PEDESTRIAN PROTECTION APPARATUS FOR VEHICLE

Abstract

A pedestrian protection apparatus for a vehicle, including a plate member which is disposed at a front face of the vehicle, which includes front and rear portions, and which is fixed at the rear portion to the vehicle with at least a leading end part of the front portion protruded from the front face of the vehicle, the apparatus being arranged to sweep a leg portion of a pedestrian, thereby protecting the leg portion, wherein the leading end part includes at least one horizontally extending portion and a plurality of vertically extending portions each having an anterior surface substantially orthogonal to a horizontal plane, the horizontally extending portion and the vertically extending portions being formed integrally with the leading end part so as to be alternately disposed in the frontward and backward direction of the vehicle and extend in a staircase-like form.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features, advantages and technical and industrial significance of the present invention will be better understood by reading the following detailed description of presently preferred embodiments of the invention, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view showing a pedestrian protection apparatus constructed according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the pedestrian protection apparatus of FIG. 1 is installed on a vehicle;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a state in which a pedestrian protection apparatus constructed according to a second embodiment of the invention is installed on a vehicle;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view showing a pedestrian protection apparatus constructed according to a third embodiment of the invention:

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the pedestrian protection apparatus of FIG. 5 is installed on a vehicle;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a deformation state of the pedestrian protection apparatus of FIG. 5 upon collision of a pedestrian with a front face of the vehicle;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing a state in which a pedestrian protection apparatus constructed according to a fourth embodiment of the invention is installed on a vehicle;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing a state in which a pedestrian protection apparatus constructed according to a fifth embodiment of the invention is installed on a vehicle;

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing simulation results of the amount of partial deformation of the present pedestrian protection apparatus due to the impact load obtained by conducting a pedestrian collision test on the present pedestrian protection apparatus; and

FIG. 12 is an explanatory view showing simulation results of the amount of partial deformation of a conventional pedestrian protection apparatus due to the impact load obtained by conducting a pedestrian collision test on the conventional pedestrian protection apparatus.

Claims

1. A pedestrian protection apparatus for a vehicle, comprising a plate member which is disposed at a lower part of a front face of the vehicle so as to extend in a frontward and backward direction of the vehicle, which is made of a synthetic resin, which includes a front portion and a rear portion, and which is fixed at the rear portion to the vehicle with at least a leading end part of the front portion protruded from the front face of the vehicle, the apparatus being arranged to sweep a leg portion of a pedestrian that has collided with the front face of the vehicle by contact of the leading end part of the front portion of the plate member with the leg portion of the pedestrian, thereby protecting the leg portion of the pedestrian, wherein the leading end part of the front portion of the plate member includes at least one horizontally extending portion each of which extends horizontally in the frontward and backward direction of the vehicle and a plurality of vertically extending portions each of which has an anterior surface substantially orthogonal to a horizontal plane and each of which extends in a vertical direction, the at least one horizontally extending portion and the plurality of vertically extending portions being formed integrally with the leading end part such that each of the at least one horizontally extending portion and each of the plurality of vertically extending portions are alternately disposed in the frontward and backward direction of the vehicle so as to extend in a staircase-like form, whereby the leading end part has a staircase-like portion constituted by the at least one horizontally extending portion and the plurality of vertically extending portions.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a forward end of the staircase-like portion is constituted by one of the plurality of vertically extending portions, andwherein one of vertically opposite ends of said one of the plurality of vertically extending portions that is nearer to one of the at least one horizontally extending portion which is adjacent to said one of the plurality of vertically extending portions is located at a middle portion of the staircase-like portion in a height direction thereof.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a forward end of the staircase-like portion is constituted by one of the at least one horizontally extending portion.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein reinforcing ribs for reinforcing the front portion of the plate member are formed on a part of the front portion that at least includes the staircase-like portion, such that the reinforcing ribs are integral with posterior surfaces of the plurality of vertically extending portions in the staircase-like portion, so as to extend in the frontward and backward direction of the vehicle.

5. A pedestrian protection apparatus for a vehicle, comprising a plate member which is disposed at a lower part of a front face of the vehicle so as to extend in a frontward and backward direction of the vehicle with a suitable width, which is made of a synthetic resin, which includes a front portion and a rear portion, and which is fixed at the rear portion to the vehicle with at least a leading end part of the front portion protruded from the front face of the vehicle, the apparatus being arranged to sweep a leg portion of a pedestrian that has collided with the front face of the vehicle by contact of the leading end part of the front portion of the plate member with the leg portion of the pedestrian, thereby protecting the leg portion of the pedestrian, wherein the plate member includes: a horizontally extending portion which is located at the leading end part of the front portion of the plate member so as to horizontally extend over an entire width of the plate member; a front-side vertically extending portion which is formed integrally with a front end of the horizontally extending portion so as to extend in a vertical direction; a rear-side vertically extending portion which is formed integrally with a rear end of the horizontally extending portion so as to extend in the vertical direction such that the rear-side vertically extending portion is opposed to the front-side vertically extending portion with a suitable distance interposed therebetween; and a connecting portion which is constituted by a proximal end part of the front portion of the plate member that extends in the frontward and backward direction on the back side of the rear-side vertically extending portion and which connects, integrally to the rear portion of the plate member, a posterior surface of the rear-side vertically extending portion at a point thereof having a height position different from a height position of a connecting point of an anterior surface of the rear-side vertically extending portion at which the rear-side vertically extending portion is connected to the horizontally extending portion, andwherein the front portion of the plate member is constituted by including, at the leading end part thereof, a U-shaped portion having a U-shaped configuration in vertical cross section.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the front-side vertically extending portion is bent at substantially right angles at a plurality of locations of a middle portion thereof as seen in a height direction thereof, so as to extend in the vertical direction in a staircase-like form.

7. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein reinforcing portions for increasing strength of the front portion of the plate member is provided on the front portion, so as to prevent easy deformation of the front portion due to an impact load applied thereto resulting from collision of the leg portion of the pedestrian with the front face of the vehicle.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the reinforcing portions are constituted by reinforcing ribs formed integrally on the front portion of the plate member such that the reinforcing ribs are integral with a posterior surface of the front-side vertically extending portion and posterior surfaces of the plurality of rear-side vertically extending portions, so as to extend in the frontward and backward direction.

9. A pedestrian protection apparatus for a vehicle, comprising a plate member which is disposed at a lower part of a front face of the vehicle so as to extend in a frontward and backward direction of the vehicle with a suitable width, which is made of a synthetic resin, which includes a front portion and a rear portion, and which is fixed at the rear portion to the vehicle with at least a leading end part of the front portion protruded from the front face of the vehicle, the apparatus being arranged to sweep a leg portion of a pedestrian that has collided with the front face of the vehicle by contact of the leading end part of the front portion of the plate member with the leg portion of the pedestrian, thereby protecting the leg portion of the pedestrian, wherein the plate member includes: a front-side vertically extending portion which is located at the leading end part of the front portion of the plate member so as to vertically extend over an entire width of the plate member; a plurality of rear-side vertically extending portions which are located at the back of the front-side vertically extending portion with a suitable distance interposed therebetween so as to extend in the vertical direction over the entire width of the plate member such that the plurality of rear-side vertically extending portions are opposed to the front-side vertically extending portion and spaced apart from each other by a suitable distance in the frontward and backward direction; a plurality of horizontally extending portions which are located between mutually corresponding vertical ends of a forwardmost one of the plurality of rear-side vertically extending portions and the front-side vertically extending portion and between mutually corresponding vertical ends of the plurality of rear-side vertically extending portions, such that the plurality of horizontally extending portions horizontally extend over the entire width of the plate member and such that adjacent two of the plurality of horizontally extending portions in the frontward and backward direction are located at mutually different height levels, thereby connecting the front-side vertically extending portion and the forwardmost one of the plurality of rear-side vertically extending portions integrally to each other and connecting the plurality of rear-side vertically extending portions to each other; and a connecting portion which is constituted by a proximal end part of the front portion of the plate member that is located on the back side of a rearmost one of the plurality of rear-side vertically extending portions so as to extend in the frontward and backward direction and which connects, integrally to the rear portion of the plate member, a posterior surface of the rearmost one of the plurality of rear-side vertically extending portions at a point thereof having a different height position from that of a connecting point of an anterior surface of the rearmost one of the plurality of vertically extending portions at which the rearmost one of the plurality of vertically extending portions is connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of horizontally extending portions, andwherein the leading end part of the front portion of the plate member extends in a zigzag form in a height direction with a U-shaped configuration in vertical cross section.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the front-side vertically extending portion is bent at substantially right angles at a plurality of locations of a middle portion thereof as seen in a height direction thereof, so as to extend in the vertical direction in a staircase-like form.

11. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein reinforcing portions for increasing strength of the front portion of the plate member is provided on the front portion, so as to prevent easy deformation of the front portion due to an impact load applied thereto resulting from collision of the leg portion of the pedestrian with the front face of the vehicle.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the reinforcing portions are constituted by reinforcing ribs formed integrally on the front portion of the plate member such that the reinforcing ribs are integral with a posterior surface of the front-side vertically extending portion and posterior surfaces of the plurality of rear-side vertically extending portions, so as to extend in the frontward and backward direction.