Abstract:
A bumper reinforcement for a vehicle includes a front wall portion, a rear wall portion, a pair of vertically spaced connecting walls interposed between the front wall portion and the rear wall portion for establishing rigid connections therebetween, and a tow hook attachment member including a hollow body and at least one flange, the hollow body being penetrated through the front and rear wall portions, and the at least one flange being formed integrally with the hollow body to extend along an external surface of the rear wall portion, and secured to the external surface of the rear wall portion.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 with respect to Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-091832 filed on Mar. 26, 2004, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.  
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to a bumper reinforcement. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a bumper reinforcement to which a tow hook can be attached.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0003]     Attachment of a tow hook to a bumper reinforcement for a vehicle, in order to tow a vehicle and to bind a vehicle to a ship, is known. Japanese Patent No. 3328237 describes an example of attaching a tow hook to a bumper reinforcement.  
         [0004]     According to the construction described in Japanese Patent No. 3328237, an attachment metal plate, which is configured to be long from side to side and has a nut portion, is bolted to a back surface of a front wall portion of a bumper reinforcement. A tow hook is screwed at the nut portion via an access hole on the front wall portion.  
         [0005]     With the construction described in Japanese Patent No. 3328237, the tow hook is screwed onto the nut portion of the attachment metal plate via an attachment hole on the front wall portion of the bumper reinforcement in order to support a load at the front wall portion when a force in a longitudinal direction of a vehicle is applied to the tow hook. Thus, the front wall portion of the bumper reinforcement to which the attachment metal plate is bolted is configured to be thick in order to bear the load. This requirement leads to an increase in the weight of the bumper reinforcement, and is also not desirable in terms of fuel consumption.  
         [0006]     A need thus exists for a bumper reinforcement for vehicle, which bears a load with a compact configuration.  
         [0007]     Present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances and provides.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     In light of the foregoing, the present invention provides a bumper reinforcement for a vehicle, which includes, a front wall portion, a rear wall portion, a pair of vertically spaced connecting walls interposed between the front wall portion and the rear wall portion for establishing rigid connections therebetween, and a tow hook attachment member including a hollow body and at least one flange, the hollow body being penetrated through the front and rear wall portions, and the at least one flange being formed integrally with the hollow body to extend along an external surface of the rear wall portion, and secured to the external surface of the rear wall portion. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     The foregoing and additional features and characteristics of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description considered with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a plan view showing attachment of a bumper reinforcement according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view taken on line II-II of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an attachment member according to a first embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an attachment member according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0014]     Embodiments of the present invention will be explained with reference to illustrations of drawing figures as follows.  
         [0015]     An approximately a half portion of a bumper reinforcement  1  is shown in  FIG. 1 . Each end portion of the bumper reinforcement  1  is fixed to a side member  3  of a vehicle body via a bumper stay  2 . The bumper reinforcement  1  is formed from aluminum alloy by an extrusion process. As shown in  FIG. 2 , a cross section of the bumper reinforcement  1  is configured to have three compartments. The configuration of the bumper reinforcement is not limited, and the bumper reinforcement  1  may be configured to have one or two, or other numbers of compartments in cross section.  
         [0016]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the bumper reinforcement  1  includes a front wall portion  4 , a rear wall portion  5 , top and bottom wall portions  6 ,  7  (serving as connecting walls) for connecting the front wall portion  4  and the rear wall portion  5 , and preferably two ribs  8 ,  9  which are separated from one another.  
         [0017]     As shown in  FIGS. 2-3 , an attachment member  10  includes a body  11  configured to be of a rectangular shape with a hollow, and flanges  12 ,  13  unitarily formed with the body  11 . An internal thread portion  14  is formed on an internal surface of the body  11  at a side close to the flanges  12 ,  13 .  
         [0018]     A square-shaped hole with dimensions of 1 2  by 1 1  (i.e., height by width) (shown in  FIG. 3 ) is formed on the front wall portion  4 , and on the rear wall portion  5 , at portions between the ribs  8 ,  9  of the bumper reinforcement  1 . The body  11  of the attachment member  10  is inserted from behind the bumper reinforcement  1  to be positioned inside the bumper reinforcement  1 . The flanges  12 ,  13  are arranged to contact an external surface of the rear wall portion  5 , and the flanges  12 ,  13  are fixed on the rear wall portion  5  with rivets  15 ,  15 . A front end portion of the body  11  is welded on the front wall portion  4 . Accordingly, the attachment member  10  is fixed on the bumper reinforcement  1 .  
         [0019]     A second embodiment of the present invention will be explained as follows. As shown in  FIG. 4 , an attachment member  10 ′ includes a backing plate portion  16  that contacts an external surface of the front wall portion  4 , and nipping plates  17 ,  18  that are arranged to be apart from the flanges  12 ,  13  by a thickness of the rear wall portion  5 . Otherwise, the construction of the attachment member  10 ′ according to the second embodiment of the present invention is identical to that of the attachment member  10  of the first embodiment of the present invention. The backing plate  16  is configured to have dimensions of 1 2  by 1 1  as shown in  FIG. 4 . Also, a square hole of 1 2  by 1 1  is formed on the front wall portion  4  and the rear wall portion  5 . Other constructions are identical to those of the first embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0020]     When the attachment member  10 ′ is applied, the attachment member  10 ′ is inserted sideways into the rectangular hole of 1 2  by 1 1  formed on the front wall portion  4  and the rear wall portion  5 . Thereafter, when the backing plate  16  comes out through the front wall portion  4 , the attachment member  10 ′ is turned so that the flanges  12 ,  13  are vertically arranged, the backing plate  10  is welded at an external surface of the front wall portion  4 , and the flanges  12 ,  13  are fixed onto the rear wall portion  5  via the rivet  15 . As a result, the rear wall portion  5  is sandwiched between the nipping plates  17 ,  18  and the flanges  12 ,  13 . In this case, the backing plate  16  may be fixed on the front wall portion  4  via rivets.  
         [0021]     According to the first and second embodiments of the present invention, when using a tow hook  19 , the tow hook  19  is screwed with the internal thread portion  14  of the body  11  in order to apply traction in a back and forth direction of a vehicle. When the vehicle is towed forwards, because the flanges  12 ,  13  are arranged to be at the position of 90 degrees (i.e., right angle) so as to support the ribs  8 ,  9 , a load is spread to the front wall portion  4 , the rear wall portion  5 , and the ribs  8 ,  9 , and thus the bumper reinforcement  1  can bear a high load. The ribs  8 ,  9  affects for binding operation (e.g., binding a vehicle to a ship) effectively, and the bumper reinforcement  1  can bear a high load.  
         [0022]     According to the second embodiment of the present invention, because the backing plate  16 , and the nipping plates  17 ,  18  are configured to spread the load to the front wall portion  4 , and the rear wall portion  5 , a substantial force in a backward direction can be applied.  
         [0023]     According to the embodiments of the present invention, at least one of the hollow body, the front wall portion, and the rear wall portion is made of aluminum.  
         [0024]     According to the embodiments of the present invention, because the traction force is received at the front wall portion and the rear wall portion, it is not necessary to make the bumper reinforcement thick. Further, by receiving the traction force by the rib, the traction force can be significantly increased, and the bumper reinforcement can bear an extremely significant force even when a ship is bound. Because the attachment member can be attached by means of the rivet, the reinforcement can be manufactured with a simple method.  
         [0025]     The principles, preferred embodiment and mode of operation of the present invention have been described in the foregoing specification. However, the invention which is intended to be protected is not to be construed as limited to the particular embodiments disclosed. Further, the embodiments described herein are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. Variations and changes may be made by others, and equivalents employed, without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Accordingly, it is expressly intended that all such variations, changes and equivalents which fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the claims, be embraced thereby.