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US 6,332,641 B1Granted
Side door structure for vehicle
AssigneeMazda Motor Corporation
InventorFumio Okana
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Double-leafed hinged door type front and rear doors do not have a center pillar in a side opening. In order that one can open and close the front and rear doors independently of each other and in order to protect passengers by absorbing any impact caused by side collision, reinforcing members (10, 11) obtained from high tensile steel by hydroforming are provided near joint surfaces of the front door (2) and rear door (3) provided to the side opening of a car body (1).
Claims12
A side door structure for a vehicle, comprising:
- a front door having a front end openably/closeably supported by a front hinge disposed at a front portion of a side opening of a car body, and a rear door having a rear end openably/closeably supported by a rear hinge disposed at a rear portion of said side opening,
- wherein a hollow integral reinforcing member obtained from high tensile steel by hydroforming is fixed to one or both of said front and rear doors along joint surfaces between said front door and said rear door in a vertical direction such that said reinforcing member is fixed between an inner panel and an outer panel of said front door along an inside of a front door sash, and said reinforcing member is fixed between an inner panel and an outer panel of said rear door along an inside of a rear door sash.
A side door structure for a vehicle, comprising:
- a front door having a front end openably/closeably supported by a front hinge disposed at a front portion of a side opening of a car body, and a rear door having a rear end openably/closeably supported by a rear hinge disposed at a rear portion of said side opening, and
- door handles respectively provided to said front and rear doors, locking means for unlocking said front and rear doors upon operation of said door handles, front strikers provided to upper and lower edges of said side opening at substantially central portions, and rear strikers provided behind said front strikers, wherein said locking means are operated independently of each other, so said front and rear doors can be opened and closed independently of each other,
- wherein a reinforcing member obtained from high tensile steel by hydroforming is fixed to one or both of said front and rear doors along joint surfaces between said front door and said rear door in a vertical direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.