JP2003025931A - Weatherstrip for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the deterioration of an outward appearance in a car body side view by preventing application of force such as pushing down or pushing up a seal lip when closing a door. SOLUTION: This weatherstrip 1 has the hollow seal lip 10 and a drip lip 11, and is fixed to a roof panel 5 by a plurality of clips 4. Among a circular arc-shaped seal surface 10a having prescribed curvature, a part crossing with an almost vertical contact plane Q is set as an elastic contact starting position S, and is set so that a door 2 or 3 with the direction orthogonal to the contact plane Q as an entering locus D starts to touch the seal surface 10a from the elastic contact starting position S when closing the door.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of a weather strip for an automobile, and in particular, it is attached to an upper edge of a door opening of a vehicle body separately from a main door weather strip, and when the door is closed, the upper edge of the door is closed. The present invention relates to a weather strip for an automobile having a hollow seal lip which is elastically contacted with.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a weather strip of this type,
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a hollow shape having a substantially D-shaped cross section or a fan-shaped cross section is known. The weather strips 50 or 60 may be attached by a so-called retainer fitting type using a long retainer and a screw, or by fixing a plurality of clips arranged at a predetermined pitch in the longitudinal direction. There is a so-called clip-fastening type, and any type is fixed so as to be in close contact with the inner corner portion of the vehicle body panel 51 or 61 side as shown in the figure.

As shown in the figure, when the arrow D pointing in a substantially horizontal direction is taken as the entrance locus of the door 52 or 62, the upper edge of the door 52 or 62 is out of the weather strips 50 or 60 when the door is closed. By elastically contacting the arc-shaped sealing surface 50a or 60a having a predetermined curvature, the inside or outside of the door 52 or 62 is sealed by the weather strip 50 or 60.

[0004]

In such a structure of the weather strip 50 or 60, in the retainer fitting type, the cost of the retainer itself is high, and the cost reduction is naturally limited.

On the other hand, in the clip-fastening type shown in FIG. 6, the portion of the weather strip 50 that comes into contact with the door 52 has an inclined surface L1 that is obliquely upward, so that when the door 52 makes elastic contact. A force acts to bend down the weather strip 50 and push it down. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the weather strip 50 itself is pushed down in the longitudinal direction at the portion deviated from the clip-fastened position, that is, the portion corresponding to the adjacent clip-fastened positions C, C. In addition to causing a so-called waviness phenomenon, a gap G is formed between the vehicle body panel 51 on the other side, which is unfavorable because the appearance is deteriorated.

Further, in the structure shown in FIG. 7, the portion of the weather strip 60 that abuts on the door 62 is a slanted surface L2 that is inclined downward, so that the weather strip 60 is bent when the door 62 elastically contacts. However, the force that pushes this up will act. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, particularly at the portion deviated from the position where the clip is fastened, the above-mentioned pushing force is received and a part of the weather strip 60 protrudes to the outside of the ridge line on the side of the vehicle body panel 61. Similarly to the above, the appearance is deteriorated due to the occurrence of the waviness phenomenon in the longitudinal direction.

In order to improve the appearance, it is effective to increase the number of clips and reduce the pitch between the clips, but in that case, not only the usage amount of the clips increases but also the mounting man-hours are increased. As a result, the mounting workability is deteriorated and the cost is inevitably increased.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to the problem of such a clip-fastening type weather strip, and in particular, a portion which is clipped even in a portion which is not clipped in the longitudinal direction of the weather strip. It is an object of the present invention to provide a structure of a weather strip in which the appearance is prevented from being deteriorated as in the conventional case by obtaining an equivalent bending shape.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a seal lip is arranged along an upper edge of a door opening of a vehicle body, and the upper edge of the door is elastically contacted when the door is closed. It is assumed that the weather strip is for automobiles equipped with.

The seal lip is formed as a hollow cross-section having a convex shape toward the outside of the passenger compartment, and has an arc-shaped sealing surface with a predetermined curvature on the surface thereof. A portion of the surface that intersects with a substantially vertical tangential plane is set as the elastic contact start position with the door having a direction orthogonal to the tangential plane as the entry locus, and the portion corresponding to the elastic contact start position of the seal lip is local. It is characterized by its thin shape.

As a concrete structure of the thin-walled shape portion, for example, in the case where the back side of the portion corresponding to the elastic contact start position is thinned over a predetermined range, or when the notch portion is formed on the back side of the portion corresponding to the elastic contact start position. Shall also be included.

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the invention, the elastic contact start position with the door is such that the position corresponding to the apex of the substantially arcuate sealing surface is the entry locus in the direction orthogonal to the tangential plane thereof. Therefore, the seal lip flexes and deforms in the vehicle width direction when the door is closed, but the downward or upward force unlike the conventional case does not act. Therefore, for example, regardless of whether the position is clipped or not clipped with respect to the vehicle body panel, the bending shape is almost the same, and so-called waviness in the longitudinal direction, which is a main cause of deterioration in appearance as in the past, is generated. The phenomenon will not occur.

Further, in the invention described in claim 2, in place of the elastic contact start position described in claim 1, a substantially vertical plane shape portion formed in a part of the arc-shaped sealing surface is used. The feature is that it is set as the elastic contact start position with the door having the approach direction in the orthogonal direction.

Therefore, in the invention described in claim 2, a substantially vertical plane-shaped portion is formed in place of the top-corresponding portion at the elastic-contact start position in claim 1, and the plane-shaped portion is used for elastic contact. Since it is the starting position, even if the door comes in from a direction orthogonal to the plane shape part and makes elastic contact, even if the seal lip bends and deforms in the vehicle width direction when the door is closed, it will face downward as in the above case. Or, the upward force will not work at all.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 is based on the invention according to claim 1 or 2, and the hollow seal lip has a substantially flat plate shape in addition to the arc-shaped sealing surface. The mounting base is formed to have a substantially D-shaped cross section or a substantially modified D-shaped cross section, and the mounting base and the upper end of the sealing surface are set to always contact the vehicle body panel. It is characterized in that notch portions are formed inside the portions corresponding to the upper and lower ends of the sealing surface.

Here, in the invention described in claim 1 or 2, in order to stabilize the behavior of the seal lip during flexural deformation while taking into consideration the variation in the actual elastic contact start position, the seal surface is stabilized. It is desirable that the corresponding portion is bent (elastically) deformed only in the vehicle width direction so that the entire seal lip is not bent in the vertical direction.

The invention according to claim 3 can sufficiently meet this demand, and since the mounting base portion and the upper end portion of the sealing surface are constantly in contact with the vehicle body panel, the seal lip is useless. It serves to restrain it from bending and deforming in the vertical direction, and at the same time, the notches formed inside the portions corresponding to the upper and lower ends of the sealing surface function as the break points of the sealing surface corresponding portion. That is, the portion corresponding to the seal surface is flexed and deformed only in the vehicle width direction.

The invention described in claim 4 is based on the invention described in claim 3, and is characterized in that a drip lip for forming a drip groove is integrally formed at a lower end portion of the mounting base portion.

Therefore, in the invention according to claim 4, the seal lip and the drip lip are present together to form a composite type weather strip, and in addition to the above-mentioned function of the seal lip, Functions will also be demonstrated together.

[0020]

According to the invention as set forth in claim 1, a door having an approach locus in a direction orthogonal to a tangent plane of the arc-shaped sealing surface, which is convex toward the outside of the vehicle compartment, has a top-corresponding portion. Since it is the elastic contact start position with, the downward or upward force does not act on the seal lip during elastic contact, preventing the occurrence of the so-called waviness phenomenon of the weather strip in the longitudinal direction as in the past, and giving a good appearance. In addition to contributing to the improvement, when fixing the weather strip to the vehicle body panel with a clip, the span between the positions to be clipped can be made larger than before, so the number of clips can be reduced and the cost can be reduced. In addition to being able to achieve this, there is the effect that the number of assembly steps can also be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a substantially vertical plane-shaped portion is formed on a part of the sealing surface, and the door has the plane-shaped portion as an entry locus in a direction orthogonal to the plane-shaped portion. Since the elastic contact start position is provided, there is an effect that the occurrence of a so-called waviness phenomenon of the weather strip in the longitudinal direction can be prevented and the appearance can be improved similarly to the invention described in claim 1.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the cross section is substantially D.
Of the seal lips formed in a V-shape or a substantially modified D-shape in cross section, the mounting base and the upper end of the sealing surface are always in contact with the vehicle body panel, and the parts corresponding to the upper and lower ends of the sealing surface are Since the notch portion is formed on the inner side, the behavior of the bending deformation in the vehicle width direction at the seal surface corresponding portion at the time of elastic contact is extremely stabilized, and there is an advantage that its reliability becomes high.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, since the drip lip is provided in addition to the seal lip, a single weather strip has a sealing function by the sealing lip and a drip function by the drip lip. Is effective.

[0024]

1 to 3 are views showing a preferred embodiment of a weather strip for an automobile according to the present invention,
FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of an automobile, and FIG. 2 is AA of FIGS.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line when the door is closed, and FIG. 3 shows the weather strip with a clip attached thereto.

The weather strip 1 is formed to have a substantially uniform cross section and a long cross section with the cross section shown in FIG. 2 as a reference cross section, and as shown in FIGS. 3 are fixed to the roof side portion of the rule panel 5 by a plurality of resin clips 4 provided at a predetermined pitch P so as to extend over both sides. Both doors 2 and 3 are formed by hemming the door outer panel 6 and the door inner panel 7, and a sealing agent 8 is applied to the hemming joint in a bead shape.

The weather strip 1 has a hollow seal lip 10 which has a substantially flat plate-shaped mounting base 9 as a main body and which is partially formed in a substantially D-shaped section or a substantially deformed D-shaped section. It has a drip lip 11 having a substantially V-shaped cross section which extends from the mounting base 9 so as to be located below the seal lip 10. The mounting base 9 and the drip lip 11 are formed of solid rubber. On the other hand, the other part, that is, the main part of the seal lip 10 which functions as a sealing surface 10a described later is formed of soft sponge rubber.

The seal lip 10 is bulged in the same direction with a curved surface which is convex toward the outside of the passenger compartment, and the surface thereof functions as an arc-shaped seal surface 10a having a predetermined curvature R. It has become. When the mounting base 9 is fixed to the vertical wall 5a of the roof side with the clip 4 previously inserted into the mounting base 9, the mounting base 9 is pressed against the vertical wall 5a and is sealed as shown in FIG. The upper end corner of the lip 10 is pressed against the sloping wall 5b that is overhanging more than the vertical wall 5a, and when the door is closed, the upper edge of the door 2 or 3 is elastically contacted with the tip of the seal lip 10. As a result, a part of the seal lip 10 is sandwiched between the roof side portion and the door 2 or 3 to seal the inside or outside of the door 2 or 3.

When looking at the relationship between the roof top portion 5c of the roof panel 5 and the outer surfaces of the doors 2 and 3 in FIG. 2, both are substantially the same while matching their inclinations in order to make the entire vehicle a flash surface. It is set to be on the plane.

Here, when the entrance locus of the door 2 or 3 with respect to the seal lip 10 accompanying the closing operation of the door 2 or 3 is D, a substantially vertical contact of the arc-shaped seal surface 10a having a predetermined curvature when the door is closed. It is set so that the door 2 or 3 starts to hit from the top S that intersects the plane Q.
That is, the top S of the sealing surface 10a is set as the elastic contact start position with the door 2 or 3, and at the same time, the entry trajectory of the door 2 or 3 is the top S of the sealing surface 10a.
It is set so as to be orthogonal to the tangent plane Q passing through.

Notches 12 and 13 are formed inside the seal lip 10 at the upper and lower positions, and in a predetermined vertical range B including the elastic contact start position S on the seal surface 10a. The back surface side is locally thinned, and a thin portion 14 corresponding to the range B is formed. For example, the thickness T1 of the general portion of the seal lip 10
Is 1.2 mm, the thin portion 14 has a thickness T
2 is set to 1.0 mm. As a result, the bending reaction force in the vicinity of the elastic contact start position S of the seal lip 10 is made smaller than that of other portions, and that portion is deformed when the door 2 or 3 is elastically deformed by the elastic contact. While making it relatively flexible, the seal lips 10 are positively made flexible in the vehicle width direction by making the notches 12 and 13 function as break points.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the door is closed, the upper edge of the door 2 or 3 starts to hit from the elastic contact start position S which substantially corresponds to the top of the seal surface 10a, and the seal lip 10 is drawn. As shown in FIG. 2, it is positively bent and deformed in the vehicle width direction, so that the downward or upward force hardly acts on the seal lip 10 due to the elastic contact of the door 2 or 3, and it is assumed that the seal lip 10 acts temporarily. Is also extremely small. Therefore, even in a portion that is not clipped as in FIG. 3, the seal lip 10 is not pushed down or pushed up by the elastic contact of the door 2 or 3, and the straightness of the seal lip 10 in the longitudinal direction is increased. Can be maintained, and the deterioration of appearance as in the past can be prevented.

Here, the drip lip 11 formed integrally with the seal lip 10 does not make elastic contact with the door 2 or 3 even when the door is closed.
It will play the role of collecting water drops such as rainwater flowing down along the a. However, when the door is closed, the above drip lip 1
It goes without saying that 1 may be set so as to make elastic contact with the door 2 or 3.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a second embodiment of the present invention. Instead of the relatively wide thin portion 14 in the first embodiment, a similar thin wall is provided just behind the elastic contact start position S. The notch portion 15 that functions as a portion is formed. Also in this embodiment, the same function as that of the first embodiment is exerted.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the elastic contact start position S is included on the seal surface 10a of the seal lip 10 so as to include the elastic contact start position S. A substantially vertical plane-shaped portion 16 is formed over a predetermined range E above and below the corresponding portion.

In the third embodiment, the planar shape portion 1
6 is the entrance trajectory D of the door 2 or 3 in a direction orthogonal thereto, so that when the door 2 or 3 is elastically contacted with any position on the planar shape portion 16 as the elastic contact start position S, In the same manner as described above, not only downward force or upward force does not act on the seal lip 10, but even if the position of the door 2 or 3 slightly fluctuates in the vertical direction, this is allowed and the intended purpose is achieved. You will be able to achieve it.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of a main part of an automobile.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a first embodiment of an automobile weather strip according to the present invention, and is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIGS. 1 and 3.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory side view showing an attachment form of the weather strip shown in FIG. 2 with a clip.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of an essential part showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of an essential part showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory sectional view showing an example of a conventional automotive weather strip.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory sectional view showing another example of a conventional automotive weather strip.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory sectional view showing the behavior of the weather strip shown in FIG. 6 when the door is closed.

9 is an explanatory side view of FIG.

10 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing the behavior of the weather strip shown in FIG. 7 when the door is closed.

11 is an explanatory side view of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Automotive weather strip 2 ... Front door 3 ... Rear door 4 ... clip 9 ... Mounting base 10 ... Seal lip 10a ... sealing surface 11 ... Drip lip 12, 13 ... Notch 14 ... Thin wall 15 ... Notch part (thin part) 16 ... Plane shape part D: Door entry locus Q ... tangent plane S ... bullet contact start position

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A weather strip for an automobile, comprising: a seal lip, which is disposed along an upper edge of a door opening of a vehicle body, and is in elastic contact with the upper edge of the door when the door is closed. The lip is formed as a hollow cross-section that is convex toward the outside of the passenger compartment, and has an arc-shaped sealing surface with a predetermined curvature on its surface. A position intersecting the plane is set as the elastic contact start position with the door whose direction is the direction orthogonal to the tangent plane, and the portion corresponding to the elastic contact start position of the seal lip is locally thin-walled. A weather strip for automobiles. 2. A door having a substantially vertical plane portion formed on a part of the arcuate sealing surface instead of the elastic contact start position according to claim 1 and having an approach trajectory in a direction orthogonal thereto. A weather strip for automobiles, which is set as the elastic contact starting position of. 3. The hollow seal lip is formed to have a substantially D-shaped cross section or a substantially deformed D-shaped cross section so as to include a substantially flat plate-shaped mounting base in addition to the arc-shaped sealing surface. The mounting base and the upper end of the seal surface are set so as to be in constant contact with the vehicle body panel, and notch portions are formed inside the portions corresponding to the upper and lower ends of the seal surface. Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned.
The weather strip for automobiles according to item 2. 4. The weather strip for an automobile according to claim 3, wherein a drip lip forming a drip groove is integrally formed at a lower end portion of the mounting base portion.