Vehicle body structure reinforced against side impact

Abstract

In an automotive vehicle body including a first annular frame (29) formed by front pillars (11, 12), a second annular frame (34) formed by center pillars (13, 14) and a front door (7) internally provided with a front door beam (51) and fitted between the front pillar and center pillar one each side of the vehicle body, the front door beam overlaps the first annular frame and second annular frame as seen from sideways, and includes a door beam main body (61) providing a channel member having an open side facing inboard and a tension wire (71) extending along an inboard side of the door beam main body. Thereby, when another vehicle hits the front door from sideways, because the front door beam overlaps the first annular frame and second annular frame as seen from sideways, the impact energy can be effectively transmitted to the vehicle body. Furthermore, because the door beam main body supports a compressive load while the tension wire supports a tensile load, deformation of the door beam is minimized.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.