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:
Feb. 07, 2012
Filed:
Dec. 13, 2004
Saeed D Barbat, Farmington Hills, MI (US);
James C Cheng, Troy, MI (US);
Raj Jayachandran, Canton, MI (US);
Senthilkumar Mahadevan, Sterling Heights, MI (US);
Saeed D Barbat, Farmington Hills, MI (US);
James C Cheng, Troy, MI (US);
Raj Jayachandran, Canton, MI (US);
Senthilkumar Mahadevan, Sterling Heights, MI (US);
Ford Global Technologies, Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
According to one embodiment, the invention provides for a light truck including a frame with opposing longitudinal frame rails running along each side of the vehicle. The frame rails include at least a leading portion with vertical placement lowered and selected to substantially align with a passenger car energy management structure. In this embodiment, the vertical placement of the leading portion of the light truck frame rails is selected to direct impact energy to a passenger car longitudinal energy management structure, improving vehicle-to-vehicle compatibility in the event of a front longitudinal impact with a passenger car. The present invention also provides embodiments which increase the impact energy absorption capacity of a light truck by providing geometric softening of the frame rails and material softening of the frame rails.