Patent Application
20220219637
This application claims the benefit of German Patent Application No. DE 10 2021 100 189.7, filed Jan. 8, 2021, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
The invention relates to a roll cage for a motor vehicle with Isofix attachment points in the rear of an automobile interior. The Isofix attachment points in a motor vehicle are used in particular for attaching a child seat. They comply with the ISO 13216 standard and are composed of two mounts that are 6 mm thick, located at a spacing of 280 mm in the gap between the backrests and seat cushions of each seat in the rear part of the vehicle interior. They are now standard attachment points in passenger automobiles.
A roll cage is normally formed by a rollbar with at least four mounting points for securing the rollbar to the motor vehicle. In the case of an accident, in particular in which the vehicle rolls over, the passenger compartment is reinforced such that it does not become deformed in a manner dangerous for the driver and passengers. In particular, racecars and sportscars are currently equipped with such roll cages for safety reasons.
Rollbars are normally attached to the vehicle chassis and/or the vehicle framework. Because this involves an engagement in the structure of the vehicle, in some jurisdictions these rollbars must be registered in the licensing office.
The object of the present invention is to create a roll cage that can be installed in a vehicle after production, and preferably does not have to be registered.
This object is achieved according to the invention by a roll cage according to the claims. Further advantageous aspects, details, and designs of the invention can be derived from the description, and the drawings.
The roll cage according to the invention is formed by a rollbar that is attached to and/or supported in the vehicle with at least four mounting points. The roll cage is designed for vehicles that have Isofix attachment points in the rear of the automobile's interior. Of the four mounting points, two are designed as clamp elements that engage with at least two of the Isofix attachment points. Two of the other mounting points are designed as support elements that brace the rollbar against the passenger compartment, in particular the floor thereof.
The invention has the advantage that the roll cage can be quickly and easily installed in the vehicle, and is not permanently attached to the vehicle's chassis. The use of the roll cage therefore does not require approval and/or registry in the vehicle title according to the current approval provisions of some jurisdictions.
The roll cage is nevertheless able to absorb forces acting on the passenger compartment in the case of an accident, thus preventing a life-threatening deformation of the passenger compartment.
As explained above, the Isofix attachment points in the vehicle are composed of two mounts that are 6 mm thick on each seat, which are spaced 280 mm apart in the gap between the backrest and the seat in the rear of the vehicle. If the normal Isofix attachment points are provided on the two outer rear seats in the vehicle then there are four mounts in the rear of the vehicle interior, wherein the spacing between the mounts for the two outer rear seats may vary, and depends on the size of the vehicle.
The spacing between the two first mounting points can therefore be adjusted precisely to a specific type of vehicle, e.g. a VW Golf IV. A greater range of use and variability is obtained for different types of vehicles if the spacing between the first mounting points can be adjusted. This adjustability can be obtained, for example, in the adjustable receivers on the rollbar for the first mounting points. In this manner, production tolerances can also be accounted for in a vehicle with regard to the spacing between the outermost Isofix attachment points.
In principle, the roll cage can have just two first mounting points, in particular for the outermost mounts on the Isofix attachment points in the vehicle. If the rollbar is to be securely attached to the vehicle in a particularly robust manner, there can also be four first mounting points on the rollbar, which are then attached to all four Isofix attachment points in the vehicle for the two outer rear seats.
It should be noted that the roll cage also has an aesthetic value, and the roll cage according to the invention does not provide the same level of vehicle safety that is obtained with a roll cage that is permanently attached to the chassis of the vehicle.
In general, it is possible that the rollbar simply has feet plates at the bottom that are basically the same size or slightly larger than the tubes forming the rollbar, such that the end of the tube is simply closed with a plate, for example. This may be necessary for some vehicles due to the available space therein.
The supporting elements preferably have support plates, however, which are designed to fit in the vehicle at the side of the passenger compartment and/or on the floor thereof.
These support plates should be of a minimum size for this, in order to absorb the forces acting on the chassis in the rollbar in the case of an accident, and thus prevent perforation of the floor where the plates press against it. An appropriate minimum size would be 100 mm×100 mm, preferably 200 mm×200 mm, and ideally 200-250 mm×250-350 mm in the case of a rectangular surface of the support plate, for example, depending on which size fits best on the floor in the rear of the passenger compartment.
According to a preferred embodiment, the support plates weigh between 5 and 15 kg, in particular 8 to 10 kg. As a result, the rollbar remains in place on the floor of the vehicle due to the weight of the support plates.
In an advantageous development of the invention, the support plates have flanges that can be attached to the lower ends of the tubes forming the rollbar. The support plates can thus be attached to the rollbar after the rollbar has been positioned in the vehicle. This significantly simplifies the installment of the roll cage in the vehicle. The attachment can preferably be obtained using screw clamps, which connect the lower ends of the tubes of the rollbar to the flanges.
The clamp elements are preferably made of two oblong clamp parts, in particular metal brackets that can be connected to one another by at least one threaded bolt, where at least one of the clamp parts has at least one recess on its side facing the other clamp part for a mount on the Isofix attachment point.
A first clamp part is preferably welded to the rollbar, and the second clamp part is preferably screwed to the first clamp part. This design can be produced easily, and simplifies installation.
Because the mount is formed by a web that has a diameter of 6 mm, the receiver of clamp element is preferably formed by the semicylindrical channels in both clamp parts facing one another. Alternatively, the recess can be formed entirely in one of the clamp parts, in which case the recess formed in the one clamp part is simply covered by the other clamp part.
In a very stable and easily produced embodiment of the invention, the two clamp parts are made of metal strips or brackets that are 4 to 10 mm thick, in particular 5 to 8 mm thick. This has the advantage that forces can be effectively transferred due to the thickness of the materials. The materials are also thick enough that a 3 mm channel can be formed therein for the 6 mm thick mount, without deforming it, such that the two half-channels in the two clamp parts face one another, thus forming a cylindrical hole for the mount with a 6 mm diameter.
The two clamp parts therefore preferably have a cylindrical channel or groove on their sides facing one another, with a diameter of at least 5 mm, in particular 5.5 mm to 6.5 mm. The trough is transverse to the longitudinal axis of the clamp part in each case. The troughs face each other on the two clamp parts that are screwed together, thus forming the receiver for the mount.
The mount on the Isofix attachment point is preferably clamped between the two clamp parts, such that any play is eliminated. The diameter of the recess in at least one of the clamp parts can therefore be slightly smaller than the diameter of the mount, e.g. 5.9 mm.
To attach the two clamp parts securely but releasably, they can be connected to one another by at least one, preferably at least two threaded bolts, placed successively in the longitudinal direction. The two clamp parts are first screwed together when the rollbar is placed correctly in the vehicle, and the mount lies in the trough or recess of at least one clamp part. The installation is thus simplified in this embodiment.
If the distance between the holes for the bolts is at least 3 cm, preferably at least 5 cm, the tightening area is not affected by the seat cushions in the rear, and the installation is easier.
In order to be able to withstand the potentially strong forces that may act on the roll cage in the case of an accident, the rollbar and/or the mounting points are made of metal, in particular steel. Preferably, both the rollbar and the mounting points are made of steel. As a result, the forces acting on the passenger compartment can be effectively transferred by the roll cage to the Isofix attachment points and the vehicle chassis.
The following expressions are used synonymously: first mounting point—clamp element; clamp part—metal strip, metal bracket; second mounting point—support element.
It is clear to the person skilled in the art that the embodiments described above can be combined arbitrarily with one another, as long as the embodiments are not mutually exclusive.
Developments, advantages and application possibilities of the invention can be derived from the following description of exemplary embodiments and from the drawings. All of the features described and/or illustrated in the drawings are fundamentally part of the invention in and of themselves or in arbitrary combinations thereof, independently of their descriptions in the claims or the references made thereto.
The invention shall be described in greater detail below on the basis of exemplary embodiments in conjunction with the schematic drawings. Wherein:
A mount 26 for an Isofix attachment point is located in the known manner on the back seat 20 in the gap between the seat 22 and the backrest 24. These attachment points are usually used for securing child seats.
A roll cage 30 is located in the rear section 18 of the passenger compartment 10, which shall be explained in greater detail in reference to
The roll cage 30 contains a rollbar 32, which, seen from the side, has an A-frame structure with a front leg 36 and rear leg 33, connected by a horizontal connecting web 39. The rear leg 33 has a horizontal web 37 at its lower end, which has two first mounting points 34a, 34b, each of which can be secured to a mount 26 on an Isofix attachment point, preferably on both sides at the outermost Isofix attachment points.
The front leg 36 extends into the footwell in front of the back seat 20, and is supported by two supporting elements 38a, 38b on the floor 41 of the passenger compartment 10. Each supporting element 38a, 38b is composed of a support plate 40 with a flange 42, which is connected to the lower end 46 of the front leg 36 of the rollbar 32 by a screw clamp 44.
The support elements 38a, 38b are shown in greater detail in
The flange 42, i.e. a tube flange, is welded to the support plate 40. The flange 42 preferably has the same diameter as the lower end 46 of the front leg 36 of the rollbar 32. It is then connected via the screw clamp, or tube screw clamp 44. The tube screw clamp 44 is composed of two half-clamps 48, 50, which are tightened to one another by two screws 52 that pass through the flange 42 and the lower end 46 of the front leg 36, thus securely connecting the lower end 46 and the flange 42 to one another.
The clamp elements 34a, 34b are shown in greater detail in
The first clamp part 54 has a cylindrical trough 56, transverse to the longitudinal axis, at its front end, which encompasses the mount 26 on the Isofix attachment point over approximately 180°. A second clamp part 60 is secured by two screws 58 to the first clamp part 54, which also forms an oblong metal bracket with a thickness of preferably at least 5 mm. The second clamp part 60 also has a complementary trough 62 at its front end, lying opposite the trough 56 on the first clamp part 54, such that the two troughs form a cylindrical hole 64 that entirely encompasses the mount 26, thus securing the rollbar 32 to the mount 26 on the corresponding Isofix attachment point.
There can be two or four first mounting points in the form of these clamp elements 34, which are secured to a corresponding number of mounts 26 in the rear section 18 of the vehicle's interior.
The rollbar 32 is securely anchored to the Isofix attachment points in this manner, and it is also supported on the floor 41 of the passenger compartment. The roll cage 30 can thus be quickly installed, without having to be registered, and it is also robust and functional.
It is clear to the person skilled in the art that the invention is not limited by the description of the drawings, and can be varied within the scope of protection of the subordinate claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102021100189.7 | Jan 2021 | DE | national |
