Inter-Door Drainage Seal for Pillarless Vehicle Openings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicles without a central pillar face challenges in maintaining effective sealing between doors and the vehicle body, particularly during heavy rain or water exposure, as conventional seals struggle to prevent water infiltration at the junctions of the front and rear doors with the roof stretcher.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of an inter-door seal with a tubular portion forming an internal fluid evacuation conduit, where the upper end is positioned between the primary and secondary seal zones, featuring a scoop shape to collect and evacuate water between the seals, ensuring optimal sealing performance by preventing water stagnation and facilitating fluid evacuation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a vehicle body without a central pillar is used to improve accessibility, then user access to the passenger compartment is improved, but water infiltration between doors at the junction area increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing system is divided into multiple functional segments: a primary seal extending around the periphery of the body opening, a secondary seal extending along the roof rail, and a vertical inter-door seal positioned between the front and rear doors. This segmentation allows each seal to address specific leakage paths independently, effectively preventing water infiltration while maintaining the pillarless design for accessibility.
2Device complexity
If conventional primary and secondary seals are used without a B-pillar, then the sealing system is simplified, but water can flow along the inner side of doors at the junction area
Solution Approach 1:
A vertical sealing dimension is introduced through the inter-door seal that extends substantially vertically between the front and rear doors. This vertical element addresses the water flow path along the inner door side that cannot be effectively blocked by horizontal seals alone, creating a three-dimensional sealing network that comprehensively blocks water infiltration while maintaining structural simplicity.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If an inter-door seal is added to prevent water infiltration, then water sealing performance is improved, but the seal must accommodate door opening and closing movements
Solution Approach 1:
The inter-door seal is constructed as a flexible vertical seal that can deform and adapt to the relative movements of the front and rear doors during opening and closing operations. This flexible construction allows the seal to maintain continuous contact and effective water blocking while accommodating the dynamic motion of the door assembly without rigid constraints.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a vehicle opening (25) comprising a first receiving zone (291) for a primary sealing gasket arranged at least partially on the periphery of an opening on the body side intended to be closed by the opening (25), and a second receiving zone (293) for a secondary sealing gasket arranged at least partially on a roof rail on the body side. The opening (25) comprises an inter-door sealing gasket (100) extending primarily along a vertical direction (V). The opening is characterized in that the inter-door sealing gasket (100) comprises a tubular portion defining an internal fluid drainage channel, and in that an upper end (103) of the inter-door sealing gasket (100) is arranged between the two receiving zones (291, 293), the upper end defining an orifice (105) opening onto the internal duct.