Vehicles with exoskeleton

Abstract

A vehicle having an exoskeleton exterior panel that provides crash resistance is described. The exterior panel can be formed from a single sheet of metal and attached to an exterior portion of the vehicle frame, and the exterior panel does not include additional support structure. At least one component can be directly attached to the exterior panel, wherein the exterior panel can bear the load of the at least one component. A method of manufacturing the vehicle is also described.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to vehicles and, more particularly, to an exoskeleton exterior vehicle panel mounted to a vehicle frame to provide crash resistance and load bearing performance. Background Art

[0002] Conventional vehicles, such as motor vehicles, typically have doors constructed from a panel assembly comprising an outer panel, an inner panel, and a plurality of stamped reinforcements welded to the inner panel, which are then hemmed to the outer panel. In a door panel assembly, such as a door assembly, an intrusion bar, typically a durable, thick steel or aluminum bar, may be included to help protect passengers from impacts such as from the side or rear of another vehicle. Because the conventional outer panels that make up a conventional panel assembly do not possess significant strength, an intrusion bar is included to provide collision protection.

[0003] However, these additional components that make up the panel assembly add additional cost and time to the overall manufacturing process. In addition, the assembly requirements for the installation and maintenance components attached to such panel assemblies are also increased. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To summarize the present disclosure and the advantages achieved over the prior art, certain objects and advantages of the present disclosure are described herein. Not all of these objects or advantages may be achieved in any particular embodiment. Thus, for example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention may be embodied or performed in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other objects or advantages that may be taught or suggested herein.

[0005] All of these embodiments are intended to fall within the scope of the invention disclosed herein. These and other embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art through the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, and the present invention is not limited to any (one or more) specific preferred embodiments disclosed.

[0006] In one aspect, a vehicle having a frame is described. The vehicle includes an exterior panel formed from a unitary sheet of metal and attached to an exterior portion of the frame, and at least one component directly attached to the exterior panel, wherein the exterior panel bears a load of the at least one component, and wherein the exterior panel does not include additional support structure.

[0007] In some embodiments, the monolithic metal sheet comprises a metal selected from the group consisting of steel, aluminum, and combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the at least one component is selected from the group consisting of at least one hinge, at least one handle, at least one bolt, a motor, an interior trim panel, a windshield, and combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the additional support structure is selected from the group consisting of additional metal panels, support beams, stamped reinforcements, intrusion bars, and combinations thereof.

[0008] In some embodiments, the exterior panel provides side impact protection for the vehicle. In some embodiments, the exterior surface of the exterior panel is unpainted. In some embodiments, the exterior panel is selected from the group consisting of a door panel, a roof panel, a hood panel, a fender, a trunk panel, a liftgate panel, and combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the exterior panel is a door panel. In some embodiments, the vehicle further comprises an electric motor.

[0009] In another aspect, a method of manufacturing a motor vehicle is described. The method includes providing a unibody metal sheet, wherein manufacturing the unibody metal sheet includes the steps of providing an initial unibody metal sheet, cutting the initial unibody metal sheet to form a cut unibody metal sheet, and shaping the cut unibody metal sheet to form a unibody metal sheet; directly attaching at least one component to the unibody metal sheet to form an exterior panel; and attaching the exterior panel to an exterior portion of the vehicle body without adding additional support structure to the exterior panel.

[0010] In some embodiments, the initial unitary metal sheet is a rolled metal sheet. In some embodiments, the unitary metal sheet is not heat treated. In some embodiments, the outer panel is not joined to another metal panel. In some embodiments, the cutting is performed by laser cutting. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1 An exploded view of a conventional prior art door assembly is shown.

[0012] Figure 2 A prior art door assembly is shown including a conventional B-pillar assembly.

[0013] Figure 3 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a light truck having an exterior panel exoframe.

[0014] Figure 4 is a side view of one embodiment of a light truck having an exterior panel exoframe.

[0015] Figure 5 An exploded view of one embodiment of a door having an exoskeleton outer panel is shown.

[0016] Figure 6 One embodiment of a door assembly including a B-pillar exoframe is shown.

[0017] The embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description. It should be understood that the same reference numerals are used to identify the same elements shown in one or more of the accompanying drawings, which are for the purpose of illustrating the embodiments of the present disclosure and not for the purpose of limiting the embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] The present disclosure may be understood by reference to the following detailed description. It should be noted that for the purpose of clarity of illustration, some elements in the drawings may not be drawn to scale, may be represented schematically or conceptually, or may not precisely correspond to certain physical configurations of the embodiments.

[0019] Embodiments relate to vehicles, and in particular to motor vehicles (e.g., trucks and cars) that include exterior panels that provide crash resistance. In some embodiments, the crash resistance provided by the exterior panels is similar to or greater than that provided by anti-intrusion bars in conventional vehicles. In some embodiments, the exterior panels contribute to the primary structural performance of the vehicle. For example, in some embodiments, the exterior door panels provide the majority of the structural performance against side impacts in the area of ​​the entry door. In some embodiments, the vehicle includes an electric motor. In one embodiment, the vehicle is a truck, such as a light truck, having an all-electric propulsion system connected to a battery pack.

[0020] Compared with the embodiment of the present disclosure, Figure 1 An exploded view of the complex components used in a conventional door 100 is shown. As can be seen, there is an outer door panel 102 that covers an intrusion bar 104, which provides side impact protection for occupants of the vehicle. Disposed on the inner surface of the intrusion bar 104 is an intermediate panel 106 that bears the load of one or more door components, and an interior trim panel 108 that covers the inner workings of the door 100.

[0021] Figure 2 A prior art door assembly 200 is shown, comprising a conventional B-pillar for a vehicle located between or adjacent a set of doors. As shown, the outer portion of the frame 202 includes two door openings. The outer portion of the frame 202 is mounted to an inner B-pillar support 204 and cooperates with an intermediate B-pillar support 206 using a bracket assembly to form a structurally protective unit. Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, conventional vehicle exterior panels require multiple additional components to provide structural support, carry component loads, and provide crash resistance.

[0022] The disclosed embodiments relate to a vehicle architecture designed so that the exterior panels of the vehicle also contribute to the structural performance of the vehicle. Such exterior panels of the vehicle may be referred to as an "exo-skeleton." Figure 3 and Figure 4 is a view of a light truck embodiment having an exterior panel exoframe design. Some embodiments of the present disclosure do not utilize intrusion bars, but instead utilize durable, one-piece exterior panels (e.g., door panels) to provide impact protection. Thus, the exoframe design described herein eliminates the interior door structure and protection system and utilizes only one-piece exterior panels. In this design, the hinges and latches for opening and closing the doors, as well as door components such as windows and motors, are mounted directly to the exterior panels. This approach can be applied to the side doors, roof, hood, fenders, and trunk (or liftgate) assemblies of a vehicle. The exoframe approach can result in a significant reduction in manufacturing footprint and cost.

[0023] One example embodiment of a vehicle exoskeleton structure is a side door system configured to react to opening and closing loads on the door. In some embodiments, the door also withstands excessive loads for over-opening, impact closing, torsional loads on the door, reaction forces for seals, and reaction window operating loads, among others. In another embodiment, other exterior-facing portions of the vehicle will also utilize the exoskeleton concept. For example, in conventional traditional vehicles, the welded, enclosed vertical sections between the vehicle side doors act as beams to resist side impact forces applied to the vehicle body by the impacting vehicle, vertical loads applied to the roof in a rollover manner, and even seatbelt reaction loads for the front passengers, as well as other smaller forces. In contrast, such body side structural configurations typically have decorative, thin exterior panels (typically one or more inner stamped sections welded to one or more outer stamped sections) welded to the structural enclosed sections. However, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an exoskeleton structure in which (one or more) exterior structural reinforcements are made from a single structural panel that not only provides the same load-bearing advantages as more complex conventional structures, but also provides a decorative function for the customer-facing areas of the vehicle.

[0024] Thus, a vehicle having a frame is disclosed, wherein the vehicle includes an exterior panel. In some embodiments, the exterior panel is attached to an exterior portion of the frame. In some embodiments, the exterior panel provides crash resistance to the vehicle due to its composition and / or structural properties. In some embodiments, the exterior panel provides side impact protection to the vehicle. In some embodiments, the exterior panel is or is formed from a single piece of metal. In some embodiments, the single piece of metal comprises a metal selected from the group consisting of steel, aluminum, and combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the corrosion resistance of the single piece of metal allows the exterior panel of the vehicle to be used without applying an anti-corrosion coating (e.g., paint). In some embodiments, the exterior surface of the exterior panel is free of paint.

[0025] The exterior panels can provide crash resistance to the vehicle without the need for additional support structures required in conventional vehicles. In some embodiments, the exterior panels do not include additional support structures. In some embodiments, the additional support structures are selected from the group consisting of additional metal panels, support beams, stamped reinforcements, intrusion bars, and combinations thereof.

[0026] The exterior panel can have sufficient structural support so that additional components can be attached to and supported by the exterior panel. In some embodiments, at least one component is attached to the exterior panel. In some embodiments, at least one component is directly attached to the exterior panel. In some embodiments, the exterior panel bears or substantially bears the load of the at least one component. In some embodiments, the at least one component is selected from the group consisting of: at least one hinge, at least one handle, at least one bolt, a motor, an interior panel, a windshield, and combinations thereof.

[0027] In some embodiments, the vehicle is a motor vehicle. In some embodiments, the motor vehicle is a truck or an automobile (e.g., a sedan). In some embodiments, the exterior panel is selected from the group consisting of a door panel, a roof panel, a hood panel, a fender panel, a trunk panel, a liftgate panel, and combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the exterior panel is a door panel.

[0028] Figure 5 An exploded view of one embodiment of a door 500 is shown that includes an exoskeleton outer panel 502. The outer panel 502 is configured to be mounted directly to the vehicle body via hinges (not shown). Adjacent to the outer door panel is a power window assembly 510 that includes a window 512 and a motor 514. The power window assembly 510 is attached directly to the outer panel 502 via an interior latch mechanism (not shown), and an interior trim panel 508 is used to cover the inner workings of the door 500. Because the outer panel 502 is made of a durable material (such as steel, aluminum, or other metal), no interior intrusion bars or other elements are required to protect passengers from being intruded upon in similar situations. Figure 1 The door shown is a side door impact found in a conventional door assembly that includes additional components such as an anti-intrusion bar 104 and a center panel 106 .

[0029] Figure 6 One embodiment of a door assembly 600 including a B-pillar type exoframe is shown. The door assembly 600 includes an outer portion of a frame 602 having two door openings. Furthermore, the outer portion of the frame 602 requires only a single inner B-pillar support 604 attached to the outer portion of the frame 602 to form a structural protection unit. The structural strength and impact resistance of the door assembly 600 is due in part to the outer portion of the frame 602 being designed to be constructed of a material such as aluminum or steel, providing a protective barrier against side impact collisions. Thus, the door assembly 600 does not require a second B-pillar section, such as Figure 2The middle B-pillar support 206 is removed because the outer portion of the frame 602 already includes sufficient structural support to protect the occupants from side impact collisions.

[0030] Some manufacturing benefits of the exoskeleton design include reducing the number of assembly lines required to join individual reinforcements before attaching them to the body / underbody structure. In some embodiments, this concept can replace one or more framing processes where the body side structure is joined to the underbody structure. In some embodiments, the vehicle's exterior panels can be designed to replace structural interior and exterior reinforcements with a single panel.

[0031] Also disclosed is a method for manufacturing a vehicle, such as a motor vehicle. In some embodiments, a unitary metal sheet is provided, at least one component is directly attached to the unitary metal sheet to form an exterior panel, and the exterior panel is attached to an exterior portion of a vehicle body. In some embodiments, no additional support structure is added to the exterior panel. In some embodiments, the exterior panel is not joined to another metal panel.

[0032] The monolithic metal sheet can be manufactured by providing a starting monolithic metal sheet, cutting the starting monolithic metal sheet to form a cut monolithic metal sheet, and shaping the cut monolithic metal sheet to form the monolithic metal sheet. In some embodiments, the monolithic metal sheet has the shape of a door panel. In some embodiments, the monolithic metal sheet has the shape of an exterior portion of a frame. In some embodiments, the starting monolithic metal sheet is a rolled metal sheet. In some embodiments, the monolithic metal sheet is not heat treated. In some embodiments, the cutting is performed by laser cutting.

[0033] Although certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Indeed, the novel methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, and modifications may be made to the systems and methods described herein without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as fall within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.

[0034] Features, materials, characteristics or groups described in conjunction with a particular aspect, embodiment or example are to be understood to be applicable to any other aspect, embodiment or example described in this section or elsewhere in this specification unless incompatible therewith. All features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) and / or all steps of any method or process so disclosed may be combined in any combination, except combinations in which at least some of such features and / or steps are mutually exclusive. Protection is not limited to the details of any foregoing embodiments. Protection extends to any novel feature or any novel combination of features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) or to any novel step or any novel combination of steps of any method or process so disclosed.

[0035] In addition, certain features described in this disclosure in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments individually or in any appropriate subcombination. Furthermore, while features may be described above as functioning in certain combinations, one or more features from a claimed combination may in some cases be removed from that combination, and the combination may be protected as a subcombination or a variation of the subcombination.

[0036] Furthermore, although operations may be depicted in the drawings or described in the specification in a particular order, these operations do not need to be performed in the particular order shown, or in all operations, to achieve the desired results. Other operations not depicted or described may also be incorporated into the example methods and processes. For example, one or more additional operations may be performed before, after, during, or between any operations. Furthermore, in other embodiments, the operations may be rearranged or reordered. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, in some embodiments, the actual steps taken in the illustrated and / or disclosed processes may differ from those shown in the figures. Depending on the embodiment, some of the aforementioned steps may be removed, or other steps may be added. Furthermore, the features and attributes of the specific embodiments disclosed above may be combined in various ways to form additional embodiments, all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the separation of various system components in the above-described embodiments should not be construed as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should be understood that the described components and systems may generally be integrated together in a single product or packaged in multiple products. For example, any of the components for the energy storage system described herein may be provided separately or integrated together (e.g., packaged together or attached together) to form the energy storage system.

[0037] For purposes of this disclosure, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features are described herein. Not all of these advantages may be achieved according to any particular embodiment. Thus, for example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the present disclosure may be embodied or implemented in a manner that achieves one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as taught or suggested herein.

[0038] Unless otherwise specifically stated or understood within the context of use, conditional language such as "can," "might," or "may" is generally intended to convey that some embodiments include, while other embodiments do not, certain features, elements, and / or steps. Thus, such conditional language is generally not intended to imply that features, elements, and / or steps are in any way required for one or more embodiments, or that one or more embodiments must include logic for determining, with or without user input or prompting, whether such features, elements, and / or steps are included in or to be performed in any particular embodiment.

[0039] Unless specifically stated otherwise, linking language such as the phrase "at least one of X, Y, and Z" is understood in the context as generally used to express that an item, term, etc. can be any of X, Y, or Z. Thus, such linking language is not generally intended to imply that at least one of X, at least one of Y, and at least one of Z must be present in certain embodiments.

[0040] As used herein, language of degree, such as the terms "approximately," "about," "substantially," and "substantially" as used herein, refers to a value, amount, or characteristic that is close to a stated value, amount, or characteristic and still performs a desired function or achieves a desired result. For example, the terms "approximately," "about," "substantially," and "substantially" may refer to an amount that varies from the stated amount by less than 10%, less than 5%, less than 1%, less than 0.1%, and less than 0.01%, depending on the desired function or desired result.

[0041] The headings, if any, included in this document are for convenience only and do not necessarily affect the scope or meaning of the apparatus and methods disclosed herein.

[0042] The scope of the present disclosure is not intended to be limited by the specific disclosure of preferred embodiments in this section or elsewhere in this specification, but rather by the claims presented in this section or elsewhere in this specification or in the future. The claim language is to be interpreted broadly based on the language employed in the claims and not limited to the examples described in this specification or during the prosecution of the application, which examples are to be construed as non-exclusive.

Claims

1. A vehicle comprising: a vehicle frame, the vehicle frame comprising an outer portion; an exoskeleton exterior door panel formed from a unitary sheet of metal and attached to the exterior portion of the vehicle frame, wherein the exoskeleton exterior door panel provides the majority of the structural protection against side impacts in the area of ​​the entry door; and at least one component, the at least one component being directly attached to the exoskeleton outer door panel, wherein the outer door panel of the exoskeleton bears the load of the at least one component, The exoskeleton outer door panels do not include additional support structures. 2 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the monolithic metal sheet comprises a metal selected from the group consisting of: steel, aluminum, and combinations thereof.

3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the at least one component is selected from the group consisting of: at least one handle, at least one bolt, a motor, an interior trim panel, a windshield, and combinations thereof.

4. The vehicle of claim 1 wherein the exoskeleton outer door panel provides side impact protection for the vehicle.

5. The vehicle of claim 1 wherein the exterior surface of the exoskeleton outer door panel does not include paint.

6. The vehicle of claim 1 further comprising an electric motor.

7. A method for manufacturing an automobile, comprising: Provides an exoskeleton exterior door panel consisting of a single sheet metal structure, including: The single metal sheet is provided, wherein manufacturing the single metal sheet comprises the following steps: providing an initial single metal sheet; cutting the initial unitary metal sheet to form cut unitary metal sheets; and shaping the cut unitary metal sheet to form the unitary metal sheet; attaching at least one component directly to the exoskeleton outer door panel, wherein the unitary metal sheet carries the load of the at least one component, wherein the exoskeleton outer door panel provides the majority of the structural performance against side impacts in the area of ​​the entry door; and attaching the exoskeleton outer door panel to an outer portion of the vehicle frame at the door area, No additional support structure is added to the exoskeleton outer door panels.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the initial unitary metal sheet is a rolled metal sheet.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the unitary metal sheet is not heat treated.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the exoskeleton exterior door panel is not joined to another metal panel. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the cutting is performed by laser cutting.

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