ME Front Bumper Patent

[John]

Here is information on two new patents that could each or both surface on the 2020+ ME Corvette. Intriguing to look at them especially due to two factors. Thank you CorvetteBlogger for posting this information.

First, the ZR1 was not able to be sold in Europe due to its not being able to meet European pedestrian standards, and I have yet to hear from a single person nor read a single media source that GM will not have designed the ME to meet those standards — so that the ME could be sold in Europe.

Second, we earlier saw a GM patent for a twin-stage turbocharger. Is this patent for two stage turbo a reasonable next step?

However, due to the seperate scope and difference of the two patented items, this thread will exclusively deal with the ME’s potential front bumper cover patent, with a separate, subsequent thread outlining the two stage turbo charger.

[Quote=CorvetteBlogger]Two Stage Turbocharger and Front Bumper Cover Design Could Be Headed for Mid-Engine C8 Corvette By
Keith Cornett
-
Aug 22, 2018



It’s not really a surprise that we are discovering some of the technologies of the forthcoming C8 mid-engine Corvette from the USPTO’s patent and trademark database search app. The mid-engine Corvette is completely new from the ground up and therefore the designers and engineers are patenting their work along the way.

Here are two new patents that just appeared yesterday in the patent database. One is for a front bumper cover with pedestrian safety in mind, and the other is for a new two-stage turbocharger. It’s not confirmed that either of these new technologies are headed to the Mid Engine Corvette. However, pictures of the front bumper cover look similar to the front fascia of the C8, and with all the talk of the upper-level engines being turbocharged makes us take a closer look at the new turbocharging patent. Let’s start with the bumper cover first.

Front Carriage for a Mother Vehicle Comprising a Bumper Covering
That’s the fancy term for front bumper cover and the patent design covers both the bumper cover as well as a support structure. The system is designed to crumple (they call it a deformation movement) if impacted by a pedestrian or other object. I’m not so sure what the regulations for automakers and pedestrian safety here in the US is, but I know it’s a big deal in Europe which is why the ZR1 can’t be sold there. To our reading, this patent seems to cover those pedestrian crash regulations.

FYI, don’t get distracted by the elementary photos presented first, because once you get into the actual filing, the drawings bear an uncanny resemblance to the front of the mid-engine Corvette.





For reference, here is the leaked photo of the front bumper cover that was taken from the Bowling Green Assembly Plant’s new paint shop:




http://www.corvetteblogger.com/2018/...e-c8-corvette/

[John]

Wish to read the entire patent text:

[meyerweb]

What is a "Mother Vehicle"?

[John]

Not sure but as the patent refers to a “front bumper cover,” to then, proceeding rearward, to connecting posts, to finally, the body vehicle, I am guessing that the “Mother vehicle” is the main body of the car to which those connecting components, coming from the front bumper cover, are attached. Or in alternative terms, a “Motor vehicle” is the main structural body of the car, as differentiated from the those “in front of it” deforming panels which protect the pedestrian (to some degree) by absorbing the initial shock and/or by spreading the initial impacts points over a wider area to lessen their injury causation.

Perhaps we can understand this by looking, in the reverse direction, at the rear of the C7, starting most outwardly, the flexible SMC fascia, then proceeding inward to those H/D styrofoam-like, shock-absorbtion pieces, then proceeding further forward to the structural, horizontal, transverse, aluminum beam that goes from side to side of the car. For the C7, they are those oval-circled, seven, dark-colored, roughly flower-pedal-shaped absorption pieces.



In both cases, we have shock absorbing components to lessen impact forces to the structural components of the car, and/or people or objects striking the car.

[Mobius]

What is a "Mother Vehicle"?

It's kinda like an alien Mother Ship, if my memory serves me correctly.

I prefer the term Flag Ship Vehicle, which fully aligns with the nature of the Corvette relative to GM's product lineup.

It could also just be vernacular, as in "that's one mother of a vehicle bumper".

But hey, I'm not a patent attorney.

[Quinten]

This bumper cover is certainly from a current Buick Regal. The Regal was designed and engineered by Opel while Opel was still under GM ownership, and it was sold in Europe as the Opel Insignia. Just months after the new Regal’s debut, GM sold Opel and made a contract with the company’s new owner that required them to build the Buick Regal. Both the Regal and the Insignia share a design, save for the grille patterns. Because of this badge-engineering, the current Regal has all of the technologies required under European pedestrian safety laws.

[John]

Thank you for confirming that that patent is in compliance with Euro pedestrian safety law, and if we later could confirm it refers to that system being used for the ME, GM has solved one piece of selling the ME in Europe.