WO2005115798A1

WO2005115798A1 - A motor vehicle body protective strip

Info

Publication number: WO2005115798A1
Application number: PCT/AU2005/000772
Authority: WO
Inventors: John Henry Dunsmore
Original assignee: John Henry Dunsmore
Priority date: 2004-05-31
Filing date: 2005-05-31
Publication date: 2005-12-08

Abstract

A removable protective strip (10) for a motor vehicle including a collapsible strip and a fastener (11) wherein the collapsible strip includes a deformable longitudinal member and at least one adherent element (18) for retaining the strip in engagement with a panel of the motor vehicle and wherein the fastener is attached to the collapsible strip and includes a detent (13, 14, 72) for locking the protective strip to the motor vehicle, said detent receivable between a door panel in an open condition and an adjacent panel of the motor vehicle and wherein said detent is locked between the door panel in a closed condition and the adjacent panel.

Description

A MOTOR VEHICLE PROTECTIVE STRIP

This invention relates to a motor vehicle body protective strip and is particularly concerned with a strip which can be readily secured or removed by an authorised user of the vehicle but which is not readily removable by others.

Motor vehicles are particularly prone to having their side panels scratched, dented or generally damaged by the opening of doors of an adjacently parked vehicle. In an attempt to reduce such damage, manufacturers often provide fixed protective strips extending along the sides of their vehicles. However, such strips are normally of very shallow depth and more often than not are located in a position which does not give protection against the great many varieties of vehicles which are now on the road. Thus, for instance, fixed protective strips rarely protect a vehicle's side from the outer edge of another vehicle's door because the strip is located either above or below the outer edge of the other vehicle's opening door. Further, fixed protective strips are often very narrow because substantial protective strips are not aesthetically pleasing, and therefore have very little utility at all.

Many attempts have been made in the past to overcome these problems such as by providing removable body protective strips. One such strip which is particularly useful is described in US Patent No. 4,498,697. This comprises a moulded plastic or rubber tube with a magnetic strip fitted thereto. The tube includes a semi-rigid internal member and a wire retaining loop for preventing theft. Although this protective strip has great utility, it has the disadvantage of being relatively expensive to manufacture because of the large number of components it consists of, it is not adaptable to varying lengths to suit different sized vehicles, and the wire retaining loop can scratch the paintwork if sufficient care during installation and removal is not exercised. Damage to the vehicle will also occur if the strip is forcibly removed by an unauthorised person.

It is consequently an object of the invention to provide a removable protective strip which is adaptable to suit any size vehicle, and has a theft-prevention component which will not damage the vehicle during use or unauthorised removal. According to the present invention there is provided a removable protective strip for a motor vehicle including a collapsible strip and a fastener wherein the collapsible strip includes a deformable longitudinal member and at least one adherent element for retaining the strip in engagement with a panel of the motor vehicle and wherein the fastener is attached to the collapsible strip and includes a detent for locking the protective strip to the motor vehicle, said detent receivable between a door panel in an open condition and an adjacent panel of the motor vehicle and wherein said detent is locked between the door panel in a closed condition and the adjacent panel. The removable protective strip for a motor vehicle includes a collapsible strip. The collapsible strip may be formed to collapse in a variety of manners that will provide varying benefits to the consumer and manufacturer. In one embodiment the collapsible strip may be a telescopic strip in which a plurality of slidable segments can be extended or retracted for use and storage respectively.

In an alternate embodiment, the collapsible strip may be foldable, preferably having lateral fold lines to enable folding into a collapsed state for storage. One or more lateral recesses may be located in the strip to enable it to be readily folded for storage in the vehicle when not in use. For instance, a recess can be in the form of a slit which extends part way through the body of the strip and is optionally reinforced by a plastic liner formed from sheet nylon or some other similar such durable yet flexible material. h yet another embodiment, the collapsible strip may be a reliable strip whereby the strip may be coiled for storage.

The collapsible strip includes a deformable longitudinal member. The deformable longitudinal member may absorb the majority of the impact of a shopping trolley or door of an adjacent vehicle and protect the motor vehicle from damage. The deformable longitudinal member may be formed from a resiliently deformable expanded polymeric material, for example from one of a range of plastics, rubbers or composite materials which are of sufficient density to fully absorb any impact of a door of an adjacent vehicle being slammed against it, and to return to substantially the original shape after such an impact. Preferred plastics materials include foamed styrene-butadiene copolymers, polyurethanes and acetates, particularly ethylene vinyl acetate. Preferred rubbers include polychloroprene (neoprene), nitrile, butyl, silicone and polysulfide rubbers, ethylene-propylene terpolymers and various foamed latexes. Preferred composites include mixtures of the aforementioned plastics and rubber materials, optionally with further additives and fillers.

Suitably, the deformable longitudinal member is shaped to give a aesthetically pleasant appearance. Cross-sectional profiles may be polygonal, curved, or a combination of such shapes. Preferably, the side which is adapted to fit against the vehicle is substantially planar and the projecting section is oval or semi-oval.

The deformable longitudinal member may include a protective or aesthetic coating. For example, the deformable longitudinal member may have a tough impact or tear resistant coating that may be conveniently pigmented or coloured to provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance.

The fastener may be disposed at one or both ends of the protective strip or in an intermediate position, in which a collapsible strip extends from each side of the fastener.

A plastic housing may be attachable to any free end of the collapsible strip or be integrally formed with the collapsible strip. The plastic housing maybe attachable to a free end of the strip once it has been trimmed (if necessary) to size to suit the vehicle. The plastic housing may be purely for aesthetic purposes and can be designed to look similar to the plastic housing which contains the detent. The plastic housing may also be used to contain an adherent member. The plastic housings are basically end caps for the strip of resiliently deformable expanded polymeric material, which provide an aesthetically pleasant appearance to the protective strip.

The collapsible strip includes at least one adherent element for retaining the strip in engagement with a panel of the motor vehicle. Many motor vehicles include panels formed from steel and to which the strip can be held using a magnetic element which is either embedded in or applied to the collapsible. The magnetic element can take a range of forms and can comprise a range of compositions. It can, for instance, comprise a single strip or a plurality of pieces of a magnetic material formed from a matrix of ferric oxide powder or like magnetisable material or mixtures, in a plastics carrier such as polyvinylchloride. The single strip or multiple pieces of the magnetic element can be attached by heat or adhesive to the strip of polymeric material, or can be retained in situ by physical retention within a slot or slots, or by some similar such means.

Other types of magnetic element include magnetic iron bars which can be embedded in one or more separate polymeric coatings which are in turn themselves embedded in or applied to the strip of polymeric material in a similar manner to that described above.

The preferred form of magnetic element comprises several pieces of vinyl magnet which are adhered to the surface of the strip of polymeric material on the side which, in use, is adapted to lie adjacent to the motor vehicle door.

The at least one adherent element may be in the form of suction caps. Some motor vehicles include aluminium panels that are not magnetic and to which a magnetic element will not attach. In such applications, the adherent elements may be suction caps or other adherent members. Other adherent members may include a removable adhesives, static charged elements, suction or frictional adherent elements or the like.

The protective strip includes a fastener attached to the collapsible strip and which fastener includes a detent for locking the protective strip to the motor vehicle. The detent is receivable between a door panel in an open condition and an adjacent panel of the motor vehicle and wherein said detent is locked between the door panel in a closed condition and the adjacent panel. In this way, when the doors of the vehicle are locked in a closed condition the protective strip is locked to the motor vehicle. The fastener, containing the detent, provides a security means to prevent unauthorised removal of the protective strip. That is, the detent, by virtue of it being of such a size that it cannot pass between the gap located between the vehicle door and an adjacent panel such as a jamb when the door is closed, only permits installation and removal of the protective strip when the door is open and the gap is thereby widened.

The detent is essentially an enlargement on a section of the housing which protrudes, in use, below the housing. Thus, it can have a wide range of configurations. A particularly suitable configuration comprises a spherical shape superimposed upon a narrow neck element. As already noted, the detent is formed integrally with the housing and by this is meant that it is moulded as a unitary piece with the housing, from the same plastics material as the housing is composed of. In one preferred embodiment the fastener includes a detent wherein the fastener slidably receives the edge of a door panel or adjacent panel against the detent. This embodiment permits the protective strip to be fixedly attached to the motor vehicle during installation and requires less active positioning during installation. Advantageously, the protective strip has a minimum number of components which are relatively inexpensive to manufacture, therefore making it an economical proposition. Its structure and composition make it suitable for cutting to length to suit the size of the vehicle to which it is to be attached. And it is theft proofed by virtue of the plastics indent which cannot scratch the metal or paint of the vehicle during use or by being pried off by a malicious act. In all, the strip satisfies the aforementioned objects of the invention.

The protective strip of the present invention advantageously provides portability, ease of application and removal to form a protective strip for a motor vehicle by the user, ease of storage, relatively low cost, protection for a wide variety of car door panels, and reasonably protection from third party vehicles and outside environmental equipment such as shopping trolleys or other equipment manoeuvred adjacent to a car parking environment. The present invention provides a protective strip that may be used in congested car parks for both short and long term parking, as a general body protection for a motor vehicle such as against panel damage from other sources such as fishing rods, roof rack based objects and the like. A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a protective strip according to one embodiment of the invention,

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the strip of Figure 1 through a section between the ends of the strip,

Figure 3 is a plan view of the fastener containing the detent shown in Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a side-on view of the fastener shown in Figure 3,

Figure 5 is a cross-section of the fastener shown in Figure 3, and

Figure 6 is a side-on view of a motor vehicle showing the strip of Figure 1 installed.

Figure 7 shows an exploded view of a fastener for use in applying a protective strip to a motor vehicle in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 8 shows a perspective view of the fastener shown in figure 7. Figure 9 shows an isometric view of a key for operating the fastener shown in figure 8.

Figure 10 shows an isometric view of the fastener of figure 9. Figure 11 shows a block diagram of a protective strip according to a further embodiment of the present invention. Figure 12 shows a cross section through a-a of the protective strip shown in figure 11.

In all of the drawing, like reference numerals refer to like parts. Referring to all of the drawings simultaneously, the removable motor vehicle body protective strip comprises a preformed moulded strip of ethylene vinyl acetate 10 having a substantially D-shaped cross-sectional configuration. The strip 10 has a polyvinylchloride fastener 11 adhered to a leading end, which has a downwardly curved extremity 12. Extending from the lower end of the extremity is an integrally formed detent comprising a neck portion 13 and a spherical section 14. The neck portion 13 has a cross-sectional dimension which enables it to project between the gap 15 defined by the closed door 16 of a vehicle and the fixed side panel 17. The spherical section 14 has a diameter which prevents it from passing through that gap 15.

Magnetic vinyl pads 18 are adhered at appropriate locations 19 on the bottom surface of the acetate strip 10 to enable secure attachment to a metal door and/or side panel of the vehicle. A recess 20 is formed in a mid-section of the acetate strip 10 to enable the strip to be folded upon itself when it is stowed away. The recess has a polyvinylchloride lining to ensure that the integrity of the strip is maintained, that is, the acetate strip is not broken or damaged during folding. The other end of the acetate strip has a housing 22 which has a similar overall configuration to fastener 11 but without a detent arrangement. Housing 22 is initially a separate component to the acetate strip 10 as the acetate strip is supplied in an oversized length to enable it to be trimmed to suit the particular vehicle with which it is intended to be used. The housing 22 is then either press-fitted to the end of the acetate strip, or glued, or otherwise fixed to ensure that it cannot become detached therefrom. In use the protective strip is fitted to the motor vehicle in situations where damage to the doors and/or side panels can occur. Fitting is done by partly opening the driver's door 16, sliding the spherical section 14 of the detent between the door and the fixed panel 17, shutting the door and extending the protective strip along the door at the desired height and lightly pressing it thereto so that the magnetic vinyl pads 18 retain it in situ. Removal of the protective strip is a reverse procedure of the above steps.

Figure 7 shows a collapsible strip 31 having an aperture 32 extending therethrough. A fastener 33 extends into the aperture and is actuated using key 34.

Figure 8 shows fastener 33. Fastener 33 has detent 35 extending from the base 36 providing an opening 37 for slidably receiving a door panel (not shown). Fastener 33 includes a shaft 38 having a pair of opposed lugs 39 for engagement and actuation by a key 34. Figures 9 and 10 show key 34 having a shaped aperture 40 for receiving a actuating member (not shown). The key member 34 includes a sleeve 41 for receiving the shaft 38 of the fastener and a pair of opposed apertures 42 for receiving the opposed lugs 39 of the fastener 33. A shaped member (not shown) may be inserted into the shaped aperture 40 and twist the key member 34 thereby rotating the fastener 35 into a slidable engagement with a panel of a motor vehicle.

Figures 11 and 12 show a protective strip 51. The protective strip 51 includes a co-extruded outer body 52. The co-extruded outer body 52 may be produced from an extruded PNC in which two grades of PNC of differing hardness are injected into an extrusion tool so as to produce a soft outer profile with a structurally rigid inner profile. The inner profile 53 may be formed from a hard grade of PNC or alternatively an aluminium inner profile will be used. A softer grade of impact absorbent PNC 54 as an outer profile which provide impact absorption and protection against a host of minor impacts. The rigid inner profile 53 provides the strength and integrity protective strip along its length. A co-extruded inner body 55 may also be produced from co-extruded PNC in a similar manner to the outer body 52. The co-extruded inner body may include a soft outer profile 57 and a structurally rigid inner profile 56.

An injection moulded end cap 60 houses a rare earth magnet 61 for magnetically attaching to a panel of the motor vehicle. The injection moulded end cap is attached to a remote end of the co-extruded outer body 52. Attached to the co- extruded inner body 55 is a rotating end cap 62 which is hingedly connected to the co- extruded inner body 55 by hinge 63. The rotating end cap 62 includes a rare earth magnet 64, also for attaching to a panel of a motor vehicle. Figure 11 shows the rotating end cap in three staged positions.

A fastener 70 is attached to the outer body 54 and permits the inner body 55 to pass therethrough. The fastener 70 includes a deformable foam strip 71 along with a detent 72 for slidably engaging a door panel between said detent and the foam strip 71 of the fastener 70.

In operation, the inner body is slidably received within the outer body so as to permit the protective strip to be extended to the desired length.

Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative example of the invention, many modifications and variations may be made thereto by persons skilled in the art without departing from the broad scope and ambit of the invention as herein set forth.

Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. A removable protective strip for a motor vehicle including a collapsible strip and a fastener wherein the collapsible strip includes a deformable longitudinal member and at least one adherent element for retaining the strip in engagement with a panel of the motor vehicle and wherein the fastener is attached to the collapsible strip and includes a detent for locking the protective strip to the motor vehicle, said detent receivable between a door panel in an open condition and an adjacent panel of the motor vehicle and wherein said detent is locked between the door panel in a closed condition and the adjacent panel.

2. A removable protective strip for a motor vehicle according to claim 1 wherein the collapsible strip is a telescopic strip.

3. A removable protective strip for a motor vehicle according to claim 1 wherein the collapsible strip is a foldable strip.

4. A removable protective strip for a motor vehicle according to claim 3 wherein the foldable strip includes lateral fold lines.

5. A removable protective strip for a motor vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the deformable longitudinal member is formed from a resiliently deformable expanded polymeric foam.

6. A removable protective strip for a motor vehicle according to claim 5 wherein the polymeric foam includes foamed styrene-butadiene copolymers, polyurethanes and acetates, particularly ethylene vinyl acetate. Preferred rubbers include polychloroprene (neoprene), nitrile, butyl, silicone and polysulfide rubbers, ethylene-propylene terpolymers and various foamed latexes.

7. A removable protective strip for a motor vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the at least one adherent element is in the form of at least one magnetic element.

8. A removable protective strip for a motor vehicle according to claim 7 wherein the at least one magnetic element comprise a single strip or a plurality of pieces of a magnetic material formed from a matrix of ferric oxide powder or like magnetisable material or mixtures, in a plastics carrier.

9. A removable protective strip for a motor vehicle according to claim 7 wherein the at least one magnetic element includes magnetic iron bars embedded in one or more separate polymeric coatings which are in turn embedded in or applied to the strip of polymeric material.

10. A removable protective strip for a motor vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the at least one adherent element is in the form of at least one suction cap.

11. A removable protective strip for a motor vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 10 wherein the detent is essentially an enlargement on a section of the fastener which protrudes, in use, below the fastener.

12. A removable protective strip for a motor vehicle according to claim 11 wherein the detent comprises a spherical shape superimposed upon a narrow neck element.

13. A removable protective strip for a motor vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 10 wherein the fastener includes a detent wherein the fastener slidably receives the edge of a door panel or adjacent panel against the detent.