Under protector

Abstract

We provide an under protector with high load-bearing capacity. [Solution] An under protector 1 made of an aluminum alloy extruded material comprising a rear flange 31, a collision surface flange 32, an upper web 41, a lower web 42, and an intermediate web 43, wherein at least one web is arranged such that the surface of the web, from the joint position with the rear flange to the joint position with the collision surface flange, has an upward slope.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an under protector mounted on a vehicle.

Background Art

[0002] An under protector (intrusion prevention device) is mounted on large vehicles such as trucks to prevent a collided passenger car or the like from getting under the large vehicle.

[0003] The under protector is required to have a load-bearing performance for preventing intrusion during a collision, and is also required to be lightweight for increasing the loading capacity and improving the fuel efficiency.

[0004] In Patent Document 1, an under protector is proposed which can achieve a predetermined impact load while reducing the weight by making the thickness of the uppermost web thicker than the thickness of the web below it and suppressing the deformation of the uppermost web.

[0005] In Patent Document 2, an under protector is proposed which can efficiently improve the rigidity while suppressing an increase in weight by making the plate thickness on the vehicle body frame side of the web thicker.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0007] The underprotectors proposed in references 1 and 2 consist of vertically positioned flanges and horizontally positioned webs, and are designed to perform against loads acting horizontally on the underprotector.

[0008] However, in reality, because the underprotector is installed low on the vehicle body, when colliding with a taller vehicle, the load acting on the underprotector is often from diagonally above.

[0009] Conventional underprotectors sometimes failed to perform adequately against loads coming from an oblique angle above.

[0010] The objective of the present invention is to provide an under protector with high load-bearing capacity. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] To solve the above problems, the present invention comprises the following means.

[0012] [1] An under protector made of an aluminum alloy extruded material, The device comprises a rear flange erected on the vehicle side, a collision surface flange erected at a distance from the rear flange, an upper web connecting the upper part of the rear flange and the collision surface flange, a lower web connecting the lower part of the rear flange and the collision surface flange, and an intermediate web connecting the rear flange and the collision surface flange at a height between the upper web and the lower web. An under protector characterized in that at least one of the upper web, the intermediate web, and the lower web is arranged such that the surface of the web, extending from the joint position with the rear flange to the joint position with the impact surface flange, is inclined upward.

[0013] [2] The under protector according to item 1 above, wherein the angle of inclination of the upward slope is 1 to 5 degrees.

[0014] [3] The upper web and the lower web are arranged horizontally, and the intermediate web is arranged such that the surface formed by the intermediate web from the joining position with the rear flange toward the joining position with the collision surface flange has an upward inclination. The under protector according to the preceding item 1 or 2.

Effect of the Invention

[0015] According to the under protector of the preceding item [1], since at least one web is arranged to have an upward inclination from the rear flange side toward the collision surface flange side, the web is less likely to buckle against a load acting obliquely upward with respect to the collision surface flange, and can exhibit high load-bearing performance.

[0016] According to the under protector of the preceding item [2], since the inclination angle of the upward inclination is set to 1 to 5 degrees, high load-bearing performance can be exhibited corresponding to the angle of the load that often acts on the under protector in practice.

[0017] According to the under protector of the preceding item [3], since the upper web and the lower web are arranged horizontally and the intermediate web is arranged to have an upward inclination, the side sectional shape of the under protector becomes substantially rectangular, and excellent mountability and appearance can be obtained.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0018] [Figure 1] It is a side sectional view showing an under protector according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] It is a side view showing the mounting position relationship of the under protector to a vehicle. [Figure 3] It is a plan view showing the mounting position relationship of the under protector to a vehicle.

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0019] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0020] Figure 1 is a side sectional view of an under protector according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a side view showing the mounting position relationship of the under protector to a vehicle, and Figure 3 is a plan view thereof.

[0021] The under protector 1 is mainly mounted on large vehicles such as trucks, and prevents a collided passenger car or the like from getting under the large vehicle.

[0022] As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the under protector 1 is attached so as to be positioned downward with respect to the vehicle body frame 20 by brackets 2, 2 at two locations on the left and right in the vehicle width direction.

[0023] The under protector 1 according to the present invention is applicable to both a rear under protector attached to the rear of the vehicle body and a front under protector attached to the front of the vehicle body.

[0024] As appears in the side sectional view of Figure 1, the under protector 1 according to this embodiment has a substantially rectangular outer shape.

[0025] The under protector 1 is required to be lightweight as well as having load-bearing performance. For this reason, the under protector 1 according to this embodiment is formed of an extruded material of a lightweight aluminum alloy.

[0026] As the material of the aluminum alloy, general 6000 series or 7000 series can be adopted.

[0027] The under protector 1 according to this embodiment, as shown in the side cross-sectional shape of Figure 1, comprises a rear flange 31 erected on the vehicle side, a collision surface flange 32 erected at a distance from the rear flange, an upper web 41 connecting the upper part of the rear flange 31 and the upper part of the collision surface flange 32, a lower web 42 connecting the lower part of the rear flange 31 and the collision surface flange 32, and an intermediate web 42 connecting the rear flange 31 and the collision surface flange 32 at a height position between the upper web 41 and the lower web 42.

[0028] In this embodiment, the under protector 1 is attached to the killer whale frame 20 by brackets 2, 2 such that the rear flange 31 is vertical.

[0029] The rear flange 31 and the impact surface flange 32 have the same length (height) and are arranged parallel to each other. Therefore, the impact surface flange is also vertical.

[0030] At least one of the upper web 41, intermediate web 43, and lower web 42 is positioned such that the surface L formed by the web, from the joint position with the rear flange 31 toward the joint position with the collision surface flange 32, is inclined upward.

[0031] In this embodiment, the upper web 41 and the lower web 42 are positioned horizontally and perpendicular to the rear flange 31 and the impact surface flange 32.

[0032] Furthermore, the intermediate web 43 is positioned to have the aforementioned upward inclination, and the intermediate web 43 is not perpendicular to the rear flange 31 and the collision surface flange 32, but rather inclined upward from the rear flange 31 side toward the collision surface flange 32 side.

[0033] Because the under protector 1 is installed at a low position on the vehicle body, in the event of a collision with a vehicle with a higher ride height, a load F acting on the under protector 1 is often applied from diagonally above.

[0034] The under protector 1 according to this embodiment has an intermediate web 43 that is arranged to slope upward from the rear flange 31 side toward the collision surface flange 32 side. As a result, the intermediate web 43 is less likely to buckle under load F acting on the collision surface flange 32 from diagonally above, and can exhibit high load-bearing performance.

[0035] The inclination angle θ of this upward slope is preferably between 1 and 5 degrees.

[0036] This inclination angle is the angle relative to the ground H when the under protector 1 is attached to the vehicle.

[0037] Before the under protector 1 is attached to the vehicle, the rear flange 31 attached to the vehicle body is assumed to be a vertical plane, and the angle it makes with a plane perpendicular to this rear flange 31 is defined as the angle of the upward incline.

[0038] Since the angle of load that actually acts on the under protector is often between 1 and 5 degrees, setting the inclination angle of the upward slope of the intermediate web 43 to 1 to 5 degrees allows it to withstand loads at these angles and exhibit high load-bearing capacity.

[0039] Furthermore, since the upper web 41 and lower web 42 are arranged horizontally and the intermediate web 43 is arranged to create an upward slope, the side cross-sectional shape of the outer shape of the under protector 1 becomes approximately rectangular, resulting in excellent mounting and appearance.

[0040] In the above embodiment, an example was shown in which the intermediate web 43 is a web that slopes upward from the rear flange 31 side toward the collision surface flange 32 side. However, it is sufficient that at least one of the upper web, intermediate web, and lower web is such a web with an upward slope, and the upward-sloping web may be only one of these three webs, all three webs, or any two of them.

[0041] Furthermore, although the above embodiment shows an example where the outside of the under protector 1 is flat, it may also have outward protrusions.

[0042] Furthermore, although the above embodiment shows an example where the outer shape of the under protector 1 is approximately rectangular, the angle between the flange and the web does not have to be 90 degrees. [Examples]

[0043] Under Protector 1 was manufactured using an aluminum alloy.

[0044] The material used was an aluminum alloy consisting of Si: 1.05 mass%, Fe: 0.20 mass%, Cu: 0.40 mass%, Mg: 0.75 mass%, Ti: 0.04 mass%, Zr: 0.15 mass%, other impurities, and aluminum.

[0045] A billet with a circular cross-section and a diameter of 370 mm was produced from this alloy by continuous casting. The obtained billet was subjected to a homogenization treatment at 570°C for 9 hours. After that, the billet was reheated to 500°C and hot extruded. A die quenching process was performed on the high-temperature material immediately after extrusion to obtain as-extruded material. The obtained as-extruded material was subjected to artificial aging treatment at 180°C for 6 hours to obtain extruded material.

[0046] The cross-sectional shape of the extruded material was set to a height of 150 mm and a width (depth) of 125 mm.

[0047] In the example, the intermediate web was made into an upward-sloping web, and its slope angle was as shown in Table 1. In the comparative example, all webs were horizontal.

[0048] Using the obtained extruded material, a simulation was conducted to simulate a load applied to the collision surface flange from an oblique angle of 3 degrees, and the maximum load at which buckling would occur at any point was determined. The results are shown in Table 1.

[0049] [Table 1]

[0050] The evaluation criteria were as follows: loads of 130kN or more were judged as OK, and loads below 130kN were judged as NG.

[0051] By making one of the webs of the present invention slope upward from the rear flange 31 side toward the impact surface flange 32 side, it can be seen that, compared to a comparative example in which all webs are horizontal, a high load-bearing capacity against loads from diagonally upward is obtained. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0052] 1 Under Protector 2 brackets 20 Body frame 31 Rear flange 32 Impact surface flange 41 Top web 42 Bottom web 43 Intermediate Web

Claims

1. An under protector made of aluminum alloy extruded material, The device comprises a rear flange erected on the vehicle side, a collision surface flange erected at a distance from the rear flange, an upper web connecting the upper part of the rear flange and the collision surface flange, a lower web connecting the lower part of the rear flange and the collision surface flange, and an intermediate web connecting the rear flange and the collision surface flange at a height between the upper web and the lower web. An under protector characterized in that at least one of the upper web, the intermediate web, and the lower web is arranged such that the surface of the web, extending from the joint position with the rear flange to the joint position with the impact surface flange, is inclined upward.

2. The under protector according to claim 1, wherein the angle of inclination of the aforementioned upward slope is 1 to 5 degrees.

3. The under protector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the upper web and the lower web are arranged horizontally, and the intermediate web is arranged such that the surface formed by the intermediate web from the joint position with the rear flange to the joint position with the collision surface flange is inclined upward.

Images