DESC: TECHNICAL FIELD
[001] The embodiments herein generally relate to vehicle side doors and more particularly, to side impact protection beams in vehicle side doors.

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.
[004] Furthermore, the placement and installation of the reinforcement beam 12 becomes difficult due to the presence of glass winding mechanism.
[005] Therefore, there exists a need for a side impact protection beam for a vehicle side door that eliminates the aforementioned drawbacks.

OBJECT
[006] The principal object of the embodiments of this invention is to provide a side impact protection beam for a vehicle side door, which effectively resists deformation and provide adequate stiffness to the vehicle side door to withstand the load.
[007] Another object of the embodiments of this invention is to provide a side impact protection beam defining a lower door to sill overlap.
[008] A further object of the embodiments of this invention is to provide a side impact protection beam having less weight.
[009] These and other objects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the 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
[0010] The embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, throughout which like reference letters indicate corresponding parts in the various figures. The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following description with reference to the drawings, in which:
[0011] FIG. 1 depicts a side view of a conventional reinforcement beam assembled to a conventional side door structure;
[0012] FIG. 2 depicts a right side view of a side impact protection beam for a vehicle side door, according to an embodiment of the invention as disclosed herein;
[0013] FIG. 3 depicts a left side view of the side impact protection beam, according to an embodiment of the invention as disclosed herein;
[0014] Fig. 4 depicts another right side view of the side impact protection beam; according to an embodiment of the invention as disclosed herein;
[0015] Fig. 5a depicts a cross-sectional view of the side impact protection beam along the line A-A of fig. 4, according to an embodiment of the invention as disclosed herein;
[0016] Fig. 5b depicts a cross-sectional view of the side impact protection beam along the line B-B of fig. 4, according to an embodiment of the invention as disclosed herein;
[0017] Fig. 5c depicts a cross-sectional view of the side impact protection beam along the line C-C of fig. 4, according to an embodiment of the invention as disclosed herein;
[0018] FIG. 6 depicts a right side view of the vehicle side door and the side impact protection beam in assembled condition, according to an embodiment of the invention as disclosed herein;
[0019] Fig. 7 depicts a cross-sectional view of the vehicle side door along the line D-D of fig. 6, according to an embodiment of the invention as disclosed herein; and
[0020] Fig. 8 depicts a graph plot between force versus displacement of the beam, according to an embodiment of the invention as disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0021] 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.
[0022] The embodiments herein achieve a side impact protection beam for a vehicle side door, which effectively resists deformation and provide adequate stiffness to the vehicle side door to withstand the load. Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 2 through 8, where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the figures, there are shown embodiments.
[0023] Fig. 2 depicts a right side view of a side impact protection beam 100 for a vehicle side door 200, according to an embodiment of the invention as disclosed herein. In an embodiment, the side impact protection beam 100 is configured for reinforcing the vehicle side door 200 (as shown in fig. 6) i.e., the side impact protection beam 100 is configured to provide better stiffness to the vehicle side door 200 and also to absorb impact energy under a deformation, when the vehicle side door 200 is subjected to a side impact. The side impact protection beam 100 is disposed substantially on a straight plane of the vehicle side door 200. In an embodiment, the side impact protection beam 100 defines a lower door to sill overlap. In an embodiment, the side impact protection beam 100 (as shown in fig. 2 and fig. 4) includes a first portion 102, a second portion 104 and an intermediate portion 106.
[0024] In an embodiment, the first portion 102 of the beam 100 is connected to an inner panel 202 (as shown in fig. 7) of the vehicle side door 200 by spot welding (the first portion 102 of the beam 100 is spot welded to the inner panel 202 at a number of connecting points). However, it is also within the scope of the invention to connect the first portion 102 of the beam 100 to the inner panel 202 of the vehicle side door 200 by riveting, fastening, adhesive bonding or any other means without otherwise deterring the intended function of the first portion 102 of the beam 100 as can be deduced from the description. The first portion 102 of the beam 100 is connected to the inner panel 202 of the vehicle side door 200 in such a way to facilitate increased overlapping of the vehicle side door 200 to the vehicle body (not shown) to enable better force transfer during the side impact. In an embodiment, the first portion 102 includes an opening 102a and at least one mastic sealant 102b. In an embodiment, the opening 102a of the first portion 102 serves as a primary locating point to facilitate assembly of the beam 100 to the inner panel 202 of the vehicle side door 200. In an embodiment, the mastic sealant 102b is provided or connected to the first portion 102 to engage an outer panel 204 (as shown in fig. 7) of the vehicle side door 200 thereby preventing oil canning. In an embodiment, the first portion 102 of the beam 100 substantially defines a butterfly wing shape. In an embodiment, cross-sectional geometry of the first portion 102 substantially defines an inverted U-shaped configuration (as shown in fig. 5a).
[0025] In an embodiment, the second portion 104 of the beam 100 is connected to the inner panel 202 of the vehicle side door 200 by spot welding (the second portion 104 of the beam 100 is spot welded to the inner panel 202 at a number of connecting points). However, it is also within the scope of the invention to connect the second portion 104 of the beam 100 to the inner panel 202 of the vehicle side door 200 by riveting, fastening, adhesive bonding or any other means without otherwise deterring the intended function of the second portion 104 of the beam 100 as can be deduced from the description. The second portion 104 of the beam 100 is connected to the inner panel 202 of the vehicle side door 200 in such a way to facilitate increased overlapping of the vehicle side door 200 to the vehicle body (not shown) to enable better force transfer during the side impact. In an embodiment, the second portion 104 of the beam 100 includes at least one first opening 104a and a second opening 104b. In an embodiment, the first opening 104a of the second portion 104 is adapted to be receive a fastener (not shown) therein to secure beam 100 to the inner panel 202 of the vehicle side door 200. In an embodiment, the second opening 104b of the second portion 104 serves as other primary locating point to facilitate assembly of the beam 100 to the inner panel 202 of the vehicle side door 200. In an embodiment, the second portion 102 of the beam 100 substantially defines a butterfly wing shape. In an embodiment, cross-sectional geometry of the second portion 104 substantially defines an inverted U-shaped configuration (as shown in fig. 5b).
[0026] In an embodiment, the intermediate portion 106 of the beam 100 is between the first portion 102 and the second portion 104 of the beam 100. In an embodiment, the intermediate portion 106 of the beam 100 includes at least one bead 106a (as shown in fig. 3) and a plurality of mastic sealants 106b (as shown in fig. 2). In an embodiment, at least one bead 106a is provided on the intermediate portion 106 and extending between the first portion 102 and the second portion 104 in a direction towards the inner panel 202 of the vehicle side door 200. In an embodiment, at least one bead 106a of the intermediate portion 106 is used to provide stiffness to the beam 100. In an embodiment, the plurality of mastic sealants 106b is provided or connected to the intermediate portion 106 to engage the outer panel 204 of the vehicle side door 200 thereby preventing oil canning. In an embodiment, cross-sectional geometry of the intermediate portion 106 substantially defines two inverted U-shaped configuration (as shown in fig. 5c) provided at a predefined distance between each other thereby preventing collapsing of the beam 100 during the side impact.
[0027] The aforementioned configuration and beam geometry of the beam 100 provides a better stiffness, better resistance to bending, prevention of oil canning and lower door to sill overlap. Further, the beam 100 provides ease of manufacturing and weight reduction. The aforementioned configuration of first portion 102, the second portion 104 and intermediate portion 106 of the beam 100, achieves good impact absorption and better impact resistance. Therefore, an effective side impact protection beam 100 is provided for the vehicle side door 200.
[0028] Fig. 8 depicts a graph plot between force (N) versus displacement (mm) of the beam 100, according to an embodiment of the invention as disclosed herein. As can be deduced from the graph, the side door intrusion beam 100 provides better strength at higher deformation.
[0029] 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 preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.
,CLAIMS:CLAIMS
We claim,
1. A side impact protection beam 100 for a vehicle side door 200, said beam 100 comprising:
a first portion 102 connected to an inner panel 202 of the vehicle side door 200;
a second portion 104 connected to the inner panel 202 of the vehicle side door 200; and
an intermediate portion 106 between said first portion 102 and said second portion 104, said intermediate portion 106 comprising at least one bead 106a provided on said intermediate portion 106 and extending between said first portion 102 and said second portion 104 in a direction towards the inner panel 202 of the vehicle side door 200,
wherein
at least one bead 106a of said intermediate portion 106 adapted to provide stiffness to said beam 100.
2. The beam 100 as claimed in claim 1, wherein a cross-sectional geometry of said intermediate portion 106 substantially defines at least one inverted U shaped configuration adapted to prevent collapsing of said beam 100 during a side impact.
3. The beam 100 as claimed in claim 1, wherein said intermediate portion 106 further comprises a plurality of mastic sealants 106b adapted to engage an outer panel 204 of the vehicle side door 200 thereby preventing oil canning.
4. The beam 100 as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first portion 102 substantially defines a butterfly wing shape.
5. The beam 100 as claimed in claim 4, wherein a cross-sectional geometry of said first portion substantially defines an inverted U shaped configuration.
6. The beam 100 as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second portion 104 substantially defines a butterfly wing shape.
7. The beam 100 as claimed in claim 6, wherein a cross-sectional geometry of said second portion substantially defines an inverted U shaped configuration.