Motor vehicle body with wheelhouse/underbody reinforcement
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsGuenter Behnke, Thomas Doerfler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A motor vehicle body has an underbody and a wheelhouse at an outboard edge of the underbody, and a longitudinal member beneath the underbody and adjacent to the wheelhouse, the wheelhouse having an inboard surface spaced outboard from the longitudinal member, and a reinforcement extending between and secured to the inboard surface and the longitudinal member. The reinforcement increases the torsional stiffness of the body in the vicinity of the wheelhouse without intruding into the interior of the vehicle.
Claims11
A motor vehicle body having a longitudinal axis and a lateral axis, the body comprising:
- an underbody;
- a longitudinal member connected to an underside of the underbody and having a sidewall extending downwardly from the underside of the underbody and a lower surface;
- a cross member connected to the longitudinal member and extending inboard therefrom;
- a wheelhouse connected to the underbody adjacent an outboard edge thereof and having an inboard surface laterally spaced from the longitudinal member;
- and
- a reinforcement disposed substantially entirely below the underbody and bearing against the wheelhouse, the underside of the underbody, the sidewall, and the lower surface, the reinforcement connected to the wheelhouse inboard surface and to the longitudinal member adjacent to a junction between the longitudinal member and the cross member.
A motor vehicle body having a longitudinal axis and a lateral axis, the body comprising:
- an underbody;
- a longitudinal member connected to an underside of the underbody and having an upwardly projecting weld flange;
- a cross member connected to the longitudinal member at a junction and extending inboard therefrom;
- a wheelhouse connected to the underbody adjacent an outboard edge thereof and having an inboard surface laterally spaced from the longitudinal member, and further having a tower projecting from the inboard surface toward the longitudinal member, the upwardly projecting weld flange of the longitudinal member being fastened to a surface of the tower;
- and
- a reinforcement disposed substantially entirely below the underbody and connected to the wheelhouse inboard surface and to the longitudinal member adjacent to the junction of the longitudinal member and the cross member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.