FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT 1970
[39 OF 1970]
&
The Patents Rules, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
[See Section 10 and Rule 13]
TITLE: “A REAR BODY IN WHITE (BIW) STRUCTURE FOR A VEHICLE”
Name and address of the Applicant: TATA MOTORS PASSENGER VEHICLES LIMITED, Floor 3, 4,, Plot-18, Nanavati Mahalaya, Mudhana Shetty Marg, BSE, Fort, Mumbai, Mumbai City, Maharashtra, 400 001
Nationality: Indian
The following specification describes the nature of invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

TECHNICAL FIELD
Present disclosure in general relates to a field of automobile engineering. Particularly but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates to a body in white (BIW) structure of a vehicle. Further, embodiments of the disclosure discloses a rear body in white (BIW) structure of the vehicle
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
Vehicles generally include body in white (BIW) structures which act as a skeleton for the vehicle. The BIW structure is designed with various features to support different components of the vehicle. One such feature in the BIW structure is a suspension tower, which is configured at a rear portion of the BIW structure. The suspension tower includes a tower upper wall section to which one end of a suspension spring is affixed. Vertical forces from the suspension spring gets transferred to the suspension tower. Usually suspension tower includes a circular arc shaped configuration. Due to such a configuration and shape, load transmission paths are interrupted at end of the suspension tower. Therefore, vertical forces or loads acting on the suspension tower gets concentrated, thereby affecting stiffness and structural rigidity of the BIW, which is undesired as affecting the structural rigidity of the BIW limits its energy transfer capabilities.
The present disclosure is directed to overcome one or more limitations stated above and any other limitations associated with the prior arts.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
One or more shortcomings of conventional system are overcome, and additional advantages are provided through the configuration of the rear body in white (BIW) structure as claimed in the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed disclosure.

In one non-limiting embodiment of the disclosure, a rear body in white (BIW) structure for a vehicle is disclosed. The structure includes a suspension tower section to which a suspension is mounted. Further, the structure includes a first reinforcement member extending from the suspension tower section to an underbody structure of the vehicle and a second reinforcement member extending from the suspension tower section to a rear tail gate structure of the vehicle. Furthermore, the structure includes a reinforcement bracket disposed on the suspension tower section and a third reinforcement member extending from the reinforcement bracket to a rear upper pillar of the vehicle.
In an embodiment, the reinforcement bracket comprises a body. The body is defined with a first section and a second section. The second section extends angularly from the first section and is structured to seat on the suspension tower section.
In an embodiment, the reinforcement bracket includes a substantially U-shaped profile.
In an embodiment, the second reinforcement member is an elongated member defined with at least one groove extending along a length of the elongated member.
In an embodiment, the second reinforcement member is defined with a plurality of brackets extending from sides of the second reinforcement member. The plurality of brackets are configured to support a trim of the vehicle.
In an embodiment, the second reinforcement member is defined with a plurality of provisions on a top surface. The plurality of provisions are configured to support accessories of the vehicle.
In an embodiment, the first reinforcement member is defined with a W-shaped cross-section and the third reinforcement member is defined with a U-shaped cross-section.
In an embodiment, the first reinforcement member, the second reinforcement member, the reinforcement bracket and the third reinforcement member are made of metal.
It is to be understood that the aspects and embodiments of the disclosure described above may be used in any combination with each other. Several of the aspects and

embodiments may be combined together to form a further embodiment of the disclosure.
The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The novel features and characteristic of the disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. The disclosure itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. One or more embodiments are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals represent like elements and in which:
Figure. 1 illustrates a perspective view of rear body in white (BIW) structure for a vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Figure. 2 illustrates a sectional view of Figure. 1 along A-A.
Figure. 3 illustrates a sectional view of Figure. 1 along B-B.
Figure. 4 illustrates a perspective view of a second reinforcement member, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Figure. 5 illustrates a sectional view of Figure. 4 along C-C.
Figure. 6 illustrates a perspective view of a reinforcement bracket, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Figure. 7 illustrates a sectional view of Figure. 6 along D-D.
The figures depict embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative

embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
While the embodiments in the disclosure are subject to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiment thereof has been shown by way of example in the figures and will be described below. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the scope of the disclosure.
It is to be noted that a person skilled in the art would be motivated from the present disclosure and modify various constructions of the rear body in white (BIW) structure, which may vary from vehicle to vehicle. However, such modifications should be construed within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, the drawings show only those specific details that are pertinent to understand the embodiments of the present disclosure, so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having benefit of the description herein.
The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof used in the disclosure, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that assembly that comprises a list of components does not include only those components but may include other components not expressly listed or inherent to such assembly. In other words, one or more elements in the assembly proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the assembly.
The following paragraphs describe the present disclosure with reference to Figures. 1 to 7. In the Figures, the same element or elements which have similar functions are indicated by the same reference signs. In the figures, vehicle is not illustrated for the purpose of simplicity.
Figure. 1, illustrates of perspective view of a rear body in white (BIW) structure (100) [hereinafter interchangeably referred as structure (100)] for a vehicle. As an example, the vehicle can be of at least several different uses and can be referred to as a heavy and

light-duty vehicle including but not limited to a work vehicle, a bus, a material hauling vehicle, a fire-fighting vehicle, caravan, and the like. Also, the vehicle may include sports utility vehicles (SUVs), multi-utility vehicles (MUVs), pick-up trucks, and the like without deviating from the scope of the present disclosure. The structure (100) may include a suspension tower section (101) in which suspension is mounted. In an embodiment the suspension tower section (101) may extend from a side portion of the rear body in white structure (100). The suspension tower section (101) may include a top portion, which may be configured to receive an end of a suspension spring [not shown in Figures] to support the suspension spring. Further the rear body in white structure (100) may include a first reinforcement member (102) extending from the suspension tower section (101) and to an underbody structure (114) of the vehicle. In an embodiment, the first reinforcement member (102) may extend from a bottom portion of the suspension tower section (101) to the underbody structure (114) of the vehicle. Further, the first reinforcement member (102) may include a W cross-section [as seen in Figure. 2] to increase stiffness and rigidity to the first reinforcement member (102). The first reinforcement member (102) may be configured to transfer a portion of load acting on the suspension tower section (101) towards the underbody structure (114) of the vehicle. Such transfer of load from the suspension tower section (101) to the underbody structure (114) aids in improving stiffness of the suspension tower section (101) [thus, the rear body in white structure (100)].
Referring further to Figure. 1, the rear body in white structure (100) includes a second reinforcement member (103) which extends from the suspension tower section (101) to a rear tail gate structure (113) of the vehicle. In an embodiment, the second reinforcement member (103) may extend from a side portion of the suspension tower section (101) to the rear tail gate structure (113). As apparent from Figure. 4, the second reinforcement member (103) may be an elongated member defined with at least one groove (109) [best seen in Figure. 5] extending along a length of the elongated member. The groove (109) may form longitudinal beads which improve stiffness of the second reinforcement member (103). The feature [at least one groove (109)] provides resistance to loads and may act as a torsional member. This aids the second reinforcement member (103) to directly transferring the loads from the suspension tower section (101) without the need of additional reinforcement structures. Further, the second reinforcement member (103) may be defined with a plurality of brackets (110)

which may extend from its sides. The plurality of brackets (110) may be configured to support a trim of the vehicle. Furthermore, the second reinforcement member (103) may be defined with a plurality of provisions (111) on a top surface. The plurality of provisions (111) may be configured to support accessories of the vehicle. As an example, the accessories of the vehicle may be subwoofer, electronic control unit (ECU) mountings and the like.
Referring again to Figure. 1, the suspension tower section (101) may include a reinforcement bracket (104), which may be disposed on the suspension tower section (101). Referring to Figure. 6, the reinforcement bracket (104) may include a body (106) which may be defined with a first section (107) and a second section (108), which may extend angularly from the first section (107). The second section (108) may be structured to seat on the suspension tower section (101), such that the second section (108) may aid in supporting the reinforcement bracket (104) on the suspension tower section (101). In an embodiment, the reinforcement bracket (104) may include but not limiting to U-shaped cross-section [as seen in Figure. 7].
Turning back to Figure. 1, A third reinforcement member (105) is coupled the reinforcement bracket (104) and extends away from the reinforcement bracket (104) towards a rear upper pillar (115) of the vehicle. In an embodiment, the third reinforcement member (105) may extend from the first section (107) of the reinforcement bracket (104) and to the rear upper pillar of the vehicle. The reinforcement bracket (104) aids in providing smooth and continuous frame from the suspension tower section (101) for effective transfer of loads from the suspension tower section (101) to the rear upper pillar (115) of the vehicle, through the third reinforcement member (105). In other words, the reinforcement bracket (104) mitigates abrupt change in load path direction from the suspension tower section (101), thereby provides smooth transfer of loads from the suspension tower section (101) to the rear upper pillar (115) of the vehicle, through the third reinforcement member (105). In an embodiment, the third reinforcement member (105) includes a U-shaped cross-section [as seen in Figure. 3], which provides stiffness to the third reinforcement member (105) to withstand bending loads.
In an embodiment, the reinforcement bracket (104) may be defined with a plurality of provisions (116) for mounting Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR) of a seat. The loads

subject from the ELR mounitngs are directily transferred to the BIW, eliminating the need of any reinforcement for the same. Further, the reinforcement bracket (104) may be defined with a cutout (112) for providing weld access for joining with subsidiary components of the vehicle.
In an embodiment, the first reinforcement member (102), the second reinforcement member (103), the reinforcement bracket (104) and the third reinforcement member (105) forms load paths from the suspension tower section (101) for distribiuting of loads from suspension tower section (101) towards various components of the vehicle. Distribution of loads from the suspension tower section (101) aids in improving stiffness of the structure (100) and thus stability of the vehicle.
Equivalents:
With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.
It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as "open" terms (e.g., the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but is not limited to," etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and/or "an" should typically be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one or more"); the same holds true for the use of

definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations," without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, and C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances, where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, or C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, or C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase "A or B" will be understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B."
While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims

Referral Numerals:

Referral numeral Description
100 Rear body in white (BIW) structure
101 Suspension tower section
102 First reinforcement member
103 Second reinforcement member
104 Reinforcement bracket
105 Third reinforcement bracket
106 Body
107 First section
108 Second section
109 Groove
110 Brackets
111 Provisions
112 Cut-out
113 Rear tail gate structure
114 Underbody structure
115 Rear upper pillar
116 Provisions

We Claim:
1. A rear body in white (BIW) structure (100) for a vehicle, the structure (100)
comprising:
a suspension tower section (101) to which a suspension is mounted;
a first reinforcement member (102) extending from the suspension tower section (101) to an underbody structure (114) of the vehicle;
a second reinforcement member (103) extending from the suspension tower section (101) to a rear tail gate structure (113) of the vehicle;
a reinforcement bracket (104) disposed on the suspension tower section (101); and
a third reinforcement member (105) extending from the reinforcement bracket (104) to a rear upper pillar (115) of the vehicle.
2. The structure (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reinforcement bracket
(104) comprises:
a body (106) defined with:
a first section (107); and
a second section (108) extending angularly from the first section (107), wherein the second section (108) structured to seat on the suspension tower section (101).
3. The structure (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reinforcement bracket (104) includes a substantially U-shaped profile.
4. The structure (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second reinforcement member (103) is an elongated member defined with at least one groove (109) extending along a length of the elongated member.
5. The structure (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second reinforcement member (103) is defined with a plurality of brackets (110) extending from sides of the second reinforcement member (103), wherein the plurality of brackets (110) are configured to support a trim of the vehicle.

6. The structure (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second reinforcement member (103) is defined with a plurality of provisions (111) on a top surface, the plurality of provisions (111) are configured to support accessories of the vehicle.
7. The structure (100) as claimed in claim 1, the first reinforcement member (102) is defined with a W-shaped cross-section and the third reinforcement member (105) is defined with a U-shaped cross-section.
8. The structure (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first reinforcement member (102), the second reinforcement member (103), the reinforcement bracket (104) and the third reinforcement member (105) form load paths from the suspension tower section (101).
9. The structure (100) as claimed in claim 1, the first reinforcement member (102), the second reinforcement member (103), the reinforcement bracket (104) and the third reinforcement member (105) are made of metal.
10. A vehicle comprising a rear body in white (BIW) structure (100) as claimed in claim 1.