Protective cover for the underside of a vehicle

A vehicle comprising:

• an underside;
• a feature on the underside, the feature having a contour;
• and
• a protective cover formed substantially from plastic, the protective cover being flexible upon impact;
• wherein
• the protective cover is attached to the underside;
• the protective cover comprises a bottom surface, at least one fastening portion and a rib, the rib extending upwardly toward the underside;
• and
• the rib is movable from a first position below and spaced apart from the feature to a second position upon impact of the bottom surface against a terrain obstacle and is shaped and configured to substantially mirror the contour of the feature to matingly contact the feature on the underside of the vehicle when the rib is in the second position so that loading from the impact is distributed in a predetermined manner from the protective cover to the feature;
• said fastening portion comprises a first fastening portion, the first fastening portion comprises a mounting structure and an abutment structure, the abutment structure defines an abutment wall, the mounting structure is configured to accommodate a fastener for attachment of the protective cover to a vehicle, and the first fastening portion is configured such that the abutment wall is operable to contact a mounting wall provided upon a vehicle when the protective cover is mounted on a vehicle and to substantially transmit to a vehicle a shearing load imparted upon the protective cover by a terrain obstacle.

A vehicle comprising:

• an underside;
• a feature on the underside, the feature having a contour;
• and
• a protective cover formed substantially from plastic, the protective cover being flexible upon impact;
• wherein
• the protective cover is attached to the underside;
• the protective cover comprises a bottom surface, at least one fastening portion and a rib, the rib extending upwardly toward the underside;
• and
• the rib is movable from a first position below and spaced apart from the feature to a second position upon impact of the bottom surface against a terrain obstacle and is shaped and configured to substantially mirror the contour of the feature to matingly contact the feature on the underside of the vehicle when the rib is in the second position so that loading from the impact is distributed in a predetermined manner from the protective cover to the feature;
• the vehicle further comprises a first fastener and a bracket having a mounting wall, wherein said fastening portion comprises a first fastening portion, the first fastening portion comprises a mounting structure and an abutment structure, the abutment structure defines an abutment wall, the mounting structure accommodates the first fastener which attaches the protective cover to the bracket, and the first fastening portion is configured such that the abutment wall contacts the mounting wall and is operable to substantially transmit to the bracket a shearing load imparted upon the protective cover by a terrain obstacle.

A vehicle comprising:

• an underside;
• a feature on the underside, the feature having a contour;
• and
• a protective cover formed substantially from plastic, the protective cover being flexible upon impact;
• wherein
• the protective cover is attached to the underside;
• the protective cover comprises a bottom surface, at least one fastening portion and a rib, the rib extending upwardly toward the underside;
• the rib is movable from a first position below and spaced apart from the feature to a second position upon impact of the bottom surface against a terrain obstacle and is shaped and configured to substantially mirror the contour of the feature to matingly contact the feature on the underside of the vehicle when the rib is in the second position so that loading from the impact is distributed in a predetermined manner from the protective cover to the feature;
• and
• a fastener including a head having a predetermined height and a predetermined width, wherein the fastening portion is adjacent to an edge portion of the protective cover and includes a base and a wall, the base defines an aperture and has a base perimeter spaced from the aperture, the protective cover is attached to an underside of the vehicle by the fastener and via the aperture, the wall extends from the base around the base perimeter at a height greater than the predetermined height, and the base has a width greater than the predetermined width.

A protective cover for an underside of a vehicle, the protective cover formed substantially from plastic and comprising:

• at least one fastening portion configured to facilitate attachment of the protective cover to a vehicle, said fastening portion comprising a mounting structure and an upwardly extending abutment structure, the abutment structure defining an abutment wall, the abutment wall extending above the mounting structure, the mounting structure configured to accommodate a fastener for attachment of the protective cover to a vehicle, wherein said fastening portion is configured such that the abutment wall is operable to contact a mounting wall provided upon a vehicle when the protective cover is mounted on a vehicle and to substantially transmit to a vehicle a shearing load imparted upon the protective cover by a terrain obstacle;
• and
• at least one abutment rib configured to reinforce the abutment structure with respect to the remainder of the protective cover;
• wherein
• the at least one abutment rib is integral with and extends away from the abutment structure.