Vehicle Door Sealing Profile With Recess-Tuned Stiffness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sealing profiles for vehicle doors face challenges in manufacturing ease and achieving a dimensionally accurate outer contour with sections of different stiffness without chemical expansion processes.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves forming sections of the sealing profile from the same material with mechanically introduced recesses to adjust rigidity, allowing for a single extrusion step and eliminating the need for chemical expansion, while maintaining a consistent outer contour.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If chemically expanded foamed material is used to reduce rigidity in the sealing section, then the sealing section becomes softer and more elastic, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex and the outer contour becomes less dimensionally accurate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the chemical expansion process with a mechanical approach. Instead of using blowing agents that chemically expand to create foam structure, the invention uses mechanically created recesses (cavities, channels, or voids) within the sealing section to reduce rigidity. This mechanical substitution eliminates the need for chemical reactions while achieving the same softening effect, thereby maintaining dimensional accuracy of the outer contour.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a porous or cavity-containing structure within the sealing section by mechanically forming recesses during extrusion. These recesses reduce the material density and rigidity in the sealing section without affecting the overall outer contour. The porous structure is achieved through physical means (such as using a shaping element with cavities or post-extrusion mechanical processing) rather than chemical foaming.
2Strength
If co-extrusion of hard and soft materials is used to create sections of different rigidity, then the fastening section becomes rigid while the sealing section becomes soft, but the extrusion tool design becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating regions of different rigidity within a single material through mechanical formation of recesses. The sealing section contains mechanically created cavities or channels that reduce its rigidity, while the fastening section remains solid and rigid. This allows different functional requirements (rigid fastening, soft sealing) to be met within a single-material extrusion process, simplifying the extrusion tool design compared to co-extrusion of multiple materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the material locally by creating recesses within the sealing section. By modifying the internal structure (adding cavities, reducing density) in specific regions during or after extrusion, the rigidity parameter is changed locally without changing the base material. This allows a single-material extrusion process to produce sections with different mechanical properties.
3Strength
If blowing agents are added to create cellular structure, then the sealing section achieves reduced rigidity, but the chemical expansion process affects the entire material and complicates manufacturing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the chemical expansion process with a mechanical approach. Instead of using blowing agents that chemically expand to create foam structure, the invention uses mechanically created recesses (cavities, channels, or voids) within the sealing section to reduce rigidity. This mechanical substitution eliminates the need for chemical reactions while achieving the same softening effect, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts or removes material from the sealing section to create recesses, rather than adding blowing agents that expand throughout the material. This removal approach (creating voids or cavities) achieves rigidity reduction without introducing chemical expansion processes that would affect the entire material and complicate manufacturing.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method enables the production of sealing profiles with varying stiffness sections, ensuring stable attachment and smooth surfaces, facilitating easy manufacturing and improved adhesion to uneven surfaces.
Implementation Method 1
mechanically produced recesses are arranged in the second section, which reduce the rigidity of the second section compared to the rigidity of the first section
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
The invention relates to a sealing or edge protection profile (1), in particular for sealing a vehicle door against a door opening of a body, comprising at least a first section (2) with a first stiffness and at least a second section (3) with a second stiffness lower than the first. To enable simple manufacturing and a particularly dimensionally accurate outer contour, the sections (2; 3) are formed from the same material, wherein recesses (5a; 5b) are provided in the material of the second section (3) which reduce the stiffness.