Method for mounting a fastening element for a vehicle side window blind to a vehicle door window frame

Abstract

A method for mounting a fastening element for a side window blind to a vehicle door window frame is provided, comprising: attaching a first positioning element to the vehicle door window frame when the side window blind is manually positioned relative to the vehicle door window frame in a suitable position in which the side window blind completely covers a side window, such that the first positioning element is aligned in position with a connecting element of the side window blind; attaching a second positioning element having a mounting opening to the vehicle door window frame, such that the mounting opening is aligned in position with the first positioning element; and adhering the fastening element to a mounting portion of the vehicle door window frame left free from the mounting opening by means of an adhesive layer arranged on the fastening element.

Description

REGIONThe disclosure relates to a method for mounting a fastening element, in particular a fastening element for a side window roller blind, on a vehicle door window frame.GENERAL STATE OF THE ARTIn a conventional method of mounting a vehicle sun shield to a vehicle door window frame, a magnetic attraction seat is manually attached to the vehicle door window frame. The vehicle sun protector is provided with one or more magnetic member(s) that apply a magnetic attractive force between the magnetic attractive seat and the magnetic members so that the vehicle sun protector is attracted to the vehicle door window frame and covers a vehicle window.In attaching the magnetic attraction seat, the positioning of the vehicle sun shield relative to the vehicle door window frame must be estimated before the magnetic attraction seat can be fixed to the vehicle door window frame. However, this estimation is only an approximation. When the vehicle sunshade is finally attached to the window frame of the vehicle door, it may not fully cover the vehicle window due to improper positioning.SUMMARYIt is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method of mounting a fastener for a vehicle side window roller blind to a window frame of the vehicle door that overcomes at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art.According to the disclosure, the fastener attached to the window frame of the vehicle door is to connect a connector of the vehicle side window roller blind to secure the vehicle side window roller blind to the window frame of the vehicle door. The window frame of the vehicle door defines a width, a thickness, and a longitudinal direction. The method comprises the steps of: a) when the side window roller blind is manually positioned relative to the window frame of the vehicle door in an appropriate position at least with respect to the width direction, the side window roller blind fully covering a side window, a first positioning member is attached to the window frame of the vehicle door so as to extend in the width direction and align in the thickness or longitudinal direction with and adjacent to the connecting member of the side window roller blind; b) a second positioning member is attached to the window frame of the vehicle door so as to cover the first, and a mounting hole formed in the second positioning member align in the thickness or longitudinal direction with and adjacent to the first positioning member so that a surface portion of the window frame of the vehicle door left from the mounting hole serves as a mounting area; and c) attaching the fixing member to the mounting surface of the vehicle door sash by means of an adhesive layer disposed thereon.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSOther features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be appreciated that various features may not be drawn to scale. FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating the embodiment of a method for assembling a fastener for a vehicle side window roller blind to a vehicle door window frame according to the disclosure. FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the fastener mounted on the lower surface of an upper portion of the vehicle door window frame and the vehicle side window roller blind in the embodiment. FIGS. 3 to 6 are schematic views each illustrating the results of performing the steps in FIG. 1. FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view illustrating the attachment of the side window roller blind to the window frame of the vehicle door in the embodiment. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the use of a variant of a second positioning member in the embodiment. FIG. 9 is a schematic view illustrating the fixing of the fixing member to the inside of the upper part of the window frame of the vehicle door according to a variation of the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a partial sectional view illustrating the attachment of the side window roller blind to the window frame of the vehicle door in the variation of the embodiment.DETAILED DESCRIPTIONBefore describing the disclosure in more detail, it is to be understood that, where appropriate, reference numerals or end portions of reference numerals are repeated throughout the figures to identify corresponding or analogous elements that may have similar characteristics, if desired.Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and 7, the embodiment of a method of assembling a fastener 5 for a side window roller blind 8 of a vehicle to a vehicle door window frame 9 of the disclosure is illustrated. The fastening element 5 mounted on the vehicle door window frame 9 according to this embodiment serves to connect a connecting element of the side window roller blind 8 and to fasten it to the vehicle door window frame 9. In this embodiment, the side window roller blind 8 comprises, for example, an embedded magnetic element 81 serving as a connecting element. The fastening element 5 has, for example, an inverted L-shaped cross section, is made of magnetic material and comprises a first wall section 51 and a second wall section 52, which run perpendicular to one another (see FIG. 7 ). The vehicle door inner frame 9 defines a width direction (X), a thickness direction (Y), and a longitudinal direction (Z) that are perpendicular to each other, and includes, for example, an upper portion 91 that extends in the width direction (X) (see FIG. 2 ).FIG. 1 shows the embodiment of the method with steps S 11-S 14, which will be described in detail below in connection with FIGS. 3 to 6.FIG. 3 shows, in step S 11, that when the side window roller blind 8 is manually positioned relative to the vehicle door window frame 9 in an appropriate position in the width direction (X) and thickness direction (Y) so as to completely cover a side window 7, a first positioning member 1 is attached to the vehicle door window frame so as to extend in the width direction (X) and to be aligned with and adjacent to the connecting member (i.e., the magnetic member 81) of the side window roller blind 8 in the thickness direction (Y), and then the side window roller blind 8 is moved away from its position.Note that in this embodiment, the side window roller blind 8 is to be disposed at the lower side of the upper portion 91 of the vehicle door window frame 9. The first positioning member 1 is rectangular and preferably coated with an adhesive (not shown), for example a non-permanent adhesive, to form a reusable adhesive pad such that the first positioning member 1 adheres to the bottom 911 of the upper portion 91 of the vehicle door sash 9.Referring to FIG. 4, in step S 12, a second positioning member 3 having a mounting hole 30 is mounted on the vehicle door sash 9 so as to cover the first positioning member 3 and so that the mounting hole 30 is aligned with and disposed adjacent to the first positioning member 3 in the thickness direction (Y), so that a surface portion of the vehicle door sash 9 exposed from the mounting hole 30 serves as the mounting portion 90. In this embodiment, the mounting area 90 is located on the lower side 911 of the upper portion 91 of the vehicle door window frame 9.In this embodiment, the installation hole 30 is rectangular, and the installation hole 30 and the first positioning member 1 have the same length in the width direction (X). Preferably, the second positioning member 3 is fixed to the lower surface 911 of the upper portion 91 of the vehicle door sash 9 to completely cover the first positioning member 1 when a side of the installation opening 30 in the width direction (X) is disposed adjacent to a side of the first positioning member 1 in the width direction (X). The second positioning member 3 is preferably coated with an adhesive (not shown), for example, a non-permanent adhesive, to form a reusable adhesive pad. Thereby, the second positioning member 3 adheres to the lower surface 911 of the upper portion 91 of the vehicle door sash 9, and completely covers the first positioning member 1.Since the first positioning member 1 is first aligned and juxtaposed with the magnetic member 81 of the vehicle side window roller blind 8 which is at the proper position in the thickness direction (Y), and then the mounting hole 30 in the second positioning member 3 is aligned with the first positioning member 1, the mounting portion 90 is precisely set.Figure 8 shows a variant of the second positioning element 3, which comprises a central portion 32 having the same shape as the installation opening 30, and a peripheral portion 31 surrounding the central portion 32 and being detachably connected thereto by a perforation line or tear-off line. After the central portion 32 is separated from the peripheral portion 31 to form the installation hole 30, the peripheral portion 31 is fixed to the vehicle door window frame 9 and covers the first positioning member 1.Referring to FIG. 5, in step S 13, the fastening member 5 is fastened to the mounting portion 90 of the vehicle door window frame 9 by an adhesive layer 6 disposed on the fastening member 5. In this embodiment, the first wall portion 51 of the fastening member 5 serves as a mounting wall portion that can be passed through the mounting hole 30 and whose wall surface is provided with the adhesive layer 6, so that the first wall portion 51 of the fastening member 5 adheres to the mounting portion 90 of the vehicle door window frame 9 via the adhesive layer 6.Referring to FIG. 6, in step S 14, the first positioning member 1 and the second positioning member 3 are removed from the vehicle door sash 9.Since the first positioning member 1 and the second positioning member 3 may be reusable adhesive pads in this embodiment, they can be easily removed after completion of the mounting of the fastening member 5.After the fastener 5 is mounted to the vehicle door window frame 9, the magnetic member 81 of the vehicle side window roller blind 8 may be aligned with the fastener 5 and magnetically attracted (see FIG. 7 ) such that the side window roller blind 8 is secured to the vehicle door window frame 9 and may fully cover the vehicle window 7.However, if the side window roller blind 8 is to be arranged on the inner side 912 of the upper portion 91 of the vehicle door window frame 9, the fastening element 5 according to a variant of the embodiment can instead be mounted on the inner side 912 of the upper portion 91 of the vehicle door window frame 9 (see FIG. 10 ).In the variant of the embodiment with reference to FIG. 9, when the vehicle side window roller blind 8 is manually positioned relative to the window frame 9 of the vehicle door in an appropriate position with respect to the width direction (X) and the longitudinal direction (Z), wherein the vehicle side window roller blind 8 completely covers a side window 7, the first positioning element 1 is fastened to the inner side 912 of the upper portion 91 of the vehicle door window frame 9 such that the first positioning element 1 extends in the width direction (X) and the first positioning element 1 is aligned with and arranged adjacent to the magnetic element 81 of the vehicle side window roller blind 8 in the longitudinal direction (Z) (step S 11). Further, the second positioning member 3 is fixed to the inner side 912 of the upper portion 91 of the vehicle door window frame 9 such that the second positioning member 3 covers the first positioning member 1 and the mounting hole 30 is aligned with and adjacent to the first positioning member 1 in the longitudinal direction (Z) (step S 12). In this case, the mounting portion 90 (a surface portion of the upper portion 91) exposed from the mounting hole 30 is located on the inner side 912 of the upper portion 91 of the vehicle door sash 9, and the second wall portion 52 of the fixing member 5 serves as a mounting wall portion and is provided with the adhesive layer 6 on its wall surface, so that the second wall portion 52 of the fixing member 5 is adhered to the mounting portion 90 of the vehicle door sash 9 via the adhesive layer 6 (step S 13).In summary, since the first positioning member 1 is first fixed to the vehicle door window frame 9 and aligned with and positioned adjacent to the magnetic member 81 of the vehicle side window roller blind 8 manually positioned at the desired position, the mounting range 90 of the vehicle door window frame 9 can be easily and accurately determined by aligning and positioning the mounting opening 30 of the second positioning member 3 with and adjacent to the first positioning member 1. As a result, the fastening element 5 can be mounted precisely on the mounting region 90, with the result that the side window roller blind 8 can subsequently be fastened to the vehicle door window frame 9 and the side window 7 can be completely covered. As a result, the assembly accuracy of the fastening element 5 can be improved. The object of the invention can be achieved in fact.In the above description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be noted that reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," an embodiment specifying an ordinal number, etc., means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be incorporated into the practice of the disclosure. It is further noted that in the specification, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description to simplify the disclosure and facilitate understanding of various inventive aspects; however, this does not mean that each of these features must be implemented with the presence of all other features. In other words, in each described embodiment, if the implementation of one or more features or specific details does not affect the implementation of one or more other features or specific details, these features may be implemented individually and without the other features or specific details. It is further to be understood that one or more features or specific details of one embodiment may be implemented, if desired, along with one or more features or specific details of another embodiment.While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered to be exemplary embodiments, it is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is intended to cover various arrangements that are within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

Claims

A method of mounting a side window roller blind fastener to a vehicle door window frame, the fastener mounted to the vehicle door window frame for connecting a connector of the side window roller blind to secure the side window roller blind to the vehicle door window frame, the vehicle door window frame defining a width direction (X), a thickness direction (Y) and a longitudinal direction (Z), the method comprising the steps of: a) when the side window roller blind is manually positioned relative to the vehicle door window frame in an appropriate position at least with respect to the width direction (X), the side window roller blind fully covering a side window, attaching a first positioning member to the vehicle door window frame in a manner, in such a manner that it extends in the width direction (X) and is aligned with and adjacent to the connecting element of the side window roller blind in the thickness direction (Y) or the longitudinal direction (Z); b) attaching a second positioning element to the vehicle door window frame in such a manner that the second positioning element covers the first positioning element and an installation opening formed in the second positioning element is aligned with and adjacent to the first positioning element in the thickness direction (Y) or in the longitudinal direction (Z), such that a surface portion of the vehicle door window frame left free from the installation opening serves as the mounting region; and c) attaching the fastening element to the mounting region of the vehicle door window frame by means of an adhesive layer arranged on the fastening element.The method according to claim 1, wherein: the width direction (X), the thickness direction (Y), and the longitudinal direction (Z) are orthogonal to each other, and the installation hole and the first positioning member are rectangular-shaped and have the same length in the width direction (X); and in step b), when a side of the installation hole extending in the width direction (X) is disposed adjacent to a side of the first positioning member extending in the width direction (X), the second positioning member is fixed to the window frame of the vehicle door to cover the first positioning member.Method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein in step b) the first positioning element is completely covered by the second positioning element.The method according to claim 1, wherein the fixing member comprises a mounting wall portion that can be passed through the installation hole and that has a wall surface with the adhesive layer, so that in step c), the mounting wall portion of the fixing member is fixed to the mounting area of the window frame of the vehicle door through the adhesive layer.The method of claim 4, wherein the fastener comprises a first wall portion and a second wall portion perpendicular thereto, one of the first or second wall portions serving as the mounting wall portion.The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of: d) removing the first and second positioning members from the vehicle door window frame.The method of claim 1, wherein: the second positioning member comprises a central portion having the same shape as the installation opening and a peripheral portion surrounding and detachably connected to the central portion; and in step b), after the central portion is detached from the peripheral portion to form the installation opening, the peripheral portion is fixed to the vehicle door sash and covers the first positioning member.The method of claim 1, wherein in step a), the adhesive-coated first positioning member is adhered to the vehicle door sash.The method of claim 1, wherein in step b) the adhesive coated second positioning member is attached to the window frame of the vehicle door.

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