Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Body shell
Patent
1994-03-07
1995-11-14
Friedman, Carl D.
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Body shell
2961466, 527304, 527316, 527321, B62D 2502
Patent
active
054660327
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an arrangement for reinforcing vehicle side doors and walls to protect occupants against intrusion resulting from side impacts, and more particularly to a reinforcing intrusion beam therefor.
Various means for reinforcing automobile doors, generally in the form of beams connected between the front and rear of the door, are presently provided to add strength to the door in the case of a side collision. Considerations are given to the dimensions, material choice, configuration and position of the beams in order to provide maximum protection against side impact forces. Provision of weakened points in the reinforcing beam to prevent undesirable fragmentation of the beam upon impact is also known, e.g. from U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,473, and so is the provision of partly removed flanges and folding of remaining flange portions of the beam connected to the door frame to reduce the risk of passenger injury, e.g. from EP 407,372.
However, known solutions to the problem of providing a reinforcing beam that is capable of sustaining sufficient forces and at the same time ensuring an adequate connection for efficient stiffening of the entire door structure so far have been of limited effectiveness or have been complicated. This is true especially when different materials for the door structure and the intrusion beam are used, something which requires local reinforcing of the door frame in areas of connection to the beam or a general increase in the wall thickness of plate material employed in the door (body panel) according to current technology in this particular field.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide a beam construction eliminating the above drawbacks of the prior art in this field resulting in a door with improved means for transmitting impact forces to the door frame.
Another object of the invention is to provide such an intrusion beam ensuring maximum protection for the passengers against side impact forces, while simultaneously stiffening the door construction in general by transmitting forces in the case of frontal collision from the front part to the middle/rear part of the door frame and spaced frame posts.
Still another object is to provide a light metal intrusion beam which can simply be spot welded to a door structure made of steel.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment of the beam, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic and partially fragmentary view of a vehicle side door illustrating an incorporated reinforcing beam;
FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the reinforcing beam; and
FIGS. 3a and 3b are cross-sectional views taken along line III--III in FIG. 2 of two alternative design configurations of the beam.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIG. 1 showing schematically a vehicle side door 1 comprising an outer side plate (body panel) 4, a window 3 and a reinforcing intrusion beam 2 extending horizontally between and fastened to front and rear door frames. The intrusion beam 2 is customarily situated at a level (height) corresponding to the front bumper arrangement of the vehicle where there is the greatest possibility of impact.
The specific configuration of the beam and the manner of its connection to the door frame will be more apparent from FIGS. 2, 3a and 3b illustrating schematically the reinforcing beam in a perspective view (FIG. 2) and as cross-sectional views.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, the beam 2 is provided as an elongated shape extruded from, e.g., aluminum or an alloy thereof and longitudinally split at one end into two branches 2', 2" and bent so that the branches diverge and extend at acute angles in relation to the main longitudinal axis of the beam. Both ends of the beam (i.e. the unitary end and the split end) are provided with respective connecting members 5, 6 consisting
REFERENCES:
patent: 608861 (1898-08-01), Horton
patent: 1924346 (1933-08-01), Blumenthal
patent: 2177896 (1939-10-01), Lee
patent: 2460982 (1949-02-01), Gilpin
patent: 3088749 (1963-05-01), Schilberg
patent: 3241285 (1966-03-01), Baroni
patent: 3339334 (1967-09-01), Rowan et al.
patent: 3664816 (1972-05-01), Finnegan
patent: 4023683 (1977-05-01), Vargo
patent: 4188059 (1980-02-01), Bauer et al.
patent: 4826238 (1989-05-01), Misono et al.
patent: 4919473 (1990-04-01), Laimighofer et al.
patent: 4948196 (1990-08-01), Baba et al.
patent: 4986597 (1991-01-01), Clausen
patent: 5080427 (1992-01-01), Sturrus et al.
patent: 5085485 (1992-02-01), Wurl
patent: 5094034 (1992-03-01), Freeman
patent: 5201566 (1993-04-01), Mori
patent: 5226440 (1993-07-01), Fuhrman
patent: 5228741 (1993-07-01), Ide
Clausen Edvin L.
Happian-Smith Julian
Friedman Carl D.
Norsk Hydro a.s.
Saladino Laura A.
LandOfFree
Intrusion beam for reinforcing body panels of a vehicle and a ve does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Intrusion beam for reinforcing body panels of a vehicle and a ve, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Intrusion beam for reinforcing body panels of a vehicle and a ve will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1216573