GB2031814A

GB2031814A - A motor vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB2031814A
Application number: GB7932790A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Daimler Benz AG
Current assignee: Daimler Benz AG
Priority date: 1978-09-27
Filing date: 1979-09-21
Publication date: 1980-04-30
Also published as: FR2437337A1; DE2841988A1; SE7908018L; IT7950366A0; DE2841988C2; FR2437337B1; SE437961B; GB2031814B; IT1188856B

Abstract

A motor vehicle has a front mounted engine and an end wall between the engine compartment and the passenger compartment. In order to make the top rear section of the engine compartment as large as possible, the end wall section (11) present above the foot space (9) is brought as close as possible to the steering mechanism, and, in order to make the foot space (9) as large as possible in the forward direction, the front section (8) of the end wall (7) is drawn well forward to a fixed bearing point (22) arranged in the engine compartment. A girder section (18) carrying brake equipment (16) is so constructed and arranged that it is pivotable about said fixed bearing point (22) in the case of a major impact on the front of the vehicle. The arrangement reduces the penetration of engine compartment components into the passenger compartment. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECI FICATION Motor vehicle The invention relates to a motor vehicle with a front mounted engine and with an end wall between the engine compartment and a passenger compartment, into which passenger compartment brake pedals protrude which are connected to brake equipment installed in the engine compartment.

In motor vehicle construction, particularly in passenger car construction, in the foreseeable future, inspired by American legislation, imperatives will become effective which compulsorily prescribe the average total fuel consumption for all the vehicles produced by a company, the so-called fleet consumption.

One characteristic of a motor vehicle which considerably influences its fuel consumption is the weight of the vehicle. The weight should therefore be as low as possible which means that the dimensions of the vehicle must be kept as small as possible. Now since the dimensions of the passenger cell must not be reduced below certain minimum limits, a compact and hence a lightweight construction can only be achieved if the lengths of the nose and tail sections of the vehicle are kept as small as possible.

It therefore becomes a desideratum in the nose region to arrange the engine with the auxiliary units and the suspension components articulated to the front structure of the motor vehicle particularly favourably in order that the length of the nose section and hence also its weight is kept to a minimum. However, a smaller dimensioning of the front structure must not be allowed to lead to a reduction of the crushable zones and crushing effects which can be obtained with a longer front structure, nor to an increase in the hazards to the occupants of the vehicle, more particularly to its driver.

It has recently been realised that the frontal collision with the full width of the vehicle against a rigid barrier is unrealistic and the experimental values collected thereby cannot be compared with the type of collision which most frequently occurs in reality, and its consequences. This arises because it is usual in frontal collision accidents for a lateral offset to exist between the vehicle and the countervehicle. The overlap of the vehicles participating in the collision is moreover frequently very slight, so that not even the front longitudinal girder of the respective vehicle half is called upon to dissipate work. Particularly in accidents with a very slight overlap, the compact construction and arrangement of the units present in the engine compartment has highly prejudicial results for the driver of the vehicle.

This has been proved by evaluations of accident consequences. It has particularly been discovered that drivers wearing a safety belt, despite moderate speed, have suffered injuries which stood in no commensurate proportion to the severity of the accident. However, drivers occupying vehicles with longer front structure and engine compartments had earlier suffered less serious injuries in accidents at higher speeds.

Unfortunately, the circumstances of accidents of this type reveal in detail that injuries to the driver are attributable to the compact construction to a higher degree than earlier with a longer front structure of motor vehicles.

In an accident of this type, the other party strikes the front wheel after scarcely appreciable deceleration by the bumper. Said wheel moves backwards with its suspension and entrains the dome in which the shock absorber leg is mounted, which in turn loads the brake cylinder with brake appliance and foot pedal system installed behind it. The individual units, compressed into a block in this way, now penetrate due to low deformation resistance through the shell parts deep into the passenger cell and push the instrument panel with the steering column in front of them.

This greatly restricts the survival space and hence also the probability of surviving an accident for the driver of the motor vehicle.

This could be remedied by a front structure built to the earlier construction with a greater deformation length and higher deformation resistance, but this is opposed by the compact construction which is now demanded for the reasons mentioned initially.

It is therefore clear that, although the massing of units one behind the other at short intervals cannot be eliminated in principle, nevertheless its consequences can be moderated by reducing the penetration of the compressed components into the passenger compartment to a degree which is safe for the occupants. This is the underlying aim of the object of this application.

According to the present invention there is provided a motor vehicle with a front mounted engine and with an end wall between the engine compartment and a passenger compartment which end wall partially surrounds the foot space occupied, in use, by the lower parts of the driver's legs, into which foot space, pedals protrude which are connected to brake equipment installed in the engine compartment, in front of which a dome provided for the mounting of a shock absorber is arranged, wherein in order to make the top rear section of the engine compartment as large as possible the part of the end wall present above the foot space is brought close to the steering mechanism, and in order to make the foot space large in the forward direction the front lower part of the end wall extends forward to a fixed bearing point arranged in the engine compartment, to which a girder section supporting said brake equip ment is attached, which is also so constructed and arranged that it is pivotable about said fixed bearing point in the event of a major force resulting from a collision being applied to the front of the vehicle.

As a further development of the invention, the girder section, which supports the brake equipment with the brake cylinder on the one hand and a bearing for the pedal lever system on the other hand, may be fixed at its lower part by a pediment on a front longitudinal girder and have at its top an intended fracture, intended bending or intended release point, by which it is attached to a transverse girder extending below the windscreen. Said intended release point may be constituted by terminal slits in an upper tongue of the girder section. In order that the pivotable parts of the brake equipment can pivot into the clear space created according to the invention, the mounting of the brake girder is chosen so that the bearing point of the pivoting circle is provided approximately at half the height of the brake pedal lever.

For easier assembly of the brake mechanism, which can now be performed only from the engine compartment, it is convenient if the median section, rising slightly obliquely backwards, of the end wall between its front section and its section above the foot space has an aperture through which the pedal levers can be passed. Said aperture is masked by preferably corrugated rubber cuffs etc., in order to seal the engine compartment from the passenger compartment.

As embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: Figure 1 shows schematically a section through a front part of a motor vehicle with the shape of end walls of earlier construction and of construction according to the invention marked, Figure 2 shows a section through a front part of a motor vehicle with a dome provided in the engine compartment thereof and with brake devices provided behind the latter which are attached to a girder section according to the invention, before and, in outline, after an accident.

In the front part of a motor vehicle illustrated schematically in Fig. 1, a passenger compartment 2 with seats 3 present therein and with a steering column 4 is surrounded by the vehicle body 1. An engine compartment 6, which is separated from the passenger compartment 2 by an end wall 7, is also present in the region of the front wheel 5. The end wall 5 is represented by chain-dotted lines in the drawing.

The end wall has a lower front section 8 which extends in front of the foot space 9 for the occupants. A further upper end wall section 11 adjoins the lower part of the windscreen 1 2. The two sections 8 and 11 of the end wall 7 are mutually connected by a median section 1 3 of the end wall rising slightly to the rear. It is clear in Fig. 1 that in the case of the end wall according to the invention its lower front section 8 has been displaced forwards compared to an earlier known arrangement which had an end wall positioned as shown for front section 8', whereas the upper end wall section 11 has been displaced to the rear with reference to the earlier known end wall section 11'.By this means two large clear spaces are created, space 1 4 in the region of the feet and space 1 5 in the region of the brake equipment which has a brake appliance 1 6 and a brake master cylinder 1 7.

It can now be seen from Fig. 2 that the brake equipment with the brake applicance 1 6 and the brake cylinder 1 7 is fixed to a girder section 1 8. The girder section 1 8 also has a bearing 1 9 for the mounting of the pedal lever system 21. The pediment 22 of the girder section 1 8 is screwed firmly to a front longitudinal girder 23. In the upper region of the girder section 18, tongues 24 are provided which are screwed to an upper transverse girder 25 in such a way that the tongues 24 are released when powerful forces act upon the joint.

The pedal lever system 21 is passed through an aperture 26 in the median section 1 3 of the end wall 7 which rises slightly backwards. The aperture 26 is closed by a corrugated rubber cuff 27 which thus separates the engine compartment 6 from the passenger compartment 2 during every movement of the brake pedals 21.

Now if, in an accident a shock absorber dome 28 is driven in which a shock absorber is mounted, against the brake cylinder 1 7 with the brake appliance 1 6 the girder section 18 slips its tongues 24 out of the upper screw connection 29, whereas the lower attachment to the pediment 22 and the front longitudinal girder 23 is maintained and becomes at most deformed. The remaining girder section 18 with the foot lever system 21 and with the brake appliance 16, 1 7 now describes a circular arc about the point of attachment 22 which lies, in the vertical direction at approximately the mid point of the brake lever 21 into the clear space 1 5 without encountering the steering fastening means 31. The pedals 21 in the foot compartment 9 describe a circular arc 33 about the same point 22 forwards into the foot space 9, which is enlarged compared with the known vehicle by the fact that the upper front section 8 of the end wall 7 has been displaced forwards.

Due to this conformation of the end wall and the attachment of the brake equipment to a girder section 18, particular advantages are achieved which are described hereinbelow: No direct displacement of the steering means by the brake appliance occurs. Also, scarcely any end wall intrusion by the brake appliance or the pedal mounting occurs. At least, such an intrusion is kept within narrow limits. Furthermore, the master brake cylinder 17, the brake appliance 1 6 and the foot lever system 21 can be preassembled on the girder section 1 8 and inserted as a subassembly from the engine compartment 6, by passing the pedals 21 through the aperture 26. An economy of weight is furthermore obtained by a simpler configuration of the end wall 8, and more space is available for the auxiliary units, more particularly the brake equipment with the brake appliance 1 6 and the brake cylinder 17 in front of the end wall 7. The consequences of accidents are substantially moderated by all these measures.

Fig. 2 shows in chain-dotted lines, the position assumed after an accident by the shock absorber dome 28, the brake appliance 1 6 and the brake cylinder 1 7 with the associated pedal system 21.

Claims

1. A motor vehicle with a front mounted engine and with an end wall between the engine compartment and a passenger compartment which end wall partially surrounds the foot space occupied, in use, by the lower parts of the driver's legs, into which foot space pedals protrude which are connected to brake equipment installed in the engine compartment, in front of which a dome provided for the mounting of a shock absorber is arranged, wherein-in order to make the top rear section of the engine compartment as large as possibic the part of the end wall present above the foot space is brought close to the steering mechanism, and-in order to make the foot space large in the forward direction-the front lower part of the end wall extends forward to a fixed bearing point arranged in the engine compartment, to which a girder section supporting said brake equipment is attached, which is also so constructed and arranged that it is pivotable about said fixed bearing point in the event of a major force resulting from a collision being applied to the front of the vehicle.

2. A motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the girder section supporting the brake equipment is fixed at its lower part by a pediment on a front longitudinal girder and has at its top an intended fracture, intended bending or intended release point by which it is attached to a transverse girder extending beneath the windscreen.

3. A motor vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the intended release point is constituted by terminal slits in an upper tongue of the girder section.

4. A motor vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the bearing point of the pivoting circle is in the vertical direction, at approximately the mid-point of the brake pedal lever.

5. A motor vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the median section of said end wall rises slightly obliquely towards the rear of the vehicle and has between its front section and its section above the foot space an aperture through which the pedal lever is passed.

6. A motor vehicle according to claim 5, wherein the aperture is masked by a flexible seal.

7. A motor vehicle according to claim 6 wherein the seal comprises a corrugated rubber boot.

8. A motor vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein, in the engine compartment in front of the end wall there is present a clear space into which the brake equipment in the engine compartment can pivot with the mounting of the foot lever system, in the event of a collision.

9. A motor vehicle substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.