JP3247570U - Door hole cover installation structure - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a door hole cover mounting structure that can easily mount a door hole cover on a door inner panel without requiring extra parts. [Solution] An inner panel seal surface 3 is formed on the periphery of an opening of an inner panel 1, and a door hole cover 10 is composed of a cover portion 11 that covers the opening, an outer edge portion 12 formed continuously on the periphery of the cover portion, and a plurality of engagement portions 20 formed near the outer edge portion, the outer edge portion is bent and extended from the cover portion toward the inner panel, and a seal portion 13 formed at the tip portion is configured to be in pressure contact with the inner panel seal surface, and the engagement portion extends in a columnar shape from near the outer periphery of the cover portion toward the inside of the door, and an engagement portion 21 that engages with an opening claw portion 4 formed at the edge of the opening is formed at the tip portion, and when the door hole cover is attached to the inner panel, the outer edge portion elastically deforms and the seal portion is pressed against the inner panel seal surface with a predetermined pressure, and the engagement portion engages with the opening claw portion to maintain its position. [Selected Figure] Figure 2

Description

This invention is related to the attachment structure of a door hole cover for blocking an opening formed in a vehicle door inner panel from the outside of the door.

Vehicle doors are generally made up of an outer panel and an inner panel joined together by hemming or other processes, and devices for raising and lowering the window glass are installed inside. For this reason, an opening is usually provided in the inner panel to service this device. A door hole cover may be attached to close this opening from the outside of the door.

The door hole covers that are installed must be able to prevent water from entering the vehicle through gaps in the window glass when washing the car or when it is raining, and must also provide sound insulation and heat insulation. Therefore, door hole covers must have an installation structure that closes the opening while ensuring airtightness around the opening.

In light of this background, a mounting structure has been proposed in which the door hole cover is fastened to the inner panel with bolts, as shown in Patent Document 1.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, a seal member is housed in a seal groove formed on the outer peripheral edge of the carrier plate (door hole cover) on the vehicle exterior side, and a panel mounting portion for mounting the carrier plate to the door inner panel is formed on the inner periphery of the seal groove portion. The panel mounting portion is formed with a bolt hole passing therethrough, and the carrier plate is attached to the door inner panel by aligning the bolt hole with the mounting hole in the door inner panel and fastening the bolt to the weld nut welded to the door inner panel, thereby closing the opening.

JP 2007-198056 A

However, the configuration of Patent Document 1 requires the carrier plate to be positioned and then bolted, which increases the number of steps. In addition, parts such as sealing members and bolts are required, which increases costs.

This invention was made to address these problems, and the purpose of this invention is to provide a structure for attaching a door hole cover that closes the opening of a door inner panel, which allows the door hole cover to be easily attached to the door inner panel without requiring any extra parts.

The ideas for solving the above problems are explained below.

The invention according to claim 1 is an attachment structure for a door hole cover that is removably attached from the outside of the door to an opening formed in an inner panel of a vehicle door and closes the opening, the periphery of the opening of the inner panel is flanged toward the inside of the door, and an inner panel seal surface is formed near the flanged portion, and the door hole cover is composed of a cover portion that blocks the opening, a flexible outer edge portion that is continuously formed on the periphery of the cover portion, and a plurality of engagement portions formed near the outer edge portion, and the outer edge portion is a part of the cover The door hole cover is configured to bend and extend from the outer edge of the cover toward the inner panel, and the seal portion formed at the tip is configured to be pressed against the inner panel seal surface, the locking portion extends in a columnar shape from near the outer periphery of the cover toward the inside of the door, and an engagement portion that engages with the opening claw portion formed at the opening end is formed at the tip, and when the door hole cover is attached to the inner panel, the outer edge elastically deforms and the seal portion is pressed against the inner panel seal surface with a predetermined pressure, and the engagement portion engages with the opening claw portion to maintain its position.

This door hole cover configuration can provide the function of closing the opening of the inner panel without requiring extra parts such as sealing members or bolts. In other words, the restoring force of the outer edge of the door hole cover presses the seal part against the inner panel seal surface, reliably closing the opening. In addition, the multiple locking parts arranged on the door hole cover engage with the edge of the inner panel opening, allowing the door hole cover to maintain a specified posture relative to the door inner panel.

The device according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in addition to the configuration of claim 1, the tip of the sealing portion has a circular cross section that protrudes toward the abutting inner panel sealing surface, and is configured to make line contact with the inner panel sealing surface at a predetermined pressure.

With this seal configuration, even if there is variation in the location and angle at which the seal contacts the inner panel seal surface due to variations in the shape of the door hole cover, the tip of the seal has a circular cross section, so the seal can reliably make line contact with the inner panel seal surface at a specified pressure, and the restoring force of the outer edge generates a specified surface pressure to ensure sealing.

The device according to claim 3 is characterized in that, in addition to the configuration of claim 1 or claim 2, the outer edge has one or more gripping portions near the locking portion toward the outside of the door.

The configuration of the outer edge allows the door hole cover to be removed from the door inner panel without damaging the seal. When removing the door hole cover, it is necessary to push the locking portion with the tip of a screwdriver or the like from the periphery of the door hole cover to disengage the engagement portion from the opening claw portion. At this time, by grasping the gripping portion with a screwdriver or the like and creating a gap between the seal and the door inner panel, the installation and removal work can be performed without damaging the tip of the seal.

The device according to claim 4 is characterized in that, in addition to the configuration of claim 1 or claim 2, the length by which the outer edge portion bends and extends from the outer edge of the cover portion toward the inner panel is 8 mm to 15 mm.

With this outer edge configuration, the elastic force of the outer edge allows the seal portion to be pressed against the inner panel seal surface with an appropriate pressure. In addition, because the outer edge has an appropriate length, it is possible to absorb variations in the flexibility of the outer edge that arise due to manufacturing variations in the door hole cover, and ensure that the cover exhibits a good seal.

The device according to claim 5 is characterized in that, in addition to the configuration of claim 1 or claim 2, the outer edge is deformed 2 mm to 5 mm in the vertical direction of the inner panel when attached.

With this configuration of the outer edge, the elastic force of the outer edge allows the seal portion to be pressed against the inner panel seal surface with an appropriate pressure, ensuring a reliable seal. In addition, the attachment and removal force of the door hole cover 10 can be maintained at an appropriate value, ensuring smooth attachment and removal operations.

This invention provides a door hole cover installation structure that closes the opening of the door inner panel, which can be easily installed without the need for extra parts and provides a structure that closes reliably.

1 is a schematic view of a door assembly equipped with a door hole cover according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the inside of a vehicle. 2 is a cross-sectional view (cross-section A-A) of the locking portion of the peripheral portion of the door hole cover according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the state in which the engagement portion and the opening claw portion are disengaged using a tool such as a screwdriver in order to remove the door hole cover according to the embodiment of the present invention from the inner panel. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of the locking portion of the door hole cover according to the embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a locking portion of the door hole cover according to the embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of part B (FIG. 2) illustrating the structure of the tip of the seal portion. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the periphery of the door hole cover according to the embodiment of the present invention, illustrating the meanings of the symbols W, L, and t; FIG. This is a carrier plate mounting structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-198056.

Reference Signs List 1 Inner panel 2 Opening 3 Inner panel seal surface 4 Opening claw portion 5 Flange processing portion 6 Door assembly 10 Door hole cover 11 Cover portion 12 Outer edge portion 13 Sealing portion 15 Grip portion 20 Locking portion 21 Engagement portion 31 Driver 32 Pliers

The following describes in detail an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiment. Furthermore, appropriate modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the effects of the present invention.

(Door hole cover configuration)
Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a door assembly 6 including a door hole cover 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the inside of the vehicle (inner panel side), with the left direction of the drawing being the front direction of the vehicle. Fig. 2 illustrates a cross section (A-A cross section) including the engagement portion 20 shown in Fig. 4 to show the mounting structure of the door hole cover 10. Fig. 5 is a perspective view illustrating the shape of the outer edge portion 12 including the engagement portion 20 so that it is possible to understand the shape of the outer edge portion 12.

The door assembly 6 has an opening 2 for servicing the motor (not shown) that is attached inside to raise and lower the window glass, as shown in FIG. 1. Furthermore, the opening 2 is closed with an airtight door hole cover 10 to prevent water from entering the vehicle through the gap between the window glass and the door. Furthermore, since vehicles are required to be quiet and economical, the door hole cover 10 is also required to have soundproofing and heat insulation functions.

The opening 2 of the inner panel 1 is located at the rear of the door for ease of service, as shown in Figure 1. Additionally, as shown in Figure 3, six locking parts 20 are arranged at approximately equal intervals around the periphery of the door hole cover 10, and these locking parts 20 function to secure the door hole cover 10 to the opening 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, a flanged portion 5 is integrally formed around the entire periphery of the opening 2 of the inner panel 1 so as to intersect with the inner panel 1 at a substantially right angle toward the inside of the door. The opening 2 with this flanged portion is usually formed by piercing and flange processing in a press process. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the door hole cover 10 has a plate-shaped cover portion 11 that has substantially the same shape as the opening 2 in a plan view and shields the opening 2.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, an outer edge 12 with a seal portion 13 at its tip is formed around the entire periphery of the cover portion 11 to ensure airtightness between the cover portion 11 and the inner panel 1. The outer edge 12 is made of a flexible resin or the like with a thickness of t mm. The outer edge 12 bends from the cover portion 11 and extends L mm toward the inner panel 1, and the seal portion 13 is formed continuously on the outer periphery. The seal portion is in contact with the inner panel 1 with a width of C mm as shown in Figure 6.

When the door hole cover 10 is not attached to the opening 2 (free state), the outer periphery 12 has the shape shown by the dashed lines in Figures 2 and 7. When the door hole cover 10 is attached to the opening 2, the tip of the seal portion 13 is pressed against the inner panel seal surface 3, and due to deformation caused by the flexibility of the outer edge portion 12, it assumes the shape shown by the solid line after attachment. At this time, a restoring force acts on the outer edge portion 12, so the tip of the seal portion 13 is in a state of being pressed against the inner panel seal surface 3 with a predetermined surface pressure. The displacement of the seal portion tip in the vertical direction to the inner panel at this time is referred to as the overlap amount W.

The surface pressure acting on the tip of the seal portion depends on the restoring force of the flexible outer edge portion 12, and is therefore determined mainly by the outer edge thickness t mm, outer edge length L mm, and outer edge overlap amount W.

Depending on the required functionality, various resins with flexibility and sealing properties can be used as materials for the door hole cover 10, but in this embodiment, low-density polyethylene is used. The design value for the outer edge thickness t is the standard 1 mm.

As long as the outer edge 12 is flexible and can generate a predetermined pressure in the seal portion 13, a shorter length is advantageous in terms of material costs and weight reduction, so the upper limit of the outer edge length L is set to 15 mm. Furthermore, if the outer edge length is made too short, the influence of manufacturing variations becomes large, and there is a possibility that the required pressure cannot be generated in the seal portion 13, so the lower limit of the outer edge length L is set to 8 mm. In this embodiment, the design value of the outer edge length L is set to 10 mm.

The amount of overlap W of the outer edge is related to the fact that the surface pressure generated at the tip of the seal portion 13 increases in proportion to the amount of overlap W. In order to generate the minimum necessary surface pressure for sealing, the lower limit of the amount of overlap W is set to 2 mm. On the other hand, if the amount of overlap W is increased too much, the repulsive force when attaching and removing the door hole cover 10 increases excessively, making it difficult to attach and remove, and increasing the time required for the attachment and removal work, so the upper limit of the amount of overlap W is set to 5 mm. In this embodiment, the design value of the amount of overlap W is set to 3 mm.

As shown in the enlarged view of Figure 6, the tip of the seal portion 13 has a circular cross section of R1 to R3 mm that protrudes toward the abutting inner panel seal surface 3, and is configured to make line contact with the inner panel seal surface 3 at a predetermined pressure. In this embodiment, the width C of the line contact is approximately 0.9 mm, and the design value of the seal surface pressure of the line contact is 0.05 MPa.

By configuring the tip of the seal part 13 with a circular cross section, even if the contact area and angle of the tip of the seal part 13 with the inner panel seal surface 3 varies slightly due to variations in the shape of the seal part 13, the contact area of the contact area does not change and the seal part is pressed with a specified surface pressure, ensuring sealing performance.

The locking portions 20, which are arranged in six places around the periphery of the door hole cover 10, extend from the periphery of the cover portion 11 in a direction generally perpendicular to the inside of the door, and have an engagement portion 21 at the tip that engages with the opening claw portion 4 of the inner panel 1. The engagement portion 21 has a hole that matches the shape of the opening claw portion 4, and the opening claw portion 4 is inserted into the engagement portion 21 to engage, thereby maintaining the position of the door hole cover 10.

(Installing door hole covers)
Before being attached to the opening 2 (i.e., in a free state), the seal portion is manufactured with the bulging portion 13 projecting outward from the outer edge of the opening 2, as shown by the dashed line in Fig. 2. To attach the door hole cover 10 to the opening 2 from this state, it is first necessary to attach the door hole cover 10 in a position where its outer shape corresponds to the outer shape of the opening 2, and then the worker must attach the seal portion while deforming and shrinking it so that the outer periphery of the seal portion fits into the opening 2. At the same time, the six locking portions 20 are engaged with the claws 4 of the opening while the seal portion is attached.

As shown in Figure 2, the seal portion is in a free state as shown by the dashed line before installation, but after installation, the flexibility of the outer edge portion 12 causes the seal portion 13 to deform so that it abuts against the inner panel 1 and is pressed against the inner panel seal surface 3. At this time, a restoring force due to elasticity acts on the outer edge portion 12, so the seal portion 13 is pressed against the inner panel seal surface 3 with a predetermined pressure, exerting its sealing function.

Meanwhile, a force acts on the door hole cover 10 to move away from the inner panel 1 in reaction to the pressure of the sealing portion 13, but since the engagement portion 21 engages with the inner panel opening claw portion 4 and the force is balanced, the door hole cover 10 is maintained in a predetermined posture relative to the inner panel 1.

(Removing the door hole cover)
When the door hole cover 10 is attached, the engagement portion 21 is engaged with the opening claw portion 4 and the two are fixed to each other. To remove the door hole cover 10, it is first necessary to disengage the engagement portion 21 from the opening claw portion 4. To do this, it is necessary to push the locking portion 20 from the outer periphery of the door hole cover 10 with the tip of a tool or the like, but in doing so, there is a risk of damaging the tip of the first seal portion 13.

In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 3, a gripping portion 15 is provided on the seal portion 13 near the locking portion 20, facing toward the outside of the door. By pushing the locking portion 20 with a screwdriver 31 or the like while pulling the gripping portion 15 with a tool such as pliers 32 so that the seal portion 13 is separated from the inner panel 1, the engagement portion 21 can be released from the opening claw portion 4 without damaging the tip of the seal portion 13. By releasing the engagement of the six engagement portions 21 in this procedure, the door hole cover 10 can be removed without damaging the seal portion.

Claims (5)

A mounting structure for a door hole cover that is detachably attached from the outside of a door to an opening formed in an inner panel of a vehicle door and closes the opening,
The periphery of the opening of the inner panel is flanged toward the inside of the door, and an inner panel seal surface is formed in the vicinity of the flanged portion,
The door hole cover includes a cover portion that covers the opening, a flexible outer edge portion that is continuously formed on the periphery of the cover portion, and a plurality of locking portions formed near the outer edge portion.
It is composed of
The outer edge portion is bent and extends from the outer edge of the cover portion toward the inner panel, and a seal portion formed at a tip portion is configured to be in pressure contact with a seal surface of the inner panel,
The locking portion extends in a columnar shape from the vicinity of the outer periphery of the cover portion toward the inside of the door, and an engagement portion is formed at a tip end thereof to engage with an opening claw portion formed at an end of the opening,
When the door hole cover is attached to the inner panel, the outer edge portion is elastically deformed, the sealing portion is pressed against the inner panel sealing surface with a predetermined pressure, and the engagement portion is engaged with the opening claw portion to maintain the position.
Door hole cover installation structure. The seal portion has a circular cross section that projects toward the inner panel seal surface with which it abuts, and is configured to make line contact with the inner panel seal surface with a predetermined pressure.
The door hole cover mounting structure according to claim 1. The outer edge portion has one or more gripping portions in the vicinity of the locking portion toward the outside of the door.
The door hole cover mounting structure according to claim 1 or 2. The outer edge portion is bent from the outer edge of the cover portion toward the inner panel and extends a length of 8 mm to 15 mm.
The door hole cover mounting structure according to claim 1 or 2. The outer edge portion is deformed by 2 mm to 5 mm in a vertical direction of the inner panel.
The door hole cover mounting structure according to claim 1 or 2.

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