Motor vehicles – With means for promoting safety of vehicle – its occupant or... – Responsive to engagement of portion of perimeter of vehicle...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-30
2001-08-07
Rice, Kenneth R. (Department: 3619)
Motor vehicles
With means for promoting safety of vehicle, its occupant or...
Responsive to engagement of portion of perimeter of vehicle...
C280S784000, C296S182100, C074S512000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06269900
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This application claims the priority of 198 39 521.3-42, filed Aug. 29, 1998, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates to a front-end structure for a motor vehicle, having a front wall which separates a passenger compartment from a front-end compartment and on which a brake servo unit is fixed, to which is connected a brake pedal extending into a footwell of the passenger compartment. The structure also has front-end body-shell parts and apparatus for pivoting the brake pedal and the brake servo unit forwards in the direction of travel in the event of a vehicle impact.
DE 44 15 642 A1 describes a front wall of a front-end structure of a motor vehicle which separates a passenger compartment from a front-end space. Arranged on the front wall, at the height of a bearing block for a pedal arrangement, is a brake servo unit, with the bearing block projecting into a footwell of the passenger compartment. The front wall is provided with a pre-planned bending region which is so arranged, relative to the bearing block for the pedal arrangement and relative to the brake servo unit, that in the event of a frontal impact and a corresponding deformation of the front wall, a pivoting movement of the bearing block is achieved. This results in a forward movement of the pedal arrangement, forwards in the direction of travel and thus out of the footwell towards the front wall. At the same time, the brake servo unit itself also follows the pivot movement.
DE 196 01 800 A1 describes a safety device for a pedal arrangement which is fixed by a bearing block to a front wall of a motor vehicle. Within the passenger compartment, a crossmember is arranged in front of the bearing block at a defined distance from the front wall and extends at the height of the articulation point of the pedal arrangement. This crossmember holds the pedal arrangement at a distance from the driver of the motor vehicle in the event of a front wall intrusion.
DE 197 57 832 A1 has a pedal arrangement on a front wall of a motor vehicle. The mounting of the pedal arrangement is provided with a stop surface which interacts with a corresponding stop on a cockpit crossmember. In the event of a frontal impact and a corresponding front wall intrusion, this combination generates a vertical upward movement of the pedal arrangement, so that the pedal arrangement is partially moved out from the remaining footwell of the passenger compartment.
A front-end structure for a motor vehicle described in DE 28 41 988 C2. The front-end structure forms part of a self-supporting bodyshell of a passenger vehicle. In order to prevent injury in the region of a driver's feet caused by the brake pedal arrangement in the event of a vehicle impact and a front-end deformation resulting therefrom, the brake pedal is moved forwards in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, out of the footwell, by a pivoting of the associated brake servo unit in the event of a corresponding front-end deformation. To this end, the brake servo unit supporting the brake pedal is mounted by an independent support part, with the support part extending between a front-end side member and a windscreen crossmember. The brake servo unit is fixed on the support part so that both the brake booster and the brake master cylinder are arranged in front of this support part in the direction of travel.
Another front-end structure for a passenger vehicle is described in DE 30 18 732 C2, in which a brake servo unit is similarly mounted on a support part which is connected to a front wall of the body shell.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a front-end structure in which the risk of injury to a driver of a motor vehicle in the foot region in the event of a vehicle impact can be reduced by a simple construction.
This object has been achieved in that a front end region, in the direction of travel, of the brake servo unit is assigned at least one mechanical forced guidance device, which is fixed on at least one body-shell part. In a vehicle impact, the device engages with at least one movement component in the vertical direction of the vehicle, from bottom to top, on the end region of the brake servo unit, which generates a tilting movement of the brake servo unit. Preferably, the tilting movement takes place about an axis of rotation extending transversely to the direction of travel in the region of the front wall.
As a result of the solution according to the invention, by contrast with known structures, no additional support part is needed to fix the brake servo unit to the front wall. The brake servo unit according to the invention remains, instead, in its customary fixing position on the front wall and merely bears the additional load of the forced guidance means in the front end region, preferably in the region of a brake master cylinder.
As a result of the fact that the forced guidance device engages in the front end region of the brake servo unit, the brake servo unit participates from an early stage in a deformation of the front-end structure, with a corresponding tilting movement. The invention is based on the recognition that corresponding body-shell parts of the front-end structure, especially an upper flange of the front-end side member on the driver's side and a suspension strut bracket on the driver's side also experience, in addition to a rearward deformation movement, an upward deformation component in the vertical direction of the vehicle.
The solution according to the invention benefits from this recognition in that the front end region of the brake servo unit, especially a housing of the brake master cylinder, is coupled by the at least one mechanical forced guidance device to this movement component in the vertical direction of the vehicle by positive fitting. As a result of the early participation in the front-end deformation, the brake servo unit can move back through a relatively wide pivot angle, so that reliable pivoting of the brake pedal forwards out of the footwell is achieved.
In an embodiment of the invention, the at least one forced guidance device is assigned to the end region of the brake servo unit. Thereby, in a backward displacement in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle during the impact deformation, it is uncoupled from the brake servo unit. This prevents a corresponding movement component by the body-shell parts undergoing deformation rearwards in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle from causing a further backward displacement of the brake pedal into the footwell. Because the forced guidance device is uncoupled during a backward displacement, it cannot cause any backward displacement of the brake servo unit. A corresponding backward displacement of the brake servo unit is thereby effectively avoided.
In a further embodiment of the invention, a supporting arm is arranged on the body-shell part as a forced guidance device and, during a front-end deformation, presses at least intermittently with positive fitting against an engagement point of the brake servo unit. This is a particularly simple and nevertheless effective embodiment. The engagement point may be provided on a housing of the brake master cylinder or on another part of the brake servo unit, especially on the brake booster.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the engagement point is formed by a supporting member on the housing of the brake master cylinder, which is positioned on the housing. Consequently, a movement component of the front-end deformation in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, the supporting arm slides down backwards on the supporting member without applying a corresponding torque to the brake servo unit. As a result of the simple construction, the brake pedal is prevented from being pivoted back into the footwell as a result of compression of the front-end structure in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and a backward displacement of the brake servo unit is avoided.
In a further embodiment of the invention t
Adams Frank
Benz Eberhard
Herre Joachim
Sailer Josef
Schnabel Alfred
Crowell & Moring , L.L.P.
Daimler-Chrysler AG
Jasmin Lynda
Rice Kenneth R.
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