Attachment structure for bumper beam

Details Attachment structure for bumper beam Attachment structure for bumper beam

2000-08-24

2002-01-01

Gordon, Stephen T. (Department: 3612)

Vehicle fenders

Buffer or bumper type

Bumper having impact force absorbing means directly...

C293S132000, C293S154000, C293S155000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06334638

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an attachment structure of a bumper beam for an automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of the attachment structure of a bumper beam for an automobile is disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Hei. 7-304462 (JP-A-7-304462) entitled “Front body structure of automobile”, for example. According to this conventional art, this body structure is arranged in a manner that a front module (a bulk head, a bumper beam, a bumper face, a front grill, a head light brackets) is coupled to a front body frame of an automobile. This body structure will be explained with reference to the main portion of the front body structure for an automobile of the publication shown in FIG.
8
. In
FIG. 8
, the reference numerals of the constituent elements of the front body structure are renumbered.
FIGS. 8A and 8B
are diagrams for explaining the problem of the conventional attachment structure of a bumper beam.
FIG. 8A
shows the structure same as shown in the publication, wherein a flange
102
is fixed to the front end of a side member
101
, and an attachment bracket
105
for a bulk head
103
and a bumper beam
104
is attached to the flange
102
by means of formally fastening bolts
106
.
FIG. 8B
shows the case where the impact is applied to the bumper beam
104
. When the impact force F acts on the bumper beam
104
, the impact force F is directly applied to the side member
101
from the bumper beam
104
, so that the side member
101
may be deformed.
In this manner, when the side member
101
(body frame) is deformed, it is required to exchange the bumper beam
104
and repair the body frame. Thus, a lot of trouble is required for the exchanging and the repairing.
There is a method of making the size of the bumper beam
104
longer in order to prevent the deformation of the side member
101
. However, in this case, since the protruded length (overhang amount) of the bumper beam
104
becomes large, the degree of the freedom at the time of designing the front or rear portion is lowered.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide the attachment structure for a bumper beam which can easily repair and improve the degree of the freedom of the design.
In order to attain the aforesaid object, the invention according to a first embodiment is arranged in a manner that in an attachment structure of a bumper beam in which a bumper stay is attached to an end portion of each of front side frames or rear side frames of an automobile and a bumper beam is attached to the bumper stays, the attachment structure of a bumper beam comprises each of the bumper stays formed as a combined unit formed by an impact absorbing member which is deformed to absorb impact when impact force is applied to the bumper beam and a holding member having rigidity larger than the impact absorbing member, the holding members are attached to the end portions of the rear side frames or the front side frames, the holding member is combined with the impact absorbing member, and the bumper beam is attached to the impact absorbing members.
In this manner, each of the bumper stays is formed as the combined unit formed by the impact absorbing member and the holding member, and the holding member having the rigidity larger than the impact absorbing member is attached to the frame side. When the impact force acts on the bumper beam, the impact absorbing member is deformed to absorb the impact. In contrast, the holding member is not deformed to protect the frame side. As a result, when repairing the bumper, it is required to merely exchange the impact absorbing members together with the bumper beam.
Further, since the impact absorbing members can efficiently absorb the impact and the holding member can distribute the impact acting on the frame, the overhang amount of the bumper beam can be made small and so the degree of the freedom at the time of designing can be improved.
According to a second embodiment of the present invention, in the attachment structure of the first embodiment, the holding member is formed by an extruded member whose sectional configuration is uniform in axial direction thereof.
Since the holding members can be manufactured continuously, the manufacturing efficiency of the holding members can be improved.
Further, since the holding member is formed by the extruded member, the thickness of the holding member is made large only at the portion where a large stress is applied but small at the portions where a small stress is applied. As a result, the holding member can be light-weight.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3840260 (1974-10-01), Wacker et al.
patent: 4152012 (1979-05-01), Reidelbach et al.
patent: 4413856 (1983-11-01), McMahan et al.
patent: 4829979 (1989-05-01), Moir
patent: 5056840 (1991-10-01), Eipper et al.
patent: 5201912 (1993-04-01), Terada et al.
patent: 5876077 (1999-03-01), Miskech et al.
patent: 0 546352 (1993-06-01), None
patent: 406211091 (1994-08-01), None
patent: 7-304462 (1995-11-01), None
patent: 97/03865 (1997-02-01), None
German Office Action dated Aug. 2, 2001, with English-translation, for the corresponding German application.

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