The invention relates, among other things, to a method of making a thin panel (10) for outdoor applications, comprising, among other things, the following steps: a) providing a deep-drawable film (10) of a transparent plastic, b) deep-drawing the film (11) in a mold (34), c) mounting a structure (19) having solar cells (32) on an inner face (16) of the deep-drawn film (12), d) placing the deep-drawn film (12) with mounted structure (19) in a cavity (33) of a mold (34) having in particular at least two mold halves (13, 14), e) introducing a liquid polyurethane casting compound (24) into the cavity (33) of the mold (34) and spreading the polyurethane casting compound (24) over an inner face (18) of the structure (19) and/or over the inner face (16) of the film (12), f) curing the polyurethane casting compound, in particular with the mold closed, to form a reinforcement layer (30), or comprising the following steps j) and k) instead of the steps e) and f): j) introducing a granular particle foam mass into the cavity (33) of the mold (34) and spreading over an inner face (18) of the structure (19) and/or over the inner face (16) of the film (12), k) baking and curing the particle foam mass, in particular with the mold closed, to form a reinforcement layer (30).

A panel structure includes: a panel made of metal; and a reinforcement joined to the panel and made of a plurality of FRP layers including continuous fibers, in which each of the plurality of FRP layers has a single fiber direction, at least one layer out of the plurality of FRP layers has a fiber direction different from that of another layer, in the plurality of FRP layers, a proportion of layers having an angular difference in the fiber direction of 30° or more is 15% or more of all of the layers, and when calculating, by defining a long side direction being a long direction of a long edge of the panel as a 90° direction and a direction orthogonal to the 90° direction as a 0° direction, each of a 90° direction component and a 0° direction component regarding the fiber direction of each FRP layer of the reinforcement joined to the panel, by using a trigonometric function, an expression (1) is satisfied.

The present disclosure provides a header for a vehicle upper body structure. The header includes an elongated body extending between a first side and a second side. The elongated body includes a polymer and a plurality of fibers. The elongated body includes a front end and a back end. The front end is configured to be coupled to a windshield. The back end is configured to be coupled to a roof. At least a portion of the elongated body has a transparency of greater than or equal to about 4%.

A method for manufacturing an aluminum alloy vehicle body includes the following steps: vehicle body part molding, including: profile stretch-bending and machining; vehicle body frame assembly welding, including: performing assembly welding on a lower vehicle body, left and right side panels, and front and rear roof crossbeams; outer panel manufacturing, including: manufacturing an outer panel by injection molding; and whole vehicle assembling, including: assembling interior trim parts and the outer panel to a vehicle body frame, and assembling chassis parts to the vehicle body frame. The vehicle body parts and the vehicle body frame are made of an aluminum alloy material, and the outer panel is made of a non-metallic composite material.

A bottom-out protector for a recreational vehicle that interconnects a plurality of vehicle components together. The bottom-out protector includes a bottom wall, an inboard outer wall extending upward from the bottom wall, an outboard outer wall extending upward from the bottom wall, an outward support member extending outboard from the outboard outer wall, and one or more mounting features for interconnecting the plurality of vehicle components.

A vehicle lower structure includes an under cover. The under cover includes: a cover body located under an exhaust pipe and installed on a vehicle body; a lid detachably attached to the cover body and configured to close a work hole penetrating the cover body in an upper-lower direction when the lid is attached to the cover body and to open the work hole when the lid is detached from the cover body; and a baffle made of a metal material and installed in an area of an upper surface of the lid that includes a portion closest to the exhaust pipe and its surroundings.

An assembly for utility truck bodies having metal and/or composite reinforcement(s) and/or foam reinforcements and/or honeycomb reinforcement/and/or wood reinforcements encapsulated within a thermoformed thermoplastic, or thermoset or fiber-reinforced thermoset walking surface floor structure of the truck bed assembly or other composite floor structure with attachable components and junctions, e.g., sidepack(s), and methods of making the same are provided.

A vehicle structure and a method for coating a vehicle capable of easily stripping a coating. The vehicle structure includes an outer panel and an exterior component, and a strippable coating formed by applying easily strippable coating material onto the outer panel and exterior component. A long member having a higher rigidity than the coating is disposed in a part between at least one of the outer panel or the exterior component and the coating.

A body structure for a vehicle includes an A-pillar and a side sill, wherein the A-pillar includes a vertical front pillar; a front roof pillar extending from an upper end of the vertical front pillar toward an upper rear side thereof; a first reinforcing plate provided in the vertical front pillar and extending in the same direction with the vertical front pillar; and a second reinforcing plate provided in the front roof pillar extending in the same direction with the front roof pillar. The side sill is connected to a lower end of the vertical front pillar and extending along a horizontal direction. The first reinforcing plate is formed to cover a front door hinge mounting portion in the A-pillar and a connection portion of the vertical front pillar and the side sill. An uncoupled portion is formed between the second reinforcing plate and the first reinforcing plate.

In various aspects, the present disclosure provides a component. The vehicle component includes a polymer matrix, a plurality of fibers in the polymer matrix, and a heating element embedded in the polymer matrix. The heating element may be (i) a discrete heating element, (ii) at least a portion of the plurality of fibers, or both (i) and (ii). The heating element is configured to be coupled to an external circuit to generate heat. In one aspect, the vehicle component is a vehicle header including an elongated body extending between a first side and a second side.