Nissan Technical Center North America, Inc.

Nissan North America, Inc.

Daniel Moll

Thomas Mally

Robert R Blanchard

Erik Anderson

Basavapatna Naganarayana

Ken Ameloot

Rajesh Mishra

Douglas D Dawe

An outer pillar panel is fixed to an inner pillar panel defining a vehicle pillar with a closed box cross section. A vertically extending cavity is defined between the inner and outer pillar panels. The outer pillar panel includes a first contact portion within the cavity. The roof side rail is rigidly fixed to the upper ends of the inner pillar panel and the outer pillar panel. The brace is fixed to the inner pillar panel within the cavity. The brace includes a second contact portion facing the first contact portion but is spaced apart therefrom by a predetermined gap with the inner and outer pillar panels in an undeformed state. The first contact portion contacts the second contact portion when an external force above a prescribed amount is applied to the vehicle body structure.

Vehicle body structure

A vehicle frame structure includes an outer pillar panel, an inner pillar panel and a bulkhead. The outer pillar panel includes an outer upper end, an outer lower end and an outer bulkhead attachment section located between the outer lower end and the outer upper end and at or above a mid-point of the outer pillar panel. The inner pillar panel includes an inner upper end, an inner lower end and an inner bulkhead attachment section located between the inner lower end and inner upper end and at or above a mid-point of the inner pillar panel. The bulkhead is fixedly coupled to the outer and inner bulkhead attachment sections.

Vehicle frame structure

A gusset includes a floor attachment end, a side wall attachment end and an intermediate section. The floor attachment end is fixed to a reinforced floor portion of a vehicle. The side wall attachment end is fixed to a vehicle side wall structure at a point spaced apart from a side wall structure of the vehicle. The intermediate section has a generally U-shaped transverse cross section formed from generally upwardly oriented first and second gusset portions interconnected at upper ends by a top gusset portion. The reinforcement member is disposed within the gusset at a location between the floor and side wall attachment ends of the gusset. The reinforcement member interconnects the first and second gusset portions.

Basically, a vehicle body structure is configured to reduce the rotation of a side roof rail that may occur during a side collision that deforms the center pillar inwardly of the vehicle body. The vehicle body structure basically includes a side rail reinforcement member located in the area where the center pillar is attached to the roof side rail. The reinforcement member can basically be divided into a first side rail reinforcement section that extends in a forward to aft direction along the roof side rail and a second side rail reinforcement section that extends in an inward direction relative to the longitudinal axis of the roof side rail. The second section of the roof side rail overlies a portion of the sliding door pocket structure that is located just rearwardly of the center pillar.

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Novi, MI, United States of America

Daniel Moll