Vehicle door structure and method for fabricating the same
AssigneeHonda Motor Co., Ltd.
InventorsShigeto Yasuhara, Shingo Segawa, Masatoshi Horino, Masami Kominamidate
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a vehicle door structure, a beam member (21) having a S-shaped cross section and extending in a fore-and-aft direction of a vehicle body is attached to an inner panel (15), and the upper edge of the inner panel (15) is formed by the beam member (21). Thereby, a crash load of a frontal crash is transmitted in a favorable manner, and energy of a side impact is adequately absorbed without incurring a cost increase or a weight increase owing to the use of the door beam.
Claims7
A vehicle door structure comprising an outer panel disposed on an outboard side and an inner panel disposed on an inboard side, wherein:
- the inner panel is provided with a major plane extending both vertically and in a fore-and-aft direction, and a beam member extending in a fore-and-aft direction is attached to the inner panel, the beam member having a cross section whose centroid substantially coincides with the major plane;
- and
- wherein the cross section of the beam member comprises an S-shaped cross section part formed by a pair of channel members each having a rectangular C-shaped cross section, the two channel members being connected one above the other in a mutually laterally reversed configuration such that a plurality of ridge lines extending in the fore-and-aft direction are defined, and an access opening is formed in a vertically extending planar part of the beam member which is vertically more elongated than another, substantially coplanar part of the beam member adjacent thereto along the fore-and-aft direction, wherein the access opening is confined within the vertically extending planar part of the beam member.
A vehicle door structure comprising an outer panel disposed on an outboard side and an inner panel disposed on an inboard side, wherein:
- the inner panel is provided with a major plane extending both vertically and in a fore-and-aft direction, and a beam member extending in a fore-and-aft direction is attached to the inner panel, the beam member having a cross section whose centroid substantially coincides with the major plane;
- and
- wherein the cross section of the beam member comprises an S-shaped cross section part formed by a pair of channel members each having a rectangular C-shaped cross section, the beam member configured such that a plurality of ridge lines extending in the fore-and-aft direction are defined thereon, and an access opening is formed in a vertically extending panel portion of the beam member which is vertically more elongated than another, substantially coplanar part of the beam member adjacent thereto along the fore-and-aft direction, the beam member configured and arranged so that the access opening is formed in the vertically elongated panel portion without crossing any of the ridge lines,
- and wherein the beam member is operable to function as a fore-and-aft load path member in the event of a collision.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.