Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080238146 | FRONT RAIL HAVING CONTROLLED THICKNESS FOR ENERGY ABSORPTION - A frame rail for a vehicle that is provided between vehicle frame and the bumper of a vehicle that has a thickness that varies from the front end of the rail to the back end of the rail. The compressive strength of the rail increases from the front end of the rail to the back end of the rail. The rail is rectangular in shape and the thickness of the rail is continuously increased to improve progressive crush characteristics of the rail under an oblique loading. A rail may be provided by providing a tubular rail having a plurality of ring shaped segments that have incrementally increasing thickness. Alternatively, the rail may have a uniformly increasing thickness from the front end to the back end. | 10-02-2008 |
20100237661 | VEHICLE BODY STRUCTURE - A vehicle body structure having improved roof support characteristics is provided. The structure includes a roof rail integral to an A-pillar and a support pillar. The structure further includes a cross member. The A-pillar includes an inner surface, an outer surface, and a wall therebetween. The roof rail extends downwardly at a front end of the roof rail and extends downwardly at a rear end of the roof rail. The roof rail is integral to a one piece hollow A-pillar at the front end of the roof rail. The support pillar also includes an inner surface, an outer surface, and a wall therebetween. The support pillar also includes a tubular lower section that extends upwardly from the rocker. The upper section of the support pillar is integral to the rear end of the roof rail. | 09-23-2010 |
20110204663 | EXTRUDED ALUMINUM BUMPER HAVING TRIGGERS - An energy absorbing extruded bumper for a vehicle is disclosed. The extruded bumper is formed from a lightweight metal, preferably aluminum base alloy material. The extruded bumper includes an outer wall, an inner wall, a top wall connecting the outer and inner walls, and a bottom wall connecting the outer and inner walls. Extending between the outer and inner walls are two or more s-curved trigger stiffeners. The trigger stiffeners include an upper s-curved trigger stiffener connecting the outer and inner walls and a lower s-curved trigger stiffener connecting the outer and inner walls. The lower s-curved trigger stiffener is spaced apart from the upper s-curved trigger stiffener. | 08-25-2011 |
20110233947 | Zero Stack-Up Telescopically Collapsible Energy Absorbing Rail and Bracket Assembly - An energy absorbing assembly for a vehicle that has a bumper and a frame. A receptacle is defined within the frame. A collapsible member is provided between the bumper and a recessed location spaced away from the bumper in the receptacle. The collapsible member may collapse at least partially into the receptacle in the event of a collision. | 09-29-2011 |
20110241385 | Vehicle Frame with Direction-Specific Deformation - The present disclosure relates to a vehicle frame with direction-specific deformation. The frame includes a rail with bended hinge(s) configured to deform the frame in a lateral direction in response to a longitudinal impact force and methods of manufacturing the same. | 10-06-2011 |
20110285176 | SUB-FRAME FOR MANAGING CRASH ENERGY - A vehicle sub-frame structure including a forward zone, extending substantially in the transverse direction towards the front of the vehicle. The forward zone has a first set of hinges and supports a radiator. A middle zone, including a pair of left and right members, extends substantially longitudinally and carries a second set of hinges. A rear zone includes a beam and is disposed substantially in the transverse direction. Both ends of the beam are attached to the sub-frame structure. | 11-24-2011 |
20120161476 | VEHICLE BODY STRUCTURE - A vehicle body structure having improved roof strength and reduced weight is provided. The vehicle body structure includes a first roof rail, a second roof rail, a first rocker rail and a second rocker rail. A closed-section roof bow may join the first roof rail and the second roof rail. The closed roof bow is substantially perpendicular to the first and second roof rails. A B-Pillar may be provided for each of the first roof rail and the second roof rail. Each B-Pillar defines a B-Pillar hinge joint and each A-Pillar defines an A-Pillar hinge joint between the roof end and the cowl end. A cowl may also be provided which may be disposed substantially perpendicular to the first and second roof rails. The cowl may be coupled to the first and second roof rails via the A-Pillar corresponding to the first roof rail and the A-Pillar for the second roof rail. | 06-28-2012 |
20120256445 | VEHICLE ROOF SUPPORT PILLAR - The vehicle roof support pillar is provided which includes a pillar inner panel, a pillar outer panel and a unitary closed-section reinforcement member. The unitary closed-section reinforcement member is disposed entirely within a chamber defined by the pillar inner panel and the pillar outer panel. The unitary closed-section reinforcement member includes an upper area and a lower area. The lower area of the unitary close-section reinforcement member has an increasing cross-section below the buckling line. The pillar inner panel includes upper and lower ends. The lower inner end has a greater width relative to the upper inner end. The pillar outer panel also has a progressively increasing width relative to the upper outer end. | 10-11-2012 |
20130069395 | Roof Structure for a Vehicle With No Center Pillar - A vehicle roof system enabling elimination of the B-pillar is disclosed. A particular aspect of the invention is to transfer vertical roof loads onto an enhanced rear structure of the vehicle. An additional aspect of the invention is to employ a rear upper cap reinforcement to directly assume roof crush loads applied at front of the vehicle during testing. A specific load transfer mechanism is disclosed. Vertical roof crush force applied near the front of the vehicle is transferred into both a torsional load upon a rear header of the vehicle, and a bending moment upon the C-pillar of the vehicle. | 03-21-2013 |
20130278013 | Inflatable Side Rail Deflector Apparatus For Small Offset Collisions - An inflatable member, or deflector, is attached to the frame of the vehicle. The deflector in the expanded condition at least partially fills a space defined by a bumper beam, a portion of the frame, a front tire and a portion of the vehicle body. A sensor provides a signal to a controller to actuate an inflator. The sensor may be a contact sensor, such as an accelerometer or an electro-resistive sensor, or the sensor may be a predictive sensor, such as a radar sensor or a machine vision sensor. | 10-24-2013 |
20140246880 | Integrated Shotgun Rail Deflector - A shotgun rail, or deflector, is provided as part of a front end structure of a vehicle. The shotgun rail includes a triangular shaped bulkhead having a front surface disposed at an oblique angle relative to the front of a vehicle and a rear surface that is disposed at an oblique angle relative to the rear of the vehicle. A laterally facing surface of the bulkhead is attached to a frame rail. Loads resulting from an impact with a small offset rigid barrier are distributed between longitudinal load paths and lateral load paths through the shotgun rails, frame rails, and sub-frame. | 09-04-2014 |
20140367981 | Bumper Beam Including a Tubular Aluminum Substrate Wrapped with Pre-Impregnated Carbon Fiber Fabric Layers - A bumper beam includes an aluminum tubular carrier that is wrapped with a plurality of carbon fiber fabric layers. The carbon fiber fabric is pre-impregnated with a two-part epoxy resin system. The layers of carbon fiber fabric are applied in an alternating series with the carbon fibers in adjacent layers extending perpendicularly relative to the carbon fibers in adjacent layers. | 12-18-2014 |
20150021936 | SLIDING DEFLECTOR ASSEMBLY - A vehicle frame assembly is provided comprising a main rail. The vehicle frame assembly also includes a deflector assembly which has a front member having an inboard end pivotally coupled to the main rail and an outboard end. Moreover, the deflector assembly includes a rear member having an inboard end slidably coupled to the main rail and an outboard end pivotally coupled to the outboard end of the front member. Additionally, a tension member is disposed between the inboard ends of the front member and the rear member. The deflector assembly is operable between a normal use position wherein the tension member is slack and a collision position wherein the tension member is taut. | 01-22-2015 |
20150048636 | ENERGY ABSORBING APPARATUS FOR A BUMPER RAIL - A collision energy absorption apparatus and a vehicle front end structure including the apparatus. The apparatus is welded to a bumper beam and is laterally adjacent a longitudinally extending member disposed behind the bumper beam. The apparatus has a central body having a front edge attached to the bumper beam and a rear edge that is spaced from the bumper beam and the longitudinally extending member. Upper and lower triangular walls extend between the central body and the longitudinally extending member. A rib extends laterally outwardly from the central body. | 02-19-2015 |
20150061306 | Cable and Outrigger for Minimizing Intrusions in a Small Offset Rigid Barrier Collision - A collision countermeasure apparatus for a small offset rigid barrier test. The collision countermeasure apparatus includes a cable that is attached between an outrigger and a forward end of a frame rail assembly. The cable reduces the extent of intrusions into the passenger compartment of the vehicle. | 03-05-2015 |