Automobile Glass Run with Composite Reinforcement for Curved Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing glass runs for automobile windows face challenges in maintaining appearance design integrity and ease of assembly due to material rigidity and manufacturing defects, particularly when curved shapes are involved, which affects weight reduction and assembly efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A glass run design with a less rigid material for the design portion and highly rigid materials for the planar portions, allowing for easy deformation along curved window frames while preventing falling and maintaining appearance quality, along with an elastic seal and planar coupling for enhanced assembly and shape retention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a hard thermoplastic resin is used for the clip to prevent the glass run from falling, then the reliability is improved, but sink marks occur easily due to differential shrinkage during manufacturing, which deteriorates the appearance design
Solution Approach 1:
The clip is constructed as a composite structure combining a hard thermoplastic resin outer layer with a metallic reinforcement member (such as a steel wire or mesh) embedded within. This composite construction provides the necessary mechanical strength to prevent glass run falling while the metallic reinforcement suppresses differential shrinkage and sink mark formation during the injection molding process, thereby maintaining appearance quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the material parameters of the clip by incorporating a metallic reinforcement member with different thermal and mechanical properties than the thermoplastic resin. This parameter change affects the shrinkage behavior during cooling, reducing differential shrinkage and preventing sink marks while maintaining the required structural strength.
2Manufacturing precision
If a flat metallic reinforcement member is embedded in the hard thermoplastic resin, then the appearance design is prevented from deteriorating, but it becomes difficult to deform the clip along the curved shape of the window frame, impairing ease of assembly
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a flat metallic reinforcement member that spans the entire clip, the invention uses a metallic reinforcement (such as a wire or mesh) that is strategically positioned and configured to provide localized support where needed for appearance quality, while allowing other regions of the clip to remain flexible for deformation during assembly. This local quality approach balances structural support with deformability.
3Reliability
If a flat metallic reinforcement member is embedded in the clip, then the glass run becomes more stable, but the glass run becomes heavier, preventing weight reduction of the automobile
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses a thin metallic reinforcement member (such as a wire or mesh) rather than a thick flat metallic plate. This thin-film approach provides the necessary structural stability and reinforcement while minimizing the added weight, thus achieving a balance between reliability and weight reduction requirements for the automobile.
4Ease of operation
If the glass run is extrusion-molded into the curved shape in advance, then the ease of assembly is improved, but the glass run cannot easily be extrusion-molded into the shape curved along the window frame
Solution Approach 1:
The glass run is designed as an assembly of multiple components (clip, seal member, and reinforcement) rather than a single monolithic extrusion. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured using standard extrusion or injection molding processes, and then assembled together to form the final curved shape, avoiding the difficulty of extruding a single complex curved component while maintaining ease of assembly.
Data Source
AI summary
A glass run for an automobile door is provided with an enhanced look of a design portion thereof, allowing the glass run to be deformed easily along the curved shape of a window frame during assembly to the window frame, thereby improving ease of assembly. The glass run includes a glass run body 21 including upper and lower planar portions 23a and 23c, and a design portion 29 forming part of appearance design of an automobile. A material forming the upper and lower planar portions 23a and 23c and a material forming the design portion 29 respectively contain a resin as a main ingredient. The material forming the design portion 29 is less rigid than the material forming the upper and lower planar portions 23a and 23c.