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US 12,311,743 B2Granted
Vehicle door structure
AssigneeNissan North America, Inc.
InventorDebraj Dey
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle door structure includes inner and outer door panels, a door handle assembly and an impact pad. The inner door panel has an access opening that extends from an inboard surface to an outboard surface. The door handle assembly has a base portion overlaying an inboard surface of the outer door panel within a door cavity and a lever portion extending along an outboard surface of the outer door panel. The impact pad has a block portion and a projecting portion that extends from the block portion. The block portion overlays and contacts a portion of the outboard surface of the inner door panel adjacent to the access opening. The block portion is in vertical alignment with a portion of the base portion of the door handle. The projecting portion spans a horizontally measured width of the access opening.
Claims14
A vehicle door structure, comprising:
- an inner door panel having an inboard surface and an outboard surface with an access opening that extends from the inboard surface to the outboard surface, the inner door panel having an outer periphery;
- an outer door panel having an inboard surface and an outboard surface with a handle opening that extends from the inboard surface to the outboard surface, the outer door panel being fixed to a corresponding outer periphery of the inner door panel defining a cavity therebetween;
- a door handle assembly having a base portion overlaying the inboard surface of the outer door panel within the cavity and a lever portion extending along the outboard surface of the outer door panel;
- and
- an impact pad having a block portion, an attachment portion and a projecting portion that extends from the block portion, the block portion overlaying and contacting a portion of the outboard surface of the inner door panel adjacent to the access opening, the block portion being in vertical alignment with a portion of the base portion of the door handle, the projecting portion spanning a horizontally measured width of the access opening and the attachment portion extending from the block portion defining a slot therebetween, with a rearward edge of the inner door panel that defines the access opening extending into the slot upon installation of the impact pad to the inner door panel.
2 more elements
A vehicle door structure, comprising
- an inner door panel having an inboard surface and an outboard surface with an access opening that extends from the inboard surface to the outboard surface, the inner door panel having an outer periphery:
- an outer door panel having an inboard surface and an outboard surface with a handle opening that extends from the inboard surface to the outboard surface, the outer door panel being fixed to a corresponding outer periphery of the inner door panel defining a cavity therebetween:
- a door handle assembly having a base portion overlaying the inboard surface of the outer door panel within the cavity and a lever portion extending along the outboard surface of the outer door panel;
- an impact pad having a block portion and a projecting portion that extends from the block portion, the block portion overlaying and contacting a portion of the outboard surface of the inner door panel adjacent to the access opening, the block portion being in vertical alignment with a portion of the base portion of the door handle and the projecting portion spanning a horizontally measured width of the access opening, and
- a window regulator installed within the cavity and having at least one window track that extends vertically between the base portion of the door handle assembly and the block portion of the impact pad.
2 more elements
A vehicle door structure comprising:
- an inner door panel having an inboard surface and an outboard surface with an access opening that extends from the inboard surface to the outboard surface, the inner door panel having an outer periphery;
- an outer door panel having an inboard surface and an outboard surface with a handle opening that extends from the inboard surface to the outboard surface, the outer door panel being fixed to a corresponding outer periphery of the inner door panel defining a cavity therebetween;
- a door handle assembly having a base portion overlaying the inboard surface of the outer door panel within the cavity and a lever portion extending along the outboard surface of the outer door panel;
- and
- an impact pad having a block portion and a projecting portion that extends from the block portion, the block portion overlaying and contacting a portion of the outboard surface of the inner door panel adjacent to the access opening, the block portion being in vertical alignment with a portion of the base portion of the door handle and the projecting portion spanning a horizontally measured width of the access opening, the block portion of the impact pad having a first vertical dimension measured from the upper edge downward and the projecting portion of the impact pad having a second vertical dimension measured from the upper edge downward that is less than half of the first vertical dimension such that a lower edge of an attachment portion of the projecting portion is vertically above a lower edge of the block portion.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.