Monocoque body assembly

Means for positioning a plastic upper body member relative to a fiber reinforced plastic lower frame member and for joining the members together to form a plastic monocoque vehicle assembly, said means including:

• first and second laterally spaced apart and substantially V-shaped guide means carried by the body member for receiving first and second laterally spaced apart and substantially V-shaped following means carried by the frame member, the guide and following means each having first and second leg members;
• first and second stop means for limiting movement of the following means relative to the guide means;
• first and second generally transversely extending surfaces carried by the members, the surfaces being engagable with one another as the guide means receives the following means whereby fore-and-aft alignment of the members can be determined;
• and
• adhesive reservoir means carried on one of the guide and following means, said reservoir means enabling the guide and following means to be bonded together after the following means is received by the guide means to provide a joint adapted to transfer and distribute loads encountered by the members throughout the assembly.

Means for positioning a plastic upper body member relative to a plastic lower frame member and for joining the members together to form a plastic monocoque body assembly including:

• first and second guide and follower structures carried respectively by the members, each structure having a generally V-shaped cross sectional configuration with connected first and second leg members,
• the first and second leg members having elongated surfaces, that are complementarily configured to establish the relative lateral positions of the body and frame members as the elongated surfaces are joined;
• first and second generally transversely extending surfaces carried by the members, said transversely extending surfaces being engageable with one another as the elongated surfaces are engageably joined to establish the relative fore-and-aft positions of the body and frame members;
• and
• an adhesive reservoir means carried on one of said guide and follower structures to enable them to be bonded together as they are joined and provide a joint between the body and frame members that is adapted to transfer and distribute loads encountered by them throughout the assembly.

Means for positioning an upper plastic body member relative to a plastic lower frame member and for joining the members together to form a plastic monocoque vehicle assembly including:

• first and second laterally spaced apart pairs of guide and follower structures carried respectively by the members, each structure having a generally v-shaped cross sectional configuration and connected first and second leg members;
• stop means carried on one of at least one pair of guide and follower structures to limit movement of the follower structure with respect to the guide structure as they are engaged and laterally position the body and frame members relative to one another;
• first and second generally transversely extending surfaces carried by the members, said transversely extending surfaces being engagable with one another as movement of the follower structure is limited by the guide structure whereby fore-and-aft alignment of members is determined;
• and
• adhesive reservoir means carried on one of each pair of guide and follower structures, to enable them to be bonded together as they are joined to provide a joint that permits loads encountered by the members to be transferred and distributed throughout the assembly.