Two-piece lightweight metal-polymer hybrid structures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016200370-A1
Application number	US-201514597176-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 14, 2015
Priority date	Jan 14, 2015
Publication date	Jul 14, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An approach to designing lightweight metal-polymer composite structures in a manner that decomposes the structure into at least two parts. In one specific embodiment, the approach is a manufacturing process for a vehicle that includes attaching an impact beam to a vehicle structure. The process includes providing a vehicle structure including a back plate of the impact beam being made of a suitable material, such as a metal, that can withstand high temperature processes. A front part of the impact beam including a front plate and a polymer core is attached to the back plate. The back plate is designed to provide structural integrity that allows the vehicle structure to go through the high temperature processes and/or the vehicle structure provides structural integrity that allows the back plate to go through the one or more processes. The back plate is also designed to provide desired functional characteristics of the beam.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for manufacturing a vehicle, said method comprising:
providing a vehicle structure including a configuration of metal structural elements, wherein at least one of the structural elements is a back plate that is part of a beam; performing one or more processes to the vehicle structure that requires high temperature, wherein the back plate is designed to provide structural integrity that allows the vehicle structure to go through the one or more processes and/or the vehicle structure provides structural integrity that allows the back plate to go through the one or more processes; and mounting a front assembly that is part of the beam to the back plate after the high temperature process, where the front assembly includes a front plate mounted to the back plate and a polymer insert positioned between the front plate and the back plate, wherein the back plate is also designed to provide desired functional characteristics of the beam.

2 . The method according to claim 1 wherein the processes include one or more of pretreatment (PT), electrophoretic painting (ELPO), primer and paint processes.

3 . The method according to claim 1 wherein providing a vehicle structure includes providing a body-in-white (BIW) structure.

4 . The method according to claim 3 wherein the back plate is mounted to crush cans extending from an end of side rails in the BIW structure.

5 . The method according to claim 1 wherein mounting the front assembly to the back plate includes using a technique selected from the group consisting of adhesives, rivets, bolts and welds.

6 . The method according to claim 1 further comprising providing alignment elements in the front assembly that align with alignment elements in the back plate.

7 . The method according to claim 1 wherein the front assembly includes an impact layer mounted to the front plate opposite to the insert.

8 . The method according to claim 1 wherein the polymer insert is a thermoplastic insert.

9 . The method according to claim 1 wherein the back plate is configured to have a bottom portion and side walls that define a trough in which the polymer insert is positioned and flanges to which the front plate is mounted.

10 . The method according to claim 1 wherein the beam is an impact beam that is part of a front bumper.

11 . The method according to claim 1 wherein the beam is selected from the group consisting of roof bows, floor panels, hood structures and tie bars.

12 . A method for manufacturing a vehicle, said method comprising:
providing a body-in-white (BIW) structure including a configuration of metal structural elements, wherein at least one the structural elements is a back plate that is part of a front impact beam; performing one or more BIW processes to the BIW structure that requires high temperature, wherein the back plate is designed to provide structural integrity that allows the BIW structure to go through the one or more BIW processes and/or the BIW structure provides structural integrity that allows the back plate to go through the one or more processes; and mounting a front assembly that is part of the impact beam to the back plate after the high temperature process, where the front assembly includes a front plate mounted to the back plate and a thermoplastic insert positioned between the front plate and the back plate, wherein the back plate is configured to have a bottom portion and side walls that define a trough in which the thermoplastic insert is positioned and flanges to which the front plate is mounted, and wherein the back plate is also designed to provide desired functional characteristics of the impact beam.

13 . The method according to claim 12 wherein the BIW processes include one or more of pretreatment (PT), electrophoretic painting (ELPO), primer and paint processes.

14 . The method according to claim 12 wherein the back plate is mounted to crush cans extending from an end of side rails in the BIW structure.

15 . The method according to claim 12 wherein mounting the front assembly to the back plate includes using a technique selected from the group consisting of adhesives, rivets, bolts and welds.

16 . The method according to claim 12 further comprising providing alignment elements in the front assembly that align with alignment elements in the back plate.

17 . A method for fabricating a composite structure, said method comprising:
providing one or more manufacturing processes that may have a degrading affect on manufacturing parts; providing a first part that can withstand the degrading affect of the one or more manufacturing processes; providing a second part that cannot withstand the affects of the one or more manufacturing processes; and coupling the second part to the first part to form the composite structure after the first part has gone through the one or more manufacturing processes.

18 . The method according to claim 17 wherein the first part is mounted to an assembly structure before being subjected to the one or more manufacturing processes, and wherein the first part is designed to provide structural integrity that allows the assembly structure to go through the one or more manufacturing processes and/or the assembly structure provides structural integrity that allows the first part to go through the one or more manufacturing processes, and wherein the first part is also designed to provide desired functional characteristics of the composite structure.

19 . The method according to claim 17 wherein providing one or more manufacturing processes includes providing one or more high temperature manufacturing.

20 . The method according to claim 17 wherein providing one or more manufacturing processes includes providing one or more acidic manufacturing.

21 . The method according to claim 17 wherein providing a first part includes providing a metal part and providing a second part includes providing a non-metal part.

22 . The method according to claim 18 wherein the first part includes a back plate and the second part includes a front plate and a polymer insert, and wherein coupling the first part to the second part includes mounting the front plate to the back plate so that the insert is positioned therebetween.

23 . A vehicle beam comprising a back plate, a front plate mounted to the back plate and a thermoplastic insert positioned between the front plate and the back plate, wherein the back plate is configured to have a bottom portion and side walls that define a trough in which the thermoplastic insert is positioned and flanges to which the front plate is mounted, said back plate being designed and configured to provide desired structural integrity and stiffness requirements for the beam, and provide desired stiffness and strength for a body-in-white (BIW) structure including a configuration of metal structural elements when the BIW structure goes through assembly and high temperature fabrication processes.

24 . The beam according to claim 23 wherein the back plate is mounted to crush cans extending from an end of side rails in the BIW structure.

25 . The beam according to claim 23 wherein the beam is an impact beam having an impact layer mounted to the front plate opposite to the insert.

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Inc

Inventors

• Muhammad Hanif
• Mankame Nilesh D
• Aase Jan H

Classifications

• B62D65/02

  Joining sub-units or components to, or positioning sub-units or components with respect to, body shell or other sub-units or components · CPC title

• B62D21/15

  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

• B60R19/03 Primary

  characterised by material, e.g. composite (B60R19/18 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B62D29/001 Primary

  characterised by combining metal and synthetic material · CPC title

• B60R19/18

  {characterised by the cross-section;} Means within the bumper to absorb impact · CPC title