Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60J—WINDOWS, WINDSCREENS, NON-FIXED ROOFS, DOORS, OR SIMILAR DEVICES FOR VEHICLES; REMOVABLE EXTERNAL PROTECTIVE COVERINGS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLES
  • B60J5/00—Doors
  • B60J5/04—Doors arranged at the vehicle sides
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60J—WINDOWS, WINDSCREENS, NON-FIXED ROOFS, DOORS, OR SIMILAR DEVICES FOR VEHICLES; REMOVABLE EXTERNAL PROTECTIVE COVERINGS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLES
  • B60J5/00—Doors
  • B60J5/04—Doors arranged at the vehicle sides
  • B60J5/042—Reinforcement elements
  • B60J5/0422—Elongated type elements, e.g. beams, cables, belts or wires
  • B60J5/0437—Elongated type elements, e.g. beams, cables, belts or wires characterised by the attachment means to the door, e.g. releasable attachment means
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60J—WINDOWS, WINDSCREENS, NON-FIXED ROOFS, DOORS, OR SIMILAR DEVICES FOR VEHICLES; REMOVABLE EXTERNAL PROTECTIVE COVERINGS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLES
  • B60J5/00—Doors
  • B60J5/04—Doors arranged at the vehicle sides
  • B60J5/042—Reinforcement elements
  • B60J5/0422—Elongated type elements, e.g. beams, cables, belts or wires
  • B60J5/0438—Elongated type elements, e.g. beams, cables, belts or wires characterised by the type of elongated elements
  • B60J5/0443—Beams
  • B60J5/0444—Beams characterised by a special cross section
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R21/00—Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks
  • B60R21/02—Occupant safety arrangements or fittings, e.g. crash pads
  • B60R21/04—Padded linings for the vehicle interior ; Energy absorbing structures associated with padded or non-padded linings
  • B60R21/0428—Padded linings for the vehicle interior ; Energy absorbing structures associated with padded or non-padded linings associated with the side doors or panels, e.g. displaced towards the occupants in case of a side collision

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a vehicle door inner panel comprising a front end wall, a rear end wall and a reinforcing beam attached between said walls, such as to enable impact forces emanating from a collision to be transmitted from the door pillar or pillar to which the door is attached to the door pillar situated behind the door.
• Car doors are typically comprised of an inner panel, which forms the supportive part of the door, and a lacquered outer panel.
• the inner panel is covered with a detachable panel, i.e. so-called trim.
• A-pillar is the accepted designation of the windscreen-adjacent pillar on which the front door is hung
• B-pillar is the designation of the pillar situated behind the front door, i.e. between the doors when two doors are situated on respective sides.
• these two pillars do not normally reach the outsides of the doors.
• the beam located beneath the window, the waist rail, is situated on the inside of the window and often overlaps the pillars, so as to be able to transmit force directly between the pillars.
• a side impact guard will preferably be situated as far out in the door as possible, so as to obtain the largest possible deformation zone, and car models exist which have a straight beam or bar which is located on the outside of the side- window guide rails and fixed in bracket means which are welded to the end walls of the inner panel and extend towards the insides of said walls, so as to overlap the pillars and therewith be able to transmit force between the pillars and the side impact beam. Consequently, the beam is able to transmit force between the pillars, in addition to functioning as a side impact guard.
• An object of the present invention is to simplify a construction which includes a beam that functions as side impact guard and, at the same time, is capable of transmitting force between the door pillars in the event of a frontal collision.
• this object is fulfilled with a reinforcing beam that has a high single hat profile which is attached to the upper part of the front end wall and which curves out towards the outer part of the inner panel where the profile height is lower, wherewith the height of the profile decreases continuously from the high profile height to the low profile height.
• the invention is characterised by the characteristic features set forth in the accompanying Claims.
• Figure 1 is an outside side view of an exemplifying embodiment of an inventive inner vehicle door panel.
• Figure 2 is a perspective view of a beam, also shown in Figure 1.
• Figure 3 is a wire model in side view of the beam shown in Figure 2.
• Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 in Figure 3.
• Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 in Figure 1, and also shows the A-pillar and the B-pillar of the vehicle.
• Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view corresponding to the view of Figure 5 but showing a modified A-pillar, said Figure also showing the attachment of the beam in Figure 2 slightly lower in the A-pillar than that shown in Figure 1.
• FIGURE 1 shows the inner panel 11 of a vehicle door as seen from the outside.
• the inner panel has a front end wall 12, a rear end wall 13, a bottom 14, a beam 15 (waist beam or waist rail) and a window arch 16.
• the inner panel has a side 17 which faces towards the vehicle interior and which includes a number of holes and recesses. These holes and recesses are not shown in Figure 1, but are shown in Figure 5. The holes are required for mounting all door fittings.
• a stiffening or reinforcing beam 20 is fitted between the front end wall and rear end wall and slopes rearwardly.
• Figure 2 is a perspective view of the beam 20.
• the front end 21 of the beam has a section in the form of a high-profile hat beam. This high single hat profile extends continually to become a low double hat profile 22, whereby the beam obtains a bend or curve 24 in the transition region 23.
• the forward end includes attachment tabs 25, 26, 27 which are intended for spot- welding to the front end wall 12.
• Figure 3 shows the beam 20 from one side as a wire model
• Figure 4 shows the double hat profile, which is practically constant over the major part of the length of the beam. It is changed slightly at the rear end, which is adapted for spot-welding to a bracket means 30 attached to the rear end wall, as shown in Figure 5, which is a sectional view taken through the inner panel along the beam, as indicated by the line 5-5 in Figure 1.
• the beam 20 is formed from a sheet-metal blank. It can be conveniently shaped and hardened by press hardening, i.e. shaped in cold tools and hardened directly in the tools with said tools functioning as a fixture or jig. Very high mechanical strength values with respect to the steel can be achieved with this method.
• Figure 5 shows the A-pillar 33 and the B-pillar 34 of the vehicle.
• the upper hinge 35 of the inner panel is shown fastened in the A-pillar.
• the bracket means 30 extends inwards to an extent at which it overlaps the B-pillar and is thus able to transmit load, force, to said pillar in the event of a frontal collision. In the case of a collision of this nature, the force is transmitted from the A-pillar to the beam 20 through the medium of the hinge 35.
• the window guide rails 37, 38 are also shown in the figure.
• the beam does not obstruct the path of the window, the rear end of the beam cannot be given the same design as the front end of the beam, because the rear guide rail 38 lies so close to the rear end wall, but must be fastened in a bracket means 30.
• the beam is shown to slope downwards/rearwards. If the beam were to be given a steeper slope, its rear end can be located beneath the guide rail 38 and therewith enable the rear end of the beam to be given the same design as its front end and the rear bracket means 30 omitted.
• the outer panel of the door has not been shown. However, the outer panel can be folded around the edges 40, 41 of the inner panel and fastened thereto, normally glued thereto.
• the front end of the beam 20 is fastened slightly further down on the front end wall than that shown in Figure 1, i.e. lower than the upper hinge, the front end of the beam and the A-pillar can mutually overlap, as shown in Figure 6, therewith enabling the force to be transmitted directly from the A-pillar to the beam.
• the beam will be strongest in its longitudinal direction when the crown of the curve faces inwardly into the vehicle interior and its open side faces outwards, as shown. If it were turned in the other direction, it would have a stronger function as a side impact guard, although it is normally dimensioned in accordance with axial load and will therefore be sufficiently strong as a side impact guard even when turned to face in the illustrated direction.
• the illustrated beam has a high single hat profile which merges into a low double hat profile.
• a low double hat profile is beneficial, since it enables the width of the blank to be utilised and provides a sufficiently strong beam despite the low and open profile.
• the high single hat profile may, alternatively, be allowed to merge into a low single hat profile.
• Other profiles are also conceivable on the low part of the beam.
• the beam is inclined in the illustrated embodiment of the invention. It is advantageous to take-up the load high up on the A-pillar and transmit the load down to a lower level on the B-pillar, since the vehicle is usually strongest in the vicinity of its floor. Moreover, the beam will have an effective height as a side impact guard with respect to the hips of a passenger or the driver.
• the invention is shown as applied to a front door, it can also be applied to a rear door, in which case the beam is able to transmit load from the B-pillar to the C- pillar.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Body Structure For Vehicles (AREA)
• Vehicle Interior And Exterior Ornaments, Soundproofing, And Insulation (AREA)

Priority Applications (6)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Related Child Applications (1)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=20282854

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (9)

Cited By (6)

Families Citing this family (24)

Citations (5)

Family Cites Families (19)

• 2001
  • 2001-02-02 SE SE0100356A patent/SE516572C2/sv not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2002
  • 2002-01-18 AT AT02715924T patent/ATE428590T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2002-01-18 ES ES02715924T patent/ES2324398T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2002-01-18 EP EP02715924A patent/EP1360080B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2002-01-18 JP JP2002560880A patent/JP3989373B2/ja not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2002-01-18 DE DE60231958T patent/DE60231958D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2002-01-18 WO PCT/SE2002/000079 patent/WO2002060712A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2002-01-18 KR KR1020037010221A patent/KR100885320B1/ko not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2003
  • 2003-07-31 US US10/632,015 patent/US6869130B2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime

Patent Citations (5)

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