KIT FOR MOUNTING A DOOR ON A MOTOR VEHICLE BODY AND ASSOCIATED MOUNTING PROCEDURE

Description

Field of the invention

[0001] The present invention relates to the assembly of motor vehicles, in particular to the installation of doors and closing elements in general on a motor-vehicle body. Prior art documents in this field include, i.a. DE 35 39 576 A1, FR 3 040 972 A1.Prior art and general technical problem

[0002] In the sector of motor-vehicle assembly, particularly delicate is the operation of installation of a door on the body of a motor vehicle, in particular correct positioning of the door with respect to the body during the entire cycle of production of the motor vehicle itself.

[0003] During the process of assembly of a motor vehicle it may happen that the body and the doors of one and the same motor vehicle undergo treatments in physically distinct positions, so that there will exist a point of the cycle of assembly of the motor vehicle in which the assembly line forks into two sections: one section designed for processing the bodies and one section designed for processing the doors. Since it is not possible to carry out the operations of geometrical referencing of the doors after execution of the processing operations themselves, it is necessary to fix the doors to the body in the design position prior to the aforesaid processing operations, and then separate the doors from the body and rejoin them together in a subsequent step.

[0004] This creates considerable problems in so far as separation of the door from the body would lead to the loss of any geometrical reference in the case where the door were taken down in the simplest way possible, i.e., by mechanical separation of the entire hinge from the body itself.

[0005] To overcome the above technical constraint, known to the art are two solutions that are used selectively according to the type of hinge and type of door considered, and consist in the following: a first solution where the hinge that connects the door to the motor vehicle comprises a first hinge element fixed to the door and a second hinge element articulated to the first hinge element, fixed to the body of the motor vehicle by means of screws and referenced in position with the aid of locating pins or dowels; at the moment of separation of the door from the body, the hinge remains entirely connected to the door, and at the moment of subsequent repositioning, the geometrical reference is determined by the dowel pins; this is a solution adopted, for example, on very light cars where the doors have an opening with at least a vertical component and where frequently the body is made of composite material; a second solution where construction of the vehicle and of the body is more conventional and where the hinge that connects the door to the motor vehicle comprises a first hinge element fixed to the door and a second hinge element articulated to the first hinge element fixed to the body of the motor vehicle by means of screws; in this solution, geometrical referencing of the hinge with respect to the body of the motor vehicle is carried out at the moment of tightening of the screws; when the door is separated from the body, the second hinge element remains fixed on the body, and the hinge-pin that connects the second hinge element to the first hinge element is slid out of the hinge itself; hence, at the moment of remounting of the door after processing, the geometrical reference is restored by reunion of the two hinge elements, obtained by reintroduction of the pin that joins the two component elements of the complete hinge.

[0006] The main drawback of the first solution is represented precisely by the prearrangement of the dowels in so far as they add complexity to the working cycle and - for vehicles with frames made of composite material - impose the adoption of suction hoods on line for aspiration of the swarf of composite material generated at the moment of drilling of the seats for the dowels.

[0007] The drawback of the second solution is mainly represented by the limited operating range thereof; in particular, it is a solution scarcely practicable, or practicable with only modest results, on particular types of hinges, for example hinges for frameless doors or else hinges for doors with opening that is at least in part vertical (e.g., gullwing doors, folding doors, scissor doors) in so far as the operation of pulling out the pin requires that the assembly tolerances between the hinge elements and the pin itself should not be excessively stringent; otherwise, it would be unfeasible to slide out the pin on account of the small spaces between the hinge, the body, and the door due to the requirements imposed by the style of the car.Object of the invention

[0008] The object of the present invention is to overcome the technical problems mentioned previously. In particular, the object of the present invention is to provide an installation kit for a door hinge of a motor vehicle that will enable total removal of the hinge during the steps of separate processing of the body and the door and that will enable subsequent re-assembly of the door and of the hinge, without incurring in any of the aforementioned drawbacks and without requiring further line infrastructures.Summary of the invention

[0009] The object of the present invention is achieved by an installation kit and an installation method having the features forming the subject of the ensuing claims, which form an integral part of the technical disclosure provided herein in relation to the invention.Brief description of the drawings

[0010] The invention will now be described with reference to the annexed drawings, which are provided purely by way of non-limiting example and in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a hinge forming part of a kit according to the invention; Figure 2 is a detailed view according to the arrow II of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a positioning element of the hinge of Figure 1 in the kit according to the invention; Figures 4 and 5 are cross-sectional views according to the traces IV- IV and V-V of Figure 2; Figure 6 is an overall view of the installation kit according to the invention implemented on a motor-vehicle body and associated to a corresponding door; and Figure 7 is a detailed view according to the arrow VII of Figure 6. Detailed description

[0011] The reference number 1 in Figures 1 and 2 designates as a whole a hinge forming part of a kit 100 (Figure 5) for installation of a door on a body of a motor vehicle. The kit 100 comprises the hinge 1 and a positioning element 2, which is illustrated in detail in Figure 3. Each of the two components will now be described in detail.

[0012] With reference to Figures 1, 2, and 5, the first hinge element 3 is configured to be fixed to a door D of a motor vehicle VL and is articulated to the second hinge element 4 about a hinge axis γ1, while the second hinge element 4 is configured to be fixed to a body BW of the motor vehicle VL and is configured to engage the positioning element 2 so as to establish the position of the hinge 1 and of the door D relative to the body BW.

[0013] In greater detail, the first hinge element 3 comprises a first fixing plate 8 configured for mechanical connection to the door D, for example by means of screws, and a stem 10 integral with the plate 8. The stem 10 has a fork-shaped end 12, which constitutes the interface with the second hinge element 4.

[0014] The second hinge element 4 in turn comprises a second fixing plate 14 configured to be fixed on the body BW by means of screws: in the example considered here three screws at the vertices of a right triangle. Projecting from the flat plate 14 is an ensemble having a substantially fork-shaped structure and comprising a first shoulder 16 and a second shoulder 18, between which the elements of the fork-shaped end 12 settle upon connection of the first hinge element to the second hinge element.

[0015] A hinge-pin 20 traverses the sequence of the ends 16, 12, and 18 defining the articulation between the two hinge elements. With reference once again to Figures 1 and 2, the hinge 1 comprises, in particular on the second hinge element 4, a coupling element 22 configured to fit on the positioning element 2. According to the invention, the coupling element 22 is provided as a fork-shaped plate, preferably comprising a first lateral tab 24 and a second lateral tab 26 separated from one another by a coupling groove 27.

[0016] The side tabs 24, 26 comprise, respectively, a first guide surface 28 and a second guide surface 29, which both face the inside of the coupling groove 27 and are set on either sides of a third guide surface 30, which delimits, with the aforesaid first guide surface 28 and second guide surface 29, the coupling groove 27.

[0017] With reference to Figure 3, the structure of the positioning element 2 will now be described. The positioning element 2 is basically configured as a substantially T-shaped piece or insert comprising a head portion 30 and a tongue 32 integral with the head portion 30 itself.

[0018] Provided within the tongue 32 is a through eyelet 34, which has a shape elongated in a direction orthogonal to the head portion 30 and is comprised between a fourth guide surface 36 and a fifth guide surface 38, which are opposite to one another and are configured to co-operate with the guide surfaces 28, 29, and a sixth guide surface 39, which is configured to co-operate with the guide surface 30.

[0019] With reference to Figures 4 to 7, there now follows a description of operation of the installation kit 100, which comprises the hinge 1 and the positioning element 2. A sequence of implementation of the kit itself will also be described.

[0020] The positioning element 2 is configured to be fixed to the body BW of the motor vehicle in a final position, which is reached by means of a two-stage operation. A first stage of this operation envisages pre-installation of the positioning element 2 on the body, without carrying out tightening thereof on the body. In greater detail, the element 2 is applied on the body BW in a position corresponding to the one theoretically resulting from the chain of tolerances imposed for installation of the door D according to design.

[0021] This means, with reference to Figures 4 and 5, that the positioning element 2 is fixed in a non-calibrated way on the body BW by means, for example, of screws 42, 44, which pass though the eyelet 34 and engage holes on the body BW, and engagement seats S42 coaxial to the holes on the body itself, where fixing is carried out without applying to the screws 42, 44 a torque that would bring about tightening of the positioning element 2 on the body itself (i.e., the screws 42, 44 are not tightened to the final torque value).

[0022] In the embodiment of Figure 5, the seats are represented as threaded bushings applied mechanically within the body BW (e.g., by welding or brazing), but in the case of bodies made of composite material reinforced with carbon fibres, the seats S42 are obtained by embedding threaded bushings within the composite material of the body itself.

[0023] Using a geometrical-reference tool operating with respect to the geometry of the body B, the door D is then positioned, complete with the elements 3 and 4 of the hinge (which are previously assembled and joined to the door D in a separate preparation area).

[0024] Once the door D has been positioned, it is possible to proceed to tightening the screws that engage the seats on the fixing plate 14 of the hinge element 4, thus fixing the relative position between the door D and the body BW (geometrically conforming position).

[0025] At this point, also the positioning element 2 is brought into the geometrically preset position via definitive tightening of the screws 42, 44 to the final torque value. This results in definitive and proper positioning of the positioning element 2 with respect to the body BW. In particular, the position of the guide surfaces 28, 29 and 30, which provide a geometrical reference of position along respective coordinates that are tangential to the planes of the surfaces 36, 38, 39 of the positioning element 2 is determined.

[0026] Reaching of the pre-set position of the positioning element 2 is achieved, in particular, at the moment of mating of the latter with the fork-shaped plate 22 on the flat plate 14 of the hinge element 4: the fork-shaped plate 22 embraces the positioning element 2 laterally, receiving it within the groove 27, and the guide surfaces 28, 29 abut against the respective guide surfaces 36, 38, 39 (the surface 39 functions as a stop surface for mating) in such a way that the element 2 is referenced in position consistently with the fork-shaped plate and has the same precision as the hinge.

[0027] In general, setting up the kit 100 envisages that the co-operating pairs of guide surfaces (28, 36; 29, 38; 30, 39) of the positioning element 2 and of the coupling element 22 abut against one another, making sure that the surfaces 30 and 39 abut in any case upon one another in so far as, in the specific embodiment of the kit 100 presented in the figures, they are the only ones that bear upon one another in a longitudinal direction.

[0028] It is in particular preferable to ensure simultaneous contact at three surfaces (i.e., all of the three pairs 28, 36; 29, 38; 30, 39 involved), thus doubling the constraint on the longitudinal position (the triple contact is obtained by thrust exerted by the line operator on the hinge at the moment of positioning of the door).

[0029] Alternatively, instead of resorting to contact between the surfaces 30 / 39, it is possible to resort to the contact between the surfaces 45 / 47 and 46 / 48 (where the surfaces 45, 46 are located at the free ends of the side wings 24, 26, while the surfaces 47, 48 are located at opposite ends of the head portion 30, on the side of the tongue 32).

[0030] To sum up, according to the invention a method for installation of the door D on the motor-vehicle body BW using the installation kit 100 is thus defined, the method comprising: pre-installing the positioning element 2 on the body BW in a position corresponding to a respective installation seat; coupling the door D to the first hinge element 3; engaging the positioning element 2 pre-installed on the body BW by means of the coupling element 22 of the second hinge element 4; fixing the second hinge element 4 to the body of the motor vehicle BW, thus determining the final position of the positioning element 2 pre-installed on the body BW; and fixing the final position of the positioning element 2 on the body BW (in particular, as described, via tightening of the screws 42, 44).

[0031] At the end of this installation process, the door D is geometrically referenced with respect to the body BW, the hinge element 3 is geometrically referenced with respect to the hinge element 4 via the centring pin (it is possible to provide the hinge 1 with strict tolerances, it not being necessary to disassemble the latter), the positioning element 2 is geometrically referenced to the hinge element 4 via the mating surfaces 26 / 29 24 / 28 and 27 / 30, and in turn also the positioning element 2 is geometrically referenced with respect to the body BW.

[0032] This makes it possible to check for proper operation (opening / closing) of the door D before the body BW and the door D are sent on to the subsequent processing steps, which envisage a separate treatment for the body BW and for the door D.

[0033] At this point, and unlike all the known solutions described at the outset, the hinge 1 can be simply detached from the body, keeping, however, the positioning element 2 fixed to the body BW in the pre-set position established at the moment of tightening of the screws 42, 44.

[0034] In this way, once the operations of treatment on the body BW and on the door D are completed, the door can be joined to the body simply by repeating the operation of coupling between the hinge 1 (hinge element 4) and the positioning element 2, i.e., once again engaging the fork-shaped plate 22 with the positioning element 2, given that the final position of the hinge 1 will be the same as the one defined at the moment of geometrical referencing and fixing of the element 2.

[0035] Thanks to the installation kit 100, all the problems described at the outset are thus solved since it is no longer necessary to provide dowel pins for complete separation of the hinge 1 from the body BW, which in this case may be obtained without drawbacks of any sort given that the subsequent repositioning does not require any operation of tolerance repositioning thereof, nor is it required to carry out additional processing operations on the body BW, with associated complication of the line structures.

[0036] It is not even required to envisage pulling out the pin 20 thanks to the fact that the new coupling of the hinge 1 on the body BW may be obtained in an easy and fast way simply by engaging the positioning element 2 (which remains fixed on the body BW once it has been applied thereto), with the benefit inherent in the possibility of providing the hinge 1 with very strict tolerances between the hinge elements 3 and 4 and the pin 20, and consequently with a high level of precision. In effect, once the position of the element 2 has been fixed at the moment of preliminary installation of the hinge 1, the coupling element 22 engages the positioning element 2 so as to position the hinge 1 as a whole with respect to the body BW of the motor vehicle at the moment of fixing (this time definitive fixing) of the second hinge element 4 on the body BW of the motor vehicle VL.

[0037] Of course, the details of construction of the embodiments may vary widely with respect to what has been described and illustrated herein, without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention, as defined by the annexed claims.

Claims

1. An installation kit (100) of a door (D) of a motor vehicle (VL), comprising: - a hinge (1) including a first hinge element (3) and a second hinge element (4), the first hinge element (3) being articulated to the second hinge element (4) about a hinge axis (γ1); and - a positioning element (2) configured to be fixed to a body (BW) of the motor vehicle (VL); wherein: - the first hinge element (3) is configured to be fixed to the door (D) of the motor vehicle (VL); and - the second hinge element (4) is configured to be fixed to the body (BW) of the motor vehicle and comprises a coupling element (22) configured to engage said positioning element (2) so as to position the hinge (1) with respect to the body (BW) of the motor vehicle upon fixing the second hinge element (4) on the body (BW) of the motor vehicle (VL), and wherein said positioning element (2) is a piece that can be fixed to the body of the motor vehicle, preferably by means of screws (42, 44), the installation kit being characterized in that the coupling element of said second hinge element (4) is provided as a fork-shaped plate (22) configured to engage said positioning element (2).

2. The installation kit according to Claim 1, wherein said fork-shaped plate (22) comprises a first lateral tab (24) and a second lateral tab (26) separated from one another by a coupling groove (27), said coupling groove receiving said positioning element upon engagement thereof by said second (2) hinge element (4).

3. The installation kit (100) according to Claim 2, wherein the first lateral tab (24) and the second lateral tab (26) comprise, respectively, a first guide surface (28) and a second guide surface (29) facing the inside of the coupling mouth (27), said first guide surface (28) and said second guide surface (29) being located on opposite sides of a third guide surface (30), which delimits, with said first guide surface (28) and said second guide surface (29), the coupling groove (27).

4. The installation kit (100) according to Claim 3, wherein said positioning element (2) is substantially T-shaped and comprises a head portion (30) and a tongue (32), wherein: - provided within the tongue (32) is a through eyelet (34) that is comprised between a fourth guide surface (36) and a fifth guide surface (38), which are opposite to one another and are configured to co-operate, respectively, with said first guide surface (28) and said second guide surface (29); and - the tongue (32) further includes a sixth guide surface (39) configured to co-operate with the third guide surface (30).

5. A method for installation of a door (D) on a motor-vehicle body (BW) by means of an installation kit (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising: - pre-installing the positioning element (2) on the body (BW) in correspondence of a respective installation seat; - coupling said door (D) to the first hinge element (3); - engaging the positioning element (2) pre-installed on the body (BW) by means of the coupling element (22) of the second hinge element (4); - fixing the second hinge element (4) to the body of the motor vehicle (BW), thus determining a final position of the positioning element (2) pre-installed on the body (BW); and - fixing the final position of the positioning element (2) on the body (BW).

6. The method according to Claim 5, wherein said engaging comprises providing a contact between at least two pairs of guide surfaces (28, 36; 29, 38; 30, 40) of said positioning element (2) and of said coupling element (22).

7. The method according to Claim 5 or Claim 6, further comprising removing said second hinge element (4) from the body (BW) while leaving said positioning element (2) fixed on the body (BW) itself in said final position, and separately sending the body (BW) and the door (D) with the hinge (1) entirely connected thereto separately on to respective and distinct treatment operations.

8. The method according to Claim 7, further comprising engaging again the positioning element (2) by means of the coupling element (22) of said second hinge element (4) after completion of the respective and distinct treatments so as to position the hinge (1) with respect to the body (BW) of the motor vehicle upon fixing the second hinge element (4) on the body (BW) of the motor vehicle (VL).