Patents by Inventor Brian Oxley
Brian Oxley has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Publication number: 20230159107Abstract: A rocker component for a vehicle includes a reinforcement beam having a metal sheet that is shaped with a plurality of elongated bends extending in parallel along a length of the reinforcement beam that together form a cross-sectional shape extending continuously along the length of the reinforcement beam. The cross-sectional shape of reinforcement beam includes a beam portion and a flange portion integrally extending from the beam portion. The beam portion has a multi-hollow shape that encloses a plurality of hollow cavities that extend longitudinally between openings at opposing ends of the reinforcement beam. The flange portion integrally extends from the beam portion and includes an edge of the metal sheet. The flange portion is configured to attach to the vehicle for supporting the rocker component along an outboard side region of the vehicle.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 23, 2023Publication date: May 25, 2023Inventors: Joseph R. Matecki, Brian Oxley, Matthew Kuipers, Cody Alger, Douglas Baas
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Publication number: 20230111879Abstract: A vehicle rocker assembly includes a sill inner and a sill outer. An upper flange portion of the sill inner is coupled with an upper flange portion of the sill outer, and a lower flange portion of the sill inner is coupled with a lower flange portion of the sill outer to enclose a hollow interior of the vehicle rocker assembly. One of the sill inner or the sill outer includes a reinforcement structure integrated in the sill wall of the respective still inner or sill outer. The reinforcement structure includes walls that each laterally span the hollow interior and form a multi-hollow cross-sectional shape with the sill inner and sill outer.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 13, 2022Publication date: April 13, 2023Inventors: Brian Oxley, Matthew Kuipers
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Patent number: 11560180Abstract: A rocker component for a vehicle includes a reinforcement beam having a metal sheet that is shaped with a plurality of elongated bends extending in parallel along a length of the reinforcement beam that together form a cross-sectional shape extending continuously along the length of the reinforcement beam. The cross-sectional shape of reinforcement beam includes a beam portion and a flange portion integrally extending from the beam portion. The beam portion has a multi-hollow shape that encloses a plurality of hollow cavities that extend longitudinally between openings at opposing ends of the reinforcement beam. The flange portion integrally extends from the beam portion and includes an edge of the metal sheet. The flange portion is configured to attach to the vehicle for supporting the rocker component along an outboard side region of the vehicle.Type: GrantFiled: April 5, 2021Date of Patent: January 24, 2023Assignee: Shape Corp.Inventors: Joseph R. Matecki, Brian Oxley, Matthew Kuipers, Cody Alger, Douglas S. Baas
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Publication number: 20220212720Abstract: A rocker component for a vehicle having a reinforcement beam including a metal sheet that is shaped with a plurality of elongated bends extending in parallel along a length of the reinforcement beam that together form a cross-sectional shape extending continuously along the length of the reinforcement beam. The cross-sectional shape of the reinforcement beam includes a beam portion and a flange portion integrally extending from the beam portion and includes an edge of the metal sheet. The rocker component also includes a sill panel having flanges extending longitudinally along upper and lower edges of the sill panel relative to the vehicle, the flange portion of the reinforcement beam joined to one of the flanges of the sill panel to secure the reinforcement beam to the sill panel in replacement of a separate second sill panel.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 28, 2022Publication date: July 7, 2022Inventors: Brian Oxley, Matthew Kuipers, Joseph R. Matecki, Cody Alger, Douglas S. Baas
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Publication number: 20210309297Abstract: A rocker component for a vehicle includes a reinforcement beam having a metal sheet that is shaped with a plurality of elongated bends extending in parallel along a length of the reinforcement beam that together form a cross-sectional shape extending continuously along the length of the reinforcement beam. The cross-sectional shape of reinforcement beam includes a beam portion and a flange portion integrally extending from the beam portion. The beam portion has a multi-hollow shape that encloses a plurality of hollow cavities that extend longitudinally between openings at opposing ends of the reinforcement beam. The flange portion integrally extends from the beam portion and includes an edge of the metal sheet. The flange portion is configured to attach to the vehicle for supporting the rocker component along an outboard side region of the vehicle.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 5, 2021Publication date: October 7, 2021Inventors: Joseph R. Matecki, Brian Oxley, Matthew Kuipers, Cody Alger, Douglas S. Baas
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Patent number: 10703312Abstract: A vehicle reinforcement beam is roll formed from a metal sheet to provide a multi-tubular reinforcement beam that includes two adjacent tubular sections that share a common center wall. The outer sections the metal sheet extend from opposing ends of the common center wall and are formed to enclose the adjacent tubular sections. An edge portion of the metal sheet that is bent to have a bend radius of about 3-9 mm, where the edge portions attach in abutting and continuous contact with the common center wall to form crevices between the adjacent tubular sections along the first and second faces. A weld is formed in each of the crevices to define crevice ribs in general alignment with and at each of the opposing first and second ends of the common center wall that are configured to improve bending strength and torsional strength of the reinforcement beam.Type: GrantFiled: May 11, 2017Date of Patent: July 7, 2020Assignee: Shape Corp.Inventors: Thomas Johnson, Doug Witte, Daniel Gatti, Brian Oxley, Brian Malkowski, Kannan Ramamoorthy, Ed Pendergrass
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Publication number: 20170259767Abstract: A vehicle reinforcement beam is roll formed from a metal sheet to provide a multi-tubular reinforcement beam that includes two adjacent tubular sections that share a common center wall. The outer sections the metal sheet extend from opposing ends of the common center wall and are formed to enclose the adjacent tubular sections. An edge portion of the metal sheet that is bent to have a bend radius of about 3-9 mm, where the edge portions attach in abutting and continuous contact with the common center wall to form crevices between the adjacent tubular sections along the first and second faces. A weld is formed in each of the crevices to define crevice ribs in general alignment with and at each of the opposing first and second ends of the common center wall that are configured to improve bending strength and torsional strength of the reinforcement beam.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 11, 2017Publication date: September 14, 2017Inventors: Thomas Johnson, Doug Witte, Daniel Gatti, Brian Oxley, Brian Malkowski, Kannan Ramamoorthy, Ed Pendergrass
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Patent number: 9669786Abstract: A reinforcement beam is roll formed from a metal sheet for use in a vehicle bumper system. The reinforcement beam includes adjacent tubes having a common center wall and lateral portions extending from opposing sides of the common center wall that are roll formed simultaneously in the same rotational direction to enclose interior volumes of the adjacent tubes and to define top and bottom walls and front and rear wall of the reinforcement beam. The front walls of the adjacent tubes each include a channel rib depressed into the interior volume of the respective adjacent tube longitudinally along the reinforcement beam for stiffening the respective front wall. A weld is formed separately in each of the seams between the front walls and between the rear walls, thereby defining a crevice rib between the channel ribs to improve the bending strength and torsional strength of the reinforcement beam.Type: GrantFiled: September 22, 2014Date of Patent: June 6, 2017Assignee: Shape Corp.Inventors: Thomas Johnson, Doug Witte, Daniel Gatti, Brian Oxley, Brian Malkowski, Kannan Ramamoorthy, Ed Pendergrass
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Publication number: 20150015007Abstract: A reinforcement beam is roll formed from a metal sheet for use in a vehicle bumper system. The reinforcement beam includes adjacent tubes having a common center wall and lateral portions extending from opposing sides of the common center wall that are roll formed simultaneously in the same rotational direction to enclose interior volumes of the adjacent tubes and to define top and bottom walls and front and rear wall of the reinforcement beam. The front walls of the adjacent tubes each include a channel rib depressed into the interior volume of the respective adjacent tube longitudinally along the reinforcement beam for stiffening the respective front wall. A weld is formed separately in each of the seams between the front walls and between the rear walls, thereby defining a crevice rib between the channel ribs to improve the bending strength and torsional strength of the reinforcement beam.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 22, 2014Publication date: January 15, 2015Inventors: Thomas Johnson, Doug Witte, Daniel Gatti, Brian Oxley, Brian Malkowski
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Publication number: 20140377484Abstract: An apparatus comprises an uncoiling device for unrolling sheet material, an embossing device for embossing a series of crush initiating embossments into the sheet, a slitter to remove deformed edges of the sheet to facilitate welding, and a roll former with rolls configured to deform the sheet into a continuous tubular beam with walls each including some of the embossments, with the rolls being configured to clear the embossments but accurately form corners joining the walls. The apparatus further includes a welder welding abutting edges of the sheet together to fix the tubular beam, with the abutting edges being located inboard of an adjacent one of the corners but outboard of an outboard edge of adjacent ones of the embossments, and a cutoff device for cutting the continuous tubular beam into beam segments. A related method is also disclosed.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 22, 2014Publication date: December 25, 2014Applicant: Shape Corp.Inventors: Brian Oxley, Doug Witte, Joe Matecki, Martin Müller
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Patent number: 8872060Abstract: An apparatus forms a sheet into a beam having four exterior walls and a common center leg extending between an opposing two of the walls. The apparatus includes a roll former forming the sheet into the beam cross section, a welding station with top and bottom laser welders, and a weld box fixture having inwardly-biased external mandrels (biased by actuators) and outwardly-biased internal split mandrels (biased by springs) that interact to hold a desired shape of the beam in the weld fixture, and also includes a sweeping unit and cutoff device. By this arrangement, the internal and external mandrels, in combination with a bias of the actuators and springs, control a shape of the beam by flexure and movement of material of the sheet when in the weld box fixture during a welding process of the welder.Type: GrantFiled: February 27, 2013Date of Patent: October 28, 2014Assignee: Shape Corp.Inventors: Thomas Johnson, Doug Witte, Daniel Gatti, Brian Oxley, Brian Malkowski
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Patent number: 8716624Abstract: A roll former for forming a sheet into a continuous multi-tubular reinforcement beam. The roll former includes a first set of rollers that are configured to bend the sheet to form a common center wall in generally perpendicular orientation relative to first and second lateral portions of the sheet that extend in opposing directions from respective first and second radiused ends of the common center wall. The first set of rollers also form radiused edges on the first and second lateral portions. A second set of rollers is configured to form a channel rib longitudinally along each of the first and second lateral portions. A third set of rollers is configured to bend the first and second lateral portions simultaneously and equally to abut the first and second radiused edges with the respective first and second radiused ends of the common center wall to define adjacent tubes of the beam.Type: GrantFiled: October 11, 2013Date of Patent: May 6, 2014Assignee: Shape Corp.Inventors: Thomas Johnson, Doug Witte, Daniel Gatti, Brian Oxley, Brian Malkowski
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Publication number: 20140033791Abstract: A roll former for forming a sheet into a continuous multi-tubular reinforcement beam. The roll former includes a first set of rollers that are configured to bend the sheet to form a common center wall in generally perpendicular orientation relative to first and second lateral portions of the sheet that extend in opposing directions from respective first and second radiused ends of the common center wall. The first set of rollers also form radiused edges on the first and second lateral portions. A second set of rollers is configured to form a channel rib longitudinally along each of the first and second lateral portions. A third set of rollers is configured to bend the first and second lateral portions simultaneously and equally to abut the first and second radiused edges with the respective first and second radiused ends of the common center wall to define adjacent tubes of the beam.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 11, 2013Publication date: February 6, 2014Applicant: Shape Corp.Inventors: Thomas Johnson, Doug Witte, Daniel Gatti, Brian Oxley, Brian Malkowski
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Publication number: 20120074720Abstract: A reinforcement beam for a vehicle bumper system comprises a single sheet deformed to define first and second tubes sharing a common single center wall. A channel rib is formed on each tubes and a crevice rib over the center leg forms a third rib. Edges of the sheet are deformed to a radius so that their surface consistently engages an associated radiused corner formed on ends of the center leg, which facilitates consistent abutting line engagement of material surfaces, and thus facilitates consistent welding. In a preferred beam, front wall sections of each tube are coplanar and form a face of the beam, with each channel rib and crevice rib providing added stiffness to the beam, and yet nothing extends forward of the coplanar front wall sections. Related apparatus and methods are also disclosed.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 9, 2011Publication date: March 29, 2012Inventors: Thomas Johnson, Doug Witte, Daniel Gatti, Brian Oxley, Brian Malkowski, Kannan Ramamoorthy, Ed Pendergrass