Support structure and method of producing a support structure
AssigneeZF Friedrichshafen AG
InventorDaniel Wolf
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A support structure (1), in particular an axle support for a motor vehicle, which is made as a single-shell or multi-shell frame element (7) of fiber-reinforced plastic. The frame element (7) has at least one elastic connection point (9, 9′, 9″, 9′″) for connection to an aggregate such that the at least one elastic connection point (9, 9′, 9″, 9′″) is formed integrally with the frame element (7). Additionally, a method for producing such a support structure (1) is disclosed.
Claims14
A support structure (1) comprising:
- a frame element (7) having at least one shell made of fiber-reinforced plastic;
- the frame element (7) having at least one force transfer point (12, 12′, 9, 9′, 9″, 9′″) formed of folds of the frame element (7) which are formed from areas compressed during deformation, and
- the at least at least one force transfer point (12, 12′, 9, 9′, 9″, 9′″) comprising:
- at least two elastic connection points (9, 9′, 9″, 9′″) facilitating connection of the frame element (7) to an aggregate,
- the at least two elastic connection points (9, 9′, 9″, 9′″) being formed integrally with the frame element (7), and
- the at least one fold (12, 12′) and the at least two elastic connection points (9, 9′, 9″, 9′″) being formed by textile folding of the fiber-reinforced plastic so that the at least one fold (12, 12′) extends from an edge toward a central region of the support structure (1) and the at least one fold (12, 12′) having through-going fiber structure of long or continuous fibers in the fiber-reinforced plastic of the support structure (1).
A method for producing a support structure (1) having a frame element (7) which is made as either a single-shell or a multi-shell frame element of fiber-reinforced plastic, the frame element (7) has at least one elastic connection point (9, 9′, 9″, 9′″) for connection to an aggregate, and the at least one elastic connection point (9, 9′, 9″, 9′″) is formed integrally with the frame element (7), and the at least one elastic connection point (9, 9′, 9″, 9′″) is formed by textile folding of the fiber-reinforced plastic, the method comprises steps of:
- producing either a textile semifinished product or a semifinished product made of textile-reinforced plastic for forming the support structure (1) with the frame element (7), having at least two corner sections;
- deforming the textile semifinished product or the semifinished product made of textile-reinforced plastic, from an initial, first circumference to a smaller, second circumference relative to a reference plane of the semifinished product or the semifinished product made of textile-reinforced plastic;
- and
- forming folds (12, 12′, 9, 9′, 9″, 9′″) from areas that were compressed, during the deformation step, to form four elastic connection points (9, 9′, 9″, 9′″) and further force transfer points formed by folds (12, 12′).
An axle support structure for a motor vehicle, the axle support structure comprising:
- a frame element having an S-shaped cross-section,
- the frame element being formed from an upper frame shell and a lower frame shell fixed to each other,
- the upper frame shell and the lower frame shell being made from fiber-reinforced plastic,
- the frame element having at least one force transfer point, and the at least one force transfer point comprising:
- at least one fold extending from a peripheral edge toward a central region of the support structure such that the at least one fold is parallel to the S-shaped cross-section,
- four elastic connection points for connecting the frame element to an aggregate, and
- the four connection points being formed integrally with the frame element and formed by folded deformed compressed areas of the fiber-reinforced plastic of the upper frame shell and the lower frame shell.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.