In a side outer panel for a vehicle, door openings of the vehicle are formed of an outer panel part shaped into a frame assembled with a low-strength member and a high-strength member, and a center pillar part having both ends joined with opposed upper and lower sections of the outer panel part. The center pillar part is formed of a high-strength member, one end of which is joined to the panel lower section from the outside of a side surface of the passenger compartment, and the other end of which is joined to the panel upper section from the inside of the side surface of the passenger compartment.
In the side outer panel described above, the center pillar part, which is constituted as a separate part, can be welded or otherwise joined; therefore, high-strength materials or thick sheet materials can be used for the center pillar part, allowing the center pillar part to have the desired level of strength (see, e.g., Patent Document 1).
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds