STRUCTURAL ARRANGEMENT FOR THE FRONT OF A MOTOR VEHICLE

Description

[0001] The technical field concerns structural assemblies for motor vehicles as well as vehicles having at least one such assembly.

[0002] In terms of road safety, car manufacturers must take into account multiple concerns and regulations when developing new vehicles in order, on the one hand, to ensure the safety of vehicle passengers in the event of a collision or that of other most vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and, on the other hand, to control the repair costs of vehicles when they undergo urban impacts, called repairable impacts suffered at low speeds of around 15 to 20 kilometers per hour.

[0003] For impacts at higher speeds, of the order of 50 km / h or more, vehicles are forced to deform to absorb at least part of the energy released during the impact, in order to best protect passengers. The deformation behavior of a motor vehicle, under the effect of an impact, is particularly controlled by car manufacturers who absolutely seek to prevent the deformations undergone by the vehicle from impacting the passenger compartment and its occupants.

[0004] The various impacts that a vehicle can undergo are simulated using standardized procedures such as, for example, those described by the American organization IIHS.

[0005] A particularly demanding frontal test offered by the IIHS is called the Small Overlap Front Test. This test is a type of frontal impact test. It involves driving a vehicle at 40 mph, or about 40 mph, into a 5-foot-high rigid barrier that strikes 25 percent of the front of the vehicle, on the driver's side. The test simulates a collision with an oncoming vehicle, a tree, or a utility pole.

[0006] A small overlap test primarily affects the outer edges of the vehicle, and the impact forces are directed directly toward the front wheel, suspension system, and firewall. As a result, it is not uncommon for the wheel to be pushed rearward into the passenger compartment, particularly into the legroom, which is a very damaging intrusion that can cause serious injuries to the driver's legs and feet. Ideally, the vehicle structure should deform to cause transverse movement of the vehicle so that the passenger compartment is not impacted by the test barrier.

[0007] Most modern vehicles have a passive protection design based on two load paths: a first load path consisting of the side member or stretcher line and a second load path, also called the lower load path, consisting of subframe extensions. Some vehicles also have a third load path which is arranged around the wheel arches.

[0008] Document EP 1 834 862 A1 describes a structural assembly for a motor vehicle according to the preamble of claim 1.

[0009] Examination of collisions between two vehicles shows that very often the force paths have difficulty interacting with each other and thus fail to transmit the forces to all the elements of the vehicle structure. Furthermore, the third force path is linked to the first force path via the wheel arch and the latter is also fixed to the body of the suspension cup. Thus, the suspension cup proves to be a weak point. The suspension cup thus often harms the deformation behavior of the vehicle during an impact of a reduced frontal overlap test. Very often the vehicle does not deflect enough to prevent the passenger compartment from hitting the barrier. Thus, there is a need for a solution to improve the behavior of the vehicle during the deformation following a reduced frontal overlap test.

[0010] The present invention aims to overcome the problems set out above. In this technical context, one aim of the present invention is to provide a structural assembly for a motor vehicle making it possible to improve the vehicle's offset during the reduced frontal overlap test.

[0011] For this purpose, the present invention relates to a structural assembly for a motor vehicle comprising a stretcher line and an upper support cup for a suspension system of a wheel, the assembly comprising a wheel arch wall for said wheel, the assembly further comprising at least one sheet metal shaped to form a load path extending from the stretcher line to the cup, the wheel arch wall being arranged between the cup, the load path and the stretcher line, the assembly being characterized in that it comprises a connecting member connecting the cup and the load path, the connecting member being shaped to deform in a predefined manner so as to transmit to the cup, along a transverse axis of the vehicle, at least a portion of the longitudinal forces generated on the load path during a reduced frontal overlap test.

[0012] The invention also relates to a vehicle comprising at least one assembly according to the invention.

[0013] Thus, the assembly according to the invention, thanks to the connecting member, makes it possible to link the behavior of the upper support cup for a wheel suspension system to the force path. Given its conformation, the connecting member makes it possible, by deforming, during an impact of a reduced frontal overlap test, to generate forces and therefore deformations on the cup along a transverse axis of the vehicle. By deforming along a transverse axis of the vehicle, the cup improves the behavior of the vehicle according to the invention during the reduced frontal overlap test and in particular its lateral offset.

[0014] In this text, a "transverse" axis refers to an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle equipped with an assembly. According to one embodiment of the invention, the connecting member is designed to collapse along a transverse axis of the vehicle.

[0015] According to one possibility, the connecting member comprises a stamped sheet metal having a section having a curved V shape.

[0016] According to one embodiment, the connecting member has two welding zones designed to fix the connecting member by welding to the cup and the force path respectively.

[0017] The invention will be better understood upon reading the detailed description which follows, given solely as a non-limiting example and made with reference to the appended drawings in which: [ Fig. 1 ] there figure 1 , represents a perspective view of an assembly according to the invention showing the connecting member as well as the cup and the force path; [ Fig. 2 ] there figure 2 , represents a perspective view of the connecting member of the figure 1 after a collision from a reduced frontal overlap test.

[0018] In these figures, the same references are used to designate the same elements.

[0019] A structural assembly 1 for a motor vehicle, illustrated in the figures 1 et 2 , comprises a stretcher line, not shown, an upper support cup 2 for a wheel suspension system, shown in the figures, and a wheel arch wall 3 for said wheel, shown in the figure 1 The assembly also comprises at least one sheet 4 forming a load path 5 extending from the stretcher line towards the cup 2. The wheel arch wall 3 is arranged between the cup 2 towards the rear of the assembly 1, the stretcher line in the lower part of the assembly 1, and the load path 5 in the upper part. A vehicle according to the invention thus comprises at least one assembly 1. The vehicle according to the invention also comprises, for example, advantageously a second load path consisting of cradle extensions, not illustrated.

[0020] The cup 2 is generally a relatively thick sheet metal part, with a thickness of the order of 2 to 3 millimeters, due to its function of absorbing the forces of the suspension system, not shown. Thus and conventionally the cup 2 comprises a side wall 6 formed by at least one sheet having a substantially truncated cone shape with a square base whose corners are rounded. The cup 2 also comprises an upper wall 7 closing the volume delimited by the side wall 6. The upper wall 7 has a passage orifice 8 for a shock absorber head and means 9 for fixing the shock absorber head produced for example in the form of screw passage orifices provided in the cup 2.

[0021] The wheel arch wall 3 is made of thinner sheet metal than the cup 2, with a thickness of the order of a millimeter, sometimes reinforced locally by one or more additional reinforcing elements.

[0022] The force path 5 has a curve 10 oriented towards the outside of the vehicle. This force path 5 is designed to present force inputs, during an impact of a reduced frontal overlap test, towards the cup 2 causing the loss of the curve 10 of the force path 5.

[0023] The assembly 1 further comprises a connecting member 11, illustrated in the figure 1 , connecting the cup 2 and the force path 5. The connecting member 11 is shaped to deform in a predefined manner so as to transmit towards the cup 2, along a transverse axis A of the vehicle, illustrated in the figure 1 , at least part of the longitudinal forces generated on the force path 5 during an impact of a reduced frontal overlap test. Advantageously, the connecting member 11 is designed to crush along the transverse axis A of the vehicle.

[0024] In the embodiment of the invention, the connecting member 11 comprises a stamped sheet 12 having a curved V-shaped section, following a horizontal plane of the vehicle. The connecting member 11 has two welding zones 13 designed to connect by welding respectively the cup 2, at the level of the side wall 6, and the force path 5.

[0025] Thus, during an impact of a reduced frontal overlap test, the force path 5 loses its gable 10 and transmits forces along a longitudinal axis towards the cup 2. The connecting member 11 will deform in a predefined manner so as to crush along the transverse axis A of the vehicle to thus transmit forces towards the cup 2 along the transverse axis A.

[0026] Thus, the assembly 1 according to the invention, thanks to its connecting member 11, causes deformations of the cup 2 along the transverse axis A, which help the vehicle to deflect to avoid the barrier during a reduced frontal overlap test. The invention is not limited to the embodiment of the assembly described above, only by way of example, but other embodiments can be designed by those skilled in the art without departing from the framework and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A structural assembly (1) for a motor vehicle comprising a stretcher line and an upper support cup (2) for a suspension system of a wheel, the assembly comprising a wheel arch wall (3) for said wheel, the assembly (1) further comprising at least one sheet metal (4) shaped to form a force path (5) extending from the stretcher line towards the cup (2), the wheel arch wall (3) being arranged between the cup (2), the force path (5) and the stretcher line, the assembly (1) comprising connecting member (11) connecting the cup (2) and the force path (5), the assembly being characterized in that the connecting member (11) is shaped to deform in a predefined manner so as to transmit to the cup (2), along a transverse axis (A) of the vehicle, at least a part of the longitudinal forces generated on the force path (5) during a test with a reduced frontal overlapping.

2. Assembly (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the connecting member (11) is designed to be crushed along a transverse axis (A) of the vehicle.

3. Assembly (1) according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the connecting member (11) comprises a stamped sheet (12) having a section having a curved V shape.

4. Assembly (1) according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the connecting member (11) has two welding zones (13) designed to fix the connecting member (11) by welding to the cup (2) and the force path (5) respectively.

5. Vehicle comprising at least one assembly (1) according to one of claims 1 to 4.