Bumper for vehicles

A bumper for vehicles, particularly motor vehicles, has a dimensionally stable support made of a light metal, which is profiled in an approximately U-shaped manner, and an elastic covering disposed in front of it, with impact absorbing flanges being arranged locally on the dimensionally stable support. In order to reduce the expenditures of time and cost during the manufacturing of the bumper, the impact absorbing flanges are constructed in one piece with the dimensionally stable support.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a bumper for vehicles, particularly motor 
vehicles, having a dimensionally stable support made of a light metal, 
which, at least in sections, is profiled in an approximately U-shaped 
manner. An elastic covering is disposed in front of the support and forms 
the end area of the vehicle body, with impact absorbing flanges being 
arranged locally on the dimensionally stable support. 
In a known vehicle of the initially mentioned type (Porsche 911 Carrera 2 
and 4), one bumper respectively is provided in the forward area and in the 
rearward area and comprises a dimensionally stable support and an elastic 
covering which is disposed in front of it and forms the end area of the 
vehicle body. Impact absorbing flanges are provided locally on the 
dimensionally stable support which is formed by an extruded profile made 
of a light metal (aluminum alloy), for the bridging of the hollow space 
between the support and the covering. The impact absorbing flanges, which 
are made of plastic, are formed by separately manufactured parts which are 
connected with the support in an additional operation by means of 
riveting, screwing or the like. The mounting and manufacturing of these 
impact absorbing flanges, which have a useful function, cause considerable 
expenditures with respect to time and cost. 
It is an object of the invention to reduce the time and cost expenditures 
in the case of a bumper of the above-mentioned type when the support and 
the impact absorbing flanges are manufactured. 
This and other objects are achieved by the present invention which provides 
a bumper for a vehicle body comprising a dimensionally stable support and 
an elastic covering. The dimensionally stable support is made of a light 
metal, which at least in sections is profiled in an approximately U-shaped 
manner. The elastic covering is disposed in front of the support and forms 
an end area of the vehicle body. Impact absorbing flanges are arranged 
locally on the dimensionally stable support, and are integrally 
constructed in one piece with the dimensionally stable support. 
Some principal advantages achieved by the present invention are that by the 
integration of the impact absorbing flanges into the support, a 
considerable saving of time and costs is achieved during the manufacturing 
of the support and of the impact absorbing flanges, and the recycling is 
improved. 
In certain embodiments of the invention, the impact absorbing flanges are 
formed by stretch-forming the material of the aluminum support so that the 
separate manufacturing of the impact absorbing flanges and the subsequent 
mounting will no longer be necessary. 
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will 
become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention 
when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
A bumper 1 for a vehicle, particularly a motor vehicle, comprises a 
dimensionally stable support 2 and an elastic covering 3 which is disposed 
in front of the support 2 and forms the end area of the vehicle body. 
The support 2, which has an approximately U-shaped profile, is formed by an 
extruded profile made of a light metal such as an aluminum alloy, and is 
held in position on the vehicle body which is not shown in detail by way 
of supporting elements 4. The supporting elements 4 can be an impact 
absorbing tube, impact absorbing damper or the like. 
According to FIG. 2, the open side of the U-shaped support 2 faces the 
body, in which case the two approximately horizontally aligned legs 5, 6 
are connected with one another by a vertical wall section 7. In the top 
view, the support 2 has a curved shape. 
Vertical webs 8, 9 are molded to the free ends of the legs 5, 6, the web 8 
assigned to leg 5 extending upward, and the web 9 assigned to leg 6 being 
directed downward. The interior sides of the webs 8, 9 facing the body are 
situated on a common perpendicular plane A--A (FIG. 2). By means of a 
vertical fastening screw 10, each supporting element 4 is connected either 
directly with the support 2 or with an intermediate piece 11 of the 
support 2. The intermediate piece 11 is fastened to the support 2 by means 
of riveting, screwing or the like. 
The dimensionally stable but elastic covering 3 is made of an appropriate 
plastic material, preferably a thermoplastic material, and is held in 
position in a known manner on the adjacent vehicle body (for example, by 
means of screws). 
The covering 3 extends around laterally to adjacent wheel houses of the 
vehicle body and, in a central area of its transverse dimension, has a 
recess-type depression 12 for receiving a license plate which is not 
shown. 
In order to fulfill the legal requirements which exist in the event of a 
pendulum impact, impact absorbing flanges 13, 14, 15, 16 are provided on 
both sides of the license plate and, in addition, on both laterally 
exterior end areas. These impact absorbing flanges 13, 14, 15, 16 bridge 
the space between the support 2 and the covering 3 that extends at a 
distance from the support 2. 
Each impact absorbing flange 13, 14, 15, 16 is constructed in one piece 
with the dimensionally stable support 2. The impact absorbing flanges 13, 
14, 15, 16 are formed by stretch-forming the material of the dimensionally 
stable support 2. 
The manufacturing of the support with the integrated impact absorbing 
flanges 13, 14, 15, 16 takes place in such a manner that the extruded 
profile is first cut to the desired length, and then the bending of the 
extruded profile takes place according to the desired embossed course (in 
the top view). The extruded profile is then restored in the area of the 
impact absorbing flanges 13, 14, 15, 16. 
The impact absorbing flanges 13, 14, 15, 16 protrude with respect to the 
adjacent sections of the support 2 and are adapted to the course of the 
covering 3 disposed in front. According to FIGS. 3 and 4, the impact 
surface 17 of each impact absorbing flange 13, 14, 15, 16 which faces the 
covering 3 extends approximately in parallel with respect to the adjacent 
section 18 of the covering 3 disposed in front, a gap being provided 
between the impact absorbing flange 13, 14, 15, 16 and the covering 3. 
Corresponding to FIGS. 3 and 4, the covering 3 has an oblique course in the 
area of the impact absorbing flanges 13, 14, 15, 16 which extends from the 
bottom interior to the top exterior (Section 18). 
Correspondingly, an upper end area of the impact absorbing flange 13, 14, 
15, 16 viewed in the longitudinal direction projects over a lower end area 
of the impact absorbing flange 13, 14, 15, 16 (offset B with respect to 
plane A--A). 
FIG. 1 shows that the lower leg 6 of the support 2, after the bending, 
remains in its original form, whereas the upper leg 5 in the area of the 
impact absorbing flanges 13, 14, 15, 16 is displaced toward the outside so 
that, in the top view, a curved or tub-shaped transition 19 to adjacent 
sections 20, 21 of the support 2 is obtained. 
However, the possibility also exists that the impact surface 17 of the 
impact absorbing flange 13, 14, 15, 16 extends in parallel to the original 
vertical wall section 7, the impact surface 17 protruding with respect to 
the wall section 7. 
In addition, the impact surface 17 may also extend diagonally from the top 
interior to the bottom exterior if the covering 3 has such a course. 
The possibility also exists of, in the case of a support 2 with a closed 
hollow profile, locally cutting free the rear wall of the support 2 and 
then restoring the profile in order to obtain an integrated impact 
absorbing flange 13, 14, 15, 16, as in the case of the illustrated 
embodiment. 
Although the invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is 
to be clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and 
example, and is not to be taken by way of limitation. The spirit and scope 
of the present invention are to be limited only by the terms of the 
appended claims.