WO2006061490A1

WO2006061490A1 - Motor vehicle front surface support comprising an integrated cavity

Info

Publication number: WO2006061490A1
Application number: PCT/FR2005/002989
Authority: WO
Inventors: Cédric COURRIAN; Gaël VAN HOUTEGHEM
Original assignee: Valeo Systemes Thermiques
Priority date: 2004-12-09
Filing date: 2005-11-30
Publication date: 2006-06-15
Also published as: FR2879155A1; FR2879155B1

Abstract

The invention concerns a motor vehicle front surface support comprising at least a strut (12). The strut comprises a first half-shell (30) capable of being assembled to a second half-shell (36) produced separately, the first and second half-shells having respective junction zones (32, 40) capable of being assembled together to form a hollow shell (42) delimiting a cavity.

Description

FRONT FACE SUPPORT FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE HAVING AN INTEGRATED CAVITY

The invention relates to the front faces of motor vehicles and, more particularly, a front face support comprising at least one amount.

A front face is a structural element capable of supporting various equipment of the vehicle, such as projectors, indicators, buzzer, heat exchanger, fan motor unit, etc.

The front panel, thus provided with its equipment, is a unit module prepared and delivered by the equipment manufacturer and ready to be mounted on the vehicle by the manufacturer. The assembly of this unitary module is effected by connecting the support to lateral structural elements of the vehicle, such as _. spars, wings or hull, then put in place a bumper or frontal shield attached to the module.

The front face support is generally made in the form of a one-piece element, for example plastic, but most often in the form of a composite or hybrid metal / plastic element. The publication EP-A-0 658 470 teaches the production of a front face in the form of a metal frame of stamped sheet metal on which is molded a plastic material, in particular of the polyamide type.

It has already been proposed to incorporate in the front face, and more particularly in the front face support, one or more cavities serving as reservoir (s) fluid. This makes it possible to avoid having to make, as usually, tanks in separate form which are then mounted on the front face support and / or on other parts of the vehicle. Publication WO 01/39942 teaches a front face incorporating one or more fluid reservoirs. However, the front face, including the tank or tanks that it incorporates, is made by a blow molding technique that allows to use only "poor" plastic materials, that is to say, low resistance mechanical. Indeed, this technique can only be applied to plastics weakly loaded with glass fibers. As a result,

, Mechanical properties of these materials are relatively low and incompatible with the needs in terms of mechanical strength of a front face of a motor vehicle.

In addition, this blow molding process does not provide uniform mechanical characteristics because the distribution of the material is not controllable. We thus obtain very important differences in the distribution of the material and therefore in mechanical strength.

The French patent application 01 16570, in the name of the Applicant, also proposes a front face of a motor vehicle that can integrate one or more fluid reservoirs. This publication is primarily intended to integrate a pair of collector boxes arranged vis-à-vis to receive a beam of a heat exchanger. This publication also teaches the possibility of making a reservoir in the form of a tubular wall that can be closed at both ends. The tanks thus produced can certainly be formed of a resistant plastic material, but the possibilities of producing complex geometric shapes are limited.

The object of the invention is in particular to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks.

It aims in particular to provide a front face support of a motor vehicle that can integrate.une or more cavities of a resistant plastic material, without compromising the strength of the support thus obtained.

The invention also aims to provide such a front face support which offers the possibility of integrating one or more cavities that can have very different configurations. It is also intended to provide such a front face support whose cavity or cavities participate in the mechanical strength of the assembly.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide such a front face support whose cavity (s) can serve mainly as a reservoir (s) of fluid, but can also be used for other applications.

The invention proposes for this purpose a front face support of a motor vehicle comprising at least one upright, wherein the upright comprises at least a first half-shell adapted to be assembled to a second half-shell made separately, or the first half-shells having junction zones intended to cooperate with junction zones of one or two half-shells so that the half-shells can be assembled together to form a hollow shell delimiting a cavity. >

The first and second half-shells respectively constitute two hollow envelopes having open faces which can be joined together by respective junction zones to form a shell which can constitute, inter alia, a fluid reservoir.

The first half-shell is part of the front face support, that is to say that it is obtained at the same time as the latter, for example by a molding process. On the other hand, the second half-shell is made separately, for example by a separate molding process, and is then assembled on the first half-shell by respective joining areas.

The assembly will be sealed if the shell is to be used to form a fluid reservoir or not sealed for other applications where sealing is not required. In addition to the fact that the two half-shells together define a hollow shell, they also participate, in combination, with the structural strength of the front face support.

As these two half-shells are hollow, they can be obtained by traditional manufacturing processes, in particular molding processes, therefore with resistant plastics, that is to say that can be optionally loaded to increase their properties. mechanical.

The front face support itself can be formed either of plastic, or of composite material or hybrid type metal / plastic.

In one embodiment of the invention, the second half-shell covers only the first half-shell.

In another embodiment the second half-shell comprises a main portion which covers the first half-shell and an extension portion which covers an extension of the support which extends beyond the first half-shell.

The extension portion of the second half-shell and the extension of the support can then define another cavity, which contributes to the strengthening of the structure.

In this case, the main part and the extension part of the second half-shell can respectively delimit two non-communicating cavities separated by a partition.

The first half-shell is advantageously part of a substantially vertical amount of support. It will be recalled that a front face support usually comprises two substantially vertical uprights, which are also called "jambs" or "quarters", which are joined together by one or more substantially horizontal sleepers. However, it is conceivable to integrate the first half-shell to another part of the support, for example to a cross, or both to an amount and a cross.

In the case where the support has an extension extending beyond the first half-shell, and that the first half-shell is an integral part of an upright, it is advantageous for the first half-shell to be placed above the extension in the amount.

It is advantageous for the first half-shell to comprise a wall provided with internal and / or external ribs. These ribs contribute to the strengthening of the structure. In addition, when inner ribs are provided, they can help limit the unbalance of a fluid contained in the shell when it forms a reservoir.

Similarly, the second half-shell advantageously comprises a wall provided with inner and / or outer ribs.

In the invention, the first half-shell and the second half-shell are preferably each formed of a thermoplastic material chosen from polyolefins and polyamides, this material possibly being reinforced by a filler. However other plastics are possible.

The first half-shell and the second half shell are advantageously each molded by injection.

The respective junction areas of the first and second half-shells can be assembled by various methods, for example by a gluing process, or by a welding process, in particular of the laser welding, hot-mirror welding or vibration welding type. . The invention allows for hulls of various shapes for different applications. Above all, the hull is designed to constitute a reservoir that can contain fluids of different natures.

The reservoir may for example be designed to contain a coolant, such as a vehicle engine coolant, a windshield washer fluid, a brake fluid, and the like.

The shell can also be used to constitute an acoustic resonator or a structural reinforcement shell.

The invention also relates to a front face comprising a support as defined before.

In the following description, given by way of example, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a front face support according to the invention incorporating two shells forming fluid reservoirs;

- Figure 2 is a sectional view along the plane II of Figure 1;

- Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 in an alternative embodiment; and

- Figure 4 is a detail of Figure 3 before assembly of the shell forming a tank.

Reference is first made to FIG. 1, which represents a motor vehicle front end support generally designated by reference 1 G. The support 10 comprises two substantially vertical uprights 12 disposed respectively on the right side and on the left side of the vehicle. , the front of the vehicle being located to the left of Figure 1, as shown by the arrow AV, and the rear of the vehicle to the right as shown by the arrow AR. These two amounts 12, again called "jambs" or "quarters", are joined together, in the example, by three substantially horizontal crosspieces. The latter comprise a lower cross member 14, an upper cross member 16 and an intermediate cross member 18, the three crosspieces being arranged at different heights or levels.

From each upright 12 extends outwardly a substantially horizontal arm 20, the arms 20 being located substantially at the same height as the intermediate crosspiece 18. The upper cross member 16 has two ends 22 which extend beyond upper ends 24 of the uprights 12. The ends 22 of the crosspiece 16 each contribute to delimiting, with the arm 20 and the corresponding amount 12, a housing for receiving in particular a headlight optics (not shown).

The above-mentioned components, namely the two uprights 12, the crosspieces 14 to 18 and the arms 20 advantageously constitute a one-piece assembly obtained by molding a suitable strong enough plastic material. The support 10 can be made entirely of plastic or a composite or hybrid material of the metal / plastic type, as taught by the publication EP-A-0 658 470 already mentioned.

The aforementioned components most often have a substantially U-shaped cross section, the interior of which may optionally be reinforced by partitions which are often in the form of braces. In FIG. 1 are seen partitions 26 of the uprights 12 and partitions 28 of each of the arms 20. The crosspieces 14 and 18 are also provided with reinforcing partitions, not referenced in FIG.

The general structure of the support, as it has just been described until now, is generally known per se.

According to the invention, each of the uprights 12 includes, integrally molded, a first half-shell 30 delimiting an internal cavity and limited by a junction zone 32 constituted by a peripheral edge of complex configuration delimiting an open face. The half-shells 30, which do not necessarily have a symmetrical shape with respect to the median plane of the vehicle, rotate in the example their concavity towards the rear, as mentioned by the AR arrow.

In the example, each half-shell 30 extends in width substantially along the corresponding arm 20 and in height substantially over the height of the upright between the arm 20 and its upper end 24. However, the horizontal cross section of each half-shell varies gradually, being much wider in the lower part than in the upper part.

It follows that the lower region of the amount between the intermediate cross 18 and the lower cross 14 does not define a cavity.

Each of the first half-shells 30 has a wall 34 of complex shape which is integrally molded with the upright 12 and the corresponding arm 20 and which ends at the junction zone 32.

Each half-shell 30 is designed to be closed by a second half-shell 36 of complex shape having a wall 38 leading to a junction area 40 in the form of a peripheral edge. Joining areas 32 and 40 have conjugate shapes to allow mutual assembly. The half-shells 36 are made separately from the support 10 and each of them defines a cavity delimited by an open face which turns its concavity towards the front of the vehicle, as shown by the arrow AV. Thus, when each half-shell 30 is assembled with the associated half-shell 36, a shell 42 of given volume is formed, which in the example is designed to form a fluid reservoir. Each half-shell 36 has an upper face 44 provided with a filler plug 46 for the admission of a fluid into the reservoir thus obtained.

The first half-shell 30 and the second half-shell 36 are each formed of a suitable plastic material, preferably a thermoplastic material selected from polyolefins and polyamides. This material is advantageously reinforced by a filler, for example glass fibers. We thus defines two half-shells of resistant structure, which once assembled, together delimit a shell 42, here a fluid reservoir, while contributing to strengthen the structure of the front face support. These two half-shells can thus be obtained each by a conventional method of manufacture, in particular injection molding.

As already indicated, the support may be made either entirely of plastic material or of a composite or hybrid material of the metal / plastic type. In the latter case, the support incorporates a metal frame which can be provided only in certain parts of the support, the metal being then overmoulded by the plastic material.

The respective junction regions 32 and 40 of the half-shells can be assembled by various methods in themselves known. This may be for example a gluing process or a welding process.

In the latter case, it is possible to envisage in particular laser welding, hot-mirror welding or vibration welding. Hot-mirror welding is a known method consisting in interposing between the two joining zones to assemble a shaped plate coated with a non-adherent material, for example polytetrafluoroethylene, and heated to a temperature sufficient to soften the junction zones and then allow their approximation and their final assembly during the respective cooling of the two junction zones.

Joining areas 32 and 40 are tightly assembled when the shell is designed to form a fluid reservoir. But they can also be assembled in a non-waterproof manner in other applications, for example when it comes to making a reinforcing shell.

0 ^'When the shell forms a reservoir, it may be used to hold different types of fluid. It may be for example a heat transfer liquid, such as the engine engine coolant, or a washing liquid. ice cream. Of course, it is possible to consider other uses, for example to contain a brake fluid, a lubricating oil, etc.

FIG. 2 shows a first half-shell and a second half-shell before assembly, as seen along the section plane II of FIG. 1. The first half-shell 30 is delimited by a general U-shaped profile having a bottom 48 and two lateral wings 50 and 52 which delimit an open face surrounded by the aforementioned junction zone 32. In the example, this junction zone is formed by a peripheral edge as mentioned above. The wings 50 and 52 have respective extensions 54 and 56 which extend beyond the bottom to help form the U-shaped profile of the upright 12 and to form external ribs for reinforcing the half-shell 30. Moreover, within the half-shell, as delimited by the bottom 48 and the wings 50 and 52, are provided or a plurality of internal ribs 58 which contribute to the strengthening of the structure, but also to reduce the unbalance of a contained fluid in the hull in the case where it forms a tank. FIG. 2 also shows an internal partition 26 forming a reinforcing rib of the upright 12.

The half-shell 36 comprises a wall 38 surrounded by a junction zone 40 which, in the example, forms an L-shaped cross-section edge having a shoulder 60 capable of housing an extension 62 of the junction zone 32 of the half -coque 30 when the two half-shells are assembled mutually. This helps to allow precise relative positioning of the two half-shells for assembly. The half-shell 36 may, where appropriate, comprise one or more internal ribs 64, as shown in phantom, and optionally one or more outer ribs 68 as shown in phantom in FIG.

The invention makes it possible to achieve very different structured shells in selected locations of the support, as long as a half-shell is an integral part of the support. In the case of Figures 1 and 2, the second half-shell 36 is placed towards the rear of the support, but it could as well be placed forwards or with another orientation. The support structure of FIG. 3 is similar to that of the support of FIG. 1 and the common elements are designated by the same reference numerals. The main difference here lies in the fact that each second half-shell 36 comprises a main part 70 which covers the first half-shell and an extension part 72 which covers an extension 74 of the support which extends beyond the first half-shell. half shell. Here, this extension 74 corresponds to the portion of the upright which is between the lower cross member 14 and the intermediate crosspiece 18. The two parts 70 and 72 are made in one piece while being hollow both.

However, the extension portion 72 is not intended to receive a fluid and is used primarily to strengthen the structure of the amount. In order to prevent the fluid contained in the main part 70 from passing into the extension part 72, a partition 76 is provided between the parts 70 and 72, as can be seen in the detail of FIG. 4 representing the second half-shell spaced from the first half-shell. Thus, the main part 70 and the extension part 72 respectively delimit two non-communicating cavities separated by the partition 76.

The invention thus makes it possible to produce one or more shells of different structures that integrate with the support and that can serve to delimit different types of cavities. In any case, the integration of the hull with the support contributes to the reinforcement of the support and makes it possible to simplify the manufacture of the hull and to limit its bulk, especially in the engine compartment of the vehicle where the space devolves to the equipment is increasingly limited. Furthermore, this makes it possible to produce one or more shells that can have very complex shapes that best adapt to the environment imposed by the various equipment contained in the engine compartment of the vehicle. ^'"

The shell can also be used for other applications, in particular to constitute an acoustic resonator for absorbing vibrations or a hull serving reinforcing the structure of the front face support. In this case, the seal between the two deli-shells may not be mandatory.

Claims

claims

1. front support of a motor vehicle having at least one upright (12), characterized in that said upright comprises at least a first half-shell (30) adapted to be assembled to a second half-shell (36) made separately said one or more first half-shells having junction zones (32) for cooperating with junction zones of one or two half-shells so that said one or more half-shells can be assembled together to forming a hollow shell (42) delimiting a cavity.

2. Support front face according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the first half-shell (30) is placed above an extension (74) in the upright (12).

3. Support front face according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first half-shell (30) has a wall (34) provided with inner ribs (58) and / or outer (54, 56).

4. Front face comprising a front face support according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises at least said second half-shell and in that the first and second half-shells have said junction areas respective ones (32, 40) which are assembled together to allow the formation of the hollow shell (42) delimiting the cavity.

5. Front face according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the second half-shell (36) comprises a wall (38) provided with inner ribs (64) and / or outer (68).

6. Front face according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first half-shell (30) and the second half-shell (36) are each formed of a thermoplastic material selected from polyolefins and polyamides, optionally reinforced by a charge.

7. Front face according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first half-shell (30) and the second half-shell (36) are each molded by injection.

8. Front face according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the respective junction areas (32, 40) of the first half-shell (30) and the second half-shell (36) are assembled by a method lift-off.

9. Front face according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the respective junction areas (32, 40) of the first half-shell (30) and the second half-shell (36) are assembled by a welding process, in particular of the type laser welding, hot-mirror welding or vibration welding.

10. Front face according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the shell (42) is arranged to serve as a fluid reservoir, in particular for <containing a coolant, a windshield washer fluid or a brake fluid .

11. Front face according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the shell (42) is arranged to serve as acoustic resonator.

12. Front face according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the shell (42) is arranged to serve as a structural reinforcement shell.