Vehicle Door Sealing Member Thick Part Gap Insertion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing door structures fail to completely seal gaps between vehicle doors and decorative members, leading to wind noise due to insufficient sealing thickness and thermal elongation issues, which complicate the design of sealing members.
Innovation Solution
A door structure featuring a sealing member with a thick part that inserts into the gap between the door and decorative member, biased towards the inside of the vehicle, ensuring effective sealing and noise reduction without complicating the sealing member's shape.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a thin insertion part is used to seal the gap, then the sealing member structure remains simple, but the gap cannot be completely sealed leading to wind noise
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing member features a thick part with gradually increasing thickness that locally protrudes into the gap between the door and decorative member. This localized thickening provides sufficient sealing contact area to completely seal the gap and prevent wind noise, while other portions of the sealing member maintain simple geometry. The thick part becomes thicker toward the inside of the door, creating an optimized sealing interface without complicating the overall structure.
2Ease of manufacture
If the decorative member is positioned closer to the door frame to contact the sealing member, then installation is simplified, but thermal elongation creates gaps between the door and decorative member
Solution Approach 1:
The thick part of the sealing member is designed with gradually varying thickness that accommodates thermal expansion of the decorative member. When the decorative member thermally elongates, the tapered geometry of the thick part allows it to maintain continuous contact with the door while absorbing the dimensional change. This eliminates gaps between the door and decorative member throughout temperature variations, maintaining reliable sealing without compromising installation ease.
3Reliability
If a sub-lip is added to the sealing member to prevent wind noise, then sealing performance improves, but the sealing member shape becomes complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The thick part serves a dual function: it provides the primary sealing action by protruding into the gap to prevent wind noise, and simultaneously acts as the contact surface for the decorative member. By merging these two functions into a single integrated structure with gradual thickening, the design eliminates the need for separate sub-lip components while achieving effective wind noise prevention and maintaining manufacturing simplicity.
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
The solution effectively prevents wind noise by ensuring the gap is consistently sealed, even during thermal changes of the decorative member, using a simple and robust structure that maintains sealing performance without additional complex components.
Implementation Method 1
when the decorative member thermally elongates, a gap eventually occurs between the door and the decorative member
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a door structure including: a door installed capable of opening and closing a door opening part of a vehicle body; a decorative member attached to a surface of the door which faces an outside of a vehicle; and a sealing member arranged along an end part of the door which faces an outside of the door, and sealing the door opening part, wherein the sealing member includes a thick part which becomes thicker toward an inside of the door, and which is inserted into a gap formed between the end part of the door which faces the outside of the door and an end part of the decorative member which faces the outside of the door, and the sealing member is biased toward an inside of the vehicle.