Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Marwan Ahmad Elbkaily

Muhsin M Hamdoon

Yalla Mussa Abushawashi

Bakhtyar Baig

Darrin Neil Wagner

Tushar Kamble

Abdelrahim Khal

Linh Ngoc Doan

Viktor Kostrominov

George David Aucott

John Martin Knittel

Gururaj Aralikatti

Juyoung Lee

Jungmao Michael Chang

S M Iskander Farooq

Srinivasan Sundararajan

Edgar Edward Donabedian

Eric Axel Smitterberg

Daniel Carl Bejune

Nirmal Muralidharan

Jonathan L Clarke

Amit Chakravarty

Daniel Joseph McCarthy

Bruce Richard Ghastin

Bhaskara Rao Pamarthi

Robin Burnett

Benjamin Mansfield

Alexander Morgan

Chunyu Wang

James Chih Cheng

Sudip Sankar Bhattacharjee

Krishnakanth E Aekbote

Marc David Nedelman

Krish E Aekbote

Greg Gombert

Ketan K Desai

Humberto Memetla Martinez

Weigang Chen

Robert A Chanko

Michael Jon Gutowski

Amar Ourchane

Matthew Miinshiou Huang

Rongrong Zhou

Israel Hiram Loza

Stephen Dreher

Matthew James Enciso

Douglas Lee Howe

Robert Walter Bartus

Carlos H Perez

Chang Hun Lee

Mary A Mason

Jeffery Howell

Kaiming Sun

Dan Joseph McCarthy

Jon Maninga

Matthew Alan Niesluchowski

Shuenn-Muh Chen

Mustafa Usuf

Georgetta Livingstone

James Yunhyung Lee

Shravan Kumar Sabbani

Jeffrey Vonlinsowe

James Robert Pederson

Matt James Enciso

Gargi Tandra

Samar Majbour

Jeremiah James Smith

Shane Scherbarth

Vehicle frames with buckling avoidance features are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a cross member extending between a first side rail and a second side rail, a battery coupled to the cross member and the second side rail, and a bracket opposite to the battery, the bracket coupled to the first side rail and the cross member at a first location and a second location.

Vehicle frame cross members with buckling avoidance features

A door-trim panel for a vehicle includes an armrest and a top roll extending upwardly from the armrest to an upper end. The upper end has an inboard portion and an outboard portion and the upper end is elongated along a longitudinal axis. The top roll includes pairs of ribs spaced from each other along the longitudinal axis. The pairs of ribs include an inboard rib extending from the inboard portion toward the outboard portion to an outboard end. The pairs of ribs include an outboard rib adjacent to and spaced from the inboard rib of that pair. The outboard rib extends from the outboard portion toward the inboard portion to an inboard end of the outboard rib. The inboard ribs and outboard ribs are elongated transverse to the longitudinal axis. The inboard end and the outboard end are spaced from the inboard portion of the top roll.

Door-trim panel having collapsible ribs and grooves

A vehicle door trim panel has a vehicle interior-facing A-side and a vehicle door structure-facing B-side. The vehicle door trim panel includes a pocket portion that includes a side portion and a wall portion that surrounds and extends outward from the pocket portion. The wall portion has a first portion. The B-side of the first portion of the wall portion is concave and faces generally vehicle-downward. A thickness of the first portion of the wall portion is less than a thickness of the pocket portion adjacent to the first portion of the wall portion.

Vehicle door trim panel

An instrument panel assembly for a vehicle includes an instrument panel body including a driver-side portion, a center stack portion, and a passenger-side portion. A cross-car beam assembly is configured to at least partially support the instrument panel body and includes a horizontal member extending across at least the passenger-side portion of the instrument panel body. A first lower reinforcement bracket is spaced apart from the horizontal member and extends across the passenger-side portion of the instrument panel body. A second lower reinforcement bracket is coupled with the first lower reinforcement bracket. A vertical reinforcement bracket extends between the horizontal member and the first and second lower reinforcement brackets. The vertical reinforcement bracket includes a curved portion proximate a first end and coupled with the horizontal member. A second end of the vertical reinforcement bracket is coupled with at least one of the first and second lower reinforcement brackets.

Vehicle instrument panel assembly

An assembly includes a pair of frame rails, each of the frame rails elongated along a vehicle-longitudinal axis and having a front portion, a rear portion, and an elevated portion above and between the front portion and the rear portion. The assembly includes a cross-support fixed to at least one of the frame rails at the elevated portion and extending along a cross-vehicle axis from one of the frame rails toward the other of the frame rails. The assembly includes a bracket fixed to the frame rail at the elevated portion and fixed to the cross-support.

Vehicle frame assembly

An apparatus includes a stop carried on a glove box lid and a lever including an abutment, a catch and a fulcrum. The lever is displaceable about the fulcrum between a rest position and a deployed position. In the deployed position the catch engages the stop preventing the glove box lid from opening. A method of securing the glove box lid in a closed position in the event of an impact to a motor vehicle is also provided.

Apparatus and method for securing a glove box lid in a closed position

A vehicle trim panel assembly includes a pillar trim panel, a grab handle extending from the pillar trim panel defining a corner between the pillar trim panel and the grab handle, and a ramp at the corner. The ramp is fixed relative to the pillar trim panel and the grab handle at the corner. The ramp is deformable relative to the grab handle.

Vehicle trim panel assembly

A glove box retainer assembly for retaining a glove box in a closed position during a frontal impact event of a vehicle includes an instrument panel of the vehicle and a bin is coupled to the instrument panel. The bin includes a base coupled to a rearward wall, a forward wall, and a side wall positioned between the rearward wall and the forward wall. A plurality of ribs is coupled to the forward wall. A collapsible feature is coupled to the side wall. An arm feature is coupled to the side wall and is defined by a slot feature in the side wall that feature extends from an upper rim of the side wall toward the forward wall. The collapsible feature is configured to collapse and the arm feature is configured to protrude outward from the side wall and engage the instrument panel in response to the application of a sufficient force.

Vehicle glove box bin

An upper reinforcement for a door trim panel includes a reinforcement channel, and a rib extending across the reinforcement channel. More particularly, the rib includes a first end section that engages a first wall of the channel, a second end section that engages a third wall of the channel and an intermediate section that extends across a window in the second wall of the channel.

Upper reinforcement for a door trim panel and method of tuning performance characteristics thereof

A vehicle frame includes a first frame rail and a second frame rail elongated along a vehicle-longitudinal axis and spaced from each other along a cross-vehicle axis. The vehicle frame includes a cross-beam elongated along the cross-vehicle axis between the first frame rail and the second frame rail. The cross-beam includes a first groove and a second groove both proximate the first frame rail and spaced from each other along the cross-vehicle axis.

Vehicle frame

A seatback for a vehicle comprises: a lid having a closed position preventing access to a storage area and an open position allowing access to the storage area; and a locking element having an engaged position that prevents the lid from transitioning from the closed position to the open position and a disengaged position that does not prevent the lid from transitioning from the closed position to the open position; wherein, the locking element transitions from the disengaged position to the engaged position via the force of gravity when the seatback transitions from a fold down position to an upright position, and transitions from the engaged position to the disengaged position when the seatback transitions from the upright position to fold down position. The lid can pivot upward from a rearward portion of the seatback in the fold down position, as the lid transitions to the open position.

Locking element for a lid to a storage area in a seatback of a vehicle

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 shock absorber system includes a body, a component, and at least one primary attachment that secures the component on the body. A secondary attachment is configured to secure the component to the body upon breakage of the primary attachment. The secondary attachment includes a single-use shock absorber and a cable that is attached to the body and secured through the single-use shock absorber to the component.

Plastically deformable shock absorber

A locking device is provided for a motor vehicle door. The locking device includes a body having a base, a stake, a lever, a gusset and a rotational axis. A method of locking a motor vehicle door closed in response to a side impact is also provided.

Device and method for locking a motor vehicle door closed in response to a side impact

Growing community of inventors

Canton, MI, United States of America

Marwan Ahmad Elbkaily