Patent Application
20170073014
The present disclosure relates to an energy-transferring apparatus for a vehicle that transfers impact energy from a chassis to the powertrain when the vehicle is involved in a small offset rigid barrier frontal collision.
Land vehicles are tested for crashworthiness by a variety of tests including frontal impacts, side impacts, rear impacts, roll-over, and other tests. Previous, frontal impact tests specified that a vehicle impacts a barrier between the frame rails that extend longitudinally relative to the vehicle. In this type of test, the frame rails provided the primary support for the vehicle body. Crush cans located between a front bumper and the frame rails absorb part of the force of the frontal impact to the front bumper. Structures that interfere with compressing crush cans may create problems in achieving successful test results in frontal impact crash tests. The extent of any intrusions into the passenger compartment are measured at the lower hinge pillar, footrest, left toe pan, brake pedal, parking brake pedal, rocker panel, steering column, upper hinge pillar upper dash and left instrument panel.
An Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Small Offset Rigid Barrier (SORB) test simulates small overlap frontal crashes against a rigid barrier. In the proposed test, the vehicle impacts a rigid barrier having a six inch pole-like radius on one corner with a 25% overlap at 40 miles per hour (MPH). The impact is outboard of the frame rails and the frame rails provide minimum resistance to intrusion into the passenger compartment.
According to one embodiment, a vehicle includes a pair of rails, and a powertrain disposed between the rails. The powertrain includes an engine, and a transmission that has a surface facing a side of one of the rails and spaced apart from the side. An energy-transfer element is attached to the surface and is disposed between the surface and side to reduce a spacing between the surface and side thereby increasing a cross-car load transfer during a collision.
According to another embodiment, a vehicle includes a pair of rails, and a powertrain disposed between the rails such that the powertrain is spaced apart from the rails. The vehicle also includes an energy-transfer element attached to an inner side of one of the rails and extending towards the powertrain to reduce a spacing between the powertrain and inner side thereby increasing a cross-car load transfer during a collision.
According to yet another embodiment, a collision energy absorbing assembly for a land vehicle includes first and second frame rails and a powertrain having an engine and a transmission. The powertrain is disposed between the rails such that the powertrain is spaced apart from the rails. The vehicle also includes an energy-transfer element attached to an inner side of the first rail or powertrain to reduce a spacing between the powertrain and first rail thereby increasing a cross-car load transfer during a collision.
Embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. It is to be understood, however, that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples and other embodiments can take various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features could be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention. As those of ordinary skill in the art will understand, various features illustrated and described with reference to any one of the figures can be combined with features illustrated in one or more other figures to produce embodiments that are not explicitly illustrated or described. The combinations of features illustrated provide representative embodiments for typical applications. Various combinations and modifications of the features consistent with the teachings of this disclosure, however, could be desired for particular applications or implementations.
Referring to
A powertrain 40, in this example, is transversely mounted between the frame rails 25, 26. The powertrain includes an engine 42 and a transmission 46. The engine 42 includes one or more engine mounts connecting the engine 42 to the chassis 24, and the transmission 46 includes one or more transmission mounts 48 connecting the transmission 46 to the chassis 24. For example, one of the transmission mounts may be connected to the rail 26 and to the top of one end of the transmission. The transmission 46 includes a proximal end that is coupled to the engine 42 and a distal end that faces the inner side 28 of the frame rail 26. The distal end and the inner side 28 of the frame rail 26 are spaced apart defining gap. An energy-transfer element 54 is disposed within the gap between the distal end and the inner side 28 of the frame rail 26. The energy-transfer element 54 may be attached to the distal end or the frame rail 26. The energy-transfer element 54 fills a majority of the gap creating a smaller space between the distal end and the inner side 28 of the frame rail 26. While the energy-transfer element 54 fills a portion of the gap, the energy-transfer element is only rigidly attached to one of the powertrain 40 and the frame rail 26 because relative movement between the powertrain 40 and the chassis 24 is beneficial.
The energy-transfer element 54 may include a first side 56 that is attached to the distal end 52 of the transmission 46, and a second side 58 that faces the inner side 28 of the frame rail 26. The energy-transfer element 54 may have any shape that is suitable to fit between the gap created between the transmission 46 and the frame rail 26. For example, the energy-transfer element 54 may be a rectangular prism. Alternatively, the energy-transfer element 54 may be shaped to conform with the outer surface of the transmission 46. In the illustrated embodiment, the energy transfer element 54 is L-shaped. It may be preferable to shape the energy-transfer element 54 to conform with the shape of the transmission 46.
Referring to
An energy-transfer element 118 may be disposed between the engine 104 and one of the frame rails 108, 110. The energy-transfer element 118 may be connected to the inner side 120 of the frame rail or may be connected to the engine 104, such as at the engine block 112. The vehicle 100 may include a first energy transfer element 118 disposed between the driver-side rail 108 and the engine 104. In some embodiments, a second energy-transfer element (not shown) is disposed between the passenger-side rail 110 and the engine 104.
While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms encompassed by the claims. The words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. As previously described, the features of various embodiments can be combined to form further embodiments of the invention that may not be explicitly described or illustrated. While various embodiments could have been described as providing advantages or being preferred over other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more desired characteristics, those of ordinary skill in the art recognize that one or more features or characteristics can be compromised to achieve desired overall system attributes, which depend on the specific application and implementation. These attributes can include, but are not limited to cost, strength, durability, life cycle cost, marketability, appearance, packaging, size, serviceability, weight, manufacturability, ease of assembly, etc. As such, embodiments described as less desirable than other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more characteristics are not outside the scope of the disclosure and can be desirable for particular applications.
