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US 8,708,401 B2Granted
Crash brace for energy management
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsChunhui Kevin Lee, Peyman Aghssa, Matthew Brian Makowski, Stephen Wai-Fun Siu, Edward Michael Wilson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A crash brace is incorporated into a body structure of an automotive vehicle as an energy absorption and management device to assist in managing the energy during rear and side impact collisions, thereby protecting internal structures within the rear end of the vehicle.
Claims20
A crash brace for use as an energy absorption and management device, the crash brace comprising:
- a rear arch;
- a front arch;
- a set of longitudinal structures with a plurality of triggers, the longitudinal structures connecting the rear arch to the front arch and defining a first space between the front arch, the rear arch and the longitudinal structures, the first space having a defined cross-sectional shape and volume;
- a set of rear mounting brackets attached to each end of the rear arch and adapted to attach to a rear rail of a vehicle body structure;
- and
- a front bracket assembly attached to each end of the front arch and adapted to attach to a rear rail of the vehicle body structure, a portion of the vehicle body structure and the front arch partially defining a second space, the second space having a defined cross-sectional shape and volume,
- wherein the crash brace is configured to absorb and manage impact energy and prevent the impact from affecting the cross-sectional shape and volume of the second space.
4 more elements
A method of manufacturing a crash brace for managing rear impact energy in a vehicle, the method comprising:
- attaching a rear arch to a set of longitudinal structures at a first end;
- attaching a set of tubular brackets at first ends to each end of the rear arch;
- attaching the set of tubular brackets at second ends to a set of rear mounting brackets, each rear mounting bracket attaching to a rear rail of a body structure of the vehicle;
- attaching a front arch to the set of longitudinal structures at a second end;
- and
- attaching a bracket assembly to each end of the front arch, each bracket assembly attaching to a rear rail of the body structure of the vehicle, the crash brace configured to cooperate with the rear rails.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.