Door weatherstrip

Abstract

A door weatherstrip 1 comprises: an attachment base part 11 that is attached to a door inner panel 41 of a vehicle; a hollow seal part 12 that is disposed on the outer surface of the door inner panel 41, the hollow seal part 12 elastically contacting a door side outer panel 6 and deflecting when the door is closed; and a connection part 13 that connects the hollow seal part 12 and the attachment base part 11. The hollow seal part 12 includes: a base portion 121 that is disposed in contact with the upper surface of the door inner panel 41; and an arcuate portion 122 having an arcuate cross section that is integrally provided at the upper end of the base portion 121, the arcuate portion 122 elastically contacting the body side outer panel 6 and deflecting when the door is closed. The wall thickness of a vehicle interior-side wall portion 123 of the arcuate portion 122 is set larger than the wall thickness of a vehicle exterior-side wall portion 124 and a curved wall portion 125 of the arcuate portion 122.

Description

Door weather strip

[0001] The present invention relates to a door weatherstrip structure that is attached to an automobile door panel and provides a seal between the door panel and a vehicle body panel.

[0002] Conventional door weatherstrips that provide a seal between a door panel and a vehicle body panel include those disclosed in, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3.

[0003] The door weatherstrip in Patent Document 1 is integrally molded with a base attached to the door panel on the vehicle interior side and has a hollow seal portion that elastically contacts a stepped portion of the vehicle body panel when the door is closed. This hollow seal portion has a substantially uniform thickness.

[0004] The door weatherstrip in Patent Document 2 is integrally molded with a base attached to the door panel on the vehicle interior side and has a hollow seal that elastically contacts the flat surface of the stepped portion of the vehicle body panel when the door is closed. This hollow seal also has a substantially uniform thickness.

[0005] The door weatherstrip in Patent Document 3 has first, second, third, and fourth seal portions integrally formed with a base portion attached to a door panel. The first seal portion is a hollow portion that elastically contacts a stepped portion of the vehicle body panel when the door is closed. The second seal portion is pressed by the first seal portion on the vehicle exterior side of the first seal portion when the door is closed and elastically contacts the vehicle body panel. The third seal portion protrudes from an exterior wall portion of the base and abuts against the inner surface of the door sash portion of the door panel. The fourth seal portion protrudes from an exterior root portion of the base and elastically contacts the inner surface of the door sash portion.

[0006] JP 2004-34824 A (paragraphs

[0013] -

[0015] , [Fig. 1]) JP 2017-171018 A (paragraphs

[0021] ,

[0026] ,

[0027] , [Fig. 1]) JP Patent No. 5289266 A (paragraphs

[0028] ,

[0029] , [Fig. 5], [Fig. 6])

[0007] In the door weatherstrip of Patent Document 1, the hollow seal portion that abuts against the body panel when the door is closed has a uniform thickness and bends almost uniformly against the stepped portion of the body panel, but it is unstable because it is not clear whether the bend will be toward the inside or outside of the vehicle depending on the direction in which the door enters the body panel.

[0008] In the door weatherstrip of Patent Document 2, the hollow seal portion comes into surface contact with the flat surface of the stepped portion of the vehicle body panel when the door is closed. However, the hollow seal portion also has a uniform thickness and does not exert a high sealing surface pressure on the flat surface, so good watertightness cannot be ensured and water may seep in due to, for example, light rain.

[0009] In the door weatherstrip of Patent Document 3, when the door is closed, the hollow portion of the first seal portion that elastically contacts the stepped portion of the vehicle body panel presses against the second seal portion, thereby increasing the sealing robustness of the second seal portion, the sealing surface pressure of the first seal portion, and the surface pressure of the third seal portion against the door sash portion of the door panel, thereby improving watertightness on the exterior side of the vehicle.

[0010] In recent years, door weather strips have tended to be attached to door sashes having a narrow sash width W1 as shown in FIG. 2, from the viewpoints of lightness and appearance.

[0011] On the other hand, the door weatherstrip of Patent Document 3 requires the first seal portion, the second seal portion, the third seal portion, and the fourth seal portion to ensure watertightness on the exterior side of the vehicle, and therefore the sash width of the door sash portion must be made wide.

[0012] When attaching the door weatherstrip 1 to a door sash having a narrow sash width W1 as shown in FIG. 2, it is necessary to set the width W2 of the door weatherstrip 1 placed on the door inner panel 41 wide so that the hollow sealing portion of the door weatherstrip 1, which has an arc-shaped cross section, can abut against the stepped portion of the vehicle body panel.

[0013] However, the hollow seal portion may not bend consistently when it contacts the vehicle body panel. In particular, depending on the installation condition of the door relative to the vehicle body panel and the direction of entry, if one part of the hollow seal portion of one door deforms toward the inside of the vehicle while another part deforms toward the outside of the vehicle, the appearance when the door is opened may be poor and the quality may be reduced. Furthermore, the portion where the deformation direction of the hollow seal portion changes may bend differently, which may cause problems with watertightness and wind noise performance.

[0014] The present invention has been developed in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to improve the sealing between the door panel and the body panel by suppressing the deflection of the door weatherstrip toward the interior of the vehicle when the door is closed, regardless of the attachment of the door panel to the body panel or the direction of entry.

[0015] Therefore, one aspect of the present invention is a door panel assembly comprising: a mounting base portion attached to a vehicle door panel; a hollow seal portion arranged to abut against the outer surface of the door panel and that elastically contacts and flexes against the vehicle body panel when the door is closed; and a connecting portion that connects the hollow seal portion to the mounting base, wherein the hollow seal portion comprises a base portion arranged to abut against the upper surface of the door panel; and an arc portion having an arc-shaped cross section that is formed integrally with the upper end of the base portion and that elastically contacts and flexes against the vehicle body panel when the door is closed, wherein the arc portion has an interior wall portion, an exterior wall portion, and a curved wall portion that is connected to the interior wall portion and the exterior wall portion and that elastically contacts the vehicle body panel when the door is closed, and wherein the thickness of the interior wall portion is set to be greater than the thicknesses of the exterior wall portion and the curved wall portion.

[0016] According to the present invention, the deflection of the door weatherstrip toward the interior of the vehicle when the door is closed is suppressed, regardless of the installation of the door panel relative to the vehicle body panel or the direction of entry, thereby improving the sealing performance between the door panel and the vehicle body panel.

[0017] 1 shows side views of front and rear doors of a vehicle to which the door weatherstrip of the present invention is applied. Cross-sectional views A-A, B-B, and C-C of FIG. 1 show one embodiment of the door weatherstrip of the present invention. Cross-sectional views A-A, B-B, and C-C of FIG. 1 show the deflection state of the door weatherstrip of the present embodiment relative to the body side outer panel at the front pillar, center pillar, and rear pillar of the vehicle of FIG. 1. Cross-sectional views A-A, B-B, and C-C of FIG. 1 show the deflection state of the door weatherstrip of the present embodiment when the gap between the body side outer panel of the vehicle and the door inner panel is at its narrowest. Cross-sectional views A-A, B-B, and C-C of FIG. 1 show the results of a seal surface pressure analysis of a door weatherstrip with a uniform thickness in the hollow seal portion (a), (b), and (c), and the results of a seal surface pressure analysis of the door weatherstrip of the present invention (d), (e), and (f).

[0018] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a door weather strip according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0019] Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines A-A, B-B, and C-C in Fig. 1, showing one embodiment of a door weatherstrip of the present invention. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines A-A, B-B, and C-C in Fig. 1, showing the deflection of the door weatherstrip of this embodiment relative to the vehicle body panels at the front pillar (hereinafter, A-PLR), center pillar (hereinafter, B-PLR), and rear pillar (hereinafter, C-PLR) of the vehicle shown in Fig. 1.

[0020] The door weatherstrip 1 shown in FIG. 2 is attached to the door sash portion 4 of the doors (front door 2 and rear door 3) of the vehicle shown in FIG.

[0021] The door sash portion 4 is formed by roll forming, and as shown in Figure 2, has a molding channel 40 with a narrow sash width W1 on the vehicle exterior side of the door inner panel 41 (door panel), and further has a retainer 5 on the vehicle interior side of this molding channel 40. In addition, attached to the bottom of this retainer 5 is a run channel 10 that holds a glass run 9 into which one end of the door glass 8 is inserted to seal the edge of the door glass 8.

[0022] The retainer 5 has a protrusion 51 with a substantially horizontal U-shaped cross section at one end in the width direction on the molding channel 40 side, and a support piece 52 with a substantially horizontal V-shaped cross section at the other end in the width direction that rises at an angle from the bottom wall toward the interior of the vehicle.

[0023] A door weatherstrip 1 is attached to the outer periphery of the door sash portion 4, and elastically contacts the outer surface of a body side outer panel 6 (vehicle body panel) when the door is closed to seal between the vehicle body opening and the door.

[0024] As shown in Figure 2, the door weatherstrip 1 has a mounting base 11 that is fitted into and fixed to the inside of the retainer 5 of the door sash portion 4, a hollow seal portion 12 that is placed in contact with the upper surface of the door inner panel 41, and a connecting portion 13 that connects the hollow seal portion 12 and the mounting base 11.

[0025] As shown in the figure, the mounting base 11 has a main body 110 formed in an approximately rectangular cross section, a fitting portion 111 which is integrally formed at one end of the main body 110 on the vehicle exterior side in the width direction and has an approximately C-shaped cross section that fits with the protrusion 51 of the retainer 5, and a protrusion 112 which is formed at the other end of the main body 110 on the vehicle interior side in the width direction and has an approximately rectangular cross section that fits with the support piece 52 of the retainer 5.

[0026] The mounting base 11 is basically made of soft rubber, for example, foamed sponge rubber such as EPDM, but the lower end of the main body 110 and the lower part of the fitting part 111 are made of hard rubber, solid rubber 113. The solid rubber 113 can be made of hard foamed rubber with a specific gravity of 0.7 to 1.2.

[0027] A sub-lip 114 is integrally provided on the upper end of the main body 110 of the mounting base 11 on the vehicle interior side, and elastically contacts the outer surface of the body side outer panel 6 when the door is closed. The sub-lip 114 is made of sponge rubber.

[0028] The hollow seal portion 12 has a substantially linear base portion 121 that is disposed in contact with the upper surface of the door inner panel 41, and an arc portion 122 that is integrally formed at the upper end of the base portion 121 and has an arc-shaped cross section that elastically contacts the body side outer panel 6 and flexes when the door is closed. The entire material of the base portion 121 and the arc portion 122 of the hollow seal portion 12 is basically formed from sponge rubber.

[0029] The arc portion 122 has an interior wall portion 123 that curves from the interior end of the base portion 121 toward the body side outer panel 6, an exterior wall portion 124 that curves from the connection point between the base portion 121 and the connecting portion 13 toward the body side outer panel 6, and a curved wall portion 125 that is connected to the interior wall portion 123 and the exterior wall portion 124 and curves toward the body side outer panel 6.

[0030] 2 is set to be larger than the thickness of the vehicle exterior wall portion 124 and the curved wall portion 125. Furthermore, the thickness of the curved wall portion 125, which is set to be 95 to 100% of the thickness of the vehicle interior wall portion 123, is set to be 95 to 100% of the thickness of the vehicle interior wall portion 123. The thickness of the vehicle exterior wall portion 124, which is set to be 70 to 95% of the thickness of the vehicle interior wall portion 123, and the thickness of the curved wall portion 125 in the vicinity thereof, is set to be 70 to 95% of the thickness of the vehicle interior wall portion 123.

[0031] The connecting portion 13 extends from the other end of the main body 110 of the mounting base 11 on the vehicle interior side in the width direction to the edge of the base portion 121 of the hollow seal portion 12, and is formed to have a relatively long widthwise length and a band-like shape along the longitudinal direction of the door weatherstrip 1. The connecting portion 13 is basically made of sponge rubber. The widthwise length of the connecting portion 13 is not limited to the length in this embodiment, but can be set appropriately depending on the specifications and dimensions.

[0032] Furthermore, a seal bead 14 is provided on the underside of the joint between the base portion 121 of the hollow seal portion 12 and the connecting portion 13. The seal bead 14 has a substantially triangular cross section and extends along the longitudinal direction of the hollow seal portion 12, with a leading edge 141 abutting against the upper surface of the door inner panel 41.

[0033] The effects of the door weatherstrip 1 of this embodiment will be described below.

[0034] When the door weatherstrip 1 is attached to the door sash 4, the main body 110 of the mounting base 11 is fitted into the inside of the retainer 5 as shown in Fig. 3, and the fitting portion 111 fits into the protrusion 51 of the retainer 5, and the protrusion 112 fits into the support piece 52 of the retainer 5. As a result, the mounting base 11 is supported within the retainer 5, and in particular, the support piece 52 prevents the mounting base 11 from slipping out upward.

[0035] Therefore, the door weatherstrip 1 is firmly attached to the door sash portion 4 via the attachment base 11 and the retainer 5. The attachment base 11 can be attached to the retainer 5 even more firmly using a clip or the like (not shown).

[0036] When the door weatherstrip 1 is attached to the door sash portion 4 in this manner, the hollow seal portion 12 bends toward the door inner panel 41, with the connection point between the connecting portion 13 and the mounting base 11 as a fulcrum, so that the bottom surface of the base portion 121 abuts against the upper surface of the door inner panel 41, and the leading edge 141 of the seal bead 14 also abuts against the upper surface of the door inner panel 41.

[0037] 3, when the door is closed, the outer surface of the curved wall portion 125 of the arc portion 122 of the hollow seal portion 12 elastically contacts the outer surface of the step portion 61 of the body side outer panel 6, and the arc portion 122 is bent and deformed in a direction in which the entire arc portion 122 is crushed by the pressing force of the door, with the connecting portion between the vehicle interior wall portion 123 and the curved wall portion 125 as a bending point. This effectively seals the gap between the arc portion 122 and the underside of the step portion 61 of the body side outer panel 6. In the figure, the solid arrow indicates the door entry direction in the A-PLR case, and the dotted arrow indicates the door entry direction in the B-PLR and C-PLR cases (similar to FIG. 4).

[0038] Generally, when the hollow seal portion of a door weatherstrip is brought into contact with the flat surface of the body side outer panel 6, there is little slippage of the hollow seal portion toward the inside of the vehicle even if the angle of entry of the door relative to the body side outer panel 6 changes.

[0039] However, when the hollow seal portion is brought into contact with the step portion 61 of the body side outer panel 6, the hollow seal portion tends to come into contact with the lower side of the step portion 61 depending on the angle of entry of the door (particularly the angle of entry near the door hinge of an A-PLR). Then, depending on the balance of the repulsive forces between the step portion 61 and the hollow seal portion, the hollow seal portion may slide from the step portion 61 into the interior of the vehicle. For this reason, it is necessary to reliably deflect the hollow seal portion toward the exterior of the vehicle regardless of the entry angle.

[0040] Furthermore, since there is variation in the installation of the doors among vehicles, it is necessary to prevent the hollow seal portion from slipping into the interior of the vehicle even in the worst case of installation (for example, when the door sinks into the interior of the vehicle to the greatest extent or when the distance between the surfaces of the body side outer panel 6 and the door inner panel 41 is at its narrowest), as shown in Figure 4 (the dotted line G in the figure indicates the position of the body side outer panel 6 when the distance between the surfaces is at its narrowest).

[0041] In contrast, according to the door weatherstrip 1 of this embodiment, the thickness of the vehicle interior wall portion 123 of the hollow seal portion 12 is set to be greater than the thickness of the vehicle exterior wall portion 124, so that the rigidity of the vehicle interior wall portion 123 is relatively higher than that of the vehicle exterior wall portion 124, thereby preventing the vehicle interior wall portion 123 from bending and bending toward the vehicle interior. Also, as shown in Figure 3, even if the hollow seal portion 12 abuts against the step portion 61 of the body side outer panel 6 in A-PLR, B-PLR, and C-PLR in Figure 1 and attempts to slide toward the vehicle interior, the increased rigidity of the vehicle interior wall portion 123 prevents the vehicle interior wall portion 123 from sliding toward the vehicle interior.

[0042] Furthermore, the above effect is enhanced by setting the thickness of the curved wall portion 125 of the hollow seal portion 12 to 95 to 100% of the thickness of the interior wall portion 123. Also, by setting the thickness of the exterior wall portion 124 surrounded by dotted line F in Figure 2 and the portion of the curved wall portion 125 in its vicinity to 70 to 95% of the thickness of the interior wall portion 123, deflection is more likely to occur in that portion. This further enhances the effect of suppressing migration of the hollow seal portion 12 toward the interior of the vehicle.

[0043] 2, the door weatherstrip 1 can be attached to the door sash portion 4 having a narrow sash width W1 by ensuring a wide width W2 of the door weatherstrip 1 disposed on the door inner panel 41. This improves the sealing performance between the body side outer panel 6 and the door inner panel 41 and also prevents poor appearance.

[0044] 5A, 5B, and 5C show the results of a seal surface pressure analysis of a door weatherstrip 7 having a uniform thickness in the hollow seal portion, and the results of a seal surface pressure analysis of a door weatherstrip 1 of this embodiment, along the lines A-A, B-B, and C-C in FIG. 1. The figures show the level of seal surface pressure as the degree of whiteness, with the degree of whiteness increasing as the seal surface pressure increases.

[0045] 1A, 1B, and 1C show the results of a seal surface pressure analysis of the door weatherstrip 7 during the process of the door inner panel 41 entering the body side outer panel 6. In the case of a door weatherstrip 7 with a uniform thickness for the hollow seal portion 72, the seal surface pressure of the hollow seal portion 72 remains approximately uniform throughout the entry process, as shown in 1A and 1B. However, as shown in 1A, the hollow seal portion 72 sinks into the vehicle interior during the initial stage of entry, resulting in a low seal surface pressure. Furthermore, as shown in 1C, no increase in the seal surface pressure of the hollow seal portion 72 is observed when the gap between the body side outer panel 6 and the door inner panel 41 is at its narrowest. Furthermore, a gap remains between the step portion 61 of the body side outer panel 6 and the hollow seal portion 72, resulting in poor watertightness.

[0046] 10(d), (e), and (f) show the results of a seal surface pressure analysis of the door weatherstrip 1 of this embodiment during the process in which the door inner panel 41 penetrates into the body side outer panel 6. In the case of the door weatherstrip 1 of this embodiment, the hollow seal portion 12 bends toward the exterior during the penetration process as shown in FIG. 10(d) and FIG. 10(e), increasing the seal surface pressure of the hollow seal portion 12. Furthermore, the hollow seal portion 12 does not penetrate into the interior of the vehicle during the initial stage of penetration. Furthermore, the seal surface pressure of the hollow seal portion 12 when the gap between the body side outer panel 6 and the door inner panel 41 is at its narrowest as shown in FIG. 10(f) is significantly higher than that of the door weatherstrip 7 of FIG. 10(a), (b), and (c). Furthermore, the contact area between the step portion 61 of the body side outer panel 6 and the hollow seal portion 12 is larger than that of the door weatherstrip 7, eliminating any gaps between the step portion 61 and the hollow seal portion 12 and ensuring good watertightness.

[0047] The above results of the seal surface pressure analysis suggest that the door weatherstrip 1 can flexibly respond to situations where variations occur in the vehicle's fit (for example, the distance between the body side outer panel 6 of A-PLR, B-PLR, or C-PLR and the door) either at the beginning of the vehicle or after long-term use, such as when the door sinks most deeply into the vehicle interior or when the distance between the body side outer panel 6 and the door inner panel 41 in Figure 4 is at its narrowest. The results also suggest that, regardless of the direction in which the door inner panel 41 enters the body side outer panel 6, bending of the hollow seal portion 12 of the door weatherstrip 1 toward the interior of the vehicle is suppressed, improving the seal between the body side outer panel 6 and the door inner panel 41.

[0048] DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...door weatherstrip, 11...mounting base, 12...hollow seal portion, 121...base portion, 122...arc portion, 123...vehicle interior wall portion, 124...vehicle exterior wall portion, 125...curved wall portion, 13...connecting portion 2...front door 3...rear door 4...door sash portion, 41...door inner panel 5...retainer 6...body side outer panel, 61...step portion 8...door glass 9...glass run 10...run channel

Claims

1. A door weatherstrip comprising: a mounting base attached to a vehicle door panel; a hollow seal portion arranged to abut against the outer surface of the door panel and elastically contacting and flexing against the vehicle body panel when the door is closed; and a connecting portion connecting the hollow seal portion to the mounting base; wherein the hollow seal portion comprises a base portion arranged to abut against the upper surface of the door panel; and an arc portion having an arc-shaped cross section that is formed integrally with the upper end of the base portion and elastically contacts and flexes against the vehicle body panel when the door is closed; wherein the arc portion has an interior wall portion, an exterior wall portion, and a curved wall portion that is connected to the interior wall portion and the exterior wall portion and elastically contacts the vehicle body panel when the door is closed; and wherein the thickness of the interior wall portion is set greater than the thicknesses of the exterior wall portion and the curved wall portion.

2. The door weatherstrip according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the curved wall portion is set to 95 to 100% of the thickness of the interior wall portion.

3. The door weatherstrip according to claim 2, characterized in that the thickness of the outer wall portion and the curved wall portion in its vicinity is set to 70 to 95% of the thickness of the inner wall portion.

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