Automotive body side impact control system

A method for limiting the deformation of a automotive vehicle body in response to a laterally directed impact load, comprising the steps of:

• providing a passenger compartment door abutting a rocker panel assembly when the door is in a closed position, with the rocker panel assembly being joined to a floor pan of the passenger compartment;
• providing at least one cross member attached to the floor pan and extending laterally under the floor pan;
• providing a frame rail extending longitudinally under the floor pan and said at least one cross member;
• and
• providing a flexible tensile member extending inboard from said frame rail to said cross member, with said flexible tensile member having a first end fastened to said frame rail and a second end fastened to said cross member such that said tensile member will be caused to transition from a normally untensioned state to a tensioned state in the event that the door, the rocker panel assembly, and the floor pan are subjected to crushing lateral displacement sufficient to displace the cross member relative to said frame rail.

An automotive body comprising:

• a floor pan adapted to support a seat;
• an exterior structure enclosing a portion of a passenger compartment;
• a rocker panel assembly abutted by a portion of said exterior structure, with said rocker panel assembly being joined to said floor pan;
• at least one cross member attached to the floor pan and
• extending laterally under the floor pan, with said cross member extending to and joined with said rocker panel assembly;
• a longitudinally extending frame rail underlying the floor pan and cross member;
• and
• a flexible tensile member extending generally horizontally between said frame rail and said cross member such that lateral displacement of said exterior structure, said rocker panel and said cross member relative to said frame rail, resulting from a side impact upon the exterior structure will transform the tensile member from a untensioned state to a tensioned state, thereby resisting further lateral displacement of the exterior structure, the rocker panel, and the cross member relative to the frame rail.