Reinforcing foot for bumper support with programmed breakage.

Abstract

The invention relates to a bumper support reinforcement (1) designed to support a bumper skin on the front of a motor vehicle, the reinforcement (1) comprising at least one foot (3b) having at least one longitudinal portion (5b) extending along a preferred axis (A), corresponding to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle when the reinforcement (1) is mounted on the front (2), the longitudinal portion (5b) being designed to bear against a bumper frame (6) equipping the front (2), each longitudinal portion (5b) comprising a programmed breaking zone (7b) designed to break during an impact sustained by the motor vehicle in order to reduce the impact of the reinforcement (1) on parts (8) of the vehicle located behind the reinforcement (1) opposite the corresponding longitudinal portion (5b). (Figure 4)

Description

Title of the invention: Reinforcement foot supporting bumper with programmed breakage.

[0001] The technical field relates to bumper support reinforcements, front faces equipped with such reinforcements and vehicles having such a front face.

[0002] In terms of road safety, car manufacturers must deal with at least three major concerns which define constraints to be taken into account when developing new vehicles.

[0003] A primary concern is ensuring the safety of vehicle occupants during a collision, particularly a high-speed collision. A second concern is ensuring the safety of other road users, especially the most vulnerable, such as pedestrians. Finally, a third concern is controlling vehicle repair costs when they sustain urban impacts, referred to as "repairability impacts," meaning impacts sustained at low speeds of approximately 15 to 20 kilometers per hour.

[0004] The behavior of motor vehicles in these three situations is regulated and tested by implementing standardized test procedures. These standardized procedures are, for example, described by the international organization Euro NCAP. The requirements for the results of these tests are constantly increasing and becoming more difficult to meet, forcing car manufacturers to innovate continuously.

[0005] The results of repairability crash tests are particularly important for insurance companies, which establish ratings for marketed vehicles to reflect the potential costs incurred during such a repairability crash. Therefore, to improve the results of repairability crash tests, it is necessary to ensure that such a crash impacts as few vehicle parts as possible. Components behind the bumper skin, such as the linkage of the electronically controlled air intake, are particularly exposed and should be protected as much as possible.

[0006] Some vehicles are equipped with a bumper support, mounted on a bumper frame, which supports the bumper skin as well as most of the equipment installed on the front bumper such as radars and / or detectors.

[0007] However, during a repairable impact, experience shows that the bumper support tends to move back towards the bumper frame and impact the elements that should be protected.

[0008] Thus, there is a need for a solution to improve the results of shock repairability procedures and in particular a solution aimed at reducing the elements impacted during a shock repairability.

[0009] The present invention aims to overcome the problems described above. In this technical context, one objective of the present invention is to provide a bumper support reinforcement with programmed breakage, thus preventing impact on the components to be protected.

[0010] To this end, the present invention relates to a bumper support reinforcement designed to support a bumper skin of a front face of a motor vehicle, the reinforcement comprising at least one foot having at least one longitudinal part extending along a preferred axis, corresponding to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle when the reinforcement is mounted on the front face, the longitudinal part being designed to be disposed in support on a bumper frame equipping the front face, each longitudinal part comprising a programmed breaking zone designed to break during a repairable impact suffered by the motor vehicle in order to reduce the impact of the reinforcement on parts of the vehicle located behind the reinforcement, opposite the corresponding longitudinal part.

[0011] The invention also relates to a front face of a motor vehicle, comprising a bumper support reinforcement according to the invention, each longitudinal part of which is arranged to rest on the bumper frame so that in the event of a repairable impact, the longitudinal part of each foot undergoes a translational movement relative to the frame along the preferred axis.

[0012] The invention also relates to a motor vehicle comprising a front face according to the invention.

[0013] Thus, the bumper support reinforcement according to the invention, in addition to its conventional function of supporting the bumper skin, features a programmed break in the event of a repairable impact, thereby reducing the impact of the impact on the parts to be repaired. In the event of a repairable impact, thanks to the breakage of each programmed break zone on each longitudinal section of each support, the impact on the surrounding parts is minimized, as some of the dissipated energy is absorbed by the programmed break zones. Furthermore, in the event of translational movement, the breakage of the programmed break zone(s) reduces the recoil of the reinforcement towards the frame.

[0014] According to one embodiment of the invention, the reinforcement comprises three feet, each having a programmed failure zone, including two lateral feet, each disposed on a lateral edge of the reinforcement and a central foot.

[0015] Advantageously, the programmed failure zone of the central foot is shaped to cause the separation of at least a part of the central foot upon its failure. Thus, in the event of translational movement, the parts arranged behind The framework, particularly fragile in the central area, is not damaged by the longitudinal part of the central foot.

[0016] Advantageously still, the programmed breaking zone of each lateral foot is shaped to cause the lateral foot to be crushed along the preferred axis.

[0017] According to one possibility, each programmed rupture zone is obtained by material restriction.

[0018] According to one possibility of the front face, the reinforcement has a break initiator blade disposed opposite at least one longitudinal part of a foot in order to be impacted by a longitudinal part of a foot during the translational movement to break the corresponding programmed break zone.

[0019] The invention will be better understood upon reading the following detailed description, given solely by way of non-limiting example and made with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0020] [Fig-1] [Fig. 1] represents a perspective view of a support reinforcement for a... shocks according to the invention;

[0021] [Fig.2] [Fig.2] represents a perspective view of the support reinforcement of [Fig.1] mounted on a frame on a front face according to the invention;

[0022] [Fig.3] [Fig.3] represents a top view of the reinforcement and the armature of the [Fig.2];

[0023] [Fig.4] [Fig.4] represents a detailed view of the central foot of the reinforcement showing its programmed rupture zone.

[0024] In these figures, the same references are used to designate the same elements.

[0025] A bumper support reinforcement 1, according to the invention and illustrated in [Fig. 1], is designed to support a bumper skin, not shown, of a front end 2 of a motor vehicle. The reinforcement 1 is also designed to support various equipment such as sensors and radars located behind the bumper skin, not shown in the figures.

[0026] The reinforcement 1 comprises at least one foot 3a, 3b, in this case two lateral feet 3b, each located on a lateral edge 4 of the reinforcement 1, and a central foot 3b. Each foot 3a, 3b has at least one respective longitudinal portion 5a, 5b extending along a preferred axis A, corresponding to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle when the reinforcement 1 is mounted on the front face 2 of the vehicle.

[0027] The reinforcement 1 is, for example, made of plastic material. Each foot 3a, 3b is made of material with a main part of the reinforcement 1 designed to support the bumper skin.

[0028] Each longitudinal part 5a, 5b is designed to be positioned to rest on a bumper frame 6 equipping the front face 2, illustrated in figures 2 and 3.

[0029] Each longitudinal section 5a, 5b has a programmed break zone 7a, 7b designed to break during an impact sustained by the motor vehicle according to the invention in order to reduce the impact of the reinforcement 1, in particular the impact of the longitudinal sections 5a, 5b on parts 8 of the vehicle located behind the reinforcement 1 opposite the corresponding longitudinal section 5a, 5b, as illustrated in [Fig. 4]. Among the fragile parts 8 that must be protected against the impact of a foot 3a, 3b, in particular against the central foot 3b, are the linkage elements 9 of a controlled air intake.

[0030] In the front face 2 according to the invention, each foot 3a, 3b is positioned in support of the bumper frame 6, in this case in housings 10a, 10b formed for this purpose and illustrated in [Fig.3]. In the event of a repairable shock suffered by the front face 2, the reinforcement 1 undergoes a recoil towards the reinforcement 6 so that each longitudinal part 5a, 5b undergoes a translational movement relative to the reinforcement 6 along the preferred axis A. In order to cause the rupture of a programmed rupture zone 7a, 7b, the reinforcement 6 advantageously includes at least one rupture initiator blade 11 arranged opposite the corresponding longitudinal part 5a, 5b so that the initiator blade 11 impacted by the longitudinal part 5a, 5b causes the rupture of the programmed rupture zone 5a, 5b during the translational movement of the foot 3a, 3b relative to the reinforcement 6.

[0031] Each programmed failure zone 7a, 7b is obtained by material restriction, for example. Thus, at least one groove 12 reducing the material thickness forming the corresponding longitudinal part 5a, 5b is provided in the programmed failure zone 7a, 7b.

[0032] As illustrated in [Fig. 4], the programmed failure zone 7b of the central foot 3b is shaped to cause the separation of at least a portion of the central foot 3b upon its failure. To this end, a plurality of grooves 12 are formed around the perimeter of the longitudinal portion 5b of the central foot 3b, at the junction between the support 1 and the longitudinal portion 5b of the central foot 3b. Finally, the free end 13 of the central foot 3b is shaped to allow the free end 13 to slide on the parts 8 to facilitate the failure of the central foot 3b in the event of an impact. To this end, the free end 13 has a beveled shape, as illustrated in [Fig. 4].

[0033] As for the lateral feet 3a, each programmed breaking zone 7a is shaped to cause the lateral foot 3a to be crushed along the preferred axis A during the translational movement. Advantageously, the width of the lateral feet 3a is chosen so that the translational movement during an impact allows the lateral feet 3a to avoid impacting the front supports, not shown, which allow the support 1 to be fixed to the front face 2 of the vehicle, in particular the upper part of the front face 2.

[0034] Thus, the reinforcement 1 allows, thanks to the rupture of each programmed rupture zone, to absorb part of the energy of a shock, repairability transmitted to the reinforcement 1 and limits the recoil of the reinforcement 1 towards the frame 6 and the parts 8 arranged behind the frame 6, during the translational movement relative to the frame 6.

[0035] The invention is not limited to the embodiment of the bumper support reinforcement described above, only by way of example, but other embodiments can be designed by a person skilled in the art without departing from the scope and extent of the present invention.

Claims

Demands

1. A bumper support (1) designed to support a bumper skin of the front end (2) of a motor vehicle, the support (1) comprising three feet (3a, 3b), including two lateral feet (3a) each disposed on a lateral edge (4) of the support (1) and a central foot (3b), each foot having at least one longitudinal portion (5a, 5b) extending along a preferred axis (A), corresponding to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle when the support (1) is mounted on the front end (2), the longitudinal portion (5a, 5b) being designed to bear against a bumper frame (6) equipping the front end (2), each longitudinal portion (5a, 5b) having a programmed break zone (7a, 7b) designed to break upon impact sustained by the motor vehicle in order to reduce the impact of the support (1) on parts (8) of the vehicle located behind the reinforcement (1), opposite the corresponding longitudinal part (5a, 5b),characterized in that the programmed failure zone (7b) of the central foot (3b) is shaped to cause the separation of at least a part of the central foot (3b) upon its failure, and in that the programmed failure zone (7a) of each lateral foot (3a) is shaped to cause the crushing of the lateral foot (3a) along the preferred axis (A).

2. Reinforcement (1) bumper support according to claim 1, characterized in that each programmed failure zone (7a, 7b) is obtained by material restriction.

3. Front face (2) of motor vehicle, comprising a bumper support reinforcement (1) according to one of claims 1 or 2, each longitudinal part (5a, 5b) of which is disposed to rest on the bumper frame (6) so that in the event of a repairable impact, the longitudinal part (5a, 5b) of each foot (3a, 3b) undergoes a translational movement relative to the frame (6) along the preferred axis (A).

4. Front face (2) according to claim 3, characterized in that the reinforcement (6) has a break initiator blade (11) disposed opposite at least one longitudinal part (5a, 5b) of a foot (3a, 3b) in order to be impacted by a longitudinal part (5a, 5b) of a foot (3a, 3b) during the translational movement to break the corresponding programmed break zone (7a, 7b).

5. Motor vehicle comprising a front face (2) according to claim 3 or 4.

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