Abstract: A multi-panel joint assembly, joint and method for a vehicle includes a first panel forming an outer skin on the vehicle, a second panel having a second panel flange portion overlapping the first panel, a third panel having a third panel flange portion overlapping the second panel flange portion, througholes in registry with one another defined respectively in the first panel, the second panel flange portion, and the third panel flange portion, a rivet nut received through the throughole of the first panel, a fastener received through the througholes of the second and third panels and threadedly secured to the rivet nut for securing the second and third panels to the first panel, and a washer interposed between the first panel and a deformed portion of the rivet nut for protecting the first panel from being damaged by the deformed portion.

Abstract: An air and water management system for a motor vehicle is disclosed. The system includes an air opening allowing air to enter the engine room on a side of the motor vehicle, an engine cover covering at least one component associated with the engine of the motor vehicle, a rib extending from a top side of the engine cover creating a gutter on the engine cover between the rib and a side of the engine room, a water channel formed integrally in the engine cover adjacent and laterally inward of and parallel to the rib and including a drain longitudinally to the rear of the motor vehicle at a rearward portion of the water channel. Air entering the air opening flows over the rib and into the engine room of the motor vehicle. The rib blocks debris that enters the air opening from flowing into the engine room.

Abstract: A vehicle frame structure includes a side sill having an internal space partitioned by a vertical rib and a horizontal rib intersecting the vertical rib. The vertical rib separates the side sill into an outer lateral portion and an inner lateral portion. The inner lateral side sill portion includes a cutout extending vertically therethrough. A pillar has an internal space partitioned by a longitudinally extending first rib and a laterally extending second rib intersecting the first rib. The first rib separates the pillar into an outer lateral portion and an inner lateral portion. The inner lateral pillar portion is disposed through and secured in the cutout of the portion, and an axial end face of the outer lateral pillar portion is in abutment with the outer lateral side sill portion. The side sill and the pillar are welded to each other along an interface between the two components.

Abstract: A vehicle frame structure includes a front pillar having an internal space defined by a forward wall, a rear wall, an outer lateral side wall, and an inner lateral side wall. The internal space is partitioned by longitudinally extending first and second ribs connecting inside faces of the forward and rear walls and a laterally extending third rib connecting an inside face of the inner side wall and the first rib. The first, second and third ribs separate the front pillar into a plurality of interior hollow portions. Two laterally adjacent hollow portions define an outer lateral portion of the front pillar and two longitudinally adjacent hollow portions define an inner lateral portion of the front pillar.

Abstract: A vehicle body assembly includes a front pillar which at least partially defines a roof side rail. The front pillar includes a unitary, one-piece tubular structural member having a first end portion and an opposite second end portion. A roof side rail extension is secured to the structural member. A windshield has a lateral edge portion, a forward part of the lateral edge portion is secured directly to the first end portion of the structural member and a rearward part of the lateral edge portion is secured directly to the roof side rail extension. The structural member is adapted to curve away from the rearward part of the windshield lateral edge portion and the roof side rail extension is adapted to maintain a substantially constant gap between the structural member and the lateral edge portion of the windshield.

Abstract: A vehicle frame structure includes a front pillar having an internal space defined by a forward wall, a rear wall, an outer lateral side wall, and an inner lateral side wall. The internal space is partitioned by a longitudinally extending first rib and a laterally extending second rib interconnecting the first rib and the inner side wall. The first rib separates the front pillar into an outer lateral portion and an inner lateral portion. The outer lateral portion is defined by an outer lateral section of each of the front and rear walls and the outer side wall. The inner lateral portion is defined by an inner lateral section of each of the front and rear walls and the inner side wall. The inner lateral portion of the front pillar has a length greater than a length of the outer lateral portion of the front pillar.

Abstract: A vehicle sashless door sealing assembly, fastening assembly and method include an elongated structural member, a garnish member, and a door seal retainer disposed below the garnish assembly for holding a window pane door seal. The fastening assembly, which secures the garnish member and the door seal retainer to the elongated structural member, includes a collar having a radial flange portion interposed between the door seal retainer and an exterior surface of the garnish member and having an axial neck portion extending from the radial flange portion into a garnish aperture defined in the garnish member. The fastening assembly further includes a fastener received through a fastener aperture defined in the door seal retainer, through a fastener aperture defined in the collar and through a fastener aperture defined in the elongated structural member to thereby secure the garnish member and the door seal retainer to the elongated structural member.

Abstract: An oil supply apparatus includes: an oil pump; a main oil supply path; a sub oil supply path connected to the main oil supply path; a first oil supply section which is connected to the main oil supply path and which supplies oil to a crank bearing section of a specific crank journal; a second oil supply section which is connected to the sub oil supply path and which supplies oil to a crank bearing section of a crank journal other than the specific crank journal; and a control apparatus which sets, as a target oil pressure, a highest required oil pressure among required oil pressures required from a plurality of hydraulic operating sections in accordance with an operation state of the engine, and which controls the discharge amount of the oil pump so that an oil pressure detected by an oil pressure sensor equals the target oil pressure.

Abstract: A vehicle body superstructure includes a roof side rail having a rail flange upon which a roof panel is mounted, a vertical rail wall that hangs down from the outer end of the rail flange in the vehicle width direction, a bottom rail wall that extends from the lower end of the vertical rail wall to the outside in the vehicle width direction, and a bulging section formed by allowing the bottom rail wall and the vertical rail wall to bulge toward the center in the vehicle width direction, in order to accommodate a slide rail for a sliding door. The outer end of a roof arch in the vehicle width direction is joined to the bulging section. First arch flanges are joined on the lower surface side of the rail flange. Second arch flanges are joined to the lower surface side of the of the bottom rail wall.

Abstract: A vehicle body side structure, which enables the rigidity of a bottom section to be ensured through the reinforcement of a bottom section of a pillar. The vehicle body side structure has a closed cross section, which continues over a side sill and the front pillar, separated into a plurality of sections by a bulkhead. The bulkhead includes a rear end flange that joins to a sill top wall, a front end flange that joins to a pillar outer front wall, and a partition wall. The partition wall is formed into a cross-sectional U shape together with a sill outer side wall and a sill outer bottom wall, forming a third U-shaped cross section that leads to the pillar outer front wall. The third U-shaped cross section forms, together with an inner side sill, a closed cross section extension section that leads to the pillar outer front wall.

Abstract: A vehicle body side structure, which enables the rigidity of a bottom section to be ensured through the reinforcement of a bottom section of a pillar. The vehicle body side structure has a closed cross section, which continues over a side sill and the front pillar, separated into a plurality of sections by a bulkhead. The bulkhead includes a rear end flange that joins to a sill top wall, a front end flange that joins to a pillar outer front wall, and a partition wall. The partition wall is formed into a cross-sectional U shape together with a sill outer side wall and a sill outer bottom wall, forming a third U-shaped cross section that leads to the pillar outer front wall. The third U-shaped cross section forms, together with an inner side sill, a closed cross section extension section that leads to the pillar outer front wall.

Abstract: A vehicle body superstructure includes a roof side rail having a rail flange upon which a roof panel is mounted, a vertical rail wall that hangs down from the outer end of the rail flange in the vehicle width direction, a bottom rail wall that extends from the lower end of the vertical rail wall to the outside in the vehicle width direction, and a bulging section formed by allowing the bottom rail wall and the vertical rail wall to bulge toward the center in the vehicle width direction, in order to accommodate a slide rail for a sliding door. The outer end of a roof arch in the vehicle width direction is joined to the bulging section. First arch flanges are joined on the lower surface side of the rail flange. Second arch flanges are joined to the lower surface side of the of the bottom rail wall.

Abstract: Methods and systems for controlling an internal combustion engine are provided. One example method may include closing an intake valve later during a cylinder cycle than a timing with which an amount of air inducted into a cylinder from an air intake passage would be maximized, and earlier during the cylinder cycle as a desired amount of air to be inducted into the cylinder increases, while an engine is operating at a given engine speed. The method may further include closing the intake valve earlier during a cylinder cycle as the engine speed increases when the desired amount of air to be inducted into the cylinder is at a maximum.

Abstract: An airbag apparatus includes an airbag that includes a bag body provided with an insert hole for receiving an inflator and a sealing cloth arranged to cover a peripheral area of the insert hole. The sealing cloth includes on the location corresponding to the insert hole a through hole for receiving the inflator. The sealing cloth further includes around the through hole a slit that encircles the through hole generally wholly in a circumferential direction and enables relative slip movement between a peripheral area of the through hole on the sealing cloth and the peripheral area of the insert hole on the bag body in generally radial directions about the through hole.

Abstract: New information is added to an information medium and is managed such that the information is not leaked when outputted. An image reading section reads the information medium and inputs images including a unique image and a code image. A detecting section determines the code image and the unique image from inputted images to detect the code image. An extracting section restores the code image to obtain confidential information. Alternatively, the extracting section restores the code image and obtains access information. A control section accesses a management apparatus and requests confidential information related to the information medium. The management apparatus transmits the specified confidential information to an image processing apparatus. The control section combines an image of the information medium and the code image or the confidential information and outputs the result. An image forming section prints the image on a record sheet.

Abstract: The occupant protection system includes a catching body that is housed in a housing located between a near-by seat and a distant seat for upward deployment and a support body that supports the catching body. The catching body covers the impact side of a distant-side occupant to catch the occupant moving toward the impacted lateral and includes a distal end acting as a free end swingable in a left and right direction. The support body is located on a side of the near-by seat close to the impacted lateral for deployment to support the catching body when the catching body swings toward the impacted lateral after receiving the distant-side occupant.

Abstract: When activated, an actuator causes a piston rod in a cylinder to move forwards so as to support a receiving member for receiving an object to be protected. A lock mechanism for restricting a backward movement of the piston rod includes a lock ring which is accommodated in an accommodating groove on a piston portion and a locking stepped portion on the cylinder side. The locking stepped portion includes a locking and restricting surface and an outer circumferential restricting surface.

Abstract: An actuator AE1 includes a lock mechanism R1 configured to fill a gas G generated by operating a gas generator 35 at inside of a cylinder 22 and moving forward a piston 38 along with a support rod 40 for restricting a rearward movement of the support rod moved forward. The support rod 40 is arranged to be able to absorb a kinetic energy of a protection object person and capable of being plastically deformed when the protection object person is received by a receiving member after having been moved forward. A lock mechanism R1 is constituted by a diameter enlarging deformed portion 42 arranged at a piston and a locking stepped portion 24 capable of restricting the rearward movement of the piston.

Abstract: A pedestrian protection system is mounted in the front portion of a vehicle, and includes a controller, a forward movement holding mechanism controlled in actuation by the controller, and a contact body that a pedestrian can contact. The controller, when having predicted a collision of a pedestrian with the vehicle based on a signal from a collision predicting sensor, actuates the forward movement holding mechanism to cause a forward movement of the contact body, and based on a signal from a turn sensor when the forward movement holding mechanism carries out an upward rotation or a downward rotation at the time of contact of the forwardly moved contact body with a pedestrian, controls actuation of the restraint body so as to correspond to a pedestrian moving to a front upper side of the vehicle and a pedestrian moving to a front lower side of the vehicle, respectively.

Abstract: A rocker cam is comprised of a first split body and a second split body, which are joined with a joint split face that contains an axial line of a cam shaft. The first split body has a first pin support portion that supports one end portion of the connection pin, and the second split body has a second pin support portion that is located so as to face the first pin support portion and supports the other end portion of the connection pin. The connection pin is supported at the first and second pin support portions at its both end portions. Accordingly, a separation force that acts on the first and second split bodies of the rocker cam during its repeated rocking movement can be reduced without improperly increasing its rigidity.