Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for a body panel mounting system that may be used in future Ford vehicles, Ford Authority has learned.
The patent was filed on June 13th, 2023, published on December 19th, 2024, and assigned serial number 0416845.
The Ford Authority Take
Ford has published quite a few patents outlining various externally attached items its future vehicles may one day come equipped with, including a sound “exciter” (speaker) mounted in different places such as the spare tire or hitch, as well as an accessory attachment system for pickup beds. Now, this newly published patent keeps that trend going with a new idea for a body panel mounting system that may be used in future Ford vehicles, too.
While many different kinds of body panel mounting solutions already exist, this one is unique in a number of ways. It would include a locking mount, in fact, which can be attached to the surface of a vehicle using a structural patch of sorts. From there, all kinds of things could be theoretically attached to that mount – including the aforementioned exciters, as specifically mentioned in the patent, giving them a secure way to deliver audio signals as well.
Judging by this and other recently-published Ford patents, it’s clear that the automaker sees a need for externally-mounted speakers on vehicles, which could be used for a variety of purposes. Aside from having the ability to play music at events such as tailgates or other large gatherings, external exciters could also provide a good venue for places like construction sites, where it can be quite loud, making it more difficult to communicate with workers all at once. Given the fact that Ford has now published multiple patents exploring ways to mount exciters on the outside of its future vehicles, we wouldn’t be surprised to see one of them come to fruition in the near future, either.
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