portion 24 is formed so as to be held by the rear end portion 26 during normal traveling. Further, when a load is input, the intermediate portion 24 can rotate downward relative to the rear end portion 26 against the rib.

  Next, the impact absorption of the energy absorbing structure 1 described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3.

  When a load F from the front of the vehicle body indicated by the arrow in FIG. 1 is applied to the lower absorber 20 via the front bumper cover 10, first, the load F is input to the front end portion 22 located on the foremost side of the lower absorber 20. As a result, the front end portion 22 moves rearward relative to the front cross member 28.

  Then, the rear end surface 22 a of the front end portion 22 comes into contact with the front end surface 24 a of the intermediate portion 24 that faces through the oblique slit 23. Further, the front end surface 24a of the intermediate portion 24 moves downward while sliding on the rear end surface 22a of the front end portion 22, and the intermediate portion 24 as a whole is attached via the hinge portion 25 as shown in FIG. The rear end portion 26 is displaced so as to rotate downward.

  When the intermediate portion 24 is displaced in this manner, the intermediate portion 24 is positioned below the front end portion 22 so as to protrude downward from the front bumper cover 10. When the front bumper cover 10 and the front end 22 are deformed to the rear of the vehicle to some extent at the portion where the load F is received, the intermediate portion 24 contacts the pedestrian, receives a part of the load F, and absorbs impact energy by the deformation. (That is, the intermediate portion 24 is crushed in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body and absorbs shock).

  As described above, in the energy absorbing structure 1 described above, when the load F at the time of collision is input, the intermediate portion 24 is displaced below the front end portion 22 and the intermediate portion 24 absorbs the load F. By doing so, impact energy can be absorbed at a lower position.

  In addition, since the intermediate portion 24 is inclined so as to be lowered toward the rear of the vehicle body, the position of the front end of the intermediate portion 24 is not lowered to the rear of the vehicle even after rotation, which is advantageous in absorbing impact energy.

  In addition, since the intermediate portion 24 is displaced downward, a situation in which a collision object is caught in the space under the front bumper cover 10 is also significantly suppressed.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made.

  For example, in addition to an aspect in which the oblique slits are provided over the entire width of the lower absorber, an aspect in which a plurality of the oblique slits are provided intermittently in the width direction may be employed. Further, the lower absorber does not necessarily have to be an integrally molded member, and a part of the front end portion, the intermediate portion, and the rear end portion may be configured as a separate member. Further, the lower absorber can be made of a foam material such as foam plastic.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Energy absorption structure, 10 ... Front bumper cover, 20 ... Lower absorber, 22 ... Front end part, 22a ... Rear end surface, 23 ... Diagonal slit, 24 ... Middle part, 24a ... Front end surface, 25 ... Hinge part, 26 ... Rear End, 28 ... Front cross member.

Claims (3)

An energy absorption structure in which a lower absorber is arranged inside the lower part of the front bumper cover,
The lower absorber is
A front end disposed inside a lower portion of the front bumper cover;
A rear end disposed behind the front end and attached to the vehicle body;
An intermediate portion interposed between the front end portion and the rear end portion,
The rear end surface of the front end portion that is inclined so that the normal direction is directed obliquely downward, and the front end surface of the intermediate portion that is inclined so that the normal direction is directed obliquely upward are disposed through an oblique slit. It is spaced apart and facing, and the intermediate part is attached to the rear end part via a hinge part so as to be pivotable downward,
An energy absorption structure in which when the front end portion moves rearward, the rear end surface of the front end portion comes into contact with the front end surface of the intermediate portion, and the intermediate portion is displaced so as to rotate downward.   The energy absorption structure according to claim 1, wherein the rear end portion is disposed at a position lower than the front end portion, and the intermediate portion is inclined so as to be lowered rearward.   The energy absorption structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the front end portion, the rear end portion, and the intermediate portion are formed of a single member.

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