US 12,257,968 B2
Front underrun protection device for a heavy vehicle
Gowtham Kannakaje Laxman, Puttur Karnataka (IN); Madhuchandra Koogenahalli Sadashivaiah, Bangalore Karnataka (IN); Sudhindra Keralapura Seetharamaiah, Bangalore Karnataka (IN); Bharath Channappa, Bangalore Karnataka (IN); and Vinay Lohith, Mysore Karnataka (IN)
Assigned to Volvo Truck Corporation, Gothenburg (SE)
Appl. No. 17/626,539
Filed by Volvo Truck Corporation, Gothenburg (SE)
PCT Filed Jun. 16, 2020, PCT No. PCT/EP2020/066621
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jan. 12, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/013435, PCT Pub. Date Jan. 28, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 201941029125 (IN), filed on Jul. 19, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0324401 A1, Oct. 13, 2022
Int. Cl. B60R 19/00 (2006.01); B60R 19/18 (2006.01); B60R 19/56 (2006.01)
CPC B60R 19/56 (2013.01) [B60R 19/18 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A front underrun protection device for a heavy vehicle, comprising:
a beam configured to extend from side to side of the heavy vehicle at a lower front position thereof and to absorb collision energy, the beam at least partly made of a plastic or polymeric material, the beam comprising:
a housing beam member extending in a longitudinal direction and having a substantially H-shaped cross-section with first and second substantially parallel outer panels connected by an inner panel that extends between the first and second outer panels in a plane substantially perpendicular to that of the outer panels so as to form first and second channels extending between the outer panels along the housing beam member at opposite sides of the inner panel, wherein a portion of the housing beam member further has a cross-section comprising a substantially U-shaped part as part of one of the first channel or the second channel, and
at least one reinforcement beam member arranged in at least one of the first and second channels and extending along the housing beam member, the at least one reinforcement beam member provided with a plurality of wall elements comprising:
transversal wall elements distributed along and extending across the at least one reinforcement beam member, and
longitudinal wall elements extending in a longitudinal direction of the at least one reinforcement beam member between the transversal wall elements, and
wherein the housing beam member is arranged so that the inner panel of the housing beam member extends in a substantially horizontal plane and so that the at least one reinforcement beam member forms an upper or a lower beam member.