Rear Slider Window Perimeter Seal for Leak-Prone Corner Gaps

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional rear slider window assemblies for vehicles, such as pickup trucks, face challenges in achieving a reliable seal between the movable and fixed window panels, particularly at the corner regions where gaps can occur, leading to potential leaks and reduced weather-tightness.

Innovation Solution

A perimeter seal with elongated sealing portions and corner sealing tabs is used, featuring passageways for injecting sealant into the gaps between attachment elements, ensuring a continuous seal around the window opening. The sealant is dispensed through apertures at the corner regions to fill and seal these gaps, enhancing the sealing effectiveness.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If conventional slider window assemblies use simple attachment elements to join sealing portions to fixed window panels, then manufacturing complexity is reduced, but gaps occur at corner regions leading to poor sealing reliability

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesealing reliabilityVSAvoidsealing structure complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The sealing system is divided into multiple elongated sealing portions, each with its own attachment elements. This segmentation allows independent optimization of each sealing portion while maintaining overall sealing effectiveness, particularly at corner regions where multiple sealing portions meet.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

A sealant is introduced as an intermediary substance between the attachment elements and the fixed window panel. The sealant fills gaps and creates a reliable seal at corner regions where attachment elements meet, preventing leaks without requiring complex mechanical interlocking structures.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Object-affected harmful factors

If gaps are left between attachment elements at corner regions, then assembly ease is improved, but weather-tightness is compromised due to potential leaks

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveweather-tightnessVSAvoidassembly ease

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

Passageways are pre-formed within the attachment elements during manufacturing, leading to cavities positioned at corner regions. These passageways are designed in advance to receive and guide sealant into the gaps between attachment elements, ensuring proper sealing without requiring complex post-assembly operations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The mechanical connection between attachment elements is supplemented or replaced by a chemical bonding mechanism using sealant. Instead of relying solely on precise mechanical fitting, the sealant provides a flexible, gap-filling bond that accommodates manufacturing tolerances and ensures weather-tightness.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

3Reliability

If a continuous seal is achieved around the window opening, then sealing performance is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases due to additional sealing components and processes

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesealing performanceVSAvoidmanufacturing ease

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The attachment elements serve multiple functions: mechanically joining the sealing portions to the fixed window panel and providing a pathway for sealant delivery to corner regions. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate sealing components at corners, maintaining manufacturing simplicity while achieving continuous sealing.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The passageways and cavities are pre-formed within the attachment elements during manufacturing, so that the sealant delivery system is already in place before assembly. This preliminary preparation simplifies the assembly process, as the sealant can be easily injected through the pre-formed passageways without requiring complex alignment or additional sealing components.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS11912110B2Sealing system for movable window of vehicular rear slider window assembly

Publication Date: 2024.02.27 MAGNA MIRRORS OF AMERICA INC

AI summary

A vehicular slider window assembly includes a movable window panel that is movable along rails at an opening of a fixed window panel. A perimeter seal is disposed at a surface of the fixed window panel and circumscribes the opening and is configured to seal against a surface of the movable window panel when the movable window panel is in a closed position. The perimeter seal includes elongated sealing portions joined at respective corner regions, with adjacent end regions of attachment elements of the sealing portions being spaced from one another at the respective corner regions such that there is a gap between the adjacent end regions. With the attachment elements attached at the surface of the fixed window panel, a sealant is dispensed into the gaps via passageways to seal the corner regions of the perimeter seal at the fixed window panel.