Multi-part bumper support.

Abstract

The invention relates to a lower bumper frame (1), a central element (3) intended to form a central part of the support, and an upper frame (4). The invention also relates to a bumper support intended to be mounted on the front of a vehicle, the support comprising, on the one hand, the lower frame (1) attached to the central element (3) by means of the first interface (7) and first complementary interface (8), the support further comprising, on the one hand, the upper frame (4) attached to the central element (3) by means of the second interface (8) and second complementary interface (15), the support being designed to break by separating the central element (3) from the lower frame (1) and / or the upper frame (4) in the event of a pedestrian impact. (Figure 1)

Description

Title of the invention: Multi-part bumper support.

[0001] The technical field relates to bumper frames, vehicle front ends comprising such a frame and vehicles having such a front end.

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

[0003] Firstly, vehicles must ensure the safety of passengers in the event of a collision regardless of speed. Furthermore, car manufacturers must strive to control the repair costs of vehicles when they undergo urban impacts, known as repairable impacts, i.e. impacts sustained at low speeds of around 15 to 20 kilometres per hour.

[0004] Finally, a third concern is to ensure the safety of other road users, particularly the most vulnerable such as pedestrians. Thus, manufacturers seek to minimize the risks of injury and trauma inflicted on a pedestrian in the event of a collision with a vehicle, particularly to the pedestrian's legs.

[0005] The behavior of motor vehicles in these three situations is regulated and tested by implementing standardized test procedures. The requirements in terms of results in these tests are increasingly numerous and more difficult to meet, forcing automobile manufacturers to constantly innovate.

[0006] Standardized procedures are, for example, described by the international organization Euro NCAP.

[0007] In this context, some vehicles are equipped with a bumper frame to support an outer bumper skin. Bumper frames must, by nature, provide a certain rigidity to combat unwanted vibrations, aerodynamic deformations or to resist repairable impacts. In addition, the behavior of the vehicle in the event of a pedestrian impact is largely determined by the bumper frame, which must be sufficiently flexible to move back into the engine compartment in the event of an impact with a pedestrian.

[0008] With modern vehicles, especially electric vehicles, radiator grilles become unnecessary and can be removed to be replaced, for example, by a central light. Such a central light, however, has the disadvantage of being more rigid and more bulky than the radiator grille it replaces, thus making the radiator grille much too rigid, and therefore likely to cause injuries in the event of impact with a pedestrian.

[0009] 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 solution allowing a front face to be equipped with a central element such as a central light, making it possible to obtain good results in standardized procedures and in particular procedures aimed at simulating an impact with a pedestrian.

[0010] For this purpose, the present invention relates to a lower bumper frame designed to equip a front face of a motor vehicle and to form a bumper support with a central element, intended to form a central part of the support, and an upper frame, the lower frame being designed to be fixed in support on a shock absorption system of the front face, the lower frame comprising a first fixing interface designed to allow fixing to a first complementary interface of the central element.

[0011] The invention also relates to an upper bumper frame designed to equip a front face of a motor vehicle and to form with a central element and a lower frame according to the invention a bumper support, the upper frame being designed to be fixed to an upper cross member of the front face, the upper frame having a second fixing interface designed to allow the fixing of the upper frame to a second complementary interface of the central element, the upper frame being without support on the shock absorption system.

[0012] The invention also relates to a central element designed to equip a front face of a motor vehicle and to form a bumper support with a lower frame according to the invention and an upper frame according to the invention, the central element comprising a first complementary, frangible fixing interface, designed to allow the fixing of the central element to the lower frame and a second complementary fixing interface designed to allow the fixing of the central element to the upper frame.

[0013] The invention further relates to a bumper support intended to be mounted on a front face of a vehicle, the support comprising, on the one hand, a lower frame according to the invention fixed to a central element according to the invention by means of the first interface and first complementary interface, the support further comprising an upper frame according to the invention fixed to the central element by means of the second interface and second complementary interface, the support being designed to break by separating the central element from the lower frame and / or the upper frame in the event of a pedestrian impact.

[0014] The invention also relates to a front face of a motor vehicle comprising a bumper support according to the invention, the lower frame being fixed to a shock absorption system of the vehicle and the upper frame being fixed to an upper cross member of the front face.

[0015] The invention finally relates to a motor vehicle having a front face according to the invention.

[0016] Thus, the lower grille and the upper grille make it possible to form a bumper support incorporating a central element such as a particularly rigid central light. The bumper support, in several parts, makes it possible to obtain a support whose central element is capable of moving back into the engine compartment in the event of a pedestrian impact to accompany the pedestrian thanks to the flexibility of the upper and lower frames. Thus, the front face according to the invention, without a grille, offers the possibility of obtaining a vehicle having a central headlight, for example, which does not degrade the behavior of the vehicle in the various impact procedures and in particular in the event of a pedestrian impact.

[0017] According to one embodiment of the invention, the second fixing interface comprises at least one frangible zone designed to separate the second interface from the upper frame, when the bumper support is mounted on the front face and the front face is subjected to a pedestrian impact.

[0018] Advantageously, the frangible zone comprises at least one restriction in material thickness.

[0019] According to one possibility of the central element, the first and second complementary interfaces each comprise at least one fixing tab projecting from the central element.

[0020] According to one embodiment of the central element, it comprises a luminous surface making it possible to create a luminous signature.

[0021] The invention will be better understood on reading the detailed description which follows, given solely by way of non-limiting example and made with reference to the appended drawings in which:

[0022] [Fig-1] [Fig.l] represents a perspective and bottom view of the elements constituting a bumper support according to the invention;

[0023] [Fig.2] [Fig.2] represents a side view of the bumper support formed from the elements of [Fig.l];

[0024] [Fig.3] [Fig.3] represents a perspective view of the central element of the bumper support of [Fig.2];

[0025] [Fig.4] [Fig.4] represents a perspective view of the lower frame assembled on the central element of [Fig.3];

[0026] [Fig.5] [Fig.5] represents a perspective view of the upper frame assembled on the central element of [Fig.3];

[0027] [Fig.6] [Fig.6] represents a detailed view of the second fixing interface of the upper frame cooperating with the second complementary fixing interface of the central element of [Fig.3];

[0028] In these figures, the same references are used to designate the same elements.

[0029] A lower bumper frame 1 according to the invention, illustrated in the figures, is designed to equip a front face of a motor vehicle, not illustrated, and to form a bumper support 2 with a central element 3, intended to form a central part of the support 2, and an upper frame 4, illustrated in the figures. The lower frame 1 is designed to be fixed in support on a shock absorption system 5, illustrated in [Fig.2], of the front face while the upper frame 4 is designed to be fixed on an upper cross member, not illustrated, of the front face. The lower frame 1 and the upper frame 4 are, for example, obtained by molding plastic materials. The lower 1 and upper 4 frames advantageously have a respective structure designed to guarantee the support 2 a flexibility suitable for giving the front face adequate behavior in the event of a pedestrian impact.

[0030] As illustrated in [Fig. 4], the lower frame 1 comprises a plurality of feet 6 each designed to allow the lower frame 1 to be fixed to the shock absorption system 5. The lower frame 1 is designed to extend across the front face, in a transverse direction of the vehicle, and to extend vertically over a lower portion of the front face. The lower frame 1 also comprises a first fixing interface 7 designed to allow fixing to a first complementary interface 8 of the central element 3. In the example illustrated in the figures, in particular [Fig. 4], the first fixing interface 7 forms at least one groove 9, each designed to receive a fixing lug 10a, forming part of the first complementary interface 8 and illustrated in [Fig. 3]. Each groove 9 comprises an orifice 11 allowing the fixing of a fixing lug 10a.

[0031] As illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 5, the upper bumper frame 4 is not supported on the shock absorption system 5. The upper frame 4 has a plate 12 intended to cover an upper part of the engine compartment of the vehicle as well as fixing studs 13, projecting from the plate 12, designed to secure the upper frame 4 to the upper crossmember. The upper frame 4 further has a second fixing interface 14 designed to allow the upper frame 4 to be fixed to a second complementary interface 15 of the central element 3. The second fixing interface 14, illustrated in particular in [Fig. 6], has a plurality of fixing locations 16 sized to each accommodate a fixing lug 10b projecting from the central element 3 and forming part of the second complementary interface 15.

[0032] As illustrated in [Fig.6], the second fixing interface 14 comprises at least one frangible zone 17 designed to separate the second interface 14 from the upper frame 4, when the bumper support 2 is mounted on the front face and the front face is subjected to a pedestrian impact. Each frangible zone 17 is produced, for example, by a restriction in the thickness of the material or a partial cutting of the material forming the upper frame 4. The frangible zones 17 delimit a plate 18 on which the fixing lug 10b is fixed. Thus, in the event of an impact suffered by the front face, at least one of the frangible zones 17 is broken, separating the plate 18 and the fixing lug 10b from the upper frame 4.

[0033] The central element 3 comprises a luminous surface 19 and makes it possible, for example, to obtain a luminous signature on the front face. The central element 3 comprises the first complementary fixing interface 8 as well as the second complementary fixing interface 15. The first complementary interface 8 is frangible, for example thanks to a material restriction, to make it possible to separate the central element 3 from the lower interface 1.

[0034] As illustrated in [Fig. 3], the fixing lugs 10a, forming the first complementary interface 8, project from the central element 3 in a direction corresponding to the vertical axis of the front face in the support 2 installed on the front face. The fixing lugs 10b, for their part, extend in the support 2 in a direction corresponding to the longitudinal axis of the front face, when the support 2 is mounted on the front face.

[0035] As illustrated in [Fig.2], the support 2, intended to be mounted on the front face of the vehicle, is designed to break by separating the central element 3 from the lower frame 1 and / or the upper frame 4 in the event of a pedestrian impact.

[0036] In the front face, the bumper support 2 is fixed to the shock absorption system 5 via the lower frame 1 and to an upper cross member of the front face via the upper frame 4. The front face also comprises a bumper skin, not shown, mounted to bear on the bumper support 2 and thus covering the upper 4 and lower 1 frames. In certain cases, the central element 3 completes the bumper skin and forms a visible part of the front face, replacing, for example, the bumper grilles.

[0037] Thus, the lower grille 1 and the upper grille 4 make it possible to form a bumper support 2 integrating the particularly rigid central element 3. The bumper support 2, in several parts, makes it possible to obtain a support 2 whose central element 3 is capable of moving back into the engine compartment in the event of a pedestrian impact to accompany the pedestrian thanks to the flexibility of the upper 4 and lower 1 frames. Thus, the front face according to the invention, without a grille, offers the possibility of obtaining a vehicle having a central headlight, for example, which does not degrade the behavior of the vehicle in the various impact procedures and in particular in the event of a pedestrian impact.

[0038] The invention is not limited to the embodiments of the upper frame, the lower frame or the central element described above, only by way of example, but other embodiments can be designed by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and scope of the present invention.

Claims

Claims

1. Lower bumper frame (1) designed to equip a front face of a motor vehicle and to form a bumper support (2) with a central element (3), intended to form a central part of the support (2), and an upper frame (4), the lower frame (1) being designed to be fixed in support on a shock absorption system (5) of the front face, the lower frame (1) comprising a first fixing interface (7) designed to allow fixing to a first complementary interface (8) of the central element (3).

2. Upper bumper frame (4) designed to equip a front face of a motor vehicle and to form with a central element (3) and a lower frame (1) according to claim 1 a bumper support (2), the upper frame (4) being designed to be fixed to an upper cross member of the front face, the upper frame (4) having a second fixing interface (14) designed to allow the fixing of the upper frame (4) to a second complementary interface (15) of the central element (3), the upper frame (4) being without support on the shock absorption system (5).

3. Upper bumper frame (4) according to claim 2, characterized in that the second fixing interface (14) comprises at least one frangible zone (17) designed to separate the second interface (14) from the upper frame (4), when the bumper support (2) is mounted on the front face and the front face undergoes a pedestrian impact.

4. Upper frame (4) according to claim 3, characterized in that the frangible zone (17) comprises at least one restriction in material thickness.

5. Central element (3) designed to equip a front face of a motor vehicle and to form a bumper support (2) with a lower frame (1) according to claim 1 and an upper frame (4) according to one of claims 2 to 4, the central element (3) comprising a first complementary, frangible fixing interface (8), designed to allow the central element (3) to be fixed to the lower frame (1) and a second complementary fixing interface (15) designed to allow the central element (3) to be fixed to the upper frame (4).

6. Central element (3) according to claim 5, characterized in that the first (8) and second (15) complementary interfaces each comprise at least one fixing lug (10a, 10b) projecting from the central element (3).

7. Central element (3) according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that it comprises a luminous surface (19) making it possible to create a luminous signature.

8. Bumper support (2) intended to be mounted on a front face of a vehicle, the support comprising, on the one hand, a lower frame (1) according to claim 1 fixed to a central element (3) according to one of claims 5 to 7 by means of the first interface (7) and first complementary interface (8), the support (2) further comprising an upper frame (4) according to one of claims 2 to 4 fixed to the central element (3) by means of the second interface (14) and second complementary interface (15), the support (2) being designed to break by separating the central element (3) from the lower frame (1) and / or from the upper frame (4) in the event of a pedestrian impact.

9. Front end of a motor vehicle comprising a bumper support (2) according to claim 8, the lower frame (1) being fixed to a shock absorption system (5) of the vehicle and the upper frame (4) being fixed to an upper cross member of the front end.

10. Motor vehicle having a front end according to claim 9.

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