# US 9,751,569 B2 · Automobile body structure > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 9,751,569 B2 - Document ID: US9751569B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/127,629 - Filed: 2014-12-15 - Published: 2017-05-18 - Granted: 2017-09-05 - Earliest claimed: 2014-03-25 - Assignees: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Shotaro Ayuzawa; Yoshikazu Shirai - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9751569B2 ## CPC - B62D 25/04: Door pillars {; windshield pillars} - B62D 21/157: {for side impacts} - B62D 25/025: {Side sills thereof} - B62D 25/06: Fixed roofs (non-fixed roofs or like shelters B60J7/00; roof liners B60R13/02; insulating elements B60R13/08) - B62D 25/2036: {the subunits being side panels, sills or pillars (B62D21/157 takes precedence)} - B62D 29/005: {preformed metal and synthetic material elements being joined together, e.g. by adhesives} - B62D 29/043: {Superstructures (B62D25/161 takes precedence)} - B62D: MOTOR VEHICLES; TRAILERS (steering, or guiding on a desired track, of agricultural machines or implements A01B69/00; wheels, castors, axles, increasing wheel adhesion B60B; vehicle tyres, tyre inflation or tyre changing B60C; connections between vehicles of a train or the like B60D; vehicles for use on rail and road, amphibious or convertible vehicles B60F; suspension arrangements B60G; heating, cooling, ventilating or other air treating devices B60H; windows, windscreens, non-fixed roofs, doors or similar devices, protective coverings for vehicles not in use B60J; propulsion plant arrangements, auxiliary drives, transmissions, controls, instrumentation or dashboards B60K; electric equipment or propulsion of electrically-propelled vehicles B60L; power supply for electrically-propelled vehicles B60M; passenger accommodation not otherwise provided for B60N; adaptations for load transportation or to carry special loads or objects B60P; arrangement of signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor, for vehicles in general B60Q; vehicles, vehicle fittings or vehicle parts not otherwise provided for B60R; servicing, cleaning, repairing, supporting, lifting, or manoeuvring, not otherwise provided for, B60S; brake arrangements, brake control systems or parts thereof B60T; air-cushion vehicles B60V; motor-cycles, accessories therefor B62J, B62K; testing of vehicles G01M) ## Abstract In an automobile body structure, since a center pillar connecting a side sill and a roof side rail is formed from a pair of CFRP laminates that oppose each other on the inside and the outside in the vehicle width direction and a plurality of metal plates that join the pair of CFRP laminates in the vehicle width direction so as to form a closed cross-section, a compressive load and a tensile load acting on the vehicle width direction inner face and the vehicle width direction outer face of the center pillar when the collision load of a side collision is inputted can be supported by carbon fibers of the pair of CFRP laminates, and out of plane deformation of a front face and a rear face of the center pillar, which is difficult to support with the CFRP laminate, can be prevented by the metal plate. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An automobile body structure in which a side sill and a roof side rail are connected by a center pillar, wherein at least part of the center pillar is formed from a pair of CFRP laminates that oppose each other on an inside and an outside in a vehicle width direction and a plurality of metal plates that join the pair of CFRP laminates in the vehicle width direction so as to form a closed cross-section. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The automobile body structure according to claim 1, wherein the metal plate has a squared U-shaped cross section or crank-shaped cross section comprising at inner and outer ends in the vehicle width direction a pair of joining flanges joined to the pair of CFRP laminates. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The automobile body structure according to claim 1, wherein the metal plate comprises a bead extending in a vertical direction. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The automobile body structure according to claim 1, wherein the center pillar has a rectangular cross section that is long in a fore-and-aft direction, and at least three metal plates are arranged side by side in the fore-and-aft direction. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The automobile body structure according to claim 1, wherein a metal hollow beam is disposed between the side sill and a lower end of the center pillar, an upper end of the metal hollow beam and the lower end of the center pillar being joined by an intermediate joint. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The automobile body structure according to claim 5, wherein the side sill is provided in an outer end part in the vehicle width direction of a vehicle body floor made of a CFRP, and a lower end of the metal hollow beam is fixed to an upper end of a center pillar support bracket holding an upper face of the side sill and a lower face of the vehicle body floor from an outside in the vehicle width direction. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The automobile body structure according to claim 6, wherein fitting the center pillar support bracket from the outside in the vehicle width direction into a recess portion formed in the vehicle body floor at the outer end in the vehicle width direction aligns the vehicle width direction outer end of the vehicle body floor and the vehicle width direction outer end of the center pillar support bracket so as to be flush. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The automobile body structure according to claim 7, wherein the vehicle body floor comprises a projecting portion in which the recess portion is formed, and the center pillar support bracket comprises a hollow projecting portion that is aligned with the projecting portion in the fore-and-aft direction. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The automobile body structure according to claim 1, wherein the pair of left and right center pillars and a roof arch that connects the upper ends thereof in the vehicle width direction are formed as a unit from a CFRP. ### Claim 10 (depends on 2) The automobile body structure according to claim 2, wherein the metal plate comprises a bead extending in a vertical direction.