Title: Vehicle and a vehicle door
Abstract: A vehicle door has a supporting frame (10) substantially in the form of a rectangular annular hat beam (13-16) of high-strength steel, which, with its outer side flange (17), carries the outer panel (28) of the door and has its crown (12) towards the vehicle interior. The lower rear portion of the outer side flange (17) has a bolt 32 arranged to fit in a hole (35) in the pillar (34). In case of a side impact, the bolt will make the pillar participate in the energy absorption. The frame (10) is comparatively shallow and it can therefore have a high yield strength and all the other elements of the door can be mounted on the inside of the frame, which make them easily available for service.
Patent Number: 7,021,697 Issued on 04/04/2006 to Bodin, et al.
| Inventors:
|
Bodin; Hans (Sodra Sunderbyn, SE);
Jonsson; Martin (Lulea, SE);
Krispinsson; Jan (Lulea, SE);
Wikstrom; Lars (Lulea, SE)
|
| Assignee:
|
SSAB Hardtech AB (Lulea, SE)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
523041 |
| Filed:
|
August 8, 2003 |
| PCT Filed:
|
August 8, 2003
|
| PCT NO:
|
PCT/SE03/01258
|
| 371 Date:
|
February 2, 2005
|
| 102(e) Date:
|
February 2, 2005
|
| PCT PUB.NO.:
|
WO2004/014682 |
| PCT PUB. Date:
|
February 19, 2004 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Current U.S. Class: |
296/146.6; 296/146.9; 296/187.12 |
| Current Intern'l Class: |
B60J 5/04 (20060101) |
| Field of Search: |
296/1469,146.5,146.6,187.12
49/502,503
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 3819228 | Jun., 1974 | Cornacchia.
| |
| 5306067 | Apr., 1994 | Hull et al.
| |
| 5518290 | May., 1996 | Reinhard et al.
| |
| Foreign Patent Documents |
| 10128864 | Dec., 2002 | DE.
| |
| 518503 | Oct., 2002 | SE.
| |
| 03059667 | Jul., 2003 | WO.
| |
Primary Examiner: Pape; Joseph D.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Stone; Mark P.
Claims
The invention claimed is:
1. A vehicle with a door, said vehicle characterised in that:
said door comprises a supporting frame substantially in the form of a rectangular
annular hat beam of high-strength steel, said hat beam having an outer side flange
for carrying an outer panel of the door, and a crown facing towards the vehicle
interior, a rear portion of the hat beam having a bolt arranged to fit into a hole
in a pillar of said vehicle.
2. A vehicle according to claim 1, characterised in that the bolt is arranged
on a lower, rear portion of the outer side flange of the hat beam.
3. A vehicle according to claim 2, characterised in that said hole is disposed
on a lower portion of the pillar, said lower portion of said pillar being widened
in a bow form forwards in a direction towards a region at which said pillar is
joined with a side rail of the vehicle, and a lower rear bend of the hat beam is
adapted to the widened portion of the pillar so that the outer side flange is widened
to cover the widened portion of the pillar for carrying the bolt on said widened
portion of said outer side flange.
4. A vehicle according to claim 1, characterised in that the bolt has a thread
and is secured by a nut at the outer side flange, the bolt being located on a step
on the outer side flange so as to provide a space for the nut between the outer
side flange and the outer panel of the door.
5. A vehicle according to claim 1, characterised in that the door is a front
door and the pillar is a B-pillar with hinges for a rear door, said pillar having
a hole for a bolt adjacent each said hinge, the rear portion of the supporting
frame having bolts adapted to fit into said holes.
6. A vehicle according to claim 1, characterised by a side impact guard disposed
between two standing portions of the hat beam.
7. A vehicle according to claim 6, characterised in that the side impact guard
is formed, as an integral part of the supporting frame, from the same sheet blank
as the supporting frame.
8. A vehicle according to claim 7, characterised in that the side impact guard
comprises a hat beam.
9. A vehicle according to claim 7, characterised in that the side impact guard
comprises a beam between vertical portions of the supporting frame and a beam between
horizontal portions of the supporting frame.
10. A vehicle according to claim 4, characterised in that a deep inner panel
is mounted on the supporting frame of the door and does not cover the step with
the bolt, said inner panel covering interior elements of the door, including window
structure, placed between the inner panel and the supporting frame.
11. A vehicle door characterised in that said door comprises a supporting frame
substantially in the form of a rectangular annular hat beam of high-strength steel,
said hat beam having an outer side flange for carrying an outer panel of the door,
and a crown facing towards the vehicle interior, a rear portion of the hat beam
having a bolt arranged to co-act with a pillar.
12. A vehicle door according to claim 11, characterised by a side impact guard
formed, as an integral part of the supporting frame, from the same sheet blank
as the supporting frame, said side impact guard extending between two standing
portions of the hat beam.
13. A vehicle door according to claim 12, characterised in that the side impact
guard comprises a hat beam.
14. A vehicle door to according to claim 12, characterised in that the side impact
guard comprises a beam between vertical portions of the supporting frame and a
beam between horizontal portions of the supporting frame.
15. A vehicle door according to claim 11, characterised in that an inner panel,
mounted on the supporting frame, is deep relative to the supporting frame and does
not cover the part of the outer side flange of the hat beam carrying the bolt,
said inner panel covering interior elements of the door, including window structure,
located between the inner panel and the supporting frame.
16. A vehicle door according to claim 11, characterised in that the steel of
the supporting frame has a yield strength of at least 800 N/mm
2.
17. A vehicle according to claim 2, characterised in that the bolt has a thread
and is secured by a nut at the outer side flange, the bolt being located on a step
on the outer side flange so as to provide a space for the nut between the outer
side flange and the outer panel of the door.
18. A vehicle according to claim 8, characterised in that the side impact guard
comprises a beam between vertical portions of the supporting frame and a beam between
horizontal portions of the supporting frame.
19. A vehicle door to according to claim 13, characterised in that the side impact
guard comprises a beam between vertical portions of the supporting frame and a
beam between horizontal portions of the supporting frame.
20. A vehicle door according to claim 12, characterised in that an inner panel,
mounted on the supporting frame, is deep relative to the frame and does not cover
the part of the outer side flange of the hat beam carrying the bolt, said inner
panel covering interior elements of the door, including window structure, located
between the inner panel and the supporting frame.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a vehicle having a door and to a vehicle door.
TECHNICAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Modern vehicle doors usually consist of a supporting deep drawn so called
inner panel that comprises the entire thickness of the door. An outer panel is
bent around the edges of the inner panel and secured with cement in its bends.
The inner panel is deep drawn and it can therefore not be formed from high-strength
steel. A so called waist rail under the window is welded to the inner panel and
it can be located inside of or outside of the window. A side impact guard beam
of steel with considerably higher strength than the inner panel is also welded
to the inner panel and located adjacent the outer panel. A relatively flat trim
is fastened on the inner panel. The interior elements of the door such as window
guides and window lifts are located inside the deep inner panel. The end sides
of the door consist completely of the end sides of the inner panel and the side
of the inner panel adjacent the vehicle interior has only comparatively small openings,
which makes the mounting of the inner elements of the door difficult.
In prior art, it is known to fasten a hook on the side impact guard beam and
have
this hook extending out through the rear end side of the inner panel for engagement
with a dent on the pillar. Then, the pillar will participate in the energy absorption
when the side impact guard beam will be bent inwardly when the door is impacted upon.
OBJECT OF INVENTION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a vehicle door that is lighter in
weight and stronger than conventional doors and provides an improved protection,
when impacted upon, by providing means that engages with the pillar of the vehicle
on which the door is mounted. Said means should not be an obstacle for the passengers
when they enter the vehicle or move out of it. The invention also relates to a
vehicle having such a door.
This is fulfilled principally in that the door has a supporting frame substantially
in the form of a rectangular annular hat beam of high-strength steel, which, with
its outer side flange, carries the outer panel of the door and has its crown towards
the vehicle interior, the rear portion of the hat beam having a bolt arranged to
fit into a hole in the pillar.
The bolt can suitably have a thread and be fastened with a nut on the outer side
of the flange.
The frame can suitably have a side impact guard beam between the two standing
portions of the annular hat beam, and the side impact guard beam can suitably be
formed, as an integral part of the door frame, from the same sheet blank as the
door frame. The side impact guard beam can be a hat beam too.
A deep inner panel is suitably mounted on the supporting frame of the door and
does not cover the step with the bolt but covers the interior elements of the door,
such as for example the window structure, which are located between the inner panel
and the supporting frame of the door. Suitably, the inner panel and the supporting
frame form together the end side of the door, and the inner panel may constitute
the major portion of the width of the end side.
The invention is defined by the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS, WHICH ILLUSTRATE A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a frame of a door seen obliquely from behind/inside.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of one corner of the frame shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 shows in a perspective view the lower portion of a pillar.
FIG. 4 is a vertical section through the frame and an outer panel.
FIG. 5 is a section taken as indicated by the arrows 5—5
in FIG. 2.
FIG. 6 is a section corresponding to FIG. 5, but showing a somewhat modified design.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a complete door built on the frame shown in
FIG. 1.
FIG. 8 is a modified design of the frame shown in FIG. 1 seen from inside the vehicle.
FIG. 9 shows, seen from outside, a portion of the B-pillar at the rear of the
door shown in FIG. 8.
FIG. 10 is a fragmentary section through a portion of the door and the B-pillar
shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.
DESCRIPTION IN MORE DETAIL OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 shows a frame
10 of the left front door of a vehicle, and the
frame is seen from inside the vehicle and obliquely from behind. The frame is formed
from a flat sheet so that it has got an annular hat beam
13-
16 with
a crown
12, side flanges
17,
18 and intermediate webs
11,
19
as best can be seen from FIG. 4. The outer side flanges
17 have a varying
width so that they adapt to the outer panel of the door. The hat beam has its crown
towards the vehicle interior. The hat beam has four straight portions
13,
14,
15,
16
interconnected by bends. A hole
20,
21 is formed is formed in the
middle of the annular hat beam and a side impact guard beam
22 extends between
the upstanding beam portions
13 and
15 and bridges the hole
20,
21.
The beam
22, too, can have an open hat profile with its crown inwards as
shown but it may also have a cover fastened by spot welding. It may also have another
cross section and it may for example have a double hat profile and have its open
side towards the vehicle interior. Various portions of the hat beam
13-
16
may have various profile and some portions may for example be a double hat.
An outer panel
28 of sheet metal is shown in the FIGS. 4 and 5. It is
bent
around the outer flange
17 of the hat beam portions
13,
15,
16
and it can have cement in the bends or it can be fastened in another way, for example
by laser welding. In FIG. 4, the bend
29 is shown but, for clarity, it is
shown separate and not bent around the side flange
17. The side impact guard
beam
22, as well as all the other portions of the frame will be close to
the outer panel, that is, the impact guard will be as far out from the passenger
as possible, which is advantageous. In its rear lower portion, the hat beam has
a long bend
30 between the horizontal hat beam portion
16 and the
standing hat beam portion
15 so that the outer side flange
17 is
wide there. It rises continuously towards the crown of the standing hat beam portion
16 and its lower portion forms a step
31 as can be seen from FIG.
1 and FIG. 5. Higher up towards the standing hat beam
15, the step
31
can instead be regarded as a step on the web
11 of the hat beam. A bolt
32 is fastened in the lower portion of the step
31 by extending through
a hole in the step and having a nut
33 at the back, that is, adjacent the
outer panel
28. The nut has enough space between the step and the outer
panel
28, and the bolt is mounted before the outer panel is fastened to
the frame.
In FIG. 5, the lower part of the pillar
34 at the rear of the door is
shown,
that is, the B-pillar in the illustrated example when the door is a front door.
The pillar in which the hinges of the door are fastened is called the A-pillar.
If the door instead is a rear door, it is hinged in the B-pillar and has its lock
and the bolt
32 against the C-pillar. The lower portion of the B-pillar
is separately shown in FIG. 3. The lower and illustrated portion of the pillar
is welded to the non-illustrated side rail of the vehicle and it is widened as
a bow forwards toward the connection. The bend
30 of the hat beam is adapted
to this bow of the pillar. As seen along the vehicle, the bend and the bow overlap
partly so that the frame
10 of the door can transmit force from the A-pillar
to the B-pillar when there is a frontal crash.
The pillar
34 has a hole in which a steel sleeve
35 with a bottom
is welded so that the closed pillar will not have an open hole. As shown in FIG.
5, the bolt
32 enters the sleeve
35 when the door is closed and it
is a large space between the sleeve and the bolt. In case of a side impact on the
door, the frame of the door and the side impact guard beam
33 will be deformed
inwards. At its front end, the frame is rigidly fastened in the hinges but at its
rear end, it is fastened only by the comparatively weak lock. In the deformation,
the rear end of the frame
10 will be drawn forwards and the bolt
32
will then engage with the sleeve of the pillar and thereby will the pillar participate
in the energy absorption. The sleeve may alternatively be a plastic sleeve that
is inserted in the hole of the pillar provided that the edge of the hole is reinforced,
but a steel sleeve welded to the pillar is preferred because it will provide for
a stronger coupling between the frame of the door and the pillar.
FIG. 6 show a modified design in which the steel sleeve
35 does not have
a bottom but instead a plastic cover
53. As does FIG. 5, this figure shows
the door in closed position and in this case, the bolt does not enter the sleeve
35 until the door has been deformed inwardly. The design according to FIG.
5 is preferred. If the edge of the hole is reinforced, the steel sleeve can be
dispensed with and a cover can cover the hole directly.
FIG. 7 shows an assembled door. An inner panel
36 is mounted on the frame
10 and between the frame and the inner panel is mounted a window structure
with a protruding window frame. The holder for the rear view mirror is not illustrated
in the figures but it can suitably be an integrated part of the frame
10.
The inner panel
36 has end sides and a bottom, which connect to the hat
beam of the frame, and the frame and the inner panel thus form together the end
sides and the bottom of the door. The inner panel has also an upper side that connects
to the window
38. Suitably, all the interior elements of the door such as
the lock
52, that co-acts with a non-illustrated means on the pillar, and
the window structure
37 will be pre-mounted on a frame to form a unit that
also may comprise the inner panel
36. The entire unit can be mounted on
the frame
30 by screws through the inner panel. Thus, the inner panel need
not be supporting but may be made of plastics and be covered by a snap-on trim
that covers the screws. The inner panel
36 may be deep and present a large
portion of the thickness of the door instead of the supporting portion of the door
comprising practically the entire door thickness. The inner panel is thus deep
as compared to the frame of the door.
In this way, one will achieve a very high strength of the supporting frame
10
of the door. Its thickness can be less than half the thickness of the door. The
forming of the frame will be facilitated by the frame being thin in comparison
with the entire door thickness and a frame can therefore be made that has steel
of very high strength. In a conventional door that has a deeper forming of its
supporting part, one must use steel with lower strength.
Suitably, the frame
10 of the door is formed in the press hardening
method, that is, a blanket of hardenable flat steel sheet is hot stamped to form
the supporting frame with its integrated side impact guard beam and the thus formed
frame is hardened while remaining in the forming tools. Then, when assembling the
door, one attaches the outer panel to the supporting frame.
Since the frame
10 of the door can be made comparatively thin, it can
alternatively be made of high-strength cold forming steel, but it will then not
be possible to reach as high strength as in press hardening. With the latter method,
a yield strength of over 1000 N/mm
2 can be reached or at least 800 N/mm
2,
somewhat depending on the thickness of the frame. The elongation to rupture will
also be smaller by the cold forming than by the hot stamping. A vehicle door according
to the invention is, however, advantageous also if it has comparatively low strength
steel, for example a yield strength of 350 N/mm
2. However, a cold forming
steel with a yield strength of 500 N/mm
2 or higher can probably be used.
Besides giving a door that is lighter in weight and faster to assembly at
the first assembly, the design of the illustrated door will provide for simpler
demount and remount for service. All the elements of the door will be available
since they are all located on the inside of the supporting frame.
FIGS. 8-10 show a design of a frame
10 of a front door, a left hand
door, that has two bolts
39,
40 at the rear vertical portion
15
of the frame of the door. The pillar
41, the B-pillar, at the back of the
front door has two hinges
42,
43 for fastening the rear door, and
the B-pillar has holes in the form of sleeves
44,
45 for receiving
the bolts
39,
40 in the way described with reference to FIGS. 1-7.
These sleeves are located ahead of the hinges. In the conventional way, the B-pillar
can be reinforced by reinforcing plates at its inside at the mountings for the
hinges, and it is advantageous that the bolts engage where the B-pillar is reinforced.
Such reinforcement, however, is not illustrated in FIG. 10. As in FIG. 1, the side
impact guard of the frame
10 has a horizontal beam
46. This beam
is in this design bifurcated into two portions
47,
48 and it has vertical
supports
49,
50 to the horizontal portions
14 and
16
of the hat beam so that five holes are formed in the frame
10. All these
portions
46-
50 of the side impact guard are hat beams and a flat
51 is formed where these hat beams meet. It can also be considered that
the side impact guard comprises a beam between the horizontal portions of the frame
and a beam between the vertical portions of the frame and that these beams intersect.
*
