Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

Other

William F Graves

Mark D Clauser

Naipaul Deo Ramoutar

Tyler E Schnug

Corinne D Uskali

Ginger Ackerman

Ryan A Mikolaizik

Josette Fleszar

Chase A Young

Faiyaz Mohammed

Julie Graves

A vehicle includes a body including a beltline and a rear wheelhouse, an input line assembly packaged about the rear wheelhouse, a component packaged about the rear wheelhouse rearward of the input line assembly, and a spare wheel stowed rearward of the rear wheelhouse. The component is secured by a permanent beltline-side attachment and a semi-permanent rear wheelhouse-side attachment. In response to rear impact, the body is configured to allow forward movement of the spare wheel, under which the spare wheel has a trajectory relative to which the component is between the spare wheel and the input line assembly, and relative displacement between the beltline-side attachment and the rear wheelhouse-side attachment, under which the rear wheelhouse-side attachment breaks against the beltline-side attachment, and the beltline-side attachment thereafter carries the component from between the spare wheel and the input line assembly relative to the trajectory of the spare wheel.

Safeguarding a vehicle's input line assembly

Disclosed is a wheelhouse structure of a vehicle, including an inner panel with an inner flange that includes a straight portion, and an outer panel with an outer flange sized and shaped to interface with the inner flange along at least the straight portion. The outer panel includes a stiffening bead situated forward from, or proximate to a forward portion of, the straight portion. The wheelhouse structure also includes a plurality of joins coupling the inner flange to the outer flange, and a gap in the plurality of joins that is aligned with the first stiffening bead. When a rear portion of the wheelhouse structure is subjected to a loading force in a forward direction, the outer panel bends in locations proximate to the stiffening bead more easily than in locations remote from the stiffening bead.

Deforming wheelhouse structure for a vehicle

Embodiments of a crush box are described. One embodiment of the crush box includes a first sidewall that is coupled to a vehicle and a second sidewall that is coupled to the vehicle, where the first sidewall and the second sidewall include similarly pre-bent portions that cause the first sidewall and the second sidewall to bend outward upon receipt of a force. In some embodiments, the first sidewall and the second sidewall include a plurality of tabs that couple the first sidewall and the second sidewall to a top wall that bends inward upon receipt of the force.

Crush box for vehicle impact

An animal flotation device is provided. The animal flotation device is a non-inflatable, semi-submersible flotation apparatus for a dog to stably sit, lay and move about while partially submerged in a body of water of any depth. The animal flotation device may have a peripheral portion defining an interior portion. The interior portion provides a generally rigid area adapted to become semi-submersed within the body of water when supporting the dog, whereby the peripheral portion provides buoyancy and stability to the semi-submersed interior portion so that the dog may move around and feel safe while floating atop the body of water.

Animal flotation device

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

A centrifuge gas compressor for compressing gases to higher pressure states having a housing hollow interior, inside the hollow interior is a distributor and a rotating disc; the distributor is used for channeling gas and liquids into the rotating disc. The rotating disc contains a multiplicity of compression conduits extending perpendicular from a rotating axis of said disc whereby gas and liquids are channeled through. The spinning disc creates centrifugal force on the gas and liquid mixture and forces the mixtures towards smaller exit openings thereby compressing the gas in the process. The compressed gas then exits the spinning disc at a perimeter opening whereby the high-pressure gas can be used for its intended purpose.

Growing community of inventors

Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

William F Graves