Method and apparatus for forming a three piece tailor welded door blank
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsAmar Ourchane, Ching-Hung Chuang, Ronald Machin, Scott Crane, Xiao Wu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A three-piece tailor welded blank vehicle door structure includes a periphery defined by a bottom portion, a pair of opposing side portions, a top portion, and an inclined portion. A first thickness gage sheet material portion is disposed generally along the door hinge side of the door structure. A second thicker gage sheet material portion is disposed generally along the door latch side of the door structure. A thinner gage sheet material portion is disposed between the first and second thickness gage sheet material portions, whereby the overall weight of the vehicle door is reduced.
Claims20
A vehicle door structure having at least one door hinge and at least one door latch, comprising:
- a periphery defined by a bottom portion, a pair of opposing side portions extending generally upward from said bottom portion, a top portion, and an inclined portion extending from a top of one of said side portions to an end of said top portion;
- a first thicker gage sheet material portion extending generally upward from said bottom portion, said first thicker gage sheet material portion encompassing the one of said side portions to which said at least one door hinge is attached;
- a second thicker gage sheet material portion extending generally upward from said bottom portion, said second thicker gage sheet material portion encompassing the other of said side portions which is adjacent said at least one door latch;
- and
- a thinner gage sheet material portion disposed between said first thicker gage sheet material portion and said second thicker gage sheet material portion;
- whereby the overall weight of the vehicle door structure is reduced.
A method of forming a lighter vehicle door through three-piece tailor-welded blank forming, comprising:
- determining a bone structure for a vehicle door;
- locating a first thicker gage sheet material such that it is positioned to cover the bone structure caused by a door hinge;
- locating a second thicker gage sheet material such that it is positioned to cover the bone structure caused by a door latch;
- and
- locating a thinner gage sheet material between said first thicker gage sheet material and said second thicker gage sheet material.
A vehicle door structure comprising:
- a plurality of door hinges located on a first side portion of the door;
- a door latch located adjacent a second side portion of the door;
- a top door window portion and a bottom panel portion;
- a first thicker gage sheet material portion disposed on said first side portion to cover a majority of any bone structure due to said plurality of hinges;
- a second thicker gage sheet material portion disposed on said second side portion to cover a majority of any bone structure due to said door latch;
- and
- a thinner gage sheet material disposed between said first thicker gage sheet material and said second thicker gage sheet material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.