Simplified assembly bumper and shock absorber kit

Abstract

The invention relates to a bumper (1) and lower shock absorber (2) assembly, the bumper (1) having a skirt (11) positioned in the lower part of the bumper (1), the lower shock absorber (2) and the skirt (11) having fastening means (3) adapted to secure the lower shock absorber (2) to the skirt (11), such that the fastening means (3) include pre-holding means (4) for temporarily holding the lower shock absorber (2) in position relative to the skirt (11) in order to secure the fastening means (3). Figure for the abstract: Fig. 1

Description

Title of the invention: Simplified assembly bumper and shock absorber

[0001] The present invention relates to a bumper and lower shock absorber assembly allowing for simplified assembly.

[0002] Such a bumper includes a skirt positioned in the lower part of the bumper, with the lower shock absorber which is secured inside the skirt with fastening means which are adapted to allow isostatic mounting, which is both faster and safer.

[0003] It is known to have to assemble an element such as a shock absorber inside a part of a bumper, such assembly generally being done blindly and requiring both holding the two parts against each other and putting in place means of fixing by aligning the two parts as best as possible.

[0004] Such an assembly poses problems of wasted time when the two parts are difficult to position opposite each other and problems of quality when the alignment of the parts is not ideal.

[0005] The device according to the invention makes it possible to remedy these drawbacks.

[0006] It comprises, according to the invention, a bumper and lower shock absorber assembly, the bumper comprising a skirt positioned in the lower part of the bumper, said assembly comprising suitable fastening means for securing the lower shock absorber to the skirt, such that said assembly comprises pre-holding means for temporarily holding the lower shock absorber in position to the skirt in order to fix the fastening means.

[0007] According to a first feature of the invention, the fastening means comprise at least one screw or rivet which is positioned in a fastening opening of the skirt and in a tapped hole or in a corresponding fastening opening of the lower shock absorber.

[0008] According to a second feature of the invention, the skirt has a greater length which extends along the transverse axis of the vehicle when said assembly is in mounting position on said vehicle, at least the skirt fixing opening of the fixing means has an oblong shape of greater length which extends along the greater length of the skirt.

[0009] According to a third feature of the invention, the pre-holding means comprise at least one pin adapted to penetrate into a corresponding pre-holding opening.

[0010] The presence of this pin for pre-holding allows the operator to hear and perceive by a slight vibration the moment when the pin enters the corresponding pre-holding opening, allowing him to know for sure that the lower shock absorber is well positioned inside the skirt, allowing the fastening means to be fixed.

[0011] The assembly has a greater length which extends along the transverse axis of the vehicle when said assembly is in the mounting position on the vehicle,

[0012] According to a fourth feature of the invention, said pre-holding opening which corresponds to said at least one pin has an oblong shape which extends along the transverse axis of the assembly or which extends perpendicularly to said transverse axis.

[0013] According to a fifth feature of the invention, the assembly comprises at least one first pin and a corresponding first pre-holding opening which are positioned in a central position of the assembly along said transverse axis of the vehicle and two second pins and two corresponding second pre-holding openings which are positioned on either side of said first pin and corresponding first pre-holding opening, with the three pre-holding openings which correspond to the three pins which have an oblong shape.

[0014] According to a sixth feature of the invention, the first corresponding pre-holding opening has an oblong shape of greater length which extends perpendicularly to the transverse axis of the vehicle and the two second corresponding pre-holding openings also have an oblong shape, of greater length which extends along the transverse axis of said vehicle.

[0015] According to a preferred embodiment, at least one pin is integral with the lower shock absorber and the corresponding pre-holding opening is formed in the skirt.

[0016] The present invention also relates to a vehicle which includes such a bumper and lower shock absorber assembly, with at least one of the preceding characteristics.

[0017] The attached drawings illustrate the invention:

[0018] [Fig-1] represents a perspective view of an assembly consisting of a bumper skirt and a lower shock absorber during the assembly operation of this assembly.

[0019] [Fig.2] represents a bottom view of the assembly after assembly.

[0020] [Fig.3] represents a detailed view of the means for fixing the assembly.

[0021] With reference to these drawings, an assembly is shown comprising a bumper 1 and a lower shock absorber 2, the bumper 1 comprising a skirt 11 positioned in the lower part of the bumper 1 which comprises means for fixing 3 allowing the lower shock absorber 2 to be secured against the inner wall of the skirt 11.

[0022] Figure [Fig.1] shows the skirt 11 of the bumper 1 during assembly with the lower shock absorber 2 in a mounting direction Dm.

[0023] The assembly includes pre-holding means 4 which allow the lower shock absorber 2 to be temporarily held in position to the skirt 11 so that rivets 31 can be fixed to permanently secure the assembly.

[0024] As particularly visible in [Fig.2], the rivets 31 are positioned in fastening openings 12 of the skirt 11 and in corresponding fastening openings 21 of the lower shock absorber 2.

[0025] To facilitate the positioning of the rivets 31, the fixing openings 12 of the skirt 11 have an oblong shape, with the greatest length of the oblong shape extending along the transverse axis of the vehicle when the assembly is in the mounting position on the vehicle.

[0026] The pre-holding means 4 comprise pins 41 which are formed near each of the corresponding fixing openings 21 of the lower shock absorber 2 and each pin 41 is adapted to penetrate into one of the pre-holding openings 13 which are formed near each of the fixing openings 12 of the skirt 11.

[0027] In [Fig.3] a first pin 41.1 and a corresponding first pre-holding opening 13.1 are shown in the center, positioned in a central position of the skirt 11 and the lower shock absorber 2, on each side are shown two second pins 41.2 and two corresponding second pre-holding openings 13.2 positioned on either side of the first pin 41.1 and the corresponding first pre-holding opening 13.1.

[0028] The three corresponding pre-holding openings 13 are oblong in shape, with the first corresponding pre-holding opening 13.1 having a longer oblong shape extending perpendicularly to the transverse axis of the vehicle and the two second corresponding pre-holding openings 13.2 having a longer oblong shape extending along the transverse axis of the vehicle.

[0029] The first pin 41.1 allows the lower shock absorber 2 to be centered along the transverse axis of the vehicle with respect to the skirt 11, the two second pins 41.2 allow the lower shock absorber 2 to be centered along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle with respect to the skirt 11.

[0030] The lower shock absorber 2 thus has an isostatic positioning relative to the skirt 11, and this with a number of oblong openings facilitating the assembly of rivets 31 which no longer poses alignment problems for the operator when putting the rivets in position.

[0031] The presence of these pins for pre-holding allows the operator to hear and perceive, by a slight vibration, the moment when the pins enter the corresponding pre-holding openings, allowing him to know for sure that the lower shock absorber is correctly positioned inside the skirt, allowing him to then fix the fastening means simply and without risking an alignment error between the lower shock absorber and the bumper skirt.

Claims

Demands

1. Bumper assembly (1) and lower shock absorber (2), the bumper (1) having a skirt (11) positioned in the lower part of the bumper (1), said assembly having fastening means (3) adapted to secure the lower shock absorber (2) to the skirt (11), said assembly also having pre-holding means (4) for temporarily holding the lower shock absorber (2) in position to the skirt (11) in order to secure the fastening means (3), the pre-holding means (4) having at least one pin (41) adapted to enter into a corresponding pre-holding opening (13), the assembly having a greater length extending along the transverse axis of the vehicle when said assembly is in the mounting position on said vehicle, characterized in that it has at least one first pin (41.1) and a first corresponding pre-holding opening (13).1) which are positioned in a central position of the assembly, along said transverse axis of the vehicle, the two second pins (41.2) and the two corresponding second pre-holding openings (13.2) are positioned on either side of said first pin (41.1) and the corresponding first pre-holding opening (13.1), with the three corresponding pre-holding openings (13) of said three pins (41) having an oblong shape, and in that the corresponding first pre-holding opening (13.1) has an oblong shape of greater length which extends perpendicularly to the transverse axis of the vehicle and the two corresponding second pre-holding openings (13.2) also have an oblong shape, of greater length which extends along the transverse axis of said vehicle.

2. Assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the fastening means (3) comprise at least one screw or rivet (31) which is positioned in a fastening opening (12) of the skirt (11) and in a corresponding tapped hole or fastening opening (21) of the lower shock absorber (2).

3. Assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that the skirt (11) has a greater length extending along the transverse axis of the vehicle when said assembly is in the mounting position on said vehicle, at least the fastening opening (12) of the skirt (11) of the fastening means (3) has an oblong shape of greater length which extends along the greater length of the skirt (11).

4. Assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one pin (41) is integral with the lower shock absorber (2) and the corresponding pre-holding opening (13) is formed in the skirt (11).

5. Vehicle comprising a bumper assembly (1) and lower shock absorber (2) according to any one of the preceding claims.