Bumper Arrangement with Tension Delay Element for Controlled Crash Energy Dissipation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional bumper arrangements for motor vehicles often experience uncontrollable collapsing of crash boxes during accidents due to unmanaged energy and force peaks, compromising the safety of vehicle occupants as energy is not dissipated and transmitted in a controlled manner.
Innovation Solution
A bumper arrangement featuring a crossmember, body element, and crash box with a front axis of rotation, a rear axis of rotation, and a tension relief or delay element, where tensile forces are introduced into a tension delay element or absorbed by a tension relief element, allowing controlled deformation and energy dissipation through the crossmember, minimizing the risk of crash box collapse.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If the crossmember is connected directly to the crash boxes in a force-transmitting manner, then the energy dissipation capability is improved, but the crash boxes may uncontrollably collapse due to high tensile forces on outer walls
Solution Approach 1:
A tension delay element is introduced as an intermediary component between the crossmember and the crash box. This element includes a structural element connected to the crossmember and a tensioning element that connects the structural element to the crash box, thereby mediating the force transmission and preventing direct high tensile loading of the crash box outer walls.
Solution Approach 2:
The structural element with axis of rotation is preliminarily positioned to enable controlled pivoting motion before the crash box is subjected to full crash loads. This preliminary configuration allows the system to manage force peaks through controlled movement rather than direct force transmission.
2Use of energy by moving object
If the crossmember is made pivotable to crash boxes via bolt connections, then the energy absorption capability is improved, but uncontrollable collapsing may still occur due to high tensile loadings on outer walls
Solution Approach 1:
The tension delay element acts as a mediator that controls when and how forces are transmitted to the crash box. The tensioning element within this intermediary structure delays the transmission of tensile forces until after the initial energy absorption phase, preventing premature structural failure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs dynamic characteristics through the tensioning element that allows controlled movement and force redistribution. The element can transition from a non-load-bearing state to a load-bearing state as the crash progresses, adapting to the changing force conditions rather than maintaining rigid connections.
3Ease of operation
If axes of rotation are arranged in the region of outer walls of crash boxes, then the pivoting capability is improved, but high tensile forces continue to act on outer walls leading to uncontrolled collapsing
Solution Approach 1:
The structural element serves as an intermediary that provides the axis of rotation function while being positioned away from the crash box outer wall. This mediator allows pivoting motion to occur without concentrating tensile forces on the vulnerable outer wall region of the crash box.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution ensures that force peaks are absorbed by the crossmember at the onset of a crash, preventing uncontrollable collapsing of crash boxes and ensuring safe energy dissipation, thereby enhancing occupant safety by directing excessive energy into the vehicle body in a controlled manner.
Implementation Method 1
a front axis of rotation is formed by a structural element, and a rear axis of rotation by a further structural element, in the region of the inner wall of the crash box
Implementation Method 2
the tensile force acting on the outer wall of a crash box during an, in particular central, impact of an obstacle against the crossmember of the bumper arrangement in the event of a crash and which may lead in the prior art to an uncontrollable collapsing of the crash box is introduced into the crash box in a delayed manner by means of the arrangement to the tension delay element
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a bumper arrangement for a motor vehicle, with a crossmember, a body element, a crash box arranged between crossmember and body element. The invention is distinguished in thata) a front axis of rotation is formed by a structural element, and a rear axis of rotation by a further structural element in the region of an inner wall of the crash box, andb) a tension relief element or a tension delay element is arranged in the region of an outer wall of the crash box.