Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Keiichi Obata

Suguru Yoshida

Yoshinobu Ono

Masahiro Saitoh

An automobile body structure includes a canopy of plastic having a pair of thicker portions projecting on an inner surface of the canopy and spaced from each other in the fore-and-aft direction of the automobile body structure, and a rigid support member embedded in each of the thicker portions. The canopy includes a roof, and front and rear windows formed therewith of a unitary, undivided construction, the thicker portions being disposed near upper edges of the front and rear windows. The thicker portions are arch-shaped. The rigid support member comprises a solid rod or a hollow pipe.

Reinforced plastic automobile body structure

An elongate packing is sandwiched between two sheet-like mold members in an encircling manner to define a mold cavity therebetween, then a thermosetting plastic material is poured into the mold cavity, and the thermosetting plastic material is heated and set in the mold cavity. The upper and lower mold members are held against deformation transverse thereof so as not to be deformed by the shrinkage of the thermosetting plastic material when the latter is set, and the packing is allowed to move transversely thereof for following the shrinkage of the thermosetting plastic material when the latter is set. In some embodiments, the packing comprises a packing body adapted to be sandwiched between the mold members for preventing the plastic material from flowing out of the mold cavity with a flange joined to the packing body and adapted to be held against peripheral edges of the mold members.

Growing community of inventors

Saitama, Japan

Keiichi Obata