Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Structural detail
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-18
2001-07-31
Dayoan, D. Glenn (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Structural detail
C296S030000, C296S146110
Reexamination Certificate
active
06267437
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to front pillar arrangements for motor vehicle body frames having a door hinge attached to an outer part of the pillar.
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 32 22 807 describes the attachment of a component, such as a door hinge, to the door pillar of a motor vehicle in which a metal reinforcing sheet for mounting the hinge is provided between the hinge mount and the outer section of the door pillar and is welded to the outer section of the door pillar.
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 36 22 188 discloses an arrangement for connecting a front pillar and a cowl in a motor vehicle. In this arrangement, a reinforcing element provided inside the front pillar extends laterally through the hollow space formed by the front pillar and is welded by flanges between the outer part and the inner part of the front pillar. The overall construction of this arrangement is very costly, however.
The reinforcing element merely provides a certain torsional stiffness which hinders cross-sectional deformation of the front pillar which, in turn, helps to keep the door from moving downwardly.
German Patent No. 40 16 730 describes a support pillar for a motor vehicle body frame which has a pillar-like hollow body consisting of at least two profile shells and a tube that extends in the lengthwise direction of the hollow body and is fixed in a defined location. The effect of this is that, when roll-over loads about an axis or frontal impact loads occur, all of the deformation energy is absorbed by the front body pillar without appreciable deformation of the pillar. This design is also especially costly, particularly with respect to the incorporation of the tube. A similar construction is described in Japanese Published Application No. 8276864.
Moreover, Japanese Published Application No.
09-226622
describes a support with an essentially triangular reinforcing element. This support is intended to absorb the forces applied when a load is placed on the support pillar so that the support pillar does not bend toward the passenger compartment.
All of these prior art designs are comparatively costly. Furthermore, while they do absorb forces acting on a motor vehicle in a frontal or lateral collision, a frontal collision causes a horizontal offset between the vehicle door and the upper end of the side rail. This offset can be attributed to the fact that the front pillar folds more easily at its bottom end than at its top end. This horizontal offset causes a torque which stresses the door weatherstrip flange, resulting in a bending stress on the adjacent motor vehicle door.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a front pillar arrangement for a motor vehicle body frame which overcomes disadvantages of the prior art.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a front pillar arrangement which absorbs the torque caused by the horizontal offset between the motor vehicle door and the upper end of the front pillar and reduces the bending stress on the door.
These and other objects of the invention are attained by providing a front pillar arrangement for a motor vehicle body frame having a rigid connecting element between the outer part and the inner part of the front pillar in which the connecting element is attached to the outer part of the front pillar with the same fastening element that attaches the door hinge to the pillar. This component absorbs the forces arising as a result of the horizontal offset between the vehicle door and the upper end of the front pillar. In this way, the door weatherstrip flange is subjected to less stress, and thus relieved of the load, so that the bending stress on the vehicle door is reduced.
In one advantageous embodiment of the invention, the connecting element is a sleeve which extends approximately perpendicularly to the outer part of the front pillar and is attached by a threaded joint or riveted joint to the inner part of the front pillar. However, the rigid connecting element can also be a flat sheet of metal or the like having two connecting flanges by which it is attached to the outer part and the inner part of the front pillar.
With this arrangement, two especially simple and economical connecting element structures are possible both of which can be fixed in place at one end using the fastening element for the door hinge. This provides a reinforcement for the front pillar having an especially simple design.
The other end of the connecting element is attached to the inner wall of the front pillar. The inner wall of the wheel well for the adjacent front wheel of the vehicle can also constitute the inner wall of the front pillar.
The connecting element, especially in the form of a sleeve, is preferably attached to the outer or inner wall of the front pillar by screws or rivets. If a flat sheet of metal is used as the connecting element, it can also be attached to the inner wall of the front pillar by welding.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2327585 (1943-08-01), Ulrich
patent: 5560674 (1996-10-01), Tazaki et al.
patent: 5624150 (1997-04-01), Venier
patent: 32 22 807 (1983-12-01), None
patent: 36 22 188 (1987-01-01), None
patent: 40 16 730 (1991-11-01), None
patent: 196 44 047 (1998-05-01), None
patent: 197 06 301 (1998-08-01), None
patent: 0040123 (1981-11-01), None
patent: 0733539 (1996-09-01), None
patent: 0255187 (1988-10-01), None
patent: 8276864 (1996-10-01), None
patent: 9226622 (1997-09-01), None
Ensslen Arnold
Friedewald Klaus
Hoffmann Uwe
Morsch Klaus-Dieter
Pfeiffer Peter
Baker & Botts L.L.P.
Coletta Lori L.
Dayoan D. Glenn
Volkswagen AG
LandOfFree
Front pillar arrangement for a motor vehicle body frame does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Front pillar arrangement for a motor vehicle body frame, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Front pillar arrangement for a motor vehicle body frame will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2566733