Daimler Chrysler Ag

Achim Hoffmann

Wilfried Heise

J&ouml;rg Sikorski

Joachim Ruhs

Jens Peter Weber

A cross member as part of a motor-vehicle floor assembly is provided which, on both sides, comprises an attachment region for the screwing on of a rear axle unit, and a spring-receiving region which is adjacent to the attachment region and is intended for the fixing in place of a helical spring. In order to be able to absorb in a specific manner the compression and bending stresses introduced in the attachment and spring-receiving region, the cross member is provided with a stiffening structure of additional metal plates, the stiffening structure being used to obtain a local increase in the stiffening and strength of these regions. The stiffening structure is formed by extruded and bent steel plates which are nested one into another like boxes and are connected to one another and to the base and side walls of the cross member by spot welding. This box structure enables the screw-on intersecting point to be adjusted with respect to the rear axle in the body shell in the X- and Y-directions. This stiffening structure can be welded into the cross member with little manufacturing outlay and fulfils the stiffness requirements placed on the connecting region.

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Sindelfingen, Germany

Achim Hoffmann