Claims:
1. A vehicle body side structure (100) of a vehicle, wherein the vehicle body side structure (100) comprises:
an inner structural panel (308);
an outer structural panel (312) assembled with the inner structural panel (308) to form the vehicle body side structure (100), and wherein the outer structural panel (312) comprises:
a front body panel (102) surrounding a front door aperture (106) of the vehicle;
a rear skin panel (104) forming the rear half of the rear door aperture (108) of the vehicle, wherein the front body panel (102) and the rear skin panel (104) are joint using a joinery, wherein the joint comprises a upper joint (304) located on the upper end of the rear door aperture (108) and a lower joint (306) located on the lower end of the rear door aperture (108), and wherein the upper joint (304) comprises 1 to 5 mating surface and the lower joint (306) comprises 1 to 3 mating surfaces.
2. The vehicle body side structure (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outer structural panel (312) comprises apertures (106,108) for side ingress and egress of vehicle body.
3. The vehicle body side structure (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upper joint (304) mating surfaces are oriented normal to one of a lateral direction and vertical direction
4. The vehicle body side structure (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein two surfaces from the lower joint (306) mating surfaces are oriented normal to lateral direction and one surface from the lower joint (306) mating surfaces is oriented normal to vertical direction.
5. The vehicle body side structure (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vehicle body side structure (100) is joint to a roof panel using a continuous flange (314) associated each of the inner structural panel (308), the outer structural panel (312), and the roof panel to form a shell structure, and wherein the continuous flange (314) extends from a front windscreen corner to one of a rear door aperture 108 and a rear end of the roof.
6. The vehicle body side structure (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upper joint (304) and the lower joint (306) are covered by claddings (202, 204) and wherein the claddings (202, 204) are made one of a plastic, metal, and rubber.
7. The vehicle body side structure (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the front body panel (102) is made of high strength steel.
8. The vehicle body side structure (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the joinery is one or more of a sealant, an adhesive, a weld and a fastener.
, Description:FORM 2

THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENT RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and Rule 13)

Title of invention:
A VEHICLE BODY SIDE STRUCTURE

Applicant:
Tata Motors Limited
A company Incorporated in India under the Companies Act, 1956
Having address:
Bombay House, 24 Homi Mody Street,
Hutatma Chowk, Mumbai 400001,
Maharashtra, India

The following specification describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION AND PRIORITY
[001] The present application does not claims priority from any previously filed Patent Application.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[002] The present subject matter described herein, in general, relates to a vehicle, and more particularly a vehicle body side structure.
BACKGROUND
[003] Generally, vehicle body includes an underbody, vehicle body side structure on left and right sides, and roof structure. Each vehicle body side structure has one or multiple openings for ingress and egress of people or goods. Each vehicle body side structure is essentially a shell structure comprising of assembly of inner panels and a single piece outer panel. Typically, the outer skin panel is a large panel extending from front of windscreen to the rear of vehicle, to avoid visible joineries when the side doors are opened. In addition to the inner assembly and outer panel, there exists an assembly of panels sandwiched between the inner and outer layers, which functions as a reinforcement ring. The sandwiched reinforcements retain passenger cell rigidity in high-speed crashes, and thereby safeguards the occupants.
[004] In conventional technology such as described in patent disclosure IN-MUM-2007-02616A, the outer skin panel is split in two or multiple pieces to enable production in available press sizes or to avoid special coil sizes which increase cost of raw material. Generally, these multiple pieces are joined with special techniques such as laser brazing and finessed by buffing and non-automatic processes, causing quality problems. Essentially, the assembly of panels has same surface area as that of the single piece outer skin panel. One more prior art of a partial outer skin panel is disclosed in patent US 2011/0233970 A1. According to the prior art, the outer skin panel only covers the visible portion of the windscreen pillar, cant-rail, rear pillar and part of the side sill.
[005] In the conventional art, due to small gaps between the outer skin panel and the sandwiched reinforcements, the electro-coating compound fail to reach some surfaces and resulting in early corrosion, typically in front and centre pillars and also the roof side rails. Conversely, in other conventional art where the gap between the outer skin panel and the reinforcement is increased, the section is insufficient for retaining the passenger cell rigidity in frontal or lateral collisions.
[006] Further, the convention art comprises castellated flanges to avoid 4 metal stack at resistance welding joineries, especially in the joint between the roof and vehicle body side structure. Such design creates local, open, weak sections at number of places along the length of the structural member which significantly reduces the passenger cell strength and cause local high deformations and loss of load path in event of collisions. Also these local weak sections at nodal points act as stress raisers leading to fatigue failures. Another limitation of the prior art is that, the outer structural panel is a single piece part, and its shape has negative draft regions, and requires special operations like cam forming which cause long tooling development time and also high tooling cost.
SUMMARY
[007] Before the present a vehicle body side structure, are described, it is to be understood that this application is not limited to the particular systems, and methodologies described, as there can be multiple possible embodiments which are not expressly illustrated in the present disclosures. It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing the particular implementations or versions or embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application. This summary is provided to introduce aspects related to a vehicle body side structure. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter nor is it intended for use in determining or limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.
[008] In one implementation, a vehicle body side structure of a vehicle. In one embodiment, the vehicle body side structure comprises an inner structural panel, an outer structural panel assembled with the inner structural panel to form the vehicle body side structure. Further, the outer structural panel comprises a front body panel surrounding a front door aperture of the vehicle and a rear skin panel forming the rear half of the rear door aperture of the vehicle. The front body panel and the rear skin panel are joint using a joinery. Further, the joint comprises an upper joint located on the upper end of the rear door aperture and a lower joint located on the lower end of the rear door aperture. Furthermore, an upper joint comprises 1 to 5 mating surface and wherein a lower joint comprises 1 to 3 mating surfaces.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[009] The foregoing detailed description of embodiments is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating of the present subject matter, an example of construction of the present subject matter is provided as figures; however, the invention is not limited to the specific system disclosed in the document and the figures.
[010] The present subject matter is described detail with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer various features of the present subject matter.
[011] Figure 1 illustrates a front body panel and a rear skin panel of a vehicle body side structure, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.
[012] Figure 2 illustrates the assembled vehicle body side structure, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.
[013] Figure 3 illustrates the joints of the vehicle body side structure, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.
[014] Figure 4 illustrates a roof joint of the vehicle body side structure, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.
[015] Figure 5 illustrates an upper joint of the vehicle body side structure, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.
[016] Figure 6 illustrates a lower joint of the vehicle body side structure, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[017] Some embodiments of this disclosure, illustrating all its features, will now be discussed in detail. The words "comprising," "having," "containing," and "including," and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. It must also be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Although any a vehicle body side structure, similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the present disclosure, the exemplary, an vehicle body side structure are now described. The disclosed embodiments for a vehicle body side structure are merely examples of the disclosure, which may be embodied in various forms.
[018] Various modifications to the embodiment will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments for a vehicle body side structure. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the present disclosure for a vehicle body side structure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments described, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.
[019] As described above, there are multiple limitations in the conventional vehicle body structure. Thus there is a need overcome the limitation while reducing vehicle weight and improving structure rigidity.
[020] In one embodiment of the present subject matter, a vehicle body side structure is disclosed. In one aspect, the vehicle body side structure comprises an inner structural panel and an outer structural panel assembled with the inner structural. Further, the outer structural panel comprises a front body panel surrounding a front door aperture of the vehicle, a rear skin panel forming the rear half of the rear door aperture of the vehicle. In one example, the front body panel is made of high strength steel.
[021] During assembly the front body panel and the rear skin panel are joint using a joinery, such as a sealant or a weld or a fastener for example a rivet, to form the outer structural panel. In the embodiment, the front body panel and the rear skin panel are joint at least two location comprising a upper joint located on the upper end of the rear door aperture and a lower joint located on the lower end of the rear door aperture. In one aspect, the upper joint comprises 1 to 5 mating surface and the lower joint comprises 1 to 3 mating surfaces. Furthermore, the vehicle body side structure is joint to a roof panel using continuous flanges of each of the inner structural panel, the outer structural panel and the roof panel to form a shell structure. Further during assembly, the upper joint and the lower joint are covered by claddings made one of a plastic, metal, and rubber.
[022] Exemplary embodiments for a vehicle body side structure discussed above may provide certain advantages. Further, in the subsequent description, embodiments of the present subject along with the advantages matter are explained in detail with reference to the figures 1-6.
[023] Now, referring to Figure 1-6, various elements of the vehicle body side structure 100 are illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter. In one embodiment, a vehicle body side structure 100 comprises an inner structural panel 308, and an outer structural panel 312 assembled with the inner structural panel 308 to form the vehicle body side structure 100. Further, the outer structural panel 312 comprises a front body panel 102 surrounding a front door aperture 106 of the vehicle and a rear skin panel 104 forming the rear half of the rear door aperture 108 of the vehicle. In one example, the front body panel 102 may be made of high strength steel.
[024] In the embodiment, during assembly the front body panel 102 and the rear skin panel 104 are joint using a joinery, such as a sealant or a weld or a fastener to form the outer structural panel 312 and thereby form the apertures 106,108 for side ingress and egress of vehicle. In one example of the assembly, the front body panel 102 and the rear skin panel 104 are joint at two location, a upper joint 304 located on the upper end of the rear door aperture 108 and a lower joint 306 located on the lower end of the rear door aperture 108.
[025] In one example, the upper joint 304 comprises 5 mating surface (as shown in figure 5). Each of the mating surface comprises one segment each from the front body panel 102 and the rear skin panel 104, respectively and the mating surfaces are connected by smoothening geometric element such as fillets. Further, the mating surfaces are oriented normal to one of a lateral direction and vertical direction for best dimensional quality (as shown in figure 5). During assembly each of the five segments in the front body panel 102 match with the corresponding five segments on the rear skin panel 104, thereby creating the upper joint 304 with mating surface that can be sealed by application of a sealant. In one example, there may be less than five mating surfaces.
[026] In other example, the lower joint 306 comprises 3 mating surfaces (as shown in figure 6). Each of the mating surface comprises one segment each from the front body panel 102 and the rear skin panel 104, respectively and the mating surfaces are connected by smoothening geometric element such as fillets. Further, two surfaces from mating surfaces are oriented normal to lateral direction and one surface the lower joint 306 mating surfaces is oriented normal to vertical direction allowing stress free assembly.
[027] During assembly each of the three segments in the front body panel 102 match with the corresponding three segments on the rear skin panel 104, thereby creating the lower joint 306 with mating surface that can be sealed easily by application of suitable sealant. In one embodiment, the above described assembly of the front body panel 102 and the rear skin panel 104 enables reduction in stress.
[028] In one example, the front body panel 102 comprise a top and a bottom reinforcement extensions extending towards the rear end of the vehicle and from the upper joint 304 and lower joint 306 locations. The top and the bottom reinforcement extensions increase structural stability and ease joining of the front body panel 102 and the rear skin panel 104. Further, the top and the bottom reinforcement extensions may be hidden by the rear skin panel 104. Upon joining, the upper joint 304 and the lower joint 306 are covered by claddings 202, 204. In one example, the claddings 202, 204 may be made one of a plastic, metal, and rubber.
[029] Further in the embodiment, during assembly the vehicle body side structure 100 is joint 314 (herein after referred to as roof joint) to a roof panel 310 (as shown in figure 4) to form a shell structure (as shown in figure 4). Further the roof joint comprises of 3 panels the inner structural panel 308, the outer structural panel 312 and the roof panel 310. In one example, a continuous flange corresponding to each of the inner structural panel 308, the outer structural panel 312 and the roof panel 310 are joint to form the shell structure. Further, use of the continuous flange 314 retains continuity in strength of the roof joint. Furthermore, the use of continuous flange 314 allows optimization of the panel material and thickness thereby directly resulting in weight reduction. In one other example, the continuous flange 314 extends from a front windscreen corner to one of a rear door aperture 108 or a rear end of the roof panel 310.
[030] Exemplary embodiments discussed above may provide certain advantages in additions to the ones described above. Though not required to practice aspects of the disclosure, these advantages may include the following.
[031] Some embodiments of the vehicle body side structure enable robust coating with the cost effective electro deposition of corrosion protective material in vehicle body paint process and minimizes or avoids use of coated raw material in the welded body side structure, especially in the windscreen pillar, upper half section of centre pillar and full length of roof side rail section.
[032] Some embodiments of the vehicle body side structure provide a robust and strong passenger safety cell for protection in high speed collisions by avoiding welding joineries that have 4 or more panels in stack, especially in the joint between the roof side rail and roof, and further especially in the front half section of the roof side rail section.
[033] Some embodiments of the vehicle body side structure enable manufacturing of the body side outer panels in 3 or less strokes thereby reducing tool development time and cost.
[034] Some embodiments of the vehicle body side structure reduce the weight of the vehicle body side structure, while avoiding the problem of visible joineries in door open condition.
[035] Some embodiments of the vehicle body side structure reduce the number of stamping operations required for forming due to an open section of the front body panel and the rear skin panel.
[036] Some embodiments of the vehicle body side structure replace the full size outer skin panel of the conventional body side structures. Thus the front pillar, windscreen pillar, centre pillar, roof side rail and side sill sections are all constructed as a closed section shell.
[037] Some embodiments of the vehicle body side structure enable overall weight reduction of the vehicle.
[038] Some embodiments of the vehicle body side structure enable reduction in tooling development time and tooling cost.
[039] Although implementations for a vehicle body side structure have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methods, it is to be understood that the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as examples of implementations for a vehicle body side structure.