JP2001097244A - Seal member for cowl louver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To form a seal member integrally with a cowl louver and to prevent lowering of sealing ability due to thermal deterioration. SOLUTION: Both ends of a seal body 1 which is formed of soft material having elasticity and has a substantially U-shaped section are respectively fixed to the cowl louver 4 and a flat plate part 2, and the cowl louver 4 and the flat plate part 2 are directly or indirectly fixed to the car body. An opening of the seal body 1 is regulated from being expanded, so that when the seal body 1 is pressed to a hood 6, restoring force is generated by both the shape effect and the material quality. Accordingly, even if thermal deterioration is caused, high sealing ability can be kept by the restoring force generated by the shape effect.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sealing member provided along the tip of a cowl louver to elastically contact a hood to seal air in an engine room from flowing into the cowl louver.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A cowl louver is provided between a hood and a lower portion of a windshield, covers a wiper motor and the like to enhance design, and has an opening serving as an outside air intake into a vehicle interior. And in order to prevent the air in the engine room from entering the cabin through the opening,
As shown in FIG. 7, a seal member 101 that elastically contacts the hood 200 is provided at the tip of the cowl louver 100. A clip 102 is fixed to the lower surface of the distal end of the cowl louver 100, and the cowl louver 100 is fixed to the cowl inner panel 103 by the clip 102.

During traveling, the sealing member 101 resiliently contacts the hood 200 to prevent the air in the engine room from entering the vehicle interior, and the hot air and noise in the engine room are transmitted through the cowl louver 100. Can be prevented from entering the passenger compartment.

The seal member 101 is often of a hollow shape and is fixed to the cowl louver 100 using a double-sided tape or the like. However, with such a sealing member 101, the adhesive strength of the double-sided tape decreases at high temperatures,
The adhesive portion may move due to the restoring force of the seal member 101. In addition, the cowl louver is often bent at both ends and used as a fender seal. However, even when such bending stress is applied, the bonded portion may move. When the adhesive portion moves in this manner, the sealing member 1
There is a problem that the reliability of the sealing property is low because the contact area between the hood 01 and the hood changes.

Therefore, it is conceivable to integrate the cowl louver 100 and the seal member 101, and for example, there has been proposed a structure in which a soft seal member 104 having a standing wall shape as shown in FIG. 8 is integrally formed with the cowl louver 100. . If the sealing member is formed integrally with the cowl louver in this way,
Since the reliability of the sealing property is remarkably improved and the need for a double-sided tape or the like is eliminated, the effect of reducing the number of assembly steps can be obtained.

[0006]

However, when the seal member is formed integrally with the cowl louver 100, it is difficult to form the seal member into a cylindrical shape as shown in FIG. Therefore, the sealing member 104 is formed integrally with the cowl louver 100 as shown in FIG. 8. However, since the sealing member 104 has a linear cross-sectional shape, the restoring force due to the shape is almost zero. Not expected
Most of the restoring force of the seal member 104 which affects the sealing performance depends on the material of the seal member 104. Therefore, although the standing wall-shaped sealing member 104 can be formed integrally with the cowl louver 100, there is a problem that when the restoring force of the material is reduced due to thermal deterioration of the sealing member 104, the sealing property is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to be able to be integrally formed with a cowl louver and to prevent a decrease in sealing performance due to thermal deterioration.

[0008]

A feature of the cowl louver seal member of the present invention that solves the above-mentioned problems is that the air in the engine room flows into the cowl louver when it is provided along the tip of the cowl louver and makes elastic contact with the hood. In a sealing member for sealing, a substantially U-shaped cross section including a head and a pair of legs extending from both sides of the head and formed of an elastic soft material is formed, and one leg has a tip end of a cowl louver. It comprises a seal body fixed to the tip of the cowl louver so as to stand upright from the tip, and a flat plate portion fixed to the tip of the other leg of the seal body and fixed directly or indirectly to the vehicle body.

The seal member of the present invention desirably further includes a hard reinforcing plate for connecting and holding the tip of the cowl louver and the flat plate portion and covering the opening of the seal body formed between the pair of leg portions. .

[0010] It is more preferable that the reinforcing plate is integrally continuous with the flat plate portion via the hinge portion, is bent at the hinge portion, and the tip is engaged with the cowl louver to be held. More preferably, the hinge portion and the reinforcing plate are formed by being integrally formed with the cowl louver.

It is also preferable that the cowl louver has a projection on the tip end and the flat plate opposite to the seal body, and the projection is engaged with a hole provided in the reinforcing plate.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the cowl louver seal member of the present invention, the seal body has a substantially U-shaped cross section, and a pair of legs is formed at the tip of the cowl louver and a flat plate separate from the cowl louver. Each is fixed. Further, the rear end and the flat plate portion of the cowl louver are fixed directly or indirectly to the vehicle body, respectively. Therefore, since the opening of the seal body is restricted from being widened, the restoring force due to the material of the seal body and the restoring force due to the shape are developed. Even if the restoring force is reduced, the sealing property can be maintained by the restoring force due to the shape.

However, depending on the means for fixing the cowl louver and the flat portion to the vehicle body, the opening of the seal body may be widened. Therefore, it is desirable to further include a hard reinforcing plate for connecting and holding the tip of the cowl louver and the flat plate portion and covering the opening of the seal body formed between the pair of leg portions. The opening of the seal body can be reliably restricted from expanding by the reinforcing plate, and the restoring force can be further prevented from lowering. The reinforcing plate does not need to cover the entire opening of the seal body, and may have a bridge shape or the like as long as the reinforcing plate prevents the cowl louver and the flat plate portion from being separated from each other.

The seal body and the flat plate portion may be formed separately from the cowl louver, and then the three members may be joined, but it is preferable that they are integrally formed. For example, first, the cowl louver and the flat plate portion are molded from the same resin, and this is disposed in another mold, so that the seal body can be integrally molded from a soft resin.

If a reinforcing plate separately formed is fixed from the side opposite to the seal body so as to connect the cowl louver and the flat plate portion, the expansion of the opening of the seal body can be further restricted. In order to fix the reinforcing plate so as to connect the cowl louver and the flat plate portion, a clip or a screw may be used. However, it is preferable that the reinforcing plate is configured to be integrally connected to the flat plate portion via the hinge portion. The hinge portion may be formed by a hinge, but it is desirable that the hinge portion is an integral hinge and the flat plate portion and the reinforcing plate are integrally formed together with the hinge portion. This eliminates the need for hinges and can greatly reduce the number of parts.

Further, the reinforcing plate is preferably formed integrally with the cowl louver and the seal body as well as the flat plate portion. Thereby, the number of parts is further reduced, and the number of assembling steps can be further reduced.

When the reinforcing plate is continuous with the flat plate via the hinge, the other end of the reinforcing plate is preferably fixed by engaging the other end of the reinforcing plate with the cowl louver.
The engagement means is not particularly limited as long as the engagement state does not come off due to vibration or the like, and various engagement means such as engagement between a claw and a locking hole can be employed. Further, a protrusion protruding to the side opposite to the seal body may be formed on the tip end portion and the flat plate portion of the cowl louver, and the protrusion may be engaged with a hole provided in the reinforcing plate for fixing.

The seal body has a substantially U-shaped cross section and includes a head and a pair of legs extending from the head. The head may be curved or flat. The shape of the leg may be either a curved surface or a flat surface. In order to further enhance the sealing property, it is also preferable to form a lip that is more easily deformed at a portion that comes into contact with the hood. This seal body can be made of rubber or the like when it is separate from the flat plate, etc., but when it is integrally formed with the flat plate etc., it can be molded such as olefine-based elastomer or styrene-based elastomer It is desirable to use a resin material that can be welded to the like.

The cowl louver, the flat plate portion and the reinforcing plate can be formed from a hard resin such as polypropylene, polyethylene or polyamide. The most suitable is polypropylene, which is inexpensive and has excellent hinge characteristics.

In order to fix the flat portion directly or indirectly to the vehicle body, a clip or the like can be used as in the prior art. When a reinforcing plate is provided, since the reinforcing plate is connected to the flat plate, the clip is fixed to the reinforcing plate, and the reinforcing plate is fixed to the cowl inner panel, etc., via the clip to connect the flat plate indirectly. It can also be fixed to the vehicle body. In this case, an elastically deformable claw portion is formed to protrude from the reinforcing plate to be used as a substitute for the clip, or a protrusion protruding to the side opposite to the seal body is formed at the tip portion and the flat plate portion of the cowl louver so that the protrusion is If the configuration is such that it engages with the hole provided in the hole, no clip is required, and the number of parts can be further reduced.

[0021]

The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to examples.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a cowl louver seal member according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a cowl louver having the seal member mounted on a vehicle body. The seal member includes a seal body 1, a flat plate portion 2, an integral hinge 20, and a reinforcing plate 3, and is formed integrally with the cowl louver 4.

The seal body 1 is formed of a polyolefin-based elastomer foam and has a U-shaped cross section, and has a head 10 having an arc cross section and a pair of legs 11 extending from both sides of the head 10 in parallel with each other. , 12. One leg 11 is fixed to the end face of the cowl louver 4,
The other leg 12 is fixed to the end face of the flat plate 2. And it is formed longer than the length of the tip of the cowl louver 4,
At both ends of the cowl louver, it is configured to bend at a substantially right angle to function as a fender seal.

The flat plate portion 2 is formed of polypropylene,
It extends in parallel along the tip of the cowl louver 4.

The reinforcing plate 3 is formed of polypropylene,
It extends in parallel along the tip of the cowl louver 4. Engagement protrusions 30 are formed at the tip thereof, and a plurality of the engagement protrusions 30 are arranged at intervals in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface. On the lower surface of the reinforcing plate 3, elastically deformable engaging claws 31 are formed, and a plurality of engaging claws 31 are also arranged at intervals in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface.

The cowl louver 4 is also made of polypropylene and has a grip 40 held by the windshield 5.
A first inclined surface 41 obliquely descending forward from the grip portion 40 and exposed in a state where the hood 6 is closed; a bottom portion 42 extending forward from the first inclined surface 41; It comprises a second inclined surface 43 and a horizontal portion 44 extending horizontally from the second inclined surface 43. A large number of small holes 45 for introducing outside air into the vehicle interior are formed in the first inclined surface 41. In the second inclined surface 43, locking holes 46 are arranged in a row in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface.

The flat plate portion 2 and the reinforcing plate 3 are connected by an integral hinge 20, and the reinforcing plate 3 is bent by the integral hinge 20 and inverted, and the engaging projection 30 is engaged with the locking hole 46.
And is held and fixed.

In the seal member of this embodiment, the seal body 1, the flat plate portion 2, the integral hinge 20, the reinforcing plate 3, and the cowl louver 4 are integrally formed. That is, first, the flat plate portion 2, the integral hinge 20, the reinforcing plate 3, and the cowl louver 4 in a state where the seal body 1 of FIG.
Is formed by injection molding. The reinforcing plate 3 is formed at a position orthogonal to the flat plate portion 2 via the integral hinge 20. Thereby, the mold dividing direction becomes the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3, and it is possible to avoid the engagement protrusion 30 and the engagement claw 31 from being undercut. A slide core is used to form the engagement claws 31 and the locking holes 46.

Then, the movable mold is replaced while the molded article is placed in the mold, and the seal body 1 is foamed. Thereby, the seal body 1 is formed in a state of being integrally welded to the end face of the horizontal portion 44 of the cowl louver 4 and the end face of the flat plate portion 2.

The molded product obtained by opening the mold is taken out, bent by the integral hinge 20 and the reinforcing plate 3 is moved so as to cover the opening of the seal body 1, and the engaging projection 30 is fitted into the locking hole 46. The sealing member of this embodiment is formed by the combination. When fitting the engagement protrusion 30 into the locking hole 46,
Fitting can be easily performed by elastically deforming the seal body 1 in the direction in which the opening opens.

In the cowl louver 4 having the seal member of the present embodiment, the grip portion 40 at one end is held by the windshield 5 and the engaging claw 31 of the reinforcing plate 3 at the other end is engaged and held by the cowl inner panel 7. As a result, it is indirectly fixed to the vehicle body. When the hood 6 is closed, the seal body 1 is elastically deformed by being pressed by the hood 6, and elastically contacts the hood 6 with both restoring forces due to the shape and material of the seal body 1. This reduces hot air and noise in the engine room
5 is prevented from entering the vehicle interior, and high sealing properties are exhibited.

Since the seal body 1 is formed in a cylindrical shape together with the reinforcing plate 3 and the opening is surely restricted, even if the seal body 1 is thermally degraded, the restoring force due to the shape of the seal body 1 is maintained. In addition, a decrease in sealing performance is prevented. In addition, since the seal body 1 is formed integrally with the cowl louver 4 and the engaging claws 31 are also integrated with the reinforcing plate 3, the conventional double-sided tape or clip is not required, and the number of assembling steps can be greatly reduced. it can.

(Embodiment 2) FIGS. 4 and 5 show a second embodiment of the present invention.
3 shows a seal member of the embodiment of FIG. This seal member is composed of a seal body 1, a flat plate portion 2, an integral hinge 20, a reinforcing plate 3, and a cowl louver 4 as in the first embodiment, and has substantially the same structure as that of the first embodiment. In this case, the same material as in the first embodiment is integrally molded.

At the end of the flat plate portion 2 fixed to the seal main body 1, a plurality of projections 21 having a wedge-shaped cross section projecting to the opposite side to the seal main body 1 are arranged at intervals in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface. . Also, at the end of the horizontal portion 44 of the cowl louver 4 fixed to the seal body 1, a plurality of projections 47 having a wedge-shaped cross section projecting in a direction opposite to the seal body 1 are arranged at intervals in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface. ing. A plurality of through holes 32 having a wedge-shaped cross section are provided in the reinforcing plate 3 at intervals in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper, and the projections 21 and 47 are configured to fit into the through holes 32, respectively. I have.

The engaging projection 30 is not formed at the tip of the reinforcing plate 3, and the end of the reinforcing plate 3 is inserted into the locking hole 46. On the lower surface of the reinforcing plate 3, elastically deformable engaging claws 33 are formed, and a plurality of engaging claws 33 are also arranged at intervals in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface. This engaging claw 33 is shown in FIG.
And functions in the same manner as the engaging claw 31 of the first embodiment.

The sealing member may be formed with the reinforcing plate 3 parallel to the flat plate portion 2 as shown in FIG. Thus, the engaging claw 33, the through hole 32, the protrusion 21 and the protrusion 47 can be easily formed using the slide core without being undercut.

After molding, the reinforcing plate 3 is turned over by bending with the integral hinge 20, and the distal end of the reinforcing plate 3 is inserted into the locking hole 46 while elastically deforming the seal body 1, and penetrates the projections 21 and 47. By fitting into the hole 32, the reinforcing plate 3 is positioned and fixed. Thereby, the seal body 1
Is reliably defined, and the deformation of the opening can also be reliably restricted.

[0038]

According to the cowl louver sealing member of the present invention, since it can be integrally formed with the cowl louver, the number of assembly steps can be significantly reduced by reducing the number of parts and the like. In addition, since the restoring force is exhibited by both the shape and the material, it is possible to prevent the sealing performance from being deteriorated due to thermal deterioration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a cowl louver seal member according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where the cowl louver seal member according to the embodiment of the present invention is assembled to a vehicle.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing a method of forming a cowl louver seal member according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main part of a cowl louver seal member according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory sectional view showing a shape immediately after molding of a seal member for a cowl louver according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side view of an engagement claw of a cowl louver seal member according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where a conventional cowl louver seal member is assembled to a vehicle.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional cowl louver seal member.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Seal body 2: Flat plate
3: reinforcement plate 4: cowl louver 20: integral hinge 3
0: engagement projection 31: engagement claw 46: locking hole
6: Food

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Daiichiro Kawashima 1 Nagahata, Ochiai, Kasuga-cho, Nishi-Kasugai-gun, Aichi Prefecture Inside Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. Address Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3D003 AA04 AA07 AA10 AA11 BB01 CA07 DA16 DA26 DA27

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sealing member provided along a tip of a cowl louver to elastically contact with a hood and seal air in an engine room from flowing into the cowl louver. A seal body fixed to the tip of the cowl louver so as to form a substantially U-shaped cross section composed of a pair of legs extending from both sides of the head so that the tip of one of the legs stands upright from the tip of the cowl louver; A cowl louver seal member comprising: a flat plate portion fixed to the tip of the other leg portion of the seal body and fixed directly or indirectly to the vehicle body. 2. A rigid reinforcing plate for connecting and holding a tip of the cowl louver and the flat plate portion and covering an opening of the seal body formed between a pair of the leg portions. The cowl louver seal member according to claim 1. 3. The reinforcing plate according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing plate is integrally continuous with the flat plate portion via a hinge portion, is bent at the hinge portion, and a front end thereof is held by being engaged with the cowl louver. Item 4. A cowl louver seal member according to item 2. 4. The cowl louver seal according to claim 3, wherein the seal body, the flat plate portion, the hinge portion, and the reinforcing plate are formed integrally with the cowl louver. Element. 5. The front end of the cowl louver and the flat plate have projections projecting to the opposite side of the seal body, and the projections are engaged with holes provided in the reinforcing plate. The seal member for a cowl louver according to claim 2, wherein