US2196020A - Method of making bumper guards - Google Patents

Description

April 2, 1940. LYON 2,196,020

METHOD OF MAKING BUMPER GUARDS Filed June 4, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 GEORQE ALBERT LYON A ril 2, A L N 2919mm METHOD OF MAKING BUMPER GUARDS Filed June 4, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 GEORGE ALBERT LYON Patented Apr. 2, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I 7 2,196,020 i I v I METHOD or MAKING BUMPER GUARDS George Albert Lyon; Allenhurst, N. J. Application June 4, 1938, Serial No. 211,776

' 3 Claims. (01. 29-152) This inventionrelates-to bumper guards or impact members, and. more particularly to a novel method of making thesame...

The. usual motor vehicle of the present day is equipped with. front. and rear horizontally dis.-

. posed impact members; or bumpers in order to protect the car from .damage due to: accidental. collision or sudden blows. The horizontal impact. members. or bumpers; are relatively narrow in width and for that reason. it has been found that the bumper of another'vehicle or some other objectmayextend. over the bumper thereby rendering the same partially or completely ineffective.- .For that reason,.a large number of motor vehicles of the present dayaresalso equipped with .an auxiliary impact member. secured to the main v It is a further object of this invention to, provide a novelprocess. for manufacturing impact members which renders the manufacturing costs extremely low and which provides a resulting product which. is rugged. and reliable. in use.

It is another and further object of this invention to. providev a novel method for forming impact members in which at least one fastening .tongue is pressed or cut from a. central portion of the impact member. and bent rearwardly and downwardly for providing a fastening means for detachably securing the'impact'member to a supporting member. I e e Another and still further objectof this invention is to provide a novel method 'of making impact members from 'aflatsheet or strip of metal stock.

away to leave an ornamental portion orinsignia ticularity in theappended claims. Mylinvention itself, however, both as to; its organization, manner of construction, and method of operation, to-

gether with further objects. and. advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference tothe following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 isa front view of the lower portion of an automobile equipped with a horizontal impact member or main bumper bar upon which is mounted an auxiliary impact member or bumper guard;

Figure 2 is an enlarged front elevational View of the auxiliary impact member or bumper guard .10

shown in Figure. 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the bumper guard, as shown in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a plan view of a strip of. sheet metal stock from which the auxiliary impact members or bumper guards are being formed, one stamping in Figure 4 being shown as broken or cut away from the main strip;

Figure 5 is an elevational or side view of the sheet metal stock as shown in Figure 4;

Figure dis a cross-sectional side view of. the auxiliary impact member or bumper, guard during an. intermediate stage of the. process;

Figure 71s a view similar to Figure 6, showing the finished form of the auxiliary impact memher or bumper guard; and,

Figure 8 is a rear elevational view ofa modified form of my invention. a g

I have shown the lower front portion of an automobile or motor vehicle I0 whichis equipped with a horizontal impact member or main bumper I 5 upon which is mounted an auxiliary impact member or bumper guard I2.

The specific nature and character of the auxil iary impact member or bumper guardv I2 may be .seen best in Figures 2 and 3 of. the drawings. Specifically, the auxiliary impact member or bumper guard l2 includes a lower body portion l3 and an upstanding upper portion l4 which. includes a pair of downwardly diverging legs [5 0 and 16 which merge into and form a. continuous part of the lower body portion IS. The upper ends of the downwardly legs l5 and [6 merge in; to a top or apex. portion IT.

In-o-rder to provide the necessary strength. in the leg portions I5 and NS for withstanding sud.- .den or hard impact blows, the inner and outer edges of each leg I5 and 16 are bent rearwardl'y into a relatively deep inner and outer flangesv I8 .and it. The inner flange l8 of each leg 15 and .50 It also extends across the upper portion I! as at 20, and similarly the flange I9 of the legs l5 and I6 extends across the upper portion H, as at 2|.

The lower or main body portion 13 of. the. auxiliary impact member. [2 shaped to overlie. the

front face of the main bumper bar II, which is convexed in the manner provided in substantially all main bumpers of the present day. The main body portion I3 is terminated on its lower end by an obliquely rearwardly and downwardly extending flange 22 which passes directly under the main bumper II. Apertures which are preferbly square in cross-sectional configuration are provided at 23 for the reception of the upper shank portion 24 of the clamping bolt 25.

The outer flange I9 of the legs l5 and I8 extends downwardly at its lower-end to a point below the top edge of the main bumper II, as at 26, an intermediate portion 21 thereof being slotted out for the reception of the upper part of the main bumper II. The portion 26 on each side of the auxiliary impact member [2 thus provide an integral downwardly extending tooth which passes over the back top edge of the bumper II and locks the auxiliary impact member II in place at this point.

Extending downwardly from the upper portion of the lower main body part I3 is an integral fastening tongue 28 which is arranged to extend over the top edge of the main bumper II as at 29 (see Figure 7), then directly downwardly, as at 30, to a point just above the lower edge of the main bumper II and then obliquely rearwardly and downwardly, as at 3|. The oblique lower end portion 3I of the tongue 28 is provided with apertures 32 which are complemental to the apertures 24 in the lower flange portion 22. From an inspection of Figure 3 of the drawings, it will be observed that the clamping bolts 25 extend upwardly through the apertures 26 of the flange portion 22, and through the apertures 32 of the end portion of the tongue 28 into threaded engagement with clamping nuts 33. By virtue of the downwardly extending teeth 25, the tongue 28, the lower flange 22 and the clamping bolts 25, the auxiliary impact member i2 is firmly and securely mounted on the main body bumper II.

The novel process by which the impact member shown in Figures 2 and 3 is made is illustrated in Figures 4 to 7 of the drawings. In Figures 4 and 5 a strip of sheet metal stock 34 is shown from which the auxiliary impact member I2 is to be out in the manner as illustrated. The first step of the process includes stamping or cutting a blank 35 from the strip of metal stock 34 of the shape indicated in Figure 4. The blank 35 is substantially the development of the finished auxiliary impact member I2 shown in Figures 2 and 3. The dash-dot lines shown on the blank at the extreme right side of Figure 4 indicate the subsequent lines of bend to be carried out in the subsequent steps of the process. As is clearly shown in Figures 4, two diverging lines of out A and B are made in the upper central portion of the blank to define the legs I5 and I6 and to provide the tongue 28. A small area of metal, indicated by the reference numeral 36, is completely cut out of the blank, since that portion is not needed in the completed tongue 28. During the same operations by which the blank 35 itself is cut or stamped and the lines of out A and B are made, the apertures 23 and 32 are also formed. The next step of the process is to press, roll, or otherwise form the flanges I8 and I9 and to shape the tongue 28 into the form shown in Figure 6. This is preferably done in a single stamping operation. During this same stamping operation, the body part I3 is given its final configuration and the lower obliquely turned body flange portion 22 is also formed.

In the final stage of the process, the tongue 28 is bent over from its position as shown in Figure 6 to its position as shown in Figure 7. The auxiliary impact member l2 may now be given any suitable ornamental appearance, such as by providing the outer surface thereof with a high polish. Thereafter, the auxiliary impact member I2 is ready to be mounted on either the front or rear main impact member or bumper of a motor vehicle.

In Figure 8 of the drawings, I have illustrated a modified form of my invention wherein an ornamental insignia 37 is provided in the space between the two diverging legs I5 and I6. As shown, the ornamental insignia 37 has two downwardly converging legs 38 which are connected together at intermediate portions thereof by curved crossmembers 39 and 40. The exact nature and character of the insignia 3'! may be varied through wide limits without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

In making the auxiliary impact member, as shown in Figure 8, two tongues 4| and 42 are stamped and pressed from the central portion of the impact member I2. By making four lines of cut in the central portion of theimpact member blank instead of two, two tongues 4| and 42 are provided and simultaneously, the integral central portion 31 is also provided. The portion 43 above the central insignia portion 3'! may be cut out if desired. In all other respects, the auxiliary impact member I2 of Figure 8 is substantially the same as the auxiliary impact member I2 of Figures 2 and 3 and is mounted on the main bumper II in substantially the same manner. The integral teeth 26 are hooked over the top edge of the bumper, and the tongues 4| and 42 are also hooked over the top edge of the main bumper II. Thereafter, the lower base flange 22 is rocked into position under the lower edge of the main bumper I I until the main body portion I3 intimately overlies the front face of the bumper II. Clamping bolts 25 are now passed through the base flange 22 and through the lower ends of the tongues M and 42 and the clamping nuts 33 are thereafter threaded onto the threaded shanks of the bolts 25 thereby securely fastening the impact member I2 on the vehicle bumper I I.

From the above description, it will be apparent that I have provided an extraordinarily simple method and means for manufacturing impact members from sheet metal stock. It will, furthermore, be observed that this novel process is extremely economical and provides a resulting product which is rugged and reliable in use.

While I have shown particular embodiments of my invention, it will, of course, be understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto, and I therefore contemplate by the appended claims to cover all such modifications as fall within the true spirit. and scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. The method of making sheet metal impact members which includes stamping a blank from a piece of sheet metal stock, said blank having an upper triangular section to be formed into an impact portion and a lower body section for overlying the front face of a vehicle bumper, making a pair of inverted V-shaped cuts in the upper triangular section, thereby to provide two integrally joined diverging legs which merge into said lower body section, a centrally disposed insignia portion and a pair of integral tongues,

thereafter bending the marginal portions of said legs rearwardly to form stiffening flanges and bending said tonguesrearwardly and downwardly in spaced relationship to said body section thereby to provide fastening arms for hooking over the vehicle bumper and for extension across the rear face thereof.

2. The method of making sheet metal impact members which includes stamping a blank from a piece of sheet metal stock, said blank having an upper triangular section to be formed into an impact portion and a lower body portion for overlying the front 'face of a vehicle bumper, said upper triangular section including a pair of downwardly extending wings at the opposite lower corners thereof, making two diverging lines of cut in the upper triangular section substantially parallel to the outer edges of said section, thereby to provide two integrally joined diverging legs which merge into said lower body section and which further provide a centrally disposed integral tongue integrally joined to said lower body ,section, bending the marginal side portions of said legs rearwardly to form stiifening flanges, bending the lower marginal edge portion of said lower body section obliquely rearwardly and downwardly for extension below the vehicle bumper,

, and bending said tongue rearwardly, downwardly through a distance slightly less than the width of the vehicle bumper, and then obliquely rearwardly and downwardly, said wings of said blank being adapted to hook over the top of the vehicle bumper and to extend into engagement with the rear side thereof, and said obliquely rearwardly extending portions being arranged to be detachablyconnected together for firmly securing the impact member to a vehicle bumper.

3. The method of making a sheet metal auxiliary impact member for a vehicle bumper which includes stamping out a blank, said blank having an upper section of the general shape of an isosceles triangle and a lower section extending from the base of said triangle and of the general shape of a rectangle, the lower corners of the upper section extending out beyond the ends of the lower section and being cut by the stamping operation into hooks extending down alongside said lower section, making a generally inverted V-shaped cut in said upper section substantially parallel to the sides thereof to form a flap, bending back the side edges of said upper section to form an exterior flange terminating at its ends in said hooks, said hooks being thereby swung around in back of the plane of saidlower section, simultaneously bending back the inner edges of the portions of said a continuous flange extending around a triangular opening defined by said out and said upper edge of said lower section, and finally bending said flap down behind saidlower section.

GEORGE ALBERT LYON.

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