Patent ID: 11913261
Assignee: NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC E  B | IPC B  E

Claim 0:
1. A vehicle door assembly, comprising:
a door panel having an inboard surface and an outboard surface with a first handle opening that extends from the inboard surface to the outboard surface;
a handle base bracket of a door handle assembly having an inboard surface and an outboard surface, the handle base bracket having a first handle receiving section and a fastener opening, the fastener opening extending through the first handle receiving section from the inboard surface of the handle base bracket to the outboard surface of the handle base bracket, in a fully assembled state the outboard surface of the handle base bracket overlays a portion of the inboard surface of the door panel at least partially surrounding the first handle opening of the door panel;
a first reinforcement beam having an upper end and a lower end, the upper end being rigidly attached to the door panel adjacent to an upper edge of the door panel, the lower end being attached to a rearward edge of the door panel below and spaced apart from the handle base bracket;
a first fastener member extending through the first handle opening and into the fastener opening, with a head portion of the first fastener member overlaying a portion of the outboard surface of the door panel adjacent to the first handle opening, the first fastener member being non-rotatable relative to the handle base bracket;
a metallic reinforcement bracket having a main section, a first side flange and a second side flange, the main section being fixedly attached to the inboard surface of the handle base bracket, the first and second side flanges extending in an outboard direction from opposite edges of the main section toward the inboard surface of the door panel;
a vibration absorbing member having an inboard surface, an outboard surface and a forward side that extends in an outboard direction from the inboard surface and the outboard surface, the vibration absorbing member being directly attached to the main section of the metallic reinforcement bracket, inboard of the handle base bracket and the metallic reinforcement bracket, the forward side of the vibration absorbing member extending in an outboard direction covering forward ends of each of the first and second side flanges, the vibration absorbing member having an attachment flange attached to the first reinforcing beam between the upper end and lower end proximate the handle base bracket; and
an operation handle having a grip portion and a protrusion, the grip portion extending outboard of the outboard surface of the door panel, with the protrusion extending through the first handle opening of the door panel and into the first handle receiving section of the handle base bracket, and in response to a side impact event the vibration absorbing member reduces possible movement of the operation handle.