Reinforcing insert with through orifices

Abstract

A reinforcing element for a bodywork part made from plastic, forming an insert capable of being at least partially overmolded in the bodywork part, the reinforcing element including a wall delimited by a contour, the wall including an orifice that passes all the way through the thickness of the wall of the reinforcing element, which orifice is a notch emerging at the contour, or a blind orifice at the contour, located, at least in part, in an area of the contour that extends over 40 mm in width from the wall.

Claims

1. A bodywork part of a motor vehicle, made of plastic, characterized in that the bodywork part comprises a reinforcing element forming an insert capable of being at least partially overmolded in the bodywork part, the reinforcing element comprising a wall delimited by a contour, the wall comprising several orifices that pass all the way through a thickness of the wall of the reinforcing element, wherein the orifices are each a notch emerging at the contour of the wall by an opening with a width (I) that is smaller than a length (L) of the notch.

2. The bodywork part of a motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the plastic fills the orifice.

3. The bodywork part of a motor vehicle according to claim 1, forming a tailgate lining.

4. The bodywork part of a motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing element is made from metal.

5. The bodywork part of a motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing element is made from steel.

6. The bodywork part of a motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the orifices are configured on the reinforcing element so that the orifices are located partially or entirely under an overmolding rib of the bodywork part.

7. The bodywork part of a motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the orifices are configured on the reinforcing element so that the orifices are located under a base of an overmolding rib of the bodywork part.

8. The bodywork part of a motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing element comprises several similar orifices in terms of shape distributed evenly over at least part of the contour.

9. The bodywork part of a motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing element has a U-shaped section, wherein the notches are on a side part of the wall of the reinforcing element.

10. A bodywork part of a motor vehicle made of plastic, characterized in that the bodywork part comprises a reinforcing element forming an insert capable of being at least partially molded into the bodywork part, the reinforcing element comprising a wall delimited by a contour and an overmolding rib, the wall comprising an orifice that passes all the way through a thickness of the wall of the reinforcing element, wherein the orifice is not located under the overmolding rib of the bodywork part.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(1) The invention will be better understood upon reading the description which follows, given solely by way of example and with reference to the appended drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tailgate lining comprising a reinforcing element according to an embodiment of the invention, overmolded at a stress zone of the lining.

(3) FIG. 2 is a detail of FIG. 1, illustrating orifices present in the reinforcing element.

(4) FIG. 3 is a sectional view along A-A of the tailgate lining of FIG. 1, at an area having no through orifice.

(5) FIG. 4 is a sectional view along B-B of the tailgate lining of FIG. 1, at a through orifice.

(6) FIG. 5 is a sectional view along C-C of the tailgate lining of FIG. 1, at another through orifice.

(7) FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a reinforcing element according to another embodiment of the invention, as well as a detail of this reinforcing element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(8) FIGS. 1 to 5 show a plastic bodywork part 50 according to one embodiment of the invention, designated by general reference 100. According to this example, it is a tailgate lining 100, comprising a molded reinforcing insert, forming a reinforcing element 200 at the stress zone of the lining 100, namely the upper zone 300 for fixing hinges (not shown) and the side zone 400 for relieving forces from jacks (not shown). The reinforcing element could be located in other stress zones, such as the lower side zone 700L of the back window and the lock zone 700S.

(9) The reinforcing element 200 forms an insert able to be at least partially molded into the bodywork part 100. It comprises a wall 500 delimited by a contour 550, also called “part end.” The wall comprises orifices 600 that pass all the way through the thickness of the wall 500 of the reinforcing element 200. The orifices 600 are located in an area of the contour 550 that is 40 mm wide. In this embodiment, the through orifices 600 are notches opening at the contour 550 delimiting the wall 500 of the reinforcing element 200 by an opening 650, like the orifice at which the section plane B-B passes. In this embodiment, the reinforcing element also comprises blind orifices at the contour, such as the orifice at which the section plane C-C passes.

(10) The through orifices 600 are advantageously intended to be located opposite the plastic areas of the bodywork part 100, which may have a brittleness created by the stresses due to the difference in CLTE between the plastic material 50 forming the bodywork part 100 and the material forming the insert 200. In this embodiment, the reinforcing element 200 is preferably made of metal, more particularly of steel. It is also possible that the insert is made of composite material, such as SMC (“Sheet Molding Compound”). These fragile areas of the plastic are areas of stress concentration that can be pre-identified by calculation or owing to the experience of a person skilled in the art. They can also be identified following validation tests of the specifications.

(11) The figures illustrate the fact that in this embodiment, the reinforcing element 200 has a U-shaped section. The notches 600 are on the side part of the wall 500 of the reinforcing element 200. The reinforcing element could just as easily have another shape, for example in the lock area 700S, or a flat shape for a side door reinforcement. On the tailgate mounted on the vehicle, the “inner” face 220 of the reinforcing element 200 is oriented towards the interior of the vehicle and, in this example, makes up the hollow of the U shape, and its “outer” face 240 is oriented towards the outside of the vehicle.

(12) FIG. 3 is a sectional view along A-A of the tailgate lining 100. The section is done outside the through orifices 600. The reinforcing element 200 is overmolded by the plastic 50 forming the inner lining 100 of the tailgate at least on its inner face 220. Since it is a tailgate, the inner face of the reinforcing element could be visible if it was not overmolded. The overmolding here hides the reinforcing element. However, if the element 200 was reinforcing a technical part 100, which is not visible, the overmolding could be partial. Even in the case of a visible part 100, the overmolding could be partial. The visible areas that are not overmolded could be hidden by trim.

(13) On its hollow face 240, the reinforcing element 200 has a rib 55 obtained by overmolding with the same plastic material 50. For the sake of clarity, the overmolding ribs 55 are not shown in FIG. 1, and only one of these is shown in FIG. 2 in detail. The ribs of FIGS. 3 to 5 are also not shown there. On the hollow face 240, the plastic 50 forming the rib 55 is overmolded so that the edges 260 of the wall 500 of the insert 200 are covered at the contour 550 with plastic 50.

(14) FIG. 4 is a sectional view along line B-B of the tailgate lining 100. The section is done at a notch 600, shown by the dotted line. Due to the through orifice 600, the edge 261 forming the bottom of the notch is offset relative to the edge 260 in the area without a through orifice illustrated in FIG. 3. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the through orifice 600 is intended to be located partially or entirely under an overmolding rib 55 of the bodywork part 100. In this embodiment, the notch 600 is located under the base 58 of the overmolding rib 55. In the bodywork part 100, the plastic 50 fills the through orifice 600.

(15) FIG. 5 is a sectional view along C-C of the tailgate lining 100. The section is done at a through orifice 600, shown by the dotted line, which is blind at the contour 550. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the through orifice 600 is intended to be located partially or entirely under an overmolding rib 55 of the bodywork part 100. In the bodywork part 100, the plastic 50 fills the through orifice 600, which is blind at the contour 550.

(16) In FIGS. 1 to 5, the orifices 600 according to the invention are entirely located in an area of the contour 550 that extends over 40 mm in width from the wall 500.

(17) The notches 600 emerge at the contour of the wall by an opening whose width, which is the width of the notch at the contour, is smaller than the length of the notch. The grouped notches 600, located at the end of the side upright zone 400, are through orifices that can be similar in terms of shape, and/or can be distributed evenly over part of the contour 550, that is to say with an identical spacing between them. Indeed, on this part of the contour, the centers of the openings of a pair of two successive notches are separated by a distance that is identical, irrespective of the considered pair of notches. Conversely, the notch 600 located towards the middle of the side upright zone 400 does not form a set of through orifices with the other notches distributed evenly over part of the contour 550 because the spacing between this notch and the previous notch is greater than the spacing between the three notches located at the end of the side zone 400. Two successive notches 600 define a relief 610 between them having, in projection in the local plane of the wall 500, a shape complementary to that of its two adjacent notches. Thus, the part of the contour 550 of the wall 500 comprises a succession of notches 600 and reliefs 610, defining a typical shape called “slotted”.

(18) In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the notches have a rectangular shape in the local plane of the wall 500 of the reinforcing element. However, they could also include a constriction, or else be flared starting from the edge of the contour, thus for example having a shape of the “puzzle piece” type, for instance in the form of a T, optionally having rounded corners, or in the form of a dovetail shape, a trapezoid, optionally with rounded corners, an ellipse, an omega or an arc of circle.

(19) FIG. 6 shows a reinforcing element 800 according to another embodiment of the invention. The reinforcing element 800 has a U-shaped section. Four notches 600 are visible in the detailed view of the reinforcing element shown in FIG. 6. They are located in the side part of the wall 550 of the reinforcing element 800. Among these notches 600, three have a rectangular shape in the local plane of the wall 550 of the reinforcing element. The other notch 600 has a dovetail shape. Each notch 600 is a recess of elongated shape, emerging at the contour 550 by an opening 650 of narrow width I. The width I, which has the width of the notch 600 at the contour 550, is smaller than the length L of the notch. The reinforcing element 800 therefore comprises several through orifices (notches 600) with similar shapes. Indeed, it comprises three rectangular notches. These are distributed evenly over at least part of the contour 550. Indeed, on this part of the contour 550, the centers 655 of the openings 650 of a pair of two successive rectangular notches 600 are separated by a distance that is identical, irrespective of the considered pair of rectangular notches. On said part of the contour 550, identical notches (rectangles of equal size) can be seen. Conversely, the center of the opening of the dovetail-shaped notch is located at a distance from the center of the opening of the closest rectangular notch, which is different in this embodiment from the distance separating the centers of the openings of two successive rectangular notches.

(20) The invention is not limited to the embodiments described here, and other embodiments will become clearly apparent to a person skilled in the art. It is in particular possible that the bodywork part is for example a side door. The overmolded reinforcing insert could be present at another stress zone, for example a lower side zone of the back window 700L or in the lock area 700S. The through orifice may not be located under an overmolding rib. The through orifice may not be located entirely in the area of the contour that extends over 40 mm in width.

LIST OF REFERENCES

(21) 50: composite plastic material

(22) 55: overmolding rib

(23) 58: base of the overmolding rib 55

(24) 100: composite plastic bodywork part

(25) 200: reinforcing element for the bodywork part 100 made of composite plastic

(26) 220: “inner” face of the reinforcing element 200

(27) 240: “outer” face of the reinforcing element 200

(28) 260: edge of the reinforcing element 200

(29) 261: bottom of the notch

(30) 300: upper hinge fixing area

(31) 400: side force relief area from jacks

(32) 500: wall of the reinforcing element 200

(33) 550: contour delimiting the wall 500 of the reinforcing element 200

(34) 555: ends of the contour delimiting the opening of the notch

(35) 600: orifice that passes all the way through the thickness of the reinforcing element 200, notch

(36) 610: relief between two notches 600

(37) 650: opening of the notch

(38) 655: center of the opening of the notch

(39) 700L: lower side area of the back window

(40) 700S: lock area

(41) 800: reinforcing element

(42) L: length of the notch

(43) I: width of the opening of the notch