Method of making an impact beam structure for a vehicle door

Abstract

A method includes molding an outer impact beam made of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) and separately molding an inner impact beam made of CFRP. The outer impact beam and the inner impact beam are coupled to each other to form an impact beam and the impact beam is coupled to an inner panel of a vehicle door.

Claims

1. A method comprising: molding an outer impact beam made of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP), the outer impact beam comprising one or more closed cross sections; separately molding an inner impact beam made of CFRP, the inner impact beam comprising one or more closed cross sections; coupling the outer impact beam and the inner impact beam to each other to form an impact beam; and coupling the impact beam to an inner panel of a vehicle door.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the inner impact beam is roll-forming molded.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more closed cross sections of the outer impact beam and the one or more closed cross sections of the inner impact beam have quadrangular box shapes.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the inner panel comprises a stepped portion and a side surface, wherein a front end of the outer impact beam is laid on the stepped portion and bonded thereto by an adhesive, and wherein a front end of the inner impact beam is bonded to the side surface by the adhesive.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the inner panel comprises a stepped portion and an inner surface that faces inside a cabin, wherein a front end of the outer impact beam is laid on the stepped portion and then bonded thereto by an adhesive, and wherein a front end of the inner impact beam is bonded to the inner surface by the adhesive.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the inner panel is made of CFRP.

7. A method comprising: molding an outer impact beam made of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP), wherein the outer impact beam comprises two closed cross sections and a connection flange that connects the two closed cross sections; separately molding an inner impact beam made of CFRP, wherein the inner impact beam comprises two closed cross sections and a connection flange that connects the two closed cross sections; coupling the outer impact beam and the inner impact beam to each other to form an impact beam; and coupling the impact beam to an inner panel of a vehicle door.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the two closed cross sections of each of the outer impact beam and the inner impact beam have quadrangular box shapes.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the two closed cross sections and the connection flange of the outer impact beam are arranged to be respectively overlapped with the two closed cross sections and the connection flange of the inner impact beam.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the connection flange of the outer impact beam and the connection flange of the inner impact beam are bonded to each other by spot welding.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the inner impact beam is roll-forming molded.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the inner panel comprises a stepped portion and a side surface, wherein a front end of the outer impact beam is laid on the stepped portion and bonded thereto by an adhesive, and wherein a front end of the inner impact beam is bonded to the side surface by the adhesive.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the inner panel comprises a stepped portion and an inner surface that faces inside a cabin, wherein a front end of the outer impact beam is laid on the stepped portion and then bonded thereto by an adhesive, and wherein a front end of the inner impact beam is bonded to the inner surface by the adhesive.

14. A method of making an impact beam structure of a vehicle door for a vehicle, the method comprising forming the impact beam structure by separately molding an outer impact beam made of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) and an inner impact beam made of CFRP and coupling the outer impact beam and the inner impact beam to each other, the impact beam structure to be coupled to an inner panel of the vehicle door, wherein the outer impact beam and the inner impact beam each comprises two closed cross sections and a connection flange that connects the two closed cross sections and wherein the two closed cross sections and the connection flange of the outer impact beam are arranged to be respectively overlapped with the two closed cross sections and the connection flange of the inner impact beam.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the inner panel is made of a CFRP material.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the inner impact beam is roll-forming molded.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the closed cross sections have quadrangular box shapes.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the connection flange of the outer impact beam and the connection flange of the inner impact beam are bonded to each other by spot welding.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the inner panel comprises a stepped portion and a side surface, wherein a front end of the outer impact beam is laid on the stepped portion and bonded thereto by an adhesive, and wherein a front end of the inner impact beam is bonded to the side surface by the adhesive.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the inner panel comprises a stepped portion and an inner surface that faces inside a cabin, wherein a front end of the outer impact beam is laid on the stepped portion and then bonded thereto by an adhesive, and wherein a front end of the inner impact beam is bonded to the inner surface by the adhesive.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a front view of a state in which an impact beam is installed in a CFRP door for a vehicle.

(2) FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1, taken along the line A-A.

(3) FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1, taken along the line B-B.

(4) FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1, taken along the line B-B according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

(5) Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(6) Referring to FIG. 1, a vehicle door to which an impact beam according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is applied is manufactured using a carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) material.

(7) The CFRP door may include an inner panel 1 that faces inside a cabin of the vehicle.

(8) The inner panel 1 may have a quadrangular shape having a predetermined width and height.

(9) An impact beam 2 substantially having a long rectangular shape may be coupled to an inner surface of the inner panel 1, which faces inside the cabin.

(10) The impact beam 2 may be disposed at front and rear sides of the vehicle along a length direction of the vehicle and coupled to the inner panel 1.

(11) The impact beam 2 may be inclined along a height direction of the vehicle, and this is not restrictive.

(12) Referring to FIG. 2, the impact beam 2 may have a structure in which an outer impact beam 21 and an inner impact beam 22 are coupled to each other.

(13) Here, the outer side implies a direction that faces outside the cabin along the vehicle and the inner side implies a direction that faces the inside the cabin of the vehicle.

(14) The outer impact beam 21 and the inner impact beam 22 may be formed by forming-molding steel. These beams 21 and 22 can be formed by molding an outer impact beam made of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) and separately molding an inner impact beam made of CFRP.

(15) The outer impact beam 21 and the inner impact beam 22 may be coupled by being folded to each other.

(16) The outer impact beam 21 may include two closed cross sections 211 and 212 and a connection flange 213 that connects the two closed cross sections 211 and 212.

(17) The two closed cross sections 211 and 212 may respective have quadrangular boxes, but this is not restrictive. The closed cross sections 211 and 212 may have other shapes having one or more of closed cross sections.

(18) The inner impact beam 22 may include two closed cross sections 211 and 222 and a connection flange 223 that connects the two closed cross sections 221 and 222.

(19) The two closed cross sections 221 and 222 may respective have quadrangular boxes, but this is not restrictive. The closed cross sections 221 and 222 may have other shapes having one or more of closed cross sections.

(20) When the outer impact beam 21 and the inner impact beam 22 are arranged to be overlapped with each other, the two closed cross sections 211 and 212 of the outer impact beam 21 may be arranged to be overlapped over the two closed cross sections 221 and 222 of the inner impact beam 22 and the connection flange 213 of the outer impact beam 21 may be arranged to be overlapped over the connection flange 223 of the inner impact beam 22.

(21) As described, when the outer impact beam 21 and the inner impact beam 22 are overlapped with each other, the respective connection flange 213 and 223 may be bonded to each other through, for example, spot welding 30.

(22) Preferably, a height H.sub.1 of the outer impact beam 21 may be set to be lower than a height H.sub.2 of the inner impact beam 22, but may be modified depending on a type of a vehicle, and since rigidity of the impact beam 2 can be changed by properly adjusting the height or the closed cross area, the impact beam 2 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention may commonly applied to any vehicle.

(23) Referring to FIG. 3, the inner panel 1 is coupled with an outer panel 3 such that the CFRP door can be formed.

(24) The inner panel 1 and the outer panel 3 may be coupled to each other while forming a predetermined inner space therebetween.

(25) The impact beam 2 is inserted into the inner space and thus coupled with the inner panel 1.

(26) A stepped portion 11 that is stepped toward the inside the cabin is formed in the inner panel 1 and a front end of the outer impact beam 21 is laid on the stepped portion n and then bonded by an adhesive 40.

(27) A front end of the inner impact beam 22 is closely attached to a side surface of the inner panel 1 and then bonded thereto by the adhesive 40.

(28) Referring to FIG. 4, as another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an inner panel 1 is provided with an inner surface 13 that faces inside a cabin, and a front end of an inner impact beam 22 is closely attached to the inner surface 13 and then bonded thereto by an adhesive.

(29) Such a structure in which the impact beam 2 and the inner panel 1 are bonded to each other by the adhesive can improve assembly quality and productivity of the impact beam 2, and a number of parts and the weight can be reduced because no parts related to installation of the impact beam 2 are needed.

(30) While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical example embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.