Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

John Gray

James Dennis Cunningham

Tarakorn Soonthornwinate

Josh David Fraley

Yoshiki Ishikawa

An apparatus for enabling a user to access a roof of the vehicle. The apparatus may be positioned within a cavity that is located on a front surface of a B-pillar or a C-pillar of a vehicle. The apparatus including a plate having a distal end and a proximal end, the plate movable between a stored position where the plate is positioned within the cavity and the plate is configured to be substantially flush with the front surface of the B-pillar or the C-pillar, and an extended position where a majority of the plate is positioned outside the cavity and the plate is configured to be substantially perpendicular to the front surface of the B-pillar or the C-pillar to allow the user to place his or her foot on the plate for accessing the roof of the vehicle.

Roof access device for a vehicle

A vehicle door assembly includes an outer door panel and a door latch assembly operable to latch and unlatch the vehicle door assembly. The door latch assembly includes a door handle assembly, a bell crank operatively coupled to the door handle assembly, wherein rotation of the bell crank causes the door latch assembly to unlatch the vehicle door assembly, and a bell crank blocking structure. The bell crank blocking structure includes a first leg coupled to a support structure within the vehicle door assembly and an overhang portion connected to the first leg. The overhang portion extends outwardly from the first leg and is spaced from a plane of rotation of the bell crank during normal vehicle operating conditions. The overhang portion is configured to deform toward the plane of rotation of the bell crank during a side impact condition to block rotation of the bell crank.

Door latch assemblies for vehicles including bell crank blocking structures

A vehicle includes a door with an interior door cavity, as well as a lock rod and another item of a locking system, an impact beam, an attack member and a push member, all housed in the interior door cavity. The impact beam crosses the other item from laterally between the other item and the door. The attack member faces the lock rod from laterally between the door and the lock rod. The push member, along the impact beam, faces the other item from laterally between the other item and the door and laterally beyond the impact beam. When the door collapses when compromised by a side impact event, the door carries the attack member for attacking action on the lock rod. The door additionally carries the push member for counterpart pushing action on the other item. A connection between the lock rod and the other item thus breaks.

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Saline, MI, United States of America

John Gray