Claims
- 1. An improved wheeled vehicle of the type having a body and at least one vertically sliding door which slides into place to cover a door aperture in said body to become a structural member of said vehicle body when in a closed position, said aperture partially defined by a pair of opposite edges, wherein the improvement comprises:
- tension means longitudinally spanning a central portion of said door, said tension means having a pair of opposite ends; and
- anchor means located on said opposite edges of said aperture for connecting said ends of said tension means to said vehicle body when said door is in said closed position, said tension means and anchor means slidably interconnecting to form a structural member through the central portion of said door and connected between the opposite edges of the aperture which goes into tension across and generally horizontally of the door to inhibit intrusion during a lateral impact to said wheeled vehicle.
- 2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said opposite edges of said aperture and said opposite ends of said tension means are horizontally spaced apart.
- 3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said anchor means comprises a pair of inwardly extending lips, and wherein said tension means comprises a plate-like member rigidly connected between a pair of members complementally engagable with said lips for releasably engaging said anchor means when said door is in said closed position.
- 4. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said vehicle body includes opposite sides and comprises at least one of said doors with said tension means and said anchor means on each of said opposite sides.
Parent Case Info
This is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/401,206, filed Mar. 9, 1995, now abandoned, which is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 08/257,080, filed Jun. 9, 1994, which is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 07/912,790, filed Jul. 13, 1992, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,036 on Jan. 3, 1995.
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Divisions (3)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
401206 |
Mar 1995 |
|
Parent |
257080 |
Jun 1994 |
|
Parent |
912790 |
Jul 1992 |
|