DE29924117U1 - Sealing, profile and trim strips - Google Patents

Description

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Stenger, Watzke & Ring·:., J ^: * · J ••ta^ijertFrjedrich-Ring ₇₀ .

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PATENT ATTORNEYS

GenCorp Property Inc. Highway 50 and Aoerojet Road USA 95670 Rancho Cordova California

ÜSSELDORF

Dipl-Ing. Wolfram Watzke (- 1999)

dipl-ing. heinz ]. ring

Dipl-Ing. Ulrich Christophersen

dipl-ing. michael rausch

dipl-ing. wolfgang bringmann

Patent attorneys European patent attorneys

Our ref. 01-1130 Our ref.

Your reference Your ref.

_Date

27 September 2001

Sealing, profile and trim strips

The invention relates to a sealing, profile or trim strip with a carrier made of a channel-shaped elastic material, which has a channel-shaped covering made of a soft, flexible material arranged thereon, wherein the carrier has opposite side parts which form the side walls of the channel and a base part which forms the base of the channel and connecting parts which integrally connect the base part to each of the side parts, wherein the connecting parts run obliquely to both parts, to the base part and to the side parts, and are thus free of sharp edges.

The invention further relates to a sealing, profile or trim strip with a substantially channel-shaped clamping area with extruded plastic or rubber material; a substantially channel-shaped carrier made of an elastic material which is embedded in the plastic or rubber material; the carrier is provided with side parts which form the side walls of the channel of the carrier, a base part forms the base of the channel of the carrier and connecting parts connect the base part in one piece with each of the side parts; the connecting parts of the carrier are substantially straight parts which run obliquely to both parts, the base part and the side parts, in order to avoid sharp edges between each side part and the base part; the side walls of the clamping area which contain the side parts of the carrier are bent outwards and adapted to be later moved towards each other into an installation position; characterized in that the outer surfaces of the covering material above the two connecting parts are convexly bent outwards, the inclination of the connecting parts having a

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Damage to the casing material by the wearer is reduced if the side parts are later moved towards each other and into an encompassing clamp connection with a flange by means of a tool guided along the outside of the clamping area, the tool exerting oppositely directed forces on the outsides of the side walls of the clamping area.

Such a strip is known, for example, from GB-A-1 022 704. This strip is described for use as a window guide. The side walls of this strip are initially bent apart so that they can be pressed towards each other against the elasticity of a beam to enable the strip to be held frictionally within an external rigid support channel. In this known strip, the external surfaces of the cladding material over the inclined connecting parts of the beam exactly follow the inclination of the beam.

The invention is concerned with providing a channel-shaped strip which is intended to have its side walls compressed into clamping contact with a mounting flange so that the outer surface of the sheathing material serves a sealing, profiling or trimming purpose rather than being held within the support channel. The known form of sheathing material is not suitable for this purpose.

Accordingly, the strip of the first-mentioned type is characterized in that the outer surfaces of the sheathing material above the two connecting parts are convexly curved outwards and the inclination of the connecting parts reduces damage to the sheathing material when the side parts are pressed towards each other to fix the strip on a flange.

According to the invention, the strip mentioned in second place above is characterized in that the outer surfaces of the covering material above the two connecting parts are convexly curved outwards, the inclination of the connecting parts reducing damage to the covering material by the wearer when the side parts are later connected by means of a

·

The tool is guided in the clamping area and is moved towards each other and into an encompassing clamping connection with a flange, whereby the tool exerts oppositely directed forces on the outer sides of the side walls of the clamping area.

Sealing, profile and trim strips for motor vehicle bodies which embody the invention are described below only by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing. In the drawing:

Figure 1 shows a cross section through one of the strips;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a mold which has a molded part in the strip according to

Figure 1 embedded reinforcement beam and

Figure 3 is a cross-section corresponding to Figure 1, but the bar in a

Configuration which it has before being attached in the correct position on the body.

As shown in Figure 1, the strip comprises a channel-shaped clamping portion 5 which integrally supports a hollow tubular sealing portion 6. The clamping portion 5 comprises extruded plastic or rubber material 8 incorporating a support 10 which also has a channel-shaped shape and extends along the length of the strip. The extruded material 8 extends integrally to form the tubular sealing portion 6. In addition, the material 8 extends to form a lip 12 on one side 5A of the channel and a tubular foot 14 on the other side 5B of the channel, the lip 12 and foot 14 extending along the length of the strip.

In use, the strip is mounted on a flange which extends around a closable opening of a motor vehicle body. The strip shown in Figure 1 is suitable for being placed around the opening of a trunk. The flange is formed where the inner and outer body panels around the trunk come together and are welded together. The clamping area 5 is placed on the flange and clampingly engages the flange to place the strip in the correct position. The clamping power

·

of the clamping area 5 is assisted by inwardly directed clamping lips 16 which are formed integrally with the extruded material 8. When the strip is arranged in this way, the sealing area 6 is arranged around the opening in such a way that it is compressed in a sealing manner by the cover or a closing part of the opening. In this way, a weatherproof seal is created. The lip 12 is arranged along the inside of the opening and engages the edge of the profile sheet or profile structure on the inside of the opening. The lip 12 is a so-called "cosmetic lip". The tubular foot 14 provides additional sealing of the closed cover.

The carrier 10 has sides 10A and 10B and connecting parts 10C, 10D and 10E. The carrier 10 is preferably made of metal, but it can also be made of other materials, such as suitable plastics. The carrier 10 can be made of an apertured or non-apertured channel-shaped material. As shown in Figure 2, the carrier 10 can comprise a series of inverted U-shaped elements 18 which are integrally connected to one another by connecting members 20. Alternatively, the elements 18 can be completely separate from one another. According to another embodiment, the carrier 10 can be made of a looped wire. Furthermore, other shapes of the carrier 10 are possible.

The carrier 10 is preferably formed into the extruded material 8 using a cross-head extruder. Different parts of the extruded material 8 may have different hardnesses. For example, the sealing region 6 is normally softer than the channel-shaped material of the clamping region 5 and is preferably made in cellular or foamed form. The lips 16 are preferably relatively soft, softer than the channel-shaped material of the clamping region 5, to enhance the frictional engagement with the flange. The outer portion 12A of the "cosmetic" lip 12 may also be made of a softer material, preferably a cellular material, to improve its appearance. In addition, the tubular foot 14 may be made of a soft cellular material.

The strip may be provided with a hollow chamber 22 extending along the length of the strip to enhance the softness of the sealing area 6.

Figure 3 shows the shape that the sealing strip may take before it is secured to the flange. As shown, the side walls of the clamping area 5 are bent apart, of course in the same way as the sides of the beam 10. In this configuration it is easy to place the strip on the mounting flange. Thereafter, the side walls of the clamping area 5 are pressed towards each other into clamping engagement with the sides of the flange using a suitable tool. Such a tool is described in our GB Patent 2 215 762, our DE Patent 39 03 809 and our US Patent 4 996 756. Such a tool comprises a pair of rollers rotatable about parallel axes arranged side-by-side with a gap between the rollers. A third roller rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the axis of the roller pair extends across the gap of the roller pair. The tool is positioned on the strip placed on the flange so that the clamping area 5 and the "cosmetic" lip 12 are positioned within the gap between the pair of rollers and the third roller compresses the sealing area 6. The tool is then moved along the length of the strip so that the parallel rollers of the pair of rollers exert a sideways force against the bent-apart walls of the clamping area 5 and move them into the configuration according to Figure 1 so that they clamp around the mounting flange. The clamping around of the clamping area 5 is assisted by the elasticity of the carrier 10.

In accordance with a feature of the carrier 10, its side walls 10A, 10B are connected to the central part 10C via inclined parts 10D and 10E, the parts 10D and 10E being inclined to both the sides 10A and 10B and the central part 10C. The parts 10D and 10E avoid sharp edges between the side walls 10A and 10B and the central part 10C. Such sharp edges can be disadvantageous because there can be a tendency for the fastening tool to crush the extruded material 8 against such a sharp edge, causing externally visible defects.

The same advantage can be achieved by other configurations of the support 10 which avoid sharp edges between the side walls 10A and 10B and the part connecting them. For example, the inclined parts 10D and 10E can be replaced by continuous gently curved parts. According to another possible configuration, the side walls 10A and 10B of the support 10 can be connected to each other by a continuous and gently curved connecting part which replaces the parts 10C, 10D and 10E.

The configuration of the strip shown in the figures is given purely by way of example. Many different variations are possible. For example, if the strip is to be positioned on the flange around the door opening of a motor vehicle, the sealing portion 6 would normally be positioned on the outside of the side wall 5B of the clamping portion 5, rather than on the outside of the inverted base. In this way, the clamping portion 5 orientates the sealing portion 6 to extend around the outside of the flange to be sealingly compressed by the closing door.

List of reference symbols

5 Clamping area 22 Hollow chamber 5A Page

5B Page

6 Sealing area

8 extruded material

10 carriers

1OA Page

1OB Page

1OC connector

1OD connecting part

1OE connecting part

12 Lip

12A outer part

14 feet

16 Clamping lip

18 items

20 connecting link

Claims (4)

1. Sealing, profile and trim strip with a carrier ( 10 ) made of a channel-shaped elastic material, which has a channel-shaped covering made of a soft, flexible material ( 8 ) arranged thereon, the carrier ( 10 ) having opposite side parts ( 10 A, 10 B) which form the side walls of the channel and a base part ( 10 C) which forms the base of the channel and connecting parts ( 10 D, 10 E) connecting the base part ( 10 C) in one piece with each of the side parts ( 10 A, 10 B), the connecting parts ( 10 D, 10 E) running obliquely to both parts, the base part ( 10 C) and the side parts ( 10 A, 10 B), and are therefore free of sharp edges, characterized in that the outer surfaces of the covering material ( 8 ) above the two connecting parts ( 10 D, 10 E) are convex towards is bent outwards and the inclination of the connecting parts ( 10 D, 10 E) reduces damage to the cladding material ( 8 ) when the side parts ( 10 A, 10 B) are pressed towards each other to fix the strip on a flange. 2. Strip according to claim 1, characterized in that the covering material ( 8 ) is channel-shaped extruded plastic or rubber material. 3. Sealing, profile or trim strip with a substantially channel-shaped clamping area with extruded plastic or rubber material ( 8 ); a substantially channel-shaped carrier ( 10 ) made of an elastic material which is embedded in the plastic or rubber material; the carrier is equipped with side parts ( 10a , 10B ) which form the side walls of the channel of the carrier ( 10 ), a base part ( 10C ) forms the base of the channel of the carrier ( 10 ) and connecting parts ( 10D , 10E ) connect the base part ( 10C ) in one piece with each of the side parts ( 10A , 10B ); the connecting parts ( 10 D, 10 E) of the carrier ( 10 ) are substantially straight parts ( 10 D, 10 E) which are inclined to both the base part ( 10 C) and the side parts ( 10 A, 10 B) in order to avoid sharp edges between each side part ( 10 A, 10 B) and the base part ( 10 C); the side walls ( 5 A, 5 B) of the clamping area ( 5 ) which contain the side parts ( 10 A, 10 B) of the carrier ( 10 ) are bent outwards and adapted to be later moved towards each other into an installation position; characterized in that the outer surfaces of the cladding material ( 8 ) above the two connecting parts ( 10 D, 10 E) are convexly curved outwards, the inclination of the connecting parts ( 10 D, 10 E) reducing damage to the cladding material ( 8 ) by the carrier ( 10 ) when the side parts ( 10 A, 10 B) are later moved towards one another and into an encompassing clamp connection with a flange by means of a tool guided along the outside of the clamping area ( 5 ), the tool exerting oppositely directed forces on the outsides of the side walls ( 5 A, 5 B) of the clamping area ( 5 ). 4. Strip according to claim 3, characterized in that the clamping region ( 5 ) carries a longitudinally extending externally arranged sealing region ( 6 ).