DESC:FIELD
The present disclosure relates to an impact absorbing structure, particularly an impact absorbing structure for absorbing the impact of a vehicle with any obstacle.
BACKGROUND
The design and aerodynamics of a vehicle are being constantly upgraded to suit the needs of present day requirements, both in terms of aesthetics and safety. However, as the speed limits of vehicles have increased in the recent past, so is the number of road accidents, which has resulted in increased injuries and death toll. Automotive companies at present are facing increased pressure from regulatory bodies to make vehicles safe, not only for the passengers of a vehicle but also the pedestrians who often collide with an on-road, moving vehicle.
In order to mitigate injuries suffered to pedestrians from a moving vehicle, in particular to the lower half of the body of pedestrian, generally a bumper is provided on a front and a rear end of the vehicles. The bumper is a safety structure mounted on a crash beam of a vehicle and is meant to absorb impact in a minor collision. The crash beam is mounted on a cross member of a chassis. The crash beam is typically joined to the cross member of the chassis by tungsten-arc-gas welding (TAG) to prohibit the damage to an engine of the vehicle.
However, existing bumper configuration has proved not much effective in the sense that it hardly reduces the impact of injury suffered by a pedestrian. Moreover, the weight to size ratio of conventional structures of bumpers is too high, so much so that it hampers the overall efficiency of the vehicle.
OBJECTS
It is an object of the present disclosure to ameliorate one or more problems of the prior art or to at least provide a useful alternative.
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a vehicular structure to attenuate injury suffered by a pedestrian from a vehicle.
Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a vehicular structure that is light in weight and a low weight to size ratio.
Other objects and advantages of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description, which is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
SUMMARY
Described herein is an impact absorbing structure for vehicles, the impact absorbing structure comprising a non-symmetrical elongated body having a C-shaped cross-section and drafted from a sheet material, the non-symmetrical elongated body having an operative upper face, an operative front face, and an operative lower face, wherein said operative upper face, said operative front face, and said operative lower face having unequal widths, and wherein a first draft angle at an edge portion is different from a second draft angle at another edge portion of the non-symmetrical elongated body.
In an embodiment, each of said operative upper face, said operative front face, and said operative lower face have perforations of different dimensions.
In an embodiment, the sheet material has a high Young’s Modulus of Elasticity.
In an embodiment, the sheet material is made of steel.
In an embodiment, the first draft angle is smaller than the second draft angle.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING FIGURES
An impact absorbing structure of the present disclosure will now be described with the help of accompanying drawing, in which:
Figure 1A illustrates a schematic view of an impact absorbing structure in accordance with the present disclosure;
Figure 1B illustrates a schematic top view of impact absorbing structure of Figure 1A in accordance with the present disclosure;
Figure 1C illustrates a schematic front view of impact absorbing structure of Figure 1A in accordance with the present disclosure; and
Figure 2 illustrates a cross-section of the impact absorbing structure of Figure 1A in accordance with the present disclosure;
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying embodiments which do not limit the scope and ambit of the disclosure. The description provided is purely by way of example and illustration.
The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained with reference to the non-limiting embodiments in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.
In a vehicle, such as a four-wheeled vehicle, a crash beam is securely mounted to a cross member of the chassis by tungsten- arc- gas welding (TAG) to prohibit the damage to an engine in case of a collision. The crash beam is present on the front as well as the rear side of the vehicle. On top of the crash beam, a bumper is placed, which not only adds to the aesthetics of the vehicle, but also act as a protective, shock absorbing structure.
Conventionally known bumpers are made symmetrical with symmetrical widths of operative faces and a symmetrical draft angle. Further, passages or perforations are provided on the body of a bumper to induce flexibility to the structure to absorb impact energy. The material that is typically used for manufacturing conventional bumpers is either foam or plastic. It is noticed that structures made of foam or plastic have a low Young’s Modulus of Elasticity, due to which the structure does not deform much during an impact, meaning thereby that the impact absorbing capacity is also less. Moreover, having a symmetrical draft angle and symmetrical dimensions of operative faces in such structures do not facilitate proper distribution of the impact on the structure nor do they help absorption of sufficient impact energy. Furthermore, the passages that are provided for flexibility sake have similar dimension, which means that every section of the structure has the same stiffness irrespective of its position. However, this is not desired considering that some sections need to be more flexible than the others in such a structure. This may ultimately lead to an unbalanced distribution of impact energy on the structure.
Figure 1A illustrates a schematic view of an impact absorbing structure 100 in accordance with the present disclosure. The impact absorbing structure 100 has a non-symmetrical elongated body having an operative upper face 20a, an operative front face 20b, and an operative lower face 20c of the impact absorbing structure 100 having unequal widths. A number of passages or apertures 22a, 22b, and 22c of dissimilar dimensions are provided on the operative faces 20a, 20b, and 20c of the impact absorbing structure 100. The dissimilar dimensions of the apertures 22a, 22b, and 22c improve not only flexibility of the impact absorbing structure 100 but also impact distribution and absorption.
In an embodiment, the width of the operative upper face 20a is substantially the same as the width of the operative lower face 20c. However, the widths of the operative upper face 20a, the operative front face 20b and the operative lower face 20c are made unequal. Such an unequal distribution in terms of widths of the operative faces 20a, 20b, and 20c provides for better impact energy distribution and absorption. Likewise, an unequal draft angle also provides for the same purpose of improving impact energy distribution and absorption. In an embodiment, the structure is made up of material having a high Young’s Modulus of Elasticity, for example, steel.
Figures 1B and 1C illustrate a top view and a front view of the impact absorbing structure 100 of Figure 1A, respectively in accordance with the present disclosure. In Figure 1C specifically shows the difference in the dimensions of the apertures 22a on the operative upper face 20a, the apertures 22b on the operative front face 20b, and the aperture 22c on the operative lower face. Figure 1B depicts apertures on the operative upper face 20a of the impact absorbing structure 100.
Further, in an embodiment, a plurality of weld points is provided on the operative top face and the operative bottom face of the impact absorbing structure 100 for the purpose of securely mounting the impact absorbing structure 100 to a crash beam (not shown).
Figure 2 illustrates a cross-section of the impact absorbing structure 100 of Figure 1A in accordance with the present disclosure, wherein the cross-section depicts difference in draft angles at each edge of the impact absorbing structure 100. The impact absorbing structure 100 deforms easily due to the unequal draft angles 25a, 25b at both edge portions of the impact absorbing structure 100. In an embodiment as shown, a first draft angle 25a is smaller than a second draft angle 25b. This non-symmetry of the impact absorbing structure 100 helps distribute the impact energy in a balanced manner over the complete structure and improves energy absorption during an impact.
TECHNICAL ADVANCES AND ECONOMICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The impact absorbing structure of the present disclosure described herein above has several technical advantages including but not limited to the realization of:
? a structure that does not increase the weight of a bumper of a vehicle;
? a structure that is nonsymmetrical in shape;
? a structure that provides for an uneven draft angle;
? a structure made of flexible material that can easily deform;
? a structure having a number of dissimilar dimension apertures on an operative upper face , an operative lower face, and an operative lower face of the structure;
? a structure with unequal width of the operative faces of the impact absorbing structure.
Throughout this specification the word “comprise”, or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.
The use of the expression “at least” or “at least one” suggests the use of one or more elements or ingredients or quantities, as the use may be in the embodiment of the disclosure to achieve one or more of the desired objects or results.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like that has been included in this specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the disclosure. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form a part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the disclosure as it existed anywhere before the priority date of this application.
The numerical values mentioned for the various physical parameters, dimensions or quantities are only approximations and it is envisaged that the values higher/lower than the numerical values assigned to the parameters, dimensions or quantities fall within the scope of the disclosure, unless there is a statement in the specification specific to the contrary.
While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the components and component parts of the preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many embodiments can be made and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the disclosure. These and other changes in the preferred embodiment as well as other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the disclosure and not as a limitation. ,CLAIMS:1. An impact absorbing structure 100 for vehicles, the impact absorbing structure comprising:
a non-symmetrical elongated body having a C-shaped cross-section drafted from sheet material, the non-symmetrical body having an operative upper face 20a, an operative front face 20b, and an operative lower face 20c, wherein said operative upper face 20a, said operative front face 20b, and said operative lower face 20c have unequal widths, and wherein a first draft angle 25a at an edge portion is different from a second draft angle 25b at another edge portion of the non-symmetrical body.
2. The impact absorbing structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said operative upper face 20a, said operative front face 20b, and said operative lower face 20c are perforated.
3. The impact absorbing structure as claimed in claim 2, wherein the perforation on each face are varied and the perforation on one face vary in location and dimension from the other faces.
4. The impact absorbing structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sheet material has a high Young’s Modulus of Elasticity.
5. The impact absorbing structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sheet material is steel.
6. The impact absorbing structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first draft angle 25a is smaller than the second draft angle 25b.
7. The impact absorbing structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein a plurality of weld points is provided on said operative top face and said operative bottom face of the impact absorbing structure for securely mounting the impact absorbing structure to a crash beam of a vehicle.