Front spoiler arrangement and motor vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a front spoiler arrangement (1) for a motor vehicle (2) with a front spoiler (3). The essential element of the invention is that - that the front spoiler (3) has an internal structural component (4) and a trim part (5) surrounding the structural component (4), - that a connecting element (6) is provided which is connected to the internal structural component (4) and is guided through a passage opening (7) of the cladding part (5), - that an elastic cover (8) surrounding the connecting element (6) is provided, which is formed integrally with the cladding part (5).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a front spoiler arrangement for a motor vehicle with a front spoiler, according to the preamble of claim 1. The invention further relates to a motor vehicle with such a front spoiler arrangement.

[0002] From US patent 2009 / 0115221A1, a generic front spoiler arrangement for a motor vehicle with a front spoiler is known, wherein the front spoiler has an internal structural component and a cladding component surrounding the structural component, and a connecting element is provided.

[0003] From DE 10 2020 130 391 A1, an air guide device for the front of a motor vehicle body is known, comprising an air guide element and a connecting device connecting the air guide element to the motor vehicle body, wherein the air guide element is arranged opposite a road surface on the motor vehicle body, having a longitudinal axis, a transverse axis, and a vertical axis. The connecting device has a floating bearing to absorb forces acting in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the body for the rocking-like mounting of the air guide element.

[0004] From DE 10 2013 107 601 B4, an end wall sealing arrangement for a motor vehicle air conditioning unit with tolerance compensation for the penetration of at least one connection device through a motor vehicle end wall is known, comprising: A sealing functional group with a base plate made of a rigid plastic, an outer sealing section and at least one inner sealing section, wherein the outer sealing section surrounds an outer edge of the base plate and each inner sealing section surrounds an opening formed in the base plate for a connection device, and each inner, direction-dependent base plate seals against the connection device. Furthermore, an elastic tolerance compensation element and a receiving element, which is designed as a flange surface to a housing of the air conditioning unit, are provided. This is intended, in particular, to reduce costs.

[0005] From DE 10 2010 023 809 A1, a connecting element for pre-tensioning the connection of at least two components is known, using a fastening screw that can be screwed into the connecting element and a compensating part for tolerances in the distance between the components caused by manufacturing and / or assembly. The connecting element also includes a receptacle in which the compensating part is movably held and which has an opening through which the compensating part can be moved outwards towards one of the components. Furthermore, the connecting element has a flange section to which the other component can be fixed. This flange section extends essentially to the opening. This is intended to make it possible to install add-on parts in car body construction in a space-saving manner.

[0006] From EP 1 512 614 A1, a sealing flange for passing at least one connection device through a body opening in a body area is known. The sealing flange is manufactured using a multi-component injection molding process and has a rigid base body and at least one flexible sealing section. The sealing section is integrally molded onto the base body.

[0007] From DE 10 2009 056 043 A1, a sealing arrangement for sealing an opening in a motor vehicle's front wall intended for the passage of heating and / or air conditioning pipes is known. The arrangement comprises a two-component sealing element that can be inserted into the opening. This element has an outer, circumferential wall component made of a first sealing material and an inner sealing component made of a second sealing material. The two sealing materials have different moduli of elasticity and / or different acoustic damping properties.

[0008] Front spoiler configurations are well-known and widely used, particularly in sports cars. These configurations serve to generate downforce, thus improving road grip. Since considerable forces act on a front spoiler, especially at higher speeds, a reliable connection to the vehicle body is essential. This is typically achieved using connecting elements, particularly tension elements such as steel cables or tie rods, which transmit force to the front spoiler and connect it to the vehicle body. These connecting elements usually run vertically to connect a front spoiler positioned below a body crossmember to the crossmember above it.Force is transmitted from the front spoiler, which generates downforce during driving, via at least one connecting element, into the body cross member arranged above it.

[0009] However, providing at least one such connecting element requires piercing a panel of the front spoiler, as the connecting element must be linked to a structural component of the front spoiler designed for force transmission. This necessitates an opening in such a panel.

[0010] To reliably prevent the fairing part from tearing during driving, not only is an exact alignment of the connecting element relative to a passage opening in the fairing part required, but a cover is also usually arranged around the passage opening, with which any existing and visible gaps between the connecting element and the passage opening can be covered.

[0011] A disadvantage of such a cover plate, however, is that it also has gaps or joints with the trim panel and, due to its size and the required stability, must be made of a rigid material, which in turn necessitates painting the surface of the cover plate. The resulting tooling costs for the separate cover plate, the material costs of the rigid material, as well as a painting setup and the painting itself, make this solution comparatively complex and therefore expensive.

[0012] The present invention therefore deals with the problem of providing an improved or at least an alternative embodiment for a front spoiler arrangement of the generic type, by means of which in particular the disadvantages known from the prior art can be overcome.

[0013] This problem is solved according to the invention by the subject matter of independent claim 1. Advantageous embodiments are the subject matter of the dependent claims.

[0014] The present invention is based on the general concept of guiding a connecting element through a cover integrally formed with a fairing part of the front spoiler in a front spoiler assembly, thereby eliminating joints and / or gaps between the cover and the fairing part. The front spoiler assembly comprises a front spoiler with an internal structural component and a fairing part surrounding the structural component. The structural component is designed as a rigid component and is capable of reliably absorbing the downforces acting on the front spoiler during operation and transferring them to a connecting element, which is connected to this internal structural component and simultaneously guided through an opening in the fairing part.Furthermore, an elastic cover surrounding the connecting element is provided, which is formed integrally with the trim panel and thus enables a seamless or gap-free connection of the cover to the trim panel. Another major advantage of the front spoiler arrangement according to the invention is that the cover, for example a privacy screen, does not have to be manufactured separately, painted, and subsequently attached to the trim panel, thereby reducing production, storage, and assembly costs. In addition to the zero-joint connection in the Z-direction between the cover and the trim panel, a zero-joint connection can also be created between the cover and the connecting element, which makes it particularly easy to compensate for dimensional tolerances.

[0015] In an advantageous further development of the front spoiler arrangement according to the invention, the trim piece and the cover are designed as two-component (2K) injection-molded plastic parts. By designing the trim piece and the cover as two-component (2K) injection-molded plastic parts, it is possible to use different plastics for the trim piece and the cover, which are nevertheless permanently and firmly bonded together in a single injection molding process. This, in turn, makes it possible, for example, to use a hard plastic for the trim piece that produces a smooth surface and is easy to paint to a high standard, while for the cover piece, for example, an elastic plastic is used with which certain dimensional tolerances can be compensated for relatively easily.

[0016] In an alternative embodiment of the front spoiler arrangement according to the invention, the trim element and the cover are designed as 3K injection-molded plastic parts. This makes it possible, for example, to design the trim element as a 2K injection-molded plastic part and to additionally injection-mold the cover, made of a third plastic, onto this trim element, which already consists of two plastic components. This makes it possible, for example, to design the trim element from a layer of a load-bearing plastic and a layer that provides a particularly smooth and easily paintable surface, while for the cover, an elastic plastic, for example a rubber-like plastic, is selected, which allows for relatively easy compensation of dimensional tolerances between the connecting element and the cover.

[0017] The cladding component is made of polypropylene with 20% talc by weight. Talc-reinforced polypropylene is more dimensionally stable, more durable, and significantly more heat-resistant than polypropylene without the additive. To manufacture it, talc is added to the polypropylene granules in a predefined proportion before the structural component is produced using plastic injection molding.

[0018] In a further advantageous embodiment of the front spoiler arrangement according to the invention, the cover is made of a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), in particular styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene copolymer (SEBS). SEBS possesses high resistance and high UV resistance and can also be readily colored, thus enabling relatively simple color matching to the color of the trim element. Furthermore, SEBS has a rubber-like elasticity, which allows for relatively easy compensation of dimensional tolerances occurring between the connecting element and the cover. SEBS, like thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) in general, is cost-effective and can be manufactured in virtually any shape.

[0019] In a further advantageous embodiment of the front spoiler arrangement according to the invention, the connecting element is designed as a steel cable or as a tension strut, for example as a fiber-reinforced, and in particular as a carbon fiber-reinforced, tension strut. Since the connecting element is typically only subjected to tensile stress during operation for the transmission of the downforce from the structural component to a body component or, more generally, to the body of the motor vehicle, comparatively thin connecting elements, such as the aforementioned steel cables, can be used, making such a connecting element virtually invisible. In a design, particularly as a fiber-reinforced tension strut, compressive forces can also be transmitted to a limited extent. The design as a fiber-reinforced tension strut also offers the advantage of making the connecting element not only virtually visually neutral but also weight-optimized.

[0020] According to the invention, the aperture is teardrop-shaped, with one tip of this teardrop pointing rearward in the direction of travel. This allows for a particularly aerodynamically optimized shape of the aperture.

[0021] According to the invention, the cover has a collar that encompasses the connecting element in a U-shape at the front, in the direction of travel. The collar can have a section folded inwards in the area of ​​the connecting element, which rests against the connecting element. Such an inwardly folded section allows for a larger surface area of ​​contact between the cover and the connecting element, and furthermore, the folded section provides increased elasticity. This makes it particularly easy to achieve the desired zero-gap between the cover and the connecting element, even during relative movements between the cover and the connecting element.

[0022] The present invention is further based on the general concept of providing a motor vehicle with a body component and a front spoiler assembly as described in the preceding paragraphs, wherein a front spoiler of the front spoiler assembly is connected to the body component of the motor vehicle via at least one connecting element. This allows the advantages described for the front spoiler assembly according to the invention to be transferred to the motor vehicle. Specifically, these advantages include, for example, the simple realization of a zero-joint between the trim panel and the fairing part of the front spoiler, particularly in the vertical direction. This also enables more cost-effective manufacturing of the front spoiler comprising the trim panel, and eliminates the assembly costs previously required for mounting the trim panel to the front spoiler.In the motor vehicle according to the invention, any dimensional tolerances occurring between the cover and the connecting element can be easily compensated for.

[0023] Further important features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the dependent claims, the drawings and the associated description of the figures based on the drawings.

[0024] It is understood that the features mentioned above and those to be explained below can be used not only in the combinations specified, but also in other combinations or individually, without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the claims. Components of a higher-level unit, such as a device, apparatus, or arrangement, mentioned above and those to be mentioned below, which are designated separately, can form separate parts or components of this unit or be integral areas or sections of this unit, even if this is depicted differently in the drawing.

[0025] Preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawing and are explained in more detail in the following description, wherein identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar or functionally identical components.

[0026] Each schematically illustrates Fig. 1 a sectional view through a motor vehicle according to the invention with a front spoiler arrangement according to the invention, Fig. 2 a sectional view through the front spoiler arrangement according to the invention in the area of ​​a cover, Fig. 3 a front oblique view of a motor vehicle according to the invention with a front spoiler arrangement according to the invention, Fig. 4 a top view of the front spoiler arrangement according to the invention in the area of ​​the cover and a connecting element.

[0027] According to the Fig. 1 and Fig. Figure 2 comprises a front spoiler arrangement 1 of a motor vehicle 2 according to the invention, which in turn has an inner structural component 4 and a trim panel 5 surrounding this structural component 4. A connecting element 6 is further provided, which is connected to the inner structural component 4 and passes through a through-opening 7 of the trim panel 5 (see Figure 2). Fig. 2) is led. In addition, an elastic aperture 8 surrounding the connecting element 6 is provided (see in particular also the Fig. 2 - 4), which is formed in one piece with the cladding part 5.

[0028] This offers the significant advantage that there is no longer a gap between the cover 8, which, for example, serves as a privacy screen, and the cladding part 5. This eliminates, in particular, the gaps previously required between a separately manufactured cover and the cladding part 5, which were subsequently mounted to the opening 7. A disadvantage of the previously separate covers was the Z-tolerance and the resulting gap, which was difficult to control. Furthermore, the previously separate covers always had the problem of being made from a rigid material, which necessitated surface painting. This resulted in very high tooling costs for the previously separate cover, material costs for the rigid material, a painting fixture, and the painting itself.

[0029] With the cover 8 according to the invention, which is now manufactured for the first time in one piece with the trim part 5, separate manufacturing and assembly of the cover 8 are eliminated, thus reducing both the number of parts and, consequently, storage and logistics costs. By manufacturing the cover 8 in one piece with the trim part 5, the front spoiler 3 can be produced simply, quickly, and cost-effectively in a single plastic injection molding process, ensuring not only high quality but also cost-effective production.

[0030] The cover part 5 and the cover 8 can be designed as 2K plastic injection molded parts, so that a different plastic, for example a rubber-like plastic, can be selected for the cover 8 and a harder plastic for the cover part 5.

[0031] Alternatively, it is theoretically conceivable that the trim part 5 is manufactured as a 2K plastic injection molded part, and that the trim part 5 and the cover 8 are then manufactured as 3K plastic injection molded parts. In this case, the trim part 5 already consists of two different plastics, as is the case, for example, according to the Fig. Figure 2 shows the assembly. There, the trim piece 5 has an inner layer 9 and an outer layer 10, both made of plastic, but with different properties. For example, the inner layer 9 can have a load-bearing function, while the outer layer 10 can have an optical function, with the outer layer 10 also being better suited for certain painting processes. The third plastic component in this assembly is the cover 8, so that in this case, the trim piece 5 and the cover 8 together form a 3K injection-molded plastic part.

[0032] The fairing part 5 of the front spoiler 3 can, for example, be made of polypropylene with a proportion of 20 wt.% talc, which can create a dimensionally stable, durable and also heat-resistant polypropylene.

[0033] The aperture 8 can be made of a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), in particular styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene copolymer (SEBS). Thermoplastic elastomers have a rubber-like structure, making them extremely elastic, flexible, and smooth. Furthermore, thermoplastic elastomers are extremely durable and resistant, which is a significant advantage for their use in this case as an aperture 8 surrounding the connecting element 6, since relative movement can always occur between the aperture 8 and the connecting element 6 depending on the driving situation.

[0034] SEBS also possesses high UV resistance and can be easily colored, thus enabling relatively simple color matching to the color of the cladding element 5. Like thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) in general, SEBS is cost-effective and can be manufactured in virtually any shape.

[0035] In a two-component plastic injection molding process, where the fairing part 5 is manufactured as the main component, for example, from polypropylene with 20 wt% talc (PP-T 20), and the aperture 8 is manufactured as the soft component, for example, from a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), the soft component can be injection molded first, followed by the main component, or vice versa. However, the preferred manufacturing sequence is to injection mold the soft component, i.e., the aperture 8, first, and then the main component, i.e., the fairing part 5.

[0036] The connecting element 6 can, for example, be designed as a steel cable or as a tension strut, thereby creating a construction that is not only extremely thin but also almost invisible or at least does not visually impair the front part of the motor vehicle 2 according to the invention.

[0037] Both steel cables and tension struts, for example fiber-reinforced tension struts, transmit the forces exerted on the front spoiler 3 by the airflow to the connecting element 6, from which the forces can be transferred to a body component 11 located above it, for example a body crossmember 12. This ensures reliable attachment of the front spoiler 3 to the body of the vehicle 2.

[0038] If one considers the embodiment of aperture 8 according to the Fig. As can be seen in Figure 4, the aperture 8 in this case is teardrop-shaped and has a tip 14 pointing rearward in the direction of travel 13. The tip 14 is rounded. Furthermore, the aperture 8 has a collar 15 that surrounds the connecting element 6 in a U-shape at the front in the direction of travel 13 and rests against the connecting element 6. The collar 15 can also have an inwardly folded section 16 on the connecting element 6 (compare Figure 4). Fig. 2) which, when assembled, rests against the connecting element 6 and thereby enables a flat contact between, on the one hand, the aperture 8 and, on the other hand, the connecting element 6.

[0039] The collar 15 extends vertically beyond the surface of the cladding part 5 and enables a tight and seamless fit to the connecting element 6.

[0040] If one considers the Fig. 3, it can be seen that in the motor vehicle 2 shown there according to the invention, two connecting elements 6 and thus also two covers 8 are provided, wherein the connecting elements 6 are in front of a in the Fig. 3 grilles 17 (not shown) are arranged, through which cooling air can be directed into an engine compartment located behind them in the direction of travel 13.

[0041] In Fig. 4 can be seen that the collar 15 loses height towards the rear tip 14 and merges into the surface of the aperture 8.

[0042] In summary, the front spoiler arrangement 1 and the motor vehicle 2 according to the invention enable a significantly improved and, in particular, structurally less complex and more cost-effective joint appearance between the cover 8 and the trim part 5 of the front spoiler 3, since the one-piece construction of the cover 8 and the trim part 5 results in a zero-joint connection between them. This eliminates both the need to manufacture the cover 8 separately and to mount it on the trim part 5, thus avoiding the unavoidable joint, especially in the vertical direction, between the cover 8 and the trim part 5.

Claims

[1] Front spoiler arrangement (1) for a motor vehicle (2) with a front spoiler (3), - wherein the front spoiler (3) comprises an internal structural component (4) and a trim component (5) surrounding the structural component (4), - wherein a connecting element (6) is provided which is connected to the internal structural component (4) and is guided through a passage opening (7) of the cladding part (5), characterized by , - that an elastic cover (8) surrounding the connecting element (6) is provided, which is formed integrally with the cladding part (5), - that the aperture (8) is teardrop-shaped, with a rounded tip (14) pointing rearward in the direction of travel (13), - that the aperture (8) has a collar (15) which surrounds the connecting element (6) in a U-shape at the front in the direction of travel (13). [2] Front spoiler arrangement (1) according to claim 1, characterized by, that the trim part (5) and the cover (8) are designed as a 2K plastic injection molded part. [3] Front spoiler arrangement (1) according to claim 1, characterized by , that the cladding part (5) is designed as a 2K plastic injection molded part. [4] Front spoiler arrangement (1) according to claim 3, characterized by , that the trim part (5) and the cover (8) are designed as a one-piece 3K plastic injection molded part. [5] Front spoiler arrangement (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by , that the cladding part (5) is made of polypropylene with 20 wt.% talc. [6] Front spoiler arrangement (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by , that the aperture (8) is formed from a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), in particular from styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene copolymer (SEBS). [7] Front spoiler arrangement (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by, that the connecting element (6) is designed as a steel cable or as a tension strut. [8] Front spoiler arrangement (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by , that the collar (15) has an inwardly folded section (16) on the connecting element (6) which rests against the connecting element (6). [9] Motor vehicle (2) with a body component (11), in particular a body cross member (12), and a front spoiler arrangement (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the front spoiler (3) is connected to the body component (11) via at least one connecting element (6).

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