Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Toyota Motor Corporation

Naipaul Deo Ramoutar

Jonathan Richard Young

Taichi Yamashita

Manikandan Baby Mony

Gerritt Benjamin Meyers

Adam D Holmstrom

Mark D Clauser

Mark Kulik

Corinne D Uskali

Jesse Thomas Buehler

Carlos M Briceno

Maurice P Silva

Sagar Kulkarni

Valerie Schnabelrauch

Ronald Bowers

Shunsukei Kanagai

Matthew W Schnabelrauch

Koji Saeki

Jonathan Joseph Quijano

William F Graves

Palani Palaniappan

Behnaz Hajimohsen

William Brian Deming

Yizhou Fan

Christopher Paul Sheehy

Willliam F Graves

Nathan Jordan

Kirankumar Sambatur

Samuel King

Adam Karibian

Kelly L T Harbison

Hiroki Sawa

Jesse Buehler

Gerritt B Meyers

A vehicle includes a vehicle door assembly including a door handle assembly and a door latch assembly that includes a door latch device operatively connected to the door handle assembly using a latch release lever that moves along a travel path to place the door latch assembly in an unlatched configuration. The door latch assembly includes the latch release lever that is configured to move between a latched configuration and the unlatched configuration. A glass guide assembly is mounted in the vehicle door assembly including a guide body and a door latch stopper bracket mounted to the guide body arranged and configured such that movement of an outer door panel toward an inner door panel during a side impact event moves the guide body toward the door latch assembly and causes the door latch stopper bracket to engage the latch release lever and inhibit movement of the latch release lever.

Vehicle door assembly including a door latch stopper bracket

Anchor brackets/tethers may be used to reinforce a vehicle's resin rear door without substantially increasing the mass of the resin rear door. Such anchor brackets hold an interior trim panel(s) in place, and keep the interior trim panel(s) connected to the door structure or portion(s) thereof. The interior trim panel(s) can act as a protective interior shield that eliminates any exposure of the interior cabin/passenger compartment from any outer (and/or interior) door panel cracks/gaps that may be created during an adverse event. Moreover, conventional interior trim panels may, during a collision, break apart, the broken pieces becoming potentially dangerous projectiles. By being attached to the door structure and/or door componentry, the chance that the interior trim panel (or portions thereof) becoming a projectile is negated or at least lessened.

Combination interior trim and reinforcement for exterior resin pane

A spacer for vehicle panels can be shaped such that it absorbs a substantial portion of a first load, the first load applied in a first direction substantially perpendicular to the exterior panel; controllably deforms along a second direction when a second load is applied substantially along the second direction; wherein the second direction is other than the first direction. The spacer need not deform along the second direction when the first load is applied. The spacer can have a shaped member having a channel extending through the spacer perpendicular from the exterior panel, such that the spacer can controllably deform along a width of the channel.

Resin panel spacer block for energy absorption, load support, and gap prevention

A mounting assembly for an automotive radiator, a vehicle including such a mounting and a method of mitigating an impact between a vehicle and a pedestrian. The assembly includes a radiator support and one or more brackets. Each bracket is made up of a first end portion that is secured to the radiator support and a second end portion extending forward of the radiator support such that it can be attached to a load-bearing structure within a vehicle. The brackets each include at least one enhanced collapsible zone in order to promote energy absorption relative to energy transmission in situations where a vehicle experiences a front-end impact with a pedestrian or other object. In this way, the added energy absorption by the brackets reduces the amount of impact energy being transmitted to more rigid vehicular structures such as the radiator and its support; this increase in impact energy absorption in turn results in less energy being delivered to the pedestrian.

Collapsible radiator support brackets for pedestrian safety

Vehicle structures for dissipating energy associated with a collision are described herein. In one embodiment, a vehicle includes a first side support extending in a vehicle longitudinal direction, a second side support extending in the vehicle longitudinal direction and spaced apart from the first side support in a vehicle lateral direction that is transverse to the vehicle longitudinal direction, and a cross-vehicle stabilizing structure extending between the first side support and the second side support, the cross-vehicle stabilizing structure including a first joint portion coupled to the first side support, the first joint portion including a stiffness-reducing portion positioned within a perimeter of the first joint portion, a second joint portion coupled to the second side support, and a cross-vehicle stabilizer portion coupled to the first joint portion and the second joint portion.

Vehicles having a cross-vehicle stabilizing structure

A vehicle includes a bumper beam and a bumper fascia that covers the bumper beam. An energy absorption member includes a first laterally positioned leg including a mounting flange connected to the bumper beam and a second laterally positioned leg including a mounting flange connected to the bumper beam. The first and second laterally positioned legs are located at opposite sides of a forward facing surface and are spaced-apart from each other.

Frontal impact energy absorption members

A support structure assembly for an automotive vehicle includes a side member extending in a generally longitudinal direction and having a forward end; a link member having a generally fixed shape and having outer and inner mounting portions with the inner portion being mounted to the side member via an inner hinged connection; and a bumper having a main bumper member and a bumper extension member forming an end portion of the bumper. The bumper extends generally transverse and lateral to the longitudinal direction of the side member, and the bumper extension member extends laterally across and beyond the forward end of the side member. The bumper extension member includes forward and rearward wall portions. The rearward wall portion is sandwiched between the main bumper member and the forward end of the side member.

Small overlap frontal impact counter-measure

A bumper beam assembly includes a bumper reinforcement beam that connects to right and left side members of a vehicle at a rear face of the bumper reinforcement beam at a respective bumper beam connecting location and that extend rearward therefrom in a vehicle longitudinal direction. A spacer member is connected to the rear face outboard of the bumper beam connecting location. The spacer member includes a front wall, a rear wall, an inboard wall and an outboard wall, the inboard and outboard walls extend between the front wall and rear wall in the vehicle longitudinal direction. The front wall is connected to the rear face of the bumper reinforcement beam at a connecting portion. The front wall includes a chamfer wall portion outboard of the connecting portion that is separated from the rear face of the bumper reinforcement beam providing a space between the chamfer wall portion and the rear face of the bumper reinforcement beam.

Bumper assemblies including spacer members and vehicles incorporating the same

Bumpers and vehicles that include bumpers are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a bumper includes a bumper beam assembly, the bumper beam assembly including a beam, the beam including a front side that is oriented to face forward in a vehicle longitudinal direction, a bumper extension portion that is coupled to the beam and positioned at an outboard end of the bumper beam assembly, the bumper extension portion including a front side that is oriented face forward in the vehicle longitudinal direction, a top side that is oriented transverse to the front side, and a bottom side that is oriented transverse to the front side, and a reinforcement bracket that is coupled to the bumper extension portion, where the reinforcement bracket includes a front side that extends across the front side of the bumper extension portion.

Bumpers including a reinforcement bracket and vehicles incorporating the same

A vehicle includes a front wheel. A steering column assembly is coupled to the front wheel. The steering column assembly includes a steering wheel and a steering column coupled to the steering wheel. A steering rack assembly includes a rack coupled to the front wheel. The rack extends in a vehicle lateral direction and is translatable with respect to a body of the vehicle in the vehicle lateral direction. A steering knuckle assembly is coupled to the steering rack assembly by a tie rod. A tie rod disconnect feature decouples the steering knuckle assembly and the steering rack assembly upon movement of the tie rod beyond a predetermined distance.

Systems and methods of decoupling vehicle steering systems

Vehicle structures for dissipating energy associated with a collision are described herein. In one embodiment, a vehicle includes a side support extending in a vehicle longitudinal direction, a bumper assembly coupled to the side support and extending in a vehicle lateral direction that is transverse to the vehicle longitudinal direction, and a repositionable joint assembly extending between and pivotally coupled to the side support and the bumper assembly, the repositionable joint assembly including an outboard linking member pivotally coupled to the bumper assembly at a bumper securement location, an inboard linking member pivotally coupled to the side support at a side support securement location, and a fulcrum portion, where the outboard linking member is pivotally coupled to the inboard linking member at the fulcrum portion.

Bumper assembly and side support linking members

Vehicle structures for dissipating and distributing energy associated with a collision are described herein. In one embodiment, a vehicle includes a side support extending in a vehicle longitudinal direction, a rocker support extending in the vehicle longitudinal direction, where the rocker support is positioned outboard of the side support in a vehicle lateral direction, a torque box extending in the vehicle lateral direction, a dash panel coupled to the torque box, where the dash panel comprises an engine room barrier portion extending upward from the torque box and a floor attachment portion extending downward from the torque box, and a reinforcement member positioned between the side support and the rocker support, where the reinforcement member is spaced apart from the side support and the rocker support, and where the reinforcement member is coupled to the engine room barrier portion and the floor attachment portion of the dash panel.

Vehicles having a dash panel reinforcement member

Vehicle structures for dissipating and distributing energy associated with an impact are described herein. In one embodiment, a vehicle includes a dash panel, a wheel well portion that is positioned proximate to an outboard portion of the dash panel, and a side support coupled to the dash panel. The vehicle also includes a front suspension mount that is coupled to the side support and a rocker support positioned outboard of the side support. The vehicle further includes a wheel that is coupled to the front suspension mount and is positioned at least partially within the wheel well portion and forward of the rocker support, an A-pillar portion that is coupled to the rocker support and to the dash panel, and an inboard gusset that is coupled to the side support and the dash panel at a position proximate to the side support and is spaced apart from the A-pillar portion.

Vehicles having a dash panel reinforcement gusset

Vehicle structures for dissipating energy associated with a collision are described herein. In one embodiment, a vehicle includes a first side support extending in a vehicle longitudinal direction, a second side support extending in the vehicle longitudinal direction and spaced apart from the first side support in a vehicle lateral direction that is transverse to the vehicle longitudinal direction, and a cross-vehicle stabilizing structure including a cross-vehicle stabilizer portion extending between the first side support and the second side support, the cross-vehicle stabilizer portion including a first stabilizer portion coupled to the first side support at a first securement location, and a second stabilizer portion coupled to the second side support at a second securement location, where the second stabilizer portion is pivotally coupled to the first stabilizer portion.

Growing community of inventors

Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

Naipaul Deo Ramoutar