A vehicle door beam and related methods of making door beams include a flat-rolled aluminum alloy sheet, where two edges of the sheet that are transverse to the roll direction of the sheet are brought together to form a tube. The two edges are friction stir welded together to form a butt joint along a length of the tube. The tube is arranged, along with other optional components, as a side-impact door beam in a vehicle door, such that the butt joint is facing away from an expected impact direction of the vehicle door.

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 side door assembly is provided for an automotive vehicle body having a side opening. The side door assembly includes a lower body front casting for hinged connection to the vehicle body. A lower body rear casting is also provided for latch connection of the vehicle door assembly to the vehicle. An extrusion and/or extrusions connect the front and rear castings providing a side door assembly that is extremely light, enhancing the ability of the driver to enjoy the vehicle.

A component arrangement includes a first sheet metal profile part and a second sheet metal profile, each first and second profile parts having respective flanges and being arranged relative to each other so that the respective flanges overlap, wherein the first and second profile parts are connected to each at the respective flanges via a laser welding connection, which extends over a welding seam length, wherein the laser welding connection is formed by at least two welding seams which extend parallel and at a distance to each other.

A door assembly for a vehicle is provided. The door assembly includes an inner panel and an outer panel which are joined together to define a central space therebetween. The central space has a front which faces towards the front of a vehicle and a back which faces towards a back of the vehicle. Both the inner and outer panels are made of aluminum, and at least one reinforcement beam made of steel is disposed in the central space between the aluminum inner and outer panels to provide the door assembly with increased impact resistance.

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 barrier configured to close off the opening in the inner panel.

Processes for forming blanks having tailored properties in localized areas are provided. The blanks are then formed into three-dimensionally shaped components (e.g., high-strength automotive parts). A sheet of high-strength metal alloy may be selectively heated in a first region to a temperature below a melting point of the metal alloy with a heat source, while a second region of the sheet adjacent to the first region remains unheated. The selective heating creates a first region of the metal alloy having at least one material property distinct from the second region. After the sheet is cut to form a blank, the blank comprises a portion of the first region and a portion of the second region. In this manner, a plurality of distinct tailored regions may be formed on each blank. The process may be continuous or semi-continuous and further include cutting of blanks from the sheet. High-strength structural components are also provided.

Guide rails with which a window regulator is provided are respectively fixed to a module plate. The guide rails are fixed, together with the module plate, to an edge of an opening portion provided at inward frames from an outward side in a vehicle width direction. Attachment portions which are capable of afterward attaching outward frames to the inward frames are provided, and attachment portions which are capable of afterward attaching a door outer panel to a door frame comprising the inward frames and the outward frames are provided.

Vertical frame portions provided at both side portions of a door frame are a light-metal casting, plural connecting frames, which are a light-meal hollow extrusion molding, connect the vertical frame portions, the vertical frame portions are provided with protrusion portions which engage with inward connecting frames in a longitudinal direction, plural attachment portions which attach the outward connecting frames and the vertical frame portion are provided at different points in the longitudinal direction, and an outward connecting frame is provided with an upper rib which engages with an engagement recess portion provided at an upper portion of a door outer panel formed in a non-planar shape.

A door impact beam for a vehicle includes a beam main body 2 and an attaching portion 3 formed of first and second brackets 4 and 5, the first bracket 4 is coupled to the second bracket 5 by a coupling portion 20 to enable absorbing a relative movement due to difference in thermal expansion between the beam main body 2 and the components 6 of the vehicle door, a first locking hole 11 is bored in one of the first and second brackets 4 and 5 and a second locking hole 12 is bored in the other bracket, the first and second locking holes 11 and 12 are adapted to be locked by a temporarily fixing member 13 at a normal temperature and the temporarily fixing member 13 is adapted to be softened at a predetermined temperature or higher, and the second locking hole 12 includes an engaging hole 12a adapted to be engaged with the temporarily fixing member at a normal temperature and a slit 12b which is smaller in width than the maximum inner diameter of the engaging hole 12a.