Shape Corporation

Ed C Pendergrass

Joseph R Matecki

Brian Oxley

Thomas J Johnson

Brian Malkowski

Daniel Gatti

Kannan Ramamoorthy

Doug Witte

Mark Charles Stephens

Cort C Corwin

Toby K Jacobson

Thomas Johnson

A beam assembly includes a first beam that has a first tubular portion and a first projecting portion that extends from the first tubular portion. A second beam has a second tubular portion and a second projecting portion that extends from the second tubular portion. The elongated interior of the first tubular portion defines a first hollow area and the elongated interior of the second tubular portion defines a second hollow area. The first beam is attached to the second beam with the first projecting portion attached to the second tubular portion and the second projecting portion attached to the first tubular portion to define a third hollow area between the first and second projecting portions.

Beam assembly with multi-hollow formation

A battery support structure for a vehicle includes a plurality of side reinforcement members and front and rear reinforcement members. The plurality of side reinforcement members are configured to extend longitudinally relative to an associated vehicle frame, and the front and rear reinforcement members are configured to extend laterally relative to the associated vehicle frame. A plurality of module nodes are attached between adjacent ends of the side reinforcement members and the front and rear members to together form a containment wall that generally surrounds a battery containment area. The plurality of module nodes comprise corner sections of the containment wall, such that a length of the side reinforcement members or the front and rear reinforcement members is selected to provide a desired respective length or width of the battery containment area.

Vehicle battery tray structure with nodal modularity

A vehicle reinforcement beam is roll formed from a metal sheet to provide a multi-tubular reinforcement beam that includes two adjacent tubular sections that share a common center wall. The outer sections the metal sheet extend from opposing ends of the common center wall and are formed to enclose the adjacent tubular sections. An edge portion of the metal sheet that is bent to have a bend radius of about 3-9 mm, where the edge portions attach in abutting and continuous contact with the common center wall to form crevices between the adjacent tubular sections along the first and second faces. A weld is formed in each of the crevices to define crevice ribs in general alignment with and at each of the opposing first and second ends of the common center wall that are configured to improve bending strength and torsional strength of the reinforcement beam.

Multi-tubular reinforcement beam with center leg

The present bumper impact beam includes pultruding polymer (e.g. thermoset polymer, preferably polyurethane) into continuous reinforcement (preferably carbon fibers or glass fibers), the reinforcement including fabrics selectively positioned and extending around corners for improved impact strength. The beam preferably has a 50%-70% fiber volume fraction that is relatively uniform throughout the part. A curved cooling support and/or beam design may be used to cause the cooled beam to have a sweep.

Pultruded beam, and apparatus and methods for manufacturing

A reinforcement beam is roll formed from a metal sheet for use in a vehicle bumper system. The reinforcement beam includes adjacent tubes having a common center wall and lateral portions extending from opposing sides of the common center wall that are roll formed simultaneously in the same rotational direction to enclose interior volumes of the adjacent tubes and to define top and bottom walls and front and rear wall of the reinforcement beam. The front walls of the adjacent tubes each include a channel rib depressed into the interior volume of the respective adjacent tube longitudinally along the reinforcement beam for stiffening the respective front wall. A weld is formed separately in each of the seams between the front walls and between the rear walls, thereby defining a crevice rib between the channel ribs to improve the bending strength and torsional strength of the reinforcement beam.

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West Olive, MI, United States of America

Ed C Pendergrass