Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Door or window with specified vehicle feature
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-14
2001-03-06
Pedder, Dennis H. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Door or window with specified vehicle feature
Reexamination Certificate
active
06196619
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a motor vehicle chassis, and in particular to a side intrusion beam within a door which is structurally integrated with the chassis.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It has been previously proposed to structurally integrate a vertically sliding door into a vehicle chassis. This Door And Chassis Integration Technology (DACIT) as applied to vertically sliding doors is disclosed in the following U.S. Patents issued to John A. Townsend, incorporated herein by reference: U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,172 issued Jan. 31, 1989; 4,940,282 issued Jul. 10, 1990; 5,378,036 issued Jan. 3, 1995; and patent application Ser. No. 08/328,124 filed Oct. 20, 1994.
In operation, when the vertically sliding door which is the subject of the above patents is closed, structural key members located on the edges of the door engage with mating receptacles in the door jambs. In this position, each key member and mating receptacle pair is able to transmit compressive, tensile and torsional forces between the door and the vehicle chassis. The gap in the vehicle chassis structure that is created by the door opening is bridged by the door when it is in the closed position. This integrated chassis system that exists when the doors of the vehicle are closed provides a much stiffer vehicle frame and more fully surrounds the vehicle occupants to protect them from front, rear and side impact. The last issued patent above also teaches the use of a single, flat, side intrusion beam spanning across the door to inhibit intrusion to the vehicle during a side impact collision.
In a manner similar to that above, it has also been proposed to apply DACIT to conventional hinged vehicle doors. This concept is taught by the present inventor in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/577,649, filed Dec. 22, 1995, incorporated herein by reference. That application also discloses the use of two horizontal beams that span between the structural connections located adjacent to the four corners of the door. However, since no structural framework is located across the central portion of the door, the vehicle occupants are not fully protected from side impact intrusion.
Another example of a prior are side intrusion beam is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,227 issued to Deckert on Jul. 3, 1975. This apparatus employs tension members within a vehicle door that are tied to opposite sides of the door opening when the door is closed. However, these tension members only transmit tensile forces and are not capable of transmitting compressive or torsional forces across the door openings, which would be needed to reduce structural deformation during a front or rear end collision. These tension members also only cover a narrow portion of the door opening. Therefore, they may be wedged upward or downward by an impinging vehicle and may only provide limited protection in some collisions.
The above prior art side intrusion beams do not curve outward or inward as they span across the doorway, they have flat cross-sections, and they do not cover a large portion of the door. The prior art provides limited protection from intrusion during a side impact collision. Using the construction features of the prior art to create a door with increased intrusion protection would yield a door having increased weight and cost. Increasing the weight of a moving door and the overall weight and cost of a vehicle is often an unacceptable option in vehicle manufacture, and therefore a lower level of side intrusion protection is chosen instead.
What is needed and is not provided by the prior art is a side intrusion beam that efficiently provides a high level of side intrusion protection without adding excess weight, cost, size or complexity to the vehicle door.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a side intrusion beam that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art discussed above. The side intrusion beam can be used in conjunction with a vertically sliding door, a conventional hinged door, a horizontally sliding van door, a rear tailgate, or any other type of vehicle door panel in which it is desirable to inhibit inward deformation during a collision.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a disengageable structural connection is located at each of the four comers of the door for structurally connecting the side intrusion beam to the main chassis of the vehicle when the door is closed. In the preferred embodiment, wedge shaped structural keys are located at the top and bottom of both the forward and rearward edges of a conventional hinged door, facing inward. Mating receptacles are positioned in the front and rear doorjambs facing outward towards the keys. When the door is closed, the keys engage the mating receptacles and form a tight fit therewith. The mating receptacles are structurally connected to the vehicle chassis, and the keys are structurally connected to side intrusion beam. Therefore, when the door is in a closed position, tensile, compressive, torsional and bending forces can be transmitted from the side intrusion beam to the chassis through the mating keys and receptacles. By taking advantage of the strength inherent in the vehicle chassis, the side impact beam can be made thinner and lighter than a beam that is not structurally tied to the vehicle chassis when the door is closed.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the inventive side intrusion beam spans across essentially the entire door to interconnect the four disengageable structural connections. In the preferred embodiment, the side intrusion beam comprises a central portion in the middle of the door, four diagonal beams each interconnecting the central portion with one of the disengageable connections, front and rear vertical side beams each interconnecting adjacent connections, top and bottom horizontal beams each interconnecting adjacent connections, and two horizontal side beams each interconnecting the central portion with a mid-portion of one of the two vertical side beams. With this configuration, almost the entire portion of the door opening that is covered by the closed door is spanned by a structural framework that inhibits side intrusion. Collision forces that are received by the intrusion beam are distributed among the four disengageable structural connections.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, a non-flat side intrusion beam is provided such that the beam has an increased resistance to bending without adding excess weight to the beam. In the preferred embodiment, each of the beams that make up the overall side intrusion beam have bends or curves along their length to produce a complex cross-section having a much greater overall depth than the thickness of the beam material. This allows for greater impact protection without adding weight to the vehicle door.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, an intrusion beam or frame having multiple members is formed from sheet metal stampings to create a single, unitary frame. In the preferred embodiment, the beam is formed by spot welding two stampings together. This type of construction yields much lower fabrication costs than if individual beams are constructed and then joined together. Holes in the sheet metal are punched out to reduce weight in areas that do not contribute much additional strength, and to provide access to other components located in the door. Alternatively, the side intrusion beam may be molded from carbon fiber or another strong, lightweight material to achieve additional weight savings.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, the side intrusion beam is arched either inward or outward to provide greater resistance to bending. In the preferred embodiment, the overall beam framework is arched outward both vertically and horizontally to form a dish-shape that is highly efficient structurally for its weight and size. This type of structure goes primarily into compression during a collision.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present inventio
El-Sayed Mohamed
Townsend John A.
Joalto Design Inc.
Pedder Dennis H.
Rader & Fishman & Grauer, PLLC
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