JP4372484B2 - Bumper structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a bumper structure for a vehicle such as an automobile, and in particular, the shock input to the bumper cover is absorbed by deformation of the shock absorbing means disposed between the bumper reinforcing member and the bumper cover. It relates to an improved technology of the bumper structure.

  Conventionally, in vehicles such as automobiles, for the purpose of absorbing the impact (impact energy) at the time of collision and protecting the vehicle body, occupants, pedestrians, etc., on the front and rear portions of the vehicle body, A bumper is installed. And this bumper has various structures, and as a kind of it, a bumper reinforcing member having rigidity, attached to the front side and rear side of the vehicle body so as to extend in the vehicle width direction, and It is known that an impact absorbing means for absorbing an impact by deformation is disposed between a bumper cover that is installed so as to cover a surface of the bumper reinforcing member opposite to the vehicle body side. According to such a bumper structure, when an impact is applied to the bumper cover, the bumper reinforcing member ensures the rigidity of the entire bumper appropriately, while the shock absorbing means is used for bumper reinforcement. By being sandwiched and deformed between the member and the bumper cover, such an impact can be effectively absorbed.

  By the way, in recent years, a bumper having such a structure has been proposed which has been devised to ensure the safety of the pedestrian at a higher level when in contact with the pedestrian. For example, when a pedestrian comes into contact with the bumper during low-speed driving of an automobile, it is disposed between the bumper cover and the bumper reinforcement member in order to protect the pedestrian's legs, particularly the knees that are easily damaged. The impact absorbing means is composed of two types of impact absorbing members that are independent of each other: an upper impact absorbing member that is positioned on the upper side in the vertical direction of the vehicle body, and a lower impact absorbing member that is positioned on the lower side. There is a bumper structure in which the lower impact absorbing member is configured to be larger in deformation strength with respect to the load in the front-rear direction than the upper impact absorbing member (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  That is, in such a bumper structure, when the pedestrian's legs are brought into contact with the bumper cover of the automobile running at a low speed, the upper and lower parts disposed between the bumper cover and the bumper reinforcing member are arranged. Among the side impact absorbing members, the upper impact absorbing member having a small deformation strength is deformed with a larger deformation amount than the lower impact absorbing member having a large deformation strength. At this time, the lower part of the leg part of the pedestrian is scooped up by the lower impact absorbing member, whereby a rotational force in the direction of causing the pedestrian to fall to the vehicle body side is applied to the entire leg part. The As a result, the bending angle of the knee in the unreasonable direction caused by the contact is advantageously reduced, and the occurrence of injury such as a fracture to the knee can be prevented as much as possible.

  However, in such a conventional bumper structure, as an upper impact absorbing member and a lower impact absorbing member having different deformation strengths, for example, two types of foaming resin materials having different foaming diameters and foaming amounts, Production of shock absorbing means arranged between the bumper cover and the bumper reinforcement member, because two types of elastic materials such as rubber are used and the molded products are molded separately. In this case, two types of molded products made of different materials must be molded in separate steps. Therefore, as a matter of course, compared with the case of molding a single type of molded product, twice as much work is required. And time was required.

  Moreover, as is well known, in an impact absorbing means made of an elastic material such as a foamable resin material or rubber, the relationship between the load value and the displacement amount (deformation amount), that is, the load displacement characteristic is Since the characteristic shows a rising waveform such that the load value increases as the amount increases, it is inevitable that the impact stroke becomes long in order to obtain a sufficient amount of shock absorption. Therefore, in a conventional bumper structure having an impact absorbing means made of an elastic material such as a foamable resin material or rubber, a large space is required for arranging the impact absorbing means between the bumper cover and the bumper reinforcing member. As a result, problems such as a decrease in the degree of freedom of design and the degree of freedom of design of the bumper were caused.

  On the other hand, as a bumper structure of a type different from the above-described structure, the bumper cover is made of a synthetic resin material, and is independent of each other with respect to the surface of the bumper cover facing the bumper reinforcement member. By integrally projecting a plurality of cylindrical resin molded bodies extending in the front-rear direction, the shock absorbing means composed of the plurality of cylindrical resin molded bodies is positioned between the bumper cover and the bumper reinforcing member. A bumper structure is also known (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  In the shock absorbing means employed in such a bumper structure, as is well known, the cylindrical wall portion of the cylindrical resin molded body is buckled and deformed by an impact input in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. Since shock absorption is intended, the load value rises rapidly with a small amount of displacement at the initial stage of impact input, and then the load value remains substantially constant regardless of the increase in the amount of displacement. Thus, a load displacement characteristic showing an ideal waveform can be exhibited, and therefore, a sufficiently large shock absorption amount can be obtained with a small impact stroke.

Therefore, in such a bumper structure having shock absorbing means, excellent shock absorbing performance can be exhibited even when the shock absorbing means is disposed in a small space. Unlike conventional bumper structures having shock absorbing means composed of different types of shock absorbing members, when a pedestrian is brought into contact with the bumper cover, the damage given to the pedestrian's knee, etc. is reduced. For this reason, no consideration was given to the safety of the pedestrian when contacting the bumper cover.
JP 2001-277963 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-240393

  Here, the present invention has been made in the background as described above, and the problem to be solved is the deformation of the impact absorbing means disposed between the bumper reinforcing member and the bumper cover. In the bumper structure that absorbs the shock input to the bumper cover, it can be easily molded without requiring troublesome work, and it can be applied to the pedestrian's legs, especially the knees, that can be brought into contact with the bumper cover. By adopting shock absorbing means that can effectively exert the shock absorbing performance that can reduce the damage given in a relatively small arrangement space, ensuring the safety of pedestrians when contacting the bumper cover, and the bumper It is to provide an improved structure so that it can be realized advantageously and easily.

And in this invention, in order to solve this subject, the place made into the 1st aspect is the rigidity attached so that it may extend in the vehicle width direction to the front side and the rear side of a vehicle body. An impact absorbing means is disposed between a bumper reinforcing member having the bumper reinforcing member and a bumper cover installed so as to cover a surface of the bumper reinforcing member opposite to the vehicle body side, and an impact input to the bumper cover In the bumper structure in which the shock absorbing means is absorbed by deformation of the shock absorbing means, the shock absorbing means is erected so as to extend in the input direction of the shock, and the shock is absorbed by being deformed by the input of the shock. It comprises a plurality of resin molded article having a single cylindrical portion of the square tubular shape composed of four cylindrical wall, and the plurality of the resin molded body, in the vehicle width direction, at a predetermined distance from each other In addition, the cylinder walls are arranged adjacent to each other, and the adjacent ones are connected to each other by a connecting body made of a synthetic resin material, thereby being integrated. In addition, among the four cylindrical walls of the cylindrical portion of each of the plurality of resin molded bodies of the impact absorbing means, the upper and lower sides of the vehicle body are arranged under the state of being disposed between the bumper reinforcing member and the bumper cover. The upper cylindrical wall positioned on the upper side in the vehicle direction and the left and right side cylindrical walls facing each other in the vehicle width direction are made thinner than the lower cylindrical wall positioned on the lower side in the vehicle body vertical direction. While forming a thin cylindrical wall that is easier to deform than the side cylindrical wall, the lower cylindrical wall is configured as a thick cylindrical wall , and the upper cylindrical wall, the side cylindrical wall, and the lower cylindrical wall are , different from each other In bumper structure characterized in that it is configured to have a shape strength.

Further, in a second advantageous aspect of the bumper structure according to the present invention, each of the four cylindrical walls of the cylindrical portion has a trapezoidal shape, and the cylindrical portion has a cross section that extends in a direction perpendicular to the axis toward the tip . It has a rectangular tube shape with a small area.

  Further, in a desirable third aspect of the bumper structure according to the present invention, at least one of between the shock absorbing means and the bumper reinforcing member and between the shock absorbing means and the bumper cover, An attachment means for detachably attaching the impact absorbing means to at least one of the bumper reinforcing member and the bumper cover is provided.

  According to the first aspect of the bumper structure according to the present invention, the shock absorbing means is configured to include a plurality of resin molded bodies having a cylindrical portion having a cylindrical wall extending in the impact input direction. A plurality of resin molded bodies of the shock absorbing means can be arranged adjacent to each other with a predetermined interval in the vehicle width direction between the bumper cover and the bumper reinforcing member with the respective cylinder walls facing each other. When the impact is input to the bumper cover, the cylindrical wall of the resin molded body positioned corresponding to the impact input portion is buckled and deformed, so that the impact can be absorbed. It has become.

  Therefore, in such a bumper structure, the load displacement characteristic of the shock absorbing means can be made a characteristic exhibiting an ideal rectangular wave, which can obtain a sufficiently large shock absorption amount with a small shock stroke, Even if the size of the space between the bumper cover and the bumper reinforcing member is reduced, the shock absorbing means placed in such a small space has excellent shock absorbing performance. Can be reliably demonstrated. Note that the impact input direction here means a direction including a direction that coincides with the direction in which the impact is input and a direction close thereto. Hereinafter, they are used in the same meaning.

And, in the bumper structure according to the present invention, in particular, the state of being arranged between the bumper reinforcing member and the bumper cover among the cylindrical walls of the cylindrical portion of each of the plurality of resin molded bodies of the impact absorbing means. in the lower, the easily deformable portion is provided in the cylindrical wall portion content that is allowed positioned above the vehicle body in the vertical direction, and a cylindrical wall portion of the cylindrical wall portion of the upper side and the lower side, have different deformation strength to each other It is configured as follows.

  Therefore, for example, when the lower cylindrical wall portion of the cylindrical wall of the cylindrical portion is configured to have a greater deformation strength than the upper cylindrical wall portion, the pedestrian's leg portion during low-speed traveling of the vehicle When the front surface of the lower part than the knee is brought into contact with the bumper cover, the upper cylindrical wall part having a small deformation strength is the cylindrical wall part of the cylindrical part of each of the plurality of resin molded bodies of the shock absorbing means. The front surface of the bumper cover is deformed with a larger amount of deformation than the lower cylindrical wall portion having a large deformation strength, and the lower surface portion is an inclined surface that protrudes toward the pedestrian side from the upper portion. As a result, the lower part of the leg part of the pedestrian is scooped up by the lower part of the bumper cover, so that the rotational force in the direction that causes the pedestrian to fall to the vehicle body side with respect to the entire leg part. Is granted. As a result, the bending angle of the knee in an unreasonable direction caused by the contact is advantageously reduced, and the occurrence of injury such as a fracture to the knee can be prevented as much as possible.

  Moreover, in the bumper structure according to the present invention, as described above, even if the shock absorbing means is arranged in a small arrangement space between the bumper cover and the bumper reinforcing member, excellent shock absorbing performance is exhibited. Regardless of the size of the arrangement space between the cover and the bumper reinforcing member, it is possible to reliably reduce damage to the pedestrian's leg, particularly the knee, when contacting the bumper cover.

  Further, in such a bumper structure, the impact absorbing means including a plurality of resin molded bodies having an upper side wall portion and a lower side wall portion having different deformation strengths are provided in the arrangement space between the bumper cover and the bumper reinforcing member. From the place where the resin molded bodies adjacent to each other in the vehicle width direction are constituted by an integrally molded product obtained by connecting the resin molded bodies to each other with a connecting body made of a synthetic resin material, for example, as an impact absorbing means, Unlike conventional bumper structures that employ shock absorbing means with two different types of shock absorbing members that are provided separately, using foam resin material and two types of elastic materials. Resin products that can be manufactured very easily and all at once by performing known mold molding operations using various types of synthetic resin materials are advantageously employed as shock absorbing means. The Rukoto.

  As a result, the bumper structure according to the present invention can be easily formed without requiring troublesome work, and also reduces damage to the pedestrian's legs, particularly the knees, that are brought into contact with the bumper cover. The shock absorbing means that can surely exhibit the excellent shock absorbing performance to be obtained regardless of the size of the arrangement space can be configured by being arranged between the bumper cover and the bumper reinforcing member.

  Therefore, according to the bumper structure according to the present invention as described above, it is advantageous and extremely easy to ensure the safety of the pedestrian when contacting the bumper cover and to improve the design freedom and the design freedom of the bumper. It can be realized.

Further, according to the first aspect of the bumper structure according to the present invention, the easily deformable portion is reliably and easily formed with respect to the tubular portion, and thereby, in each of the plurality of resin molded bodies of the impact absorbing means. Of the cylindrical wall of the cylindrical portion, the upper cylindrical wall portion positioned on the upper side in the vertical direction of the vehicle body and the lower cylindrical tube positioned on the lower side in a state of being arranged between the bumper reinforcing member and the bumper cover The deformation strength with the wall portion can be easily and reliably made different in size. As a result, it is possible to more reliably reduce damage to the pedestrian's legs, particularly the knees, when in contact with the bumper cover, thereby further improving the safety of the pedestrian. It can be secured.

  Furthermore, according to the third aspect of the bumper structure according to the present invention, the impact absorbing means is detachably attached to at least one of the bumper cover and the bumper reinforcing member. For example, when the shock absorbing means is deformed or damaged due to a collision and becomes unusable, the bumper cover or the bumper reinforcing member is still in a state where it can withstand use. Can be easily replaced, thereby advantageously reducing the repair cost of the bumper in the event of a collision.

  Hereinafter, in order to clarify the present invention more specifically, the configuration of the bumper structure according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  First, FIG. 1 schematically shows a bumper attached to a front portion of an automobile as an embodiment of a bumper having a structure according to the present invention in a longitudinal sectional form. As apparent from FIG. 1, the bumper of the present embodiment includes a bumper reinforcement 10 as a bumper reinforcing member, and a bumper cover 12 disposed to face the bumper reinforcement 10 at a predetermined distance. The shock absorbing structure 14 is disposed between the bumper reinforcement 10 and the bumper cover 12 as shock absorbing means.

  More specifically, the bumper reinforcement 10 is made of a metal plate having rigidity and substantially the same length as the entire bumper, and has a known structure that can impart appropriate rigidity to the entire bumper. is doing. And it is positioned on the front side of the automobile so as to extend in the vehicle width direction, and is fixed to the front of the body panel 13 (shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1) constituting the front part of the automobile. It can be attached at.

  The bumper cover 12 is also made of a soft synthetic resin material that is easily deformed and has a certain degree of elasticity (restorability), like the conventional product, and has a desired design and impact due to the deformation. It is comprised so that absorption performance may be provided. Then, in the front of the bumper reinforcement 10 positioned on the front side of the automobile, a predetermined space 15 is formed between the bumper reinforcement 10 and the front face of the bumper reinforcement 10 so as to cover the front of the bumper reinforcement. It is fixed to the palin horsement 10 by screwing or the like directly or via an appropriate attachment member.

  The shock absorbing structure 14 is disposed between the bumper reinforcement 10 having such a structure and the bumper cover 12 so as to be accommodated in a space 15 formed therein. However, in the present embodiment, the shock absorbing structure 14 has a special structure that cannot be seen in the prior art.

  That is, as is clear from FIGS. 2 and 3, the shock absorbing structure 14 includes a plurality of (here, eight) resin molded bodies 16 and a plurality of first connections that connect the plurality of resin molded bodies 16. It consists of a body 18 and a plurality of second coupling bodies 19. And the resin molding 16 which comprises this shock absorption structure 14 has the cylindrical part 20 which exhibits a substantially rectangular tube shape, and the top plate part 22 of a long rectangular shape, and this cylindrical part 20 is It further has four cylindrical walls 24 made of thin flat plates having a substantially trapezoidal shape whose upper base is shorter than the lower base by a predetermined dimension. Further, these four cylindrical walls 24 include two cylindrical walls 24a and 24b having trapezoidal shapes having the same size, and two cylindrical walls 24c and 24d having the same trapezoidal shape, although the area is smaller than those. It consists of and. And while such four cylindrical walls 24 are positioned opposite to each other having the same area, they are inclined so as to gradually approach toward the axial center of the cylindrical portion 20, It is erected so as to extend upward. On the other hand, the top plate portion 22 is also formed of a thin flat plate, and is configured to be integrated with each of the four side portions with respect to the edge portion on the upper bottom side of each cylindrical wall 24.

  That is, in other words, here, the resin molded body 16 is an integrated product including the cylindrical portion 20 having the four cylindrical walls 24 and the top plate portion 22 that closes the upper opening of the cylindrical portion 20. As a whole, the cross section extending in the direction perpendicular to the axis is rectangular, and the area of the cross section gradually decreases toward the tip. Then, a plurality of such resin molded bodies 16 are arranged so as to be arranged in a line (straight line) adjacent to each other with a certain distance from each other, with the cylindrical walls 24a, 24b having large areas facing each other. It is arranged.

  Further, in the resin molded body 16 having such a structure, as shown in FIG. 1, the shock absorbing structure 14 is disposed between the bumper reinforcement 10 and the bumper cover 12. Below, the four cylindrical walls 24 of the cylindrical portion 20 are in the opposite direction of the bumper reinforcement 10 and the bumper cover 12 in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body, that is, in the input direction of impact to the bumper cover 12 (in FIG. It extends in the direction indicated by the arrow a) and is positioned upright, and as its forming material, an olefin-based resin that easily undergoes buckling deformation, such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polybutene, etc. Synthetic resin materials such as are used.

  Thus, when an impact is input to the shock absorbing structure 14 via the bumper cover 12 under the arrangement of the shock absorbing structure 14 between the bumper reinforcement 10 and the bumper cover 12. Further, the impact force acts on each cylinder wall 24 as a compressive load in the height direction, so that each cylinder wall 24 is buckled and deformed, and thus a small impact stroke. In FIG. 4, a sufficiently large shock absorption amount is obtained. In addition, as described above, since the resin molded body 16 is formed in a rectangular tube shape in which the area of the cross section extending in the direction perpendicular to the axis decreases toward the tip, each cylindrical wall 24 is buckled. Overlapping in the height direction at the time of deformation can be eliminated as much as possible, and as large an effective stroke as possible can be secured.

  In the present embodiment, among the four cylindrical walls 24 of the resin molded body 16 having such a structure, the two cylindrical walls 24a and 24b having a large area and the area adjacent to them are small. The cylindrical wall 24c to be formed has the same thickness, while the thickness of the remaining one cylindrical wall 24d is larger than the three side walls 24a to 24c by a predetermined dimension. Accordingly, such a thick cylindrical wall 24d is configured to have a greater strength against buckling deformation than the three thin cylindrical walls 24a to 24c. In other words, here, the three thin wall portions 24a to 24c are thin wall portions that are easier to deform than the thick cylindrical wall 24d.

  On the other hand, as is apparent from FIGS. 1 to 3, of the two types of connecting bodies 18, 19, the first connecting body 18 has a narrow width and a thickness approximately the same as that of the thin cylindrical walls 24 a to 24 c. Are formed one by one from the center in the width direction of the base portion of the thin cylindrical wall 24a (24b) in one resin molded body 16 between the resin molded bodies 16 adjacent to each other. The tube wall 24a (24b) is opposed to the thin wall 24b (24a) of the other resin molded body 16 so as to extend straight and be positioned.

  Further, the second connecting body 19 is made of a plate material having an L-shaped longitudinal section having a thinner thickness and a narrower width than the first connecting body 18, and one of the resin moldings 16 adjacent to each other is disposed between The thin cylindrical wall 24b (24a) of the other resin molded body 16 that faces the thin cylindrical wall 24a (24b) one by one from both ends in the width direction of the base of the thin cylindrical wall 24a (24b) in the resin molded body 16. ) And extend straight and parallel to each other.

  And such a 1st connection body 18 and the 2nd connection body 19 are respectively made to integrate with the thin-walled cylinder walls 24a and 24b which the resin molding 16 which adjoins each other in both ends. As a result, the adjacent ones of the plurality of resin molded bodies 16 arranged in a line as described above are integrally connected to each other. It is configured as an integrally molded product comprising the resin molded body 16 and the first and second coupling bodies 18 and 19 that couple them.

  Here, an engagement clip 26 having a structure substantially similar to that of the component mounting locking leg disclosed in JP-A-8-145041 is integrally provided on the back surface of the first connecting body 18. Yes. That is, the engagement clip 26 includes a support column 28 protruding from the back surface of the first connection body 18 with a predetermined height, and a support column portion from the tip of the support column portion 28 toward the back surface of the first connection body 18. And a pair of arm-like locking pieces 30 that are inclined and extended away from each other, and each of the locking pieces 30 is elastically restoring force against the pressing force toward the support column 28 side. It is comprised so that it can exhibit. Further, in each locking piece 30 of the engaging clip 26, an engaging protrusion 32 is integrally projected on the surface of the tip portion which is a free end opposite to the column portion 28 side. .

  In addition, the 1st connection body 18 which has such an engagement clip 26, and the 2nd connection body 19 which connects the resin molding 16 with this 1st connection body 18 are also the olefin resin which gives the said resin molding 16 It is made of the same resin material. As a result, the entire shock absorbing structure 14 can be molded all at once by using, for example, injection molding or the like using one type of synthetic resin material. Flexibility is imparted, and the entire shock absorbing structure 14 is allowed to bend and deform in the thickness direction based on the flexibility of the first connecting body 18.

  Further, here, the adjacent resin molded bodies 16 are connected together with the first connecting body 18 by the second connecting body 19, so that the shock absorbing structure in the direction in which the resin molded bodies 16 are separated from each other. Since the tensile strength of the body 14 is reinforced and the second connecting body 19 has an L-shaped longitudinal section, the shock absorbing structure in the plate thickness direction of the first connecting body 18 or a direction perpendicular thereto. The bending strength of the body 14 is also reinforced, so that the rigidity of the entire shock absorbing structure 14 is tuned.

Then, in such a shock absorbing structure 14, the height of the resin molding 16: h ₁ is at about 30 to 80 mm, a width: with w is about 15 to 40 mm, adjacent the molded resin 16 Distance between each other: m is about 15 to 40 mm, the overall shape is reduced, and a sufficient number is provided in the limited space 15 between the bumper reinforcement 10 and the bumper cover 12. The resin molded body 16 is configured to be positioned. As a result, the space 15 between the bumper reinforcement 10 and the bumper cover 12 of various vehicle types, that is, the space 15 of various sizes inside the bumper can be advantageously accommodated. At the same time, it is possible to prevent partial variations in the shock absorbing performance in the length direction of the bumper.

Further, as described above, the resin molded body 16 is configured to have the cylindrical portion 20 including the cylindrical wall 24 that exhibits ideal load displacement characteristics by absorbing shock by buckling deformation. Therefore, even if the height h ₁ of the resin molded body 16 is designed to be low, excellent shock absorbing performance can be effectively ensured in the shock absorbing structure 14. In addition, the height: h and width: w of these resin moldings 16 or the distance: m between the resin moldings is not limited to the above examples, and the size of the inner space 15 of the bumper is not limited. Needless to say, it is appropriately determined according to the required shock absorbing performance or the like.

Further, the thickness of the thin tubular wall 24a~c the tubular portion 20 of the resin molded body 16: t ₁ and the thick tubular wall 24d thickness: t ₂ are both is approximately 1.0~3.0mm In such a range, by providing an appropriate difference between the thickness of the thin cylindrical walls 24a to 24c: t ₁ and the thickness of the thick cylindrical wall 24d: t ₂ , the thin cylindrical walls 24a to 24c are provided. A desired difference is obtained between the deformation strength of c and the deformation strength of the thick-walled cylindrical wall 24d. Further, the thickness of the top plate portion 22 of the resin molded body 16: t ₃ is also set to about 1.0 to 3.0 mm, also, the thickness of the first connecting member 18: t ₄ is 1.0 to 2. About 0 mm, the thickness of the second connector 19: t ₅ is about 0.8 to 1.5 mm. As described above, the plate thickness of each cylindrical wall 24 of the resin molded body 16 and the first and second coupling bodies 18 and 19 are set to be appropriately thin, so that the height direction of the resin molded body 16 is increased. It is possible to advantageously reduce the weight of the entire shock absorbing structure 14 while ensuring sufficient shock absorbing performance due to the deformation (buckling deformation of each cylindrical wall 24) and the desired rigidity of the entire shock absorbing structure 14. It is like that. Of course, the thickness of each of the cylindrical walls 24 and the first and second connecting bodies 18 and 19 is not limited to the above-described examples.

Furthermore, the height: h ₂ of the second connecting body 19 having an L-shaped longitudinal section is appropriately determined as long as it does not hinder the impact absorbing performance due to the deformation of the resin molded body 16 in the height direction. Is about 3.0 to 20 mm. Moreover, although the arrangement | positioning space | interval: n of the engagement clip 26 formed in the back surface of the 1st connection body 18 can be variously changed according to the length of the impact-absorbing structure 14, normally 100- It is about 500 mm.

  Thus, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of resin molded bodies 16 are arranged in the vehicle width direction (see FIG. 1) in the space 15 between the bumper reinforcement 10 and the bumper cover 12. 1 in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface), and in a state where each cylindrical wall 24 of the cylindrical portion 20 in each resin molded body 16 is erected so as to extend in the input direction of impact, The entire shock absorbing structure 14 is arranged. Further, under such an arrangement state of the shock absorbing structure 14, the thick cylindrical wall 24d in the cylindrical portion 20 of each resin molded body 16 is on the lower side in the vertical direction (vertical direction in FIG. 1) of the vehicle body. On the other hand, the thin-walled cylinder wall 24c disposed opposite to the thick-walled cylinder wall 24d is positioned above the thick-walled cylinder wall 24d.

  And the locking piece 30 of each engagement clip 26 integrally formed in the back surface of the 1st connection body 18 which connects each these resin moldings 16 is set to the bumper line reinforcement 10 at predetermined intervals in the length direction. The engaging protrusions 32 of the locking pieces 30 are engaged with the opening peripheral edge portions of the engaging holes 34 on the back surface of the bumper reinforcement 10. Thus, the shock absorbing structure 14 is fixedly attached to the bumper reinforcement 10. It should be noted that the shock absorbing structure 14 is easily removed from the bumper reinforcement 11 by eliminating the engagement state of the engagement protrusion 32 with the engagement hole 34.

  As described above, the shock absorbing structure 14 is detachably attached to the bumper reinforcement 10 while being accommodated in the space 15 between the bumper reinforcement 10 and the bumper cover 12. For example, as schematically shown in FIG. 4, the front surface of the lower portion of the pedestrian's leg 36 than the knee 38 is brought into contact with the bumper cover 12 when the automobile is running at a low speed. Of the cylinder wall 20 of the cylindrical portion 20 of the resin molded body 16 of the shock absorbing structure 14 located at the position corresponding to the contact portion with the leg portion 36 of the bumper cover 12. The thin cylindrical wall 24c having a small deformation strength is positioned so as to be deformed with a larger amount of deformation than the thick cylindrical wall 24d having a high deformation strength positioned below the thin cylindrical wall 24c. That. As is clear from this, the attachment means is constituted by the engagement clip 26 and the engagement hole 34, and the easily deformable portion is constituted by the thin cylindrical wall 24c which is a thin portion. ing.

  As the pedestrian's leg 36 comes into contact with the bumper cover 12, the bumper cover 12 has its lower portion as the thick cylindrical wall 24d and the thin cylindrical wall 24c of the resin molded body 16 are deformed. The bumper in which the lower part of the leg part 36 of the pedestrian is protruded toward the pedestrian side is deformed into a shape that exhibits an inclined surface shape that protrudes toward the pedestrian side from the upper part. It is scooped up by the lower part of the cover 12, and a rotational force is applied to the entire leg portion 36 in a direction (indicated by an arrow in FIG. 4) that causes the pedestrian to fall to the vehicle body side. It is like that. As a result, the bending angle θ of the knee 38 caused by contact with the bumper cover 12 in an unreasonable direction: θ is set to 0 ° or a very small angle close to 0 °, and the knee 38 is injured such as a fracture. The occurrence of this can be prevented as much as possible.

  In addition, in the present embodiment, as described above, the shock absorbing structure 14 has a compact structure, and a sufficient shock absorption amount can be obtained even though the shock stroke is relatively small. Thus, the size of the arrangement space 15 of the shock absorbing structure 14 between the bumper reinforcement 10 and the bumper cover 12 can be freely changed.

  Therefore, in such a bumper of this embodiment, it is advantageous to reduce damage to the pedestrian's knee when contacting the bumper cover 12 without any loss in design freedom or design freedom. As a result, the safety of pedestrians can be ensured extremely effectively.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the shock absorbing structure 14 having the resin molded body 14 having the thick cylindrical wall 24d and the thin cylindrical wall 24c is formed at once by injection molding using one kind of synthetic resin material. Since it is composed of a moldable integrally molded product, the troublesome labor involved in molding the shock absorbing structure 14 can be saved as much as possible, and thus the thick cylindrical wall 24d of the shock absorbing structure 14 can be saved. Therefore, ensuring the safety of a pedestrian based on the excellent shock absorbing performance as described above obtained by buckling deformation of the thin wall 24c can be realized very easily.

  Furthermore, in the bumper of this embodiment, the engagement protrusions 32 of the plurality of engagement clips 26 integrally formed on the back surface of the first connection body 18 that connects the resin molded bodies 16 of the shock absorbing structure 14 to each other are provided. Since the shock absorbing structure 14 is detachably attached to the bumper reinforcement 11 by being engaged with the plurality of engagement holes 34 provided in the bumper reinforcement 10, for example, Although the resin molded body 16 is deformed or damaged due to an impact input to the bumper cover 12 and the impact absorbing structure 14 cannot be used, the rigidity of the bumper reinforcement 10 and the bumper cover 12 is reduced. If the bumper reinforcement 10 and the bumper cover 12 are still ready for use due to the restoring force, the bumper Only the shock absorbing structure 14 can be easily replaced without replacing the support 10 and the bumper cover 12, thereby advantageously reducing the repair cost of the bumper when a collision occurs. Yes.

  The specific configuration of the present invention has been described in detail above. However, this is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited by the above description.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the resin molded body 16 includes a cylindrical portion 20 that has a square cylindrical shape including four cylindrical walls 24 and a top plate portion 22 that closes the upper opening of the cylindrical portion 20. However, in the resin molded body 16 having such a cylindrical portion 20, there is no problem even if the top plate portion 22 is omitted.

  Further, the number of the resin molded bodies 16 included in the shock absorbing structure 14 as the shock absorbing means is not particularly limited to the illustrated one, and the bumper reinforcement 10 in which the shock absorbing means 14 is to be disposed. Needless to say, it can be appropriately changed depending on the size of the space 15 between the bumper cover 12 and the size of the resin molded body 16 itself.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, the impact-absorbing structure 14 is made into the length corresponding to the length of the bumper reinforcement 10, and only one such impact-absorbing structure 14 is the bumper reinforcement 10 and It was arranged between the bumper cover 12, for example, in such a state that the shock absorbing structure 14 is divided into a plurality of pieces, and the plurality of shock absorbing structures 14 are arranged in a line in the length direction of the bumper. It may be arranged between the bumper reinforcement 10 and the bumper cover 12.

  Furthermore, an engagement clip 26 for removably attaching the shock absorbing structure 14 to the bumper reinforcement 10 is provided on the top plate portion 22 of the resin molded body 16, while the engagement hole 34 is provided to the bumper cover 12. The shock absorbing structure 14 may be detachably attached to the bumper cover 12. Further, the engaging clip 26 is provided on the back surface of the first connecting body 18 and the second connecting body 19 and the top plate portion 22, and the engaging hole 34 is provided on both the bumper reinforcement 10 and the bumper cover 12. The shock absorbing structure 14 is detachably attached to both the bumper reinforcement 10 and the bumper cover 12, or the engagement hole 34 is provided in the resin molded body 16, while the bumper reinforcement 10 is provided. It is also possible to provide an engagement clip 26 for the bumper cover 12.

  The structure for detachably mounting the shock absorbing structure 14 to the bumper reinforcement 10 or the bumper cover 12, that is, the structure of the mounting means, is a combination of the illustrated engagement clip 26 and the engagement hole 34. For example, the shock absorbing structure 14, the bumper reinforcement 10 and the bumper cover 12 are separated from each other by using a separate clamping member. The body 14 and the bumper reinforcement 10 are removably clamped, or the shock absorbing structure 14 and the bumper cover 12 are removably clamped, so that the shock absorbing structure 14 is removed from the bumper reinforcement 11 and the bumper. It is also possible to detachably attach to the cover 12, and it can be removed by simple screwing or the like. It may be kicking way.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, with respect to cylindrical wall 24d positioned on the lower side of the vehicle body, and the like attaching the appropriate plate 4 4, in Rukoto turn into thick such cylindrical wall 24d, the cylindrical wall By increasing the deformation strength of 24d and making the deformation strength of the cylindrical wall 24c relatively small with respect to the cylindrical wall 24d, the cylindrical wall 24c can be configured as an easily deformable portion. In FIG. 5, it is understood that detailed description is omitted by giving the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 1 to 4 to members and parts having the same structure as that of the above embodiment. Should be.

  Further, the arrangement structure, arrangement number, shape, and arrangement structure, material, shape, etc. of the bumper reinforcement 10 and the bumper cover 12 as the bumper reinforcement member are also described in the above. It is in no way limited to what is shown in the form.

  Furthermore, the bumper cover 12 may be configured to integrally include a general bumper portion and an aeropart portion such as a spoiler.

  In addition, in the said embodiment, although the specific example of what applied this invention with respect to the bumper structure attached to the front part of a motor vehicle was shown, this invention is other than the bumper structure attached to the rear surface part of a motor vehicle, Of course, the present invention can be advantageously applied to any of bumper structures attached to the front and rear surfaces of vehicles other than automobiles.

  In addition, although not enumerated one by one, the present invention can be carried out in a mode to which various changes, modifications, improvements, etc. are added based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. It goes without saying that all are included in the scope of the present invention without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

It is longitudinal section explanatory drawing which shows an example of the bumper which has a structure according to this invention. It is front explanatory drawing which shows the impact-absorbing structure arrange | positioned inside the bumper shown by FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory plan view of the shock absorbing structure shown in FIG. 2. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state inside a bumper when an impact is input with respect to the bumper shown by FIG. Ru Figure der corresponding to FIG. 1 showing another example of a bumper having a structure according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Bumper reinforcement 12 Bumper cover 14 Shock absorption structure 16 Resin molding 18 First connection body 19 Second connection body 20 Cylindrical part 24 Cylinder wall 26 Engagement clip 34 Engagement hole 36 Leg part 38 Knee

Claims (3)

A rigid bumper reinforcing member that is attached to the front surface side and the rear surface side of the vehicle body so as to extend in the vehicle width direction, and a bumper cover that covers the surface of the bumper reinforcing member opposite to the vehicle body side. In the bumper structure in which the shock absorbing means is arranged between and the shock input to the bumper cover is absorbed by the deformation of the shock absorbing means.
The shock absorbing means is provided so as to extend in the input direction of the shock, and is deformed by the input of the shock to thereby form a single cylindrical portion having a rectangular cylindrical shape including four cylindrical walls that absorb the shock. A plurality of resin molded bodies, and the plurality of resin molded bodies are arranged adjacent to each other in a state in which the respective cylinder walls face each other at a predetermined interval in the vehicle width direction. In addition, the adjacent ones are connected to each other by a connecting body made of a synthetic resin material, so that they are integrated and configured, and each of the plurality of resin molded bodies of the impact absorbing means is configured as described above. of the four-cylinder wall of the cylindrical portion, in the arrangement state under between the bumper cover and the bumper reinforcing member, is caused to position the upper side of the vehicle body in the vertical direction A side tubular wall, and left and right side portions tubular wall facing position in the vehicle width direction, and thinner than the lower tubular wall which is caused to position the lower side in the vehicle body vertical direction, deformation than such lower tubular wall while made easily and have been thin tubular wall, constitutes the lower side cylinder wall as thick tubular wall, and said upper tubular wall and side tubular wall and said lower tube wall, a different deformation strength to each other A bumper structure characterized by having a structure. The four cylindrical walls of the cylindrical part each have a trapezoidal shape, and the cylindrical part has a rectangular cylindrical shape in which an area of a cross section extending in a direction perpendicular to the axis decreases toward the tip. Bumper structure.
  At least one of the bumper reinforcing member and the bumper cover is provided between at least one of the shock absorbing unit and the bumper reinforcing member and between the shock absorbing unit and the bumper cover. The bumper structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a mounting means for removably attaching to either of the two is provided.

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