Nissan Motor Company Limited

Nissan North America, Inc.

Nippon Light Metal Company, Ltd.

Yunosuke Yamada

Ryan Corby

Adam Strean

Stephen Fekete

Toshio Furuta

Seiichiro Eba

Takahiro Watanabe

Yoshihiro Konno

Eiji Anzai

Kazuomi Takahashi

Yuki Murayama

Musashi Kishida

Eiji c/o Nikkei Research And Devpt Center Anzai

A vehicle engine cradle structure includes a front member, a rear assembly and a side member. The front member extends in a vehicle lateral direction and has a first outboard end and a second outboard end. The rear assembly extends in the vehicle lateral direction and has a first outboard area and a second outboard area opposite the first outboard area. The first side member has a first forward end, a first rearward end and a first forward outboard portion all being formed as a single monolithic unitary element. The first forward end is fixedly attached to the first outboard end of the front member. The first rearward end is fixedly attached to the first outboard area of the rear assembly. The first forward outboard portion extends in an outboard direction from the first outboard end of the front member defining an off-center impact area.

Vehicle engine cradle structure

A vehicle front end assembly includes an engine cradle, a transverse link and a fastener. The engine cradle has an upper attachment portion and a lower attachment portion, both being rigidly attached to the engine cradle. The upper attachment portion has a recessed area that includes a first opening extending through the recessed area. The upper attachment portion has a first overall thickness with a portion of the recessed area surrounding the first opening having a second thickness that is greater than the first thickness. The lower attachment portion has a second opening below the first opening. The transverse link has an inboard portion with a third opening that extends through the inboard portion. The fastener passes through the first opening, the third opening and the second opening such that the fastener retains the transverse link to the upper attachment portion and the lower attachment portion of the engine cradle.

Vehicle front end assembly

A lower spring seat mounting structure in a suspension of a vehicle, including a spring mounting portion to which a lower end portion of a coil spring is mounted, the spring mounting portion being disposed on a lower link, an elastic lower spring seat including one side surface that is in contact with the spring mounting portion and the other side surface that is in contact with the lower end portion of the coil spring, and a seat mounting portion at which the lower spring seat is connected to the spring mounting portion. The seat mounting portion is arranged within a range defined between two straight lines which extend through a center of the lower spring seat and form an angle of &#xb1;45 degrees with respect to an axis of the lower link in a plan view.

Lower spring seat mounting structure for vehicle suspension

A connecting structure includes a hollow member or a half hollow member including two side portions opposed apart to each other; a collar; and a bolt. The collar includes two contact surfaces at both ends of the collar. The two contact surfaces are adapted to respectively abut on the two side portions between the two side portions. At least one of the two contact surfaces is formed with a receiving portion for caulking. Moreover, the collar is formed with a bolt-hole passing through the two contact surfaces. The collar is disposed between the two side portions, and is caulked with the hollow member or half hollow member at a caulked portion formed from at least one of the two side portions toward the receiving portion. The bolt is adapted to pass through the two side portions and the bolt-hole to connect the hollow member or half hollow member with another member.

Connecting structure for hollow member or half hollow member

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Yunosuke Yamada