Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Jungmao Michael Chang

Marwan Ahmad Elbkaily

John Martin Knittel

Viktor Kostrominov

Daniel Joseph McCarthy

Michael Jon Gutowski

Amar Ourchane

Samar Majbour

Dan Joseph McCarthy

A hood latch support assembly includes a support beam having a first portion, a second portion, and a latch support portion disposed between the first portion and the second portion. The first portion has a strength, and the second portion has a strength that is less than the strength of the first portion.

Hood latch support beam

A vehicle frame for a vehicle includes a rail and an engine cradle. The rail has a front portion, a rear portion spaced from the front portion, and a middle portion between the front portion and the rear portion. The engine cradle is transversely attached to the front portion. The front portion and the rear portion are each welded to the middle portion. The middle portion has a gauge thinner than a gauge of the front portion.

Vehicle frame

The disclosed inventive concept provides a robust tow hook mounting structure for use with vehicles having curved frames in which the tow hook remains fixed to the vehicle during a front end impact event. The structure includes weld nuts aligned in a vehicle longitudinal direction. A frame reinforcement to which the tow hook is attached is welded to the front tip of the curved frame. Mounting bolts are aligned in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle to secure the tow hook and the tow hook reinforcement to the frame weld nuts. The shear capacity of the mounting bolts is higher than the towing capacity and the crash load during an impact event. The structure generates high bending moments that trigger favorable bending deformations in the kick down area of the frame in which the structure functions as a backup arrangement in an impact event and reduces high crash pulses.

Tow hook mounting structure for use with vehicle having curved frame

Growing community of inventors

Novi, MI, United States of America

Jungmao Michael Chang