Reinforced plastic automobile body structure
AssigneeHonda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsMasahiro Saitoh, Suguru Yoshida, Keiichi Obata, Yoshinobu Ono
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An automobile body structure includes a canopy of plastic having a pair of thicker portions projecting on an inner surface of the canopy and spaced from each other in the fore-and-aft direction of the automobile body structure, and a rigid support member embedded in each of the thicker portions. The canopy includes a roof, and front and rear windows formed therewith of a unitary, undivided construction, the thicker portions being disposed near upper edges of the front and rear windows. The thicker portions are arch-shaped. The rigid support member comprises a solid rod or a hollow pipe.
Claims5
An automobile body structure comprising:
- a body shell;
- a canopy of molded plastic material carried by said body shell including a front windshield section, a top section, and a rear window section integrally formed of undivided, one-piece construction, said canopy having a primary thickness between interior and exterior surfaces thereof that is substantially uniform;
- said interior surface of said canopy extending inwardly to form at least one continuous projection of a thickness greater than said primary thickness which extends laterally across said canopy;
- and
- an arch-shaped rigid support member separate from, but embedded in, said projection and being substantially coextensive therewith.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.