Vehicle with embossed surface of directionality pattern on lower surface of vehicle body, and under cover member for vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12296895-B2
Application number	US-202217929539-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 2, 2022
Priority date	Sep 23, 2021
Publication date	May 13, 2025
Grant date	May 13, 2025

Abstract

A vehicle capable of traveling with a embossed surface of a directionality pattern includes a vehicle body and an under cover member. The under cover member is disposed on one or both of a front portion and a rear portion of a lower surface of the vehicle body. The embossed surface of the directionality pattern is formed on a plane portion of the under cover member. The embossed surface of the directionality pattern is configured to accelerate an airflow along a fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle body.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A vehicle capable of traveling with an embossed surface of a directionality pattern, the vehicle comprising:
a vehicle body having a lower surface that has a front portion and a rear portion, the vehicle body comprising one or more under cover members disposed on one or both of the front portion and the rear portion, wherein
the embossed surface of the directionality pattern is formed on one or more plane portions of the one or more under cover members, the embossed surface of the directionality pattern being configured to accelerate an airflow along a fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle body, and wherein the embossed surface includes a plurality of transversely spaced rib sets with each rib set including a series of ribs arranged as to share a common central axis extending in the fore-and-aft direction.

2. The vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising front wheels, wherein
the one or more under cover members comprise a front under member disposed on the front portion of the lower surface of the vehicle body, the front portion being a portion from a front edge of the vehicle body to the front wheels, the front under member being disposed on a center portion of the vehicle body in a vehicle width direction, and
the embossed surface of the directionality pattern is formed on a plane portion of the front under member in a range including a center of the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction.

3. A vehicle capable of traveling with an embossed surface of a directionality pattern, the vehicle comprising:
a vehicle body having a lower surface that has a front portion and a rear portion, the vehicle body comprising one or more under cover members disposed on one or both of the front portion and the rear portion, wherein
the embossed surface of the directionality pattern is formed on one or more plane portions of the one or more under cover members, the embossed surface of the directionality pattern being configured to accelerate an airflow along a fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle body, the vehicle, further comprising rear wheels, and wherein
the one or more under cover members comprise a rear under member disposed on the rear portion of the lower surface of the vehicle body, the rear portion being a portion from a rear edge of the vehicle body to the rear wheels, the rear under member being disposed at least on a center portion of the vehicle body in a vehicle width direction, and
the embossed surface of the directionality pattern is formed on a plane portion of the rear under member at least in a range including a center of the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction.

4. The vehicle according to claim 2 , further comprising rear wheels,
the one or more under cover members comprise a rear under member disposed on the rear portion of the lower surface of the vehicle body, the rear portion being a portion from a rear edge of the vehicle body to the rear wheels, the rear under member being disposed at least on a center portion of the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction, and
the embossed surface of the directionality pattern is further formed on a plane portion of the rear under member at least in a range including the center of the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction.

5. The vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a front bumper member disposed from a front surface to side surfaces of the vehicle body, wherein
the embossed surface of the directionality pattern is formed on surfaces of side portions of the front bumper member so as to cause the airflow to direct in one direction along the surfaces of the side portions of the front bumper member.

6. The vehicle according to claim 2 , further comprising:
a front bumper member disposed from a front surface to side surfaces of the vehicle body, wherein
the embossed surface of the directionality pattern is formed on surfaces of side portions of the front bumper member so as to cause the airflow to direct in one direction along the surfaces of the side portions of the front bumper member.

7. The vehicle according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a front bumper member disposed from a front surface to side surfaces of the vehicle body, wherein
the embossed surface of the directionality pattern is formed on surfaces of side portions of the front bumper member so as to cause the airflow to direct in one direction along the surfaces of the side portions of the front bumper member.

8. The vehicle according to claim 4 , further comprising:
a front bumper member disposed from a front surface to side surfaces of the vehicle body, wherein
the embossed surface of the directionality pattern is formed on surfaces of side portions of the front bumper member so as to cause the airflow to direct in one direction along the surfaces of the side portions of the front bumper member.

9. An under cover member comprising:
a plane portion having an embossed surface of a directionality pattern, the embossed surface of the directionality pattern being configured to accelerate an airflow along a fore-and-aft direction of a vehicle body of a vehicle capable of traveling, wherein
the under cover member is configured to be disposed on at one or both of a front portion and a rear portion of a lower surface of the vehicle body, and wherein the embossed surface has a plurality of transversely spaced rib sets that define therebetween a plurality of constant lateral width, linear extending flow channels that are uninterrupted in the fore-and-aft direction over the entire embossed surface.

10. The vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising rear wheels, wherein
the one or more under cover members comprise a rear under member disposed on the rear portion of the lower surface of the vehicle body, the rear portion being a portion from a rear edge of the vehicle body to the rear wheels, the rear under member being disposed at least on a center portion of the vehicle body in a vehicle width direction, and
the embossed surface of the directionality pattern is formed on a plane portion of the rear under member at least in a range including a center of the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction.

11. The vehicle according to claim 4 , wherein the embossed surfaces of the front and rear under members each extend to opposite sides of a vehicle width axis extending at the center of the vehicle body, with the embossed surface of the front under member having a lesser lateral length than the embossed surface of the rear under member.

12. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the embossed surface has a plurality of the transversely spaced rib sets that define therebetween a plurality of constant lateral width linear extending flow channels that are uninterrupted in the fore-and-aft direction over the entire embossed surface.

13. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein side walls of the rib sets extend in parallel, straight lines as to define, in the fore-and-aft direction, continuous linear flow channels.

14. The vehicle according to claim 3 , wherein the embossed surface has a plurality of transversely spaced rib sets that define therebetween a plurality of constant lateral width, linear extending flow channels that are uninterrupted in the fore-and-aft direction over the entire embossed surface.

15. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein ribs of a common rib set have different linear lengths.

16. The vehicle according to claim 15 , wherein the different linear length ribs in the common rib sets define a different length pattern than different linear length ribs in an adjacent one of the r

Assignees

• Subaru Corp

Inventors

• Aoyanagi Hiroki
• Hata Hideki
• Sato Masaya

Classifications

• Y02T10/88

  Optimized components or subsystems, e.g. lighting, actively controlled glasses · CPC title

• B62D25/20

  Floors or bottom sub-units {(sub-frames for mounting engine or suspensions B62D21/11; drip trays F16N31/006)} · CPC title

• B62D25/2072

  Floor protection, e.g. from corrosion or scratching (floor mats B60N3/04, armour F41H7/042, insulation B60R13/08, streamlining B62D35/02) · CPC title

• Y02T10/82

  Elements for improving aerodynamics · CPC title

• B62D35/02 Primary

  Streamlining the undersurfaces {(B62D35/005, B62D35/007, B62D35/008 take precedence)} · CPC title