LOW COVERAGE SHOCK REINFORCEMENT

Abstract

The invention relates to a motor vehicle (1) which comprises two longitudinal structural profiles (3); two front wheel arches (5) fixed to the two longitudinal structural profiles (3), respectively; and to at least one side of the vehicle (1), a reinforcement (7) fixed to the corresponding longitudinal structural profile (3), in front of the corresponding front wheel. The or each of the reinforcements (7) is in fact a gusset (7) which is fixed to the corresponding wheel arch (5) so as to directly connect said wheel arch (5) to the corresponding longitudinal structural profile (3). This gusset (7) further comprises a web (9) with fixing means (17) of a reinforcing web (11). (Figure to be published with the abstract: Figure 5)

Description

Title of the invention: LOW OVERLAY SHOCK REINFORCEMENT Technical field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of automobiles and more particularly to the deformation of the front structure of vehicles in the event of a frontal impact. Prior art

[0002] Nowadays, motor vehicles must comply with numerous safety regulations, especially with regard to passive safety. The means implemented to ensure this safety must in particular make it possible to protect the occupants of a vehicle in the event of a frontal collision at high speed but also to control the costs of repairing the vehicle in the event of an urban collision, or in other words a low-speed collision. These safety means must also make it possible to limit, as much as possible, the aggressive nature that the vehicle may present towards pedestrians and therefore consequently to reduce the presence of hard points under the hood and the risks of serious injuries to the legs. In parallel with these safety obligations, ecological and economic reasons also push manufacturers to reduce the overall mass of the vehicle.

[0003] In order to ensure the compliance of vehicles with the various safety regulations, numerous tests and trials are put in place. However, as regulations in the field of safety can vary from one country or continent to another, the solutions provided to satisfy these tests must preferably be adaptable to the different situations encountered.

[0004] Thus, in Europe, it is known to carry out moderate overlap tests (“Moderate Overlap Frontal Crashworthiness Evaluation”) which in fact consist of carrying out frontal impacts with an overlap of 40% of the width of the vehicle by a barrier. In such a configuration, the front stretcher of the vehicle as well as the front wing reinforcement part, which constitutes a third force transmission path, are stressed. To do this, these parts are generally sized to meet the requirements of this test protocol.

[0005] In the United States, the frontal impact test protocol is called small overlap (“Small Overlap Frontal Crashworthiness Evaluation”). According to this test, a barrier approximately 1.5 m high hits the vehicle, covering 25% of its width starting from one side of the vehicle. In such a configuration, the front side rail is no longer directly stressed by the impact, but the front wing reinforcement piece, which is more off-center, remains and therefore undergoes the deformation.

[0006] Faced with the requirements of the American protocol for low overlap front impacts, the behavior of current vehicles on the European market is therefore not entirely satisfactory and needs to be improved.

[0007] To overcome this problem of low overlap front impact, it is known to install on each front side member of European vehicles devices which intervene to protect in particular the front wheels in the event of a frontal collision. This is the case in patent document EP1991445 B1 which describes a deflector device attached to a support and which is arranged in front of a front wheel. This deflector projects essentially horizontally and obliquely towards the rear, and comprises a deflector shoe guided in a sliding manner in the longitudinal direction from a rest position to an active position. The deflector shoe consists in particular of a slide guided on or in the deflector and which further comprises a part composed of several parts projecting towards the front of the deflector.Although this type of device has the advantage of protecting the front wheel in the event of a head-on collision, it is nonetheless complex and bulky and involves an increase in the mass of the vehicle.

[0008] Other protection devices also consist of the addition on European vehicles of one or more parts on the stretcher at the level of the third force transmission path to set up an avoidance scenario. However, the addition on European vehicles, in Europe or in the United States, of one or more additional parts to respond to low overlap impacts, poses, in addition to the problem of increasing the mass of the vehicle, problems in the synoptic of the assembly by ironwork of these parts. Statement of the invention

[0009] The invention aims to overcome at least one of the drawbacks of the aforementioned state of the art. More particularly, the invention aims to improve the compliance of European motor vehicles with the requirements of the American protocol for low-overlap front impacts without compromising the synopsis of the fitting of the parts of the front part of the vehicles and without increasing the weight of these same vehicles and therefore their cost price.

[0010] To this end, the invention relates to a motor vehicle comprising two longitudinal structural profiles extending parallel to each other forward from a passenger compartment of the vehicle; two front wheel arches fixed to the two longitudinal structural profiles, respectively; to at least one side of the vehicle, a reinforcement fixed to the corresponding longitudinal structural profile, in front of the corresponding front wheel; remarkable in that the or each of the reinforcements is a gusset fixed to the corresponding wheel arch so as to directly connect said wheel arch to the corresponding longitudinal structural profile, and comprising a web with means of fixing of a reinforcing core.

[0011] According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the core has a bent profile, the fixing means comprising at least three fixing zones distributed along said profile.

[0012] According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the or each of the reinforcements comprises one or more fixing lugs to the corresponding longitudinal structural profile and one or more fixing lugs to the corresponding wheel arch, said lugs being adjacent to the web.

[0013] According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the bent profile of the core of the reinforcement or of each of the reinforcements is configured to leave free horizontal access to a zone for fixing the corresponding wing lining to the corresponding longitudinal structural profile, in line with the fixing lug(s) to said wheel arch, so as to allow a spot welding clamp to weld said zone.

[0014] According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the fixing of the reinforcement or of each of the reinforcements to the corresponding longitudinal structural profile is on an external lateral face of said profile.

[0015] According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the core of the reinforcement or of each of the reinforcements extends in a mean plane having a horizontal inclination between a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.

[0016] According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the or each of the reinforcements extends vertically towards the front and laterally towards the outside of the vehicle.

[0017] According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the means of fixing to the core of the reinforcement or of each of the reinforcements comprise threads.

[0018] According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the or each of the reinforcements comprises the reinforcement core, said core having a generally triangular, generally planar shape, and orifices intended to receive screws of the fixing means.

[0019] According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the or each of the reinforcements is a stamped metal sheet.

[0020] The measures of the invention are interesting in that the reinforcement fixed on the stretcher to close the wheel arch is in the form of a gusset formed by two complementary parts. The first part comprises a core with tabs fixed to the stretcher and to the wheel arch. The core has a bent profile allowing free horizontal access to a zone for fixing the wheel arch corresponding to the front stretcher, and thus facilitating the passage of a welding clamp for spot welding said fixing zone during the fitting step. In this sense, the synoptic of the fitting of European vehicles to be adapted to the American protocol for low overlap front impact is therefore not modified. The second part of the reinforcement forms it is the reinforcing core of the first part on which it is screwed. The triangular shape of the second part is complementary to the first bent part which makes it possible to limit the total mass of the reinforcement / gusset but also, consequently, to limit the cost price of its assembly and therefore of the vehicles concerned.

[0021] Other features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood with the aid of the following description and drawings. Brief description of the drawings

[0022] [fig. 1] is a top view of the front part of a motor vehicle according to the invention;

[0023] [fig.2] illustrates a perspective view of an interior portion of the front part of a side of the motor vehicle of figure 1;

[0024] [fig.3] illustrates a second perspective view of an interior portion of the part front of the motor vehicle of figure 1;

[0025] [fig.4] represents a front view of the web of the gusset of the front part of the vehicle illustrated in Figure 2, before mounting the reinforcing core on this core;

[0026] [fig.5] represents a front view of the web and the reinforcing web of the gusset plate of the front part of the vehicle shown in Figure 2, when attached to each other. Detailed description

[0027] Figure 1 is a top view of the front part of a motor vehicle according to the invention. The front part of the vehicle 1 comprises on each side a longitudinal structural profile 3, also called a front stretcher 3, a wheel arch 5 fixed to the corresponding front stretcher 3, and to at least one side of the vehicle 1, a reinforcement 7 also fixed to a front stretcher 3, in front of the corresponding front wheel (not shown). In this case, in Figure 1, a reinforcement 7 is fixed to each front stretcher 3 and to each wheel arch 5 of the vehicle 1. These reinforcements 7 make it possible to close the right and left front wheel arches 5, namely the area located in front of each front wheel between the front stretcher 3 and the third transmission path, and have the role of attenuating the impact of the low-overlap frontal impact on the lateral part of the passenger compartment of the vehicle.

[0028] Figure 2 illustrates a perspective view of a portion of the front part of one side of the motor vehicle of Figure 1. In this case, Figure 2 shows more particularly an inner portion of the right front part of this vehicle 1 with a reinforcement 7. As illustrated in this Figure 2, this reinforcement 7 is in fact a stamped metal sheet, forming a gusset 7, fixed to the front stretcher 3 and to the corresponding wheel arch 5. In this case, a single gusset 7 is shown here but it is advantageously possible to have several gussets 7 at the level of this front portion. The gusset 7 itself is formed of two parts, namely a reinforcing core 11 and a core 9, with fixing means 17. The reinforcing core 11 is intended to be fixed to the core 9, which is thus partially concealed. The gusset 7 also comprises one or more fixing lugs 13 to the front stretcher 3, as well as one or more fixing lugs 15 to the wheel arch 5, said lugs 13, 15 being part of the core 9 itself. It should be noted that the attachment of the gusset 7 to the corresponding front stretcher 3 is advantageously carried out on an external lateral face of this longitudinal structural profile 3 and that it extends vertically towards the front and laterally towards the outside of the vehicle 1. Regarding the specific shape of the gusset 7, the core 9 has a bent profile and the reinforcing core 11 has a generally triangular and generally flat shape with orifices (not visible in FIG. 2) adapted to receive fixing screws 17.

[0029] Figure 3 illustrates a second perspective view of an interior portion of the front part of the vehicle of Figure 1. In this Figure 3, the gusset 7 is fixed to the outer lateral face of the left front stretcher 3 and to the wheel arch 5, which wheel arch 5 here almost entirely conceals the gusset 7.

[0030] Figure 4 shows a front view of the web of the gusset of the front part of the vehicle illustrated in Figure 2, before mounting the reinforcing web. In this case, the web 9 of the gusset 7 advantageously extends in a mean plane having a horizontal inclination between a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. It also has a bent profile configured to leave free horizontal access to a zone for fixing the wing lining corresponding to the front stretcher 3 or corresponding longitudinal structural profile 3, in line with the fixing lug(s) 13, 15 to the wheel arch 5. The configuration of the web 9 of the gusset 7 allows in particular a spot welding clamp (not shown) to be able to easily access the fixing zone of this part 9, and consequently to facilitate its welding to this zone without having to modify the synoptic of the fitting of the motor vehicle 1..

[0031] The bent profile of the core 9 of the gusset 7 further comprises fixing means (not shown in FIG. 4) comprising at least three fixing zones 19 distributed along the profile 9. In this case in FIG. 4, the curved profile of the core 9 of the gusset has three fixing zones.

[0032] Figure 5 shows a front view of the core 9 and the reinforcing core 11 of the gusset 7 of the front part of the vehicle illustrated in Figure 2, when they are fixed to each other. This reinforcing core 11 which in this case has a triangular shape, comprises means 17 for fixing to the core 9 (see Figure 4 in parallel) which are threads, such as for example fixing screws 17.

Claims

Claims

1. A motor vehicle (1) comprising: - two longitudinal structural profiles (3) extending parallel to each other forward from a passenger compartment of the vehicle (1); - two front wheel arches (5) attached to the two longitudinal structural profiles (3), respectively; - to at least one side of the vehicle (1), a reinforcement (7) attached to the corresponding longitudinal structural profile (3), in front of the corresponding front wheel; characterized in that the or each of the reinforcements (7) is a gusset (7) attached to the corresponding wheel arch (5) so as to directly connect said wheel arch (5) to the corresponding longitudinal structural profile (3), and comprising a web (9) with means for attaching a reinforcement web (11).

2. Vehicle (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the core (9) has a bent profile, the fixing means comprising at least three fixing zones (19) distributed along said profile (9).

3. Vehicle (1) according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the or each of the reinforcements (7) comprises one or more fixing lugs (13) to the corresponding longitudinal structural profile (3) and one or more fixing lugs (15) to the corresponding wheel arch (5), said lugs (13; 15) being adjacent to the core (9).

4. Vehicle (1) according to claims 2 and 3, characterized in that the bent profile of the web (9) of the reinforcement (7) or of each of the reinforcements (7) is configured to leave free horizontal access to a zone for fixing the corresponding wing lining to the corresponding longitudinal structural profile (3), in line with the fixing lug(s) (13; 15) to said wheel arch (5), so as to allow a spot welding clamp to weld said zone.

5. Vehicle (1) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the attachment of the reinforcement (7) or of each of the reinforcements (7) to the corresponding longitudinal structural profile (3) is on an external lateral face of said profile (3).

6. Vehicle (1) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the core of the reinforcement (11) or of each of the reinforcements (7) extends in a mean plane having a horizontal inclination between a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.

7. Vehicle (1) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the or each of the reinforcements (7) extends vertically towards the front and laterally towards the outside of the vehicle (1).

8. Vehicle (1) according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the means of fixing on the core (9) of the reinforcement (7) or of each of the reinforcements (7) comprise threads (17).

9. Vehicle (1) according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the or each of the reinforcements (7) comprises the reinforcement core (11), said core (11) having a generally triangular, generally planar shape, and orifices intended to receive screws of the fixing means (17).

10. Vehicle (1) according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the or each of the reinforcements (7) is a stamped metal sheet.

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