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US 7,597,383 B2Granted
Pedestrian protection apparatus, and method of tuning load characteristic of the apparatus
AssigneeKojima Press Industry Co., Ltd.
InventorsKaoru Itou, Yoshihiro Ogura, Kuniaki Hasegawa, Masanobu Fukukawa, Hiroki Kurokawa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In a pedestrian protection apparatus installed in a lower part of a front of a vehicle, a plate extends in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and includes a front section having at least a portion protruding from the front of the vehicle, a rear section fixed to the vehicle, and a center section provided between the front and rear sections. The front section is more rigid than the rear section, and the center section is less rigid than the front section and more rigid than the rear section.
Claims8
A pedestrian protection apparatus for a vehicle comprising:
- a synthetic resin plate mounted in a lower part of a front side of a vehicle and extending in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, the plate including a front section having at least a protruding portion protruding from the front side of the vehicle, a rear section fixed to the vehicle, and a center section provided between the front and rear sections,
- wherein, upon impact with a pedestrian, the protruding portion of the front section of the plate sweeps away a lower part of a leg of the pedestrian to protect the leg when the front side of the vehicle collides with the leg, and
- wherein the front section of the plate is more rigid than the rear section, and the center section is less rigid than the front section and more rigid than the rear section, such that, upon impact with the pedestrian, the rear section deforms before the front section or center section.
A method of tuning a load characteristic of a pedestrian protection apparatus for a vehicle,
- wherein the pedestrian protection apparatus comprises:
- a synthetic resin plate mounted in a lower part of a front side of a vehicle and extending in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, the plate including a front section having at least a protruding portion protruding from the front side of the vehicle, a rear section having a fixed portion fixed to the vehicle, and a center section provided between the front and rear sections,
- wherein the protruding portion of the front section of the plate comes into contact with and sweeps away a lower part of a leg of a pedestrian to protect the leg when the front of the vehicle collides with the leg,
- wherein the front section of the plate is more rigid than the rear section, and the center section is less rigid than the front section and more rigid than the rear section so that the plate is bent at a boundary portion between the center section and the rear section and at a front adjacent portion of the rear section on the front side of and adjacent to the fixed portion by an impact load which is inputted when the protruding portion of the front section comes into contact with the leg of the pedestrian, and
- wherein a maximum value of the impact load is adjusted and the load characteristic is tuned by arbitrarily changing the dimension of the center section in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle so as to change the distance between the boundary portion and the front adjacent portion.
2 more elements
A method of tuning a load characteristic of a pedestrian protection apparatus for a vehicle,
- wherein the pedestrian protection apparatus comprises:
- a synthetic resin plate mounted in a lower part of a front side of a vehicle and extending in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, the plate including a front section having at least a protruding portion protruded from the front side of the vehicle, a rear section having a fixed portion fixed to the vehicle, and a center section provided between the front and rear sections,
- wherein the protruding portion of the front section of the plate comes into contact with and sweeps away a lower part of a leg of a pedestrian to protect the leg when the front side of the vehicle collides with the leg,
- wherein the front section of the plate is more rigid than the rear section, and the center section is less rigid than the front section and more rigid than the rear section so that the plate is bent at a boundary portion between the center section and the rear section and at a front adjacent portion of the rear section on the front side of and adjacent to the fixed portion by an impact load which is inputted when the protruding portion of the front section comes into contact with the leg of the pedestrian, and
- wherein a maximum value of the impact load is adjusted and the load characteristic is tuned by fixing a first plate-shaped reinforcing member to the boundary portion and fixing a second plate-shaped reinforcing member to the front adjacent portion, the first reinforcing member increasing a rigidity of the boundary portion within a range below that of the front section, and the second reinforcing member increasing a rigidity of the front adjacent portion within a range below that of the center section.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.