Sealing strips

Abstract

A sealing strip comprises an installation base element and a hollow sealing element. The installation base element is coupled to a flange at least at one end of a circumferential edge of a panel of an automobile or a circumferential edge of an opening in the body of an automobile. The hollow sealing element is integrally formed with the installation base element and makes elastic contact with the other end of the circumferential edge of the opening or the circumferential edge of the panel when the panel is in a closed position. The hollow sealing element is formed from sponge rubber and has a coating applied to its surface. The coating applied to the hollow sealing element has a hardness of not less than 40.0 MPa.

Description

BACKGROUND

[0001] The present invention relates to a weatherstrip coupled to a flange of at least one of a peripheral edge of a panel or a peripheral edge of an opening of an automobile body. The panel includes, for example, a side door, a rear door, a trunk lid, and a hood. When the panel is in a closed position, the weatherstrip seals a gap between the panel and the automobile body by making elastic contact with the automobile body or the panel.

[0002] A sealing strip 100, which is Fig.7 has been widely used. The weather strip 100 includes an installation base member 10 and a hollow sealing member 20. The installation base member 10 is coupled to a flange of a peripheral edge of a panel 1, which is, for example, a door of the automobile. The hollow sealing member 20 is integrally molded with the installation base member 10. The hollow sealing member 20 makes elastic contact with a peripheral edge of an opening of an automobile body 2 of the automobile when the panel 1 is in the closed position. The hollow sealing member 20 is formed of sponge rubber (see, for example, Japanese Patent No. 6470827).

[0003] Reducing the density of a sponge rubber material of the sealing strip 100, that is, reducing the specific gravity, reduces material for products, saves resources, and is environmentally friendly.

[0004] However, decreasing the specific gravity of the sponge rubber material may increase sound penetrating through the hollow sealing member 20 (hereinafter referred to as transmitted sound) toward the interior of the automobile from the outside according to the mass law.

[0005] Sponge rubber materials with a specific gravity ranging from 0.45 to 0.70 have been widely used as door sealing strips formed by extrusion molding. As shown in Fig. As illustrated in Figure 8, the sponge rubber material with a reduced specific gravity of 0.40 for weight reduction is inferior to the sponge rubber materials with the specific gravity of 0.53 and 0.54 in the transmission sound reduction performance within a frequency of 2000 to 4000 Hz, which is significant to human ears.

[0006] For example, the transmitted sound is reduced by increasing a thickness of the hollow sealing element 20. However, this increases the compression load of the sealing strip and deteriorates the door closing ability, and is unfavorable.

[0007] Furthermore, the transmitted sound is reduced by forming the hollow sealing element with a sponge material having a higher specific gravity or with solid rubber (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-236163). However, this increases manufacturing costs due to an increased number of materials and a complicated configuration of dies used for extrusion molding, and deteriorates door closing performance due to the increased compression load compared to the hollow sealing element formed with the conventional sponge rubber material, and therefore requires improvement.

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sealing strip which is improved in the transmission sound reducing effect. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] To achieve the above object, one aspect of the present invention provides a sealing strip (200). The sealing strip (200) includes an installation base member (10) and a sealing member (20).

[0010] The installation base member (10) is coupled to a flange of at least one of a peripheral edge of a panel (1) of an automobile or a peripheral edge of an opening of an automobile body (2) of the automobile.

[0011] The sealing element (20) is integrally molded with the installation base member (10). The sealing element (20) makes elastic contact with the other of the peripheral edge of the opening or the peripheral edge of the plate (1) when the plate (1) is in a closed position. The sealing element (20) is formed of sponge rubber. The sealing element (20) has a coating (50) applied to the surface. The sealing element (20) has a hardness of not less than 40.0 MPa.

[0012] Another aspect of the present invention provides a sealing strip (200). The sealing strip (200) includes an installation base element (10) and a sealing element (20).

[0013] The installation base member (10) is coupled to a flange of at least one of a peripheral edge of a panel (1) of an automobile or a peripheral edge of an opening of an automobile body (2) of the automobile.

[0014] The sealing member (20) is integrally molded with the installation base member (10). The sealing member (20) makes elastic contact with the other of the peripheral edge of the opening or the peripheral edge of the plate (1) when the plate (1) is in a closed position. The sealing member (20) is formed of sponge rubber. The sponge rubber has a specific gravity falling within a range of 0.30 to 0.55. The sealing member (20) has a coating (50) applied to the surface. The sealing member (20) has a hardness of not less than 40.0 MPa.

[0015] Another aspect of the present invention provides a sealing strip (200). The sealing strip (200) includes an installation base element (10) and a sealing element (20).

[0016] The installation base member (10) is coupled to a flange of at least one of a peripheral edge of a panel (1) of an automobile or a peripheral edge of an opening of an automobile body (2) of the automobile.

[0017] The sealing member (20) is integrally molded with the installation base member (10). The sealing member (20) makes elastic contact with the other of the peripheral edge of the opening or the peripheral edge of the plate (1) when the plate (1) is in a closed position. The sealing member (20) is formed of sponge rubber. The sponge rubber has a specific gravity falling within a range of 0.40 to 0.55. The sealing member (20) has a coating (50) applied to the surface. The sealing member (20) has a hardness of not less than 40.0 MPa.

[0018] Another aspect of the present invention provides a sealing strip (200). The sealing strip (200) includes an installation base element (10) and a sealing element (20).

[0019] The installation base member (10) is coupled to a flange of at least one of a peripheral edge of a panel (1) of an automobile or a peripheral edge of an opening of an automobile body (2) of the automobile.

[0020] The sealing member (20) is integrally molded with the installation base member (10). The sealing member (20) makes elastic contact with the other of the peripheral edge of the opening or the peripheral edge of the panel (1) when the panel (1) is in a closed position. The sealing member (20) is formed of sponge rubber. The sealing member (20) has a coating (50) applied to the surface. The sealing member (20) has a hardness found by a comparison expression between the hardness of the sealing member (20) and the transmitted sound of the sealing member (20). The sealing member (20) has the hardness that reduces the transmitted sound by not less than 1 dB.

[0021] Another aspect of the present invention provides a sealing strip (200). The sealing strip (200) includes an installation base element (10) and a sealing element (20).

[0022] The installation base member (10) is coupled to a flange of at least one of a peripheral edge of a panel (1) of an automobile or a peripheral edge of an opening of an automobile body (2) of the automobile.

[0023] The sealing member (20) is integrally molded with the installation base member (10). The sealing member (20) makes elastic contact with the other of the peripheral edge of the opening or the peripheral edge of the panel (1) when the panel (1) is in a closed position. The sealing member (20) is formed of sponge rubber. The sealing member (20) has a coating (50) applied to the surface. The sealing member (20) has a hardness found by a comparison expression between the hardness of the sealing member (20) and the transmitted sound of the sealing member (20). The hardness is determined by a nanoindentation technique. The sealing member (20) has the hardness that reduces the transmitted sound by not less than 1 dB.

[0024] Another aspect of the present invention provides a coating (50). The coating (50) is applied to the surface of a sealing element (20) of a sealing strip (200). The sealing strip (200) includes an installation base element (10) and the sealing element (20).

[0025] The installation base member (10) is coupled to a flange of at least one of a peripheral edge of a panel (1) of an automobile or a peripheral edge of an opening of an automobile body (2) of the automobile.

[0026] The sealing element (20) is integrally formed with the installation base member (10). The sealing element (20) makes elastic contact with the other of the peripheral edge of the opening or the peripheral edge of the plate (1) when the plate (1) is in a closed position. The sealing element (20) is formed of sponge rubber. The coating (50), as dried, has a hardness of not less than 40.0 MPa.

[0027] Symbols in brackets indicate components or items that correspond to the drawings.

[0028] According to the present invention, the weather strip includes the installation base member and the sealing member. The installation base member is coupled to the flange of at least one of the peripheral edge of the panel or the peripheral edge of the opening. The sealing member is integrally molded with the installation base member, makes elastic contact with the other of the peripheral edge of the opening or the peripheral edge of the panel when the panel is in the closed position, is formed of sponge rubber, and has the coating applied to the surface. The sealing member has a hardness of not less than 40.0 MPa. This achieves a reduction of the transmitted sound of the sealing member by not less than 1 dB.

[0029] Sealing elements with the coating only for surface treatment have been widely used. However, this invention is characterized in that no related prior art has focused on the relationship between the hardness of the sealing element and the transmitted sound of the sealing element. Furthermore, no related prior art has investigated the relationship between the hardness of the sealing element and the transmitted sound of the sealing element based on the Fig. 3 or discloses the sealing member having the hardness, the hardness of the paint coating in other words, of not less than 40.0 MPa to achieve the reduction of the transmitted sound of the sealing member by not less than 1 dB.

[0030] The sponge rubber material used as the sealing element has a specific gravity ranging from 0.30 to 0.55, more preferably from 0.40 to 0.55. Sponge rubber material with a specific gravity of no more than 0.40 reduces material consumption for products, saves resources, is environmentally friendly, and reduces the weight of the sealing strip.

[0031] In addition, the hardness of the sealing element is determined by the comparison expression between the hardness of the sealing element and the transmitted sound of the sealing element, and reduces the transmitted sound by no less than 1 dB. This effectively reduces the transmitted sound.

[0032] In addition, a nanoindentation technique is used to precisely determine the hardness of the sealing element. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig.1 is a cross-sectional view of a weather strip 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the sealing strip 200 shown in Fig. 1 illustrates how it is bent. Fig. Figure 3 is a graph showing the relationship between the hardness (MPa) of a sealing element and the total value (dB) of transmitted sound of the sealing element. Fig. Figure 4 is a graph showing the comparison of the hardness of the sealing elements under the maximum indentation load of 100 µN of the nanoindentation technique with the specific density of the sponge rubber used as the sealing elements. Fig.Figure 5 is a graph showing the comparison of the hardness of the sealing elements under the maximum indentation load of 20 µN of the nanoindentation technique with the specific density of the sponge rubber used as the sealing elements. Fig. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between the frequency and the transmitted sound of the sponge rubber having a specific gravity of 0.40 used as the sealing member when the sponge rubber has a coating according to the embodiment of the present invention and when it is without the coating. Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional weather strip 100 as it is bent. Fig. 8 is a graph showing the relationship between the frequency and the transmitted sound of the sponge rubber used as the sealing member as the specific density of the sponge rubber varies. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] With reference to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, a sealing strip 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention is described.

[0034] The sealing strip 200 includes an installation base member 10 and a hollow sealing member 20 in the same manner as a conventional sealing strip 100 used in Fig.7. The installation base member 10 is coupled to a flange of a peripheral edge of a panel 1 of an automobile, which in this embodiment is a side door 1. The hollow sealing member 20 is integrally molded with the installation base member 10. The hollow sealing member 20 makes elastic contact with a peripheral edge of a door opening of an automobile body 2 of the automobile when the side door 1 is in a closed position. The hollow sealing member 20 is formed of sponge rubber. The hollow sealing member 20 has a coating 50 applied to the surface.

[0035] If components or objects correspond to those in the state of the art described in Fig. The same symbols are used as illustrated in Figure 7.

[0036] The drawings illustrate a thickness of the coating 50 merely to facilitate understanding of the invention. In fact, the coating 50 has a thickness expressed in micrometers (µm), and the hollow sealing element 20 has a thickness expressed in millimeters (mm). The coating 50 has a thickness of substantially one thousandth of the thickness of the hollow sealing element 20.

[0037] In this embodiment, the sponge rubber used as the hollow sealing member 20 has the specific gravity of 0.40.

[0038] In this embodiment, the hollow sealing member 20 is formed from a rubber material primarily comprising ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM). In some embodiments, the hollow sealing member 20 is formed from a different rubber material primarily comprising synthetic rubber other than EPDM or thermoplastic elastomer.

[0039] In this embodiment, the coating 50, which keeps the hardness of the hollow sealing member 20 at not less than 40.0 MPa, is used to reduce the transmitted sound of the hollow sealing member 20 by not less than 1 dB.

[0040] The hollow sealing element 20 has the hardness determined by a Fig. 3, a comparison expression is found between the hardness of the sealing element 20 and the total value (dB) (2000 to 4000 Hz) of the transmitted sound of the hollow sealing element 20.

[0041] Fig.Figure 3 illustrates a solid line approximating the values ​​plotted between the hardness of the hollow sealing elements 20 and the corresponding total transmitted sound values ​​of the hollow sealing elements 20. The solid line is created in Microsoft Excel (hereinafter referred to as Excel). The hollow sealing elements 20 each have a sample coating A, B, C, D, and E, shown in Table 1, applied to the surface, and the hardness is determined by a nanoindentation technique when the coating is dried.

[0042] The transmitted sound is measured by: securing the sealing strip 200 between two unillustrated jigs (securing the sealing strip 200 with a lower jig and pressing an upper jig against the sealing strip 200, for example); generating sound on a first side of the hollow sealing element 20 (first side of a space between the two jigs); and collecting the sound on a second side of the hollow sealing element 20 (second side of the space between the two jigs).

[0043] A comparison expression of an approximate straight line is written as: an approximate formula in Excel: y = -0.025 x +68.603; and determination coefficient: R 2 = 0.9169. This shows a close correlation between the transmitted sound of the hollow sealing element 20 and the hardness of the hollow sealing element 20. [Table 1] sample A B C D E Hardness (MPa) 21,3 26,0 45,8 121,7 204,7 Total value 2000 to 4000 Hz (dB) 68,7 67,0 67,8 65,6 63,4

[0044] A nanoindentation technique is used to determine hardness using calculations based solely on the physical quantity (load and indentation depth) measured by a device. A nanoindentation technique is used to determine contact stiffness and contact depth, and to calculate hardness and elastic modulus.

[0045] An indentation load (magnetic force) is created by controlling the amount of current flowing through an electromagnetic coil, and then an indenter is pushed into the sample coating from above to determine how far the samples shift, in other words how easily the indenter is pushed into the samples.

[0046] In this embodiment, the testing machine used as the nanoindentation tester is Anton Paar GmbH, UNIT 3. The indenter is a Berkovich indenter. The maximum indentation load of the indenter is 20 µN, the loading or unloading speed is 600 µN / min, and the test complies with ISO 14577. The hollow sealing element 20 is cut into a 10x10 mm square as a test sample. The test sample has a thickness of approximately 1.8 mm.

[0047] Under the maximum indentation load of the indenter of 100 µN, the specific density of the sponge rubber used as the hollow sealing element 20 affects the hardness. This is due to Fig. 4, where the hardness of the sponge rubber, which has the specific gravity of 0.40, 0.44, 0.55 and the same coating, varies greatly. Under the maximum indentation load of the indenter of 20 µN, as shown in Fig.As illustrated in Figure 5, the specific gravity hardly affects the hardness, so that the hardness is determined precisely.

[0048] The comparison expression (y = -0.025 x +68.603) in Fig. 3 results in 1 (= 68.603 - 67.603) = 0.025 x and x = 40.0 MPa. This results in 40.0 MPa being the hardness needed to reduce the transmitted sound of the hollow sealing element 20 by 1 dB. In other words, the coating 50, which has a hardness of no less than 40.0 MPa, reduces the transmitted sound by no less than 1 dB.

[0049] As in Fig. 6, applying the samples B, D, E shown in Table 1 to the hollow sealing members 20 formed by the sponge rubber having the specific gravity of 0.40 improves the transmission sound reduction performance within a frequency of 2000 to 4000 Hz compared to the sponge rubber material having the specific gravity of 0.40 without the coating.

[0050] The hollow sealing element 20 has a specific gravity of 0.40 for weight reduction and a hardness of 40.0 MPa. This achieves a reduction of the transmitted sound of the hollow sealing element 20 by no less than 1 dB.

[0051] The hollow sealing member 20 with the coating only for surface treatment has been widely used. However, this invention is characterized in that no related art has focused on the relationship between the hardness of the hollow sealing member 20 and the transmitted sound of the hollow sealing member 20. Furthermore, no related art has investigated the relationship between the hardness of the hollow sealing member 20 and the transmitted sound of the hollow sealing member 20 based on the Fig.3 or discloses the hollow sealing member 20 having the hardness of not less than 40.0 MPa to achieve the reduction of the transmitted sound of the hollow sealing member 20 by not less than 1 dB.

[0052] In this embodiment, the hollow sealing member 20 has a specific gravity of 0.40 for weight reduction and has the coating 50 applied to the surface. In some embodiments, the hollow sealing member 20 is formed from a sponge rubber material having a specific gravity falling within a range of 0.30 to 0.55, more preferably 0.40 to 0.55, and has the coating 50 applied to the surface. This also reduces the transmitted sound of the hollow sealing member 20 by no less than 1 dB.

[0053] In this embodiment, a nanoindentation technique is used to determine the hardness of the hollow sealing element 20 while finding the comparison expression between the hardness of the sealing element 20 and the transmitted sound of the sealing element 20. Also, the approximate formula created in Excel is used to calculate the comparison expression between the hardness and the transmitted sound. In some embodiments, the hardness is determined using a different technique, and the comparison expression is calculated using a different method.

[0054] In this embodiment, the weather strip 200 is coupled to the flange of the peripheral edge of the side door 1 and makes elastic contact with the peripheral edge of the door opening. In some embodiments, the weather strip 200 is coupled to the flange of the peripheral edge of the door opening and makes elastic contact with the peripheral edge of the side door 1 when the side door 1 is in the closed position. In some embodiments, the hollow sealing element 20 is solid as lips. The weather strip 200 is applicable to any weather strip that is coupled, for example, to the flange of the panels of automobiles, e.g., rear doors, trunk lids, and hoods. QUOTES CONTAINED IN THE DESCRIPTION

[0000] This list of documents submitted by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the convenience of the reader. This list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions. Cited patent literature

[0000] JP 6470827

[0002] JP 10-236163

[0007]

Claims

[1] Sealing strips comprising: an installation base member configured to be operatively coupled to a flange of at least one of a peripheral edge of a panel of an automobile or a peripheral edge of an opening of an automobile body of the automobile; and a sealing member integrally molded with the installation base member, the sealing member being configured to make elastic contact with the other of the peripheral edge of the opening or the peripheral edge of the plate when the plate is in a closed position, the sealing member being formed by sponge rubber, the sealing member having a coating applied to the surface, and the sealing member having a hardness of not less than 40.0 MPa. [2] Sealing strips comprising: an installation base member configured to be operatively coupled to a flange of at least one of a peripheral edge of a panel of an automobile or a peripheral edge of an opening of an automobile body of the automobile; and a sealing member integrally molded with the installation base member, the sealing member being configured to make elastic contact with the other of the peripheral edge of the opening or the peripheral edge of the plate when the plate is in a closed position, the sealing member being formed by sponge rubber, the sponge rubber having a specific gravity falling within a range of 0.30 to 0.55, the sealing member having a coating applied to the surface, and the sealing member having a hardness of not less than 40.0 MPa. [3] Sealing strips comprising: an installation base member configured to be operatively coupled to a flange of at least one of a peripheral edge of a panel of an automobile or a peripheral edge of an opening of an automobile body of the automobile; and a sealing member integrally molded with the installation base member, the sealing member being configured to make elastic contact with the other of the peripheral edge of the opening or the peripheral edge of the plate when the plate is in a closed position, the sealing member being formed by sponge rubber, the sponge rubber having a specific gravity falling within a range of 0.40 to 0.55, the sealing member having a coating applied to the surface, and the sealing member having a hardness of not less than 40.0 MPa. [4] Sealing strips comprising: an installation base member configured to be operatively coupled to a flange of at least one of a peripheral edge of a panel of an automobile or a peripheral edge of an opening of an automobile body of the automobile; and a sealing member integrally molded with the installation base member, the sealing member being configured to make elastic contact with the other of the peripheral edge of the opening or the peripheral edge of the panel when the panel is in a closed position, the sealing member being formed by sponge rubber, the sealing member having a coating applied to the surface, the sealing member having a hardness found by a comparison expression between the hardness of the sealing member and transmitted sound of the sealing member, and the sealing member having the hardness that reduces the transmitted sound by not less than 1 dB. [5] Sealing strips comprising: an installation base member configured to be operatively coupled to a flange of at least one of a peripheral edge of a panel of an automobile or a peripheral edge of an opening of an automobile body of the automobile; and a sealing member integrally molded with the installation base member, the sealing member being configured to make elastic contact with the other of the peripheral edge of the opening or the peripheral edge of the panel when the panel is in a closed position, the sealing member being formed by sponge rubber, the sealing member having a coating applied to the surface, the sealing member having a hardness found by a comparison expression between the hardness of the sealing member and transmitted sound of the sealing member, the hardness being determined by a nanoindentation technique, and the sealing member having the hardness that reduces the transmitted sound by not less than 1 dB. [6] A coating applied to the surface of a sealing element of a sealing strip, the sealing strip comprising: an installation base member configured to be operatively coupled to a flange of at least one of a peripheral edge of a panel of an automobile or a peripheral edge of an opening of an automobile body of the automobile; and a sealing member formed integrally with the installation base member, the sealing member being configured to make elastic contact with the other of the peripheral edge of the opening or the peripheral edge of the plate when the plate is in a closed position, and the sealing member being formed by sponge rubber, wherein the coating, as dried, has a hardness of not less than 40.0 MPa.

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