Vehicle impact absorbing structure
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsGeoffrey John Cooper, AmirReza Latif, Sagar Ashok Dhond, Shunmugam Baskar, Sreekanth Gondipalle
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle body includes a floor side panel, a rocker panel, and a reinforcement structure. The floor side panel is secured to the rocker panel. The floor side panel and the rocker panel each extend longitudinally from a front to a rear of the vehicle body and define a cavity therebetween. The reinforcement structure is disposed within the cavity and forms a plurality of longitudinally aligned crush cans. Each crush can extends laterally from the floor side panel to the rocker panel.
Claims20
A vehicle body comprising:
- a floor side panel secured to a rocker panel, each extending longitudinally between a front and a rear of the vehicle body and defining a cavity therebetween;
- and
- a reinforcement structure disposed within the cavity and forming a plurality of longitudinally aligned crush cans, each crush can extending laterally from the floor side panel to the rocker panel, the reinforcement structure further comprising a plurality of webs and an external case that defines a channel, wherein each crush can is secured to at least one adjacent crush can via one of the plurality of webs, and wherein the plurality of crush cans and the plurality of webs are disposed within the channel.
A vehicle comprising:
- a body having a floor side panel secured to a rocker panel, each panel extending longitudinally between a front and a rear of the vehicle and defining a cavity therebetween;
- and
- a reinforcement structure disposed within the cavity, forming a plurality of laterally extending crush cans, and including a plurality of webs, each web extending longitudinally between and linking a pair of adjacent crush cans, the reinforcement structure further comprising an external case that defines a channel, wherein the plurality of crush cans and plurality of webs are disposed within the channel.
A vehicle body comprising:
- a side panel secured to and inboard of a rocker panel, each extending longitudinally between a front and a rear of the vehicle body and defining a cavity therebetween;
- and
- a reinforcement structure disposed within the cavity and including upper and lower panels secured to each other to form a plurality of longitudinally aligned crush cans, each crush can extending outboard from the side panel toward the rocker panel, the reinforcement structure further comprising a plurality of webs and an external case that defines a channel, wherein each crush can is secured to at least one adjacent crush can via one of the plurality of webs, and wherein the plurality of crush cans and plurality of webs are disposed within the channel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.