Description:TECHNICAL FIELD
[001] The embodiments herein generally relate to vehicle doors and more, particularly to an external side impact protection beam for a vehicle side door.

BACKGROUND
[002] Passenger safety is one of the important aspects in which research and development is being done, in addition to pedestrian safety, in the automobile design and manufacturing field. Several systems have been proposed for occupant as well as pedestrian safety during a head on collision and a rearward collision of the vehicle. Such systems range from providing air bags for passenger safety to modifying hood structures and bumper structures for better impact absorption. Further, as there is very less amount of space available between the door and the inside occupant, the strength of the door becomes important in case of side impact protection. For side impacts during a sideward collision, there are proposals of providing reinforcements to the side door of the vehicle.
[003] Reinforcement for side doors includes providing tubes for handling the side door intrusion, which requires additional three or four brackets to assemble. For example, FIG. 1 shows a conventional reinforcement beam 12 placed diagonally on the side door structure 10. The diagonal placement of the reinforcement beam 12 results in decreased energy absorption. Further, since the length of the reinforcement beam 12 is more, there is an increased deformation at lower loads thereby decreasing the stiffness of the side door structure 10 and also add weight thereby increasing an overall weight of the vehicle and therefore, decreasing an overall efficiency of the vehicle. Furthermore, the placement and installation of the reinforcement beam 12 becomes difficult due to the presence of glass winding mechanism.
[004] Even in cases where such conventional reinforcement beams were properly positioned, they often were not designed in conjunction with other parts of the vehicle so as to be able to adequately transmit the impact forces generated in the vehicle door during the side impacts.
[005] Therefore, there exists a need for an external side impact protection beam for a vehicle side door, which obviates the aforementioned drawbacks.

OBJECTS

[006] The principal object of embodiments herein is to provide an external side impact protection beam for a vehicle side door.
[007] Another object of embodiments herein is to provide a method of affixing the external side impact protection beam to the vehicle side door.
[008] Another object of embodiments herein is to eliminate the usage of mounting brackets for mounting side impact protection beam to the vehicle side door.
[009] Another object of embodiments herein is to provide the external side impact protection beam, which has optimized design by replacing bottom portion of the door outer panel thereby reducing an overall weight of the vehicle side door.
[0010] Another object of embodiments herein is to affix the external side impact protection beam to the vehicle side door beam enables less than 30 mm distance between door outer and glass, and at the same time meets side impact requirements.
[0011] Another object of embodiments herein is to provide the external side impact protection beam which acts as first touch point for intrusion barrier during collision.
[0012] These and other objects of embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with following description and accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicating embodiments and numerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments herein include all such modifications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0013] The embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, throughout which like reference letters indicate corresponding parts in various figures. The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following description with reference to the drawings, in which:
[0014] Fig. 1 illustrates a conventional reinforcement beam being diagonally affixed to an interior region of a vehicle side door;
[0015] Fig. 2 illustrates a side impact protection beam externally affixed to a vehicle side door, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;
[0016] Fig. 3 depicts an exploded view of the side impact protection beam and the vehicle side door, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;
[0017] Fig. 4 illustrates the side impact protection beam assembled to the vehicle side door, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;
[0018] Fig. 5 illustrates the side impact protection beam being concealed by a sill cladding (door plastic cladding), according to embodiments as disclosed herein; and
[0019] Fig. 6 depicts a flowchart indicating steps of a method for affixing the side impact protection beam to the vehicle side door, according to embodiments as disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0020] The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
[0021] The embodiments herein achieve an external side impact protection beam for a vehicle side door. Referring now to the drawings Figs. 1 through 6, where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the figures, there are shown embodiments.
[0022] Fig. 2 illustrates a side impact protection beam (100) externally affixed to a vehicle side door (10), according to embodiments as disclosed herein. Fig. 3 depicts an exploded view of the side impact protection beam (100) and the vehicle side door (10), according to embodiments as disclosed herein. The external side impact protection beam (100) is configured for reinforcing the vehicle side door (10). The external side impact protection beam (100) is adapted to be externally affixed to the vehicle side door (10). For example, the external side impact protection beam (100) includes a beam main section (102) adapted to be externally affixed to the vehicle side door (10). For example, the side impact protection beam (100) is configured to provide better stiffness to the vehicle side door (10) and also to absorb impact energy under a deformation, when the vehicle side door (10) is subjected to a side impact (collision). For the purpose of this description and ease of understanding, the external side impact protection beam (100) is explained herein with below reference to be externally affixed to a vehicle side door. However, it is also within the scope of the invention to use/practice the external side impact protection beam (100) in tailgate of vehicles without otherwise deterring the intended function of the external side impact protection beam (100) as can be deduced from the description and corresponding drawings. The external side impact protection beam (100) is located at a bottom end of a door outer panel (12) of the vehicle side door (10) and is concealed by a sill cladding ((20), as shown in fig. 2 and fig. 5)). The sill cladding (20) is also called as door plastic cladding.
[0023] The beam main section (102) defines a top longitudinal portion (102T), a bottom longitudinal portion (102B) and a plurality of stepped impact energy absorbing portions ((102S), (as shown in fig. 2)). The top longitudinal portion (102T) is connected to a bottom end of a door outer panel (12) of the vehicle side door (10). The bottom longitudinal portion (102B) is connected to bottom end of a door inner panel (14) of the vehicle side door (10). The plurality of stepped impact energy absorbing portions (102S) are defined in an arcuate manner between the top longitudinal portion (102T) and the bottom longitudinal portion (102B), wherein the stepped impact energy absorbing portions (102S) are adapted to absorb impact energy in an event of side collision. The external side impact protection beam (100) acts as an integral part of the door outer panel (12) of the vehicle side door (10) and is adapted to absorb impact energy in an event of side collision. In one embodiment, the external side impact protection beam (100) is affixed to the vehicle side door (10) by tailor welded blank (TWB) stamping. In another embodiment, the external side impact protection beam (100) is affixed to the vehicle side door (10) by welding. In another embodiment, the external side impact protection beam (100) is affixed to the vehicle side door (10) by using fasteners.
[0024] Fig. 6 depicts a flowchart indicating steps of a method (200) for affixing the side impact protection beam (100) to the vehicle side door (10), according to embodiments as disclosed herein. In an embodiment, the method (200) includes, affixing the external side impact protection beam (100) externally to the vehicle side door (10) by, connecting a top longitudinal portion (102T) of the external side impact protection beam (100) to a bottom end of an outer door panel (12) of the vehicle side door (10); and connecting a bottom longitudinal portion (102B) of the external side impact protection beam (100) to a bottom end of an inner door panel (14) of the vehicle side door (10).
[0025] The technical advantages of the external side impact protection beam (100) are as follows. The external side impact protection beam has optimized design by replacing bottom portion of the door outer panel thereby reducing an overall weight of the vehicle side door. To eliminate the usage of mounting brackets for mounting side impact protection beam to the vehicle side door. To affix the external side impact protection beam to the vehicle side door beam enables less than 30 mm distance between door outer and glass, and at the same time meets side impact requirements. To provide the external side impact protection beam which acts as first touch point for intrusion barrier during collision.
[0026] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modifications within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.
, Claims:We claim:
1. An external side impact protection beam (100) for a vehicle side door (10), said external side impact protection beam (100) is adapted to be externally affixed to the vehicle side door (10).
2. The external side impact protection beam (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said external side impact protection beam (100) is located at a bottom end of a door outer panel (12) of the vehicle side door (10) and is concealed by a sill cladding (20).
3. The external side impact protection beam (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said external side impact protection beam (100) includes a beam main section (102) adapted to be externally affixed to the vehicle side door (10).
4. The external side impact protection beam (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said beam main section (102) defines,
a top longitudinal portion (102T) connected to a bottom end of a door outer panel (12) of the vehicle side door (10); and
a bottom longitudinal portion (102B) connected to bottom end of a door inner panel (14) of the vehicle side door (10).
5. The external side impact protection beam (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said beam main section (102) includes a plurality of stepped impact energy absorbing portions (102S) defined in an arcuate manner between said top longitudinal portion (102T) and said bottom longitudinal portion (102B), wherein said stepped impact energy absorbing portions (102S) are adapted to absorb impact energy in an event of side collision.
6. The external side impact protection beam (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said external side impact protection beam (100) acts as an integral part of the door outer panel (12) of the vehicle side door (10) and is adapted to absorb impact energy in an event of side collision.

7. The external side impact protection beam (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said external side impact protection beam (100) is affixed to the vehicle side door (10) by tailor welded blank (TWB) stamping.
8. The external side impact protection beam (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said external side impact protection beam (100) is affixed to the vehicle side door (10) by welding.
9. The external side impact protection beam (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said external side impact protection beam (100) is affixed to the vehicle side door (10) by using fasteners.
10. A method (200) of affixing an external side impact protection beam (100) to a vehicle side door (10), said method (200) comprising:
affixing the external side impact protection beam (100) externally to the vehicle side door (10) by,
connecting a top longitudinal portion (102T) of the external side impact protection beam (100) to a bottom end of an outer door panel (12) of the vehicle side door (10); and
connecting a bottom longitudinal portion (102B) of the external side impact protection beam (100) to a bottom end of an inner door panel (14) of the vehicle side door (10),
wherein
the external side impact protection beam (100) is located at a bottom end of the door outer panel (12) of the vehicle side door (10) and is concealed by a sill cladding (20).