Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Volvo Car Corporation

Gunnar Lassl

Maurizio Roccato

Paolo Canato

Mikael Fermer

Mikael Bostrom

Niclas Palmquist

There is provided a hydroformed automotive pillar arrangement operable to provide impact or crash protection in a vehicle. The pillar arrangement includes one or more hydroformed pillars. Each pillar is of unitary elongate construction. Moreover, each pillar is of open or closed substantially tubular cross-section. Furthermore, each pillar has a first end and a second end. Additionally, each pillar is adapted when included in the vehicle to continuously extend at the first end substantially from a socket arrangement coupled to a longitudinal strengthening sill of the vehicle upwardly to the second end.

Hydroformed automotive pillar

There is provided a vehicle door system for a door of a road vehicle, for example an open-top or convertible vehicle. The door includes a first hinged region thereof and a second openable region thereof. Moreover, the assembly comprises a reinforcement member for inclusion within the door substantially from the hinged region thereof to the second openable region thereof. Furthermore, the assembly further includes a first retention mechanism at the first region and a second retention mechanism at the second region, the mechanisms being resilient in operation to impact or crash forces applied to the door to resist lateral movement of the door when the door is in a closed state.

Vehicle door system

There is described an impact force coupling assembly operable to couple impact forces from an upright member of a road vehicle to a horizontal transverse member thereof during an impact event. The assembly has a first region and a second region, and is operable to be impinged or captured between the members during the impact event. The assembly includes cavities including dividing walls therebetween, the dividing walls extending along the assembly in a direction from the first region to the second region. Capture of the assembly during the impact event is affected by intrusive deformation of the side walls at the regions of the assembly by portions of the transverse member and the upright member. The coupling assembly is preferably fabricated as a unitary extruded aluminum component. The upright member and the transverse member are preferably a heel-kick and a B-pillar respectively of the vehicle.

Impact force coupling assembly

There is provided a vehicular impact energy absorption block arrangement adapted to provide impact energy absorption at a region substantially between a first strengthening member and a second strengthening member of a road vehicle. The energy absorption block arrangement comprises one or more energy absorber blocks operable to suffer deformation, for example substantially non-elastic deformation, when subject to forces arising from an impact or crash of the vehicle, thereby at least partially absorbing the impact energy. The one or more energy absorber blocks are fabricated from expanded plastics material foam, for example expanded polypropylene plastics material foam including pores therein. The pores may be substantially opened or closed.

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Bohus, Sweden

Gunnar Lassl