Lightweight boron tubular structure support integrated into seat structure
AssigneeL & W Engineering
InventorsJim Wines, Joshua Forquer, Jason Bigelow
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A support may include a hollow metallic tube having two opposing ends and a body extending over a longitudinal axis of the tube. The tube may have a steel composition that may include, by weight, the following concentrations: approximately 0.19 to 0.27% carbon; approximately 0.0005% to 0.004% boron; approximately 1.5% to 2.5% manganese; and less than or equal to approximately 0.35% chromium, the balance including iron and inevitable impurities.
Claims20
A support, comprising:
- a hollow metallic tube having two opposing ends and a body extending over a longitudinal axis of the tube, wherein the tube has a steel composition consisting of, by weight percentage:
- approximately 0.19 to 0.27% carbon;
- approximately 0.0005% to 0.004% boron;
- approximately 1.5% to 2.5% manganese;
- less than or equal to approximately 0.35% chromium;
- and
- a balance of iron and inevitable impurities.
A support integrated into a seat structure of a vehicle, comprising:
- a hollow metallic tube having two opposing ends and a body extending over a longitudinal axis of the tube, wherein the tube is composed of an austenitized steel material having a predominately martensite microstructure and has a composition consisting of, by weight percentage:
- approximately 0.19% to 0.27% carbon;
- approximately 0.0005% to 0.004% boron;
- approximately 1.5% to 2.5% manganese;
- less than or equal to about 0.35% chromium;
- and
- the balance including iron and inevitable impurities.
A process for producing a tubular support for a vehicle seat, comprising:
- providing a steel composition consisting of, by weight percentage, elements in the following concentrations:
- approximately 0.19% to 0.27% carbon,
- approximately 0.0005% to 0.004% boron,
- approximately 1.5% to 2.5% manganese,
- less than or equal to about 0.35% chromium, the balance including iron and inevitable impurities;
- heating the steel composition to an austenitizing temperature for a predetermined duration to austenitize the steel composition;
- and
- cooling the austenitized steel composition at a predefined cooling rate to transform the austenitic steel composition to a martensite microstructure, wherein the predefined cooling rate is greater than 27 K/s.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.