GB2149451A

GB2149451A - Method and apparatus for the preliminary and/or final mounting of a vehicle door

Info

Publication number: GB2149451A
Application number: GB08428309A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hans Vogt; Martin Ufrecht
Original assignee: Ford Motor Co
Current assignee: Ford Motor Co
Priority date: 1983-11-10
Filing date: 1984-11-08
Publication date: 1985-06-12
Also published as: DE3340634A1; US4768277A; FR2554777B1; FR2554777A1; DE3340634C2; GB8428309D0; GB2149451B

Description

1

SPECIFICATION

Mounting of a vehicle door The invention relates to a method forthe prelimin- 70 ary and final mounting of a vehicle door and to a vehicle door hinge assembly.

Conventionally, the vehicle doors are secured to the body she] 1 of a vehicle by way of two hinges 10. comprising hinge leaves which are secured to the body shell by welding or screw-fastening the leaves.

lthas been usual to realign the doors by using large leverarms which lead to deformation of the parts of the body adjacentto the hinge leaves, to produce an alignment of the vehicle doorwith respectto the bodywork opening. With this procedure, undesired stresses and springing back had to be reckoned with.

The bodywork is altered bythe subsequent manu facturing processes, such as the painting process and the final assembly, so that eventually the alignment of 85 the vehicle doorwith respectto the bodywork opening is no longer true.

The alignment of a vehicle doorwith respectto the bodywork opening receiving it becomes even more difficult if the vehicle door hasto be removed from the 90 bodyworkforthe purpose of passing itthrough a separate painting process and a separate assembly line. In this case alignment of the vehicle doorwith respectto the bodywork opening has been possible only with expensive, adjustable hinges, as disclosed 95 for example in the German Offenleg u ngssch rift (Laid Open Specification) 29 37 166.

A method and an apparatus for the preliminary andlorfinal mounting of a vehicle door is already known from the German Patent 25 40 856, in which deformable intermediate layers, which determine a first position of the vehicle door during the prelimin ary mounting of the door, are arranged on the body shell between the shell and the leaves of the hinge, afterwhich the body shell togetherwith the vehicle door passesthrough the entire painting process and the final assembly and afterthatthe final mounting, which determines the final position of the door, is carried out bythe application of a greater screwing force.

This known method and this apparatus have the disadvantage that onlya limited tolerance compensa tion, which is determined bythe deformable in termediate layers, is possible.

The invention seeksto find a method and a hinge assemblyforthe preliminary and/orfinal mounting of a vehicle door,which will make possiblethe bridging of even greaterand more differenttolerance positions in a simple manner.

European Patent Publication 0 007 177 and German Offenlegungsschrfit 1109 047 disclose an idea where by, in orderto mount a vehicle door, hinges compris ing with hinge leaves are aligned by way of stop surfaces or holding devices and are secured in a cavity in the vehicle door by being set in a foam.

In case of these two known publications, mention is only made in each case of the mounting of the corresponding hinge members on the vehicle door, whereas the fastening of the other hinge members or leaves of the hinge must be carried out in known 130 GB 2 149 451 A 1 manneronthe bodyshell opening. Consequently, undesired divergencies between thecontourof the vehicle door and the contour of the bodyworkopening can again arise in this case.

According to the invention there is provided a method forthe preliminary and final mounting of a vehicle door on a vehicle bodyshell by means of hingeswhich each have two hinge members, one of the members having a projecting pin and the other member having a socket for receiving the pin, characterised by the following method steps; a) fastening one hinge member of the hinge to part of the bodywork; b) fastening the other hinge member to the door; c) hanging the vehicle door by plugging the pin on one hinge member into the socket on the other hinge member; d) removing the vehicle door afterthe entire bodyshell has passed through the painting process and carrying out the assembly of the bodywork and vehicle door separately; e) hanging the vehicle door by plugging the pin on one hinge member into the socket on the other hinge member and aligning the vehicle doorwith respectto the opening in the bodyshell using a jig, and e) injecting a hardening plastics substance into the socket surrounding the pin, and subsequently sealing the injection opening.

This method can be used when the vehicle doors are painted atthe same time as the rest of the bodyshell.

The invention also provides a method forthefinal mounting of a vehicle door on a vehicle bodyshell by means of hinges which each have two hinge members, one of the members having a projecting pin and the other member having a socket for receiving the pin, characterised bythe following method steps; a) fastening one hinge member of the hinge to part of the bodywork; b) fastening the other hinge member to the door; c) hanging the vehicle door by plugging the pin on one hinge member into the socket on the other hinge member and aligning the vehicle door with respect to the opening in the bodyshell using a jig, and d) injecting a hardening plastics substance into the socket surrounding the pin, and subsequently sealing the injection opening.

This method can be used when the vehicle doors are painted separatelyfrom the bodyshell, for example when they are composed partly of plastics material and require a different painting process, or possibly no painting at all.

The invention further provides a vehicle door hinge, comprising two hinge members, one member including a projecting pin and the other member including a socket adapted to receive the pin, the pin being formed with notches or grooves on its surface and the socket having a socket mouth which seals around the pin, and the rest of the socket being of such a sizethat when the pin is inserted in the socket, a cavity exists around the pin to receive a settable substance which can be injected into the cavityto set around the pin and to lockthe pin in position in the socket.

With the methods set out above, a trouble-free alignment of the vehicle doorwith its body-work opening is ensured, it being possible to bridge even 2 E substantial tolerances.

Byvirtue of the factthat one stop or hinge member of the hinge isformed in known manner as a screw-on orweld-on plate and the otherstop or hinge member is formed as a setting plug or pin with a plurality of notches and there is secured to the vehicle door a holding plate which is provided with a setting bore or socket and behind which isformed a cavity of limited volume, this hinge arrangement mayfirstof all be used forthe preliminary mounting of the vehicle door in conjunction with possible auxiliary devicesforthe passage of the entire bodyworkthrough the painting process. Afterthis the bodywork and the vehicle door may be completed on separate assembly lines and the same hinge arrangement may be used forthe final mounting of the vehicle door in a position alinged without difficulty, as the cavity is filled up with the hardening plastics mass.

In the sameway, in the case of a vehicle doorwhich consists partially orentirely of plastics material,the 85 preliminary mounting forthe purpose of passing the entire bodyworkthrough the painting process may be dispensed with. The vehicle door produced separately is set on the setting plug by means of the setting bore in the holding plate and the cavity formed behind is 90 fil led with the hardening plastics mass. In this connection the setting bore largely prevents an escape of the plastics mass by means of the rear section of the setting plug.

In addition, a resilient protection disc may be placed 95 atthe foot of the setting plug in orderto avoid damage to the paint during alignment and in orderto catch any possible escape of the hardening plastics mass.

The cavitywith limited volume is preferably formed 35. by sleeve-shaped sheet metal parts which are pro- 100 vided at theirfree end with an injection funnel which maybe pinched off afterthe insertion of the hardening plastics mass.

The invention is described in greater detail with referenceto one example of embodiment illustrated in 105 the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a hinge assembly according to the invention before assembly; Figure 2 shows a hinge assembly according to the invention during the injection procedure of the hardening plastics mass, and Figure 3 showsthe assembly according to Figure 2 afterthe completion of the injection procedure.

The Figures show a door opening 2 which isformed in a vehicle body shell 1 and in which a vehicle door 3 115 isto be pivotably mounted in alignmentwith the body shell surface surrounding it and with as uniform as possible a gap.

Part of the door opening 2 is formed by a door pillar 4, to which a hinge memberor leaf of a hinge 6 in the form of a screw-on orweld-on plate 5 may be secured in a known manner.

The other hinge member of the hinge 6 isformed as a plug 7 with a plurality of notches or grooves 8.

Thevehicle door3 consists in conventional manner of an outside door panel 9 and an inside door panel 10. An angled surface of the inside door panel 10forms an end face of the vehicle door. On the end face 11 facing the door pillar 4 the vehicle door 3 is provided with a holding plate 12 in which a bore 13 is formed. Behind GB 2 149 451 A 2 the holding plate 12 is a cavity 14of limitedvolume which in the presentcase isformed by a sleeveshaped sheet metal part 15.The holding plate 12 and thesheetmetal part 15are connectedtothe innercloor panel 10forexample byspotwelding.

The method described forthe preliminary and/or final mounting of a vehicle door permits preliminary mounting of the vehicle door withoutfinally aligning the door, if it is desired to mountthe doorforthe passage of the bodyshell through the painting process and then to demountthe door for subsequent assemblywork.

After passing through the painting process the vehicle door may be removed and, on a separate assembly line, it may be completed with the usual devices such as window winders, window guides, lock-actuating devices and the like. As soon asthe bodyshell and the vehicle door have each reached a suitable degree of completion, they are assembled together and the vehicle door is again set, by way of its holding plate 12, on the plug 7 of the hinge.

Aframing jig which will not be described in detail and which is not shown in the Figures ensures thatthe vehicle door3 is flush with the surrounding surface of the bodyshell 1 and thatthe size of the gap between the door and the door opening 2 in the bodyshell is kept uniform. As soon as the vehicle door is aligned, an injection nozzle 17, which injects a hardening plastics mass 18 undersuitable pressure, is applied to the sleeve-shaped sheet metal part 15 which is provided with an injection funnel 16 at its free end. This injection procedure is illustrated in Figure 2. After the cavity 14 has been completely filled bythe plastics mass 18 a slight amountof the plastics mass 18 may possibly leak outthrough the setting bore 13.

A resilient protection disc 19 atthefoot of the plug 7 prevents the paintworkfrom being scratched during alignment and seals off possible residual escape of the plastics mass.

As soon as the cavity 14 is completelyfilled with plastics mass 18, the injection funnel, as shown at 20 in Figure 3, is pinched off, in orderto prevent an escape of the plastics mass 18. Theframing jig remains on the vehicle body until the appropriate hardening period of the plastics mass has elapsed.

As is clearly shown by Figures 2 and 3, the axial alignment of the plug 7 may diverge considerably from the axial alignment of the sleeve-shaped sheet metal parts 15, but nevertheless the vehicle door 3 is finally mounted in an aligned and flush position with respectto the body 1 of the vehicle.

The relationship of the two different hinge members of the hinge 6 may also, of course, be reversed, i.e. the hinge memberformed as a screw-on orweld-on plate 5 may be associated with the vehicle door and the hinge memberformed as the plug 7 may be associated with the door pillar4which mustthen of course be provided with a suitable sheet metal part in orderto form a cavitywith limited volume for receiving the hardening plastics mass.

Aseparate sheet metal partforthe cavity may of course be abolished if for example the vehicle door is constructed as a sandwich component, in the end face of which an appropriate cavity isformed in advance.

Claims

3 GB 2 149 451 A 3 1. A method forthe preliminary and final mounting of vehicle door on a vehicle bodyshell by means of hingeswhich each have two hinge members, one of the members having a projecting pin and the other member having a socket for receiving the pin, characterised bythe following method steps; a) fastening one hinge member of the hinge to part of the bodywork; b) fastening the other hinge member to the door; c) hanging the vehicle door by plugging the pin on one hinge member into the socket on the other hinge member; d) removing the vehicle door afterthe entire bodyshell has passed through the painting process and carrying out the assembly of the bodywork and vehicle door separately; e) hanging the vehicle door by plugging the pin on one hinge member into the socket on the other hinge member and aligning the vehicle doorwith respectto the opening in the bodyshell using ajig, and e) injecting a hardening plastics substance into the socket surrounding the pin, and subsequently sealing the injection opening.
2. A method for the final mounting of a vehicle door on a vehicle bodyshell by means of hinges which each have two hinge members, one of the members having a projecting pin and the other member having a socket for receiving the pin, characterised by the following method steps; a) fastening one hinge member of the hinge to part of the bodywork; b) fastening the other hinge memberto the door; c) hanging the vehicle door by plugging the pin on one hinge member into the socket on the other hinge member and aligning the vehicle door with respect to the opening in the bodyshell using a jig, and d) injecting a hardening plastics substance into the socket surrounding the pin, and subsequently sealing the injection opening.
3. A vehicle door hinge, comprising two hinge members, one member including a projecting pin and the other member including socket adapted to receive the pin, the pin being formed with notches or grooves on its surface and the socket having a socket mouth which seals around the pin, and the rest of the socket being of such a size thatwhen the pin is inserted in the socket, a cavity exists around the pin to receive a settable substancewhich can be injected into the cavityto set around the pin and to lockthe pin in position in the socket.
4. A hinge according to Claim 4, characterised in that a resilient protection disc for protecting the paintwork during alignment and for catching any residual escape of the settable substance is additional.

ly placed atthe foot of the pin.
5. A hinge according to Claim 3 or Claim 4, characterised in that the cavity is formed by sleeveshaped sheet metal parts which are disposed on the frontface of the vehicle door and which are provided attheir free ends with an injection fu nnei which may be pinched off after the insertion of the hardening plastics mass.
6. A vehicle door hinge substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying draw- ings.

Printed in the United Kingdom for Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 8818935, 6185, 18996. Published at the Patent Office, 25 Southampton Buildings, London WC2A lAY, from which copies may be obtained.