MOTOR VEHICLE BUMPER ASSEMBLY

Abstract

A bumper assembly for a motor vehicle has a cross member and crash boxes. The cross member has a front side open profile with a rear wall and an upper leg and a lower leg. Furthermore, a tow bushing is provided. The tow bushing is able to be arranged above the upper leg or below the lower leg and is able to be arranged laterally offset next to a crash box.

Claims

1-10. (canceled)

11. A bumper assembly for a motor vehicle, comprising: a cross member; and crash boxes, the cross member comprising: a profile which is open towards a front side of the cross member; a rear wall; an upper leg and a lower leg; and a tow bushing, wherein the tow bushing is arranged above the upper leg or below the lower leg, the tow bushing is attached to a bracket which is joined to the cross member, and the bracket comprises a front flange and a rear flange, the front flange and the rear flange arranged at a distance from one another in a longitudinal axis of the tow bushing which is joined to the front flange and the rear flange.

12. The bumper assembly according to claim 11, wherein the tow bushing is arranged laterally offset next to one of the crash boxes.

13. The bumper assembly according to claim 11, wherein the bracket is joined to an adjacent crash box of the crash boxes.

14. The bumper assembly according to claim 11, wherein the bracket comprises a first L-profile and a second L-profile, which are placed together to form a hollow profile.

15. The bumper assembly according to claim 11, wherein the front flange has a first receptacle, the rear flange has a second receptacle, and the tow bushing is held in the first and second receptacles.

16. The bumper assembly according to claim 11, wherein the bracket has a connection area on a lower end of the bracket, the lower end being on a side of the cross member, and in the connection area, the bracket rests on and is joined with the upper leg or the lower leg, and the rear wall of the cross member.

17. The bumper assembly according to claim 11, wherein the cross member has a striking plate in at least one of an area in front of one of the crash boxes, or an area of the bracket.

18. The bumper assembly according to claim 11, further comprising: a front web on a front side of a leg of the upper leg and the lower leg, which front web is directed transversely to the leg.

19. The bumper assembly according to claim 18, further comprising: an outer web which is adjoined to the front web, and is angled towards the motor vehicle; and an end web which is angled away from the outer web and is connected to the outer web at least in sections.

20. The bumper assembly according to claim 19, wherein the bracket is supported on, and is at least partially joined with, at least one of the front web, the outer web or the end web.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Other advantages, features, properties, aspects of the present disclosure are set out in the following description. They provide a simpler understanding of the disclosure. Exemplary embodiments of the disclosure are illustrated in the set of drawings and will be described in greater detail below. In the drawings:

[0029] FIG. 1 shows a technically simplified and schematic top view of a motor vehicle bumper assembly according to at least one embodiment of the disclosure;

[0030] FIG. 2 shows the bumper assembly according to the illustration in FIG. 1 in a front view;

[0031] FIG. 3 shows a section of a bumper assembly according to at least one embodiment of the disclosure;

[0032] FIG. 4 shows a detail from an alternative embodiment of the bumper assembly according to at least one embodiment of the disclosure;

[0033] FIG. 5 shows a plan view of an end region of a motor vehicle bumper assembly on the crash box side according to at least one embodiment of the disclosure;

[0034] FIG. 6 shows a perspective representation of the detail according to the representation of FIG. in a rear view;

[0035] FIG. 7 shows a towing device with a bracket and a tow bushing according to at least one embodiment of the disclosure;

[0036] FIG. 8 shows a vertical cross section through a bumper assembly in an area outside of a crash box according to at least one embodiment of the disclosure;

[0037] FIG. 9 shows a vertical cross section through a bumper assembly in the area adjacent to a crash box with a front striking plate according to at least one embodiment of the disclosure;

[0038] FIG. 10 shows, again in a technically simplified and schematized manner, a top view of an alternative embodiment of a motor vehicle bumper assembly, and

[0039] FIG. 11 shows the schematic representation according to FIG. 10 in a front view.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] In the Figures, the same reference numerals are used for identical and similar components, even if a repeated listing is omitted for reasons of simplicity.

[0041] A bumper assembly 1 for a motor vehicle is shown in each of FIGS. 1 and 2 and in FIGS. 10 and 11. The bumper assembly 1 is used in the front or rear area, in the front area of the body of a motor vehicle.

[0042] The bumper assembly 1 has a cross member 2 arranged transversely to the longitudinal members of a motor vehicle, not shown here. The bumper assembly 1 is supported on the longitudinal members via crash boxes 3, 4, which are provided at the end or in the end area of the cross member 2. In addition to the cross member 2, the crash boxes 3, 4 are intended to absorb the energy resulting from an impact by converting the energy into deformation work.

[0043] The cross member 2 extends in the vehicle transverse axis (y-axis) and is formed in one piece from a metal sheet, for example, a steel sheet. The cross member 2 has a U-shaped or hat-shaped or C-shaped profile 5 in vertical cross section (see also the representation in FIGS. 3 and 4 as well as FIGS. 8 and 9). The cross member 2 has a rear wall 6 and an upper leg 7 and a lower leg 8. Both the upper leg 7 and the lower leg 8 are joined at the front by a front web 9, 10 directed outwards transversely to the respective leg 7, 8. The upper front web 9 is adjoined by an upper outer web 11 directed toward the motor vehicle. The lower front web 10 is adjoined by a lower outer web 12 angled toward the motor vehicle. In turn, an end web 13 directed downwards from this connects to the lower outer web 12. Even if an outer web 12 is provided in an embodiment such as the embodiment shown here, this is able to be omitted completely or in sections given certain installation space restrictions.

[0044] A channel 14 which is open at the front extends over the length of the cross member 2 in the longitudinal direction. The channel 14 is formed by the U- or hat- or C-shaped profile 5 of the cross member 2. The cross-sectional configuration of the profile 5 extends at least over the majority of the length of the cross member 2, for example, to beyond the crash boxes 3, 4 in the lateral end sections 15 of the cross member 2. The profile 5 of the cross member 2 is open towards the front side 16. The open front side 16 is directed away from the motor vehicle to the front or rear.

[0045] The bumper assembly 1 has a towing device 17 with a tow bushing 18. The tow bushing 18 is arranged outside a crash box 3, 4 and is located above the upper leg 7 of the cross member 2 in the illustrated embodiments.

[0046] The tow bushing 18 is also able to be arranged below the lower leg 8 (not shown in the figures).

[0047] In the bumper assembly 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tow bushing 18 is arranged above the upper leg 7 and offset laterally outside of a crash box 3 next to the crash box 3. In the vehicle transverse axis (y-axis), the tow bushing 18 is at a distance a from the inner side wall 19 of the closest, i.e., the adjacent crash box 3.

[0048] The tow bushing 18 is attached to a bracket 20, wherein the bracket 20 is joined to the cross member 2 and optionally to an adjacent crash box 3.

[0049] The basic structure of the bracket 20 is the same in the embodiments of the bumper assembly 1, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and in FIGS. 10 and 11.

[0050] The bracket 20 has a first L-profile 21 and a second L-profile 22, which are placed together and joined together. The L-profiles 21, 22 assembled to form the bracket 20 enclose a cavity with a substantially rectangular cross-section.

[0051] The bracket 20 has a front flange 23 and a rear flange 24, each of which is formed by a leg of the first L-profile 21 and the second L-profile 22, respectively. The legs of the L-profiles 21 and 22 forming the front flange 23 and the rear flange 24 are longer than the lateral legs 25, 26 of the L-profiles 21, 22 directed transversely thereto in the y-axis. The front flange 23 and the rear flange 24 are arranged in the longitudinal axis L of the tow bushing 18 at a distance b from one another. Along the abutting contact surfaces between the L-profiles 21, 22 or the flanges 23, 24 and the lateral legs 25, 26, these are joined together in a materially bonded manner. The tow bushing 18 is joined with the front flange 23 and the rear flange 24.

[0052] The front flange 23 has a receptacle 27 and the rear flange 24 has a receptacle 28 in which the tow bushing 18 is held and joined to the bracket 20. The tow bushing 18 is cylindrical with a circular outer circumference. Correspondingly, the receptacles 27, 28 in the front flange 23 and in the rear flange 24 are formed by circular openings. The tow bushing 18 is held in the receptacles 27, 28 and joined to the flanges 23, 24 in a cohesive manner.

[0053] As able to be seen in FIG. 6, the bracket 20 has a connection area 30 on the lower end 29 on the cross member side. The bracket 20 is placed on the cross member 2. In this case, the bracket 20 rests with the connection area 30 on the upper leg 7 and at least in certain areas on the rear wall 6 of the cross member 2 and is joined to the cross member 2.

[0054] From FIGS. 8 and 9 the bracket 20 is joined to the upper leg 7 on the upper side. Furthermore, the upper outer web 11 of the cross member 2 abuts the front flange 23 and is joined thereto.

[0055] An embodiment in which the bracket is joined to both the cross member 2 and the adjacent crash box 3 is not shown.

[0056] The tow bushing 18 is accommodated in the bracket 20 and joined to the bracket 20. Here, the tow bushing 18 protrudes with a front end 31 opposite the front flange 23 and with a rear end 32 opposite the rear flange 24 of the bracket 20. Here, the protrusion at the rear end 32 is greater than the protrusion at the front end 31.

[0057] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, a striking plate 33 is provided on the front in the area in front of the crash box 3 adjacent to the towing device 17. The striking plate 33 stiffens the bumper assembly 1 in the end region on the crash box side and compensates for tensile forces and/or bending moments which are introduced into the bumper assembly 1 via the towing device 17. The striking plate 33 extends in the longitudinal direction of the profile 5 of the cross member 2 into the area in front of the bracket 20.

[0058] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, no striking plate is arranged in front of the crash box 4. This is able to be an embodiment of the bumper assembly 1 without a striking plate. However, FIG. 3 also corresponds to the representation of the end region on the crash box side at the other end of the bumper assembly 1 or the cross member 2 (on the right in the image plane of FIGS. 1 and 10) with the crash box 4.

[0059] In the bumper assembly 1 according to the illustration in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bracket 20 is arranged vertically offset above the upper leg 7 of the cross member 2 and laterally offset next to the crash box 3, as explained with reference to FIGS. 3 to 9. The bracket 20 with the tow bushing 18 is located outside of the crash box 3 and outside of the cross member 2.

[0060] In the embodiment of the bumper assembly 1 as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the bracket 20 with the tow bushing 18 is arranged above the upper leg 8 of the cross member 2 and above the crash box 3. The representation is technically simplified and schematic. The design is such that the crash box 3 with its cross member-side end encompasses the profile 5 of the cross member 2 in some areas. The bracket 20 is arranged above the upper leg 7 of the profile 5 and joined to the cross member 2 and the crash box 3.

[0061] The foregoing description of some embodiments of the disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. The description is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The specifically described embodiments explain the principles and practical applications to enable one ordinarily skilled in the art to utilize various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.