Vehicle fenders – Buffer or bumper type – Bumper having impact force absorbing means directly...
Patent
1993-02-26
1995-04-04
Pape, Joseph
Vehicle fenders
Buffer or bumper type
Bumper having impact force absorbing means directly...
293122, 188377, B60R 2700, F16F 712
Patent
active
054030498
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention concerns an impact absorber, especially for motor vehicles, which is attached to the bumper on one side and to the longitudinal runner of the vehicle chassis on the other side, with a non-regenerable deformation member to absorb kinetic energy if compressive forces are applied in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the longitudinal runner.
BACKGROUND
Generic impact absorbers are known from DE-OS 38 36 724, EIPPER et al., and also from DE-OS 30 42 931, URSPRUNG et al., for example. These known impact absorbers are disadvantageous because they are complicated to manufacture and are therefore relatively expensive.
Furthermore, impact absorbers consisting of pipe-shaped parts which slide into each other under deformation, with essentially circular cross-sections are known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,047, MAEDA, and DE-PS 28 25 460, LINDBERG, and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 4,181,198.
These known impact absorbers worked well in case of pure head-on collisions, but were not equipped to accept crosswise forces in a satisfactory manner in case of offset head-on collisions which occur far more frequently in practice.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
As a consequence, it is the purpose of the invention to provide an effective impact absorber which is also more effective in case of forces occurring at an angle, compared to the known impact absorbers.
The problem is solved in accordance with the invention with a generic impact absorber, in which the hollow deformation pieces have a non-round, preferably oval or rectangular cross-section.
It is most often expected of impact absorbers, that they accept forces which occur essentially in a plane, so that an oval shape is adequate in most cases. For specially positioned cases, other non-round shapes can also be formed however.
It can thereby be in the interest of saving materials and weight if both of the hollow parts have lengthwise ribs shaped as reinforcement profiles to act as reinforcements, which can significantly improve the mechanical stability of the impact absorbers with the same weight. This form of implementation can be manufactured especially with the internal high pressure moulding process, as it is described in the following, for example.
It can be preferable to provide at least one intermediate layer between the outer deformation piece and the inner deformation piece, which can be deformed elastically or inelastically.
Depending on the required characteristics of the impact absorber, it is possible to shape the fixture in such a way that elastic deformation takes place up to a predetermined impulse in the longitudinal direction, while irreversible deformation takes place with higher impulses.
With certain forms of implementation, it can also be worthwhile however to provide inelastically deformable areas.
In addition to the close fit of the hollow moulded parts shaped mutually inside each other, it can be provided that the inner and outer layers are connected to each other through means of connection, such as weld points, rivets, pins or adhesive. Through such means of attachment, it is possible to vary the response characteristic of the absorber further, as is well-known to experts.
Preferably, the deformation piece has a deformation cone or crumple zone whose angle alpha is self-restraining for the displacement of the outer and inner parts relative to each other.
In general, it is to be established that pipes which are partially located inside each other are Used as the starting materials for the manufacture of the impact absorber. "Pipe" is to be understood here as a hollow body which has a small inside diameter compared with its length and this expression is not restricted in any way to hollow bodies with circular cross-sections, but also includes rectangular pipes, hexagonal pipes and other hollow bodies with non-circular cross-sections, whose lengthwise dimension is larger than their diameter.
A seamless pipe is preferred as the starting pipe. Seamless pipe is to be understood here as pipe which does not exhibit
REFERENCES:
patent: 3538785 (1970-11-01), Grancon
patent: 3899047 (1975-08-01), Maeda et al.
patent: 4181198 (1980-01-01), Lindberg
patent: 4531619 (1985-07-01), Eckels
patent: 4995486 (1991-02-01), Garneweidner
patent: 5090755 (1992-02-01), Garnweidner
patent: 5174421 (1992-12-01), Rink et al.
Cosma International Inc.
Pape Joseph
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