Patent ID: 7124541

Claim:
An outwardly curved vehicle door providing occupant protection from a lateral impact against the vehicle door, comprising: a function carrier having a curvature substantially equal to the curvature of said vehicle door and being composed of at least inner and outer shell bodies each having a curvature substantially equal to the curvature of said vehicle door; each of said shell bodies being provided with at least two stiffening indentations on an inner side of said shell body, at least one of said indentations of one of said shell bodies extends generally perpendicular to at least one of said indentations of said other of said shell bodies and overlaps said at least one of said indentations of said one of said shell bodies at a crossing point, said crossing point forming a fastening point for fastening said shell bodies so that said fastened shell bodies from together a continuously closed frame of said function carrier; a curved outer covering forming, together with a curved outer side of said function carrier, a correspondingly curved installation space for a curved windowpane lifting and lowering device which also has a curvature substantially equal to the curvature of said vehicle door; two guide rails each having a curvature substantially equal to the curvature of said vehicle door; the windowpane lifting and lowering device comprises at least two toothed belts which have a curvature substantially equal to the curvature of the vehicle door and are guided via upper and lower deflection pulleys the guide rails are adapted to be accommodated in two of said stiffening indentations of said outer shell body, the lifting and lower device further includes driven pinions which are synchronously engaging in the toothed belts for providing upward and downward movement of a windowpane, and a retaining rail at a lower end of the windowpane being connected to the toothed belts for the upward and downward movement of the windowpane.