U.S. patent application number 14/747661 was filed with the patent office on 2015-10-15 for scalable crush can for vehicle.
The applicant listed for this patent is GARY BANASIAK, JAMES R. BYRNE, II, SEETARAMA S. KOTAGIRI, ALEXANDER ZAK. Invention is credited to GARY BANASIAK, JAMES R. BYRNE, II, SEETARAMA S. KOTAGIRI, ALEXANDER ZAK.
Application Number | 20150291115 14/747661 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45891749 |
Filed Date | 2015-10-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150291115 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
BANASIAK; GARY ; et
al. |
October 15, 2015 |
SCALABLE CRUSH CAN FOR VEHICLE
Abstract
In one aspect, the invention is directed to a crush can for a
vehicle frame including a crush can body having a longitudinal axis
and a cross-sectional shape that is at least approximately a
10-sided polygon. In another aspect, the invention is directed to a
crush can for a vehicle frame including a crush can body having a
longitudinal axis and a cross-sectional shape that includes a
plurality of outwardly pointing apexes and a plurality of inwardly
pointing apexes.
Inventors: |
BANASIAK; GARY; (TROY,
MI) ; BYRNE, II; JAMES R.; (SHELBY TOWNSHIP, MI)
; ZAK; ALEXANDER; (TROY, MI) ; KOTAGIRI; SEETARAMA
S.; (ROCHESTER HILLS, MI) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
BANASIAK; GARY
BYRNE, II; JAMES R.
ZAK; ALEXANDER
KOTAGIRI; SEETARAMA S. |
TROY
SHELBY TOWNSHIP
TROY
ROCHESTER HILLS |
MI
MI
MI
MI |
US
US
US
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
45891749 |
Appl. No.: |
14/747661 |
Filed: |
June 23, 2015 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
13876592 |
May 13, 2013 |
9079553 |
|
|
PCT/CA2011/001089 |
Sep 27, 2011 |
|
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14747661 |
|
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61387119 |
Sep 28, 2010 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
293/133 ;
29/897.2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y10T 29/49622 20150115;
B60R 2019/247 20130101; B60R 19/34 20130101; B60R 19/023
20130101 |
International
Class: |
B60R 19/34 20060101
B60R019/34; B60R 19/02 20060101 B60R019/02 |
Claims
1. A crush can for a vehicle frame, comprising: a crush can body
having a longitudinal axis and a cross-sectional shape that is a
10-sided polygon.
2. A crush can as claimed in claim 1, wherein the 10-sided polygon
is a regular polygon.
3. A crush can as claimed in claim 1, wherein the 10-sided polygon
is a decagon.
4. A crush can as claimed in claim 1, wherein the crush can body
has a length and is tapered along the length.
5. A crush can as claimed in claim 4, wherein the crush can body
has a large end and a small end, wherein, in use, the large end is
rearward of the small end.
6. A crush can as claimed in claim 1, wherein the crush can body
includes a first clamshell portion and a second clamshell portion
wherein the first and second clamshell portions are welded
together.
7. A crush can as claimed in claim 1, wherein the crush can body
has a front end and a rear end, and wherein the crush can further
includes a front plate mounted to the front end and a rear plate
mounted to the rear end.
8. A crush can as claimed in claim 1, further comprising at least
one buckling feature positioned at a selected position along the
crush can body to initiate buckling at the selected position in the
event of a sufficiently large axial compressive force on the crush
can body.
9. A crush can as claimed in claim 8, wherein the crush can body is
made up of 10 planar forms that meet at 10 apexes, wherein the at
least one buckling feature includes a lateral deformation of at
least one apex.
10. A crush can as claimed in claim 1, wherein the crush can body
is made up of 10 generally planar forms that meet at 10 apexes.
11. A crush can as claimed in claim 10, wherein the crush can body
has a wall thickness and wherein each apex has a radius that is
between 2 and 10 times the wall thickness.
12. A crush can as claimed in claim 4, wherein the crush can body
has a wall thickness that is substantially constant along the
length of the crush can body.
13. A crush can for a vehicle frame, comprising: a crush can body
having a longitudinal axis and a cross-sectional shape formed by a
wall and that includes a plurality of apexes, wherein at least two
portions of the wall are in abutment with each other.
14. A crush can as claimed in claim 13, wherein the at least two
wall portions are joined together.
15. A crush can as claimed in claim 13, wherein the at least two
wall portions together form an arm that separates a central hollow
shape and a distal hollow shape.
16. A crush can as claimed in claim 15, wherein the central hollow
shape has a plurality of apexes.
17. A crush can as claimed in claim 15, wherein the distal hollow
shape has at least one apex.
18. A crush can for a vehicle frame, comprising: a crush can body
having a longitudinal axis and a non-hollow cross-sectional shape
including a central spine and a plurality of arms extending from
the spine.
19. A crush can as claimed in claim 18, wherein each of the arms
includes an apex therein.
20. A method for making a crush can, comprising: extruding a
non-hollow cross-sectional shape including a central spine and a
plurality of arms extending from the spine.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This U.S. Divisional Patent Application claims the benefit
of U.S. National Stage patent application Ser. No. 13/876,592 filed
Mar. 28, 2013, entitled "Scalable Crush Can For Vehicle" which
claims the benefit of International Application Serial No.
PCT/CA2011/001089 filed Sep. 27, 2011 entitled "Scalable Crush Can
For Vehicle" which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent
Application Ser. No. 61/387,119 filed Sep. 28, 2010, the entire
disclosures of the applications being considered part of the
disclosure of this application, and hereby incorporated by
reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a crush cans for vehicles,
and more particularly to a crush can that is scalable for use on a
plurality of models of vehicles having different masses, crush
specifications and other parameters.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Vehicle structures sometimes include an element referred to
as a crush can. The crush can is typically a member that mounts
between the vehicle's bumper and the vehicle frame, and provides a
region for controlled energy absorption in the event of a
collision, so as to inhibit the collision energy from entering the
passenger cabin or damaging the vehicle frame. The crush cans used
on vehicle structures currently typically needed to be
custom-designed for different vehicles, particularly if the
different vehicles had different weights and/or different crush
resistance requirements. However, having several custom-designed
crush cans is costly in terms of consuming technical resources and
inventory.
[0004] It would be beneficial to provide a crush can configuration
that was easily scalable to fit different vehicles with different
weights and different crush resistance requirements.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] In one aspect, the invention is directed to a crush can for
a vehicle frame including a crush can body having a longitudinal
axis and a cross-sectional shape that is at least approximately a
10-sided polygon.
[0006] In another aspect, the invention is directed to a crush can
for a vehicle frame including a crush can body having a
longitudinal axis and a cross-sectional shape that includes a
plurality of outwardly pointing apexes alternating with a plurality
of inwardly pointing apexes.
[0007] In another aspect, the invention is directed to a crush can
for a vehicle frame including a crush can body having a
longitudinal axis and a cross-sectional shape that includes a
plurality of outwardly pointing apexes and a plurality of inwardly
pointing apexes.
[0008] In another aspect, the invention is directed to a crush can
for a vehicle frame including a crush can body having a
longitudinal axis and a cross-sectional shape formed by a wall
including at least two wall portions that abut each other. The wall
portions that are in abutment may optionally be joined together.
The wall portions that are in abutment may separate a first hollow
shape, (e.g., a central hollow shape) from a second hollow shape
(e.g., a distal hollow shape). The central hollow shape may include
a plurality of apexes. The distal hollow shape may include one or
more apexes.
[0009] In another aspect, the invention is directed to a method for
forming a crush can including: extruding a crush can body having a
cross-sectional shape that may include, for example, a central
spine and a plurality of arms extending therefrom.
[0010] In another aspect, the invention is directed to a crush can
for a vehicle frame including a crush can body having a
longitudinal axis and a cross-sectional shape that is a non-hollow
shape. The shape may include a central spine and a plurality of
arms extending from the spine. The shape may include a plurality of
apexes therein. In embodiments wherein the shape includes a central
spine and a plurality of arms extending therefrom, the apexes may
be provided as bends in the arms.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] The present invention will now be described by way of
example only with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a vehicle frame
with two crush cans thereon, which are in turn connected to a
bumper, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0013] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one of the crush cans shown
in FIG. 1;
[0014] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a crush can body from the
crush can shown in FIG. 2;
[0015] FIG. 4 is a sectional end view of the crush can body shown
in FIG. 3;
[0016] FIG. 5 is a side view of the crush can body shown in FIG.
3;
[0017] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a crush can in accordance
with another embodiment of the present invention, wherein the crush
can has a body that includes a plurality of outwardly pointing
apexes and a plurality of inwardly pointing apexes;
[0018] FIG. 7 is a sectional end view of a crush can body from the
crush can shown in FIG. 6;
[0019] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the crush can body shown in
FIG. 7;
[0020] FIG. 9 is a side view of the crush can body shown in FIG.
7;
[0021] FIG. 10 is a sectional end view of a crush can body in
accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, which
includes a plurality of outwardly pointing apexes and a plurality
of inwardly pointing apexes, in a pattern of two outwardly pointing
apexes alternating with two inwardly pointing apexes;
[0022] FIG. 11 is a sectional end view of a crush can body in
accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, which
includes a plurality of outwardly pointing apexes and a plurality
of inwardly pointing apexes, wherein an odd number of each type of
apex is provided;
[0023] FIGS. 12-14 are sectional end views of crush can bodies in
accordance with other embodiments of the present invention, each of
which includes a plurality of outwardly pointing apexes and a
plurality of inwardly pointing apexes;
[0024] FIG. 15 is a sectional end view of a crush can body in
accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, which
includes a central spine and a plurality of arms extending
therefrom, and which can be formed using an extrusion process;
and
[0025] FIGS. 16-18 are sectional end views of crush can bodies in
accordance with other embodiments of the present invention, each of
which includes a wall, portions of which are in abutment with each
other.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0026] Reference is made to FIG. 1, which shows a crush can 10 for
use in absorbing collision energy during a vehicular collision. In
the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, two crush cans 10 are provided
between a vehicle frame shown at 12 and a bumper shown at 25.
Referring to FIG. 2, the crush can 10 includes a crush can body 14,
a front plate 16 and a rear plate 18. The crush can body 14 is
shown more clearly in FIG. 3. The crush can body 14 has a
longitudinal axis shown at 20. The longitudinal body 14 has a
cross-sectional shape that is shown in FIG. 4. As can be seen in
FIG. 3, the cross-sectional shape is a 10-sided polygon. In a
preferred embodiment, the polygon is a regular polygon (ie. each of
its 10 sides is the same width, and the angles between adjacent
pairs of sides are all the same (36 degrees). In other words, the
polygon in this embodiment is a regular decagon, albeit with
rounded corners.
[0027] Referring to FIG. 5, the crush can body 14 may be tapered
axially. The taper ratio for the crush can body 14 is the ratio of
the cross-sectional dimension A at the front end (shown at 22) of
the crush can body 14, to the cross-sectional dimension B at the
rear end (shown at 24) of the crush can body 14. In embodiments
wherein there is a taper to the crush can body 14 as shown in FIGS.
2 and 4, one end (e.g., end 22) is a small end, and one end (e.g.,
end 24) is a large end. The taper ratio may be any suitable value.
In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-5, the taper ratio may
be, for example, anywhere between about 0.5 (implying that
dimension A is 1/2 of dimension B), and about 1 (implying that
dimension A is the same as dimension B, which means that there is
no taper).
[0028] As shown in FIG. 1, the bumper 25 may be curved such that it
is not strictly perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 20 of the
crush can 10. In order to facilitate mounting of the crush can 10
to the bumper 25, the front end 22 (FIG. 5) of the crush can body
14 may be angled to generally match the sweep of the bumper 25.
[0029] With reference to FIG. 3, the crush can body 14 may be made
up of 10 planar forms 26 which meet at 10 apexes 28. The planar
forms 26 make up the sides of the polygon. It will be noted that
the planar forms need not be strictly planar. The apexes 28 in the
embodiment shown in FIG. 3 are all outwardly pointing apexes. The
apexes 28 of the polygon may be radiused depending on the method
used to manufacture the crush can body 14. In a preferred
embodiment, the radius of each apex 28 may be between about 2 and
10 times the thickness of the wall of the crush can body 14. The
wall thickness of the crush can 10 may be substantially constant
along its length, depending on how the crush can body 14 is
manufactured. For example, in some embodiments, the crush can body
14 may be made by first forming two clamshell portions, shown at
29a and 29b in FIG. 4. The two clamshell portions 29a and 29b may
each be formed from sheet material using a stamping machine, for
example. The two portions 29a and 29b may then be joined together,
such as by a weld. In other embodiments, the crush can body 14 may
be formed by other methods, which would result in a wall thickness
that varies along the axial length of the crush can body 14. For
example, the crush can body 14 could be formed from a length of
tubing that is hydroformed so that it has the desired polygonal
cross-sectional shape and the desired taper. In such an embodiment,
the wall thickness of the crush can body 14 would decrease as the
cross-sectional dimension increased. It can nonetheless remain that
the radius of each apex 28 is between 2 and 10 times the wall
thickness, even if the wall thickness varies along the length of
the crush can body 14.
[0030] The crush can 10 may include one or more buckling features
30, which may also be referred to as crush features. These features
are positioned at a selected position on the crush can body 14 so
that buckling is initiated at the selected position when the crush
can 10 incurs a sufficiently large generally axially-directed
compressive force (e.g., during a vehicular collision). As can be
seen in FIGS. 3 and 5, the buckling features 30 may all be
positioned at the same axial distance from the rear end 24 of the
crush can body 14, such as at an axial position proximate the front
end 22 of the crush can body 14. The buckling features 30 may be up
of lateral deformations of the apexes 28, however any suitable
structure may be provided as the buckling features. The lateral
deformations that make up the buckling features 30 may be directed
inwardly (i.e., towards the longitudinal axis 20) as shown in FIG.
3. While buckling features 30 are provided at one particular axial
position, it is possible to provide buckling features 30 at a
plurality of axial positions.
[0031] The front and rear plates 16 and 18 are used to mount the
crush can 10 to the vehicle's bumper 25 (FIG. 1) and to the vehicle
frame 12 (FIG. 1) respectively. The front and rear plates 16 and 18
may be made from any suitable material (e.g., steel) in any
suitable way (e.g., stamping) may be joined to the crush can body
14 in any suitable way such as by welding.
[0032] It has been found, surprisingly, that, for most bumper sweep
angles the 10 sided crush can 10 provides better energy absorption
than either an 8 sided crush can or a 12 sided crush can of similar
construction. It is theorized that as the number of corners in the
cross-sectional shape of the crush can body increases, the amount
of energy absorption that the crush can body is capable of
increases. However, it is further theorized that as the number of
corners increases beyond a certain value (e.g., 10 corners in a
polygon wherein all the apexes are outwardly pointing), the crush
can body progressively resembles a body having a circular (more
accurately, an annular) cross-sectional shape, which is theorized
not have as much capability to absorb energy as a shape having
apexes.
[0033] It has been found that the crush can 10 is easily scalable
in size and strength to handle the energy absorption requirements
for a large range of vehicle sizes and weights. Some variables that
can be controlled to assist in the scalability of the crush can 10
include the material properties, the wall thickness, the
cross-sectional dimensions, the radius of curvature of the apexes
and the taper ratio.
[0034] Reference is made to FIG. 6, which shows a crush can 50 in
accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. The
crush can 50 may be similar to the crush can 10 (FIG. 1), except
that the crush can 50 includes a crush can body 51 that has a
different cross-sectional shape which includes both outwardly
pointing apexes 52 and inwardly pointing apexes 54, shown best in
FIG. 7. The outwardly pointing apexes 52 and inwardly pointing
apexes 54 alternate with each other in the embodiment shown in FIG.
7. Optionally, the crush can 50 includes planar forms 56 between
the apexes 52 and 54 and is thus a generally star-shaped polygon,
which is different than the polygon shape of the crush can body 14
shown in FIG. 4, which includes only outwardly pointing apexes 28.
It has been found that the 8 pointed star shape shown in FIG. 7
provides superior energy absorption to the 10 sided polygon shape
shown in FIG. 3. It will be noted that the cross-sectional shape of
the crush can body 51 provides a relatively large number of apexes
52, 54 while having a relatively small cross-sectional dimension,
which contributes positively to its strength relative to its size
and weight.
[0035] The radius of each of the apexes 52 and 54 may be any
suitable radius, such as, for example, between about 2 and 10 times
the wall thickness of the crush can body 51.
[0036] The crush can 50 may be fabricated in any suitable way. For
example, a single stamping made from a suitably shaped piece of
sheet metal can provide the undulations that ultimately form the
apexes 52 and 54 in the finished crush can body 51. The stamping
includes a first edge portion shown at 58 and a second edge portion
shown at 60 in FIG. 7. The first and edge portions 58 and 60 may be
joined together in any suitable way. For example, as shown in FIG.
7, the edge portions 58 and 60 may be overlapped by some amount and
welded, thereby completing the crush can body 51. Front and rear
plates shown at 62 and 63 in FIG. 6 may be joined to the front end
64 and rear end 65 respectively of the completed crush can body 51.
This process for manufacturing the crush can body 51 results in a
wall thickness that is constant along its length. It will be
understood that other manufacturing methods may alternatively be
used to make the crush can body 50, such as hydroforming, or such
as by welding two clamshell portions together.
[0037] As can be seen in FIG. 8, the crush can body 51 includes
buckling features 66 which are made up by lateral deformations of
the apexes 52 and 54. The lateral deformations include inwardly
directed lateral deformations 68 for apexes 52 and outwardly
directed lateral deformations 70 for apexes 54. In the embodiment
shown in FIG. 8, buckling features 66 are provided at three
different axial positions along the length of the crush can body
51, including a forward position proximate the front end 64, a
rearward position proximate the rear end 65 and a middle position
proximate the longitudinal middle of the crush can body 51. The
longitudinal axis of the crush can body 51 is shown at 72. Buckling
features 66 are not provided along the seam formed by the welded
edge portions 58 and 60.
[0038] Similarly to the crush can body 14 (FIG. 1), the crush can
body 51 is tapered and has a front cross-sectional dimension A (see
FIG. 9) at the front end shown at 74, a rear cross-sectional
dimension B at the rear end shown at 76, and a taper ratio which is
A/B which may be selected based on the crush resistance
requirements of the particular vehicle on which the crush can 50
will be used. The taper ratio may be, for example, in the range of
about 0.5 to about 1.
[0039] Also shown in FIG. 9, is the angled plane of the front end
74 of the crush can body 51 which may be provided to generally
match the bumper sweep angle of the bumper (not shown) to which the
crush can 50 will be attached during use. It is noted that the
crush can body 51 shown in FIG. 9 is shown with only one ring of
buckling features instead of 3 rings of buckling features as shown
in FIG. 8.
[0040] In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6-9, the crush can body 51
has a cross-sectional shape of an 8-pointed star. It is
alternatively possible to provide a shape that has a different
number of points. For example, the crush can body may have the
shape of a 6-pointed star, an example of which is shown at 80 in
FIG. 10. It will be noted that the crush can body 80, comprises an
alternating arrangement of two outwardly pointing apexes 82a and
82b followed by two inwardly pointing apexes 84a and 84b.
[0041] In the embodiments described above, the crush can body had
an even number of outwardly pointing apexes and an even number of
inwardly pointing apexes. It is possible to provide a crush can
body with an odd number of inwardly pointing apexes and an odd
number of inwardly pointing apexes, an example of which is shown at
90 in FIG. 11, which has 9 outwardly pointing apexes 92 and 9
inwardly pointing apexes 94.
[0042] In other exemplary alternative embodiments, the crush can
body may have the cross-sectional shape of a 4 pointed star, as
shown at 96 in FIG. 12, a 5 pointed star as shown at 97 in FIG. 13,
or a 10 pointed star as shown at 98 in FIG. 14. In each of these
embodiments, the crush can body 80, 90, 96, 97 and 98 may be
tapered axially, similar to the tapering of the crush can body 14
in FIG. 5. Each of the crush can bodies 80, 90, 96, 97 and 98 can
be provided with other similar features shown for the crush can
body 14 in FIG. 5, such as buckling features, and a front end that
is angled to match the bumper sweep of the vehicle.
[0043] In another alternative embodiment, the crush can body may be
an extruded form, such as is shown at 100 in FIG. 15. The extruded
form is, in this example, a non-hollow star shape, in contrast to
the hollow shapes shown in FIGS. 1-14. The non-hollow star shape
includes a plurality of arms 101 (in this case 6), each of which
includes an apex shown at 102, and a central spine 104 from which
the arms extend.
[0044] In yet another alternative embodiment, the crush can body
may be a hollow star shape, as shown at 110 in FIG. 16, but with a
wall 112 that has portions in abutment with other wall portions.
Such portions are shown at 114. These abutting wall portions 114
act as reinforcements for each other, serving to strengthen the
crush can body 110 and improve its energy absorption. Furthermore,
these abutting wall portions 114 separate the crush can body 110
into a plurality of hollow shapes. In the embodiment shown in FIG.
16, the abutting wall portions form arms 116, which extend from a
central hollow shape 118 and which have a hollow shape 120 at their
distal ends. The distal hollow shape 120 may be generally circular,
as shown in FIG. 16. The central hollow shape 118 may have a
plurality of apexes therein, shown at 122 so as to improve the
energy absorption of the crush can body 110. Immediately at the
proximal and distal ends of the abutting wall portions 114 apexes
are provided, as shown at 124a and 124b, and at 126a and 126b
respectively.
[0045] In a variant of the embodiment shown in FIG. 16, a crush can
body 130 is shown in FIG. 17, in which the central hollow shape
shown at 132 is relatively smaller and the arms, shown at 134 are
relatively longer. Additionally, the distal hollow shapes, shown at
136, at the ends of the arms 134 are shown having a generally
elliptical shape instead of a generally circular shape. At the
distal ends of the ellipses, an apex 138 may be said to be
provided, in addition to the apexes associated with the proximal
and distal ends of the arms 134.
[0046] In yet another embodiment shown in FIG. 18, a crush can body
140 is shown having a generally small central hollow shape 142,
however the arms, shown at 144 have relatively large distal hollow
shapes 146 at their distal ends. The distal hollow shapes 146 are
shown having a generally triangular cross sectional shape thereby
including two apexes 148a and 148b in additional to the apexes
associated with the proximal and distal ends of the arms 144.
[0047] The above described shapes in FIGS. 16-18 may be
roll-formed, or may be formed by any other suitable means. The
portions of the walls that are in abutment with each other may be
joined to each other or may be unjoined. If joined, they may be
joined by any suitable means.
[0048] While the above description constitutes a plurality of
embodiments of the present invention, it will be appreciated that
the present invention is susceptible to further modification and
change without departing from the fair meaning of the accompanying
claims.
* * * * *