Composite vehicle crossmember

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11407454-B2
Application number	US-201916416823-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 20, 2019
Priority date	May 20, 2019
Publication date	Aug 9, 2022
Grant date	Aug 9, 2022

Abstract

A vehicle crossmember is made from continuous fiber-reinforced polymeric material without the need for metallic structural reinforcements. The crossmember includes more than one fiber-reinforced material composition, including different amounts and/or types of fiber reinforcements along different lengthwise portions of a crossbar of the crossmember. Attachment points and stiffening ribs can be overmolded onto surfaces of the crossbar before assembling two halves of the crossbar together to form the crossmember.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A vehicle crossmember configured for attachment to transversely opposite sides of a vehicle body, the crossmember comprising:
a crossbar extending in a lengthwise direction such that the crossbar extends transversely across the vehicle body when attached to the vehicle body, wherein the crossbar is made from fiber-reinforced polymeric material having a plurality of different material compositions along the lengthwise direction, each of the plurality of different material compositions being a fiber-reinforced polymeric material composition having non-randomly oriented fiber reinforcements,
wherein the plurality of different material compositions includes a first material composition and a second material composition that meet at a transition region of the crossbar, the first material composition being uniform along a first lengthwise portion of the crossbar between a first mounting flange and the transition region and the second material composition being uniform along a different second lengthwise portion of the crossbar between a second mounting flange and the transition region.

2. The vehicle crossmember of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of different material compositions includes a third material composition in the transition region.

3. The vehicle crossmember of claim 1 , wherein the first mounting flange includes the first material composition and the second mounting flange includes the second material composition.

4. The vehicle crossmember of claim 1 , wherein each portion of the crossbar includes lengthwise continuous fiber reinforcements each having an end at the transition region.

5. The vehicle crossmember of claim 1 , wherein one of the plurality of different material compositions includes carbon fiber reinforcements and another of the plurality different material compositions is substantially free from carbon fiber reinforcements.

6. The vehicle crossmember of claim 1 , wherein each one of the plurality of different material compositions includes a polymer portion and a fiber portion, the polymer portion being the same among the plurality of different material compositions, and the fiber portion being different among the plurality of different material compositions.

7. The vehicle crossmember of claim 1 , wherein the crossbar is tubular and extends between the first and second mounting flanges along a central axis such that the fiber-reinforced polymeric material is radially spaced from the central axis between the mounting flanges.

8. The vehicle crossmember of claim 1 , wherein the crossbar is formed from two contoured sections with concave sides of the contoured sections facing each other, the contoured sections being attached together along a pair of joints extending along the lengthwise direction.

9. The vehicle crossmember of claim 1 , further comprising an overmolding extending along inside and outside surfaces of the crossbar, the overmolding including stiffening ribs and attachment features located and configured to affix the crossmember to the vehicle body.

10. The vehicle crossmember of claim 9 , wherein the attachment features are located along the first and second mounting flanges.

11. The vehicle crossmember of claim 9 , wherein the overmolding includes a center leg extending away from the crossbar to an end including one of the attachment features.

12. The vehicle crossmember of claim 9 , wherein the crossbar is tubular and at least some of the stiffening ribs are located inside the tubular crossbar.

13. The vehicle crossmember of claim 9 , further comprising a joint formed from overmolding material and joining one contoured section of the crossbar to another contoured section of the crossbar.

14. The vehicle crossmember of claim 9 , wherein the overmolding at least partly covers the transition region of the crossbar where two of the plurality of different material compositions meet.

15. A vehicle crossmember configured for attachment to transversely opposite sides of a vehicle body, the crossmember comprising:
a crossbar extending in a lengthwise direction such that the crossbar extends transversely across the vehicle body when attached to the vehicle body, wherein the crossbar is made from fiber-reinforced polymeric material comprising non-randomly oriented fibers, and
wherein the crossbar is formed from two contoured sections with concave sides of the contoured sections facing each other, the contoured sections being attached together along a pair of joints extending along the lengthwise direction,
wherein the fiber-reinforced polymeric material has a plurality of different material compositions along the lengthwise direction, and
wherein the plurality of different material compositions includes a first material composition that is uniform in the lengthwise direction, a second material composition that is uniform in the lengthwise direction, and a third material composition in a transition region in which portions of the first material composition overlap with portions of the second material composition.

16. A method of making the vehicle crossmember of claim 15 , the method comprising the steps of:
(a) forming a first of the two contoured sections of the crossbar from multiple layers of fiber-reinforced polymeric sheet material, wherein one end of the first contoured section has a different number of layers or a different type of reinforcement fibers than an opposite end of the first contoured section;
(b) forming a second of the two contoured sections of the crossbar from multiple layers of fiber-reinforced polymeric sheet material;
(c) overmolding stiffening ribs or vehicle body attachment points along surfaces of the first and second contoured sections; and
(d) attaching the overmolded first and second contoured sections together to form the vehicle crossmember, wherein the contoured sections form the crossbar in tubular form with at least some of the stiffening ribs inside the crossbar.

17. The vehicle crossmember of claim 15 , wherein the crossbar is tubular and surrounds a central axis to define a hollow portion of the crossbar between the concave sides of the contoured sections.

18. The vehicle crossmember of claim 17 , further comprising an overmolding including stiffening ribs located inside the tubular crossbar.

19. The vehicle crossmember of claim 15 , wherein the crossbar includes lengthwise continuous fiber reinforcements each having an end at the transition region.

20. The vehicle crossmember of claim 15 , wherein one of the plurality of different material compositions includes carbon fiber reinforcements and another of the plurality different material compositions is substantially free from carbon fiber reinforcements.

Assignees

• Faurecia Interior Systems Inc

Inventors

• Guerreiro Pierre
• Trannoy Mickael
• Lemaire Guillaume
• Lesobre Stephen
• Du Yicheng

Classifications

• B62D29/04

  predominantly of synthetic material (working of plastics or substances in a plastic state B29) · CPC title

• B29C70/085

  the structure being deformed in a three dimensional configuration (B29C53/805 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B29C70/54

  Component parts, details or accessories; Auxiliary operations {, e.g. feeding or storage of prepregs or SMC after impregnation or during ageing} · CPC title

• B62D25/145

  having a crossbeam incorporated therein · CPC title

• B29C70/304

  In-plane lamination by juxtaposing or interleaving of plies, e.g. scarf joining · CPC title