Vehicle chassis structures
AssigneeGordon Murray Design Limited
InventorsIan Gordon Murray, Frank Coppuck
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A chassis and a method of forming the chassis comprising assembling a framework of interconnected tubular-section metallic members and a plurality of composite panels, each panel being adhesively bonded to a plurality of the metallic members, wherein at least one bond between a composite panel and a metallic member is formed by an arcuate formation integral with and extending from an edge of a planar section of the composite panel and fitting around an exterior of the metallic member, and providing a layer of adhesive along the gap there between extending substantially from the edge of the planar section across a part of but less than the complete angular extent of the arcuate section.
Claims13
A vehicle chassis comprising a framework of interconnected tubular-section metallic members and a plurality of load bearing composite panels, each panel being adhesively bonded to a plurality of the metallic members, wherein at least one bond between a composite panel and a metallic member is formed by an arcuate formation integral with and extending from an edge of a planar section of the composite panel and fitting around an exterior of the metallic member, and a layer of adhesive along a gap therebetween extending substantially from the edge of the planar section across a part of but less than the complete angular extent of the arcuate section, and wherein the adhesive adjacent the edge of the planar section provides a clearly visible indicator of correct positioning of the arcuate formation relative the metallic member.
A method of forming a vehicle chassis comprising the steps of;
- assembling a framework of tubular-section metallic members;
- providing a plurality of load bearing composite members, at least one of which has a planar section and, at an edge thereof, an arcuate formation substantially matching an external profile of a metallic member;
- applying an adhesive bead along the arcuate formation to a predetermined depth and covering an angular extent of the arcuate formation that is less than the complete extent thereof such that the adhesive adjacent the edge or the planar section provides a clearly visible indicator of correct positioning of the arcuate formation relative the metallic member;
- bringing together the at least one composite member and the metallic member so that the metallic member sits within the arcuate formation and a spacing between them is less than the predetermined depth.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.