US 12,434,770 B1
Vehicle frame having asymmetric bead structure for high voltage component protection
Kedar V Panday, Auburn Hills, MI (US); Santosh Pethe, Auburn Hills, MI (US); Krishnamurthy Hegde, Auburn Hills, MI (US); Eric J Stahmer, Auburn Hills, MI (US); and Scott McGuire, Auburn Hills, MI (US)
Assigned to FCA US LLC, Auburn Hills, MI (US)
Filed by FCA US LLC, Auburn Hills, MI (US)
Filed on Dec. 6, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/971,987.
Int. Cl. B62D 21/15 (2006.01)
CPC B62D 21/152 (2013.01) 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vehicle comprising:
a frame supporting an electric drive motor; and
a high-voltage component attached to a forward end and upper surface of the electric drive motor;
wherein the frame includes a first longitudinally extending rail and a second longitudinally extending rail,
one of the first longitudinally extending rail and the second longitudinally extending rail includes a component mounted thereto;
the first and second longitudinally extending rails each include a bead pattern that limits deformation of the respective rail during a frontal impact to the vehicle; and
the bead pattern of the one of the first longitudinally extending rail and the second longitudinally extending that includes the component mounted thereto is different from the bead pattern of the other of the first longitudinally extending rail and the second longitudinally extending rail that does not have the component mounted thereto to limit an amount of deformation thereof during the frontal impact to the vehicle to minimize movement of the component in a direction toward the high-voltage component.