A vehicle door assembly includes a door structure, an interior latch handle a panel and an interference member. The interior latch handle is installed to an inboard area of an inner door panel of the door structure. The interior latch handle has a housing and a release lever supported to the housing for pivotal movement. The panel is fixed to the inner door panel. The interference member is fixed to the panel and extends toward the release lever. With the door structure in a non-deformed state the interference member is spaced apart from the release lever. With the door structure in a deformed state in response to an impact event proximate a central area of the door structure, the panel can deformed and moves the interference member toward one end of the release lever preventing movement of the release lever to an door opening orientation.

A lightweight and simplified vehicle door assembly is provided with four main components, an upper frame positioned about the window, an inner frame structure, an outer body panel, and a composite reinforcement component. The composite reinforcement component provides an all-in-one solution for a side impact cross beam, as well as an upper door reinforcement, a front door pillar reinforcement, and a rear door pillar reinforcement. The composite reinforcement component acts to reinforce the overall door structure, offers resistance to a side impact that limits the intrusion into the passenger compartment, and offers resistance to a frontal impact by maintaining the spacing between the vehicle A and B pillars (for a front door) and pillar C and D for a back door. A coupe vehicle door in which there is no window frame may be reinforced with the composite reinforcement component. The composite reinforcement component may have continuous or chopped fibers.

There are provided an outer member, an inner member including a front-side vertical wall portion and a rear-side vertical wall portion, an impact bar extending from front-side attachment portions of the front-side vertical wall portion to rear-side attachment portions of the rear-side vertical wall portion, a hinge-reinforcement member reinforcing a hinge attachment portion where a hinge is attached to the front-side vertical wall portion, and a latch-reinforcement member reinforcing a latch-attachment portion where a latch device is attached to the rear-side vertical wall portion. The front-side vertical wall portion and the rear-side vertical wall portion are made of casting or high-strength resin, and the hinge-reinforcement member and the latch-reinforcement member are configured to have higher ductility than the front-side vertical wall portion and the rear-side vertical wall portion and connected to the impact bar.

A vehicle body structure, comprising: a door structure having an inner door panel and a reinforcement member installed to the inner door panel, the reinforcement member extending from a forward area of the door structure to a rearward area of the door structure, the door structure being movable to and from each of a closed orientation and an open orientation when installed to a vehicle; a latch mechanism installed to the rearward area of the inner door panel, the latch mechanism being configured such that in a latching orientation the latch mechanism retains the door structure in the closed orientation and in a release orientation the door structure can move to the open orientation, the latch mechanism being positioned such that at least a section of a rearward portion of the reinforcement member is outboard and level with a portion of the latch mechanism; and a secondary reinforcement portion fixedly attached to a central area of the reinforcement member spaced apart from a forward area of the inner door panel such that in response to an impact event where force is directed to a central area of the door structure, the reinforcement member deforms and contacts the latch mechanism retaining the latch mechanism in the latching orientation.

A door has a latch mechanism, a reinforcement bracket and a jamming bracket within a cavity of the door. The latch mechanism retains the door in a closed orientation and in response to operation of the latch mechanism the door is released for movement to an open orientation. The reinforcement bracket is fixedly attached to structures of the vehicle door. The jamming bracket is fixed to the reinforcement bracket and has a locking portion that extends to an area adjacent to a release lever of the latch mechanism. With the door in a non-deformed state, the release lever is movable between a door opened orientation and a door closed orientation. In response to deformation of the door resulting from an exterior impact force, the locking portion of the jamming bracket moves toward the release lever preventing the release lever from moving to the door opened orientation.

A deformable tapping plate can include a central member including at least two mounting openings and a mounting surface wherein the mounting surface defines a mounting plane. The deformable tapping plate can also include a first attachment pad located adjacent a first end of the central member that is connected to the central member by a first connecting arm. The first attachment pad includes a first attachment surface defining an attachment plane. The first connecting arm can include a first arched portion that projects away from both the mounting plane and the attachment plane and can include a first narrowed apex having a thickness that is less than a thickness of adjacent portions of the first arched portion.

A vehicle body structure includes a door, a latch mechanism and a secondary reinforcement member (an attenuation member). The door has an inner door panel and a reinforcement member installed thereto the inner door panel. The latch mechanism is installed the inner door panel such that in a latching orientation the latch mechanism retains the door in the closed orientation and in a release orientation the door can move to the open orientation. A rearward portion of the reinforcement member is outboard and level with a portion of the latch mechanism. The secondary reinforcement member is fixedly attached to a central area of the reinforcement member spaced apart from the rearward area of the inner door panel and spaced apart from a forward area of the inner door panel. In response to an impact event, the reinforcement member deforms and contacts the latch mechanism preventing movement of the latch mechanism.

The invention relates to a door (3) of a motor vehicle (1), having an outer wall and a lining (7) forming a casing (9), said casing (9) comprising: a main side reinforcement (17) extending longitudinally between a front edge (9A) and a rear edge (9C) of said casing (9); an upper reinforcement (15) extending longitudinally along an upper edge (9B) of said casing (9); an exterior opening control support (11) of the door (3), which is fixed to the upper reinforcement (15); the casing (9) further comprising: an auxiliary side reinforcement (21) which extends above the main side reinforcement (17) longitudinally between the front edge (9A) and the rear edge (9C) of the casing (9) and is fixed to the control support for the exterior opening (11) of the door (3).

A vehicle body structure includes a door, a latch mechanism and a secondary reinforcement member (an attenuation member). The door has an inner door panel and a reinforcement member installed thereto the inner door panel. The latch mechanism is installed the inner door panel such that in a latching orientation the latch mechanism retains the door in the closed orientation and in a release orientation the door can move to the open orientation. A rearward portion of the reinforcement member is outboard and level with a portion of the latch mechanism. The secondary reinforcement member is fixedly attached to a central area of the reinforcement member spaced apart from the rearward area of the inner door panel and spaced apart from a forward area of the inner door panel. In response to an impact event, the reinforcement member deforms and contacts the latch mechanism preventing movement of the latch mechanism.

A door assembly for a motor vehicle comprised of an outer door panel and an inner door panel interconnected to define a door panel structure having an internal door cavity. A collapsible carrier module is configured to be oriented in a collapsed arrangement to facilitate installation into the door cavity through an opening in the inner door panel. The collapsible carrier module can be moved from its collapsed arrangement into an expanded arrangement upon installation within the door cavity to facilitate subsequent mounting to the door panel structure. The collapsible carrier module includes a two-piece carrier plate formed to integrally include a pair of laterally-spaced glass run channels and a pair of laterally-spaced slider rails.