EP3152071A1 - Metal insert for a vehicle towing means - Google Patents
Metal insert for a vehicle towing meansInfo
- Publication number
- EP3152071A1 EP3152071A1 EP15733796.5A EP15733796A EP3152071A1 EP 3152071 A1 EP3152071 A1 EP 3152071A1 EP 15733796 A EP15733796 A EP 15733796A EP 3152071 A1 EP3152071 A1 EP 3152071A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- insert
- shock absorber
- vehicle
- sheet metal
- towing means
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60D—VEHICLE CONNECTIONS
- B60D1/00—Traction couplings; Hitches; Draw-gear; Towing devices
- B60D1/48—Traction couplings; Hitches; Draw-gear; Towing devices characterised by the mounting
- B60D1/56—Traction couplings; Hitches; Draw-gear; Towing devices characterised by the mounting securing to the vehicle bumper
- B60D1/565—Traction couplings; Hitches; Draw-gear; Towing devices characterised by the mounting securing to the vehicle bumper having an eyelet
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60D—VEHICLE CONNECTIONS
- B60D1/00—Traction couplings; Hitches; Draw-gear; Towing devices
- B60D1/48—Traction couplings; Hitches; Draw-gear; Towing devices characterised by the mounting
- B60D1/488—Traction couplings; Hitches; Draw-gear; Towing devices characterised by the mounting mounted directly to the chassis of the towing vehicle
Definitions
- the present invention relates to the field of vehicle towing means, and more specifically to the attachment means of a towing sleeve on a front face of the vehicle.
- the front of a vehicle is equipped with a threaded socket for receiving a screw with a hook or a ring to provide a towing function.
- the front face of a vehicle is usually composed of structural elements, and "crash boxes" which are shock absorbers capable of crashing in the event of impact and to protect the spars of non-repairable damage. More specifically, the structural elements are connected through the shock absorbers to the vehicle frame such as the main longitudinal members for example. In the case of a shock, it is understood that the structural elements of the front face transmit forces to shock absorbers.
- the bushing is welded with one of the structural elements that are usually made of steel or aluminum.
- the structural elements of the front face generally comprise a receiving housing of the socket adapted to weld the sleeve on either side of this housing.
- the sleeve provided with its hook receives the traction forces of the other vehicle and transmits them to the structural elements of the front face, which transmit them in turn to the frame elements of the vehicle.
- the present invention aims to overcome these disadvantages by providing a metal insert configured to allow the indirect attachment of the tow sleeve with a front face of a vehicle whose structural members are plastic or polymeric material.
- the subject of the invention is a metal insert for overmoulding a means for towing a vehicle, characterized in that the insert is made of sheet metal so as to at least partially accommodate said towing means, the insert having different sheet metal sections, and in that it comprises at least one fin forming a projection of a sheet of metal, said fin being arranged to allow to take tensile forces of the other vehicle associated with towing.
- the metal insert is adapted to act as an interface for taking up traction forces between a plastic structure element and a towing means.
- this insert it becomes possible to integrate a conventional towing means to the front of a vehicle whose various elements, including shock absorbers, are not metallic. In this way, when towing the vehicle, the risk of rupture, permanent deformation or damage to the polymer material elements of the front face are avoided.
- the metal insert may further include one or more of the following features, taken alone or in combination.
- the insert is of elongate shape and has a longitudinal axis substantially parallel to that of the vehicle.
- the insert has areas of mechanical weakness capable of allowing the insert to shorten longitudinally. Thus, during a collision of the vehicle to the right of the insert, it plastically deforms and helps absorb some of the energy of the shock.
- the sheet metal sections are separated by folds of sheet metal.
- the sheet metal sections have a given thickness
- the zones of mechanical weakness comprise zones that are thinned with respect to the thickness of the sheet metal sections, and the said thin zones form rupture lines. Again, the risk of rupture, permanent deformation or damage to the polymer material elements of the front face are avoided.
- the zones of weakness comprise at least one of the elements of the following list, a combination of these elements; holes, recesses, notches, marked folds, a ripple, a boss, or changes in thickness or material.
- areas of weakness are relatively easy to achieve.
- Box shape means a substantially closed profile.
- the U-shape makes it easier to position the towing means.
- the fins comprise orifices for receiving means for fixing the vehicle.
- These fins have the advantage of being fixed by means of screws to a plate connected to the structure or the front face of the vehicle.
- the insert comprises at least one zone having a double thickness of sheet.
- the attachment zone of the insert to the structure or to the front of the vehicle is reinforced. It is also possible that the insert is made by folding and / or stamping, or by welding, or by riveting.
- the insert has been laser cut.
- the insert and its areas of weakness are precisely designed.
- the insert is designed to withstand a tensile stress of less than 12000 N and to deform irreversibly in case of shock insurance.
- shock Insurance means a vehicle impact at about 15km / h against a rigid wall, such as the one known as Danner, or "AZT", or about 8 km / h against a pole (impact post , IIHS standard or "bumper test” which is a shock against a wall having on its front part an absorber representing the rigidity of the front face of a vehicle).
- the invention also relates to an assembly provided with an insert as mentioned above and a towing means which is preferably attached to the insert, in particular by welding.
- a towing means which is preferably attached to the insert, in particular by welding.
- the towing means of the assembly may comprise a threaded bushing.
- the invention also relates to a vehicle shock absorber comprising an insert as described above in which the insert is overmolded with the shock absorber. Thus it is possible to overmold the insert with the shock absorber.
- two fastening means ensure the attachment of the insert with the vehicle structure.
- the fasteners are screwed into a metal plate of the spar through the orifices of the fins.
- the insert is rigidly fixed to the spar.
- the insert is in an eccentric position with respect to a median axis of the shock absorber or spar, the central axis being substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the insert.
- the invention further relates to a motor vehicle comprising a shock absorber as presented above.
- the insert is overmolded on the front face of the vehicle.
- FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bent sheet insert according to the invention provided with a sleeve.
- FIG. 2 is a view of the insert of FIG. 1 in which the sheet metal sections of the insert are in a developed state.
- Figure 3 is a sectional view of the insert of Figure 1 of a shock absorber of a structural element of the front face.
- FIG. 1 shows an example of an insert 10 for a motor vehicle towing means 12 according to the invention.
- the insert 10 is made from a folded or pressed sheet metal and here comprises three longitudinal sheet panels 14, 15, 16, a connecting plate 18 and two fins 20, 21.
- the longitudinal sheet metal sections 14, 15, 16 are separated by sheet metal folds and consist of two lateral walls 14, 15 and a bottom wall 16. These longitudinal sheet metal sections together form a channel 24 in which the towing 12 is housed.
- the towing means 12 is a socket which has a parallelepipedal shape whose three longitudinal faces are surrounded by the longitudinal sides 14, 15, 16 of the insert 10.
- the fourth longitudinal face 12D of the sleeve 12 is free and is flush with the free edges 14A, 15A of the side walls 14, 15.
- the sleeve 12 is fixed to the insert 10 by spot or bead welding, a weld being made between the edges of the flanges. sheet and at least one of the faces of the sleeve.
- the longitudinal sheet metal sections 14, 15, 16 have a given thickness of 1 mm in this example. They comprise areas of mechanical weakness 28 which form recesses or cuts of elongated shapes oriented, according to the example described, substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis L of the insert 10. These areas of mechanical weakness 28 are discontinuities of material which are the result of laser cuts made on the sheet of the longitudinal sections of the insert.
- the zones of mechanical weakness 28 thus form permanent deformation lines capable of longitudinally shortening the insert 10 during a deformation of said zones of mechanical weakness 28.
- the bushing 12 is provided with a threaded hole 30 intended to receive for example a towing hook (not shown).
- This end 29 of the sleeve 12 is substantially flush with the free edges 14B, 15B of the longitudinal sections of the insert.
- the channel 24 in U formed by the longitudinal sections 14, 15, 16 thus comprises a receiving portion 32 of the sleeve 12 and a void portion 34 in which the side walls 14, 15 are directly opposite. It is specified that the mechanical zones of weakness 28 are located at the right of the empty portion 34 of the insert and they are not located at the right of the receiving portion of the sleeve.
- the two side walls 14, 15 extend parallel to each other while in the empty portion 34, the side walls 14, 15 are separated by a distance which increases as one moves away from the sleeve 12 along the axis L.
- the side walls 14, 15 of the insert are extended by the fins 20, 21 or "ears" folded, according to the example described, at an angle substantially In this example, these fins, each have a rounded portion pierced with a hole 40.
- the fins 20, 21 are arranged to allow to take up tensile forces associated with towing.
- the connecting plate 18 of the insert is a sheet metal strip extending the bottom wall 16.
- the connecting plate 18 forms a substantially straight angle with the bottom wall 16 and transversely closes the end of the U-shape.
- connecting plate 18 extends from one fin 20, 21 to the other by covering them and marrying at least a part of their shape. It is provided with two orifices 42 each arranged coaxially with the holes 40 of the fins.
- the insert 10 has areas of double thickness 41 sheet which increases the rigidity of the insert at this location.
- the insert 10 is shown in its expanded form, i.e., all the sheet metal sections of the insert are in an unfolded state.
- the connecting plate of the insert 10 is fixed to the plate 44 of a shock absorber 46 by means of two screws 48.
- the plate 44 of the shock absorber 46 is connected directly to the front face 47 of the vehicle.
- the insert 10 is overmolded with the shock absorber 46, but could also be overmolded with other parts of the front face of the vehicle.
- the insert 10 and the shock absorber 46 are adapted to deform plastically jointly and simultaneously by bearing on the front face 47 of the vehicle.
- the insert is not limited to the embodiments presented above and other embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is in particular possible to vary the general shape of the sheet metal sections of the insert or to make vary the shape of the fins designed to absorb the forces and transmit them to the plate of the shock absorber or directly to the front of the vehicle.
- the fins could in particular take the form of simple tongues or folded teeth, which would be intended to be overmoulded with the shock absorber or with the front face of the vehicle.
- the sleeve has a cylinder shape.
- the insert forms a tubular housing provided for example with openings provided to facilitate the attachment of the socket. Also, to simplify manufacture, it can be envisaged that the insert does not provide a zone of weakness.
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Transportation (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Body Structure For Vehicles (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
FR1455199A FR3021921B1 (en) | 2014-06-09 | 2014-06-09 | METALLIC INSERT FOR MEANS OF VEHICLE TOWING |
PCT/FR2015/051479 WO2015189500A1 (en) | 2014-06-09 | 2015-06-04 | Metal insert for a vehicle towing means |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP3152071A1 true EP3152071A1 (en) | 2017-04-12 |
Family
ID=51610237
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP15733796.5A Withdrawn EP3152071A1 (en) | 2014-06-09 | 2015-06-04 | Metal insert for a vehicle towing means |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP3152071A1 (en) |
FR (1) | FR3021921B1 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2015189500A1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
CN110167769B (en) * | 2016-12-16 | 2023-10-20 | Sabic环球技术有限责任公司 | Hybrid Traction Bumper Beam Assembly |
FR3074750B1 (en) * | 2017-12-11 | 2020-07-10 | Compagnie Plastic Omnium | SHOCK ABSORBING SYSTEM FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE |
DE102022117602A1 (en) | 2022-07-14 | 2024-01-25 | Benteler Automobiltechnik Gmbh | Bumper arrangement |
Family Cites Families (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US7290783B2 (en) * | 2003-11-21 | 2007-11-06 | Shape Corporation | Towing apparatus with energy absorber |
FR2866830B1 (en) * | 2004-02-27 | 2008-08-08 | Peguform France | BUMPER FOR VEHICLE COMPRISING AN INSERT FOR RECEIVING A TOWING RING |
JP5852403B2 (en) * | 2011-10-21 | 2016-02-03 | アイシン精機株式会社 | Bumper device for vehicle and crash box applied to the bumper device for vehicle |
-
2014
- 2014-06-09 FR FR1455199A patent/FR3021921B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
-
2015
- 2015-06-04 EP EP15733796.5A patent/EP3152071A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2015-06-04 WO PCT/FR2015/051479 patent/WO2015189500A1/en active Application Filing
Non-Patent Citations (2)
Title |
---|
None * |
See also references of WO2015189500A1 * |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
FR3021921B1 (en) | 2017-08-18 |
FR3021921A1 (en) | 2015-12-11 |
WO2015189500A1 (en) | 2015-12-17 |
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