IMPACT ENERGY ABSORBER WITH INTEGRATED ENGINE EXHAUST NOISE MUFFLER

• Main Authors: VASILE, Michael, BOLTON, Michael, MARTINEZ, Antonio Bernerd, CHO, Yong-Bae, BUCKNELL, John Russell
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 13.03.2024
• Subjects: ACOUSTICS; ACOUSTICS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY; ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OFTHREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVEAGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING,STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING; BLASTING; CASTING; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR INTERNALCOMBUSTION ENGINES; GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR MACHINES ORENGINES IN GENERAL; HEATING; LIGHTING; MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; METHODS OR DEVICES FOR PROTECTING AGAINST, OR FOR DAMPING,NOISE OR OTHER ACOUSTIC WAVES IN GENERAL; MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICS; POWDER METALLURGY; SOUND-PRODUCING DEVICES; STEAM ENGINES; TRANSPORTING; VEHICLES IN GENERAL; VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISEPROVIDED FOR; WEAPONS; WORKING METALLIC POWDER

Multifunction noise suppression and crash structures are disclosed. In one aspect of the disclosure, the multifunction structure includes a body, inlet and outlet pipes, and a plurality of walls within the body that bound resonator cells and that are configured to suppress exhaust noise passing through the resonator cells from the inlet to the outlet pipes. The structure may be positioned between crash rails at the rear of the vehicle and between the engine and bumper. The walls may be generally aligned with, or near, the predicted impact direction and they may crumple in a controlled manner during an impact. In various embodiments the structure is 3D printed to enable construction of a wide diversity of geometric topologies and to minimize mass.