A collision-resistant clover-shaped energy absorption box

Abstract

The present invention discloses an impact-resistant cloverleaf-shaped energy absorption box, which belongs to the technical field of automobile collision energy absorption structures and includes an energy absorption box body, a connecting plate, a fixing plate and a buffer gasket. The energy absorption box body includes cloverleaf ribs, a shell, a filling body, a partition and a support spring. In order to overcome the shortcomings of existing energy absorption boxes, such as the overly simple structure and the unreasonable setting of the ribs, which result in low specific energy absorption and high maintenance and replacement costs when a car collides, the present cloverleaf-shaped energy absorption box has a different deformation mode from the existing energy absorption box. The ribs form multiple folds during the folding and deformation process. These folds interact with each other along the length direction of the energy absorption box body and interact with each other in the lateral direction, thereby improving the impact resistance performance. At the same time, the present cloverleaf-shaped energy absorption box has a large elastic working range, and the connection position between the fixing plate and the vehicle body longitudinal beam can also be readjusted, thereby reducing the replacement frequency of the energy absorption box and saving costs.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of automobile collision energy absorption structures, and more particularly relates to an impact-resistant clover-shaped energy absorption box. Background Art

[0002] The continuous rise in vehicle ownership has led to increasingly prominent road safety issues. Frequent traffic accidents often result in significant economic losses and casualties. Against this backdrop, improving the passive safety performance of vehicles, particularly effectively protecting occupants in collisions, has become a core concern for the automotive industry. As a key component of a vehicle's front-end collision energy absorption system, the crash box plays a crucial role in improving vehicle crashworthiness. Installed between the bumper beam and the body rails, it is typically constructed from materials with relatively low yield strength. In the event of a minor collision, the crash box, acting as a "sacrificial structure," deforms first, absorbing and dissipating collision energy through controlled crushing. This effectively reduces the impact load transmitted to the passenger compartment, protecting the vehicle's main structure and occupants. Therefore, the crashworthiness of the crash box itself is directly related to the overall vehicle's crash safety. Furthermore, lightweighting is a key consideration in crash box design. A lightweight crash box helps reduce energy consumption during driving, leading to the use of crash box energy absorption per unit mass (specific energy absorption) as a key indicator of its crashworthiness. The cross-section of the energy absorption box is usually circular, triangular, square, etc., and the structure is relatively simple. Due to the unevenness of the energy absorption box material or manufacturing defects, this type of structure is prone to uneven wrinkling and deformation when impacted, affecting the energy absorption performance. Existing improvement methods usually include ribs inside the structure, but adding too many ribs or irrational rib distribution will lead to an increase in the weight of the energy absorption box and a sharp increase in the peak impact force. Therefore, the energy absorption box in the existing technology has poor anti-collision performance and high maintenance and replacement costs, and needs further improvement and development. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an impact-resistant clover-shaped energy absorption box to overcome the shortcomings of existing energy absorption boxes, such as low specific energy absorption and high maintenance and replacement costs when a car collides, due to factors such as overly simple structure and unreasonable rib arrangement.

[0004] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

[0005] The present invention discloses an impact-resistant cloverleaf-shaped energy absorption box, comprising an energy absorption box body, a connecting plate, a fixing plate, and a buffer gasket; the energy absorption box body is cylindrical and located between the connecting plate and the fixing plate, and the buffer gasket is arranged between the energy absorption box body and the connecting plate; the connecting plate and the fixing plate are respectively connected and fixed to the anti-collision beam and the longitudinal beam of the vehicle body through mounting holes;

[0006] The energy absorption box body includes a clover rib, a shell, a filling body, a partition and a support spring; the energy absorption box body is circumferentially provided with the shell, and the cross-section of the shell is circular; the clover rib is located inside the shell, extends along the length direction of the energy absorption box body, and its cross-section is clover-shaped; the clover rib has three leaf-shaped ribs, each of the leaf-shaped ribs is an axisymmetric structure, one end of the three leaf-shaped ribs is connected, the connecting line is located at the central axis of the shell, and the other end is fixed to the inner wall of the shell; the inner wall of the shell is provided with a number of evenly distributed grooves along the length direction of the energy absorption box body, the outer edge of the partition is placed in the groove, the inner edge of the partition is connected to the clover rib, the curvature radius of the inner and outer edges of the partition are the same as the curvature radius of the clover rib and the shell respectively; the number of the grooves and partitions is the same;

[0007] The support spring is located between the connecting plate and the fixed plate, is arranged along the length direction of the energy absorption box body, and passes through all the partitions; a number of spring limiting holes are provided on the partition for passing the support spring; the filling body is provided between adjacent partitions, between the partition and the buffer gasket, and between the partition and the fixed plate.

[0008] Preferably, each of the leaf-shaped ribs of the cloverleaf rib includes an outer rib, a primary rib, a secondary rib and a tertiary rib; the number and distribution of the outer ribs, primary ribs, secondary ribs and tertiary ribs of each leaf-shaped rib are exactly the same; the cross section of the outer rib consists of two arcs connected at the vertices, and is an axisymmetric structure in the transverse and longitudinal directions; the primary rib, secondary rib and tertiary rib are located inside the outer rib, wherein the primary rib is located at the long symmetry axis of the outer rib, and its two ends coincide with the two ends of the leaf-shaped rib; one end of the secondary rib is fixed to the equal division point of the primary rib, and the other end is connected to two of the tertiary ribs; one end of the two tertiary ribs intersects at the end of the secondary rib, and the angle formed is an obtuse angle, and the other end is fixed to the outer rib.

[0009] Preferably, the energy absorption box body is composed of aluminum alloy, foam material and stainless steel; the connecting plate and the fixing plate are made of stainless steel, and the buffer gasket is made of rubber material; the clover ribs and partitions are made of aluminum alloy; the support spring is made of stainless steel; and the filling body is made of foam material.

[0010] Preferably, the number of the partitions in each layer is 3, and a total of 5 layers are provided.

[0011] Preferably, the number of the spring limiting holes in each partition is 3, 2 of which are located on the outside of the partition and 1 is located on the inside of the partition.

[0012] Preferably, the wall thicknesses of the outer ribs, the primary ribs, the secondary ribs and the tertiary ribs are all the same.

[0013] Preferably, the length of the long symmetry axis of the outer rib is twice that of the short symmetry axis, and the angle formed by the long symmetry axes of the three outer ribs is 120 degrees.

[0014] Preferably, the angle formed by the secondary ribs and the primary ribs is 45 degrees.

[0015] Preferably, the length of the secondary ribs is greater than that of the tertiary ribs.

[0016] Preferably, the angle formed by the two third-level ribs connected to the same second-level rib is 120 degrees.

[0017] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0018] 1. This cloverleaf-shaped crash box utilizes a cloverleaf structural design, creating multiple folds in the ribs during folding and deformation. These folds interact both along the length of the crash box and laterally, maintaining impact load stability and expanding the energy absorption area. Compared to existing crash boxes with circular cross-sections, this cloverleaf-shaped crash box has improved specific energy absorption.

[0019] 2. When a car is involved in a minor collision, the cushioning pad within the cloverleaf crash box is the first to deform. However, because the cushioning pad is made of rubber and has superelastic properties, the crash box automatically returns to its initial state, eliminating the need for repair or replacement. Furthermore, the support spring within the crash box further expands its elastic operating range.

[0020] 3. As the severity of the collision increases, the crash box begins to deform and absorb the energy of the collision. If the deformation of the crash box is within the effective crushing range, it is only necessary to readjust the connection between the fixing plate and the vehicle body rail according to the degree of deformation of the crash box body, thereby reducing the frequency of crash box replacement and saving costs.

[0021] 4. The clover-like energy absorption box is provided with a number of grooves and partitions, which are conducive to stable and uniform folding deformation, thereby effectively avoiding the influence of factors such as unevenness of the energy absorption box material or manufacturing defects on the folding deformation.

[0022] 5. The main body of the energy absorbing box is filled with gradient distributed foam material, which helps the energy absorbing box to undergo progressive folding deformation, thereby increasing the number of folds, reducing the folding wavelength, and improving energy absorption efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the explosion of a clover-shaped energy absorption box.

[0024] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the connection between the fixing plate and the vehicle body.

[0025] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the internal structure of the energy absorption box body.

[0026] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the distribution of partitions and support springs.

[0027] Figure 5 It is a schematic cross-sectional view of the groove of the energy absorption box body.

[0028] Figure 6 It is a schematic cross-sectional view of the non-groove portion of the energy absorption box body.

[0029] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the cross section of the cloverleaf rib.

[0030] Figure 8 This is a curve showing the change in specific energy absorption of the clover-shaped energy absorption box and the existing circular cross-section energy absorption box as a function of axial deformation.

[0031] In the figure: 1. Energy absorption box body; 2. Connecting plate; 3. Fixing plate; 4. Mounting hole; 5. Buffer gasket; 6. Vehicle body longitudinal beam; 7. Cloverleaf rib; 8. Shell; 9. Partition; 10. Support spring; 11. Groove; 12. Spring limit hole; 13. Filler; 14. Outer rib; 15. Primary rib; 16. Secondary rib; 17. Tertiary rib. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the embodiments described are only some embodiments of the present invention, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0033] Figures 1-8 This is an embodiment of the present invention, and the following Figures 1-8 The present invention is further described.

[0034] like Figure 1-Figure 2As shown, a crash-resistant, clover-shaped crash box comprises a crash box body 1, a connecting plate 2, a fixing plate 3, and a cushioning gasket 5. The crash box body 1 is cylindrical and located between the connecting plate 2 and the fixing plate 3. The cushioning gasket 5 is interposed between the crash box body 1 and the connecting plate 2. The connecting plate 2 and the fixing plate 3 are connected and fixed to the vehicle's anti-collision beam and the vehicle body longitudinal beam 6, respectively, through mounting holes 4. The fixing plate 3 is provided with several rows of mounting holes 4. A fully intact crash box is first connected to the vehicle body longitudinal beam 6 through the first row of mounting holes 4. The crash box body 1 is composed of aluminum alloy, foam, and stainless steel, while the connecting plate 2 and the fixing plate 3 are made of stainless steel. The cushioning gasket 5 is made of rubber. When the vehicle is involved in a minor collision, the cushioning gasket 5 deforms first. The cushioning gasket's superelastic properties allow the crash box to automatically return to its original state, eliminating the need for repair or replacement. As the severity of the collision increases, the crash box body 1 begins to deform and absorb the energy from the collision. If the deformation of the energy absorption box body 1 is within the effective crushing range, it is only necessary to readjust the connection position of the fixing plate 3 and the vehicle body longitudinal beam 6 according to the deformation degree of the energy absorption box body 1, that is, to connect it to the vehicle body longitudinal beam 6 through other rows of mounting holes 4 in the fixing plate 3, thereby reducing the replacement frequency of the energy absorption box and saving costs.

[0035] In a specific embodiment, Figure 3-Figure 6As shown, the energy absorption box body 1 includes a cloverleaf rib 7, a shell 8, a filling body 13, a partition 9 and a support spring 10. The energy absorption box body 1 is provided with a shell 8 along the circumference, and the cross section of the shell 8 is circular; the cloverleaf rib 7 is located inside the shell 8, extending along the length direction of the energy absorption box body 1, and its cross section is clover-shaped; the cloverleaf rib 7 has three leaf-shaped ribs, each of which is an axisymmetric structure, and one end of the three leaf-shaped ribs is connected, and the connection line is located at the central axis of the shell 8, and the other end is fixed to the inner wall of the shell 8. The inner wall of the shell 8 is provided with a number of evenly distributed grooves 11 along the length direction of the energy absorption box body 1, and the outer edge of the partition 9 is placed in the groove 11, and the inner edge of the partition 9 is connected to the cloverleaf rib 7. The curvature radius of the inner and outer edges of the partition 9 are the same as the curvature radius of the cloverleaf rib 7 and the shell 8, respectively. The number of grooves 11 and partitions 9 is the same. The partitions 9 limit the lateral deformation of the clover ribs 7, thereby reducing the degree of unstable deformation of the clover ribs 7. The grooves 11 are provided to fix the partitions 9 on the one hand, and on the other hand to promote the stable and uniform folding deformation of the shell 8, effectively avoiding the influence of factors such as the unevenness of the energy absorption box material or manufacturing defects on the folding deformation. The support spring 10 is located between the connecting plate 2 and the fixed plate 3, is arranged along the length direction of the energy absorption box body 1, and passes through all the partitions 9. A number of spring limiting holes 12 are provided on the partition 9 for passing the support spring 10 and limiting the lateral movement of the support spring 10. Filling bodies 13 are provided between adjacent partitions 9, between the partition 9 and the buffer gasket 5, and between the partition 9 and the fixed plate 3.

[0036] In one specific embodiment, the cloverleaf ribs 7 and partitions 9 are both made of aluminum alloy, which offers the advantages of light weight and high elongation, and can dissipate energy through its large deformation. The support springs 10 are made of stainless steel. When the energy absorption box body 1 deforms, the spring's easy rebound characteristic can be utilized to limit the deformation of the energy absorption box body 1, thereby expanding the elastic working range of the energy absorption box. The filler 13 is made of foam material, and the density and hardness of the filler 13 increase towards the bottom. This gradient design facilitates the gradual folding deformation of the energy absorption box body 1, thereby increasing the number of folds, reducing the folding wavelength, and improving energy absorption efficiency.

[0037] In a specific embodiment, Figure 7-Figure 8As shown, each blade-shaped rib of the cloverleaf rib 7 comprises an outer rib 14, a primary rib 15, a secondary rib 16, and a tertiary rib 17. The number and distribution of the outer ribs 14, primary rib 15, secondary rib 16, and tertiary rib 17 on each blade-shaped rib are identical. The cross-section of the outer rib 14 consists of two arcs connected at their vertices, and is axially symmetrical in both the transverse and longitudinal directions. The primary rib 15, secondary rib 16, and tertiary rib 17 are located within the outer rib 14. The primary rib 15 is located at the long axis of symmetry of the outer rib 14, with its ends coinciding with the ends of the blade-shaped ribs. One end of the secondary rib 16 is fixed to the bisecting point of the primary rib 15, and the other end is connected to two tertiary ribs 17. One end of the two tertiary ribs 17 intersects at the end of the secondary rib 16, forming an obtuse angle, and the other end is fixed to the outer rib 14. During the folding and deformation process, the ribs within the cloverleaf ribs 7 form multiple wrinkles. These wrinkles interact not only along the length of the crash box body 1 but also in the transverse direction, thereby maintaining the stability of the impact load and expanding the energy absorption area. Compared with existing crash boxes with circular cross-sections, the specific energy absorption of this cloverleaf-shaped crash box is improved.

[0038] In a specific embodiment, the number of partitions 9 in each layer is 3, and a total of 5 layers are provided, which can effectively avoid uneven deformation of the energy absorption box due to instability without significantly increasing the weight of the energy absorption box.

[0039] In a specific embodiment, the number of spring limiting holes 12 in each partition 9 is 3, 2 of which are located on the outside of the partition 9 and 1 is located on the inside of the partition 9, distributed in a triangular shape, which is conducive to maintaining the stability of the overall structure.

[0040] In a specific embodiment, the wall thicknesses of the outer ribs 14, the first-level ribs 15, the second-level ribs 16 and the third-level ribs 17 are all the same. The same wall thickness is used to avoid low strength in local areas of the clover ribs 7, which would cause uneven folding.

[0041] In a specific embodiment, the length of the long symmetry axis of the outer rib 14 is twice that of the short symmetry axis, and the angle formed by the long symmetry axes of the three outer ribs 14 is 120 degrees, which is conducive to the uniform distribution of wrinkles in the energy absorption box during deformation.

[0042] In a specific embodiment, the angle formed by the secondary ribs 16 and the primary ribs 15 is 45 degrees, which is beneficial to the uniform distribution of wrinkles on the secondary ribs 16 during the deformation process.

[0043] In a specific embodiment, the length of the secondary ribs 16 is greater than that of the tertiary ribs 17 , which is beneficial for uniform distribution of wrinkles on the tertiary ribs 17 during deformation and for generating more wrinkles.

[0044] In a specific embodiment, the angle formed by the two tertiary ribs 17 connected to the same secondary rib 16 is 120 degrees, which is beneficial for the tertiary ribs 17 to absorb energy.

[0045] Although the present invention has been described in detail above using general descriptions and specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and improvements may be made thereto. Therefore, such modifications and improvements, without departing from the spirit of the present invention, are intended to be within the scope of protection claimed herein.

Claims

1. A clover-shaped impact-resistant energy absorption box, characterized in that: It includes an energy absorption box body, a connecting plate, a fixing plate and a buffer gasket; the energy absorption box body is cylindrical and is located between the connecting plate and the fixing plate, and the buffer gasket is arranged between the energy absorption box body and the connecting plate; the connecting plate and the fixing plate are respectively connected and fixed to the anti-collision beam and the longitudinal beam of the vehicle body through mounting holes; The energy absorption box body includes a clover rib, a shell, a filling body, a partition and a support spring; the energy absorption box body is circumferentially provided with the shell, and the cross-section of the shell is circular; the clover rib is located inside the shell, extends along the length direction of the energy absorption box body, and its cross-section is clover-shaped; the clover rib has three leaf-shaped ribs, each of the leaf-shaped ribs is an axisymmetric structure, one end of the three leaf-shaped ribs is connected, the connecting line is located at the central axis of the shell, and the other end is fixed to the inner wall of the shell; the inner wall of the shell is provided with a number of evenly distributed grooves along the length direction of the energy absorption box body, the outer edge of the partition is placed in the groove, the inner edge of the partition is connected to the clover rib, the curvature radius of the inner and outer edges of the partition are the same as the curvature radius of the clover rib and the shell respectively; the number of the grooves and partitions is the same; The support spring is located between the connecting plate and the fixed plate, is arranged along the length direction of the energy absorption box body, and passes through all the partitions; a plurality of spring limiting holes are provided on the partitions for passing the support springs; the filling body is provided between adjacent partitions, between the partitions and the buffer gaskets, and between the partitions and the fixed plates; Each of the leaf-shaped ribs of the cloverleaf rib comprises an outer rib, a primary rib, a secondary rib and a tertiary rib; the number and distribution of the outer ribs, primary ribs, secondary ribs and tertiary ribs of each leaf-shaped rib are exactly the same; the cross section of the outer rib consists of two arcs whose vertices are connected, and is an axisymmetric structure in the transverse and longitudinal directions; the primary rib, secondary rib and tertiary rib are located inside the outer rib, wherein the primary rib is located at the long symmetry axis of the outer rib, and its two ends coincide with the two ends of the leaf-shaped rib; one end of the secondary rib is fixed to the equal-division point of the primary rib, and the other end is connected to two of the tertiary ribs; one end of two of the tertiary ribs intersects at the end of the secondary rib, forming an obtuse angle, and the other end is fixed to the outer rib; The energy absorption box body is composed of aluminum alloy, foam material and stainless steel; the connecting plate and the fixing plate are made of stainless steel, and the buffer gasket is made of rubber material; the clover ribs and partitions are made of aluminum alloy; the support spring is made of stainless steel; and the filling body is made of foam material.

2. The impact-resistant clover-shaped energy absorption box according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of the partitions in each layer is 3, and there are 5 layers in total.

3. The impact-resistant clover-shaped energy absorption box according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of the spring limiting holes in each partition is 3, 2 of which are located on the outside of the partition and 1 is located on the inside of the partition.

4. The impact-resistant clover-shaped energy absorption box according to claim 1, characterized in that: The wall thicknesses of the outer ribs, the first-level ribs, the second-level ribs and the third-level ribs are all the same.

5. The impact-resistant clover-shaped energy absorption box according to claim 1, characterized in that: The length of the long symmetry axis of the outer rib is twice that of the short symmetry axis, and the angle formed by the long symmetry axes of the three outer ribs is 120 degrees.

6. The impact-resistant clover-shaped energy absorption box according to claim 1, characterized in that: The angle formed by the secondary ribs and the primary ribs is 45 degrees.

7. The impact-resistant clover-shaped energy absorption box according to claim 1, characterized in that: The length of the secondary rib is greater than that of the tertiary rib.

8. The impact-resistant clover-shaped energy absorption box according to claim 1, characterized in that: The included angle formed by the two third-level ribs connected to the same second-level rib is 120 degrees.

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