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US 11,760,418 B2Granted
Energy absorber between vehicle roof and headliner
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsSiddharthan Selvasekar, Otis Allen, Andres Almeida Senatore, Hector Hernandez, Christopher Robert Tilli, Michael Steven Medoro, Robert Ralph Armitage, Michael M. Azzouz
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An assembly for a vehicle includes a vehicle roof and a headliner supported by the vehicle roof. The assembly includes an energy absorber between the headliner and the vehicle roof. The energy absorber includes a wall extending transversely to the headliner and the vehicle roof. The wall includes a lattice structure including a repeating pattern of strips and open cells.
Claims11
An assembly comprising:
- a vehicle roof;
- a headliner supported by the vehicle roof;
- an energy absorber between the headliner and the vehicle roof, the energy absorber having a wall extending transversely to the headliner and the vehicle roof;
- the wall having a lattice structure including a repeating pattern of strips and open cells;
- the energy absorber including additional walls extending transversely to each other and transversely to the headliner and the walls defining a cavity therebetween;
- the open cells extending through the wall from the cavity to an exterior of the energy absorber;
- the energy absorber including an end panel connected to the walls and extending across the cavity and a base distal to the end panel, the cavity being open at the base, the end panel abutting one of the vehicle roof and the headliner and the base being adhered to the other of the vehicle roof and the headliner;
- and
- the lattice structure including a vehicle-inboard end and a vehicle-outboard end, the open cells having a volume at the vehicle-inboard end and a volume at the vehicle-outboard end different from the volume at the vehicle-inboard end.
6 more elements
An energy absorber comprising:
- an end panel;
- and
- at least three walls extending in a common direction from the end panel and defining a cavity therebetween;
- the walls defining a base distal to the end panel, the cavity being open at the base;
- the end panel designed to match contours of one of a vehicle roof and a vehicle headliner;
- the base designed to match contours of the other of the vehicle roof and the vehicle headliner;
- at least one of the walls extending transversely to the headliner and the vehicle roof and at least one of the walls having a lattice structure including a repeating pattern of strips and open cells;
- the open cells extend through the walls from the cavity to an exterior of the energy absorber;
- the end panel abutting one of the vehicle roof and the headliner and the base being adhered to the other of the vehicle roof and the headliner;
- and
- the lattice structure including a vehicle-inboard end and a vehicle-outboard end, the open cells having a volume at the vehicle-inboard end and a volume at the vehicle-outboard end different from the volume at the vehicle-inboard end.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.