Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Structural detail
Patent
1993-06-28
1995-10-03
Pike, Andrew C.
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Structural detail
296209, B62D 2520
Patent
active
054546214
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD
The present invention relates to a passenger vehicle having side door sills and having front seats, each of which are longitudinally adjustable with respect to a pair of seat rails mounted to the floorboard region of the passenger vehicle.
BACKGROUND
In the typical passenger vehicle, the support for the front passenger seats consists of a pair of steel seat rails which are mounted to the floorboard region of the vehicle body and include an inner seat rail disposed adjacent the longitudinal center axis of the vehicle and an outer seat rail welded to a corresponding side door sill member. However, such a weld connection for the outer seat rail is only possible where the materials selected for the door sill member and the outer seat rail are capable of being welded to one another.
A current trend in motor vehicle design has been to reduce the overall weight of the vehicle by using extruded light-alloy sections in place of traditional welded together sheet metal stampings for various hollow section, load bearing members of the vehicle bodywork. For example, European Patent Document No. 0 229 591 discloses side door sill members which are fabricated from light-alloy extruded sections. In such a design, however, it is not possible to weld the seat rail to the alloy door sill member since the seat rail must consist of steel in order to satisfy the requirements of material thickness, strength, and stiffness and thus cannot be welded to a dissimilar material such as light-alloy. Another disadvantage of the above-described design is that it is difficult to combine the two steel seat rails into an alloy underframe in order to simplify assembly.
German Patent Document DE-C 2 916 562 discloses a similar construction wherein an underframe for the front passenger seat is fastened at its front and rear to adjacent front and rear cross members which are formed integral with the floor panel. This design, however, is disadvantageous since the leg room for the front passengers is restricted by the introduction of the forward cross member disposed in front of the underframe. Also, the relatively thin floor panel cannot withstand the forces acting on the seat rails in the event of a front or rear collision but rather tears unless special reinforcements are provided.
Accordingly, there is a definite need in the art for an improved connection between a steel outer seat rail and a adjacently disposed extruded light metal side door sill member which overcomes the problems of the prior art.
THE INVENTION
OBJECTS
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a secure retention for the forward steel seat rails of a passenger seat to the floorboard region of a light-weight passenger vehicle of the generic type wherein the load bearing members of the bodywork superstructure including the side door sill members are formed as light-alloy extruded sections.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a secure retention of the steel seat rails on the floorboard region of a light-weight passenger vehicle of the generic type which eliminates the need for special reinforcements to ensure that the seat rails are prevented from tearing from the vehicle floor panel in the event of a front or rear impact.
These and further objects, features, and advantages will be evident from the following written description, drawings, and appended claims.
SUMMARY
According to the invention, a side door sill member is provided which comprises a light-alloy extruded section to which forward and rearward supporting mounts, also made of light-alloy, are provided for joining an outer steel seat rail to the side door sill member. Each supporting mount includes an upwardly extended tongue or lip member at an outer side edge thereof which, in use, receivingly engages a corresponding downwardly oriented open groove provided in a hook member extension of the side door sill member. The hook member extension is preferably formed integral with the side door member during the extrusion process. Each support member includes a botto
REFERENCES:
patent: 1723518 (1929-08-01), Murray
patent: 2809050 (1957-10-01), Bauer
patent: 3617087 (1971-11-01), Hiramatsu
patent: 3897974 (1975-08-01), Barecki
patent: 4203611 (1980-05-01), Makela
patent: 4552400 (1985-11-01), Harasaki et al.
Holl Werner
Konrad Gunter
Watzold Peter
Zavojan Anton
Audi AG
Dulin Jacques M.
Pike Andrew C.
Zustak Frederick J.
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