Bumper reinforcing assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9827931-B2
Application number	US-201615067244-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 11, 2016
Priority date	Mar 11, 2016
Publication date	Nov 28, 2017
Grant date	Nov 28, 2017

Abstract

A vehicle front end includes a bumper and a carrier attached to the bumper. A plurality of fins are movably attached to the carrier and are spaced from each other. The fins taper in a direction transverse to the bumper. The fins may be moved to a deployed position to reinforce the bumper to improve low-speed damageability of the bumper, and may be moved to an inactive position, which may allow a fascia to more easily deform relative to the deployed position to provide energy absorption for pedestrian impacts.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A vehicle front end, comprising:
a bumper;
a carrier attached to the bumper; and
a plurality of fins movably attached to the carrier and spaced from each other;
wherein the fins taper in a direction transverse to the bumper.

2. The front end of claim 1 , further comprising a driving assembly connected to the fins, and an actuator connected to the driving assembly.

3. The front end of claim 1 , further comprising a rack supported by the carrier and pinions supported by the fins and engaged with the rack.

4. The front end of claim 3 , wherein each pinion is fixed to each fin.

5. The front end of claim 1 , further comprising a linkage connecting the fins.

6. The front end of claim 5 , wherein the linkage includes links pivotally coupled to each other, each link being connected to adjacent ones of the fins.

7. The front end of claim 6 , wherein one of either the fins or the links each include a pin and the other of either the fins or the links each include a slot moveably receiving one of the pins.

8. The front end of claim 1 , further comprising an actuator supported by the carrier and coupled with the fins.

9. The front end of claim 8 , further comprising a controller including a processor and a memory, the processor programmed to determine a vehicle speed and, based on the vehicle speed, to actuate the actuator to move the fins relative to the bumper from a first position to a second position.

10. The front end of claim 9 , wherein the fins extend substantially perpendicular to the bumper in the first position and extend at a non-perpendicular angle relative to the bumper in the second position.

11. The front end of claim 1 , wherein each fin is substantially V-shaped.

12. A bumper reinforcing assembly, comprising:
a carrier having a longitudinal axis and two ends spaced from each other along the longitudinal axis; and
fins movably attached to the carrier and spaced from each other along the longitudinal axis;
wherein the fins taper in a direction a longitudinal axis.

13. The bumper reinforcing assembly of claim 12 , further comprising a rack supported by the carrier and pinions supported by the fins and engaged with the rack.

14. The bumper reinforcing assembly of claim 12 , wherein each pinion is fixed to each fin.

15. The bumper reinforcing assembly of claim 12 , further comprising an actuator supported by the carrier and coupled to the rack.

16. The bumper reinforcing assembly of claim 15 , wherein the linkage includes links pivotally coupled to each other, each link being connected to adjacent ones of the fins.

17. The bumper reinforcing assembly of claim 15 , further comprising an actuator supported by the carrier and coupled to the linkage.

18. The bumper reinforcing assembly of claim 12 , further comprising a linkage connecting the fins.

19. The bumper reinforcing assembly of claim 18 , wherein one of either the fins or the links each include a pin and the other of either the fins or the links each include a slot slideably receiving one of the pins.

20. The bumper reinforcing assembly of claim 12 , wherein each fin is substantially shaped.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Farooq S M Iskander
• Muralidharan Nirmal
• Sundararajan Srinivasan
• Bhattacharjee Sudip Sankar
• Faruque Mohammed Omar

Classifications

• B60R2019/1893

  comprising a multiplicity of identical adjacent shock-absorbing means · CPC title

• B60R19/18 Primary

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

• B60R19/023 Primary

  Details · CPC title

• B60R2021/0004

  Frontal collision · CPC title

• B60R2019/1806

  Structural beams therefor, e.g. shock-absorbing · CPC title