Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

Michitomo Matsuoka

Blaine C Benson

Keith O'Brien

A door assembly, of a vehicle that includes a first pillar structure and a second pillar structure, includes a door outer panel, a door inner panel coupled to and positioned inwardly of the door outer panel, and an impact beam positioned between the door outer panel and the door inner panel. The door impact beam includes a first end and an opposite second end, the first end overlaps the first pillar structure and the second end overlaps the second pillar structure. The door assembly further includes an inner bulkhead coupled to the door inner panel and positioned between the door inner panel and the first end of the impact beam, and an outer bulkhead coupled to the door inner panel and positioned between the inner bulkhead and the first end of the impact beam, the outer bulkhead overlaps a portion of the inner bulkhead.

Door assemblies and vehicles including outer and inner bulkheads to transfer a side impact load to a pillar structure and methods incorporating the same

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Nisshin, Japan

Michitomo Matsuoka