Vehicle fenders – Buffer or bumper type
Patent
1996-07-01
1998-08-04
Hoge, Gary C.
Vehicle fenders
Buffer or bumper type
293154, B60R 1900
Patent
active
057882975
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a resin-made shock absorbing member for a vehicle and a method for producing the same.
BACKGROUND ART
Conventionally, a shock absorbing member for a vehicle, such as a bumper and a bumper beam, is made of metal. The metal bumper and the like have sufficient strength, but, several disadvantages, for example, heavy weight and easy corrosion. Consequently, in recent years, the bumper and the like which are made of plastics have been used in order to save resources and reduce weight.
The aforementioned plastic bumper and the like are usually produced by means of injection molding. But, by using injection molding in the production process, there are disadvantages in that a large molding apparatus is required in order to produce the bumper and the like that have relatively large moldings, and in that the molding apparatus is costly in view of the necessity of high pressure for the injection molding. Furthermore, by using injection molding in the production process, an outer configuration of the molding can be relatively freely designed by changing the cavity configuration in a die, but, it is difficult to produce the bumper and the like which have a hollow structure capable of effectively absorbing shock.
Consequently, for effective shock absorbing, it is proposed to use the shock absorbing member for a vehicle which has the hollow structure produced by means of blow molding.
FIG. 16 shows a bumper beam 90 as a conventional example of the shock absorbing member for a vehicle which has the hollow structure produced by means of blow molding.
The bumper beam 90 is composed of a curved portion 91 having the hollow structure and attachment portions 92 for fixing to a vehicle body and to be formed in such a way that it is united and thus continuously formed with the curved portion 91 at both ends, in the longitudinal direction, of the curved portion 91.
The attachment portion 92 forms a flat connection face 93. Connecting bolts 94, embedded in the attachment portion 92 during molding, are projected from the connection face 93. The attachment portion 92 has a hollow structure like the curved portion 91.
The bumper beam 90 is fixed to the vehicle body by tightening a nut (not shown) from the inner side of the vehicle body (from the right side in the drawing) to the bolt 94 at both attachment portions 92.
In other fixing methods, a method using both the embedded bolt 94 and a U-shaped bolt 95 together, as illustrated with a double-dotted line in the drawing, is employed at both attachment portions 92. The U-shaped bolt 95 is guided and fixed into a groove 96 which was previously formed on the opposite side from the connection face 93 of the attachment portion 92 shown with a double-dotted line in the drawing.
However, in the shock absorbing member for the vehicle, which has the hollow structure molded by conventional blow molding like the bumper beam 90 shown in FIG. 16, the attachment portion 92 as well as the curved portion 91 has the hollow portion, such that the connection bolts 94 are embedded, therefore, the shock absorbing member cannot be attached to the vehicle body from the outer side of the vehicle (the outer side of the vehicle does not imply the traveling direction of the vehicle but rather implies the side of the outer area of the vehicle and will imply such from now on), but rather has to be attached to the vehicle body from the inner side of the vehicle body (from the side of the connection face 93), therefore, there is a disadvantage in that a lot of time, work and effort are needed.
In the bumper beam 90 shown in FIG. 16, for the reason of the thin thickness of the attachment portion 92 or for the reason of the inferior workability of fixing the bumper beam 90 from the inner side of the vehicle body, instead of a bolt having a larger diameter that is impossible to use, a multiple of, for example, three or four, bolts 94 having relatively smaller diameters have to be used for each attachment portion 92, resulting in disadvantages in that the number of parts i
REFERENCES:
patent: 3014710 (1961-12-01), Layne
patent: 4904008 (1990-02-01), Glance
patent: 4951986 (1990-08-01), Hanafusa et al.
Endou Yoshihide
Fukuda Ken
Jounishi Hiroshi
Nakamura Tetsuya
Sugawara Minoru
Hoge Gary C.
Idemitsu Petrochemical Co. Ltd.
Toyota Jidosha & Kabushiki Kaisha
LandOfFree
Resin-made shock absorbing member for a vehicle and method for p does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Resin-made shock absorbing member for a vehicle and method for p, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Resin-made shock absorbing member for a vehicle and method for p will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1170041