Abstract:
A vehicle body assembly including a frame with an outrigger secured to the frame below a passenger compartment. The passenger compartment includes a plurality of pillars supporting a roof, a first rocker assembly and a second rocker assembly disposed on opposite sides of the passenger compartment. The outrigger is secured to the frame below the passenger compartment, inboard of the rocker assembly and outboard of the roof to protect the roof in side impact collisions. The outriggers transfer the side impact loads to the frame rails that are disposed inboard of the roof rails.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    This disclosure relates to vehicle structures located below the passenger cabin that improve the performance of a vehicle roof in a side impact collision. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Vehicles are being designed with a view to reducing the mass of the vehicle but all prevailing safety tests must be met for a design to be acceptable. One test that must be met is FMVSS 214 that is referred to as the Oblique Pole Side Impact Test. In the Oblique Pole Side Impact Test the side of the vehicle is driven into a pole that extends from the ground up to the roof of the vehicle. One unsatisfactory result of this test is that the roof integrity may be compromised as a result of the test. 
         [0003]    This disclosure is directed to providing a vehicle body structure that reduces the possibility of roof issues during the 20 MPH Oblique Pole Side Impact Test. This problem and other problems are addressed by this disclosure as summarized below. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    According to one aspect of this disclosure, a vehicle body assembly is disclosed that includes a frame that includes an outrigger secured to the frame below a passenger compartment. The passenger compartment includes a plurality of pillars supporting a roof, a first rocker assembly and a second rocker assembly disposed on opposite sides of the passenger compartment. The outrigger is secured to the frame below the passenger compartment, inboard of the rocker assembly and outboard of the roof to protect the roof in side impact collisions. 
         [0005]    According to other aspects of this disclosure the vehicle body assembly may further comprise a front bracket connecting a front end of the outrigger to the frame, and a rear bracket connecting a rear end of the outrigger to the frame. The front bracket and the rear bracket extend in a horizontal plane from the frame to the outrigger. 
         [0006]    The plurality of pillars may further comprise a first A-pillar and a second A-pillar provided on opposite sides of the passenger compartment and a first B-pillar and a second B-pillar provided on opposite sides of the passenger compartment. A right roof rail connects one of the A-pillars and one of the B-pillars on a right side of the passenger compartment and a left roof rail connects one of the A-pillars and one of the B-pillars on a side of the passenger compartment. The outrigger is disposed parallel to and outboard of the right roof rail and the left roof rail. The outrigger may be connected to the frame by a bracket that is cantilevered from the frame. 
         [0007]    According to another aspect of this disclosure, a vehicle body assembly is provided that comprises a pair of longitudinal frame rails, a floor pan supported on the frame rails and a pair of rockers each attached to a lateral side of the floor pan. The body assembly also includes a roof supported above the floor pan on a plurality of pillars and a right roof rail and a left roof rail, wherein the right and left roof rails are laterally inboard of the rockers. A pair of reinforcement outriggers are each attached to and cantilevered laterally outward from one of the frame rails and extend laterally outboard of the roof rails and inboard of the rockers. 
         [0008]    According to another aspect of this disclosure, at least one cross-vehicle reinforcement bar may be attached to the frame rails that extend in a transverse vehicle direction, connecting the pair of reinforcement outriggers together below the floor pan. 
         [0009]    The outriggers may further comprise a longitudinally extending side impact absorbing bar, a forward bracket attaching one of the frame rails to a front end of the longitudinally extending side impact absorbing bar, and a rearward bracket attaching the other one of the frame rails to a rear end of the longitudinally extending side impact absorbing bar. 
         [0010]    The outriggers may further comprise a planar plate attached to each one of the frame rails. The planar plate may define a plurality of openings that reduce the weight of the planar plate. The outriggers may be spaced inwardly from the rockers. 
         [0011]    According to another aspect of this disclosure, a side impact absorbing system is disclosed for a vehicle including a pair of longitudinal frame rails, a floor pan supported on the frame rails, a pair of rockers each attached to a lateral side of the floor pan, and a roof supported above the floor pan on a plurality of pillars and a right roof rail and a left roof rail. The side impact absorbing system may further comprise a pair of outriggers each attached to one of the frame rails to extend outboard of the frame rails and roof rails. The outriggers may be spaced from the rocker so that a side impact load applied to the rockers compresses the rockers that are driven into the outriggers. The outriggers transfer the side impact loads to the frame rails that are disposed inboard of the roof rails. 
         [0012]    In the impact absorbing system, the outriggers may further comprise a front bracket connecting a front end of the outrigger to the frame, and a rear bracket connecting a rear end of the outrigger to the frame. The front bracket and the rear bracket extend in a horizontal plane from the frame to the outrigger. The outrigger is disposed parallel to and outboard of the right roof rail and the left roof rail. Impact loads applied to the frame rails by the rocker assemblies and the outriggers are partially absorbed by the cross-vehicle reinforcement bar and the floor pan. 
         [0013]    The above aspects of this disclosure and other aspects will be described below in detail with reference to the attached drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is a side/rear perspective view of a vehicle, a pick-up truck, having a lower portion of the doors of the passenger compartment removed to show the location of a side impact absorbing outrigger. 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a bottom plan view of a vehicle showing the side impact absorbing outrigger of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view taken along the line  3 - 3  in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is a bottom plan view of a vehicle including a planar plate outrigger. 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  is a fragmentary bottom plan view of another alternative embodiment of an outrigger in the form of a U-shaped tube. 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  is a fragmentary bottom plan view of another alternative embodiment of a tubular outrigger including an intermediate tubular member. 
           [0020]      FIG. 7  is a chart showing the base roof structure of a vehicle (solid line) including a comparison of the roof structure after a side impact test comparing the shape of the roof at 120 ms after impact with and without an outrigger (long dash—short dash lines). 
           [0021]      FIG. 8  is a chart showing displacement in millimeters of roof intrusion in a side impact test comparing a roof including an outrigger (thick line) to one not including the outrigger (thin line). 
           [0022]      FIG. 9  is a chart showing the diagonal expansion of the roof in a side impact comparing a base vehicle (thin line) to a vehicle including the outriggers (thick line). 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0023]    The illustrated embodiments are disclosed with reference to the drawings. However, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are intended to be merely examples that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale and some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. The specific structural and functional details disclosed are not to be interpreted as limiting, but as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art how to practice the disclosed concepts. 
         [0024]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , a vehicle  10  (e.g., a pick-up truck) is illustrated that includes a body  12  that defines a passenger compartment  14 . The vehicle  10  includes a floor pan  16  that defines the lower portion of the passenger compartment  14 . The vehicle body  12  includes a plurality of pillars, including an A-pillar  18 , a B-pillar  20 , and a C-pillar  22 . The pillars  18 - 22  support a roof  24  of the vehicle  10 . A pair of roof rails  26  are provided on right and left sides of the roof  24 . The floor pan  16  is assembled to a frame rail  28  of a vehicle  10  that includes a conventional frame. It should be understood that the frame may be a unibody frame that is integrally formed as part of the body  12  of the vehicle  10 . 
         [0025]    The frame rails  28  extend in a longitudinal direction and provide support for the body  12 . An outrigger  30 , or side impact absorbing bar, is attached to the frame rail  28  to provide additional support below the passenger compartment  14 . The outrigger  30  provides additional side impact protection in a side impact test and is effective to prevent disconnection of the roof  24  from the roof rails  26  in the side impact. The outrigger  30  is attached to the frame rail  28  by a front bracket  32  at a front end of the outrigger. A rear bracket  34  is provided to connect the outrigger  30  to the frame rail  28  at a rear end  35  of the outrigger  30 . 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , the vehicle  10  is shown in a bottom perspective view illustrating the relative location of the frame rail  28  of the vehicle  10  within the body  12 . A roof rail  26  is shown in phantom lines to be disposed outboard of the frame rails  28  and inboard of the outrigger  30 . The outrigger  30  is also disposed inboard of a rocker assembly  36 . The outrigger  30  is disposed below the floor pan  16 . Two outriggers  30  are shown attached to right and left frame rails  28 . 
         [0027]    Reinforcement bars  38 , or cross-vehicle reinforcements, are shown extending between the frame rails  28 . The reinforcement bars  38  are aligned with the front bracket and rear bracket  32  and  34  of the outrigger  30  to provide additional support and reinforcement in a side impact. 
         [0028]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , a diagrammatic cross-sectional view is provided of the relative location of the frame rail  28 , rocker assembly  36  and outrigger  30 . The frame rail  28  is disposed below the floor pan  16  and is inboard of the rocker assembly  36 . The outrigger  30  is supported by the front bracket  32 . The roof rail  26  is shown diagrammatically to illustrate the relative location of the roof rail  26  relative to the outrigger  30  wherein the roof rail  26  is disposed inboard of the outrigger  30  and outboard of the frame rail  28 . 
         [0029]    In a side impact, the rocker assembly  36  may be driven inwardly until it contacts the outrigger  30 . The outrigger  30  transmits the impact force through the front bracket  32  and rear bracket  34  (not shown in  FIG. 3 ). The force transmitted to the outrigger  30  and the brackets  32  and  34  reduces the load applied to the roof rail  26  in a side impact collision. The brackets  32 ,  34  transmit the impact force to the frame rail  28 . 
         [0030]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , a vehicle  10  is shown that includes a planar plate-shaped outrigger on both frame rails  28  of the vehicle  10 . A plurality of openings  48  are defined by the planar plate outrigger  46 . The planar plate outriggers  46  extend outboard in a lateral direction to a greater extent than the roof rails  26  that are shown in phantom lines. The planar plate outriggers  46  are outboard of the frame rails  28  and spaced inwardly from the rockers  36 . 
         [0031]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , another alternative embodiment is shown in which a vehicle  10  is provided with two U-shaped tubes  50 . The U-shaped tubes  50  may be hydro-formed tubes that may be formed into a U-shape and then attached to the frame rails  28  of the vehicle  10 . The U-shaped tube outrigger  50  extends in the lateral direction to a greater extent than the roof rail  26  shown in phantom lines in  FIG. 5 . The U-shaped tube outriggers  50  are outboard of the frame rails  28  and spaced inwardly from the rockers  36 . 
         [0032]    Referring to  FIG. 6 , another alternative embodiment is shown in which a tubular outrigger assembly  52  is attached to the frame rails  28  of the vehicle  10 . The tubular outrigger assembly  52  includes an outer tube  54 . An intermediate tubular reinforcement  56  is attached to the outer tube  54 . A front end  58  and rear end  60  of the outer tube  54  are attached to the frame rails  28 . The intermediate tubular reinforcement  56  may also be attached to the frame rail  28  to provide additional support for the tubular outrigger assembly  52  on the frame rail  28 . The outer tube  54  of the tubular outrigger assembly  52  is laterally outboard of the roof rails  26  shown in phantom in  FIG. 6 . The tubular outrigger assemblies  52  are outboard of the frame rails  28  and spaced inwardly from the rockers  36 . 
         [0033]    Referring to  FIG. 7 , a chart showing the extent of intrusion in a simulated Oblique Pole Side Impact Test without the outrigger is compared to a simulated side impact with the outrigger. Without the outrigger, the side impact rear corner angle change was 37°. The rear corner angle change with the outrigger was 10°. The difference was about 27°. 
         [0034]    Referring to  FIG. 8 , the displacement in millimeters of the roof intrusion for the simulated Oblique Pole Side Impact Test for the base line without the outrigger was 175 mm (thin line). The simulated Oblique Pole Side Impact Test roof intrusion for the vehicle including outriggers was 80 mm (thick line). The difference as measured in this simulated test was 95 mm. 
         [0035]    Referring to  FIG. 9 , the diagonal expansion of the roof was compared in a simulated test for a base line vehicle without the outrigger (thin line) to a vehicle including an outrigger (thick line). The base line vehicle experienced a diagonal expansion as measured from the B-pillar on the driver&#39;s side to the A-pillar on the passenger side for the base line at 115 ms was 95 mm. The diagonal expansion for the vehicle including an outrigger at 115 ms was 20 mm. The difference was 75 mm which indicates improvement in match boxing of the roof structure. 
         [0036]    The embodiments described above are specific examples that do not describe all possible forms of the disclosure. The features of the illustrated embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the disclosed concepts. The words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation. The scope of the following claims is broader than the specifically disclosed embodiments and also includes modifications of the illustrated embodiments.