Motor vehicle bumper with stiffened trim attachment area

Abstract

The present invention relates to a bumper wall (4) for a motor vehicle (2), forming two attachment areas (8) for a corresponding wheel arch trim (6), each attachment area having openings (14) intended to receive clips (6.2) of the wheel arch trim, characterised in that at least two of the openings are each arranged at the bottom of a depression of the bumper wall forming a box (12) projecting from an inner face (8.1) of the bumper wall, pairs of parallel ribs (16) connecting the boxes on the inner face of the bumper wall.

Description

[0001] DESCRIPTION

[0002] TITLE: MOTOR VEHICLE BUMPER WITH A RIGIDIFIED HUB CAP ATTACHMENT AREA

[0003] Technical field

[0004] The present invention claims priority from French application 2310293 filed on September 27, 2023, the content of which (text, drawings and claims) is incorporated herein by reference.

[0005] The present invention relates to the field of motor vehicles, more particularly the field of motor vehicle bumpers.

[0006] Prior art

[0007] On many vehicles equipped with wheel arch trims, car manufacturers encounter difficulties in assembling said trims with the bumper wall, including in particular difficulties linked to their clipping onto the corresponding fixing area caused by the flexibility of the bumper wall.

[0008] Indeed, in order for an assembly technician to have a feeling of clipping the trim onto the bumper wall, it is necessary that the fixing area on which the trim is mounted offers resistance when the latter is put in place by pressing. However, this is not the case for a fixing area opposite a bumper wall which tends to be very flexible.

[0009] To this end, many motor vehicles come off the assembly lines with poorly assembled hubcaps, which results in cosmetic defects and non-compliant motor vehicle assemblies.

[0010] The published patent document FR 3 126 391 A1 discloses a hubcap receiving area stiffened in line with a bodywork element, said area comprising an external face provided with coupling hollows distributed in first sub-areas which are connected to each other by second sub-areas providing a channel for evacuating the liquid which can accumulate in the first sub-areas, in order to avoid an acceleration of the aging of the bodywork element by corrosion. However, the solution proposed by the document has room for improvement, because it does not allow effective stiffening of the hubcap receiving area, in particular when it is presented in line with a lateral edge of a flexible bumper wall.

[0011] Statement of the invention

[0012] The present invention aims to overcome at least one of the drawbacks of the aforementioned state of the art. More particularly, the invention aims to propose a simple, efficient and economical solution for stiffening fixing zones with a corresponding wheel arch trim, in line with a bumper wall of a motor vehicle.

[0013] To this end, the invention relates to a bumper wall for a motor vehicle, forming two fixing zones for a corresponding wheel arch trim, each fixing zone having orifices intended to receive clips of the wheel arch trim, remarkable in that at least two of said orifices are arranged, each, at the bottom of a depression in the bumper wall forming a box projecting on an inner face of said bumper wall, pairs of parallel ribs connecting said boxes on the inner face of the bumper wall.

[0014] Preferably, the inner face corresponds to an inner lateral face of a lateral edge of the bumper wall.

[0015] According to one embodiment, the at least two orifices are arranged in a staggered pattern on the inner face, relative to a curved median axis corresponding to a curvature of a distal edge of the corresponding trim.

[0016] According to one embodiment, at least one of said at least two orifices being spaced from the curved median axis by at least 2 mm.

[0017] According to one embodiment, the ribs extend vertically from the inner face, and are spaced approximately 5 mm apart from each other.

[0018] According to one embodiment, each box is obtained by deformation of the bumper wall at the level of the corresponding fixing zone. According to one embodiment, each box has between the corresponding orifice and an external lateral face of said bumper wall, a depth of between 8 and 30 mm.

[0019] According to one embodiment, each box comprises a thickness equal to that of said bumper wall.

[0020] According to one embodiment, the at least two orifices comprising between 5 and 10 orifices per fixing zone

[0021] According to one embodiment, each orifice at the bottom of the corresponding box comprises an area corresponding to at most 80% of a total area of ​​said corresponding bottom.

[0022] The invention also relates to a motor vehicle comprising a bumper wall comprising two lateral fixing zones each having orifices receiving clips of a wheel arch trim, remarkable in that the bumper wall is according to the invention.

[0023] The measures of the invention are advantageous in that the arrangement of the orifices at the bottom of boxes directly formed with the bumper wall makes it possible to guarantee local stiffening of said orifices.

[0024] The fixing area is further stiffened by means of pairs of ribs connecting the boxes together, thus presenting a common stiffness of the boxes, which makes it possible to give more nerve to the entire fixing area so as to ensure proper mounting of the trim on the bumper wall.

[0025] In addition, proper installation is also achieved thanks to the staggered arrangement of the holes on the inner surface, which allows for an enlarged attachment area on the bumper wall.

[0026] Brief description of the drawings

[0027] [Fig 1] represents a perspective view of a bumper wall according to the invention, forming a fixing zone for a corresponding wheel arch trim;

[0028] [Fig 2] represents a perspective view of an inner face of the bumper wall of figure 1, at the right angle of the fixing zone; [Fig 3] represents a sectional view along an axis AA passing through orifices arranged at the bottom of boxes projecting from the inner face of the fixing zone of figure 3;

[0029] [Fig 4] represents an enlarged perspective view of the inner face of the fixing area, showing two neighboring boxes connected by a portion of parallel ribs;

[0030] [Fig 5] shows a perspective view of the inner face of the fixing area, in which the holes receive clips from the corresponding wheel arch trim.

[0031] Detailed description

[0032] Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a bumper wall 4 of a motor vehicle 2 according to the invention, as well as a wheel arch trim 6 comprising a distal edge 6.1 intended to engage by clipping with a corresponding fixing zone 8 arranged at a lateral edge 4.1 of said bumper wall 4.

[0033] The arrow visible in Figure 1 illustrates the direction of engagement of the hubcap 6 with the fixing zone 8, preferably, such engagement is carried out manually during the assembly of the motor vehicle 2.

[0034] The present invention proposes a solution for stiffening the attachment zone 8 in order to provide sufficient rigidity to the bumper wall 4, so as to obtain a compliant clip-on assembly. In this respect, the bumper wall 4 comprises an inner face (visible in FIG. 2) at the level of the attachment zone 8, which comprises orifices intended to receive clips of the trim 6, said orifices being formed and arranged in a particularly advantageous manner which will be explained later in this description.

[0035] With reference to Figure 2, the inner face 8.1 at the right of the fixing zone 8 advantageously comprises boxes 12 extending projecting from said inner face 8.1, and the orifices 14 intended to receive the clips of the trim, are arranged at the right of a bottom 12.1 of the corresponding box 12. Preferably, each orifice 14 comprises an area corresponding to at most 80% of a total area of ​​the corresponding bottom 12.1, said bottom 12.1 preferably having a substantially rectangular shape.

[0036] Each box 12 being preferably formed by a depression in the bumper wall 4, said depression corresponding more preferably to a deformation of said bumper wall 4 at the level of the fixing zone 8.

[0037] In this configuration, and with reference to figures 2 and 3, each box 12 has between the corresponding orifice 14 and an external lateral face 8.2 of the bumper wall 4, a depth p which can vary between 8 and 30 mm.

[0038] For example, the upper box 12 at the top of figure 3, includes a depth p equal to 10 mm, while the lower one includes a depth of 20 mm.

[0039] Advantageously, the boxes 12 make it possible to locally stiffen the engagement of the clips of the trim with the orifices 14, and this without increasing the weight of the bumper wall 4. In fact, each box 12 has a thickness e corresponding to a constant thickness of the bumper wall 4, this being preferably equal to 3 mm.

[0040] The local stiffening provided by the boxes 12 corresponds to a first level of stiffening of the fixing zone 8, the latter further comprises a second level of stiffening provided by a network of ribs 16 connecting the boxes 12 together.

[0041] The ribs 16 extend vertically from the inner face 8.1 over approximately 10 mm (±5 mm), and make it possible to connect two neighboring boxes 12, the latter being advantageously connected by a pair of ribs 16, each of which is separated from each other by a distance a equal to approximately 5 mm. Such a configuration makes it possible to guarantee a common stiffness of the boxes 12, and thus give more strength to the entire fixing zone 8.

[0042] Advantageously, the orifices 14 are arranged in a staggered pattern on the inner face 8.1, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4, and this with respect to a curved median axis C corresponding to a curvature of the distal edge of the corresponding trim. The curved median axis C may pass through at least one orifice 14 and / or be distant from said at least one orifice 14. More preferably, a portion of the orifices 14 is spaced at least 2 mm and at most 10 mm from the curved median axis C.

[0043] The staggered arrangement of the orifices 14 makes it possible to widen the fixing zone 8 by distributing the two levels of stiffening (the boxes 12 as well as their connections 16) over a substantial width of the lateral edge 4.1 of the bumper wall.

[0044] Figure 5 shows a perspective view of the inner face 8.1 with the holes 14 receiving clips 6.2 of the corresponding wheel arch trim 16.

[0045] Preferably, the fixing zone 8 comprises between 5 and 10 orifices 14, and the distal edge 6.1 of the trim 6 comprises the same number of clips 6.2 as orifices 14. Said clips 6.2 project and have a height equal to the depth of the corresponding box 12.

[0046] Advantageously, and thanks to the stiffening of the fixing zone 8, the bumper wall 4 will resist the fitter pressing the trim 6 against the bumper wall when the clips 6.2 engage with the orifices 14, the latter will have an impression of stiffness. Consequently, the fixing zone 8 will avoid sinking, which makes it possible to obtain good clipping and proper assembly of the trim 6 on the bumper of the motor vehicle 2.

Claims

CLAIMS [Claim 1.] Bumper wall (4) for a motor vehicle (2), forming two fixing zones (8) for a corresponding wheel arch trim (6), each fixing zone (8) having orifices (14) intended to receive clips (6.2) of the wheel arch trim (6), characterized in that at least two of said orifices (14) are arranged, each, at the bottom (12.1) of a depression in the bumper wall (4) forming a box (12) projecting on an inner face (8.1) of said bumper wall (4), pairs of parallel ribs (16) connecting said boxes (12) on the inner face (8.1) of the bumper wall (4). [Claim 2.] Bumper wall (4) according to claim 1, wherein the at least two orifices (14) are arranged in a staggered pattern on the inner face (8.1), relative to a curved median axis (C) corresponding to a curvature of a distal edge (6.1) of the corresponding trim (6). [Claim 3.] Bumper wall (4) according to claim 2, wherein at least one of said at least two orifices (14) is spaced from the curved median axis (C) by at least 2 mm. [Claim 4.] Bumper wall (4) according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the ribs (16) extend vertically from the inner face (8.1), and are spaced about 5 mm from each other. [Claim 5.] Bumper wall (4) according to one of claims 1 to 4, in which each box (12) is obtained by deformation of the bumper wall (4) at the level of the corresponding fixing zone (8). [Claim 6.] Bumper wall (4) according to one of claims 1 to 5, in which each box (12) has between the corresponding orifice (14) and an external lateral face (8.2) of said bumper wall (4), a depth (p) of between 8 and 30 mm. [Claim 7.] Bumper wall (4) according to one of claims 1 to 6, wherein each box (12) comprises a thickness (e) equal to that of said bumper wall (4). [Claim 8.] Bumper wall (4) according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the at least two orifices (14) comprising between 5 and 10 orifices (14) per fixing zone (8). [Claim 9.] Bumper wall (4) according to one of claims 1 to 8, in which each orifice (14) at the base (12.1) of the corresponding box (12) comprises an area corresponding to at most 80% of a total area of ​​said corresponding base (12.1). [Claim 10.] Motor vehicle (2) comprising a bumper wall (4) comprising two lateral fixing zones (8) each having orifices (14) receiving clips (6.2) of a wheel arch trim (6), characterized in that the bumper wall (4) is according to one of claims 1 to 9.

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