Process for the manufacture of a crossbeam for motor vehicles and the respective crossbeam

(54) Title: PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING A PLATE FOR MOTORIZED VEHICLES AND THEIR PLATE (30) Unionist Priority: 06/06/2007 en 103758 (73) Holder (s): SODECIA- Centro Tecnológico S / A (72) Inventor ( es): Rui de Lemos Monteiro (57) Abstract: manufacturing process for a MOTOR VEHICLE TRAY AND RESPECTIVE TRAY. The present invention relates to a manufacturing process for a crosspiece and its crosspiece (1), intended to reinforce the instrument panel of a motor vehicle, to guarantee its rigidity and to support various devices, characterized by an alignment process between only a main metallic hollow body (2) with an elliptical cross-section and a secondary metallic body (3) also hollow with an elliptical or circular cross-section, by, in that alignment, the longitudinal axes of these bodies are coaxial or parallel, because, still in this alignment, the contour line of the outer wall of the secondary body is confined by the contour line of the inner wall of the main body because, before this alignment, the main body is shaped according to in order to adapt to the secondary body and, in the final phase, to promote the connection between the two bodies.

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Descriptive Report • PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING A PLATE FOR MOTOR VEHICLES AND THEIR PLATE '' Fundamentals of the Invention

The present invention relates to a manufacturing process of a crosspiece and its crosspiece, designed to reinforce the instrument panel of a motor vehicle, to guarantee its rigidity, taking into account the different demands to which it is subjected, and to support the steering column and other devices. The invention has particular application in the automotive industry in general.

State of the art

The crossbar of a motor vehicle (Cross Car Beam) is a structure that supports the instrument panel of a vehicle.

There are several solutions on the market, from metallic solutions to hybrid solutions, these being the result of the interface of metallic structures with polymeric reinforcements.

Regarding metallic sleepers, the market offers two constructive solutions.

One of them is based on the connection of metallic parts such as, for example, 20 tubes and stamped plates of different configurations, which connection can be made by welding, by screws, by riveting or by other means.

The other solution uses die-casting to manufacture a single component with the desired configuration.

There are, therefore, several solutions, being known both crossbeams consisting of a single tube of circular cross section, and crossbars that result from the connection of several bodies of different cross sections.

In the latter case, there is a concern to dimension the crosspiece according to

2/8 of the different stresses to which it is subjected - the crossbar area on which the steering column rests particularly significant - depending on the clutter that it originates and other parameters.

In addition, the crosspiece must be designed so that, with the vehicle 5 in motion, whatever its speed, no unwanted vibrations will appear, that is, vibrations outside the limits considered acceptable in the automotive industry, and therefore particularly their natural frequencies are relevant.

With reference to the above, reference is made, by way of example, to the French patent with publication number FR 2859446, to the PCT patent with the international publication number WO 94/07734 and to the German patent with the publication number DE 19845146.

In view of the growing dynamism of the automotive industry, which produces new models at ever shorter intervals, and taking into account the need to carry out a series of technical studies and tests each time a new beam is produced, implying this an investment in specialized human resources and financial resources, it is essential that the manufacturing process is, at the same time, simple and versatile.

Now, the invented manufacturing process is characterized exactly by being simple, - firstly because the tray is made up only of two bodies - simplicity that allies to versatility, translating this, in the possibility of obtaining a wide range of sleepers through the same manufacturing process.

These objectives are achieved by solving a set of technical problems to which known solutions do not answer.

In this regard, it appears that the process described in the German patent with publication number DE 19845146 is based on the connection of at least two bodies of different cross sections, such connection being made using

3/8 a rigid stabilizing element positioned in a certain way.

Now, as mentioned above, the present invention relates to the manufacturing process of a crosspiece consisting of only two bodies without any stabilizing connection element.

That German patent also provides for the possibility of providing the transition zone between the two bodies with a lid, a lid that does not exist on the crosspiece object of the present invention.

As already mentioned, the known processes of manufacturing sleepers are not as simple and versatile as the invented process which, in addition, allows ob10 to have, through the connection of only two bodies, a wide range of sleepers as a result of a succession of operations easy to systematize, as described in detail below.

Description of the Invention The present invention relates to a manufacturing process of a crosspiece intended to reinforce the instrument panel of a motor vehicle, to guarantee its rigidity and to support several devices, characterized by an alignment between only one main body metallic and hollow elliptical cross-section and a secondary metallic and hollow secondary body of elliptical or circular cross-section.

On the other hand, the dimensional relationship of these bodies is such as to allow the secondary body to slip into the other body.

said process is also characterized by the fact that, in a phase prior to alignment, the main body is formed by stamping, drawing or by another method, especially by high pressure, in order to adapt perfectly to the secondary body.

In the final phase, the connection between the two bodies is promoted through, for example, welding.

In addition, the said alignment is done in such a way as to coincide

4/8 that is, coaxial - or parallel to the longitudinal axes of these bodies and in such a way that the contour line of the outer wall of the secondary body is confined by the contour line of the inner wall of the main body.

As mentioned, the steering column is responsible for the largest requests from the crossbar.

Now, the invented crosspiece differs from the crosspieces known at the outset because in that support area of ​​the steering column it has an elliptical section that must be oriented according to the direction of greatest load, thus allowing the increase of the moment of inertia in the desired direction in order to offer greater resistance to the result of the efforts to which it will be subjected, without this translating into an increase in its weight and / or volume.

The developed crosspiece uses simple geometry components, which can be produced in a particularly economical way by cutting, folding or stamping.

0 main body, of elliptical section, is shaped in order to adapt to the secondary body, and the connection between these two bodies can be made with overlap or top - namely through welding by the periphery - which allows to extend the use of crossbar invented for vehicles with different distances between the A pillars.

The invention also relates to a crosspiece obtained according to the manufacturing process described above, characterized by the fact that it has only two bodies: the main body and the secondary body, both metallic, hollow and of elliptical cross section, the secondary body being able to be, alternatively, of circular cross section.

In addition, the main body can be obtained by connecting two equal elements.

On the other hand, the possibility of orienting the elliptical section of the main body, as mentioned above, allows to use the crosspiece invented in

5/8 vehicles with the same platform but with different steering column positions.

It is also worth noting that said crosspiece can be attached to the structure of a vehicle through any conventional connection.

In turn, the connection of the steering column, the instrument panel and other devices to the crosspiece can be made using conventional brackets.

As already mentioned, the invented process of manufacturing a crosspiece is not only simple, namely because the connections can be made by conventional means, but it is also versatile, since the alignments between only the main body and the secondary body make it possible to obtain a multitude of different sleepers which, in practical terms, allows a good technical solution to be obtained for any vehicle at all times.

The versatility also results from the fact that it is possible, during the manufacturing process, to adjust the total length of the crosspiece by varying the overlap length between the main and secondary bodies.

The present process was invented with the purpose of being simple, simplicity that was reached after in-depth studies.

Thus, it is possible to calculate the performance of any of the invented sleepers using current calculation tools, simply setting a series of parameters, such as the length of the sleepers, the length of the main and secondary bodies and the relative positioning of the longitudinal axes of these bodies.

It is also important to note that the process in question, being simple, namely by using simple bodies, allows a given crosspiece, for example, a crosspiece integrating a secondary body of circular cross section, to be applied in different vehicles and has a 6 / 8 adequate performance in both, which means that vibrations are within the limits considered acceptable in the automotive industry.

For this purpose, it is only necessary to orient, respecting the previous calculations, the elliptical cross section of the main body during the assembly of the crossbar in these vehicles.

Since the tray consists of only two bodies, both of which are easily available on the market, it follows from the above that for the production of the invented tray there is no need for large stocks, which constitutes an additional advantage over the known dishes.

Description of the Figures

In the attached figures, presented by way of example and not limiting, it can be observed:

-in figure 1, the representation, in perspective, of a crosspiece obtained through the invented manufacturing process, equipped with a main body of elliptical cross section and a secondary body of circular cross section, bodies whose longitudinal axes are coaxial, showing it also shows the main body's conformation zone;

-in figure 2, the representation, in perspective, of a crosspiece obtained through the invented manufacturing process, endowed with a main body and a secondary body, both of elliptical cross section, bodies whose longitudinal axes are coaxial, still showing the it shows the conformation zone of the main body;

-in figure 3, the representation, in perspective, of a crosspiece obtained through the invented manufacturing process, endowed with a main body of elliptical cross section and a secondary body of circular cross section, bodies whose longitudinal axes are parallel, showing the figure also shows the conformation zone of the main body.

In the same figure is also shown the view A of the crosspiece, being

7/8 marked the contour lines of the inner wall of the main body and the outer wall of the secondary body;

-in figure 4, the representation, in perspective, of a crosspiece obtained through the invented manufacturing process, equipped with a main body and a secondary body, both of elliptical cross section, bodies whose longitudinal axes are parallel, being equally parallel between them the main and secondary axes of symmetry of the elliptical sections in question, the figure also showing the conformation zone of the main body. The view A of the crosspiece is also shown in the same figure, with the contour lines of the inner wall of the main body and the outer wall of the secondary body being marked;

-in figure 5, the representation, in perspective, of a crosspiece obtained through the invented manufacturing process, equipped with a main body and a secondary body, both of elliptical cross section, bodies whose longitudinal axes are coaxial but the axes of main and secondary symmetry of the elliptical sections in question are not parallel, making these at an angle to each other, still showing the shape of the main body. In the same figure is also shown the view A of the crosspiece, with the contour lines of the inner wall of the main body and the outer wall of the secondary body being marked;

- in figure 6, the representation, in perspective, of a crosspiece obtained through the invented manufacturing process, equipped with a main body and a secondary body, both of elliptical cross section, bodies whose longitudinal axes are parallel but the axes of main and secondary symmetry of the elliptical sections in question are not parallel to each other, the figure still showing the conformation zone of the main body. The view A of the crosspiece is also shown in the same figure, with the contour lines of the interior wall of the main body being marked

8/8 and the outer wall of the secondary body;

- in figure 7, the representation, in perspective, of a crosspiece in which the main body results from the connection of two equal elements, this representation being in all the most analogous to that of figure 1.

In particular, these figures show:

- Platter

- main beam body

- secondary beam body

- main body conformation zone 5 - contour line of the inner wall of the main body 6 - contour line of the outer wall of the secondary body.

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