This invention relates to an improved grille of vehicle for reducing visibility of
harness and inner panel and balancing under hood thermal gradient.
~i%CKGROPJND/PRIORA RT OF INVENTION
As it is known, vehicle is provided with an opening for horn. However, in most
of the vehicles, inner panels and harnesses are visible through this opening in
irwt bumper. This deteriorates the appearance of the vehicle and also poses
problem of harness cut through the opening.
'i'he solution to the above is provided by reducing the opening size. However,
this leads to compromise in the performance of the vehicle due to inflow of less
air through the reduced opening to cool the Radiator-Condensor unit.
In addition to the above, under hood thermal balance is also required to bc
maintained in the vehicle. This requires increase in the opening/additional
opening area or reposition of the opening. The increase in the opening further
dctcrioratcs acsthctic of the vehicle by exposing thc pancl and horn harncss
(1111) more as shown in fig. 1. Further, because of the large opening, thcre is
possibility of harness cut as already discussed.
iicnc::, increasing or reducing the opening does not servc the purpose due to
- :A '.; ..,, r<:asons rncntioncd hereinabove.
Again, the shape of upper grille of vehicle is non-symmetrical about the axis of
symmetry. On one side, there is a big opening (L) for cooling of condenserradiator,
whereas other side is provided with a small opening (S) for operation
- . o: horn as shown in fig. 1A.
rr.: i rlc sidc with the s=ali opening consumes more mat.::rial i.han the side with a
bigger opening.
-. -.
:-> 3 i.-,-l l i , -,,.,- thc duration for cooling of material is diffcrc~t.d ae to diffcrcncc in
,..I .,,-,,4 < 4 3 .
i ,,i j c A i : : ...: ..y :: of material. This C~IISCS non-unifsrm ::::::iing of i-ri;it.crial in thc mould
:;<, \?.- ,.-Y.>. e ,-,, ' iufac turirig burriper.
I->-. > <.
l i , ~ , to this rion.-uniform warpage results in creation of more gap between the
+X LiiiiiPL, ,TY,+,z-'T a, nd grille in one side than in the other side.
V " ~icx~ctch,e prcscni invention has been proposed to addrt:ss the abovc si-lor?
comings.
- -
.: -. <;> x$J<>: 7.->- r<;;c-<:.%%.%(. > ., d <, L , ",L.,ii,,r, mzy be made to the following citaiicns:
Ci% 132. 6.-3~8 508:- 'I'hc present invention pr::virlt:s a vci-li(:illar bumper arid a
forrriing rricthod thereof, which restrains fusion line caused by injection
forming and can realize thin wall and light weight. The central part of the
51:rnpcr is providcd with an inscrtion strip jointing tank which forms a
clamping hoic for pressing and clamping a clamping par! of a sidc inscrtion
strip. In injection forming of a rear bumper, forming is performed according to
diflerent plate thickness arrangement that ihe plate thickness of the central
:?art ::,i^ thc: bumper concentrated by gates is sma!lcr and !.he thickness of the
bi,jm~csri cic: part is larger.
A known art discloses a bumper including a bean1 and an energy absorber
s;:ppc;rted thereon. The energy absorber includes horizontal walls, each having
a ii-::nt porti::i-,, a rcar portion, and an interconnc:ciir,g mid-portion that offsets
and misaligns the front and rcar portions. IJpon ixpact, t.hc front and rear
pcrtions coliapsc with the offset mid portion wrapping back upon itself with a
predictable energy-absorbing collapse. The energy absorber further includes
iiangcs and friction pads that frictionally engage the top and bottom of t:ht:
bear~tio terrlporariiy retain the energy absorber lo the bearc.
~ ,~,,~~L~Y,,, r~ pr\ioi r art is directed to an automobile bumper for use on an autorrlobile
IL- >,.,.A, U ~ having a thicker region having a relatively largc wall thickness, a
gradually varying rcgion having a gradually varying wall thickncss, and a
iL%i;;+ii;;;y;,zr y : . - & - rcgi~rlh aving a relatively small wall thickness, 'kiic thicker rcgiori, the
grad~allyv arying region, and the thinner region are integrally formed with each
cithcr and arranged successively downwardly when mounted on the automobile
q uoay < The gradually varying region has a wall thickness reduced at a constariL
rate from the wall thickness of the thicker region to the wall thickness t;f the
thinncr region in a direction from the thicker region toward the thinncr rcgion.
Anothzr prior art relates to a lightweight, high performance bumper for
a-iitoziobilcs and thc like. It consists of an I-beam r::infor::cd by one ::r norc
ribs which add support to the front wall. The bumper is fabricated from fiber
rcinforced thermoplastic or thermoset materials.
E35092643A:- An automobile bumper having an outer shape that forms a
- . cics:gc surfacc. A mount is vibratorily welded to a back s~rfaceop positc to the
dcsign surface such that a fixture is fixed between the burnper body arid the
xt~ur~Tt.h e mount is melted by frictional vibration with the bumper body and
so as to be intcgrally joined with the bumper body.
Nc>nc :>f thc: above citcd patents can full fill the rcquiremcnts of the proposed
application.
0:BpIECTS OF THE INVENTION
:. . :ii.,;maiy object of thc prcscnt invention is to provide an improvcd grilic of
vehicle for reducing visibility of harness and inner parrel and balancing urlder
h o d thermal gradient
iiriot?ier object of the present invention is to provide an improved grille of
vehiclc which overcomes disadvantages associated with thc: prior art.
Stif! another object of the present invention is to provide an improved grille of
vehicic which is simple in construction.
I -- -
ii':.lr:.hcr objcct of thc prcscnt invention is to provide an improved grillc of
I ? ~<.,i - k%l.L. :% r ; p ., which is reliabie and efficient.
~:;c:2rdirlg!.I , this invention, there is provided an irnproved grille of vehiclc fcr
reducing visibility of harness and inner panel and baiancing undt:rhood
thcrrnal gradient comprising of a shroud integrally providcd with upper grille in
thc front bumper of vehicle.
-. . - " > - - ;r;.cihr -DESC RPT$VPBX OF THE ACCBMPAAIYPNG DMWHN@2
I?iirt;hcr objccts and advantages of this invention will bc ~more apparent from
the erisuirig description when read in conjuriction with the acconipariying
drawir~gsa nd wherein:
i\. i41g. i shows: horn opening in front bumper of vel-iiclc according to prior art.
Yig. !A shows: sniall and large opening of grille in the front bumper of vehicle
according to prior art.
. . . ii'ig. 2 snows: irnprovcd grille of vehicle according to prcsent invention.
Fig. :3 and 4 shows: positioning of shroud in accordarlcc with the present
invcniion.
Fig. 5 shows: uppcr grille of conventional vchiclc (left sidc) and irnprovcd grille
cv> : ' 9,-r, c. ,,.3c, ,rit irlverition (right side).
'.i.'- >. -T%% , vv
-F ; ; = z e i a DESCmFTIC3N OF THE INVENTION WITH WEFERENCE TQ THE
a*' =";-- i i ;-z ~ 5 ~ E- -~ -g--~-p--f-i ~ ~Dywg ~v$ zlW~ - C8:-
- . .. .- - .~ ~
r : , i
c ,T..;7,a ,~s,nt .- iriveritior: is directed to an irriproved grille ol vehicle for rcducirlg
visibility of harness and inner panel and balancing under hood thermal
gradient. Said improved grille comprising of a shroud intcgrally providcd with
:, i i:, t; ,k; ? \.- ,- grille, Ix? front bumper of the vehicle. This provisiori reduces the visibility -
of ir;;ier panels and harnesses through the opening in tht: bumper arid also
acts as air guide, which helps in balancing the under hood thermal gradient by
improving the temperature in the underhood region. Hence, the horn opening
area can be optimized.
PI:; aiready discussed, the shape of upper griile of vehicle is non-syrnrrictrical
arid non-uniform cooling gives rise to more gap between the bumper and grillc
in onc sidc than in other side.
So, in ordcr to address the above issue of non-unifarm :::loling, thc wail fW)
1hicitrrcss of the grillc in the left side (whcri sccri by staridirig in the frorii) is
rcduccd as compared to prior art for uniform cooling.
,-,.
ii;:: reduction in the material by decreasing thickness of grille leads !G less
wi:ighl and lcss cost comparatively.
F,lrt'kicr to reduce the visibility of panels and harncsscs, a shroud is provided
iritcgrally with the upper grille as shown in fig. 2. The shroud as shown in fig. 2
f-c.,TT! -..z LT,.,.: risirigo f horizontal member (H) and a vertical member (V) in the form of L-
. . 'Ii-n' t: horizontal and vertical mcmhcr comprisin.g of horizontal a-d ,
IJ, r, .i- i: ;. Lp< ,,:.~;~ rib rcspcctivcIy constituting a rib structurc. I? is pr::fcrably mad<: <:I' any
polyrrier of plastic (PP) without restricting scope of the invention to the same.
*.,L int: same can be manufactured by the method of injection molding by
inicgrating with the grillc of vchicle.
7'hc shroud maintains required staticldynamic cicarancc with said panel and
harncsscs. For reducing panellharness visibility, the base {wall of grille (w)] of
'ia. 2 ~s hroud is required to be thicker. l'he thickness of sli;roud is as srriall as
fcasibic bccausc it docs not have any functional requircmcnt besides covcring
- -
!.he harness and pancl. Again, its length to cover thc harncss and inner pancl
is as long as to avoid short filling.
B'urtiicr, ir: ::rder Po avoid sink mark on the surface of grille, the shroud is
moanted j ~ s bte hind the vertical fin of upper grille and ir! alignment. wit.h t.hc
.%JLciirnit, ,a,i fin as shown in fig. 3. For reducing pancl/harncss visibility, thc icngth
of t i . ~sh roud is required to be longer and hence the base [wall of grille (w)]o f
Gi.,i,,, ~, s-.li. ,r, oud is required to be thicker to avoid short filling because ol' long
Ic:ngth.
I3y locating thc shroud behind the vertical fin (F), base of higher thickness can
bc provided, which also prevents short filling and sink mark on the wall of
. ~. <
r.r.- 5 :. .3 <.%
b"
Now, referring to fig. 4, in which horizontal rrieniber (!i) of the shrsud is
r~ountcd on lower edge (L) of grille. Now, the reduction in the visibility of
pancl/harncss can be observed from fig. 5 by comparing horn opening in the
c-srl', buniucr of ?resent invention (right side) with that o[ conventior!a! ~ , r ~ s i c l ~
jlGCIL r'$'d-e)-u
iPcdr;ct.ion in the visibility of harness and inner pancl through thc horn
::pcning.
- Avoids the threat of harness cut.
- Avoids dctcrioration in thc appearance of vehicle.
Iniproves underhood thermal gradient.
+;A <,,:,p-.,,. -ci,,ns : A : ::,.. and changes by those skilled in thc art. Such vciriant embodiments
cmployirig the concepts and features of this irlvention are intended to be within
thc scope of the present invention, which is further sct forth under the
f~!lowingc laims:-

-9-
I '
CLAIM:
1. An improved grille of vehicle
with upper grille in the front bumper of vehicle.
2. An improved grille of vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wall of
grille is provided with reduced thickness to improve material flow in
Upper Grille.
3. An improved grille of vehicle as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the
shroud comprising of a horizontal and vertical member in the form of Lsection.
4. An improved grille of vehicle as claimed in any of the preceding claims,
wherein the horizontal member is mounted on lower edge of grille.
5. An improved grille of vehicle as claimed in any of the preceding claims,
wherein the horizontal and vertical member comprising of horizontal and
vertical rib respectively constituting a rib structure.
6. An improved grille of vehicle as claimed in any of the preceding claims,
wherein the shroud is provided behind the upper grille of vehicle, vertical
rib of which is in alignment with the vertical fin of said upper grille.
7. An improved grille of vehicle as claimed in any of the preceding claims,
wherein the opening in the front bumper for horn is smaller.
8. An improved grille of vehicle as claimed in any of the preceding claims, is
associated with the advantageous features such as herein described.
9. An improved grille of vehicle as claimed in any of the preceding claims,
wherein the upper grille with integrated shroud acts as an air guide to
balance underhood thermal gradient.
10. An improved grille of vehicle for reducing visibility of harness and
inner panel and balancing underhood thermal gradient substantially as
herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
0
Dated this . 23rd day of ~ecernber
(SOMA RANI MI HRA)
OF L.S.DAVAR & CO.,
APPLICANT'S AGENT