DESC:FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[001] The present invention relates to a radiator assembly for a vehicle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[002] With ever evolving safety regulations in relation to vehicles, one of the key criterion in vehicle safety testing is pedestrian lower leg impact on impact from the front of the vehicle. Typical injuries resulting from leg to bumper impacts include fractures to the leg, knee and ligaments. These leg injuries are not always fatal, however, are often associated with permanent medical impairment. To estimate the potential risk of leg injuries in the event of a vehicle striking an adult, a series of impact tests is carried out at a set speed using an adult leg form impactor. Impact sites are then assessed and the protection offered is rated as good, adequate, marginal, weak or poor.
[003] A particular parameter for the aforesaid risk assessment is the lower leg bending angle, which is assessed by the bending caused on impact in the leg form impactor. An optimum lower leg bending angle represents minimised risk of high damage on impact to the lower leg of the pedestrian caused by the vehicle front bumper.
[004] In conventional vehicles, the front bumper assembly houses a Condenser Radiator Fan Module (CRFM) for effectively directing air towards the radiator. In these conventional vehicles, the front bumper assembly has a separate upper member and lower member which are used in front of the radiator for absorbing the energy during pedestrian impact. However, accommodating a separate upper member and lower member for lower leg impact reduction in front of the radiator remains a challenge due to packaging constraints. Further, the effectiveness of a radiator is hampered by the upper and the lower member, as less air is deflected towards the radiator by the CRFM, thereby affecting the vehicle performance.
[005] Thus, there is a need in the art for a radiator assembly which addresses at least the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[006] In one aspect, the present invention is directed at a radiator assembly for a motor vehicle. The radiator assembly has a radiator and an intercooler disposed between a front end carrier assembly and a front bumper assembly of the vehicle. The radiator and the intercooler are mounted on the front end carrier assembly. A deflector member is provided in front of the radiator and the intercooler in a vehicle front rear direction. The deflector member has a first deflector region for deflecting air towards the radiator and a second deflector region for deflecting air towards the intercooler. An absorber member is disposed in front of a lower end of the deflector member. The absorber member and the deflector member are configured to absorb impacts on the front end of the vehicle.
[007] In an embodiment of the invention, the absorber member extends longitudinally in the vehicle width direction along lower end of the first deflector region and the second deflector region.
[008] In a further embodiment of the invention, the deflector member has a top frame member extending a vehicle width direction. The top frame member has a plurality of outwardly protruding ribs for providing structural rigidity to the top frame member, thereby allowing the deflector member to absorb impacts on the front end of the vehicle.
[009] In a further embodiment of the invention, a bumper beam is rigidly connected to a frame of the vehicle to support the absorber member.
[010] In a further embodiment of the invention, the first deflector region of the deflector member has a top section and a bottom section and the top section has a plurality of openings in a lattice like pattern for deflecting air to the first vehicle component.
[011] In a further embodiment of the invention, the second deflector region of the deflector member has a top section and a bottom section and the top section has a plurality of openings in a lattice like pattern for deflecting air to the second vehicle component.
[012] In a further embodiment of the invention, the absorber member is snap fitted with the deflector member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[013] Reference will be made to embodiments of the invention, examples of which may be illustrated in accompanying figures. These figures are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Although the invention is generally described in context of these embodiments, it should be understood that it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to these particular embodiments.
Figure 1 illustrates an exploded view of a radiator assembly for a vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
Figure 2 illustrates a perspective view of the radiator assembly, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
Figure 3 illustrates an exploded view of a radiator assembly for the vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
Figure 4 illustrates another perspective view of the radiator assembly, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
Figure 5 illustrates a rear perspective view of the radiator assembly along with a front bumper assembly, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
Figure 6 illustrates a perspective view of a deflector member of the radiator assembly, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[014] The present invention is directed towards a radiator assembly for a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention is directed towards a radiator assembly for a vehicle that provides efficient guiding of air towards the radiator while achieving optimum pedestrian lower leg impact characteristics.
[015] Figure 1 illustrates an exploded perspective view of a radiator assembly 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. As illustrated in the Figure, the radiator assembly 100 comprises of a deflector member 110 provided in front of a radiator 120 and an intercooler 180. The radiator 120 and the intercooler 180 are mounted on a front end carrier assembly 170 of the vehicle, thereby supporting the radiator 120, the intercooler 180 and the deflector member 110 on the vehicle body as illustrated in Figure 2. Resultantly, the radiator 120, the intercooler 180 and the deflector member 110 are disposed behind a front bumper assembly 150 including a front grill, and in front of the front end carrier assembly 170 of the vehicle in a vehicle front rear direction.
[016] The deflector member 110 comprises of a first deflector region 112 that is configured to deflect air towards the radiator 120 of the vehicle. The radiator 120 allows for a liquid, typically a coolant to be cooled by effecting heat transfer between the liquid and the air flowing over the radiator 120, resulting in temperature regulation of the liquid.
[017] As illustrated in Figure 1, the deflector member 110 further comprises of a second deflector region 116 that is configured to deflect air towards the intercooler 180 of the vehicle. Intercoolers are fitted to vehicles, particularly to vehicles with superchargers or turbochargers, to reduce the temperature of inlet air that is sent to the engine as a part of the air fuel mixture.
[018] In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1, the second deflector region 116 is disposed towards the right of the first deflector region 112 in the vehicle width direction. As further illustrated in Figure 1, the deflector member 110 is disposed in front of the radiator 120 and the intercooler 180 in a vehicle front rear direction. In an embodiment, to ensure that no air is leaked between the deflector member 110 and the radiator 120 and/or the intercooler 180, the deflector member 110 is provided in an overlapped and interlocked manner with the front grill of the vehicle. To provide the interlocking, the deflector member 110 is snap fitted on to the front grill.
[019] As illustrated in Figure 1, the deflector member 110 comprises of top frame member 110A extending in the vehicle width direction. The top frame member 110A of the deflector member 110 comprises a plurality of outwardly protruding ribs (not shown) that are configured to make the top frame member 110A structurally rigid.
[020] As further illustrated in Figure 1, the front bumper assembly 150 comprises of an absorber member 152. The absorber member 152 is disposed in front of a lower end of the deflector member 110. The absorber member 152 is disposed towards a front end of the vehicle such that the absorber member 152 is configured to receive the impact in case of the front end of the vehicle impacting a pedestrian lower leg. As illustrated, the absorber member 152 extends longitudinally in the vehicle width direction along lower end of the first deflector region 112 and the second deflector region 116.
[021] As illustrated in Figure 1 and referenced in Figure 2, the front bumper assembly 150 further comprises of a bumper beam 154 for supporting the absorber member 152. The bumper beam 154 is rigidly connected at a vehicle frame. Further, the absorber member 152 is supported at a front end of the bumper beam 154, such that the absorber member 152 is disposed in front of the deflector member 110. The radiator 120 and the intercooler 180 are thus disposed towards a rear end of the front bumper assembly 150.
[022] In an embodiment, the deflector member 110 and the absorber member 152 are made of vehicle grade plastic, thus allowing for the deflector member 110 and the absorber member 152 to be fitted in a snap fit manner.
[023] In the present invention, the deflector member 110 in addition to deflecting air towards the radiator 120 and intercooler 180, is also configured to absorb energy during impact, such as pedestrian impact on the front of the vehicle. To facilitate this, the top frame member 110A having a plurality of outwardly protruding ribs provide structural rigidity to a bumper fascia 156 (shown in Figure 5) of the front bumper assembly 150. The structural rigidity thus provided to the bumper fascia 156 allows for the bumper fascia 156 to be contoured in a manner which, in addition to the positioning of the absorber member 152, provides an optimum leg form impactor bending angle in case of pedestrian impact. This means that the present invention offers better pedestrian lower leg impact characteristics, while inducting more air towards the radiator 120 and the intercooler 180.
[024] Figure 3 illustrates an exploded view of a radiator assembly 100 wherein a deflector member 110 is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The deflector member 110 comprises of the first deflector region 112 that is configured to deflect air towards the radiator 120 of the vehicle. The first deflector region 112 of the deflector member 110 has a top section 212A (shown in Figure 6) and a bottom section 212B (shown in Figure 6). As referenced in Figure 4 and Figure 6, the top section 212A of the first deflector region 112 comprises a plurality of openings 214 disposed in a mesh or lattice like pattern for deflecting air towards the radiator 120.
[025] As illustrated in Figure 3, the deflector member 110 further comprises of the second deflector region 116 that is configured to deflect air towards the intercooler 180 of the vehicle. In this embodiment, the second deflector region 116 has a top section 216A (shown in Figure 6) and a bottom section 216B (shown in Figure 6). As referenced in Figure 4 and Figure 6, the top section 216A of the second deflector region 116 comprises a plurality of openings 218 disposed in a mesh or lattice like pattern for deflecting air towards the intercooler 180.
[026] As illustrated in Figure 3, the absorber member 152 of the front bumper assembly 150 extends longitudinally in the vehicle width direction along the bottom section 212B of the first deflector region 112 and the bottom section 216B of the second deflector region 116.
[027] In this embodiment, the deflector member 110 in addition to deflecting air towards the radiator 120 and the intercooler 180, is also configured to absorb energy during impact, such as pedestrian impact on the front of the vehicle. To facilitate this, the top section 212A of the first deflector region 112 and top section 216A of the second deflector region 116 have a plurality of openings (214, 218 in a mesh or lattice pattern provide structural rigidity to the bumper fascia 156 of the front bumper assembly 150 as illustrated in Figure 5. The structural rigidity thus provided to the bumper fascia 156 of the front bumper assembly 150 allows for the bumper fascia 156 to be contoured in a manner which, in addition to the positioning of the absorber member 152, provides an optimum leg form impactor bending angle in case of pedestrian impact. This means that the present invention offers better pedestrian lower leg impact characteristics, while inducting more air towards the radiator 120 and the intercooler 180.
[028] Advantageously, the present invention provides a radiator assembly in which a separate upper and lower member are not required for sufficient impact absorption to meet the pedestrian lower leg impact requirements. This results in reduction of part count and reduction in packaging complexity towards the front of the vehicle.
[029] Further, the present invention ensures that the more air is deflected towards the radiator and the intercooler while ensuring that the energy absorption during lower leg during impact is not compromised.
[030] While the present invention has been described with respect to certain embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modification may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

,CLAIMS:WE CLAIM :
1. A radiator assembly (100) for a motor vehicle, comprising:
a radiator (120) and an intercooler (180) disposed between a front end carrier assembly (170) and a front bumper assembly (150) of the vehicle, the radiator (120) and the intercooler (180) mounted on the front end carrier assembly (170);
a deflector member (110) provided in front of the radiator (120) and the intercooler (180) in a vehicle front rear direction, the deflector member (110) having a first deflector region (112) for deflecting air towards the radiator (120) and a second deflector region (116) for deflecting air towards the intercooler (180); and
an absorber member (152) disposed in front of a lower end of the deflector member (110), the absorber member (152) and the deflector member (110) configured to absorb impacts on the front end of the vehicle.

2. The radiator assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the absorber member (152) extends longitudinally in the vehicle width direction along lower end of the first deflector region (112) and the second deflector region (116).

3. The radiator assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the deflector member (110) comprises a top frame member (110A) extending a vehicle width direction, the top frame member (110A) having a plurality of outwardly protruding ribs for providing structural rigidity to the top frame member (110A), thereby allowing the deflector member (110) to absorb impacts on the front end of the vehicle.

4. The radiator assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein a bumper beam (154) is rigidly connected to a frame of the vehicle to support the absorber member (152).

5. The radiator assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first deflector region (112) of the deflector member (110) comprises a top section (212A) and a bottom section (212B), the top section (212A) having a plurality of openings (214) in a lattice like pattern for deflecting air to the radiator (120).

6. The radiator assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second deflector region (116) of the deflector member (110) comprises a top section (216A) and a bottom section (216B), the top section (216A) having a plurality of openings (218) in a lattice like pattern for deflecting air to the intercooler (180).

7. The radiator assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the absorber member (152) is snap fitted with the deflector member (110).

8. The radiator assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the deflector member (110) is provided in an overlapped and interlocked manner with a front grill of the vehicle.