Claims:
1. A sliding engine mount system comprising:
a guide member (302) configured to be mounted to a longitudinal member (104) with a plurality of fastening members (206); and
an engine mount (102) configured to be mounted in a sliding means provided on the guide member (302) wherein the said sliding means is configured with plurality of resisting protrusions (404) to resist a movement of the engine mount (102) on said guide member (302).

2. The sliding engine mount system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said plurality of resisting protrusions (404) in the guide member (302) are serrations configured to be sheared during the movement of the engine mount (102) in frontal impact.

3. The sliding engine mount system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sliding means is configured with a pair of serrated longitudinal slots (402) converging at a predefined angle.

4. The sliding engine mount system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the engine mount (102) is configured to be mounted on the pair of serrated longitudinal slots (402) with a plurality of support members (304).

5. The sliding engine mount system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the engine mount (102) is configured to be an engine A-mount.

6. The sliding engine mount system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the serrations (404) are provided through halfway in the longitudinal slots (402).

7. The sliding engine mount system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sliding means is configured to resist the movement of the engine mount (102) in normal running condition and to provide the restrictive movement of the engine mount (102) beyond predetermined value of frontal impact.

8. The sliding engine mount system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the support members (304) of the engine mount (102) are configured to be torque bolts.

9. The sliding engine mount system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the head of the torque bolts (304) are configured to be mounted on the longitudinal slots (402) of the guide member (302).

10. The sliding engine mount system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fastening members (206) are configured to be bolts.
, Description:FORM 2

THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENT RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and Rule 13)

Title of invention:
SLIDING ENGINE MOUNT

Applicant:
Tata Motors Limited
A company Incorporated in India under the Companies Act, 1956
Having address:
Bombay House, 24 Homi Mody Street,
Hutatma Chowk, Mumbai 400001,
Maharashtra, India

The following specification particularly describes the subject matter and the manner in which it is to be performed.

TECHNICAL FIELD
[001] The present subject matter described herein, in general, relates to an engine mount system and more specifically relates to a sliding type of engine mount system.

BACKGROUND
[002] In automotive vehicles, engine mounts are used in an engine compartment to secure the engine to the body. The engine mounts are mounted on the long member of vehicle body using fasteners such as bolts. The long member is an integral part of vehicle body which is generally aligned to longitudinal direction. In conventional scenario, during offset frontal impact, Engine A-mount tends to break and allows engine to rotate and impact with the brake booster and firewall. This causes higher firewall, steering column and pedal intrusions resulting severe injuries to occupants.
[003] Hence the enhancement in the engine mount design for effectively controlling engine rearward motion can be beneficial.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
[004] It is a main object of the present invention to provide a sliding engine mount in an engine compartment.
[005] It is an object of the present invention to enable a controlled motion of an engine mount.
[006] It is an object of the present invention to provide a guide member for an engine mount.
[007] It is another object of the present invention to enhance a safety of an occupant.
SUMMARY
[008] Before the present system and method are described, it is to be understood that this application is not limited to the particular machine or apparatus, and methodologies described, as there can be multiple possible embodiments that are not expressly illustrated in the present disclosures. It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing the particular versions or embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application. This summary is provided to introduce aspects related to sliding type of engine mount. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the proposed subject matter nor is it intended for use in determining or limiting the scope of the proposed subject matter.
[009] The present subject matter relates to a sliding engine mount system. The said engine mount system comprises a long member, a guide member and an engine mount. The long member is a part of vehicle body in an engine compartment. The guide member is configured with a sliding means comprising a pair of longitudinal slots that converges at a predefined angle wherein the longitudinal slots are provided with a plurality of resistive protrusions. The provided resistive protrusions are configured to be serrations. Further, the guide member is fastened to the long member with a plurality of fastening members such as bolts. Furthermore, the engine mount is configured to mount on the pair of longitudinal slots with a plurality of support members such as torque bolts. Furthermore, during a frontal impact of the vehicle, a vehicle experiences a longitudinal force of impact that causes sliding of the engine mount on the guide member, on crossing a predetermined limit of the impact forces and the support members of the engine mount are configured to shear the serrations while sliding through the longitudinal slots. Further, the said sliding mechanism comprising the longitudinal slots wherein each longitudinal slot provided at a predefined angle with respect to each other and the serrations in the longitudinal slots together provides a controlled motion to the engine mount thereby reducing a firewall and pedal intrusions. Furthermore, the engine mount is immovable on the guide member in normal running condition and the engine mount tends to slide on the guide member on crossing the limit of longitudinal impact forces.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawing. For the purpose of illustrating the disclosure, example constructions of the disclosure are shown in the present document, however, the disclosure is not limited to the specific methods and apparatus disclosed in the document and the drawing.
[0011] The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figure. In the figure, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the drawing to refer like features and components.
[0012] Figure 1 illustrates an engine mount system in a vehicle.
[0013] Figure 2 illustrates a conventional engine mount system (Prior Art).
[0014] Figure 3 illustrates a proposed engine mount system.
[0015] Figure 4 illustrates a guide member details of the proposed engine mount system.
[0016] The figure depicts various embodiments of the present disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognise from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] Some embodiments of this disclosure, illustrating all its features, will now be discussed in detail. The words "comprising", “having”, and "including," and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. Although any system and method similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the present disclosure, the exemplary, systems and methods are now described. The disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the disclosure, which may be embodied in various forms.
[0018] Various modifications to the embodiment will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments illustrated, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.
[0019] The present subject matter particularly discloses a sliding type of engine mount system wherein the engine mount is mounted on a guide member through provided sliding means. The said guide member is fixed on a longitudinal member of a vehicle. The said sliding means is configured to resist a movement of the engine mount in normal running condition of the vehicle and provides a controlled movement of the engine mount on crossing a predetermined value of impact forces during frontal impact of the vehicle.
[0020] Referring to Figure 1, a vehicle with an engine mount (102) is shown. The engine mount (102) may be mounted on a longitudinal/long member (104) in an engine compartment of the vehicle.
[0021] Referring to Figure 2, a conventional engine mount system is shown. A long member (104) is a part of vehicle body in the engine compartment in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The long member (104) may be a rectangular bar with one end (202) mounted towards vehicle front and another end (204) mounted towards vehicle rear direction. An engine mount (102) may be fastened to the long member (104) through a plurality of fastening members (206). In the shown system, the engine mount (102) may be firmly bolted to the long member (104). In case of frontal impact of the vehicle, the engine mount (102) may break off causing a rearward motion of the engine that may hit a firewall and a brake booster resulting in injury to an occupant.
[0022] Referring to Figure 3, a proposed system with sliding arrangement of the engine mount (102) is depicted. The engine mount system of the present subject case comprises a guide member (302) configured with a sliding means for the engine mount (102). The guide member (302) may be firmly mounted on the long member (104) through a plurality of fastening members. In an embodiment, the fastening members may configure to be bolts. Further, the engine mount (102) may be mounted on the guide member (302) through a plurality of support members (304) wherein the torque of the support members (304) may be adjusted to provide appropriate frictional force. In one of the embodiments, the support members may configure to be torque bolts. Further, a head of the torque bolt may be mounted on the guide member (302). The mechanism of the present subject case may be provided such that in normal condition of the vehicle, the support members (304) may be immovable on the guide member (302).
[0023] Referring to Figure 4, the guide member (302) details are depicted. The guide member (302) of the present subject case comprises a sliding means configured with a pair of longitudinal slots (402) wherein each of the longitudinal slot (402) may configured to be provided at predefined inclination with respect to each other. Further, the longitudinal slots (402) may be configured with a converging type of inclination. Furthermore, the pair of longitudinal slots (402) may be configured with a plurality of resistive protrusions. The said plurality of resistive protrusions may configure to be serrations (404) as shown in the figure wherein the serrations (404) cover halfway of the longitudinal slots (402). During severe frontal impact of the vehicle, the engine mount (102) experiences a longitudinal force and after reaching a predetermined design limit of the longitudinal force, the engine mount (102) start sliding on the longitudinal slots (402). The provided serrations (404) on the longitudinal slots (402) and the inclined configuration of the longitudinal slots (402) provides restriction in the rearward motion of the engine mount (102) thereby a controlled motion of the engine mount (102) is achieved.
[0024] The present subject matter discloses a sliding type of engine mount system. The said engine mount system mainly comprises a guide member with a sliding means for mounting of an engine mount wherein the guide member is firmly secured to a longitudinal member with a plurality of fastening members. The sliding means of the guide member is configured with a pair of longitudinal slots converging at a predefined angle wherein the longitudinal slots are configured with a plurality of resistive protrusions. The plurality of resistive protrusions are configured to be serrations. Further, the engine mount is configured to mount on the pair of serrated longitudinal slots with a plurality of support members. Furthermore, the fastening members of the guide member are configured to be bolts and the support members of the engine mount are configured to be torque bolts wherein the head of the torque bolts are configured to be mounted in the longitudinal slots of the guide member. During a frontal impact of the vehicle, a longitudinal force of impact causes sliding of the engine mount on the guide member on crossing a predetermined limit of the impact forces and the support members of the engine mount are configured to shear the serrations while sliding through the longitudinal slots. Further, the said sliding means with inclined longitudinal slots and the serrations in the longitudinal slots together provides a controlled motion to the engine mount thereby reducing a firewall and pedal intrusions. Furthermore, the engine mount movement is resisted on the guide member in normal running condition and the engine mount tends to slide on the guide member on crossing the limit of longitudinal impact forces.
[0025] Exemplary embodiments discussed above may provide certain advantages. Though not required to practice aspects of the disclosure, these advantages may include those provided by the following features.
• The present invention provides resistance to a motion of an engine mount on frontal impact of a vehicle.
• The present invention provides delay in reaching of an engine mount to a firewall and a brake booster.
• The present invention reduces injury to an occupant caused due to pedal intrusion.
• The present invention reduces a development cost of structural members in frontal loadpath.
• The present invention provides a restriction to a movement of an engine mount until an impact force is less than a predefined limit.

[0026] Following is the list of reference numerals used throughout the figures to refer like features and components.
Reference Numeral Part Name
102 Engine Mount
104 Longitudinal Member
202 Front end of Longitudinal Member
204 Rear end of Longitudinal Member
206 Fastening members
302 Guide Member
304 Support Members
402 Longitudinal Slots
404 Serrations