The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 18, 1997
Filed:
Mar. 15, 1995
Masami Fukagawa, Saitama-ken, JP;
Hidenori Matsumoto, Saitama-ken, JP;
Eisei Higuchi, Saitama-ken, JP;
Masuyuki Kakizaki, Saitama-ken, JP;
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
Disclosed is an automotive floor panel assembly, in which the floor panel assembly is stamp formed into a prescribed shape from at least one piece of sheet metal blank which consists of a first panel section made of sheet metal stock of a first thickness, and a second panel section made of sheet metal stock of a second thickness which are butt welded to each other along opposing edges thereof by using a high energy beam. Because the butt welding is carried out on flat panels, welding quality can be maintained at a high level without any substantial difficulty, and the resulting blank can have a highly uniform finish even though it includes a plurality of parts having different thicknesses. By suitably arranging the various parts having different thicknesses to different parts of the floor panel assembly in an optimum fashion, it is possible to achieve a maximum mechanical strength and a maximum rigidity with a minimum amount of material or involving a minimum weight. Also, the floor panel assembly can be applied either to a front floor panel assembly or to a rear floor panel assembly.