JP2011094676A - Hole cover - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hole cover that prevents a rubber-elastic lip from partly twisting radially inward. <P>SOLUTION: The hole cover 1 includes a hard cover body 6, and the rubber-elastic sealing lip 7 formed in downward projection from an outer edge of the cover body over the entire outer circumference of the cover body. The lip 7 is extended in radially outwardly inclined suspension from a lower surface of a flat portion 14 of the cover body 6 and is flared radially outward in its entire shape. The angle (&beta;) of inclination of the lip is set such that, when the cover body is pressed into a hole, the lip tip is deformed further radially outward as the lip is brought into contact with the surface of the mounting member. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a hole cover that is attached to a hole such as a plug hole formed in a member to be attached such as a body panel of a vehicle and seals the hole.

  Some of the holes such as plug holes formed on the attachment members such as the vehicle body panels are not used when the vehicle is used and remain as they are. It is necessary to prevent entry of foreign matter such as mud. Therefore, a hole cover is attached to the hole to seal (seal) the hole and prevent foreign matter from entering.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-061459 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-360716

  Patent Document 1 describes a hole cover called a hole plug. This hole cover has a rubber cover elasticity that is formed so as to go around the outer periphery of the cover main body on the outer edge of the cover main body and on the lower surface side of the cover main body. It consists of a lip. The cover body has an upper flat plate portion and a cylindrical guide that hangs downward from the flat plate portion. When the guide is inserted into the hole of the mounted member, the flat plate portion closes the hole, and the lock is formed on the guide. The portion is locked in a state in which the hole is closed by engaging the hole edge portion of the attached member. A lip having rubber elasticity is formed on the outer peripheral edge portion of the lower surface side of the cover body so as to go around the outer peripheral edge portion in the entire circumferential direction. When fixed to the mounted member, the lip contacts the mounted member and seals the hole. In Patent Document 1, the shape of the lip is formed so that the waterproof function is improved by using the pressure in the water intrusion direction.

  If a non-uniform pressing force is applied to the lip when the hole cover guide is pushed into the hole of the attached member, a part of the lip having rubber elasticity may be twisted radially inward. The hole cover described in Patent Document 1 is not provided with a structure for preventing twisting of the lip when the non-uniform pressing force is applied to the lip. Therefore, it is desired to prevent a part of the lip having rubber elasticity from twisting inward in the radial direction.

  Patent Document 2 describes a gasket (that is, a seal member). The gasket of Patent Document 2 is provided with a unidirectional seal part and a sub-seal part in order to prevent a collapse when the thickness is reduced. Patent Document 2 only describes a structure for solving the problem of the thinned gasket, and does not describe anything about the twist of the lip due to the uneven pressing force when the hole cover is pushed in. It does not indicate a configuration for solving the problem.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a hole cover that can prevent a part of a lip having rubber elasticity from twisting radially inward.

  In order to achieve such an object, the hole cover according to the present invention is formed so as to protrude downward from the lower surface of the outer edge portion of the cover main body and to protrude downward from the lower surface of the cover main body and to go around the outer periphery of the cover main body. A hole cover that comprises a lip having rubber elasticity and is attached to a hole formed in a member to be attached by pressing to seal the hole with the cover body and the lip, the lip being a cover body It is formed in a trumpet shape that extends so as to hang down while being inclined toward the outside in the radial direction from the lower surface of the lip, and extends outward in the radial direction in the overall shape of the lip. As the lip comes into contact with the front surface of the member to be attached, the tip side of the lip expands further outward in the radial direction as a result of being pushed in during insertion. Deformation is set to an angle, characterized in that.

  As described above, since the tip end side of the lip is set to an angle that deforms further outward in the radial direction as the lip comes into contact with the front surface of the mounted member, the direction in which the lip falls is always It is regulated so as to be defined radially outward, and the lip reliably falls from the tip radially outward. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent a part of the lip having rubber elasticity from being twisted inward in the radial direction in the mounting operation of the hole cover.

  In the hole cover described above, the cover body has a flat plate portion that closes the hole, and the lip has a radially outer surface (outer surface) directed radially outward with a certain angle (angle α). And the surface (inner surface) on the radially inner side is slanted downward from the plate portion toward the outside in the radial direction with a certain angle (angle β) greater than the angle α. To be formed. As a result, the base part of the lip is formed thicker than the tip part, the strength or rigidity of the base part is greater than that of the tip part, the force with which the lip comes into close contact with the mounted member increases, and the inner surface of the lip is perpendicular. Since the angle β which is inclined with respect to is large, in the mold for forming the hole cover, the radially inner portion of the lip becomes an undercut (concave portion), and the molding becomes easy. In this case, the cover body includes a cylindrical guide that hangs downward from a position on the lower surface of the flat plate portion and radially inward of the lip, and the guide includes the guide of the attached member. When inserted into the hole, a lock portion is formed to be engaged with the edge of the hole.

  In one embodiment, the cover main body is formed of hard plastic, and the lip can be integrally formed with the cover main body by insert molding or two-color molding using a thermoplastic elastomer. Further, the attached member is a vehicle body panel, and the hole is a plug hole formed in the body panel.

It is a perspective view which shows operation which attaches the hole cover which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention to the plug hole of a body panel. It is a top view of the hole cover which concerns on one Embodiment to this invention shown in FIG. It is a front view of the hole cover of FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of the hole cover of FIG. 2 and is a cross-sectional view taken along a line corresponding to the AA line of the hole cover of FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 4 showing a state immediately before attachment, in which the hole cover of FIG. 2 is inserted into the plug hole of the body panel. It is a figure which shows the middle of attachment which further inserted the hole cover of FIG. 5 in the plug hole of the body panel. It is a figure which shows a mode that the hole cover of FIG. 6 was inserted in the plug hole of a body panel, and the hole cover was attached to a body panel. It is a figure explaining the function of a hole cover after completion of hole cover attachment shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, a hole cover 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The hole cover 1 is attached to a hole (hole) such as a plug hole 3 of a member to be attached such as a body panel 2 and seals the hole, and prevents foreign matters such as water and mud from entering from the hole. . FIG. 1 shows an operation in which the hole cover 1 is inserted into the plug hole 3 of the body panel 2 and attached. The hole cover 1 is shown by the top view, the front view, and sectional drawing by FIGS. 5 to 7 show that the hole cover 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention starts to be inserted into the plug hole 3 of the body panel 2, the state in the middle of insertion, and the state in which the insertion is completed after the insertion is completed. It is shown. FIG. 7A shows the function of the lip of the hole cover 1 when the hole cover 1 is completely attached to the body panel 2.

  In FIG. 1, a hole cover 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is inserted and attached to a plug hole 3 of a body panel 2 as indicated by an arrow 5, and is installed outdoors (outside the vehicle: the back surface of the body panel 2 of FIG. 1. This prevents foreign matter such as water and mud from entering the room (inside the vehicle: the front side of FIG. 1). The entire shape of the hole cover 1 is formed so as to close the plug hole 3 so as to seal the entire plug hole 3. In FIG. 1, since the member to be attached to the hole cover 1 is the body panel 2 in which the plug hole 3 is formed, it is formed in the shape shown in the figure in accordance with the shape of the plug hole 3. The shape of the hole cover 1 is not limited to the illustrated shape, and is formed in an arbitrary shape according to the shape of the hole that the hole cover 1 closes.

  Details of the hole cover 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. The hole cover 1 consists of one part. The hole cover 1 is formed of a hard cover main body 6 and rubber formed on the outer edge of the cover main body 6 on the lower surface side of the cover main body 6 so as to go around the entire outer periphery of the cover main body 6. It consists of a sealing lip 7 having elasticity. In one embodiment, the cover body 6 is integrally formed of a hard plastic material, and maintains the entire shape of the hole cover 1 in a fixed shape. The lip 7 has rubber elasticity as a whole and seals the plug hole 3 in contact with the peripheral portion of the plug hole 3 of the body panel 2. The lip 7 is formed in a curtain shape that protrudes downward from the lower surface of the cover body 6 along the entire outer peripheral edge of the cover body 6. Unlike the hard material of the cover body 6, the lip 7 is formed of a flexible material having rubber elasticity such as, for example, a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE). By such a flexible lip 7, when the outer edge portion of the lower surface side of the cover body 6 comes into contact with the front surface portion adjacent to the edge portion of the plug hole 3 of the body panel 2, the edge portion of the body panel 2 is bent. Close to the part to prevent the entry of foreign matter such as water and mud.

  The cover body 6 is formed in a shape having a flat plate portion 14 that covers the entire plug hole 3. On the lower surface of the cover body 6, a guide 9 formed along the peripheral shape of the plug hole 3 on the outer edge adjacent to the lip 7 on the inner side in the radial direction from the lip 7 is a curtain shape or tube that hangs downward. It is formed into a shape. In the illustrated embodiment, the guide 9 has a contour matching the shape of the plug hole 3 and is attached along the entire circumference of the outer edge portion adjacent to the inside of the lip 7 so that the plug 9 can be securely plugged. It is formed continuously in a shape or a cylindrical shape. However, the circumferential length of the guide 9 does not have to be continuous over the entire circumference as long as it is attached to the body panel 2 so as to reliably close the plug hole 3, and is partially intermittent. Also good. The length of the guide 9 extending downward from the flat surface portion of the cover body 6 is shorter than the length shown in the drawing as long as the hole cover 1 can be easily inserted into the plug hole 3 and can be securely attached. Conversely, it may be long.

  A plurality of lock portions 10 are formed on the guide 9 at appropriate intervals in the circumferential direction. When the hole cover 1 is completely inserted into the plug hole 3, the lock portion 10 is locked to the edge adjacent to the plug hole 3 of the body panel 2, thereby fixing the hole cover 1 to the body panel 2. To do. The locking part 10 can be bent radially inward and prevented from coming out after the hole cover 1 is completely inserted, and prevented from coming off after being completely inserted. It has spring elasticity that returns to the radially outer side from the bent state. In the illustrated embodiment, the lock unit 10 is connected to the cover body 6 only at the lower end side by an inverted U-shaped slit 11 as shown in FIG. 3, and at the upper end as shown in FIG. A locking shoulder 13 is formed. When the hole cover 1 is inserted into the plug hole 3 due to its spring elasticity, the lock portion 10 falls inward in the radial direction (right side in FIG. 4), and when the hole cover 1 is completely inserted into the plug hole 3, the radius It returns to the original position outside in the radial direction from the position bent inward in the direction, and engages with the edge adjacent to the plug hole 3 of the body panel 2. Note that a plurality (four in the illustrated embodiment) of the lock portions 10 are formed along the circumferential direction of the guide 9 to maintain a high fixing strength. In the illustrated hole cover 1, a connecting portion 12 that can connect other components is formed at the center of the front surface of the flat plate portion 14. The connecting portion 12 is not essential and may or may not be present.

  The lip 7 is formed in a curtain shape so as to go around the entire outer periphery of the outer peripheral portion on the lower surface side of the cover body 6, and the entire lip 7 has rubber elasticity. In order to form the lip 7 having rubber elasticity integrally with the hard cover body 6, for example, the lip 7 made of a thermoplastic elastomer material is insert-molded into the cover body 6 made of a hard plastic material, or two colors. Molded. As shown in FIG. 4, the lip 7 is integrally connected to the outer edge portion of the flat plate portion 14 of the cover main body 6 and extends so as to hang downward from the lower surface of the flat plate portion 14. The length by which the lip 7 hangs downward from the lower surface of the flat plate portion of the cover main body 6 is arbitrary as long as the lip 7 is sufficiently in close contact with the edge portion of the body panel 2 and can prevent foreign matter from entering. However, if it is too long, when the lip 7 comes into close contact with the edge portion of the body panel 2, there is a risk of protruding from the outer edge portion of the cover body 6. As shown in the drawing, it is formed short within a certain range that does not impair the sealing function.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the lip 7 hangs in an oblique direction so as to be away from the lock portion 10 (guide 9) at a certain angle with respect to a perpendicular 15 extending from the flat plate portion 14 of the cover body 6. . In the hole cover 1, the perpendicular line 15 is the same as the pushing direction of the hole cover 1, and the lip 7 is formed with the tip (lower end) inclined radially outward with respect to the pushing direction of the hole cover 1, The lip 7 formed in a curtain shape on the lower surface of the hole cover 1 is formed in a trumpet shape that expands radially outward in its overall shape. The inclination angle of the lip 7 is such that the tip (lower end) side of the lip 7 is radially outward as the lip 7 comes into contact with the front surface of the body panel 2 when the hole cover 1 is inserted into the plug hole 3. The angle is set so as to be further expanded. As the hole cover 1 is inserted into the plug hole 3 due to the inclination of the lip 7, the lip 7 is bent so that the tip of the lip 7 further expands outward while contacting the front surface of the body panel 2. Thus, the intrusion of foreign matter such as water and mud is surely prevented by securely and sufficiently intimately contacting the edge portion of the front surface of the body panel 2. As described above, the lip 7 has a radially inner surface (inner surface) that hangs obliquely downward from the flat plate portion 14 of the cover body 6 toward the radially outer side with an inclination of a certain angle (angle β). Therefore, the direction in which the lip 7 falls is regulated so as to be determined on the radially outer side. Therefore, when the guide 9 of the hole cover 1 is pushed into the plug hole 3 of the body panel 2, an uneven pressing force is applied to the lip 7 due to the external pushing direction being inclined with respect to the body panel 2. Even if a part of the lip having rubber elasticity may be twisted radially inward or radially outward, the above-described restriction, that is, the direction in which the lip 7 is tilted is determined on the radially outer side. The trouble of twisting the lip is prevented.

  In the lip 7, the inclination of the outer surface 17 and the inclination of the inner surface 18 can be made different. In FIG. 4, the angle of inclination of the outer surface 17 of the lip 7 with respect to the perpendicular 15 (that is, the pushing direction of the hole cover 1) is α, and the angle of inclination of the inner surface 18 of the lip 7 with respect to the perpendicular 15 is β. In the illustrated embodiment, the angle β is set larger than the angle α. As a result, the base portion of the lip 7 is formed thicker than the tip portion, the strength or rigidity of the base portion is greater than that of the tip portion, and the force with which the lip 7 is brought into close contact with the body panel 2 increases. In this way, when the angle α at which the outer surface 17 of the lip 7 is inclined with respect to the normal 15 is larger than the angle β at which the inner surface 18 of the lip 7 is inclined with respect to the vertical 15, in the mold for molding the hole cover 1. The portion inside the lip 7 in the radial direction becomes an undercut (concave portion), and molding is also easy.

  1 and 5 to 7 (including FIG. 7A), when the hole cover 1 is inserted into the plug hole 3 of the body panel 2 and fixed to the body panel 2, the lip 7 has the body panel. It will be explained that the outer surface of the 2 is surely tilted to the outside without being twisted and is intimately and sufficiently intimately prevented from entering foreign matter such as water and mud. In FIG. 1, the hole cover 1 is positioned in the plug hole 3 of the body panel 2 and is inserted into the plug hole 3 as indicated by an arrow 5. In FIG. 5, the hole cover 1 is pushed into the plug hole 3 as indicated by an arrow 19 so that the guide 9 of the hole cover 1 extends along the edge of the plug hole 3 of the body panel 2. As described above, the outer surface 17 of the lip 7 is inclined at an angle α (0 <α) with respect to the perpendicular 15 (that is, the pushing direction of the hole cover 1), and the inner surface 18 is perpendicular to the perpendicular 15 (the pushing of the hole cover 1). The direction is inclined at an angle β (0 <α <β).

  As shown in FIG. 6, when the hole cover 1 is continuously pushed, the lock portion 10 formed on the guide 9 abuts against the edge of the plug hole 3 of the body panel 2 and is bent radially inward (arrow 21). ). On the other hand, the tip (lower end) of the lip 7 starts to contact the body panel 2 at the radially outer portion of the plug hole 3. By the pushing force of the hole cover 1, the lip 7 is pressed against the body panel 2 so that its posture is bent. As described above, the lip 7 has a radially inner surface (inner surface) that hangs obliquely downward from the flat plate portion 14 of the cover body 6 toward the radially outer side with an inclination of a certain angle (angle β). Therefore, the direction in which the lip 7 is tilted is regulated so as to be determined to the outside in the radial direction, and as indicated by the arrow 22, the lip 7 surely falls from the front end in the radial direction.

  As shown in FIG. 7, when the hole cover 1 is completely inserted into the plug hole 3, the edge of the plug hole 3 of the body panel 2 gets over the lock portion 10, and the force deflects the lock portion 10 inward in the radial direction. The lock portion 10 returns to the original position outside in the radial direction by the spring elasticity. As a result, the locking shoulder 13 is locked to the edge of the plug hole 3 of the body panel 2, and the hole cover 1 is fixed to the body panel 2. A plurality of lock portions 10 are formed on the hole cover 1, and the hole cover 1 is securely fixed to the body panel 2.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 7A, when the hole cover 1 has been inserted into the plug hole 3 and the hole cover 1 is fixed to the body panel 2, the lip 7 that has fallen reliably radially outward from the tip is The inner surface strongly contacts the body panel 2 as a whole with its tip extending radially outward. The lip 7 is formed in a curtain shape around the outer periphery of the lower surface side of the cover body 6 and has a rubber elasticity as a whole, so that the sealing function of the lip 7 is reliably and highly maintained. Is done. Further, as described above, the lip 7 is formed so that the inclination angle α of the outer surface 17 is smaller than the inclination angle β of the inner surface 18, and the strength or rigidity of the base portion of the lip 7 is larger than that of the tip portion. The force of close contact with the panel 2 is maintained even greater. In FIG. 7A, foreign matter such as water and mud from outside the vehicle (under the vehicle) does not enter the interior of the vehicle because the lip 7 is firmly in close contact with the body panel 2.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Hole cover 2 Body panel 3 Plug hole 6 Cover main body 7 Lip 9 Guide 10 Lock part 11 Slit 12 Connecting part 13 Locking shoulder 14 Flat plate part 15 Vertical line 17 Lip outer surface 18 Lip inner surface

Claims (5)

A hard cover body, and a rubber-elastic sealing lip formed on the lower surface side of the outer edge of the cover body so as to protrude downward from the lower surface and surround the entire outer periphery of the cover body. A hole cover that is attached to the hole formed in the attached member by pressing and sealing the hole by the cover body and the lip,
The lip extends from the lower surface of the cover body so as to incline while being inclined outward in the radial direction, and is formed in a trumpet shape that extends outward in the radial direction in the overall shape of the lip, and the angle of inclination of the lip The angle at which the tip of the lip is deformed so as to further expand radially outward as the lip comes into contact with the front surface of the member to be attached by pushing the cover body into the hole. Set,
Hall cover characterized by   2. The hole cover according to claim 1, wherein the cover main body has a flat plate portion configured to close the hole, and the lip has a certain angle (angle α) on a radially outer surface (outer surface) of the lip. The lip is drooping downward from the flat plate portion toward the radially outer side, and the radially inner surface (inner surface) of the lip is radially outward with a certain angle (angle β) greater than the angle α. The lip has a base portion adjacent to the flat plate portion formed thicker than the tip portion, and a radially inner portion of the lip is formed as an undercut. A hall cover characterized by that.   The hole cover according to claim 2, wherein the cover main body includes a cylindrical guide that hangs downward from a position on the lower surface of the flat plate portion and radially inward from the lip. A hole cover characterized in that a lock portion is formed to be engaged with an edge portion of the hole when the guide is inserted into the hole of the attached member.   The hole cover according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the cover body is formed of a hard plastic, and the lip is insert-molded or 2 formed on the cover body using a thermoplastic elastomer. A hole cover characterized by being integrally molded by color molding.   5. The hole cover according to claim 1, wherein the attached member is a body panel of a vehicle, and the hole is a plug hole formed in the body panel.

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