Concealed-Frame Vehicle Door With Integrated Glass Guide Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional concealed-frame doors in vehicles face challenges in achieving a seamless, flush appearance due to their visible frames, and their assembly is often complex, requiring specialized tools and multiple components.
Innovation Solution
A concealed frame door design featuring a single-piece slide with sealing lips and a clamp for the vertical mullion, allowing easy assembly by a single operator without tools, and ensuring a flush integration with the glass and trim pieces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If a visible frame is used in the door design, then the structural integrity and guidance function are ensured, but the aesthetic appearance is compromised due to the lack of flush effect
Solution Approach 1:
The frame is extracted from the visible exterior by positioning it behind the glass pane. The glass acts as a cover that hides the frame structure from external view while allowing the frame to remain functional for structural support and glass guidance. This extraction resolves the contradiction by removing the visual element that compromises aesthetics while preserving the functional element that ensures structural integrity.
2Reliability
If multiple components are used in the slide assembly, then the sealing and guidance functions are improved, but the assembly complexity increases requiring specialized tools and multiple operators
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple functional components (sealing lips, clamp, guide elements) are merged into a single integrated slide component. This consolidation maintains all necessary functions for sealing and glass guidance while eliminating the need for multiple separate parts, specialized tools, and complex assembly procedures. The single-piece design allows one operator to assemble the door without specialized tools, resolving the contradiction between functional reliability and assembly complexity.
3Reliability
If the guide rail extends all the way around the frame, then the sealing between glass and frame is ensured, but the manufacturing and assembly difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guide rail and seal are merged into a single integrated component rather than being separate pieces that must be assembled. This monolithic design ensures continuous sealing around the frame while simplifying manufacturing to a single production process and assembly to a single installation step, resolving the contradiction between sealing reliability and manufacturing ease.
Data Source
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AI summary
Door (10) with a hidden frame for a vehicle, in particular an automobile, this door (10) comprising: - a frame (22) comprising a lower box (22a) and an upper peripheral frame (22b) which comprises a vertical upright (36), - a movable window (24) of which a part of the inner face (24b) entirely covers the vertical upright (36) and a part of the peripheral edge (24c) extends along this upright (36) when the window (24) is in its upper position, - a window guide (26) fixed on the inner face (24b) of the window (24) and extending along this part of the peripheral edge (24c), and - a slide (28) of which a part (42) is fixed on the vertical upright (36) and capable of cooperating with the window guide (26) to guide the window (24) when it moves.