The present teachings generally relate to a carrier and method of making the carrier, the carrier comprising: a periphery having: an outer edge, arranged distally along a transverse axis of the carrier, configured to be oriented away from a frame enclosure of a vehicle, an inner edge, arranged distally along the transverse axis, configured to be oriented toward the frame enclosure of the vehicle, and distal ends arranged opposite each other along a longitudinal axis of the carrier; one or more series of ribs having: a cross-sectional pattern, and an orientation along the longitudinal axis, the transverse axis, or both.

An embodiment front vehicle body structure includes an inner cabin part, an outer cabin part, and a reinforcement part mounted between the inner cabin part and the outer cabin part. The inner cabin part, the outer cabin part and the reinforcement part each comprise a carbon fiber reinforced plastic material.

This vehicle of monocoque construction is formed by fastening together resin parts which are an upper body integrally made of a transparent thermoplastic resin composition, a lower body integrally made of a thermoplastic resin composition and a floor integrally made of a thermoplastic resin composition, wherein the vehicle is characterized in that the lower body is provided with a flange part rising up from the entire perimeter of the bottom surface and, in the center of the bottom surface, a convex rib part that continues rearward from the front of the vehicle, and the upper body and the floor being fastened to the flange part and the convex rib part of the lower body. In so doing, there can be provided a vehicle which is lightweight, affords a good field of view during driving, is simple in construction, and has the necessary rigidity.

We disclose a chassis for a vehicle, comprising an interconnected framework comprising a plurality of tubular sections, and at least one sheet bonded to the framework, wherein the tubular sections are of a non-ferrous metallic composition. The non-ferrous tubular sections have a very thin wall; generally, these sections are made by extrusion, which currently allows for wall thicknesses no thinner than about 2.5 mm. We prefer the wall thickness to be about this level, and ideally no greater than 3 mm. Such a thin-walled tube would usually imply a lower resistance to buckling, but as part of the structural element defined above, we have found that the tube does not buckle and in fact has an impact response that is superior to other alternatives. We therefore prefer that the tubular sections have a profile for which the ratio of the minimum area moment of inertia of its cross section to the square of the unsupported length of the section is less than 2 mm.sup.2. Another way of expressing this approach is to consider the aspect ratio of the tubular section, i.e. the ratio of its length to its wall thickness. Sections with a high aspect ratio will be more prone to buckling. Given the low elastic modulus of Aluminium, a low aspect ratio has been preferred, but according to the present invention a higher aspect ratio of more than about 100 or 150 is feasible.

A method for forming a composite component, comprising: locating a rigid composite element comprising a matrix interspersed with long fibre reinforcement in a mould that is shaped to define a cavity about the rigid element; loading a material comprising a matrix precursor interspersed with short fibre reinforcement into the cavity; and curing the matrix precursor.

An automobile body and a method for manufacturing the same is provided in which a substantially rectangular windshield joining face is formed by a front roof arch, a front portion of roof side rails and a dash panel upper of a lower skeleton. Since the upper skeleton and the lower skeleton can be separated, there is the problem that a gap occurs between lower ends of the roof side rails of the upper skeleton and the vehicle width direction outer ends of the dash panel upper of the lower skeleton, and the windshield joining face is discontinuous. Extension parts are provided inward in the vehicle width direction from the lower ends of the roof side rails, and the vehicle width direction inner ends of the extension parts are connected to the vehicle width direction outer ends of the dash panel upper, thereby eliminating discontinuity of the windshield joining face.

A vehicle (2) is provided for use for movement across a surface (18). The vehicle (2) includes a body (4), steering means to allow the selective steering of the vehicle (2) via first and second sets of a plurality of drive wheels (11, 12), a first set (11) mounted on one side (14) of the body (4) and a second set (12) mounted on the opposing side (16) of the body (4) so as to contact with the surface (18). At least one wheel in each set (11; 12) is provided so as to be in greater traction and/or grip with the said surface (18) than the other wheels (11; 12) in the set (12) to thereby achieve an improved steering system which requires low power consumption to achieve the steering and thereby reduce the power demand on the batteries of the vehicle (2) which are provided to drive the vehicle (2) and prolong the time of usage of the vehicle (2) between battery charging being required.

An additively manufactured node is disclosed. A node is an additively manufactured (AM) structure that includes a feature, e.g., a socket, a channel, etc., for accepting another structure, e.g., a tube, a panel, etc. The node can include a node surface of a receptacle extending into the node. The receptacle can receive a structure, and a seal interface on the node surface can seat a seal member between the node surface and the structure to create an adhesive region between the node and the structure, the adhesive region being bounded by the node surface, the structure, and the seal member. The node can also include two channels connecting an exterior surface of the node to the adhesive region. In this way, adhesive can be injected into the adhesive region between the node and the structure, and the adhesive can be contained by the seal member.

A vehicle front structure has a rectangular frame-shaped bulkhead provided in a front part of a vehicle to support a heat exchanger. The bulkhead includes vehicle fixation portions for fixing the bulkhead to a vehicle body and step portions provided below the vehicle fixation portions. A width dimension in a vehicle front-rear direction of a part of the bulkhead above each step portion is the same as a width dimension in the vehicle front-rear direction of a part of the bulkhead below the step portion.

A vehicle load-bearing structure includes a cell made of composite materials and composed of a plurality of components joined to each other by at least one joining system to form a single structure; the cell is made up of a number n of components between 3 and 8, that is 3<n<8.