Nippon Steel Corporation

Nippon Steel Sumitomo Metal Corporation

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Yasunori Sawa

Yoshiaki Nakazawa

Koichi Hamada

Ryuichi Nishimura

Toshiya Suzuki

Atsushi Ono

Tohru Yoshida

Tohru Okada

Takeshi Kawachi

Hiroshi Yoshida

Yasuhiro Ito

Masahiro Saito

Kenichiro Otsuka

Koki Ikeda

Shigeru Yonemura

Hiroki Fujimoto

Masanori Yasuyama

Atsuo Koga

Yasunori Ito

Mai Nagano

Shunsuke Kanagai

Akira Egami

Kohki Nakamura

A joint structure includes a first sheet member, a second sheet member, a third sheet member, and plural joining parts formed at locations where the first sheet member, the second sheet member, and the third sheet member overlap, so as to join the first sheet member, the second sheet member, and the third sheet member together. The plural joining parts are formed at an interval along an edge of the first sheet member and an edge of the second sheet member. The third sheet member includes a fold-back portion provided at least between the plural joining parts by folding the third sheet member back around the edge of the first sheet member and the edge of the second sheet member such that the fold-back portion is disposed on an opposite side of the first sheet member from a side overlapped with the second sheet member.

Joint structure, automotive component, and joint structure manufacturing method

An automobile hoodhas an inner panel, an outer panel, and a plurality of linear sealer regions A in which jointsare arranged. A region which includes the linear sealer region A and in which both ends in a longitudinal direction L of the linear sealer region A reach the outer circumferential edge of the inner panelis defined as an end-to-end region B. Each of three longest linear sealer regions A, Aand Aamong the plurality of linear sealer regions A is a length that is 40% or more of the length of an end-to-end region B, Bor Bto which the linear sealer regions A, Aor Abelongs, respectively. These three end-to-end regions B, Band Bdo not intersect with each other within a region surrounded by the outer circumferential edge of the inner panel

Automobile hood

There is provided an exterior panel including a steel sheet, the steel sheet including a flat portion, wherein in an outer-layer region of the flat portion, a microstructure contains, in volume fraction, ferrite of 80% or more, an average grain diameter of ferrite is 1.0 to 15.0 μm, an intensity ratio Xof ferrite is 0.30 or more to less than 3.50, when uEldenotes a uniform elongation measured with a tensile test specimen cut from the flat portion, and uEldenotes a theoretical uniform elongation that is derived from volume fractions, hardnesses, and average grain diameters of ferrite and martensite in a microstructure of an inside region of the flat portion, and a sheet thickness of the flat portion, uEl/uElis 0.44 to 0.80.

Exterior panel and automobile including the same

There is provided a resistance spot welding apparatus including a first rod-shaped electrode body, second rod-shaped electrode body, first ring-shaped member, second ring-shaped member, first elastic body, and second elastic body. The first rod-shaped electrode body and second rod-shaped electrode body are arranged facing each other, the first rod-shaped electrode body is inserted into a through hole of the first ring-shaped member, the first elastic body is connected to an opposite side of first ring-shaped member to second rod-shaped electrode body side, the first rod-shaped electrode body and first ring-shaped member are not electrically connected to each other, the second rod-shaped electrode body is inserted into a through hole of the second ring-shaped member, the second elastic body is connected to an opposite side of second ring-shaped member to first rod-shaped electrode body side, and the second rod-shaped electrode body and second ring-shaped member are not electrically connected each other.

Resistance spot welding apparatus and method for manufacturing a welded structure

A reinforcing structure of an automobile exterior panel improving performance in absorbing an impact load, the reinforcing structure of an automobile exterior panel comprising an outer panelof a sheet shape, a reinforcing memberarranged at a vehicle inner side from the outer panel, an inner panelof a sheet shape arranged at a vehicle inner side from the reinforcing member, and a support memberprovided at a vehicle outer side from the inner paneland supporting the reinforcing memberfrom a vehicle inner side, the support membercomprised of tube-shaped member having axial centers directed from the vehicle inner side toward the vehicle outer side.

Reinforcing structure of automobile exterior panel

A reinforcing structure of an automobile exterior panel improving performance in absorbing an impact load, the reinforcing structure of an automobile exterior panel including an outer panel of a sheet shape, a plurality of first and second reinforcing members of long shapes arranged at a vehicle inner side from the outer panel the second reinforcing members crossing the first reinforcing members, an inner panel of a sheet shape arranged at a vehicle inner side from the first and second reinforcing members, and support members provided at a vehicle outer side from the inner panel and supporting the first or the second reinforcing members from a vehicle inner side, the support members supporting first or the second reinforcing members at a plurality of crossing parts where the first and the second reinforcing members cross or between adjoining crossing parts.

In an automobile inner panel and an automobile panel that includes the automobile inner panel, panel rigidity of the panel is secured while achieving a weight reduction. An automobile inner panelhas a plurality of sub-unitsthat each include a flange, an inclined wallcontinuous with the flange, and a bottom portioncontinuous with inclined walland separated from the flange. The bottom portionsandof the sub-unitsandwhich are adjacent to each other are butted against each other and are directly continuous with each other. A maximum value of a distance Dbetween two of the flangesandof two of the sub-unitsandin which the bottom portionsare arranged separated from each other and which are adjacent to each other is 250 mm or less.

Automobile inner panel and automobile panel

In a method for producing an outer panel having a character line, a punch includes a projecting portion for forming a bent surface of the character line at a punch top portion, and a punch shoulder R portion. A contact pressure applied to a blank by at least one of the projecting portion and the punch shoulder R portion is higher than a contact pressure applied to the blank by a remaining portion of the punch which excludes the projecting portion and the punch shoulder R portion. A static friction coefficient of a first portion of the punch which includes at least one of the projecting portion and the punch shoulder R portion with respect to the blank is larger than a static friction coefficient of a second portion of the punch which excludes the first portion with respect to the blank.

Method and apparatus for producing outer panel having character line

A vehicle frame member includes: an outer panel configured to be disposed at a vehicle outer side, and having a U-shaped cross-section open toward a vehicle inner side; an inner panel configured to be disposed at the vehicle inner side, having a U-shaped cross-section open toward the vehicle outer side, and configuring a closed cross section structure together with the outer panel by both opening-ends of the inner panel respectively abutting and being joined to both opening-ends of the outer panel; and a bead formed at one or both abutting-joint portions between the outer panel and the inner panel, and projecting toward an outside of the closed cross section structure.

Vehicle frame member

A main body () has door attaching portions respectively formed on both end sides of a long longitudinal direction thereof and a bending deformation generation portion () disposed between the door attaching portions, and the bending deformation generation portion () has a groove bottom portion (), two edge line portions (), two vertical wall portions (), two curved portions (), and two flanges (). There is provided a bead () which is formed toward the longitudinal direction of the main body () in a part of the groove bottom portion () in a manner to project in a shape having a curved surface toward the outside of a cross-sectional shape of the bending deformation generation portion () so as to oppose an impact load acting on a door impact beam ().

Door impact beam

An impact absorbing memberable to secure absorption energy while lightening weight by absorbing the impact load applied in the axial direction by periodic buckling, wherein the impact absorbing memberis provided with a main bodycomprised of metal sheet and having a polygonal shape in cross-section vertical to an axial direction and a center sheetcomprised of metal sheet and provided at a hollow part in the main body along the axial direction, the polygonal shape of the main bodyincludes a pair of long side () facing each other, the center sheetis joined to each of the long sides () of the polygonal shape of the main body, and the sheet thickness t(mm) of the main bodyand the sheet thickness t(mm) of the center sheetsatisfy 1.3&#xd7;t&#x2264;t

Impact absorbing member

This automobile member has a closed cross section including joint portions in which edge portions of two side walls of an inner panel are joined with edge portions of two side walls of an outer panel, in which in a first region, a first region outer height hoand a first region inner height hihave a constant value and the difference between the first region outer height hoand the first region inner height hiis smaller than the difference between a second region outer height hoand a second region inner height hi; in a second region, the second region outer height hohas a value which is larger than the second region inner height hiand constant, or the second region outer height hohas a value which is smaller than the second region inner height hiand constant; in a first transition region, a first transition region outer height hois continuously varied between the first region outer height hoand the second region outer height ho, and a first transition region inner height hiis continuously varied between the first region inner height hiand the second region inner height hi.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Yasunori Sawa