Description:A DOOR PANEL OF A VEHICLE

TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present subject matter described herein relates to a door panel of a vehicle. The present invention is particularly related to a handle area provided on an outer panel of the door panel. The door panel is improved for reducing the acceleration of an outer panel during a side impact.

BACKGROUND
[0002] Background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present subject matter. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
[0003] A handle is provided on a vehicle door for locking and unlocking from the outside. The handle is located on a door outer panel as well as on a door inner panel that is attached to the door outer panel but separated from it.
[0004] On the outer panel, there is an embossed surface for mounting the outer handle. Further, holes are given on the embossed surface for fastening the outer handle. The outer handle bolts run through these holes, and two nuts are tightened on these bolts from the inner panel side.
[0005] In an existing design, the outer panel on the backside of the embossed surface has no support or reinforcement structure. During side impact test, the barrier comes down and hits the outer panel below the outer handle area. This results in a sharp rise in the outer panel's acceleration in the direction of the barrier's movement.
[0006] As a result, the barrier pushes the outer panel, as well as the outer handle mounting face, within the vehicle. However, due to the inertia of repose, the outer handle tends to stay in place. As a result, the outer handle is prompted to move in upward direction and gets opened. Because the outer handle mounting face has no support on the back, it will continue to bend till the sash, and the acceleration of the outer handle face will continue to increase. The damaged outer handle face will hit the sash over a period of time, and the distortion will lessen as the structure takes support from the inner panel via the sash mounting bracket. At a later stage, the side body outer will also give support. The outer handle will be less accelerated as a result of this.
[0007] If the rise in acceleration is prolonged, the flap of the outer handle will open, thereby eventually leading to the unlocking of the outer handle and opening of the side door during the impact which is dangerous for the person inside the vehicle. When the outer handle face is displaced by distance D, the support required to lessen the acceleration is given by the door inner panel. Until then, there is no support and the acceleration continues to rise.
[0008] Therefore, it is required to provide an outer handle area structure that reduces the acceleration of the outer handle area structure and prevents unlocking of door during a side impact.
OBJECTS OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0009] It forms an object of the present disclosure to overcome the aforementioned and other drawbacks/limitations in the existing solutions available in the form of related prior arts.
[0010] It is a primary object of the present disclosure to provide an outer handle area structure that reduces the acceleration of the outer handle area structure during a side impact such that the outer handle hits a sash in a reduced time and prevents unlocking of door.
[0011] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a reinforcement bracket that reduces the acceleration of the outer handle area structure during a side impact.
[0012] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide the reinforcement bracket to improve the rigidness of the handle such as to avoid breaking of a sash during side impact of low force.
[0013] These and other objects and advantages of the present subject matter will be apparent to a person skilled in the art after consideration of the following detailed description taken into consideration with accompanying drawings in which preferred embodiments of the present subject matter are illustrated.

SUMMARY
[0014] A solution to one or more drawbacks of existing technology and additional advantages are provided through the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages are realized through the technicalities of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered to be a part of the claimed disclosure.
[0015] The present disclosure provides a solution in the form of a door panel of a vehicle for reducing the acceleration of an outer handle area during a side impact test. The door panel of the vehicle includes an outer handle mounted on an embossed surface provided on an outer panel of the door panel, wherein the embossed surface has holes for locating and fastening the outer handle to the outer panel using a plurality of fasteners, a sash located in between the outer panel and an inner panel of the door panel, wherein the sash covers a glass provided inside the door and a reinforcement bracket mounted on a backside of the embossed surface of the outer panel, wherein the reinforcement bracket is of hat-shaped structure, and wherein a top surface of the hat-shaped structure faces a side surface of the sash, and wherein during a side impact of the vehicle, the top surface of the hat-shaped structure comes in contact with the side surface of the sash.
[0016] In an aspect, a gap X is provided between the top surface of the reinforcement bracket and the side surface of the sash.
[0017] In an aspect, the reinforcement bracket has a plurality of flanges.
[0018] In an aspect, the flanges have a plurality of through holes.
[0019] In an aspect, the flanges of the reinforcement bracket are connected with the backside of the embossed surface using fasteners.
[0020] In an aspect, the plurality of fasteners includes nuts and bolts.
[0021] 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
[0022] It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of the present subject matter and are therefore not to be considered for limiting of its scope, for the present disclosure may admit to other equally effective embodiments. The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system or methods or structure in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:
[0023] Fig. 1(a) illustrates a inside view of the outer panel along with a reinforcement bracket according to the present disclosure;
[0024] Fig. 1(b) illustrates a top view of the cross section A-A of Fig. 1(a) according to the present disclosure;
[0025] Fig. 2 illustrates the reinforcement bracket according to the present disclosure;
[0026] The figures depict embodiments of the present subject matter for illustration only. A person skilled in the art will easily 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 OF INVENTION
[0027] The detailed description of various exemplary embodiments of the disclosure is described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments are described herein in such details as to communicate the disclosure. However, the amount of details provided herein is not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments; on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.
[0028] It is also to be understood that various arrangements may be devised that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the present disclosure, as well as specific examples, are intended to encompass equivalents thereof.
[0029] It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two figures shown in succession may be executed concurrently or may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.
[0030] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. It will be further understood that terms, e.g., those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
[0031] In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration of specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.
[0032] Hereinafter, a description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. On the contrary, a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0033] The present invention discloses a door panel of a vehicle for reducing the acceleration of an outer handle area during a side impact test. The acceleration is reduced by providing a reinforcing structure on the back of the embossed surface of an outer panel to reduce the gap between a sash and the outer panel of a door.
[0034] Referring to FIG. 1(a), it shows backside of the outer panel (103) of the door panel of the vehicle. The section A-A shows the backside of an embossed surface (102) on the outer panel (103). For the sake of clarity, the inner panel (107) along with a sash (106) has not been shown. A reinforcement bracket (109) is mounted on the backside of the embossed surface (102).
[0035] Fig. 1(b) illustrates a top view of the cross section of Fig. 1(a) according to the present disclosure. The door panel includes an outer panel (103) and an inner panel (107). The outer panel (103) has the outer handle (101) with an embossed surface (102). The embossed surface (102) provides a space for mounting the outer handle (101).
[0036] The inner panel (107) includes a sash (106) and the sash (106) covers a glass (108) that is located in between the outer panel (103) and the inner panel (107). Further, a reinforcement bracket (109) is mounted on a backside of the embossed surface (102) using the nuts. The reinforcement bracket (109) has a hat-shaped structure and faces the sash (106).
[0037] In detail, the outer panel (103) has the embossed surface (102). The embossed surface (102) has a depression for housing the outer handle (101) on a front side. The embossed surface (102) has fastening holes (104a, 104b) given at a distance from each other for locating and fastening the outer handle (101) to the embossed surface (102). The outer handle (101) is mounted onto the embossed surface (102) using fasteners (105a, 105b) such as nuts and bolts.
[0038] Further, in between the outer panel (103) and the inner panel (107), the sash (106) is located. The sash (106) is further welded to an inner panel bracket (110) and the inner panel bracket (110) is connected to the inner panel (107) using fastener (112). The reinforcement bracket (109) is provided between the outer panel (103) and the sash (106) and a gap is provided in between the reinforcement bracket (109) and the sash (106).
[0039] Referring to FIG. 1(b) and FIG. 2, the reinforcement bracket (109) is mounted onto the outer panel (103) at a backside of the embossed surface (102) of the outer panel (103). The reinforcement bracket (109) has a hat-shaped structure. The hat-shaped structure has a top surface (201) and two flanges (202a, 202b) coming out of the top surface (201) in either direction. The flanges (202a, 202b) have through holes (203a, 203b) given on their surface.
[0040] The top surface (201) of the hat-shaped structure faces a side surface of the sash (106). The through holes (203a, 203b) of the flanges (202a, 202b) and the fastening holes (104a, 104b) of the embossed surface (102) have a similar diameter. Therefore, the flanges (202a, 202b) of the hat-shaped structure are fastened with the outer handle (101) on the fastening holes (104a, 104b) provided on the embossed surface (102).
[0041] Therefore, during the side impact of the vehicle, the top surface (201) of the hat-shaped structure comes in contact with a side surface of the sash (106) earlier than it used to be due to reduction of distance between the outer panel and the sash (106). Thereby, the acceleration of hitting the sash (106) by the reinforcement bracket (109) connected to the outer panel (103) is reduced significantly.
[0042] This reduction in distance causes the outer panel (103) to touch the sash (106) as soon as the deformation starts. Afterward, the whole structure of the outer panel (103) along with the sash (106) starts to move towards the inside of the vehicle. As the sash (106) is mounted on the inner panel (107), it takes support from the whole inner panel (107) as well as that of the side body outer (111) of the vehicle. This reduces the deformation substantially and also reduces the acceleration of the outer panel (103). The reduction in acceleration reduces the possibility of opening the outer handle (101) flap, thereby avoiding the opening of the door during the side impact.
TECHNICAL ADVANTAGES
[0043] With the help of the solution as proposed herein in the context of the present disclosure, the distance between the outer panel and the sash is reduced.
[0044] With the reduction in the distance, the reinforcement bracket connected to the outer panel hits the sash early, thereby avoiding the opening of the outer handle.
[0045] Lastly the deformation of the door panel is reduced significantly.
[0046] 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 disclosures 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. Also, 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 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 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.”
[0047] It will be further appreciated that functions or structures of a plurality of components or steps may be combined into a single component or step, or the functions or structures of one-step or component may be split among plural steps or components. The present disclosure contemplates all of these combinations. Unless stated otherwise, dimensions and geometries of the various structures depicted herein are not intended to be restrictive of the disclosure, and other dimensions or geometries are possible. Also, while a feature of the present disclosure may have been described in the context of only one of the illustrated embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of other embodiments, for any given application. It will also be appreciated from the above that the fabrication of the unique structures herein and the operation thereof also constitute methods in accordance with the present disclosure. The present disclosure also encompasses intermediate and end products resulting from the practice of the methods herein. The use of “comprising” or “including” also contemplates embodiments that “consist essentially of” or “consist of” the recited feature. , Claims:We claim:
1. A door panel of a vehicle comprising:
an outer handle (101) mounted on an embossed surface (102) provided on an outer panel (103) of the door panel, wherein the embossed surface (102) has holes (104a, 104b) for locating and fastening the outer handle (101) to the outer panel (103) using a plurality of fasteners (105a, 105b);
a sash (106) located in between the outer panel (103) and an inner panel (107) of the door panel, wherein the sash (106) covers a glass (108) provided inside the door; and
a reinforcement bracket (109) mounted on a backside of the embossed surface (102) of the outer panel (103), wherein the reinforcement bracket (109) is of hat-shaped structure, and wherein a top surface (201) of the reinforcement bracket (109) faces a side surface of the sash (106), and wherein during a side impact of the vehicle, the top surface (201) of the reinforcement bracket (109) comes in contact with the side surface of the sash (106).

2. The door panel of the vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein a gap X is provided between the top surface (201) of the reinforcement bracket (109) and the side surface of the sash (106).

3. The door panel of the vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reinforcement bracket (109) has a plurality of flanges (202a, 202b).

4. The door panel of the vehicle as claimed in claim 3, wherein the flanges (202a, 202b) have a plurality of through holes (203a, 203b).

5. The door panel of the vehicle as claimed in claim 4, wherein the flanges (202a, 202b) of the reinforcement bracket (109) are connected with the backside of the embossed surface (102) using the fasteners (105a, 105b).

6. The door panel of the vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of fasteners (105a, 105b) include nuts and bolts.