GB2183577A - A trim strip - Google Patents

Abstract

A relatively thin trim strip for a motor vehicle comprising: a substantially flat strip of stainless steel having on its obverse face a black band (11) along its length with a grey coloured band (12,13) on each side of the black band (11) so as to give the impression that the strip is 3-dimensional. There may also be a bright band (14) within the black band (11). The bands may comprise strips of coloured plastics material on the stainless steel strip or may be painted thereon or formed by a printing process such as a silk screen process. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Atrim strip This invention relates to a trim strip and particularly, although not restricted thereto, a trim strip four attaching to the side of a motor vehicle.

Conventional trim strips comprise a rubber our plastics moulding or extrusion which may typically be several centimetres wide and two orthree centimetres thick. Trim strips of thins kind are commonly fixed to the sides of motor vehicles extending from the front wheel arch to the rear wheel arch and form an important element in the styling ofthe vehicle. In view of their thickness and resilience, such trim strips also serve as rubbing strips to protect the side panels ofthe motor vehicle from minor scratches or scrapes. The need has arisen fortrim strips which have a similar appearance to the the conventional trim strips and serve the same styling function but which do not significantly add to the width ofthe vehicle.

According to this invention, there is provided a trim stripfora motorvehiclecomprising: asubstan tiallyflat strip having on its obverse face a dark coloured band along its length with a lighter coloured band on each side of the dark coloured band so asto give the impression that the strip is 3-dimensional, the dark coloured band appearing as a face raised from the plane of the strip and the lighter coloured bands appearing as faces inclined to the raised face.

Such atrium strip gives the impression ofbeing3- dimensional like the conventional trim strips described above although it is in fact relativelythin.

This invention will now be described, merely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a motor vehicle with a con ventionaltrim strip together with an enlarged view of the trim strip; and Figure2 shows a portion of a trim strip according to this invention.

The conventional trim strip shown in Figure 1 com prises a plastics moulding or extrusion which is usu ally black in colour and is fixed along the side of a motor vehicle. The trim strip extends between the wheel arches of the vehicle and may, as shown, com prise a front portion 1 extending from the front wheel arch to the front edge ofthe front door, a front door portion 2 extending across the front door, a rear door portion 3 extending across the rear door and a rear portion 4 extending from the rear edge of the rear doortothe rearwheel arch. In addition, the trim strip may extend around the front and rear bumpers 5 and 6 as shown.This type oftrim strip has an appreciable thickness, usually 2 - 3cm, and as it is usually mounted along the line of maximum width of the vehicle, it also serves as a rubbing strip to protect the side panels ofthe vehicle, for instance from impact from a door opened in an adjacently parked vehicle or from being scraped by an object which is passed without sufficient clearance.

The conventional trim strip often incorporates a brightinsert7which actsasa highlighting linealong the side ofthe vehicle and is typically chrome-plated or coloured red. The convential trim strip may have a variety of cross sections, but typically has a raised face 8and side faces 9 and 10which are inclined to the raised face 8 and extend from the side panel of the vehicle to the raised face 8. The side faces 9 and 10shown in Figure 1 are approximately per- pendicularto the raised face 8 but they may be in clined ata smaller angle so asto slopefrom the side panel of the vehicle to the raised face 8.Such a trim strip thus has a substantiallyfrusto-conical crosssection with its broader side being attached to the side of the motor vehicle and its narrower side forming the raised face 8. As shown in Figure 1, it is often necessary to profile the ends of the trim strip nearthe hinged edges of the doors to prevent the strip on the doorfouling against the strip on the adjacent panel when the door is opened. Conventional strips such as those described as usually attached to the motor vehicle body by mechanical fasteners such as bolts or rivets which are hidden by the bright insert7 inthefinal assembly.

The trim strip shown in Figure 2 is designed to have a similar appearance to a conventional trim strip although it is of simpler construction, is considerablythinnerand is less expensive to manufacture. Is should be noted thatthe particular trim strip shown in Figure 2 is not intended to be an imitation of the conventional trim strip shown in Figure 1 but of anothertrim strip somewhatsimilartothat shown in Figure 1.

The trim strip shown in Figure 2 comprises aa sub- stantiallyflatstrip made from stainless steel or other suitable material and has different coloured bands extending along its obverse face. There is a dark col oured band 11 and lighter coloured bands 12 and 13 on each side of the dark coloured band. The dark coloured band 11 is preferably black and the lightercoloured bands 12 and 13 grey, preferably Nimbus grey.

These bands give the flat strip a 3-dimensional appearance similarto a conventional strip since the dark coloured band 11 appears as a face raised from the plane ofthe strip and the lighter coloured bands 12 and 13 appear as faces inclined to the raised face.

This is because in a conventional strip such as that shown in Figure 1,thesidefaces9and 10 usually catch the light at a different angle to the raised face 8 and thus often appeartobeofa lightercolourthan the raised face 8. The Nimbusgreycolouroftheligh- tercoloured bands 12 and 13 of the strip illustrated in Figure 2 is chosen to resemble as closely as possible the colourthatthe side faces 9 and 10 of a conventional, black strip attached to the side of a motor vehicle appearto be.

In one preferred arrangement, the lighter coloured bands 12 and 13 are of different widths so thatthe narrower one imitates a side face which is steeply angled to the raised face and the wide one imitates a side face which is less steeply angled to the raised face. When affixed to the side of a motorvehicle, such a strip would usually be arranged with the nar rower, iig hter colou red band 12 uppermost since in the conventional strip it is intended to imitate the upper, side face is more steeply inclined to the raised face than the lower, side face so as to complement the shape of the panel to which the strip is attached.

The trim strip illustrated in Figure 2 preferably has a bright coloured band 14 within the dark coloured band 11 to further increase the impression that the strip is 3-dimensional. If the brightcoloured band 14 isto imitate a chrome-plated insert it may simply comprise a polished and thus reflective portion of the stainless steel strip. Alternatively, the bright coloured band 14 may be coloured red. As illustrated, the bright coloured band 14 is preferably positioned nearerto the upper lighter coloured band 12 than to the lower, lighter coloured band 13 again since this is the arrangement in the conventional type of strip it is intended to imitate.The dark and lighter coloured bands 11, 12 and 13,andthe bright coloured band 14 when coloured red, may comprise strips of coloured plastics materiai on the stainless steel strip or may ba painted thereon orformed by a printing process such as a silk screen process.

Thestainlesssteel strip istypicallylmmorlessin thickness and approximately 8 cm wide, and although it is preferably flat it may be slightly curved along its length and/or its width to complement the shape of the panel to which it is or is designed to be fitted. The ends of each portion ofthe strip would also be shaped to match the adjacent edge of the panel on which it is mounted.

The strip may be attached to the side of the motor vehicle by means of adhesive without the use ofany mechanical fasteners and is therefore preferably formed with adhesive on its reverse face which may be covered by a backing paper until the strip is attached to a vehicle.

The advantages of the type of strip illustrated in Figure 2 due to its simplicity compared to the conventional type of strip will be readily apparent.

Claims (13)

1. Atrlm strip for a motor vehicle comprising: a substantially flat strip having on its obverse face a dark coloured band along its length with a lightercoloured band on each side ofthe dark coloured band so as to give the impression that the strip is 3dimensional, the dark coloured band appearing as a face raised from the plane of the strip and the lighter coloured bands appearing as faces inclined to the raised face.

2. Atrim strip as claimed in claim 1 in which the lighter coloured bands are of different widths.

3. Atrim strip as claimed in claim 1 or2with a bright coloured band along its length within the dark coloured bandtofurtherincreasetheimpression that the strip is 3-dimensional.

4. Atrim strip as claimed in claim 3 in which the bright coloured band is reflective.

5. Atrim strip as claimed in any preceding claim in which the dark coloured band is black and the lightercoloured bands are grey.

6. Atrim strip as claimed in any preceding claim having a thickness of less than 1 mm.

7. Atrim strip as claimed in any preceding claim in which the darkand lightercoloured bands are formed by coloured plastics strips on the flat strip.

8. Atrim strip as claimed in any preceding claim in which theflatstrip informed of stainless steel.

9. Atrim strip as claimed in claims 4 and 8 in which the bright coloured band is polished stainless steel.

10. Atrim strip as claimed in any preceding claim having adhesive on its reverse face.

11. Atrim strip as claimed in any preceding claim affixed by its reverse face to a substantiallyvertical external surface of a motor vehicle.

12. Atrim strip as claimed in claim 11 when dependent upon claim 2 affixed to the body panel with the narrower lighter coloured band uppermost.

13. Atrim strip substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings.