A vehicle pedestrian protection structure

Abstract

This invention provides a pedestrian protection structure for automobiles, including a support plate mounted on a crossbeam. The support plate has an L-shaped structure, with its horizontal plates fixedly connected to the upper surface of the crossbeam. The vertical plates of the support plate are positioned opposite the license plate mounting plate. Several sets of reinforcing plates are fixedly connected parallel to and fixed between the upper surface of the horizontal plates and the rear end surface of the vertical plates. This invention solves the problem that in vehicles with U-shaped headlights, the insufficient energy absorption space due to the low distance between the front bumper and the crossbeam leads to leg bending upon impact with a pedestrian.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of automobile manufacturing technology, and in particular to a pedestrian protection structure for automobiles. Background Technology

[0002] Meanwhile, with the development of China's automotive industry, various technical indicators and laws and regulations are becoming more comprehensive. Domestic safety regulations and evaluation standards are being updated and iterated at an increasingly rapid pace, becoming more complex and demanding. Pedestrian protection regulations will be given greater attention by OEMs. Due to strong government support for new energy vehicles and the rapid rise of emerging car manufacturers, the trend towards new energy vehicles is accelerating. This trend not only accelerates the electrification and intelligentization of vehicles but also significantly impacts their styling. Various technologically advanced and futuristic designs are being incorporated into mass-produced vehicles, such as the currently popular continuous headlights, continuous taillights, and U-shaped front bumper lights. These styling choices, drastically different from traditional vehicles, present greater challenges and difficulties in developing pedestrian-protection vehicle body structures.

[0003] To meet pedestrian protection regulations, OEMs typically verify vehicle styling during the CAS (Completely Assured Impact) phase, identifying pedestrian protection test areas in advance and avoiding high-risk zones. However, some indicators can only be verified through data, such as the distance between the front bumper and the anti-collision beam. Sufficient space is fundamental to meeting the leg impact requirements of pedestrian protection regulations. To comply with pedestrian protection regulations, rigid bodies encroaching on energy-absorbing space between the front anti-collision beam and the front bumper are generally not permitted. In existing structures, when U-shaped lights are present on the front bumper, these lights need to be mounted on the anti-collision beam. If the distance between the front bumper and the anti-collision beam is too low, there is insufficient energy-absorbing space, causing the legs to bend in a C-shape upon impact. In such cases, modifications to the styling or the anti-collision beam are usually considered to increase the energy-absorbing space to meet the distance requirements between the anti-collision beam and the front bumper. However, such modifications incur significant development costs and lengthy development cycles, hindering effective project progress. Therefore, a new automotive pedestrian protection structure is needed. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this invention is to provide a pedestrian protection structure for automobiles that solves the problem that vehicles with U-shaped lights, due to the low distance between the front bumper and the anti-collision beam, lack sufficient energy absorption space, which can cause leg bending when colliding with a pedestrian.

[0005] The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve its technical problem is:

[0006] A pedestrian protection structure for automobiles includes a support plate mounted on a crossbeam. The support plate is L-shaped. The horizontal plate of the support plate is fixedly connected to the upper end face of the crossbeam. The vertical plate of the support plate is positioned opposite the license plate mounting plate. Several sets of reinforcing plates are fixedly connected in parallel between the upper end face of the horizontal plate and the rear end face of the vertical plate.

[0007] Furthermore, the reinforcing plate has a triangular structure.

[0008] Furthermore, the support plate is provided with several sets of longitudinal reinforcing ribs parallel to the reinforcing plate.

[0009] Furthermore, the longitudinal stiffeners are L-shaped structures and extend from the vertical plate to the horizontal plate.

[0010] Furthermore, several sets of transverse reinforcing ribs are arranged in parallel on the vertical plate, and the reinforcing ribs are arranged alternately with the longitudinal reinforcing ribs.

[0011] Furthermore, a gap of 8 to 12 mm is provided between the front end face of the vertical plate and the rear end face of the license plate mounting plate.

[0012] Furthermore, the height of the vertical plate is less than or equal to the height of the license plate mounting plate.

[0013] Furthermore, the transverse plate is provided with several sets of mounting holes and is fixedly connected to the upper end face of the anti-collision beam by bolts.

[0014] Furthermore, the support plate is made of PPT-30 plastic.

[0015] Furthermore, the material thickness of the support plate is at least 2.5 mm.

[0016] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: By setting a support plate behind the license plate mounting plate and connecting the support plate to the anti-collision crossbeam, the present invention can well meet the support requirements for the air intake grille assembly without affecting the grille opening ratio, meet the requirements for pedestrian protection, improve the leg injury value in pedestrian protection regulations, meet regulatory restrictions with minimal development cost, and at the same time ensure that the functions and performance of other systems are not affected.

[0017] The present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. Attached Figure Description

[0018] Figure 1 This is a structural diagram of the support plate in this invention.

[0019] Figure 2 This is a structural diagram showing the connection between the support plate and the anti-collision beam in this invention.

[0020] Figure 3 This is a structural diagram showing the matching of the support plate, license plate mounting plate, and air intake grille in this invention. Detailed Implementation

[0021] like Figures 1 to 3The illustrated vehicle pedestrian protection structure includes a support plate 1 mounted on a crash beam 2. The support plate 1 has an L-shaped structure. The horizontal plate 11 of the support plate 1 is fixedly connected to the upper end face of the crash beam 2. The vertical plate 12 of the support plate 1 is positioned opposite the license plate mounting plate 3. Several sets of reinforcing plates 13 are fixedly connected in parallel between the upper end face of the horizontal plate 11 and the rear end face of the vertical plate 12.

[0022] Preferably, in conjunction with the above scheme, to increase the structural strength of the support plate 1, the reinforcing plate 13 is a triangular structure. Through stress analysis of this structure, when the support plate 1 is only an L-shaped structure, the supporting effect in the X direction is small, and it will still deform significantly with the grid in CAE analysis. Therefore, several sets of reinforcing plates 13 are added behind the support plate to enhance the structural strength at this point.

[0023] Preferably, in conjunction with the above scheme, in order to strengthen the plate itself, the support plate 1 is provided with a number of sets of longitudinal reinforcing ribs 14 parallel to the reinforcing plate 13.

[0024] Preferably, in combination with the above scheme, in order to strengthen the plate as a whole, the longitudinal reinforcing rib 14 is an L-shaped structure and extends from the vertical plate 12 to the horizontal plate 11.

[0025] Preferably, in conjunction with the above scheme, in order to strengthen the vertical plate 12, several sets of transverse reinforcing ribs 15 are also arranged in parallel on the vertical plate 12, and the reinforcing ribs 15 are staggered with the longitudinal reinforcing ribs 14.

[0026] Preferably, in conjunction with the above scheme, a gap of 8-12mm is provided between the front end face of the vertical plate 12 and the rear end face of the license plate mounting plate 3. This reserved gap facilitates assembly and prevents friction noise caused by the vertical plate 12 being tightly attached to the license plate mounting plate 3.

[0027] Preferably, in conjunction with the above scheme, the height of the vertical plate 12 is less than or equal to the height of the license plate mounting plate 3. This structural design satisfies the support requirements for the air intake grille 4 without affecting its opening ratio, thus maintaining both thermal management performance and pedestrian protection requirements. Furthermore, the vertical plate 12 should be as high as possible without affecting the opening ratio or thermal management performance to ensure the normal posture of the upper leg area, effectively preventing C-shaped bending of the leg during an impact.

[0028] Preferably, in conjunction with the above scheme, in order to facilitate assembly, disassembly and maintenance, the transverse plate 11 is provided with several sets of mounting holes and is fixedly connected to the upper end face of the anti-collision beam 2 by bolts.

[0029] Preferably, in conjunction with the above scheme, the material of the support plate 1 is PPT-30 plastic.

[0030] Preferably, in conjunction with the above scheme, the material thickness of the support plate 1 is at least 2.5 mm. During CAE simulation calculations, the relationship between the supporting effect and the material thickness strength is matched, and the minimum material thickness that can meet the performance requirements is determined to be 2.5 mm. This can reduce the performance redundancy and the increase in cost and weight caused by excessive material thickness.

[0031] Without U-shaped headlights, the front grille assembly of new energy vehicles is relatively soft and will not cause excessive injury to pedestrians' legs. However, with the addition of U-shaped headlights, which are fixed to the anti-collision beam behind the front bumper, and with the front bumper and grille fixed to the headlights, and with light grooves on the front bumper to allow the lights to shine through, the gap between the front bumper and the anti-collision beam is too low, resulting in insufficient energy absorption space. This causes the grille assembly to be softer above and below the knee, but harder at the knee. Upon impact, the leg will bend in a C-shape. In this case, the simulated ACL (anterior cruciate ligament dynamic extension) at the knee is 16.2mm, far exceeding the legal limit of 13mm.

[0032] At this point, modifying the structural design or the anti-collision beam structure to increase the energy absorption space is usually considered to meet the distance requirements between the anti-collision beam and the front bumper. However, this would result in significant development costs and a lengthy development cycle, hindering the effective progress of the project. Based on experience in front bumper development, and with the existing boundaries unchanged, the following two feasible solutions were considered: First, adding a lower leg protection beam to ensure the normal posture of the lower half of the leg; second, reinforcing the grille to ensure the normal posture of the upper half of the leg; third, if neither solution one nor solution two is effective, both solutions must be added simultaneously and their strength matched to ensure the normal posture of the entire leg.

[0033] After CAE analysis, it was found that adding a lower leg protection beam in Scheme 1 would cause the upper part of the leg shape to be bounced away, resulting in the ACL value not only not being improved, but becoming worse. Scheme 2, which adds the air intake grille support plate of the present invention, can effectively reduce the ACL value, so this scheme is the main optimization direction. Since Scheme 2 has been confirmed to be effective, in order to reduce the cost and weight of the vehicle, Scheme 3 will not be analyzed or matched.

[0034] Through the above design and multiple rounds of structural optimization and simulation analysis, all indicators in the test area of ​​the pedestrian protection leg are qualified and a certain safety margin is left. After process analysis, it is finally confirmed that the optimized solution of the present invention can not only meet the requirements of pedestrian protection regulations, but also has no impact on other performance. Therefore, it is confirmed that the optimized solution can be implemented.

[0035] In the description of this invention, it should be understood that terms such as "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "one end," "one side," "both ends," and "both sides" indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this invention.

[0036] The present invention has been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the specific implementation of the present invention is not limited to the above-described manner. Any improvements made using the inventive concept and technical solution of the present invention, or direct applications in other situations, fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A pedestrian protection structure for automobiles, characterized in that, The system includes a support plate (1) mounted on the anti-collision beam (2). The support plate (1) has an L-shaped structure. The horizontal plate (11) of the support plate (1) is fixedly connected to the upper end face of the anti-collision beam (2). The vertical plate (12) of the support plate (1) is positioned opposite the license plate mounting plate (3). Several sets of reinforcing plates (13) are fixedly connected in parallel between the upper end face of the horizontal plate (11) and the rear end face of the vertical plate (12). The reinforcing plates (13) have a triangular structure. (1) Several sets of longitudinal reinforcing ribs (14) parallel to the reinforcing plate (13) are provided on the plate; the longitudinal reinforcing ribs (14) are L-shaped and extend from the vertical plate (12) to the horizontal plate (11); several sets of horizontal reinforcing ribs (15) are also provided on the vertical plate (12) in parallel, and the reinforcing ribs (15) and the longitudinal reinforcing ribs (14) are staggered; a gap of 8-12mm is provided between the front end face of the vertical plate (12) and the rear end face of the license plate mounting plate (3).

2. The vehicle pedestrian protection structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The height of the vertical plate (12) is less than or equal to the height of the license plate mounting plate (3).

3. The vehicle pedestrian protection structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The transverse plate (11) is provided with several sets of mounting holes and is fixedly connected to the upper end face of the anti-collision beam (2) by bolts.

4. The vehicle pedestrian protection structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The material of the support plate (1) is PPT-30 plastic.

5. The vehicle pedestrian protection structure according to claim 4, characterized in that, The material thickness of the support plate (1) is at least 2.5 mm.

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