Vehicle reinforcement beam
AssigneeShape Corp.
InventorsJoseph R. Matecki, Jeffrey A. McHenry, Ed C. Pendergrass
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A reinforcement beam for a vehicle has an outer beam and an inner beam. The outer beam spans laterally between crush cans of the vehicle. The outer beam forms an elongated hollow body that has a front wall and a rear wall extending along the length of the reinforcement beam. The inner beam is disposed along an intermediate section of the outer beam. The inner beam further includes an upper wall and a lower wall that each extend between the front wall and the rear wall of the outer beam. The front wall and the rear wall may include at least one rib that extends along the length of the outer beam.
Claims22
A bumper reinforcement beam configured to be supported by crush cans at a vehicle frame, the bumper reinforcement beam comprising:
- an outer beam having an elongated hollow body formed from a metal sheet material and configured to span laterally between the crush cans, the hollow body having a front wall and a rear wall extending along a length defined between a first end and a second end of the hollow body;
- and
- an inner beam disposed along an intermediate section of the outer beam, the inner beam having an upper wall and a lower wall that each extend between the front wall and the rear wall of the outer beam,
- wherein the front wall or the rear wall of the outer beam comprises a formation in the metal sheet material,
- wherein the inner beam comprises a flange integrally extending from an end portion of the upper wall or the lower wall, and
- wherein the flange engages the formation to retain the inner beam relative to the outer beam.
A bumper reinforcement beam configured to be supported by crush cans at a vehicle frame, the bumper reinforcement beam comprising:
- a front beam piece comprising a front wall;
- a rear beam piece comprising a rear wall and upper and lower flanges that are attached along respective upper and lower edges of the front beam piece to define an elongated hollow body having a length configured to span between crush cans;
- and
- an inner beam piece attached between the front and rear beam pieces and comprising an upper wall and a lower wall that each extend between the front wall and the rear wall,
- wherein the inner beam piece has a length that is less than half the length of the elongated hollow body,
- wherein the front wall or the rear wall comprises a formation,
- wherein the inner beam piece comprises a flange integrally extending from the upper wall or the lower wall, and
- wherein the flange engages the formation to retain the inner beam in the elongated hollow body.
A bumper reinforcement beam for a vehicle, the bumper reinforcement beam comprising:
- an outboard beam component comprising an outboard wall;
- an inboard beam component comprising an inboard wall and upper and lower flanges that are attached along respective upper and lower edges of the outboard beam component to define an elongated hollow body with a length defined between opposing ends of the outboard beam component;
- and
- an inner beam component attached between the outboard and inboard beam components and comprising a C-shaped cross section defining an upper shear wall and a lower shear wall that each extend between the outboard wall and inboard wall,
- wherein the inner beam component has a length that is less than half the length of the elongated hollow body,
- wherein the outboard wall or the inboard wall comprises a formation,
- wherein the inner beam comprises a flange integrally extending from an end portion of the upper shear wall or the lower shear wall, and
- wherein the flange engages the formation to retain the inner beam in the elongated hollow body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.