Motor Vehicle Crash Structure Deflecting Wheel via A-Pillar Bracket
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current motor vehicle crash structures fail to effectively protect the door hinge and prevent the wheel from penetrating into the passenger compartment during partial overlap frontal crashes, leading to potential damage and deformation of the vehicle door and occupant area.
Innovation Solution
A crash structure that, in a starting state, maintains a minimum spacing from the door hinge and forms a deflector surface upon contact with the wheel, deflecting it laterally out of the wheel arch without shearing the door hinge, and is fastened to the A-pillar to prevent penetration into the passenger compartment, utilizing a combination of a deflector section and spacer elements with a frustoconical shape to absorb and redirect crash energy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the wheel is allowed to rotate in accordance with the strategy for reduction of accident damage, then the wheel can be moved out of the wheel arch, but the lower door hinge can be loaded and deformed, compromising structural integrity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a bracket element as an intermediary component between the wheel arch and the door hinge. This bracket absorbs and redirects the loads generated by wheel rotation during a crash, preventing direct transmission of forces to the door hinge. The bracket serves as a mediator that enables wheel movement while protecting the hinge from damaging loads.
2Reliability
If the crash structure is positioned closer to the door hinge to better protect it, then protection effectiveness increases, but the risk of shearing the door hinge during wheel impact increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bracket element functions as a protective intermediary positioned between the wheel path and the door hinge. It intercepts wheel impacts and redirects forces away from the hinge, enabling close positioning of protective structures without directly exposing the hinge to shearing risks.
Solution Approach 2:
The bracket element is pre-installed in position to cushion and absorb impact forces before they can reach the door hinge. This beforehand protective measure ensures that even when the wheel contacts the crash structure near the hinge, the hinge itself is protected from direct loading.
3Reliability
If a rigid structure is used to prevent wheel penetration, then occupant safety improves, but the structure cannot effectively redirect wheel movement laterally
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs dynamic design elements that allow the crash structure to adapt its behavior during impact. The structure enables controlled wheel rotation and lateral movement while maintaining rigidity where needed to prevent penetration into the occupant compartment, providing both safety and deflection capability.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure relates to a crash structure for a motor vehicle, the crash structure being, in a starting state, at a minimum spacing of greater than zero from a door hinge of a vehicle door of the motor vehicle, and the crash structure being in contact with at least one contact region which is assigned to the door hinge in a crash state after a partial overlap crash by way of passing into an operative connection with a wheel of the motor vehicle, and forming a deflector surface for the deflection of the wheel.