Seal structure of vehicle component

Abstract

To provide a seal structure of a vehicular component capable of securing sealing performance by a seal member.SOLUTION: The seal structure of the vehicle component 11 includes the first member 13 having the first peripheral wall 17, the first opening portion 18, the first flange portion 19 provided on the first peripheral wall 17, and the groove 20 formed in the first flange portion 19, the second member 14 having the second flange portion 22 that comes into contact with the first flange portion 19 so as to cover the groove 20, and the elastic seal member 15 that extends along the groove 20 and is annularly disposed in the groove 20 such that one end portion and the other end portion overlap each other. An annular rib 26 for compressing the seal member 15 by being inserted into the groove 20 is projected on the second flange part 22. A wide part having a width wider than that of the other part in the rib 26 is formed in a part of the rib 26. The wide portion is disposed so as to correspond to an overlapping portion where the one end portion and the other end portion of the seal member 15 overlap each other in a direction in which the rib 26 is inserted into the groove 20.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a seal structure for a vehicle component. [Background technology]

[0002] A conventional seal structure of this type is known, for example, from Patent Document 1. This seal structure includes a seal groove recessed in the periphery of the lamp body, a resilient seal material disposed in the seal groove, and a seal leg protruding from the periphery of the outer lens. When the seal leg is inserted into the seal groove to a predetermined position, the lance of the seal leg engages with the locking hole of the seal groove. This secures the outer lens to the lamp body with the seal leg and the seal material in close contact. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2021-163718 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the above-described seal structure, a hot-melt sealant is placed in the annular seal groove. The sealant is injected sequentially into the seal groove from the hot-melt gun as the gun moves along the seal groove. This causes an overlapping portion to form in the sealant, where one end (starting point) overlaps the other end (ending point). Because gaps are likely to form in the overlapping portion, it may be difficult to ensure a seal even if the seal leg is tightly attached to the sealant. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] Various aspects of the sealing structure for a vehicle component for solving the above problems will be described below. [Embodiment 1] A sealing structure for a vehicle part comprising: a first member having an annular peripheral wall, an opening, an annular flange portion provided on the peripheral wall to surround the opening, and an annular groove formed in the flange portion to surround the opening; a second member assembled to the first member and having a contact portion that contacts the flange portion so as to cover the groove; and a resilient sealing member that extends along the groove and is arranged annularly in the groove so that one end and the other end overlap, wherein a protruding annular rib is provided on the contact portion and compresses the sealing member when inserted into the groove when the second member is assembled to the first member, and a wide portion is formed on a portion of the rib that is wider than the remaining portion of the rib, and the wide portion is arranged to correspond to at least a portion of the overlapping portion where the one end and the other end of the sealing member overlap in the direction of insertion of the rib into the groove.

[0006] Normally, if the entire sealing member arranged in the groove is compressed at the same compression rate by a ring-shaped rib of a constant width, the compressive force applied to the overlapping portion of the sealing member is insufficient. As a result, the gaps formed in the overlapping portion of the sealing member cannot be filled, and the sealing member is unable to provide a sufficient seal. In this regard, with the above-described configuration, the compressive force of only at least a portion of the overlapping portion of the sealing member where the compressive force is insufficient can be increased by the wide portion of the rib, thereby ensuring the sealing member's ability to provide a sufficient seal.

[0007] [Aspect 2] A sealing structure for a vehicle part described in [Aspect 1], characterized in that the first member has a bottom wall, and the second member has a cover portion that covers the opening when the contact portion contacts the flange portion.

[0008] According to the above configuration, the first member and the second member can form a sealed space. [Aspect 3] A sealing structure for a vehicle part described in [Aspect 1] or [Aspect 2], characterized in that the wide portion is arranged to correspond to the entire overlapping portion of the sealing member in the direction of inserting the rib into the groove.

[0009] According to the above-described configuration, the compressive force of the rib on the entire overlapping portion of the seal member can be increased, thereby more reliably ensuring the sealing performance of the seal member. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] The present invention can ensure the sealing performance of the sealing member. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a cross-sectional view of a vehicle component according to an embodiment; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the first member. [Figure 3] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an overlapping portion of the seal member. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the general portion of the rib compresses the sealing member. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the wide portion of the rib compresses the sealing member. [Figure 6] 1A is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a sealing member is placed in a groove, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the sealing member is compressed by a rib in FIG. 1A. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional plan view showing a main part of a rib that compresses the sealing member in the groove. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional plan view showing a main part of a rib that compresses a sealing member in a groove in a modified example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] An embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. <Vehicle parts 11> 1 and 2, the vehicle component 11 accommodates an object 12 that is vulnerable to water, such as various sensors, such as a millimeter-wave sensor, mounted on a vehicle, or a circuit board, inside the vehicle component 11, thereby protecting the object 12 from water. That is, the vehicle component 11 protects the object 12 from water by its sealing structure. The vehicle component 11 includes a first member 13, a second member 14, and a sealing member 15. The vehicle component 11 has, for example, an elliptical shape in a plan view.

[0013] In the following description, the up-down direction is based on the up-down direction of the vehicle component 11 shown in Fig. 1. Therefore, the vehicle component 11 of this embodiment has a configuration in which the second member 14 is assembled to the upper side of the first member 13.

[0014] <First member 13> 1 and 2, the first member 13 is made of, for example, a synthetic resin and has a bottomed elliptical box shape. That is, the first member 13 has an elliptical first bottom wall 16 as an example of a bottom wall, an elliptical annular first peripheral wall 17 as an example of a peripheral wall, a first opening 18 as an example of an opening that opens at the upper end of the first peripheral wall 17, an elliptical annular first flange portion 19 as an example of a flange portion provided on the first peripheral wall 17 to surround the first opening 18, and an elliptical annular groove 20 formed in the first flange portion 19 to surround the first opening 18.

[0015] The object to be contained 12 is fixedly disposed inside the first peripheral wall 17 on the upper surface of the first bottom wall 16. The height of the object to be contained 12 is slightly higher than the height of the first peripheral wall 17. The first flange portion 19 protrudes outward from the upper end of the outer surface of the first peripheral wall 17. The groove 20 is formed in the upper surface of the first flange portion 19.

[0016] <Sealing member 15> 1 and 2, the sealing member 15 in this example is made of hot melt, which is elastic at room temperature. The sealing member 15 is arranged in an elliptical ring shape in an elliptical ring-shaped groove 20 formed in the first flange portion 19. The sealing member 15 is sequentially injected into the groove 20 from the hot melt gun as the hot melt gun is moved along the groove 20. Therefore, the sealing member 15 extends in an elliptical ring shape along the groove 20.

[0017] 3, sealing member 15 has overlapping portion 15c in which one end 15a, which is the starting point when injection with a hot melt gun, and the other end 15b, which is the ending point, overlap in the vertical direction within groove 20. When sealing member 15 is simply placed within groove 20, a gap S where sealing member 15 is not present is formed in part of overlapping portion 15c of sealing member 15 at the bottom of groove 20.

[0018] For this reason, it is more difficult to ensure sealing performance at overlapping portion 15c of sealing member 15 than at portions other than overlapping portion 15c of sealing member 15. Note that sealing member 15 is disposed in groove 20 so that its height is, for example, about 60% to 70% of the depth of groove 20.

[0019] <Second member 14> 1, the second member 14 is made of, for example, synthetic resin and has a cover portion 21 in the shape of an elliptical box with a bottom, and a second flange portion 22 in the shape of an elliptical ring as an example of a contact portion. The cover portion 21 has a second elliptical bottom wall 23, a second elliptical ring-shaped peripheral wall 24, and a second opening 25 that opens at the lower end of the second peripheral wall 24. The second flange portion 22 is provided at the lower end of the outer surface of the second peripheral wall 24 so as to surround the second opening 25.

[0020] The second member 14 is assembled to the first member 13 from above. At this time, the lower surface of the second flange portion 22 contacts the upper surface of the first flange portion 19 so as to cover the groove 20, and the first opening 18 is covered by the cover portion 21 with the second opening 25 and the first opening 18 aligned.

[0021] 1 and 7, an elliptical annular rib 26 corresponding to the groove 20 is provided on the lower surface of the second flange portion 22 so as to protrude downward. The protruding length of the rib 26 from the lower surface of the second flange portion 22 is shorter than the depth of the groove 20. The rib 26 is inserted into the groove 20 when the second member 14 is assembled to the first member 13.

[0022] 4, 5, and 7, a wide portion 26b is formed in a portion of the rib 26, and is wider than a general portion 26a, which is the remaining portion of the rib 26. That is, the width W1 of the general portion 26a is narrower than the width W2 of the wide portion 26b. The width W2 of the wide portion 26b is set to, for example, about 1.5 to 2.0 times the width W1 of the general portion 26a.

[0023] The width W2 of the wide portion 26b is narrower than the width of the groove 20. The wide portion 26b is disposed so as to correspond in the up-down direction, which is the direction in which the rib 26 is inserted into the groove 20, to the entire overlapping portion 15c of the sealing member 15 disposed in the groove 20. A step 27 is formed at the boundary between the general portion 26a and the wide portion 26b of the rib 26.

[0024] The ribs 26 compress the sealing member 15 by being inserted into the grooves 20 when the second member 14 is assembled to the first member 13. In this case, the ribs 26 sink into the central portion of the sealing member 15 in the width direction. Furthermore, in this case, the wide portions 26b of the ribs 26 compress the overlapping portions 15c of the sealing member 15, and the general portions 26a of the ribs 26 compress the portions of the sealing member 15 other than the overlapping portions 15c. At this time, the compression rate of the sealing member 15 by the ribs 26 is preferably 30% to 70%.

[0025] If the compression rate of the seal member 15 by the ribs 26 is less than 30%, the compressive force applied to the seal member 15 by the ribs 26 may be insufficient, and the sealability of the seal member 15 may not be ensured. On the other hand, if the compression rate of the seal member 15 by the ribs 26 exceeds 70%, the repulsive force from the seal member 15 to the ribs 26 becomes large, and therefore, a large force is required to insert the ribs 26 into the grooves 20 and compress the seal member 15. This may result in a decrease in the ease of assembling the second member 14 to the first member 13.

[0026] As shown in Figures 6(a) and 6(b), the compression rate (%) of the sealing member 15 by the above-mentioned rib 26 can be calculated by the formula ((AB) / A) x 100, where A is the distance from the lower end to the upper end of the sealing member 15 in the groove 20 and B is the distance from the lower end of the sealing member 15 in the groove 20 to the lower end of the rib 26 that compresses the sealing member 15.

[0027] <Operation of the embodiment> Next, the operation of assembling the vehicle component 11 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, when assembling vehicle component 11, first, containment object 12 is placed and fixed in the center of the upper surface of first bottom wall 16. Next, seal member 15 is placed in groove 20 of first member 13. Next, second member 14 is placed over first member 13 from above. At this time, first opening 18 is covered with cover portion 21 so that second opening 25 is aligned with first opening 18, and the lower surface of second flange portion 22 is brought into contact with the upper surface of first flange portion 19 so as to cover groove 20.

[0028] Furthermore, at this time, by inserting the ribs 26 into the grooves 20, the ribs 26 compress the sealing member 15 in the grooves 20. This causes the sealing member 15 to elastically deform, and the elastic restoring force (repulsive force) of the sealing member 15 improves the adhesion between the sealing member 15 and the ribs 26, as well as the adhesion between the sealing member 15 and the inner surface of the grooves 20.

[0029] 4, 5, and 7, the wide portion 26b of the rib 26 compresses the overlapping portion 15c of the seal member 15, and the general portion 26a of the rib 26 compresses the portion of the seal member 15 other than the overlapping portion 15c. Because the wide portion 26b is wider than the general portion 26a, even if the compression rate of the seal member 15 is the same as that of the general portion 26a, the compressive force applied to the seal member 15 is greater than that of the general portion 26a.

[0030] As a result, a gap S (see FIG. 3) formed in part of the overlapping portion 15c of the seal member 15 at the bottom of the groove 20 where the seal member 15 is not present is filled by the elastic deformation of the overlapping portion 15c caused by the compression of the overlapping portion 15c by the wide portion 26b. Therefore, the compression of the seal member 15 by the rib 26 ensures sealing of the entire seal member 15, including the overlapping portion 15c. Therefore, sealing between the first flange portion 19 and the second flange portion 22 by the seal member 15 is ensured.

[0031] Thereafter, second member 14 is fixed to first member 13 with, for example, screws (not shown). As a result, item 12 is housed in the sealed space formed by first member 13 and second member 14, and item 12 is protected from external water.

[0032] Incidentally, if the entire rib 26 is made into the wide portion 26b to increase the compressive force of the rib 26 on the sealing member 15, the sealing performance of the entire sealing member 15, including the overlapping portion 15c, can be ensured, but the repulsive force of the sealing member 15 when the rib 26 compresses the sealing member 15 becomes too large. This makes it difficult to insert the rib 26 into the groove 20 to compress the sealing member 15, which causes a problem of reduced workability when assembling the second member 14 to the first member 13.

[0033] In this regard, in the present embodiment, the repulsive force of the seal member 15 when the seal member 15 is compressed by the rib 26 is large only at the overlapping portion 15c of the seal member 15, but is not large in any portion of the seal member 15 other than the overlapping portion 15c. Therefore, it is not particularly difficult to insert the rib 26 into the groove 20 and compress the seal member 15, and therefore a decrease in workability when assembling the second member 14 to the first member 13 can be suppressed. Therefore, the sealing performance of the seal member 15 can be ensured while a decrease in workability when assembling the second member 14 to the first member 13 is suppressed.

[0034] <Effects of the embodiment> According to the embodiment described above in detail, the following effects are achieved. (1) The seal structure of the vehicle component 11 includes a first member 13 having a first peripheral wall 17, a first opening 18, a first flange portion 19 provided on the first peripheral wall 17 so as to surround the first opening 18, and a groove 20 formed in the first flange portion 19 so as to surround the first opening 18; a second member 14 assembled to the first member 13 and having a second flange portion 22 that contacts the first flange portion 19 so as to cover the groove 20; and a seal member 15 that extends along the groove 20 and is disposed in the groove 20 so that one end 15a and the other end 15b overlap. A rib 26 protrudes from the second flange portion 22 and is inserted into the groove 20 when the second member 14 is assembled to the first member 13, thereby compressing the seal member 15. A wide portion 26b is formed in a portion of the rib 26, the wide portion 26b being wider than the remaining portion of the rib 26. The wide portion 26b is disposed so as to correspond to the entire overlapping portion 15c where the one end 15a and the other end 15b of the seal member 15 overlap in the direction in which the rib 26 is inserted into the groove 20.

[0035] According to the above configuration, the compressive force of the overlapping portion 15c of the seal member 15, where the compressive force is insufficient, can be increased by the wide portion 26b of the rib 26, so that the sealing performance of the seal member 15 can be ensured.

[0036] (2) In the seal structure of the vehicle component 11, the first member 13 has a first bottom wall 16. The second member 14 has a cover portion 21 that covers the first opening 18 when the second flange portion 22 contacts the first flange portion 19.

[0037] According to the above configuration, the first member 13 and the second member 14 can form an enclosed space. <Example of change> The above embodiment can be modified as follows: Furthermore, the above embodiment and the following modifications can be combined with each other within the scope of technical compatibility.

[0038] As shown in FIG. 8, the boundary between the general portion 26a and the wide portion 26b of the rib 26 is not limited to the step 27, but may be formed with, for example, a gentle slope 28. The wide portion 26b may be formed on the rib 26 so as to correspond to a part of the overlapping portion 15c of the seal member 15 in the direction in which the rib 26 is inserted into the groove 20.

[0039] The first bottom wall 16 of the first member 13 and the second bottom wall 23 of the second member 14 may be omitted. The cover portion 21 may be omitted.

[0040] The cover portion 21 may be flat. In this case, the second member 14 also has a flat plate shape. Furthermore, in this case, the contained item 12 needs to be sized so as not to protrude from the first opening 18 to the outside.

[0041] The sealing member 15 is not limited to hot melt adhesive, but may be made of rubber, for example. The shape of the vehicle component 11 in plan view is not limited to an ellipse, but may be, for example, a perfect circle, or a polygonal shape such as a rectangle or a hexagon.

[0042] The vehicle component 11 is not limited to being used in a state in which the first member 13 and the second member 14 are aligned vertically, but may also be used in a state in which the first member 13 and the second member 14 are aligned horizontally, for example, perpendicular to the vertical direction. [Explanation of symbols]

[0043] 11...Vehicle parts 12...Detainees 13...First member 14...Second member 15...Sealing material 15a...One end 15b...Other end 15c...Overlapped part 16...First bottom wall as an example of a bottom wall 17...First circumferential wall as an example of a circumferential wall 18...First opening as an example of an opening 19...First flange portion as an example of a flange portion 20...Groove 21...Cover part 22... Second flange portion as an example of a contact portion 23...Second bottom wall 24…Second peripheral wall 25...Second opening 26...Rib 26a…General section 26b...wide part 27...Step 28...Slope S...gap W1: Width of the general portion 26a W2: Width of the wide portion 26b

Claims

1. a first member having an annular peripheral wall, an opening, an annular flange portion provided on the peripheral wall so as to surround the opening, and an annular groove formed in the flange portion so as to surround the opening; a second member assembled to the first member and having a contact portion that contacts the flange portion so as to cover the groove; a resilient sealing member that extends along the groove and is annularly disposed in the groove such that one end and the other end overlap; Equipped with an annular rib is provided on the contact portion to protrude and be inserted into the groove when the second member is assembled to the first member, thereby compressing the seal member; A wide portion is formed in a portion of the rib, the wide portion being wider than the remaining portion of the rib, A sealing structure for a vehicle part, characterized in that the wide portion is arranged to correspond to at least a portion of the overlapping portion where the one end and the other end of the sealing member overlap in the direction of inserting the rib into the groove.

2. The first member has a bottom wall, 2. The seal structure for a vehicle component according to claim 1, wherein the second member has a cover portion that covers the opening when the contact portion contacts the flange portion.

3. 3. The seal structure for a vehicle component according to claim 1, wherein the wide portion is disposed so as to correspond to the entire overlapping portion of the seal member in the direction in which the rib is inserted into the groove.

Images