Zephyros, Inc.

Liwen Li

Henry E Richardson

Craig Chmielewski

Nick Holstine

Alex Mangiapane

Milko Dimovski

Joseph R Thomas

Jeffrey Thomas Shantz

Joseph Thomas

A structural reinforcement for a vehicle comprising: a) a carrier having a base wall from which a plurality of projections extend, the plurality of projections including at least one first projection and at least one second projection and the at least one first projection having a height greater than a height of the at least one second projection; b) an activatable material which is heat activatable and affixed to the carrier, configured to secure the carrier in a cavity of the vehicle; wherein in event of an impact, the at least one first projection and second projection are configured to deform toward the base wall and/or in a direction of an impact load in response to the impact load; and the at least one first projection is configured to receive the impact load and deform before the at least one second projection receives the impact load and deforms.

Multiple stage deformation reinforcement structure for impact absorption

A structural reinforcement for an article including a carrier () that includes: (i) a mass of polymeric material () having an outer surface; and (ii) at least one fibrous composite insert () or overlay () having an outer surface and including at least one elongated fiber arrangement (e.g., having a plurality of ordered fibers). The fibrous insert () or overlay () is envisioned to adjoin the mass of the polymeric material in a predetermined location for carrying a predetermined load that is subjected upon the predetermined location (thereby effectively providing localized reinforcement to that predetermined location). The fibrous insert () or overlay () and the mass of polymeric material () are of compatible materials, structures or both, for allowing the fibrous insert or overlay to be at least partially joined to the mass of the polymeric material. Disposed upon at least a portion of the carrier () may be a mass of activatable material (). The fibrous insert () or overlay () may include a polymeric matrix that includes a thermoplastic epoxy.

Pultruded articles and methods for making same

Growing community of inventors

Troy, MI, United States of America

Liwen Li