JPH109319A - Impact energy absorbing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the damage given to persons in a vehicle or to the vehicle, by absorbing the impact energy at the collision of the vehicle efficiently. SOLUTION: An air of a high pressure (10atm, for example) is sealed between a cylinder 1 and a piston 2, and the piston 2 is installed in the bumper of an automobile through a pressing rod 4. When the bumper 3 collides with a substance, the piston 2 is pressed, and the air sealed inside is compressed so as to absorb the impact energy. A projection 5 is made to abut to a bursting plate 6 when the air is compressed to a specific amount, so as to burst the bursting plate 6, and the air compressed in the cylinder 1 is exhausted to the outer side through a duct 9, so as to dissipate the energy of the impact.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a shock energy absorbing device for absorbing a shock generated by a vehicle collision or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, automobile collisions have occurred frequently, and many lives have been lost every year. Conventionally, as a safety measure in the event of such a collision accident, the impact energy due to the collision is absorbed by crushing the engine room at the front to reduce the damage to a person in the vehicle. As a result, a certain degree of safety is ensured if the user wears a seat belt and does not exercise much speed.

[0003]

However, in a vehicle such as a one-box car or a truck which does not have an engine room in a front portion, there is a problem that such a shock energy absorbing portion is not provided and safety is lacking. . Also, in the case of a vehicle that has an engine room in the front part, if the vehicle speed is high at the time of a collision accident, the front part could not absorb the impact energy and could cause serious damage to people in the car .

The present invention solves such a problem, and even in a vehicle having no engine room in the front part, it absorbs impact energy at the time of a vehicle collision and only reduces damage to a person in the vehicle. It is another object of the present invention to reduce damage to a vehicle.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, in the impact energy absorbing device of the present invention, a fluid is sealed in a sealed container, and when an impact force is applied from the outside, the fluid in the sealed container is removed. After absorbing the impact energy by compression, the fluid was released from the sealed container. Further, the sealed container is constituted by a cylinder and a piston disposed inside the cylinder, receives an external impact force by the piston, and when the piston is pressed by a predetermined amount or more, the bottom surface ruptures, and the inside of the cylinder is broken. Of fluid was released. Further, a projection is provided on the inner side surface of the cylinder of the piston, and when the piston is pressed by a predetermined amount or more, the bottom surface of the cylinder is broken. Also,
The burst strength of the cylinder can be adjusted according to the running speed of the vehicle. Further, the pressure of the fluid in the cylinder can be adjusted according to the running speed of the vehicle.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a cylinder,
2 is a piston, 3 is a bumper, 4 is a pressing rod, 5 is a projection, 6 is a rupture disk, 7 is a pressure gauge, 8 is an air inlet, 9
Is a duct, 10 is a sound absorbing material, 11 is a mesh plate, 12 is a rupture plate stopper, and 13 is a set screw.

[0007] Air is sealed between the cylinder 1 and the piston 2 at a high pressure (for example, 10 atm), and the piston 2 is attached to the bumper 3 of the automobile via the pressing rod 4. When the bumper 3 collides with a heavy object, the piston 2 moves in the cylinder 1 and compresses the air sealed therein. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, when the piston 2 is pushed to a position where the projection 5 hits the rupturable plate 6, the rupturable plate 6 is broken by the pressure of air and the impact of the projection 5, and the cylinder 1
The compressed air inside is discharged outside through the duct 9.

The rupturable plate 6 is attached to the end of the cylinder 1 by being fastened to the end of the cylinder 1 by a rupturable plate stopper 12 which is annularly fixed to the end of the cylinder 1 by screwing. Therefore, even if the rupturable plate 6 is broken, the impact energy absorbing device can be reused by replacing it with a new one. As the material of the rupturable plate 6, any material such as metal, ceramic, glass, or the like can be used as long as it can withstand a predetermined pressure and is broken when the pressure exceeds the predetermined pressure. Further, in order to maintain the airtightness between the cylinder 1 and the rupturable plate 6, a ring-shaped packing is provided between the cylinder 1 and the rupturable plate 6.

The air discharge duct 9 is fixed to the rupturable plate stopper 12 by a set screw 13. At the moment when the rupturable plate 6 ruptures, the air compressed in the cylinder 1 is released at a stretch, so that the duct 9 guides the air in the direction of the road surface or the like so as not to harm pedestrians. At the moment when the rupturable plate 6 bursts, a loud noise is generated. Therefore, the sound absorbing material 10 is attached to the inner surface of the duct 9 to absorb the sound. Further, a net plate 11 is provided at the end of the duct 9 so that the broken rupturable plate 6 does not scatter.

In the first embodiment, the piston 2
Although the protruding portion 5 is provided to break the rupturable plate 6, the protruding portion 5 may be omitted, and the rupturable plate 6 may be broken by the pressure of compressed air.

Next, the principle of absorbing impact energy with such a device will be described. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating the principle of the present invention. FIG. 3A is a schematic view of the cylinder 1 and the piston 2, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a relationship with gas pressure. Reference numerals 1 and 2 correspond to those in FIG.

[0012] at all times, the piston 2 is being held from the bottom surface of the cylinder 1 at the position of L _1, a gas such as air is filled at a pressure p ₁ in the in the cylinder 1. Assuming that the sectional area of the cylinder 1 is S, the cylinder volume V at that time is
₁ is V ₁ = L ₁ × S. Then, acts external force F is the piston 2, the piston 2 compresses the gas in the cylinder 1, moves from the bottom surface of the cylinder 1 to the position of L _2, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), cylinder capacity V ₂
Decreases to V ₂ = L ₂ × S, and the pressure p of the gas in the cylinder 1 increases to p ₂ .

Since the pressure p inside the cylinder 1 is inversely proportional to the volume inside the cylinder 1, p = p ₁ · (V ₁ / V
₂ ) Expressed as cylinder volume reduction amount v function p from the initial volume V ₁ based on the movement of the piston 2 (v), the _{p (v) = p 1 ·} V 1 / (V 1 -v).

At this time, the work that the external force F does on the air in the cylinder 1, in other words, the energy W absorbed by the air in the cylinder 1 is the sum of the product of the pressure p and the volume change ΔV, ie, FIG. The area of the shaded area in (b). The area of the hatched portion is obtained by calculating the curve p (v) by v = 0.
To v = V ₁ −V ₂ .

Therefore, as an example, the sectional area S of the cylinder 1 is 2.01 × 10 ^-2 m ² (diameter 0.16 m), the length L ₁ of the cylinder 1 before compression is 0.3 m, and the length L after compression is L
Let ₂ be 0.03 m and the air pressure p ₁ before compression be 10 atm (1.01 × 10 ⁶ N / m ² ) to find the energy absorbed by the air in the cylinder 1.

As described above, the energy W absorbed by the air in the cylinder 1 is the area of the hatched portion in FIG. 3B, and V ₁ = 0.3 × 2.01 × 10 ^-2 = 6.03.
× 10 ^-3 (m ³ ), p ₁ · V ₁ = 6.09 × 10 ³ (N
M), V ₁ −V ₂ = 5.43 × 10 ⁻³ (m ³ ),

(Equation 1) As a result, W = 1.41 × 10 ⁴ N · m.

That is, under the above conditions, the cylinder 1
When the piston 2 moves through the inside and the distance from the bottom surface becomes 0.03 m (3 cm), the air in the cylinder 1 absorbs 1.41 × 10 ⁴ N · m of impact energy. It will be done. At that time, if the bottom plate of the cylinder 1 is ruptured, all the air that has absorbed the impact energy is released to the outside, and as a result, 1.41 × 10
^This means that the impact energy of ⁴ N · m has been absorbed by the impact energy absorbing device.

On the other hand, an automobile having a weight of M kg
The kinetic energy E when traveling at m / s is E =
(1/2) in × MV ^2, for example, the weight of the car 1t
(1,000 kg), speed 10 m / s (36 km
/ H), E = 5 × 10 ⁴ N · m.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, if three cylinders under the above conditions are provided in the front bumper 21 of the automobile as the impact energy absorbing devices 23 to 25, 1.41 × 1
It is possible to absorb an impact energy of 0 ⁴ (N · m) × 3 = 4.23 × 10 ⁴ (N · m). As a result, even if the vehicle is running at a speed of about 40 km / h and a head-on collision occurs, almost all of the kinetic energy of the vehicle at that time can be absorbed. Also, the rear bumper 22
In addition, the cylinder is connected to the impact energy absorbing devices 26 and 27.
If provided, it is possible to absorb the impact of a rear-end collision.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 (a) is a sectional view of an end of a cylinder, and FIG.
(B) and FIG. 5 (c) are diagrams showing the structure of the rupturable plate fastening portion. In FIG. 5, reference numerals 1 and 6 correspond to those in FIG. 1, 30 is a tightening force adjusting screw, 31 is a rupturable plate pressing piece,
32 is a notch, and 33 is an O-ring.

In this embodiment, the rupture pressure of the rupturable plate 6 is adjusted according to the speed of the vehicle. The adjustment is performed by the tightening force adjusting screw 30. The inner screw hole of the tightening force adjusting screw 30 is formed in a tapered shape such that the inner diameter gradually increases from the inner diameter φ ₁ on the side opposite to the cylinder 1 and becomes the inner diameter φ ₂ on the side facing the cylinder 1. ing. Then, tighten the tightening force adjusting screw 30 with the rupture plate pressing piece 3.
1 and the rupture disc pressing piece 3
1 increases the force for tightening the rupturable plate 6.

The degree of tightening of the tightening force adjusting screw 30 is as follows.
For example, it can be performed by a mechanism as shown in FIG. That is, gear teeth are formed on the outer periphery of the tightening force adjusting screw 30, and the drive gear 34 meshing with the gear teeth is rotated by a motor or the like. The motor for driving the drive gear 34 is controlled by using a microcomputer or the like. When the speed of the vehicle is high, the tightening force of the tightening force adjusting screw 30 is increased, and when the speed is low, the tightening is performed. The tightening force of the force adjusting screw 30 is reduced so that the rupturable plate 6 ruptures at an optimum pressure.

Further, if the pressure in the cylinder 1 is adjusted in accordance with the speed of the vehicle, better results can be obtained. That is, as the vehicle speed increases, the pressure in the cylinder 1 increases to increase the amount of impact energy absorption,
The purpose is to obtain optimal impact energy absorption performance.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention. 7, reference numerals 20 and 21 correspond to those in FIG. 4, and reference numeral 40 denotes a can-enclosed impact energy absorbing device.

The can-enclosed impact energy absorbing device 40 comprises:
Gas is sealed at a predetermined pressure in a metal can,
When the pressure in the can exceeds a predetermined value by being crushed, the bottom portion of the can is ruptured.

In each of the above embodiments, the cylinder 1
Although the air was put in the container, it is not necessarily limited to this, and another gas or a liquid may be used.

[0027]

As described above, according to the impact energy absorbing device of the present invention, after absorbing the impact energy by compressing the fluid in the sealed container, the fluid is discharged from the sealed container. Even in a vehicle that does not have an engine room in the front part, by providing the impact energy absorbing device of the present invention in the front part, it is possible to efficiently absorb the impact energy at the time of a vehicle collision and reduce the damage to people in the vehicle In addition, the damage to the vehicle can be reduced. If provided in a vehicle having an engine room in the front portion, safety can be further secured by the impact energy absorbing effect of the impact energy absorbing device of the present invention and the impact energy absorbing effect of crushing the front portion.

Further, if the sealed container is constituted by the cylinder and the piston disposed inside the cylinder, even if the rupturable plate is destroyed due to a collision accident, the destroyed rupture can be achieved. By replacing the plate with a new one, the impact energy absorbing device can be reused. Further, if a protrusion is provided on the inner surface of the cylinder of the piston, and when the piston is pressed by a predetermined amount or more, the bottom surface of the cylinder is destroyed. It can be broken, and the operation of the impact energy absorbing device can be stabilized.

Further, if the burst strength of the cylinder can be adjusted according to the running speed of the vehicle, it is possible to burst at an optimum pressure in accordance with the vehicle speed at the time of the accident. Furthermore, if the fluid pressure in the cylinder can be adjusted in accordance with the running speed of the vehicle, the absorbed energy can be adjusted to an optimum value in accordance with the vehicle speed at the time of the accident.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory diagram of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a case where the impact energy absorbing device of the present invention is attached to an automobile.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a drive mechanism according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cylinder 2 Piston 3 Bumper 4 Pressing rod 5 Protrusion part 6 Burst plate 7 Pressure gauge 8 Air inlet 9 Duct 10 Sound absorbing material 11 Net plate 12 Burst plate stopper 13 Stop screw 20 Automobile 21 Front bumper 22 Rear bumper 23-27 Impact Energy absorbing device 30 Tightening force adjusting screw 31 Burst plate pressing piece 32 Notch 33 O-ring 34 Drive gear 40 Can-enclosed impact energy absorbing device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kasei Kato 8-1, Namiki 8-chome, No.4, Building 201, Tokorozawa-shi, Saitama

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A method according to claim 1, wherein a fluid is sealed in a sealed container, and when an impact force is applied from the outside, the fluid inside the sealed container absorbs impact energy by compressing the fluid, and then the fluid is discharged from the sealed container. An impact energy absorbing device, characterized in that: 2. The sealed container is constituted by a cylinder and a piston disposed inside the cylinder, and receives an external impact force by the piston, and when the piston is pressed by a predetermined amount or more, the bottom surface is ruptured. 2. The impact energy absorbing device according to claim 1, wherein the fluid inside the cylinder is discharged. 3. The impact energy absorbing device according to claim 2, wherein a projection is provided on an inner side surface of the cylinder of the piston, and the bottom surface of the cylinder is broken when the piston is pressed by a predetermined amount or more. . 4. The impact energy absorbing device according to claim 2, wherein the burst strength of the cylinder can be adjusted according to the running speed of the vehicle. 5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the pressure of the fluid in the cylinder is adjustable according to the running speed of the vehicle.
The impact energy absorbing device according to the above.