Patent ID: 8702161

Claim:
An energy absorbing and distributing side impact system for a vehicle, comprising: a pair of side sill assemblies, said pair of side sill assemblies comprising a left hand side sill assembly and a right hand side sill assembly, wherein each of said side sill assemblies further comprises: an impact energy absorbing component, wherein said impact energy absorbing component is interposed between an inner side sill wall and an outer side sill wall; a battery pack enclosure mounted under said vehicle, said battery pack enclosure comprising an enclosure top panel, an enclosure bottom panel, and a plurality of enclosure side members, wherein said battery pack enclosure is configured to hold a plurality of batteries, said battery pack enclosure mounted between and mechanically coupled to said left hand side sill assembly and said right hand side sill assembly, wherein said battery pack enclosure is mounted under a passenger cabin floor panel, wherein said battery pack enclosure further comprises a plurality of battery pack cross-members integrated into said battery pack enclosure, wherein each of said plurality of battery pack cross-members transverses the distance between a first enclosure side member adjacent to said left hand side sill assembly and a second enclosure side member adjacent to said right hand side sill assembly, and wherein said plurality of battery pack cross-members segregate said plurality of batteries into groups of batteries; a plurality of vehicle cross-members interposed between said inner side sill walls of said left hand side sill assembly and said right hand side sill assembly, wherein each of said plurality of vehicle cross-members is mechanically coupled to said inner side sill walls of said left hand side sill assembly and said right hand side sill assembly; and wherein said impact energy absorbing component is captured between a substantially horizontal inner side sill wall and a pair of insert guide members, wherein a first insert guide member of said pair of insert guide members extends from an inner surface of said inner side sill wall, and wherein a second insert guide member of said pair of insert guide members extends from an inner surface of said outer side sill wall, and wherein said substantially horizontal inner side sill wall is interposed between and is coupled to said inner surface of said inner side sill wall and said inner surface of said outer side sill wall.