Door weather strip

Abstract

To provide a door weather strip which can improve appearance and suppress a sharp rise in cost of manufacture by suppressing a retreat displacement of a sub-seal lip upon door closure.SOLUTION: A sub-seal lip 24 has: a base end part 24a formed by being bent in an inverted L-shape in cross section in accordance with a longitudinal direction portion 8a and a lateral direction portion 8b on a roof side of a vehicle body panel 8, coupled to a mounting base part 22 to extend in a vertical direction of a vehicle body, and facing the longitudinal direction portion upon door closure; and a seal lip part 24b projecting in a vehicle outside direction from an upper end of the base end part to come in contact with a lower surface of the lateral direction portion upon door closure, wherein a projection 26 for restricting the retreat displacement of the seal lip part is provided on a back surface where the seal lip part of the base end part is located, by coming in contact with the longitudinal direction portion upon door closure.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a door weatherstrip that is integrally molded and attached to the corners of the joints at the upper ends of the door panels of the front and rear doors of an automobile, thereby providing a seal between the door panel and the body panel. [Background technology]

[0002] FIG. 1 is a side view of a vehicle, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the front door weatherstrip and rear door weatherstrip attached to the front and rear doors of the vehicle, and FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of a conventional door weatherstrip when the door is closed, showing the state in which the sub-seal lip is displaced backward.

[0003] As shown in Fig. 1, the front doors 2 and rear doors 3 of an automobile 1 have door bodies 4 and 5 and sash portions 6 and 7 provided on the upper parts of the door bodies 4 and 5. A front door weatherstrip 9 and a rear door weatherstrip 10 are disposed on the outer periphery of each door panel of the front doors 2 and the rear doors 3, respectively. These front door weatherstrips 9 and rear door weatherstrips 10 elastically contact a vehicle body panel 8 (see Fig. 12) when the doors are closed to seal between the doors 2 and 3 and the vehicle body panel 8. As shown in Fig. 2, linear portions 9a and 10a of each door weatherstrip 9 and 10 are formed by extrusion molding, and corner portions 9b and 10b are formed by molding.

[0004] For convenience, the following description will focus on the corner portion 10b of the rear door weatherstrip 10, that is, the corner portion 10b on the center pillar 13 side, with reference to Figure 12. The sash portion 7 is formed by joining the end of the inner panel 7a and the end of the outer panel 7b, which are door panels, by hemming. The body panel 8 is formed on the roof side by a vertical portion 8a and a horizontal portion 8b, which are bent into an L-shaped cross section.

[0005] The door weatherstrip 10 has a mounting base 11 that is attached and fixed to the inner panel 7a by clips or the like, a hollow seal portion (not shown) that is integrally formed at the outer end of the mounting base 11, and a sub-seal lip 12 that is provided on the opposite side of the mounting base 11 from the hollow seal.

[0006] As shown in FIG. 2, the mounting base 11 is made of a hard resin material, has a large surface area, and is bent in a substantially L-shape when viewed from the front.

[0007] The hollow seal portion is formed in a substantially circular shape and is made of a soft sponge rubber material or the like, and is adapted to elastically contact the vehicle body panel 8 when the door is closed, thereby forming a seal between the vehicle body panel 8 and the hollow seal portion.

[0008] The sub-seal lip 12 is made of a soft resin material, and as shown in FIG. 12, has a base end portion 12a that is joined to the upper end portion of the mounting base 11 and extends upward in the figure, and a seal lip portion 12b that is integrally formed at the upper end of the base end portion 12a in the figure and abuts against the underside of the lateral portion 8b of the vehicle body panel 8 to form a seal when the door is closed.

[0009] When the door is closed, the sub-seal lip 12 exerts its sealing performance by having the seal lip portion 12b abut against the underside of the horizontal portion 8b of the body panel 8, as shown by the solid line in Figure 12, but the back surface 12c of the base end portion 12a where the seal lip portion 12b is located faces the vertical portion 8a of the body panel 8 with a gap S of, for example, about 4 mm in width.

[0010] However, since the rigidity of the base end portion 12a and the seal lip portion 12b of the sub-seal lip 12 is lower than that of the mounting base portion 11, there is a risk that when the door is closed, the base end portion 12a and the seal lip portion 12b may be displaced backward toward the vehicle interior, i.e., toward the longitudinal portion 8a, through the gap S as shown by the two-dot chain line in Fig. 12. As a result, when the door is closed, a step may be generated between the base end portion 12a and the seal lip portion on the extrusion-molded portion side, which may cause a deterioration in the appearance and the external appearance quality.

[0011] Therefore, a technology has been proposed in which, as in the door weatherstrip described in Patent Document 1 below, a plate-shaped auxiliary base portion made of a hard resin material is provided at the mounting base and the base end of the sub-seal lip to increase the rigidity of the sub-seal lip, thereby suppressing backward displacement of the seal lip portion toward the inside of the vehicle when the door is closed and improving the appearance. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0012] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 4818030 (Figure 6) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0013] However, in the conventional door weatherstrip described in the above publication, an auxiliary base portion must be provided separately in addition to the mounting base portion and sub-seal lip, which makes the molding process complicated and inevitably increases manufacturing costs.

[0014] Furthermore, since the auxiliary base portion has an attachment clip for attaching to the door panel integrally formed on the front surface on the outside of the vehicle, the overall external dimensions become larger and the structure becomes more complex, which may also result in increased manufacturing costs.

[0015] The present invention was devised in consideration of the technical problems with the conventional door weatherstrips described above, and aims to provide a door weatherstrip that suppresses the backward displacement of the sub-seal lip when the door is closed, thereby improving appearance and suppressing increases in manufacturing costs. [Means for solving the problem]

[0016] The present invention provides a door weatherstrip that includes a mounting base that is attached to a door panel of a vehicle door, and a sub-seal lip that is connected to the mounting base and abuts against the vehicle body panel when the door is closed, the door weatherstrip being integrally formed by molding and disposed at a corner of the vehicle door, the vehicle body panel has a roof-side portion formed in an inverted L-shaped cross section, and has a vertical portion extending in the vehicle body up-down direction and a horizontal portion extending from an upper end of the vertical portion toward the exterior of the vehicle, the sub-seal lip is bent to have an inverted L-shaped cross section corresponding to the inverted L-shaped cross section of the vehicle body panel, is connected to the mounting base, and has a base end portion that extends in the vehicle body up-and-down direction and whose back surface faces the vertical portion when the door is closed, and a seal lip portion that protrudes from an upper end of the base end toward the outside of the vehicle and abuts against a lower surface of the horizontal portion when the door is closed, The rear surface portion where the seal lip portion of the base end portion is located is provided with a protrusion that abuts against the vertical portion when the door is closed to restrict backward displacement of the seal lip portion. [Effects of the Invention]

[0017] According to the present invention, the protrusion prevents the sub-seal lip from being displaced backward when the door is closed, thereby preventing a deterioration in appearance and improving the appearance quality, while also preventing an increase in manufacturing costs. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] 1 is a side view of an automobile to which the present invention and a conventional door weather strip are applied; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the general configuration of the front and rear door weather strips. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of part A in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 3. [Figure 5] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a corner portion of a molded portion of a rear door weatherstrip as viewed from the inside of the vehicle. [Figure 6]FIG. 6 is a view taken along arrow C in FIG. 5. [Figure 7] FIG. 6 is a view taken along arrow D in FIG. 5. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line EE in FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line FF in FIG. 7. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a corner portion of a door weatherstrip according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along line GG in FIG. 10. [Figure 12] 10 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a conventional door weather strip when the door is closed. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a door weather strip according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0020] Figure 3 is an enlarged view of part A in Figure 2, Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view along line BB in Figure 3, Figure 5 is a perspective view of the corner portion of the molded portion of the rear door weatherstrip as seen from inside the vehicle, Figure 6 is a view as seen from arrow C in Figure 5, Figure 7 is a view as seen from arrow D in Figure 5, Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view along line EE in Figure 7, and Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view along line FF in Figure 7.

[0021] 1 and 4, each sash portion 6, 7 of an automobile's front door 2 and rear door 3 is formed by hemming an end portion of an inner panel 7a and an end portion of an outer panel 7b, which are door panels, to form a flange 7c. Door weatherstrips 9, 10 are provided on the inner surfaces of the outer peripheries of the front door 2 and the rear door 3, respectively, to seal the vehicle body opening between each door 2, 3 and a vehicle body panel 8.

[0022] In this embodiment, it is applied to the corner portion 10b of the rear door weatherstrip 10, and in particular, as shown in Figures 1 to 3, it is applied to the molded corner portion 10b of the rear door weatherstrip 10 that is adjacent in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle body to the molded corner portion 9b of the front door weatherstrip 9, with the center pillar 13 in between.

[0023] That is, as shown in Fig. 2, the rear door weatherstrip 10 is composed of a linear portion 10a formed by extrusion molding and corner portions 10b formed by molding, but of the molded corner portions 10b, the corner portion 10b on the center pillar 13 side is bent and formed into a substantially L-shape in a front view as a whole, as shown in Fig. 3. The molded corner portions 10b are formed from a material such as dynamically crosslinked thermoplastic elastomer (TPV) or ethylene propylene rubber (EPDM).

[0024] As shown in Figure 4, this corner region 10b is equipped with: a mounting base 22 that is attached and fixed to the inner panel 7a of the sash portion 7 with mounting clips 21; a hollow seal portion 23 that is provided integrally with the lower end of the mounting base 22 on the interior side of the vehicle in the figure and that functions as the main seal portion by elastically contacting the body panel 8 when the door is closed; a sub-seal lip 24 that is formed to protrude from the end of the mounting base 22 opposite to the hollow seal portion 23 and that elastically contacts the underside of the lateral region 8b of the body panel 8 to perform a sealing function; and an abutment lip 25 that is provided integrally with the lower end of the sub-seal lip 24 and abuts against the flanges 7c of the inner panel 7a and outer panel 7b.

[0025] The mounting base 22 is formed in a substantially plate-like shape at the corner region 10b and is disposed along the outer periphery of the rear door 3 including the sash portion 7. The mounting base 22 is also attached and fixed to the inner panel 7a by the multiple mounting clips 21 as described above, via clip holes formed in the base portion 22a.

[0026] The hollow seal portion 23 is formed with a substantially elliptical cross section, and in the free state when the door is open, the tip portion 23a is formed to bulge out in a substantially linear manner toward the body panel 8. However, when the door is closed, the tip portion 23a is pressed against the body panel 8 and is compressed and deformed, thereby sealing the gap between the rear door 5 and the body panel 8.

[0027] 4 and 6, the sub-seal lip 24 is bent to have an inverted L-shaped cross section corresponding to the inverted L-shaped cross section of the vehicle body panel 8. As shown in Fig. 4, the sub-seal lip 24 has a base end portion 24a that extends in the vertical direction of the vehicle body and is connected to the mounting base 22, and a seal lip portion 24b that protrudes from the upper end of the base end portion 24a toward the outside of the vehicle and abuts against the underside of the lateral portion 8b of the vehicle body panel 8 to provide a seal when the rear door 5 is closed.

[0028] As with the conventional technology shown in FIG. 12, when the door is closed, the back surface 24c of the base end portion 24a faces the vertical portion 8a of the body panel 8 with a gap S of a predetermined width therebetween, and a protrusion 26 is integrally formed at the portion of the back surface 24c where the seal lip portion 24b is located, so that when the door is closed, the protrusion abuts against the vertical portion 8a of the body panel 8 to restrict backward displacement of the seal lip portion 24b.

[0029] As shown in Figures 5 and 6, this protrusion 26 is not provided long in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle body at the corner region 10b, but is provided only at the end on the center pillar 13 side. This protrusion 26 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, with a lightening portion 26a formed in the end surface on the vehicle exterior side, and as shown in Figure 8, the protrusion length T is set to about 4 mm, the same as the width of the gap S, and the vertical width W is set to about 10 mm, and further, as shown in Figure 5, the front-to-back width L is set to about 12 mm. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 5, an inclined portion 27 is integrally formed at the front end of this protrusion 26 on the center pillar 13 side, which is inclined from the tip surface 26b of the protrusion 26 toward the back surface 24c of the base end 24a.

[0030] Like the protrusion 26, the inclined portion 27 has a hollowed-out portion 27a formed therein, and is formed so as to gradually decrease in height at a predetermined angle from the tip surface 26b of the protrusion 26 to the back surface 24c of the base end 24a. The vertical width W1 of the inclined portion 27 is set to about 10 mm, the same as the vertical width of the protrusion 26, to ensure continuity with the protrusion 26, and the length L1 from the tip surface 26b of the protrusion 26 to the back surface 24c of the base end 24a is set to about 18 mm.

[0031] 6, a reinforcing rib 28 is provided between the recessed portions 26a and 27a of the protrusion 26 and the inclined portion 27. The reinforcing rib 28 is formed in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped having a predetermined width and extending in the vertical direction.

[0032] [Functions and Effects of Door Weatherstrip According to This Embodiment] With the door weatherstrip 10 according to this embodiment, when the rear door 5 of the automobile is closed, as shown in Fig. 8, the tip end surface 26b of the protrusion 26 provided on the back surface 24c of the base end 24a abuts against the front surface of the vertical portion 8a of the vehicle body panel 8. This restricts rearward displacement of the seal lip portion 24b, thereby suppressing so-called submersion in the direction of the vertical portion 8a. As a result, the occurrence of a step between the extruded linear portion 10a or the sub-seal lip of the corner portion 9b on the center pillar 13 side of the door weatherstrip 9 of the front door 2 is prevented, suppressing deterioration of the appearance and improving the quality of the appearance.

[0033] Furthermore, the door weatherstrip 10 of this embodiment does not require a reinforcing base portion that also serves as reinforcement, as in the prior art described in the above publication, which makes the molding process easier and reduces manufacturing costs.

[0034] Furthermore, the door weatherstrip 10 of this embodiment can be simply provided with a small-volume protrusion 26 without increasing the overall external size and simplifying the structure, which also contributes to reducing manufacturing costs.

[0035] Furthermore, the protrusion 26 can more effectively suppress rearward displacement because the supporting rigidity for the seal lip portion 24b is increased by the inclined portion 27 provided on the side portion. Therefore, deterioration of the appearance can be reliably prevented, and the appearance quality can be improved.

[0036] Furthermore, since protrusion 26 and inclined portion 27 are not solid but have hollowed-out portions 26a and 27a formed therein, it is possible to reduce the reaction force of flat tip surface 26b of protrusion 26 against the front surface of vertical portion 8a when the door is closed. Therefore, the reaction force when the door is closed is kept sufficiently small, and deterioration of the door closing performance can be suppressed.

[0037] However, a reinforcing rib 28 is provided between the protrusion 26 and the inclined portion 27, which ensures appropriate rigidity between the two portions 26, 27, thereby reliably suppressing backward displacement of the seal lip portion 24b while preventing deterioration of the door closing ability.

[0038] Furthermore, since the protrusion 26 is provided only on the end of the corner portion 10b on the center pillar 13 side, the reaction force when the door is closed is smaller than if it were provided long along the longitudinal direction, which also prevents the door from closing easily. Second Embodiment 10 and 11 show a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the structure of the protrusion 26 provided on the back surface 24c of the sub-seal lip 24 is modified. Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a corner portion of a door weatherstrip according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along line GG in Fig. 10.

[0039] That is, the protrusion 26 is formed in a small-diameter cylindrical shape, and has a hollowed-out portion 26a formed therein. The protrusion 26 has a protruding length T set to about 4 mm, the same as the width of the gap S, and a diameter D set to about 8 mm.

[0040] Therefore, according to the second embodiment, not only can the appearance be improved when the door is closed and manufacturing costs be reduced, but also, when the door is closed, the area where the flat tip surface 26b of the protrusion 26 abuts against the front surface of the vertical portion 8a is sufficiently small, making it possible to sufficiently reduce the reaction force of the protrusion 26. As a result, it is possible to prevent deterioration of the door closing performance while suppressing backward displacement of the seal lip portion 24b.

[0041] The present invention is not limited to the configurations of the above-described embodiments, and for example, the cross-sectional shape of the protrusion 26 can be formed into a square, so that the entire structure is cubic, or the cross-sectional shape can be formed into a polygonal shape.

[0042] In addition, although the above embodiment is applied to the rear door weatherstrip, it is also possible to apply it to the corner portion of the front door weatherstrip on the center pillar side, or to both the front and rear door weatherstrips.

[0043] As the door weather strip based on the embodiment described above, for example, the following aspects are conceivable.

[0044] A door weatherstrip comprising: a mounting base attached to a door panel of a vehicle door; and a sub-seal lip coupled to the mounting base and contacting a vehicle body panel when the door is closed, the door weatherstrip being integrally formed by molding and disposed at a corner of the vehicle door, The vehicle body panel has a roof-side portion formed to have an inverted L-shaped cross section, and has a vertical portion extending in the up-down direction of the vehicle body, and a horizontal portion extending from an upper end of the vertical portion toward the exterior of the vehicle, the sub-seal lip is bent and formed to have an inverted L-shaped cross section corresponding to the inverted L-shaped cross section of the vehicle body panel, is connected to the mounting base, and has a base end portion that extends in the up-and-down direction of the vehicle body and whose back surface faces the vertical portion when the door is closed, and a seal lip portion that protrudes toward the outside of the vehicle from an upper end of the base end portion and abuts against a lower surface of the horizontal portion when the door is closed, A protrusion is provided on the rear surface where the seal lip portion of the base end portion is located, and contacts the vertical portion when the door is closed to restrict backward displacement of the seal lip portion.

[0045] According to this invention, when the door is closed, the protrusion provided on the back surface of the base end where the seal lip is located abuts against the front surface of the vertical portion of the vehicle body panel, thereby preventing the seal lip from moving backward (sinking in). As a result, deterioration of the appearance is prevented, and the quality of the appearance is improved.

[0046] Furthermore, since there is no need to provide a reinforcing base that also serves as reinforcement, as in the prior art described in the publication, there is no increase in molding costs, which reduces manufacturing costs and also prevents the door weatherstrip from becoming larger and more complex, thereby reducing manufacturing costs in this respect as well.

[0047] More preferably, the protrusions are provided only at the ends of the corners of the molded portion.

[0048] According to this aspect of the invention, since the protrusion is formed only at the end of the corner portion, the reaction force when the door is closed is smaller than when the protrusion is formed long along the longitudinal direction, thereby preventing the door from becoming difficult to close.

[0049] More preferably, the protrusion is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, a cubic shape, or a cylindrical shape.

[0050] More preferably, the protrusion has a lightening portion formed in an end surface on the vehicle exterior side. According to this aspect of the present invention, by providing a hollowed-out portion on the end surface of the protrusion on the outer side of the vehicle, the reaction force of the protrusion when it abuts against the vehicle body panel when the door is closed can be reduced, which also prevents the door from closing easily. [Explanation of symbols]

[0051] 1. Automobiles 2...Front door 3...Rear door 4·5…Door body 6·7…Sash section 7a...Inner panel (door panel) 7b...Outer panel (door panel) 8...Body panel 8a...Vertical section 8b…Lateral part 9...Front door weather strip 10...Rear door weather strip 10a...Straight section (extrusion molding section) 10b...Corner area (molded part) 21...Mounting clip 22...Mounting base 23...Hollow seal part 24...Sub-seal lip 24a...Proximal end 24b...Seal lip 24c…back 25...Abutment lip 26...Protrusion 26a... Hollowed-out section 26b…Tip surface 27…Slope part 27a... Hollowed-out section 28...Reinforcing rib

Claims

1. A door weatherstrip comprising: a mounting base attached to a door panel of a vehicle door; and a sub-seal lip coupled to the mounting base and contacting a vehicle body panel when the door is closed, the door weatherstrip being integrally formed by molding and disposed at a corner of the vehicle door, The vehicle body panel has a roof-side portion formed to have an inverted L-shaped cross section, and has a vertical portion extending in the up-down direction of the vehicle body, and a horizontal portion extending from an upper end of the vertical portion toward the exterior of the vehicle, the sub-seal lip is bent to have an inverted L-shaped cross section corresponding to the inverted L-shaped cross section of the vehicle body panel, is connected to the mounting base, and has a base end portion that extends in the vertical direction of the vehicle body and whose back surface faces the vertical portion when the door is closed, and a seal lip portion that protrudes from an upper end of the base end toward the outside of the vehicle and abuts against a lower surface of the horizontal portion when the door is closed, A door weatherstrip characterized in that a protrusion is provided on the back surface portion where the seal lip portion of the base end portion is located, which abuts against the vertical portion when the door is closed to restrict backward displacement of the seal lip portion.

2. 2. The door weather strip according to claim 1, The door weather strip is characterized in that the protrusions are provided only at the ends of the corners of the molded portion.

3. The door weather strip according to claim 2, The door weather strip is characterized in that the protrusion is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, a cubic shape, or a cylindrical shape.

4. The door weather strip according to claim 3, The door weather strip is characterized in that the protrusion has a lightening portion formed on an end surface on the vehicle exterior side.

5. 2. The door weather strip according to claim 1, The door weatherstrip is characterized in that the door weatherstrip is provided on either a front door or a rear door of a vehicle, or on both the front door and the rear door.

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