Patent ID: 8662575

Claim:
A vehicle body side part structure comprising: a side sill disposed on right and left sides of a floor of a vehicle body and extending in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle body; a front pillar extending from a front part of the side sill to a roof; and a center pillar extending from a central part of the side sill to the roof, wherein the side sill is formed of an outer side sill member and an inner side sill member, the outer and inner side sill members jointly defining a closed cross section extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body; wherein the outer side sill member includes an upper wall extending to slant upwardly from a vehicle exterior side toward a vehicle interior side and a lower wall extending to slant downwardly from the vehicle exterior side toward the vehicle interior side, the upper wall having an upper bead extending from a front end of the side sill to a rear end thereof such that the closed cross section of the side sill is formed in a polygonal shape, wherein the upper bead is a recessed portion indented inwardly of the closed cross section of the side sill and including a pair of opposed lateral walls and a bottom wall formed integrally with the lateral walls so as to define therebetween an opening, and the bottom wall has a width greater than a height of the lateral walls, wherein the front pillar and the center pillar have a hollow structure including a hollow internal space defined therein, the hollow internal space communicating with the opening of the upper bead, and wherein the central part of the side sill has a central joining portion where the center pillar is joined to the side sill, the front part of the side sill has a front joining portion where the front pillar is joined to the side sill, and at least one of the central and front joining portions is provided with a reinforcement member, the reinforcement member being structurally independent from the center pillar, front pillar and side sill and disposed between the outer side sill member and the center pillar or the front pillar, the reinforcement member having an upper reinforcing part arranged to overlap the upper wall of the outer side sill member and close that part of the opening of the upper bead that communicates with the hollow internal space of eth center pillar or the front pillar, the upper reinforcing part defining a second closed cross section jointly with the bead.