Vehicle front body structure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10336369-B2
Application number	US-201415512912-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 22, 2014
Priority date	Sep 22, 2014
Publication date	Jul 2, 2019
Grant date	Jul 2, 2019

Abstract

The vehicle front body structure (2) comprises an upper longitudinal beam (10, 12) and a reinforcing element (14, 16) for reinforcing the wheel casing of the vehicle, said reinforcing element (14, 16) extending in a longitudinal direction substantially parallel to the upper longitudinal beam (10, 12), said upper longitudinal beam (10, 12) comprising an attachment portion (40), comprising an attachment area for attaching a connecting element (8) joining the upper longitudinal beam (10, 12) to a lower beam (22, 24) of the vehicle. The vehicle front body structure (2) further comprises a linking element (18, 20) joining the reinforcing element (14, 16) and the upper longitudinal beam (10, 12). The linking element (18, 20) is attached to the attachment portion (40) of the upper longitudinal beam (10, 12).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A front body structure of a vehicle, the front body structure comprising:
an upper longitudinal beam, the upper longitudinal beam comprising an attachment portion, including an attachment area;
a lower beam;
a reinforcement for reinforcing a wheel casing of the vehicle, the reinforcement extending in a longitudinal direction parallel to the upper longitudinal beam, on a lateral outer side of the upper longitudinal beam and above the upper longitudinal beam;
a link joining the reinforcement to the upper longitudinal beam,
wherein the link protrudes from a front end of the reinforcement and extends forwards and downwards from the reinforcement to the upper longitudinal beam,
the link is attached to the attachment portion of the upper longitudinal beam; and
a connector attached to the attachment area of the upper longitudinal beam, the connector joining the upper longitudinal beam to the lower beam, the connector extending between an upper end attached to the first attachment area of the upper longitudinal beam and a lower end attached to the lower beam.

2. The vehicle front body structure as recited in claim 1 wherein the upper longitudinal beam comprises an inner flank, an outer flank parallel to the inner flank, and a lower flank, orthogonal to the inner and outer flanks, the attachment area extending on the lower flank, and the link being attached to the outer flank next to the attachment area.

3. The vehicle front body structure as recited in claim 1 wherein the link is made of steel, having a yield strength greater than or equal to 450 MPa.

4. The vehicle front body structure as recited in claim 1 wherein the link is made of a dual phase steel.

5. The vehicle front body structure as recited in claim 4 wherein the dual-phase steel has a tensile strength greater than or equal to 780 MPa.

6. The vehicle front body structure as recited in claim 1 wherein the reinforcement and the link are made of an integral part.

7. The vehicle front body structure as recited in claim 1 wherein the link has an elbow shape having a first portion extending longitudinally from the reinforcement and a second portion extending perpendicularly between the first portion and the attachment portion of the upper longitudinal beam.

8. The vehicle front body structure as recited in claim 7 wherein the link further comprises a joining portion joining the first portion to the second portion, the joining portion having an arcuate shape.

9. The vehicle front body structure as recited in claim 8 wherein the joining portion extends forwards and downwards between the first portion and the second portion.

10. The vehicle front body structure as recited in claim 1 wherein the reinforcement is a hollow tubular element.

11. The vehicle front body structure as recited in claim 10 wherein the reinforcement is formed by an assembly of at least two shelves, assembled together along a longitudinal plan.

12. The vehicle front body structure as recited in claim 1 wherein the attachment portion of the upper longitudinal beam is non-deformable and wherein the upper longitudinal beam further comprises at least a portion deformable by bundling, the deformable portion being adjacent to the attachment portion.

13. The vehicle front body structure as recited in claim 1 wherein the reinforcement comprises a portion deformable by bundling, adjacent to the link.

14. The vehicle front body structure as recited in claim 1 wherein the attachment portion of the upper longitudinal beam comprises a further attachment area, the link being attached to the further attachment area, the attachment area and the further attachment area being contiguous to each other on the upper longitudinal beam.

15. The vehicle front body structure as recited in claim 1 wherein the upper longitudinal beam comprises a single substantially non-deformable portion, the single non-deformable portion consisting of the attachment portion.

16. The vehicle front body structure as recited in claim 1 , wherein the upper longitudinal beam comprises a front portion, a rear portion and the attachment portion, such that the attachment portion is comprised between the front portion and the rear portion.

17. The vehicle front body structure as recited in claim 16 , wherein the attachment portion is non-deformable, and the front and the rear portions are deformable by bundling.

18. The vehicle front body structure as recited in claim 1 wherein the link is attached by welding to the upper longitudinal beam.

Assignees

• Arcelormittal

Inventors

• Viaux Ivan
• Ditner Sylvie
• Allaire Florent

Classifications

• B62D21/02 Primary

  comprising longitudinally or transversely arranged frame members · CPC title

• B62D21/152 Primary

  Front or rear frames · CPC title

• B62D29/007

  predominantly of special steel or specially treated steel, e.g. stainless steel or locally surface hardened steel · CPC title

• B62D21/15 Primary

  having impact absorbing means, e.g. a frame designed to permanently or temporarily change shape or dimension upon impact with another body (bumpers B60R19/02; shock absorbers in general F16F) · CPC title