Patent Abstract:
A side attachment for attaching a grill to a front bumper of a vehicle allows the grill to pivot independently relative to the front bumper. The grill also includes tabs that locate the bottom edge of the grill to the front bumper and release the grill to allow rotation during a frontal impact of the vehicle, thereby minimizing damage to the grill.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to radiator grills for automotive vehicles. More specifically, the invention relates to a side attachment arrangement for connecting a radiator grill to a bumper facia. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) presently conducts among other tests a low-speed bumper test on new vehicle models in order to assess performance and repair costs associated with damage resulting from the test. In this test, the vehicle is crashed four separate times at 5 mph—both front and rear bumpers into a flat barrier, the front bumper into an angle barrier and the rear bumper into a short pole. Ratings are then given on the usual “Good” to “Poor” scale based on repair costs. 
     Most vehicles today, especially passenger cars, utilize wrap-around style front bumpers and center radiator grills that are made of resin. Typically, the bumper and grill are each fixedly secured to the vehicle body or chassis using bolts, screws, push fasteners and the like. Resins have become the materials of choice for such applications, due to the relative light weight and design flexibility over comparable metal equivalents. Plastic bumpers and grills are, however, particularly susceptible to damage during frontal impacts, including low speed impact events similar to those encountered in the IIHS testing. During a low speed frontal impact event, such as the IIHS flat barrier test, it has been repeatedly observed in a variety of vehicles that the front bumper and grill are displaced relative to the vehicle chassis and damaged as a result. Often the bumper and/or grill are damaged to such an extent that they must be replaced. Replacement costs for these parts are relatively high and are often the root cause of “poor” IIHS performance ratings. 
     Thus, it remains desirable to provide a plastic bumper and grill design that is less susceptible to damage during low-speed frontal impacts, such as those encountered in IIHS testing. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to one aspect of the invention, a side attachment is provided for attaching a grill to a front bumper of a vehicle that allows the grill to pivot independently relative to the front bumper during a frontal impact of the vehicle, thereby minimizing damage to the grill and associated repair costs. More specifically, the front bumper extends along a front end of the vehicle. The grill is pivotally coupled to the front bumper for rotation about a substantially horizontal pivot axis relative to the front bumper. The grill has a bottom end releasably coupled to the front bumper allowing rotation of the grill relative to the front bumper about the pivot axis when the front bumper is deformed during a front impact event. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded front perspective view of a grill and bumper assembly according to one embodiment of the invention; and 
         FIG. 2  is an enlarged rear perspective view of the grill and bumper assembly. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to an attachment of a front radiator grill to a front bumper of an automotive vehicle. The attachment allows the front grill to rotate relative to the front bumper during an impact between an object and the front bumper, so as to minimize damage to the front grill and costs associated with the repair of the vehicle due to the impact. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a vehicle bumper  10  is adapted to be fixedly secured to a front end of an automotive vehicle. The bumper  10  includes a generally horizontal beam section  12  that extends transversely along the front end of the vehicle. The beam section  12  includes opposite top  14  and bottom  16  edges. A pair of pillars  20 ,  22  extends upwardly from the top edge  14  of the bumper  10 . The pillars  20 ,  22  are spaced apart from the ends of the beam section  12  to define spaces for receiving headlamp housings. The pillars  20 ,  22  are also spaced apart to receive a front grill  50  therebetween. 
     Each pillar  20 ,  22  includes a front face extending between spaced apart inner  32  and outer side walls. Each inner wall  32  includes a rear edge  34 . A slot  36  extends from the rear edge  34  of the inner wall  32 . The slot  36  is positioned adjacent the upper end of the pillar  20 ,  22 . A conventional spring-clip nut  40  is secured to the inner wall  32 . The nut  40  includes a threaded bore  42  aligned with the slot  36 . 
     The grill  50  is generally rectangular shaped as viewed from the front of the vehicle. The grill  50  includes opposite top  52  and bottom  54  ends extending between opposite and spaced apart sides  56 ,  58 . A hole  60  is formed in each side of the grill  50 . The holes  60  in the grill  50  are substantially axially aligned with the slots  36  in the pillars  20 ,  22 , when the grill  50  is seated in the space between the pillars  20 ,  22 . 
     The grill  50  is assembled to the bumper  10  by first positioning the grill  50  between the pillars  20 ,  22 . Flanges  28  extend outwardly from the pillars  20 ,  22  to engage corresponding slots in the grill  50  to facilitate location of the grill  50  relative to the bumper  10 . Threaded fasteners  70  are inserted through the holes  60  in the grill  50  and the slots  36  along the rear edge  34  of the bumper  10 . The fasteners  70  are threadingly engaged with the nuts  40  and tightened to secure the grill  50  to the bumper  10 . Tabs  72  extend outwardly from the bottom end  54  to secure the grill  50  to along the top edge  14  of the beam section  12 . Optionally, push or barb-type fasteners are inserted through corresponding holes formed in the bumper  10  and grill  50 . 
     During the IIHS flat barrier front impact test, or other similar low-speed impact event, the front bumper  10  is compressed, deformed and displaced rearwardly and downwardly relative to the front end of the vehicle chassis. The grill  50  is displaced along with the bumper  10 , until the tabs  72  disengage from the top edge  14  of the beam section  12 . The grill  50  and bumper  10 , however, remain attached by the threaded fasteners  70  and are freely pivotable relative to each other about a pivot axis  80  defined through the holes  60  in the grill  50 . As has been shown in repeated testing, pivotal movement of the grill  50  relative to the bumper  10  during the impact event minimizes structural damage to the grill  50 . Thus, the grill  50  is generally re-usable, notwithstanding any minor cosmetic damage due to abrasions. Re-use of the grill  50  during a repair of the vehicle significantly reduces the repair costs. 
     The invention has been described in an illustrative manner. It is, therefore, to be understood that the terminology used is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation. Many modifications and variations of the invention are possible in light of the above teachings. For example, the bumper  10  and grill  50  are typically formed from a glass-reinforced plastic in an injection molding process, but can be produced from any suitable materials and by any suitable methods known by those having ordinary skill in the art. Further, any conventional fastener  70  can be used for coupling the grill  50  to the bumper  10 , as long as it allows pivotal movement of the grill  50  relative to the bumper  10  about the pivot axis  80  during a frontal impact event. Thus, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described herein.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1