IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,878,655
Granted Patent B2
US 11,878,655 · App. 17/229,952 · Granted Jan 23, 2024

Vehicle step bar

Inventors: Shekar Prabhakar Erasala (Northville, MI); Sino Johan Van Dyk (Plymouth, MI); Abdelmonaam Sassi (Windsor, CA); Joseph E. Abramczyk (Farmington Hills, MI); Jamil M. Alwan (Ann Arbor, MI)
Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
B60R3/02B62D25/025B62D25/04
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,878,655
App. No.
17/229,952
Granted
Jan 23, 2024
Kind
B2
Abstract

A vehicle includes a vehicle body including a front pillar and a rear pillar spaced from the front pillar. The vehicle body includes a rocker extending from the front pillar to the rear pillar. The vehicle includes a step bar supported by the rocker. The step bar extends from a first end aligned with the front pillar to a second end aligned with the rear pillar. The step bar is movable between a raised position and a lowered position. In the raised position, the step bar overlaps the rocker in a vehicle-outboard direction. The step bar extends upwardly above the rocker.

Claims (24)

1. A vehicle comprising:

a vehicle body including a front pillar, a rear pillar spaced from the front pillar, and a rocker extending from the front pillar to the rear pillar;

a step bar supported by the rocker and extending from a first end aligned with the front pillar to a second end aligned with the rear pillar, the step bar being movable between a raised position and a lowered position;

the step bar in the raised position overlaps the rocker in a vehicle-outboard direction and extends upwardly above the rocker; and

a first pin fixed to the step bar and engageable with the vehicle body in the raised position.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a first door slidably supported by the vehicle body and movable from an open position to a closed position, the step bar overlapping the first door in the vehicle-outboard direction when the first door is in the closed position and the step bar is in the raised position.

3. The vehicle of claim 2 , further comprising a second door slidably supported by the vehicle body adjacent the first door and movable from an open position to a closed position, the step bar overlapping the second door in the vehicle-outboard direction when the first door and the second door are in the closed positions and the step bar is in the raised position.

4. The vehicle of claim 3 , wherein the vehicle body defines an opening extending uninterrupted from the front pillar to the rear pillar, the first door and the second door being in the opening in the closed positions.

5. The vehicle of claim 2 , further comprising a computer including a processor and memory storing instructions executable by the processor to move the step bar from the raised position to the lowered position when the first door moves to the open position.

6. The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the processor to move the step bar from the lowered position to the raised position when the first door moves to the closed position.

7. The vehicle of claim 2 , further comprising a computer including a processor and memory storing instructions executable by the processor to move the step bar from the lowered position to the raised position when the first door moves to the closed position.

8. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first pin is engageable with one of the front pillar or the rear pillar.

9. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first pin extends in a vehicle-inboard direction from the step bar in the raised position and the first pin extends upwardly from the step bar in the lowered position.

10. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a second pin fixed to the step bar, the first pin being fixed at the first end of the step bar and the second pin being fixed at the second end of the step bar, and the first pin being engageable with the front pillar and the second pin being engageable with the rear pillar in the raised position.

11. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the step bar includes a stepping surface facing upwardly when the step bar is in the lowered position and facing vehicle-inboard when the step bar is in the raised position.

12. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the step bar defines a class-A surface opposite the stepping surface, the class-A surface facing the vehicle-outboard direction in the raised position.

13. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising an arm extending from the step bar to the rocker, the arm being rotatably coupled to at least one of the rocker and the step bar.

14. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the step bar is rotatable relative to the rocker from the raised position to the lowered position.

15. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the step bar is elongated along a vehicle-longitudinal axis.

16. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the step bar extends vertically a first distance in the raised position and in the vehicle-outboard direction a second distance in the raised position, the first distance being greater than the second distance.

17. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle body defines an opening extending uninterrupted from the front pillar to the rear pillar.

18. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle body defines a hole at one of the front pillar or the rear pillar, the first pin being engageable with the hole in the raised position.

19. The vehicle of claim 10 , wherein the vehicle body defines a first hole at the front pillar and a second hole at the rear pillar, the first pin being engageable with the first hole in the raised position and the second pin being engaged with the second hole in the raised position.

20. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the first pin is fixed to the stepping surface of the step bar.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 14, 2021
From: ERASALA, SHEKAR PRABHAKAR; VAN DYK, SINO JOHAN; SASSI, ABDELMONAAM; ABRAMCZYK, JOSEPH E.; ALWAN, JAMIL M.
To: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 055912/0250 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20220332252A1 · Oct 20, 2022
Cited By (1)
US 12,589,695