Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R19/00—Wheel guards; Radiator guards, e.g. grilles; Obstruction removers; Fittings damping bouncing force in collisions
  • B60R19/02—Bumpers, i.e. impact receiving or absorbing members for protecting vehicles or fending off blows from other vehicles or objects
  • B60R19/18—Bumpers, i.e. impact receiving or absorbing members for protecting vehicles or fending off blows from other vehicles or objects characterised by the cross-section; Means within the bumper to absorb impact
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R19/00—Wheel guards; Radiator guards, e.g. grilles; Obstruction removers; Fittings damping bouncing force in collisions
  • B60R19/02—Bumpers, i.e. impact receiving or absorbing members for protecting vehicles or fending off blows from other vehicles or objects
  • B60R19/18—Bumpers, i.e. impact receiving or absorbing members for protecting vehicles or fending off blows from other vehicles or objects characterised by the cross-section; Means within the bumper to absorb impact
  • B60R2019/1806—Structural beams therefor, e.g. shock-absorbing
  • B60R2019/1833—Structural beams therefor, e.g. shock-absorbing made of plastic material
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R19/00—Wheel guards; Radiator guards, e.g. grilles; Obstruction removers; Fittings damping bouncing force in collisions
  • B60R19/02—Bumpers, i.e. impact receiving or absorbing members for protecting vehicles or fending off blows from other vehicles or objects
  • B60R19/18—Bumpers, i.e. impact receiving or absorbing members for protecting vehicles or fending off blows from other vehicles or objects characterised by the cross-section; Means within the bumper to absorb impact
  • B60R2019/1886—Bumper fascias and fastening means therefor

Definitions

• the present invention generally relates to shock absorption systems for motor vehicles. It targets in particular a sub-assembly of front bumper for a motor vehicle consisting of a bumper shield and an absorber made of expanded polymer material.
• the shock absorption system generally comprises two parts, a part called “low track” and a part called “high track” and the service in terms of pedestrian shock at the level of the legs is provided by a stiffness compromise between the high track and the low track.
• the low track is positioned at the level of the central deflector of the front bumper of the vehicle and will “whipping” the lower leg of the pedestrian in order to prevent the latter from passing under the vehicle.
• the high track is positioned at the level of the front bumper beam of the vehicle and allows the energy of the impact to be dissipated in order to limit pedestrian injuries.
• the objective is to lie the leg down as much as possible in order to limit the shearing of the knee.
• the upper track includes an energy absorption device generally referred to as an “absorber” which is located between the beam bumper and bumper shield of the vehicle. The crushing of this absorber, during a collision, will place the upper track in a position further back than the lower track relative to the vehicle, thereby causing the pedestrian's leg to lie towards the hood of the vehicle. .
• the bumper must have good stability in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. In particular, it must not sink over a distance greater than 10 mm when supporting 25 kg along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.
• the shock absorption system must therefore be able to both ensure the holding of the bumper and good dissipation of energy during a pedestrian impact. A compromise must then be found to ensure these two antagonistic services.
• the absorber is generally formed in a single block made in an expanded polymer material such as expanded polypropylene (PPE) or expanded polystyrene (PSE).
• PPE expanded polypropylene
• PSE expanded polystyrene
• the absorber tends to separate from the shield during transport, which forces operators to waste precious time repositioning it on the shield at the edge of the assembly line so that this bumper subassembly can be mounted on the vehicle body structure.
• the present invention therefore aims to improve the situation.
• a sub-assembly of front bumper for a motor vehicle comprising a bumper shield as well as an absorber made of expanded polymer material mounted on said shield by means of attachment means provided on this shield and cooperating with complementary means provided on this absorber, said attachment means comprising a first attachment member projecting longitudinally from a first lateral end portion of the rear face of said shield and cooperating by clipping or piling with a through hole provided in a first corresponding end side portion of said absorber; characterized in that said attachment means also comprise a second attachment member taking root from the rear face of the second lateral end portion of said shield, said second attachment member comprising a finger extending in a direction substantially transverse and cooperating by interlocking with an elongated cavity extending in a substantially transverse direction in the second lateral end portion of said absorber.
• said second attachment member comprises a base projecting longitudinally from the rear face of said shield and carrying said finger at its rear top end;
• said second attachment member also comprises at least one rib stiffening in the form of a square extending along a substantially horizontal plane at the level of the connection zone between said base and said finger, being backed by two of its sides to these two elements;
• the distal portion of said finger tilts at an angle towards the front so as to exert a pressing force against the front portion of an interior peripheral wall of said absorber delimiting said cavity;
• said finger has a length of between 5 and 15 centimeters
• said finger has a pointed free end
• said first fastening member comprises a clipping tongue oriented longitudinally and provided at its free rear end with a tooth formed by an inclined ramp extending to a retaining tooth;
• said hole has a front portion extending like a funnel from the front face of said absorber, narrowing to a bottleneck whose width is less than that of the tooth of said tongue;
• said shield comprises an outer skin as well as two inner reinforcing elements each attached fixedly against a corresponding lateral part of said outer skin, said first and second attachment members each being molded in one piece with a said element of respective interior reinforcement.
• the invention also aims, in a second aspect, at a motor vehicle comprising such a front bumper subassembly.
• FIG. 1 represents a three-quarter rear perspective view of a sub-assembly of front bumpers according to the invention
• FIG. 1 is a rear three-quarter perspective view of the bumper shield that comprises the bumper subassembly according to the invention.
• FIG. 3 represents a rear three-quarter perspective view of the absorber included in the bumper subassembly according to the invention
• FIG 4 is a sectional view along a horizontal section plane illustrating an intermediate step of mounting the absorber on the bumper shield;
• - [Fig 5] represents a sectional view along a horizontal section plane taken at the end of mounting the absorber on the bumper shield.
• Figure 1 represents a rear three-quarter perspective view of a front bumper subassembly 1 according to the invention intended to be mounted on the body structure of a motor vehicle not shown.
• substantially will indicate that a slight deviation is permitted from a predetermined nominal position or arrangement, while remaining included within the scope of the invention.
• substantially vertical indicates that a deviation of around 15 to 20° from a strictly vertical orientation is permitted within the framework of the invention.
• the front bumper subassembly 1 consists of a bumper shield 100 and an absorber 200 mounted against the rear face of this shield 100.
• the bumper shield 100 comprises an outer skin 110 made from one or more plastic parts molded from a thermoplastic polymer such as Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene ( PE), polyamide (PA), Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate (ASA) or even Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene/Polycarbonate (ABS/PC), possibly reinforced with natural and/or synthetic fibers.
• PP Polypropylene
• PE Polyethylene
• PA polyamide
• ASA Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate
• ABS/PC Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene/Polycarbonate
• This bumper shield 100 also comprises, at each of its side parts or butts, two interior reinforcing elements 120, 130, each advantageously molded in a single piece from a thermoplastic polymer such as Polypropylene (PP) possibly reinforced with natural and/or synthetic fibers, and fixedly attached by welding or by clipping against the outer skin 110.
• PP Polypropylene
• PE Polyethylene
• PA poly
• the absorber 200 is made up of a single elongated block and made of an expanded polymer material such as expanded polypropylene (PPE) or expanded polystyrene (PSE).
• PPE expanded polypropylene
• PSE expanded polystyrene
• expanded polymer material is meant a cellular material formed of a solid polymer phase and a dispersed gas phase.
• This type of cellular material sometimes called “foam” (or “foam” under its Anglo-Saxon name), has the main advantages of being particularly light and having the ability to return to its initial shape after having been deformed.
• the The absorber 200 is mounted on this bumper shield 100 via attachment means provided on this shield 100 and cooperating with complementary means provided on this absorber 200.
• these attachment means comprise a first attachment member 140 projecting longitudinally from a first lateral end portion of the rear face of the shield 100 and cooperating by clipping with a hole 210, visible on Figure 3, provided in a first corresponding end lateral portion 200A of the absorber 200.
• this first attachment member 140 comprises a hollow barrel 141 projecting along a longitudinal axis from the rear face of the shield 100 and from the rear top wall from which a clipping tab 142 takes root extending longitudinally towards the rear.
• This tongue 142 is provided at its rear free end with a tooth 143 formed by an inclined ramp extending to a retaining tooth.
• the hole 210 has a front portion 211 extending like a funnel from the front face of this absorber 200, narrowing to a bottleneck whose width is lower than that of tooth 143 of tongue 142.
• This hole 210 also has a rear portion 212 extending like a funnel from this bottleneck, flaring out to the rear face of this absorber 20.
• the attachment means also comprise a second attachment member 150 taking root from the rear face of the second lateral end portion of the shield 100.
• this second attachment member 150 comprises a base with a “U” section 151 projecting along a longitudinal axis from the rear face of the shield 10 and carrying at its rear top end a finger 152 extending in a substantially transverse direction on the internal side and cooperating by nesting with an elongated cavity 220 extending in a substantially transverse direction in the second lateral end portion 200B of the absorber 200 and opening onto an inlet opening provided on the corresponding end side face 23 of this absorber 200.
• the distal portion 153 of this finger 152 tilts at an angle towards the front so as to exert a supporting force against the front portion of the interior peripheral wall of the absorber 200 delimiting this cavity 220.
• This finger 152 In order to limit the thickness of plastic material at the level of the finger 152, it is advantageously made hollow, its distal portion 153 having for example an "I" shaped section. [39]
• This finger 152 the length of which is advantageously between 5 and 15 centimeters, also preferably has a pointed free end so as to facilitate its introduction into the cavity 220.
• the second attachment member 150 also preferably comprises at least one square-shaped stiffening rib 154 (see Figure 5) extending along a substantially horizontal plane at the level of the connection zone between the base 151 and the finger 152, being backed by two of its sides to these two elements.
• This operator must then present the entrance opening of this cavity 220 facing the pointed free end of the finger 152 of the second attachment member 150, then translate this absorber 200 in a substantially transverse direction so as to to cause the progressive introduction of the finger 152 inside the cavity 220 until its pointed free end abuts against the bottom of this cavity 220.
• the first lateral end portion 200A of the absorber 200 must then be pushed longitudinally towards the shield 10 so that the free rear end of the tongue 142 enters the funnel-shaped front portion 21A of the hole 21 and that tooth 143 abuts against the bottleneck of hole 210.
• the first and second fastening members can be shaped differently.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Motor Or Generator Frames (AREA)
• Body Structure For Vehicles (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=85726889

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Families Citing this family (1)

Family Cites Families (3)

• 2022
  • 2022-11-15 FR FR2211853A patent/FR3141904B1/fr active Active
• 2023
  • 2023-10-18 WO PCT/FR2023/051633 patent/WO2024105321A1/fr not_active Ceased
  • 2023-10-18 EP EP23813798.8A patent/EP4619280A1/de active Pending

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