Side panel of a motor vehicle incorporating a device to retain the window frame of a door in the event of a side collision

Abstract

The invention relates to a side panel of a motor vehicle comprising a body side and a side door hinged on the frame of a door opening formed in said body side. This side panel also comprises a retaining device (100) for the window frame of said door, including: - a strike plate (110) fixedly attached to the roof arch (13) and defining a recess; - a lock (120) comprising a main body (121) and a bolt (122) mounted to slide between, an extended position to which it is actuated by elastic return means (123) and in which it protrudes above said window frame so as to engage at least partially in said recess when the door is closed, and a retracted position in which it is contained within a housing formed in said main body (121) so as to allow the door to be opened. Figure to be published with the abbreviation: Fig. 2

Description

Title of the invention: Side panel of a motor vehicle incorporating a device for retaining the window frame of a door in the event of a side collision Technical field

[0001] The present invention relates generally to the field of protecting the occupants of a motor vehicle. It relates in particular to a side panel of a motor vehicle incorporating a device for retaining the window frame of a door in the event of a side collision. Prior art

[0002] Motor vehicles are conventionally equipped as standard with side airbags, particularly of the curtain type, intended to protect passengers in the event of a side collision with another vehicle or an obstacle such as a pole.

[0003] Generally located along the roof arches of the vehicle body structure above the front and rear side windows on each side of the vehicle, the curtain-type side airbags are configured to deploy in front of the window of a door of the vehicle, so as to protect the heads and shoulders of the passengers of the front and rear side seats located on the side of this bag.

[0004] Before being placed on the market, motor vehicles must be subjected to numerous test protocols enabling their level of passive safety to be assessed in particular.

[0005] In Europe, the Euro NCAP (for "New Car Assessment Program" in English) organization has for several years implemented a test protocol aimed at simulating a side impact with another vehicle moving substantially perpendicular to the vehicle in question.

[0006] Thus, during this test, a deformable barrier simulating a vehicle weighing 1400 kg is projected, at a speed of 60 km / h and in an orientation perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, against a lateral flank of this vehicle.

[0007] At the time of impact, the intrusion of the barrier against the box of a side door causes a bending around a substantially longitudinal axis and towards the outside of its window frame with respect to this box, so as to cause a gap between this window frame and the upper part of the frame of the reception opening of this side door arranged in the corresponding body side of the vehicle.

[0008] Due to this opening, the deployment of the side airbags of curtain-type safety devices associated with the side doors located on the side of the impact will not be able to operate correctly, due to the greater volume to be filled between the passengers' heads and the upper part of the corresponding side door.

[0009] This increase in the volume to be filled at head level will thus prevent sufficient inflation of the lower portion of these side airbags intended to protect the shoulders of these passengers, so that the latter, if not properly retained, risk hitting the internal side of the corresponding side door.

[0010] Furthermore, this non-compliant deployment of the side airbags will also cause a relatively significant flexion of the passengers' necks, which could lead to significant trauma.

[0011] In order to better protect passengers during such side impacts, the front seats are often equipped with thorax-type airbags generally housed in the external lateral part of their backrest opposite the side trim of the corresponding front side door.

[0012] In the event of a side impact, this type of airbag deploys on the external side of the seat back at the front and along at least part of this back, between the thorax of the passenger of this seat and the side trim, so as to protect the upper part of his body and in particular his shoulders.

[0013] The side seats of the rear benches, however, are unfortunately often without such thorax-type airbags. Statement of the invention

[0014] The present invention therefore aims to improve the situation.

[0015] To this end, it proposes a motor vehicle side panel comprising a body side and at least one side door mounted pivotably along a substantially vertical axis on the frame of a reception opening provided in said body side; characterized in that it also comprises a device for retaining the window frame of said door in the event of a side collision, said device comprising: - a strike plate fixedly attached to the roof arch forming the hollow upper part of said frame, and defining a sheltered recess in the interior volume of this roof arch, - a lock comprising a main body fixedly housed in the interior volume of the upper part of said window frame, as well as a bolt mounted to slide along a substantially vertical axis relative to said main body, between an extended position towards which it is urged by elastic return means and where it projects above said window frame so as to be housed at least partially in said window frame sinking when said door is closed, and a retracted position in which it is contained in a housing provided in said main body so as to allow said door to be opened.

[0016] The invention thus makes it possible to limit the outward bending movement of the window frame in the event of a side collision with another vehicle, so as to avoid any gaping between this window frame and the roof arch and to allow satisfactory deployment of the curtain-type side airbag associated with this side door.

[0017] According to preferred characteristics of said motor vehicle sidewall according to the invention: - said bolt has a retaining beak designed to be inserted, in the event of a side collision with another vehicle, into an opening made in a wall of said strike plate laterally delimiting said recess on the external side; - said retaining beak is formed by a notch made in the external lateral face of said bolt; - said lock comprises at least one cylindrical roller mounted to rotate around its longitudinal axis on the top of said bolt, so as to protrude at least partially above the latter; - a said roller is installed at the level of the internal upper edge of said bolt; - said lock comprises interface means coupled to said bolt and allowing the attachment of one end of a connecting cable connected by its other end to the manual control for opening said side door, so that the actuation of this manual control causes said bolt to move into the retracted position; - said lock also comprises a rod extending below said bolt to which it is rigidly connected and passing through the bottom of said main body at an orifice, said rod being extended at its lower end by a stop member projecting radially from the latter and designed to come to rest, in the extended position of said bolt, against the periphery of said orifice so as to prevent said bolt from becoming completely detached from said main body; - said interface means are provided on said stop member; - said bolt, said rod and said stop member are molded in a single piece from a metallic material; and / or - said elastic return means consist of a helical compression spring housed in said housing of the main body of the lock and surrounding said rod. Brief description of the drawings

[0018] The description of the invention will now be continued by the detailed description of an exemplary embodiment, given below for illustrative but non-limiting purposes, with reference to the appended drawings, in which: - [Fig.l] represents a partial view of a side panel of a motor vehicle according to the invention comprising a rear side door mounted pivotally on a frame of the body structure, said side panel being provided with a device for retaining the window frame of this door in the event of a side collision; - [Fig.2] is a sectional view along section plane II-II of [Fig.l] located at the level of the area where the retaining device is installed; - [Fig.3], [Fig.4] and [Fig.5] illustrate the behavior of the restraint device during the closing kinematics of the rear side door of the vehicle side panel of [Fig.l]; and - [Fig.6] illustrates the behavior of the device according to the invention in the event of a lateral collision of the lateral flank of the vehicle of [Fig.l] with another vehicle moving substantially perpendicular to said vehicle. Description of the embodiments

[0019] [Fig.l] represents a partial view of a lateral side 1 of a motor vehicle comprising a body side 10 and at least one rear side door 20 mounted pivotably along a substantially vertical axis on the frame of a reception opening provided in this body side 10.

[0020] We define with respect to this lateral flank 1 an orthogonal reference frame XYZ comprising three axes perpendicular two by two, namely: - an X axis, defining a longitudinal, horizontal direction, parallel to the ground and coincident with the general direction of movement of the vehicle - a Y axis, defining a transverse, horizontal direction, also parallel to the ground and which with the X axis defines a horizontal XY plane, and - a Z axis, defining a vertical direction, perpendicular to the ground as well as to the horizontal XY plane.

[0021] In the remainder of the description and with reference to the reference defined above, the terms “longitudinal” or “longitudinally” will refer to a direction parallel to the X axis, the terms “transverse” or “transversely” will refer to a direction parallel to the Y axis, and the terms “vertical” or “vertically” will refer to a direction parallel to the Z axis.

[0022] On the other hand and by convention, the terms "lower", "upper", "front" and "rear" will be understood in relation to the general orientation of the vehicle. The terms "lower" and "low" will indicate a greater proximity to the ground in the vertical direction than the terms "upper" or "high". The term "front" will indicate a positioning oriented towards the front of a vehicle in the horizontal direction and the term "rear" will indicate a positioning oriented towards the rear of a vehicle in the same horizontal direction.

[0023] The terms "external" and "internal" will be used to define the relative position of an element with reference to the median vertical longitudinal plane of the vehicle. The element closest to this plane will thus be described as internal as opposed to the other element further from this same plane which will be described as external.

[0024] Finally, the use of the term "substantially" will indicate that a slight deviation is permitted from a predetermined nominal position or arrangement, while remaining within the scope of the invention. For example, "substantially vertical" will indicate that a deviation of the order of 10° to 20° from a strictly vertical orientation is permitted within the scope of the invention.

[0025] With reference to this [Fig. 1], the body side 10 has an opening of a shape complementary to that of the side door 20, this opening being delimited by a frame defined by a center pillar 11 forming its front lateral part, a rear pillar 12 forming its rear lateral part, a roof arch 13 forming its upper part, and a lateral side member 14 forming its lower part.

[0026] The rear side door 20 conventionally comprises a metal structure constituted by the assembly, generally by folding and crimping their respective edges, of an outer skin made of sheet metal and an inner lining also made of sheet metal.

[0027] This outer skin and this lining delimit, on the one hand, a window frame 21 forming the upper part of the side door 20, and on the other hand, a box 22 located below this window frame 21 and forming its lower part.

[0028] The rear side door 20 is movable between a closed position in which it closes the opening ([Fig.l]) and an open position, not shown, allowing access to the interior of the vehicle through this opening.

[0029] As illustrated by [Fig.2], the lateral side of the motor vehicle 1 also comprises a retaining device 100 according to the invention provided to rigidly secure the window frame 21 to the roof arch 13 when this side door 20 occupies its closed position, so as to avoid any risk of this window frame 21 and this roof arch 13 being slightly opened in the event of a lateral collision with another vehicle moving in a direction substantially perpendicular to the vehicle.

[0030] This locking device 100 consists of a striker 110 secured to the hollow roof arch 13, as well as a lock 120 secured to the hollow upper part 21A of the window frame 21 of the side door 20.

[0031] With reference to figures 2 and 3, the latch 110, advantageously produced by em- stamping, folding and / or cutting of a sheet of metal sheet, is fixedly attached from below against the periphery of a first cutout di defined in the substantially horizontal lower wall 13Aa of the external envelope 13A of the roof arch 13.

[0032] This external envelope 13A of the roof arch 13 being generally constituted by a thin sheet of metal, the striker 110 is also fixed advantageously and for better mechanical strength to the lower wall 13Ba of the roof arch reinforcement 13B extending substantially horizontally above the lower wall 13Aa of the external envelope 13A.

[0033] The fixing of this striker 110 to the external casing 13A and to the reinforcement 13B of the roof arch 13 is thus advantageously carried out by bolting through three thicknesses of sheet metal as illustrated schematically by the broken lines Tb

[0034] The strike plate 110 defines a recess with a rectangular section R housed in the interior volume of the roof arch 13, this recess R being delimited in the upper part by a roof 111, laterally on the internal side by an internal side wall 112 and laterally on the external side by an external side wall 113.

[0035] The recess R advantageously passes through the lower wall 13Ba of the roof arch reinforcement 13B at the level of a second cutout d2 of corresponding shape made in the latter.

[0036] The lock 120 comprises a main body 121 housed in the interior volume of the hollow upper part 21A of the window frame 21 and fixedly attached from below (advantageously by bolting as illustrated schematically by the broken lines T2) against the substantially horizontal top wall 21Aa of this upper part 21A, belonging in this case to the interior lining of this side door 20.

[0037] This lock 120 also comprises a bolt 122, in this case of substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, mounted to slide along a substantially vertical axis C relative to the main body 121, between: - an extended position (figures 2, 3, 5 and 6) towards which it is urged by elastic return means 123 and where it projects at least partially above the window frame 21 by passing through a third cutout 21 Ab made in the top wall 21Aa of this upper part 21 A, and; - a retracted position ([Fig.4]) in which it is contained in a housing 121A provided in the main body 121.

[0038] The lock 120 further comprises a rod 124 extending below the bolt 122 to which it is rigidly connected and passing through the bottom of the main body 121 at the level of an orifice 121B (see [Fig.4]).

[0039] Advantageously centered on the sliding axis C, this rod 124 is extended, at its lower end opposite the bolt 122, by a stop member 125 projecting radially from the latter and designed to come to rest, in the extended position of the bolt 122, against the periphery of the orifice 121B so as to prevent this bolt 122 from becoming completely detached from the main body 121.

[0040] This stop member 125 is also provided with interface means represented schematically by the element 125A and allowing the attachment of one end of a connecting cable connected by its other end to the manual control for opening the side door 20 (the latter being conventionally constituted by a handle), so that the actuation of this manual control causes the bolt 122 to move into the retracted position in order to allow the opening of this side door 20.

[0041] For reasons of cost and simplicity of manufacture, the bolt 122, the rod 124 and the stop member 125 are made in a single piece by injection in a metallic material.

[0042] The elastic return means are advantageously constituted by a metallic helical compression spring 123 housed in the housing 121A and surrounding the rod 124.

[0043] When closing the door 20 and as illustrated by [Fig. 3], the upper internal edge of the bolt 122, moving relative to the roof arch 13 in a substantially transverse direction indicated by the arrow F, will come into contact with the lower external chamfered edge 13Ab of the external casing 13A of the roof arch 13, which will cause it to move progressively in a sliding manner and against the spring 123 towards its retracted position.

[0044] The continuation of this closing movement will then cause the top of the bolt 122 to slide against the lower wall 13Aa of this external casing 13A ([Fig.4]), until this bolt 122 arrives, when the side door 20 reaches its closing position, opposite the recess R of the strike plate 110. This bolt 122 then automatically returns to its extended position by being housed at least partially in this recess R ([Fig.5]).

[0045] When the manual control for opening the side door 20 is actuated, the bolt 122 is driven into the retracted position by the connecting cable connecting it to this control, so as to authorize the opening of this side door 20.

[0046] In order to limit the risks of scratching and / or chipping of the paint of the external casing 13 due to the friction exerted between the latter and the top of the bolt 122 when closing the side door 20, the lock 120 advantageously comprises at least one cylindrical roller 127 mounted to rotate about its longitudinal axis on the top of the bolt 122 so as to protrude at least partially above the latter.

[0047] This cylindrical roller 127 is advantageously located at the level of the edge su internal upper edge of this bolt 122 in order to primarily limit friction with the chamfered external lower edge 13Ab of the external casing 13A of the roof arch 13 constituting the most visible area of ​​the contact surface with the bolt 122.

[0048] According to embodiment variants not shown, the positioning and / or the number of roller(s) such as 127 may vary.

[0049] For example, it may be possible to provide a second cylindrical roller such as 127 located at the level of the external upper edge of the bolt 122 in order to also limit friction with the external periphery of the recess R of the strike plate 110.

[0050] In the event of a side collision with another vehicle and as illustrated by [Fig. 6], the window frame 21 will tend to flex outwards with respect to the box 22 of the side door 20. The abutment cooperation between the bolt 122 and the striker 110 will however limit this outward flexing movement of the window frame 21 so as to avoid any gap between this window frame 21 and the roof arch 13.

[0051] In order to ensure that the bolt 122 cannot be extracted outside the recess R of the strike plate 110 during such a lateral collision, this bolt 122 advantageously has a retaining beak 128 designed to be inserted, when the window frame 21 begins to flex outwards with respect to the box 22, into an opening 113A formed in the external lateral wall 113 of the strike plate 110.

[0052] This retaining beak 128 is in this case formed by a notch e with a C-shaped profile made in the external lateral face of the bolt 122 (see [Fig.3]).

[0053] Numerous variants are conceivable and it is recalled in this regard that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described and shown, but also encompasses all the variants of execution within the reach of those skilled in the art.

[0054] The invention can thus be implemented to prevent the window frame of a front side door from being slightly open and the roof arch forming the upper part of the frame of the reception opening of this door.

Claims

Claims

1. Side panel of a motor vehicle (1) comprising a body side (10) and at least one side door (20) mounted pivotably along a substantially vertical axis on the frame of a reception opening provided in said body side (10); characterized in that it also comprises a retaining device (100) for the window frame (21) of said door (20) in the event of a side collision, said device (100) comprising: - a striker (110) fixedly attached to the hollow roof arch (13) forming the upper part of said frame, and defining a recess (R) housed in the interior volume of this roof arch (13), - a lock (120) comprising a main body (121) fixedly housed in the interior volume of the hollow upper part (21 A) of said window frame (21), as well as a bolt (122) mounted to slide along a substantially vertical axis relative to said main body (121),between an extended position towards which it is urged by elastic return means (123) and where it projects above said window frame (21) so as to be housed at least partially in said recess (R) when said door (20) is closed, and a retracted position in which it is contained in a housing (121A) provided in said main body (121) so as to allow said door (20) to be opened.,

2. Side panel (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said bolt (122) has a retaining beak (128) designed to be inserted, in the event of a lateral collision with another vehicle, into an opening (113A) formed in a wall (113) of said strike plate (110) laterally delimiting said recess (R) on the external side.

3. Lateral flank (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that said retaining beak (128) is formed by a notch (e) formed in the external lateral face of said bolt (122).

4. Lateral flank (1) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said lock (120) comprises at least one cylindrical roller (127) mounted to rotate around its longitudinal axis on the top of said bolt (122), so as to project at least partially above the latter.

5. Lateral flank (1) according to claim 4, characterized in that a said roller (127) is located at the level of the internal upper edge of said bolt (122).

6. Side panel (1) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said lock (120) comprises interface means (125A) coupled to said bolt (122) and allowing the attachment of one end of a connecting cable connected by its other end to the manual control for opening said side door (20), so that the actuation of this manual control causes said bolt (122) to move into the retracted position.

7. Side flank (1) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said lock (120) also comprises a rod (124) extending below said bolt (122) to which it is rigidly connected and passing through the bottom of said main body (121) at an orifice (121B), said rod (124) being extended at its lower end by a stop member (125) projecting radially from the latter and designed to come to rest, in the extended position of said bolt (122), against the periphery of said orifice (121B) so as to prevent said bolt (122) from becoming completely detached from said main body (121).

8. Lateral flank (1) according to claims 6 and 7, characterized in that said interface means (125A) are provided on said stop member (125).

9. Lateral flank (1) according to one of claims 7 or 8, characterized in that said bolt (122), said rod (124) and said stop member (125) are molded in a single piece from a metallic material.

10. Lateral flank (1) according to one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that said elastic return means are constituted by a helical compression spring (123) housed in said housing (121A) of the main body (121) of the lock (120) and surrounding said rod (124).

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