One-piece closure member for a vehicle
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsS. M. Iskander Farooq, Mohammed Omar Faruque, Dean M. Jaradi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A closure panel including an outer shell for closing an opening defined by a vehicle body and an inner reinforcement. The outer shell and inner reinforcement are formed as a plurality of additive layers. The inner reinforcement includes an integral thickened edge formed around the periphery of the outer shell, an integral latch buttress provided on a first side of the inner reinforcement and a pair of integral hinge buttresses provided on a second side of the inner reinforcement. Internally threaded protrusions may be formed as additive deposits on the integral buttresses.
Claims14
A closure panel formed of bonded layers of powder comprising:
- an outer shell having a thickness T forming part of an outer surface of a vehicle;
- an inner shell having selected portions that are thicker than T including:
- an integral edge extending around a periphery of the inner shell;
- an integral latch buttress formed on the inner shell;
- and
- first and second integral hinge buttresses formed on the inner shell.
A closure panel comprising:
- an outer shell forming part of an outer surface of a vehicle;
- an inner shell including an integral edge extending around a periphery of the inner shell;
- an integral latch buttress formed on the inner shell;
- first and second integral hinge buttresses formed on the inner shell;
- and
- an interstitial energy absorbing portion includes a resilient wall between the outer shell and the inner shell, the wall extending from the outer shell to the inner shell at a location where the outer shell and the inner shell define a cavity, wherein the interstitial energy absorbing portion includes a plurality of integrally formed bonded layers of powder that exert a spring force on the outer shell and the inner shell.
A closure panel comprising:
- an outer shell for closing an opening defined by a vehicle;
- and
- an inner reinforcement simultaneously formed with the outer shell as a plurality of bonded powder layers, the inner reinforcement including:
- a styling edge formed around a periphery of the outer shell;
- a latch buttress provided on a first side of the inner reinforcement;
- and
- a pair of hinge buttresses provided on a second side of the inner reinforcement, wherein the outer shell is formed by a first plurality of bonded powder layers having a thickness T and the inner reinforcement, styling edge, latch buttress, and the pair of first and second hinge buttresses are formed by a second plurality of bonded powder layers having a thickness that is thicker than T.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.