A vehicle includes a fender panel support assembly including a hood that at least partially covers an engine compartment. A front fender structure includes a connecting wall portion located at least partially below the hood in a vehicle vertical direction. A side structural member extends in a vehicle longitudinal direction. A deforming fender attachment bracket mounts the front fender structure to the side structural member. The deforming fender attachment bracket includes a fender attachment portion connected to the connecting wall portion of the front fender structure at a connecting location. A support leg is connected to the side structural member. The support leg extends toward the side structural member from a lateral edge of the fender attachment portion. The support leg has a width in a vehicle lateral direction that is defined by flexure and shear formulas in response to a target vehicle lateral force applied to the fender attachment portion. The support leg having increasing width from an apex portion connected to the fender attachment portion to a base portion removed from the fender attachment portion.
Vehicles with fender structure assemblies and deforming fender attachment brackets
Patent
Electronic Resource
Vehicles with Fender Structure Assemblies and Deforming Fender Attachment Brackets
European Patent Office | 2017
|European Patent Office | 2022
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