Patent ID: 7510234

Claim:
A vehicle frame structure comprising: an outer pillar panel including an outer upper end, an outer lower end and an outer bulkhead attachment section located between the outer lower end and the outer upper end and at or above a mid-point of the outer pillar panel; an inner pillar panel including an inner upper end, an inner lower end and an inner bulkhead attachment section located between the inner lower end and inner upper end and at or above a mid-point of the inner pillar panel, at least one of the inner bulkhead attachment section and the outer bulkhead attachment section having a generally U-shaped cross-section such that the inner pillar panel and the outer pillar panel form a hollow pillar structure with a gap between the outer and inner bulkhead attachment sections; a bulkhead fixedly coupled to the outer and inner bulkhead attachment sections bridging the gap between the outer and inner bulkhead attachment sections; and an upper reinforcement member disposed between the inner pillar panel and the bulkhead, the upper reinforcement member extending vertically along an upper central section of the inner pillar panel such that the upper reinforcement member extends vertically beyond both upper and lower ends of the bulkhead, the upper reinforcement member having a bottom end that is spaced upward in a vertical direction from lower ends of both the outer and inner pillar panels.