Deformable fluid conveying device for a land vehicle in case of impact
A fluid conveying device with a rigid skeleton and deformable side walls addresses the challenge of meeting pedestrian safety regulations by ensuring both structural integrity and impact energy absorption through controlled deformation.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- FR2022000642
- Authority / Receiving Office
- FR · FR
- Patent Type
- Patents
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2022-01-25
- Publication Date
- 2025-12-26
- Estimated Expiration
- 2042-01-25
AI Technical Summary
Existing fluid conveying devices in land vehicles, particularly those near areas likely to be struck by pedestrians, face challenges in meeting stringent pedestrian safety regulations due to the need for both rigidity and deformability while maintaining a sealed path, as through holes or perforations are not applicable.
A fluid conveying device with a skeleton made of a first rigid material and side walls of a second, less rigid material, featuring weakening zones to allow controlled deformation upon impact, ensuring both structural integrity and safety.
The device maintains rigidity for weight support and shape integrity without impact, while providing sufficient deformability to absorb impact energy and enhance pedestrian safety.
Smart Images
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Abstract
Description
Title of the invention: DEVICE FOR CONVEYING DEFORMABLE FLUID IN CASE OF IMPACT, FOR A LAND VEHICLE Technical field of the invention
[0001] The invention relates to land vehicles, and more specifically to certain fluid conveying devices intended to be fitted to land vehicles in an area likely to be struck by a pedestrian. State of the art
[0002] Certain land vehicles, generally automobiles, include an area that may be struck by a pedestrian and in which is installed at least one fluid conveying device comprising a conveying element having an inlet face adapted to receive a fluid (gas or liquid) and an outlet face adapted to deliver this fluid. In what precedes and follows, the word "conveying" means enabling a fluid to move from the inlet face, located at one point (referred to as upstream), to the outlet face, located at another point (referred to as downstream), while being guided in a sealed manner.
[0003] For example, this area may be located near a front upper crossmember (or beam) situated under the front hood, forming part of a vehicle's front end, and to which one or more fluid conveying devices are fixedly attached. In this case, each fluid conveying device may, for example, be intended to supply fluid to at least one piece of vehicle equipment, such as a radiator or an internal combustion engine.
[0004] Collision regulations concerning land vehicles, and in particular motor vehicles, are becoming increasingly stringent for equipment or devices located in an area likely to be struck by a pedestrian, in order to enhance pedestrian safety. It should be noted that these regulations apply both to equipment or devices considered technical because they perform at least one technical function in the vehicle, and to equipment or devices that contribute to the vehicle's style.
[0005] Some of these regulations require that the equipment or device in question compress or deform upon impact with a part of a pedestrian (such as the leg or head), if possible by absorbing some of the impact energy. This is all the more necessary when the environment surrounding the equipment or device is more rigid, and therefore necessitates the design of equipment or devices that must be sufficiently rigid to maintain their shape in the absence of an impact and sufficiently deformable in the presence of an impact.
[0006] A solution has been proposed to impart a deformation capacity to certain equipment or technical devices. This involves defining through holes or perforations that weaken them locally. However, such a solution is inapplicable in the case of a fluid conveying device, since the latter must remain perfectly sealed from its inlet face to its outlet face, and must generally follow a well-defined and therefore also restrictive path.
[0007] The invention therefore aims in particular to improve the situation in order to increase the protection of pedestrians. Presentation of the invention
[0008] In particular, it proposes for this purpose a fluid conveying device, intended to equip a land vehicle in an area which is likely to be struck by a pedestrian, and comprising a conveying part having an inlet face suitable for receiving a fluid and an outlet face suitable for delivering this fluid.
[0009] This fluid conveying device is characterized in that its conveying part comprises:
[0010] - a skeleton made of a first rigid material and comprising first and second end sections, respectively defining the inlet and outlet faces and connected to each other by an intermediate section, and at least one weakening zone designed to allow deformation of the conveyor part when the latter is struck by a pedestrian, and
[0011] - side walls made of a second material and fixedly attached to the skeleton in a fluid-tight manner in order to participate with the intermediate part in conveying the fluid between the first and second end parts.
[0012] Thus, the rigidity of the skeleton allows the conveyor part to be sufficiently rigid to support its weight while maintaining its general shape in the absence of shock and to have resistant fixing interfaces, and the second material and each weakening zone allow the conveyor part to be sufficiently deformable during a shock with a pedestrian to enhance the latter's safety.
[0013] The fluid conveying device according to the invention may include other features which may be taken separately or in combination, and in particular:
[0014] - at least one of the first and second end parts may comprise a area of weakening;
[0015] - in the presence of the first option, the first end part may have a general frame shape intended to be installed in the vehicle in a substantially horizontal foreground, and may include a first weakening zone allowing deformation in this foreground;
[0016] - also in the presence of the first option, the second end part may have a general frame shape intended to be installed in the vehicle in a second substantially vertical plane, and may include a second weakening zone allowing deformation in this second plane;
[0017] - each weakening zone can be defined by a local reduction in thickness of material;
[0018] - the intermediate part of the skeleton may comprise two lateral sub-parts parallel to each other and joining each of the edges of the first and second end parts. In this case, the conveying part may include, on the one hand, a first side wall fixedly and hermetically attached to the first edges of these lateral sub-parts and to the first and second end parts, and, on the other hand, a second side wall fixedly and hermetically attached to the second edges of the lateral sub-parts, opposite the first edges, and to the first and second end parts;
[0019] - the first material can be polypropylene (or PP);
[0020] - the second material can be ethylene-propylene (or EPDM).
[0021] The invention also proposes a land vehicle, possibly of the automobile type, comprising an area which is likely to be struck by a pedestrian and which includes at least one fluid conveying device of the type presented above.
[0022] For example, this land vehicle may include a front facade comprising a front upper cross member to which each fluid conveying device is fixedly attached. Brief description of the figures
[0023] Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from an examination of the detailed description below, and the accompanying drawings (obtained using CAD / CAM (“Computer-Aided Design / Computer-Aided Manufacturing”)), in which:
[0024] [Fig-1] schematically illustrates, in a perspective view from the front side, a example of the upper front crossmember of a front panel of a land vehicle to which two different embodiments of a fluid conveying device according to the invention are fixedly attached,
[0025] [Fig.2] schematically illustrates, in a perspective view from the front side, the first fluid conveying device of [Fig.1], before its attachment to the front upper cross member,
[0026] [Fig.3] schematically illustrates, in a perspective view from the front side, the elements constituting the first fluid conveying device of [Fig.2], before they are assembled together, and
[0027] [Fig.4] schematically illustrates, in a cross-sectional view in a longitudinal plane and vertical, the first fluid conveying device of the [Fig.2]. Detailed description of the invention
[0028] The invention aims in particular to provide a deformable DCm fluid conveying device intended to equip a land vehicle in an area likely to be hit by a pedestrian.
[0029] In what follows, it is considered, by way of non-limiting example, that each fluid conveying device DCm is intended to be fixedly attached to a front upper crossmember TS of the front end of a land vehicle. This front upper crossmember TS is intended to be installed transversely in the vehicle (i.e., along the transverse direction Y). However, the invention is not limited to this application. Indeed, a fluid conveying device DCm according to the invention can be installed in any area of a land vehicle that is likely to be struck by a pedestrian.
[0030] Furthermore, in the following, by way of non-limiting example, each DCm fluid conveying device is considered to be designed to convey a gas (and more specifically, air). For example, each DCm fluid conveying device can supply air to a radiator or an internal combustion engine of a land vehicle. But a DCm fluid conveying device can also convey a liquid.
[0031] Furthermore, in the following, by way of non-limiting example, the land vehicle is considered to be of the automobile type. For example, a car. However, the invention is not limited to this type of land vehicle. It relates, in fact, to any land vehicle comprising at least one area likely to be struck by a pedestrian.
[0032] In figures 1 to 4, the X direction is the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, which is parallel to the side sides including the side doors, the Y direction is the transverse direction of the vehicle, which is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction X, and the Z direction is the vertical direction of the vehicle, which is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction X and the transverse direction Y.
[0033] Figure 1 schematically illustrates an example of a front upper crossmember TS intended to form part of the front end of a land vehicle and to which two different embodiments of a fluid conveying device DCm (m = 1 or 2) according to the invention are fixedly attached. It should be noted that such a front upper crossmember TS also generally serves as an anchor point for a front bumper (or shield) of the land vehicle.
[0034] As illustrated in Figures 1 to 4, a fluid conveying device DCm, according to the invention, comprises at least one conveying part PC intended to equip a land vehicle in an area that is likely to be struck by a pedestrian (here under the front hood). The shape of the PC conveyor part depends in particular on the well-defined path it must follow in the land vehicle and / or the fluid it must convey and / or the equipment to which it must be coupled.
[0035] As illustrated in figures 1 to 3, the conveyor part PC comprises a skeleton SQ, side walls PLj, and at least one weakening zone ZAk suitable for allowing its deformation when it is struck by a pedestrian.
[0036] The skeleton SQ is made of a first rigid material and comprises first PE1 and second PE2 end parts, opposed to each other, and an intermediate part PI.
[0037] The first end portion PE1 of the skeleton SQ defines an inlet face FE which is suitable for receiving a fluid (here air). It defines here a fixing interface for securing to equipment of the land vehicle (although this is not mandatory).
[0038] The second end portion PE2 of the skeleton SQ defines an outlet face FS which is designed to deliver the fluid that has entered through the inlet face FE. It defines here another attachment interface for securing to another piece of equipment on the land vehicle (although this is not mandatory).
[0039] The intermediate part PI of the skeleton SQ connects the first PE1 and second PE2 end parts.
[0040] The side walls PLj are made of a second material, different from the first material (and preferably less rigid), and are fixedly attached to the skeleton SQ in a fluid-tight manner in order to participate, along with the intermediate part PI, in conveying the fluid between the first PE1 and second PE2 end sections. It should be noted that here, "side wall PLj" is understood to mean a continuously solid element so as to define an internal surface over which air can flow.
[0041] It will be understood that each weakening zone ZAk cannot be a through hole (or perforation) or a set of through holes (or perforations), since the conveying part PC ensures a sealed conveying of the fluid between its inlet face FE and outlet face FS. For example, and as illustrated, but not limited to, in [Fig. 4], each weakening zone ZAk can be defined by a local reduction in the material thickness. In other words, each weakening zone ZAk constitutes here an area of lesser thickness that promotes deformation or breakage.
[0042] Thanks to the invention, the rigidity of the SQ skeleton (resulting from its first material) allows the PC conveyor part to be sufficiently rigid to support its weight while maintaining its general shape in the absence of impact and to have strong fastening interfaces, and the second material and each weakening zone ZAk allow the PC conveyor part to be sufficiently deformable upon impact with a pedestrian to enhance the latter's safety. This is particularly advantageous when the environment of the DCm fluid conveying device is rigid, as this can allow for the absorption of some of the shock energy.
[0043] Furthermore, the same first material (or even the same skeleton SQ) can now be used for different land vehicle models, or different variations of the same land vehicle model, and the second material and / or the shape of the side walls PLj can potentially be varied according to crash regulations and / or the environment of the fluid conveying device DCm. For example, if the second material is deemed too flexible or too rigid for a land vehicle model or a variation thereof, its rigidity can be adjusted accordingly. The variation in rigidity (or flexibility) of the second material can result from the type of second material used and / or its thickness.
[0044] For example, the first material can be polypropylene (or PP).
[0045] Also, for example, the second material can be ethylene-propylene (or EPDM).
[0046] Also, for example, and as illustrated non-limitingly in Figures 1 to 4, at least one of the first PE1 and second PE2 end parts may include a weakening zone ZAk.
[0047] It is important to note that the extent of a weakening zone ZAk can vary, and that its location can also vary. This depends on the desired outcome of an impact, and even on the intensity of the impact. For example, a weakening zone ZAk may allow for local (and possibly partial) deformation during a low-intensity impact and local (and possibly partial) breakage during a high-intensity impact.
[0048] In the example illustrated, but not limited to, Figures 1 to 4, the first end portion PE1 has a general frame shape intended to be installed in the vehicle in a substantially horizontal first plane. The inlet face FE is therefore substantially horizontal once the conveying device DCm is installed in the vehicle. Here, "substantially horizontal" means parallel to the horizontal plane XY at + / - 10°.
[0049] Furthermore, the first end portion PE1 includes a first weakening zone ZA1 (k = 1) which allows deformation in this first plane. Thus, in the event of a pedestrian impact on the front end of the vehicle, and therefore at least partially along the longitudinal direction X, the conveyor part PC will deform along the longitudinal direction X (or even break in the first plane) at the level of its first end portion PE1, and possibly at the level of at least one lateral portion PLj.
[0050] It should be noted that in the example illustrated, but not limited to, in Figures 1 to 4, the first attenuation zone ZA1 covers the entire circumference (in the foreground) of the first frame, which constitutes the first end part PE1. However, in an alternative embodiment not shown, the first attenuation zone ZA1 could extend over one or more sub-parts of this circumference.
[0051] In the example illustrated, but not limited to, in Figures 1 to 4, the second end portion PE2 has a general frame shape intended to be installed in the vehicle in a substantially vertical second plane. The exit face FS is therefore substantially vertical and transverse once the conveying device DCm is installed in the vehicle. "Substantially vertical" here means being parallel to the vertical plane YZ at + / - 10°.
[0052] Furthermore, the second end portion PE2 includes a second weakening zone ZA2 (k = 2) which allows deformation in this second plane. Thus, in the event of a pedestrian impacting the part of the vehicle's front hood located above the conveyor PC, and therefore at least partially along the vertical direction Z, the conveyor PC will deform along the vertical direction Z (or even break in the second plane) at the level of its second end portion PE2, and possibly at the level of at least one lateral portion PLj.
[0053] It should be noted that in the example illustrated, but not limited to, in Figures 1 to 4, the second attenuation zone ZA2 covers the entire circumference (in the second plane) of the second frame, which constitutes the second end part PE2. However, in an alternative embodiment not shown, the second attenuation zone ZA2 could extend over one or more sub-parts of this circumference.
[0054] But in unillustrated embodiments, only the first end part PE1 could include a first attenuation zone ZA1, or only the second end part PE2 could include a second attenuation zone ZA2, or only the intermediate part PI could include an attenuation zone ZAk, or at least one of the first PE1 and second PE2 end parts could include an attenuation zone ZAk and the intermediate part PI could also include an attenuation zone ZAk.
[0055] Also, for example, and as illustrated without limitation in Figures 1 to 3, the intermediate part PI may comprise two parallel lateral sub-parts SPn (n = 1 or 2), each joining edges BPn of the first PE1 and second PE2 end parts. More precisely, the first lateral sub-part SP1 (n = 1) provides the rigid connection between the first edges BPn of the first PE1 and second PE2 end parts, here located on a left side, and the second lateral sub-part SP2 (n = 2) provides the rigid connection between the second edges BP2 of the first PE1 and second PE2 end parts, here located on a right side.
[0056] Furthermore, the conveyor PC comprises first PLI (j = 1) and second PL2 (j = 2) side walls. The first side wall PLI is fixedly and securely attached to first edges BS1 of the side sub-parts SPn and to the first PE1 and second PE2 end parts. The second side wall PL2 is fixedly and securely attached to second edges BS2 of the side sub-parts SPn, opposite the first edges BS1, and to the first PE1 and second PE2 end parts.
[0057] Here, each of the two lateral sub-parts SPn generally extends in a substantially vertical and longitudinal plane once the conveying device DCm is installed in the vehicle. "Substantially vertical and longitudinal" is understood here to mean parallel to the vertical and longitudinal plane XZ at + / - 10°. Consequently, each first edge BS1 is an upper edge to which a lower lateral edge of the first side wall PLI (referred to as the upper wall) is fixedly and securely attached, and each second edge BS2 is a lower edge to which an upper lateral edge of the second side wall PL2 (referred to as the lower wall) is fixedly and securely attached.
[0058] It should also be noted that each conveyor PC can be produced by a two-stage injection molding technique in at least one mold adapted for this purpose. For example, a first injection of the first material into a first sub-part of the mold produces the skeleton SQ, and a second injection of the second material into at least a second sub-part of the mold produces the lateral parts PLj, the latter (PLj) then being fixedly and hermetically sealed to the skeleton SQ by overmolding. However, in an alternative embodiment, each conveyor PC could consist of a skeleton SQ and lateral parts PLj attached in a hermetically sealed manner to the skeleton SQ, for example by bonding or welding.
Claims
Demands
1. Fluid conveying device (DCm) intended to equip a land vehicle in an area likely to be struck by a pedestrian and comprising a conveying part (PC) having an inlet face (FE) adapted to receive a fluid and an outlet face (FS) adapted to deliver this fluid, said conveying part (PC) comprising i) a skeleton (SQ) made of a first rigid material and comprising first (PE1) and second (PE2) end parts, respectively delimiting said inlet (FE) and outlet (FS) faces and connected to each other by an intermediate part (PI), and at least one weakening zone (ZAk) adapted to allow its deformation when struck by a pedestrian,and ii) side walls (PLj) made of a second material and fixedly attached to said skeleton (SQ) in a fluid-tight manner in order to participate with said intermediate part (PI) in the conveyance of said fluid between said first (PE1) and second (PE2) end parts characterized in that said intermediate part (PI) comprises two parallel lateral sub-parts (SPn) joining each other edges (BPn) of said first (PE1) and second (PE2) end parts, and in that said conveying part (PC) comprises i) a first side wall (PLI) fixedly and hermetically attached to first edges (BS1) of said lateral sub-parts (SPn) and to said first (PE1) and second (PE2) end parts, and ii) a second side wall (PL2) fixedly and hermetically attached to second edges (BS2) of said lateral sub-parts (SPn), opposite to the aforementioned first edges (BS1),and to the said first (PE1) and second (PE2) end parts.
2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one of said first (PE1) and second (PE2) end parts comprises a weakening zone (ZAk).
3. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that said first end part (PE1) has a general frame shape intended to be installed in said vehicle in a substantially horizontal first plane, and includes a first weakening zone (ZA1) allowing deformation in this first plane.
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9. Device according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that said second end part (PE2) has a general frame shape intended to be installed in said vehicle in a second substantially vertical plane, and includes a second weakening zone (ZA2) allowing deformation in this second plane. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that each weakening zone (ZAk) is defined by a local reduction in material thickness. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said first material is polypropylene. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said second material is ethylene-propylene. Land vehicle comprising an area likely to be struck by a pedestrian, characterized in that it further comprises in said area at least one fluid conveying device (DCm) according to one of the preceding claims. Land vehicle according to claim 8, characterized in that it comprises a front facade having a front upper cross member (TS) to which each fluid conveying device (DCm) is fixedly attached.