Patent ID: 7172238

Claim:
A vehicle door comprising a steel supportive door frame ( 10 ) that includes a waist rail ( 14 ) and a side impact guard ( 22 ), and further comprising an outer panel ( 31 ) and interior trim ( 32 ) fastened to the frame, wherein the side impact guard is positioned directly adjacent the outer panel with no intermediate structural components disposed therebetween, characterised in that the waist rail ( 14 ) and the side impact guard ( 22 ) are both formed integrally with the door frame ( 10 ), in that the steel of the door frame has a yield strength of at least 350 N/mm 2 , and in that the door frame ( 10 ) has the form of ring-shaped hat beam ( 13 , 16 ) having inner and outer side flanges ( 17 , 18 ) of varying widths, the crown of the hat beam facing towards the vehicle interior, wherein the side impact guard ( 22 ) bridges a hole ( 20 , 21 ) formed between the inner side flanges ( 18 ) of the ring-shaped hat beam, an edge of said outer panel ( 31 ) being fastened to an edge of the outer side flange.