EP1563915B1 - Gutter for carrying out a method for treating the surface of a part - Google Patents

Abstract

The gutter has a wing (12) with one end (14) in contact with a door and another end (16) directed towards a non-aesthetic zone such as ground, to deviate leakage of a dip in which the door is immersed. The wing (12) is connected to the door using another wing (18) that is fixed to the door using a clip (20) in an opening of the door. The gutter is held on the door by magnetism of the wing (18). An independent claim is also included for a method of treating a surface of a door of a vehicle.

Description

The invention relates to a gutter for implementing a method of surface treatment of a part, in particular a body of a vehicle, according to the preamble of claim 1. Such a device is known for example from FR-A-2,727,095 .

The surface treatment of a body of a vehicle comprises a succession of steps where the boxes are soaked in different baths. The last bath is cataphoresis, which consists of water and resin. Cataphoresis precipitates on the body under the action of an electric field. It is an electrodeposition deposit. This feature makes the deposited cataphoresis layer dry to the touch before the firing step.

But some areas of the body, due to their shape or surface, prevent water from flowing properly out of the box. These areas may be bowl-shaped, or areas on which the capillarity of the surface prevents water from flowing by gravity.

When cooking in an oven, the water retained on the box may boil or form a run. This coulure is visible after the removal of the paint.

Current solutions for eliminating this sag are in the manual or mechanical sanding of surfaces with a poor surface appearance, until the defect disappears. However, this solution has the disadvantage of refining the protective layer, or removing it completely. The corrosion resistance of the area is greatly diminished.

In order to overcome this drawback, the present invention relates to a gutter for the implementation of a method of surface treatment of a part, in particular a body of a vehicle, comprising steps of soaking and cooking,
characterized in that it comprises at least one wing, in contact with the piece by one of its ends, this first wing being kept in contact with the piece by means of a second wing, to which it is connected and with it forms an obtuse angle substantially equal to that formed by the workpiece and the first wing, and characterized in that the other end of the first wing is directed towards a non-aesthetic area constituting a shape adapted to deflect a flow resulting from the process treatment.

• la deuxième aile est décalée par rapport à la première aile de manière à n'avoir qu'un seul élément de liaison commun ;
• la gouttière est maintenue par magnétisme de la deuxième aile sur la caisse ;
• la deuxième aile comprend un clip de fixation prévu pour s'insérer dans un trou de la pièce traiter.

According to other features of the invention:

• the second wing is offset from the first wing so as to have only one common connecting element;
• the gutter is held by magnetism of the second wing on the body;
• the second wing includes a fastening clip provided to fit into a hole in the workpiece.

The present invention further relates to a surface treatment method of a room, comprising the following steps of dipping the various parts constituting the box in a succession of baths and cooking different parts covered with the products constituting the baths; characterized in that it comprises a prior step of placing said gutter on the lower part of the parts, so as to deviate, by gravity, the resulting flow of different baths.

According to one embodiment of said method according to the present invention, the method operates by integrating the first wing to the workpiece; and by separating said first wing from said workpiece after passage in an oven or by folding it so as to place it in an area not visible to the customer.

• la figure 1 est une représentation schématique de la gouttière selon l'invention ;
• la figure 2 est une vue de face d'une gouttière selon l'invention positionnée sur l'extrémité inférieure de l'arrière d'une porte d'un véhicule ; et
• la figure 3 est une vue de dos d'une gouttière selon l'invention positionnée sur l'extrémité inférieure de l'arrière d'une porte d'un véhicule.

The present invention will be better understood from the study of an embodiment taken by way of nonlimiting example and illustrated by the appended drawings, in which:

• Figure 1 is a schematic representation of the gutter according to the invention;
• Figure 2 is a front view of a gutter according to the invention positioned on the lower end of the rear of a door of a vehicle; and
• Figure 3 is a rear view of a gutter according to the invention positioned on the lower end of the rear of a door of a vehicle.

Although generally applicable to all types of devices likely to cause sagging, the invention will be more particularly illustrated by way of example in the context of a motor vehicle receiving a surface treatment.

As shown in Figure 1, the trough 10 comprises a first flange 12, one end 14 is in contact with the door 22 and the second end 16 is directed towards a non-aesthetic area, such as the floor. This first wing 12 takes the form of a bowl, oriented towards a non-aesthetic area such as the ground, to deflect the sagging on the vehicle that has just received the surface treatment. Indeed, a non-aesthetic area is defined as an area that does not have strict aesthetic constraints and surface conditions. Conversely, an aesthetic area is defined by everything visible to the user of the vehicle and must have good aesthetic benefits, so important in the automotive industry.

According to the invention, in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, in which the identical members carry the same references, the first wing 12 is connected via a second wing 18 to the door 22 intended to to undergo the treatment. The second wing 18 is fixed to the door 22 by means of a clip 20 in an available opening of the door 22. Advantageously, the connecting means of the two wings is the contact element 14 between the gutter and the door. This element contact 14 follows the curves of the workpiece to match the shape of the latter during its implementation by magnetism or clipping.

In a first embodiment, the two wings 12 and 18 are offset relative to each other and so as to orient the first flange 12 towards the outside of the door 22. In addition the two wings 12 and 18 lie in two planes forming an obtuse angle, which makes it possible, when the gutter 10 is positioned, to direct the first flange 12 towards a non-aesthetic zone such as the ground, or such as a cavity that is not visible to the customer, for driving gravity flow.

In another embodiment, the two wings 12 and 18 may be aligned so that the part can be attached to another anchor point of the door 22 or the bottom flap example. Indeed, depending on the anchoring points that can present the door of a vehicle, the final shape of the room can be adapted so that it can firstly be attached to an anchor point and other collect the drops likely to fall from the door.

This channel 10 must be made of a material resistant to high temperature, for example at 180 ° C, for 15 minutes, such as unloaded polyamide glass. Another polymer of the thermoplastic or thermoset type can be envisaged for the manufacture of the gutter.

The gutter 10 is put in place on the door 16 before the start of the anticorrosion treatment, that is to say before the soaking of the body in the various baths. Its removal mode must be such that the trough 10 must not come into contact with other elements of the bodywork so as not to prevent the removal of the products constituting the bath. In addition, on the part 18 of the piece 10, stops are positioned around the fastening means, for example the clip 20, of the channel 10 on the door 16. These stops are intended to limit the surface in contact with the workpiece 10 on the door 22 through at least one point contact and preferably four point contacts. These stops offset the surface of the part 10 of the door 16 to the outside, thus allow better coverage of the product of the cataphoresis on the whole of the door 22.

This piece 10 must withstand the various eddies of the surface treatment baths associated with the treatment for corrosion. After the cataphoresis baths, the door 16 on which is fixed the gutter, goes into an oven. The gutter 10 plays role of deflection of the drops from the end of the cataphoresis bath until the end of cooking. It will then be removed from the door 22 at the outlet of the oven mechanically or by an operator.

The gutter 10 must be affixed to the body so as not to prevent the cooking of cataphoresis by acting as a heat shield for example. Therefore, stops advantageously arranged on the part 18 so as to shift the piece 10 of the door 22, facilitate the cooking of the door portion 22 in front of the piece 10.

When the piece to be treated arrives in an oven, the drop remaining after the soaking baths and blocked at the end of the lower corner of the door 22, is directed by the trough 10. It is then either deviated towards the outside of the door 22 from where it will fall by gravity, be retained in an area of the vehicle not visible to the customer.

In another embodiment the gutter 10 is magnetically attached to the door 22. In this case either it is positioned on a part of the part to be treated less exposed to corrosion or it is fixed on the sled. The portion of the gutter 10 that recovers the drop must be located under the retention zone and the means for fixing the gutter may be in the form of a bonding, a pinching or a wedging in a part of the door 22. Advantageously, the part 10 can be fixed to the door 22 and comprise a fuse part or a folding zone serving to removing or folding a part of the part 10, for example the part 12, after having fulfilled its function of deflection of drop.

In another variant of the invention, the channel 10 is formed of a tab integrated directly to the workpiece, and whose end is directed towards a non-aesthetic area such as the ground. This tab is made in an area not visible by the customer or otherwise can be removed after the surface treatment. In the latter case, the end of the leg must be covered with mastic to prevent corrosion.

The present invention includes all the devices necessary for performing two functions, namely the maintenance of the gutter 10 on the door 22 and the deflection of the drop once the gutter is in place. It has the advantage of avoiding bodywork recovery operations that delay manufacturing and increase the cost while providing an economic and easy to implement gutter.

Claims (6)

1. Gutter (10) for carrying out a method for the surface treatment of a part (22), in particular a body of a vehicle, comprising dipping and baking steps, characterized in that the gutter comprises at least one wing (12) in contact with the part (22) by one of its ends (14), this first wing (12) being held in contact with the part (22) via a second wing (18), to which it is connected and with which it forms an obtuse angle substantially equal to that formed by the part (22) and the first wing (12), and characterized in that the other end (16) of the first wing (12) is directed towards a non-aesthetic region constituting a shape which is able to deflect a run emanating from the treatment method.
2. Gutter (10) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the second wing (18) is offset with respect to the first wing (12) so as to have only a single common connection element.
3. Gutter (10) according to Claim 2, characterized in that it is held by magnetism of the second wing (18) on the body.
4. Gutter (10) according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the second wing (18) comprises a fastening clip (20) intended to be inserted into a hole in the part (22) to be treated.
5. Method for the surface treatment of a part, comprising the following steps:

   - dipping the various parts (22) constituting the body in a succession of baths;

   - baking the various parts (22) covered with the products constituting the baths;

   characterized in that it comprises a prior step of fitting a gutter (10) according to one of Claims 1 to 4 on the lower portion of the parts (22) so as to deflect, by gravity, the run resulting from the various baths.
6. Method for the surface treatment of a part according to Claim 5, the method operating by:

   - integrating the first wing (12) with the part (22) to be treated; and

   - releasing said first wing (12) from the part (22) to be treated after passing into an oven, or by folding it so as to place it in a region which is not visible to the customer.

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