WO2018184161A1

WO2018184161A1 - Trim fixation device

Info

Publication number: WO2018184161A1
Application number: PCT/CN2017/079535
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hongri Wang; Tarek REZKI; Pengpeng WU; Ronghua PENG; Chunliang XU
Original assignee: Peugeot Citroen Automobiles SA
Current assignee: PSA Automobiles SA
Priority date: 2017-04-06
Filing date: 2017-04-06
Publication date: 2018-10-11
Anticipated expiration: 2019-10-06
Also published as: CN110536815B; CN110536815A

Abstract

A vehicle comprising a body part (3), a trim (5) and at least one fastener (7) cooperating with the trim (5) and respectively with a hole (9) in the body part (3) for fastening said trim (5) to said body part (3). Moreover, the at least one fastener (7) comprises a male portion (11) protruding from the trim (5) and a clip (13) inserted in the hole (9) of the body part (3) and receiving said male portion (11).

Description

TRIM FIXATION DEVICE

Technical Field

The invention is directed to the field of vehicles, more particularly to the fixation of a trim on a body part of an automobile vehicle.

Background

Generally, the fixation of a trim on a body part of a vehicle is performed using either glue, screws and nuts or fixation clips. Although these fastening means are often used they present, however, some disadvantages especially for fixing exterior trims. Thus, in the case of a fixation with glue, besides the fact that the fixation is often not very efficient and may be not feasible according to the design of the trim, overflow problems can also occur, causing an alteration of the esthetic. The assembly by thread is relatively stronger than the fixation with the glue, however it can also appear difficult to implement on a body part of a vehicle which presents deep recesses formed by stamping. Moreover as the fixation with screws and nuts require sometimes to perform holes in the inner panel of the body part, this lead to make fixation of a trim more complex and time consuming. For this reason, most of the time the fixation of an exterior trim on a body part of a vehicle is performed with fixation clips.

Prior art patent document published US 8 806 722 B2 discloses a classical fixation clip to attach a trim to a vehicle body part. In an embodiment, this clip includes a central disk portion comprising an annular elastically deformable portion which forms a stabilizer, a connecting portion that extends from a lower surface of the disk portion, and an anchor portion that projects from an upper surface of the disk portion. The anchor portion is inserted into a hole formed in the body part, the central disk is supported on the exterior surface of the body part, and the connecting portion is used as an attaching member to fix the clip to the trim. This connecting portion also includes an upper flange, a lower flange and a circular cylindrical neck portion which has a reduced diameter corresponding to a diameter of an engagement slot or hole formed in an attaching portion of the trim. With this arrangement the trim is actually interleaved between the two flanges of the connecting portion and thus attached or integrated to the clip and consequently to the body panel. Although this means of fixation is more efficient than screws and nuts to fix a trim, the connecting portion of this clip requires to be inserted so that the trim must present a recess of at least of 11mm. This requirement is not always feasible because of stamping limits, particularly when the trim is in metal, or because of the design of the trim itself. Moreover because of styling constraints of the body part, such large connecting portion often implies to also perform an undercut around the insertion hole of the body part in which the anchor portion is positioned. All this makes at the end the mounting of a trim on a body part of a vehicle relatively complex. Therefore, there is a need in the art for simplified clips.

Summary

The invention has for technical problem to provide a solution to at least one drawback of the above cited prior art. More specifically, the invention has for technical problem to provide a solution to improve the structure of a fixation clip in order to simplify trim attachment on a body part of vehicle, independently of the design of the body part and/or of the trim.

For this purpose, the invention is directed to a vehicle comprising a body part, a trim and at least one fastener cooperating with the trim and respectively with a hole in the body part for fastening said trim to said body part, wherein the at least one fastener comprises a male portion protruding from the trim and a clip inserted in the hole of the body part and receiving said male portion.

According to a preferred embodiment, the at least one clip comprises a ring with a face provided with sealing material contacting the body part around the respective hole and an opposite face provided with adhesive adhering to the trim.

According to a preferred embodiment, the opposite face of the ring of the at least one clip comprises a foam layer.

According to a preferred embodiment, the at least one male portion is integrally formed with the trim.

According to a preferred embodiment, the at least one male portion extends from a disk fixed to internal wall of the trim.

According to a preferred embodiment the at least one clip comprises a hollow protruding portion inserted into the respective hole of the body part, said hollow protruding portion receiving the male portion.

According to a preferred embodiment, the hollow protruding portion comprises at least two flexible wings with end surfaces that engage with the body part around the respective hole.

According to a preferred embodiment, the at least one male portion protruding from the trim comprises at least two engagement surfaces with a distal end of the hollow protruding portion of the at least one clip

According to a preferred embodiment, the trim comprises surfaces around the at least one male portion, in contact with the body part and adhered to said body part.

The invention is also directed to a trim for a body part of a vehicle, comprising a trim body and at least one fastener for engaging with at least one hole of the body part, characterized in that the fastener comprises a male portion protruding from a body of the trim and a clip to be inserted in the hole of the body part and for receiving said male portion.

The trim corresponds to the trim of the above vehicle. The features of the vehicle relating to the trim apply also to the trim as such.

The invention is interesting in that it provides a trim fixation device easier to use than a classical fixation clip and moreover adaptable without modification to all design of trim or/and of body part of a vehicle. The trim fixation of the invention requires less space and is particularly suitable for trims of a reduced thickness and more particularly to be placed on a portion of a body part that is close to form an undercut in a stamping production process. This invention is also particularly interesting in that it decreases the mounting time of a trim by avoiding performing unnecessary undercut in the body part around the insertion hole of the clip.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be readily understood from the following detailed description and drawings among them:

Figure 1a is a view of a trim fixed on a body part of a vehicle with a fastener according to the invention.

Figure 1b shows a view of the trim fixed on the body part of the vehicle represented in the figure 1a but under another positioning.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the clip of the fastener according to the invention.

Detailed Description

Figure 1a depicts a body part 3 of a vehicle on which is attached an exterior trim 5. As is apparent, the fixation of the trim 5 on the body part 3 is performed by a fastener 7 which cooperates with the trim 5 and respectively with a hole 9 made beforehand in the body part 3. The fastener 7 comprises two elements, a male portion 11 and a clip 13. The male portion 11 protrudes from the trim 5 while the clip 13 is inserted in the hole 9 of the body part 3 and is precisely configured to receive the male portion 11.

Concerning the structure of the clip 13 by itself, it actually comprises a ring 15 and a hollow protruding portion 29. The ring 15 presents two faces, the first face 17 is provided with sealing material 19 which contacts the body part 3 around the respective hole 9, and the second face, or opposite face 21, is provided with an adhesive (not visible) adhering to the trim 5. Advantageously a foam layer 23 (not represented on figure 1a) is also be added on the second face 21 of the ring 15.

The hollow protruding portion 29 of the clip 13 is inserted into the respective hole 9 of the body part 3 and is specifically dedicated to receive the male portion 11 of the trim 5. This hollow protruding portion 29 is actually formed of at least two wings 31 which have end surfaces 33 that engage with the body part 3 around the respective hole 9. These end surfaces 33 have the function to exercise a retention force to hold the hollow protruding portion 29 inside the hole 9 once it has been inserted, and thus limited its extruding.

Concerning the male portion 11, this element belongs to the exterior trim 5 which one is composed in fact of two parts, a trim body 6 and the male portion 11 itself. The male portion 11 protrudes from the trim body 6. Advantageously and as is apparent on figure 1a this element 11 extends also from a disk 25 fixed to internal wall (s) 27 of the trim 5 and is generally integrally formed with the body 6 of the trim 5. As a result of this assembly of the male portion 11 on a disk-support 25, the attaching portion of the trim 5 to the clip 13 has not to be deep, enabling thus the fastener 7 of the present invention to adjust on all trim 5 whatever their design.

To limit the extruding of the trim 5, the male portion 11 comprises also at least two engagement surfaces 35 which are engaged with a distal end of the hollow protruding portion 29 of the clip 13. For this purpose the wings 31 of the hollow protruding portion 29 are generally configured with a curved profile so as to taper. On the same way, the surfaces 37 of the trim body 6 surrounding the male portion 11 and being in contact with the body part 3 of the vehicle, can be adhered to the body part 3. The bonding may be done of course with any adhesion systems 39 well known from the skilled person.

Figure 1b is another view of the trim 5 attached to the body part 3 as represented on the figure 1a. On this view the fastener 7, formed by the clip 13 and the male portion 11 of the trim 5, is not visible. Only the trim body 6 is represented with its surrounding surfaces 37 in contact with the upper face of the body part 3 of the vehicle. The adhesion is performed, for instance, with glue 39.

Figure 2 depicts a perspective view of the clip 13 according to the present invention. In order to observe more precisely its structure, the trim 5 has not been represented. As in a classical trim fixation clip, the two elements of the clip 13 of the present invention namely the ring 15 and the hollow protruding portion 29, correspond to the connecting portion and the anchor portion, respectively. On the face 17 of the ring 15 in contact with the body part 3 around the insertion hole 9, it is possible to add sealing material 19, such as for instance seal joints. Thus, this sealing material 19 provides sealing of the clip 13 by being applied against the body part 3. On the same way, on the opposite face 21 of the ring 15 adhesive adhering is generally positioned to fix the disk 25 formed integrally with the male portion 11 and which is fixed to internal wall 27 of the trim 5 (in figure 1a) . Advantageously, a thin foam layer 23 with glue can also be inserted on the top of this opposite face 21 in order to limit therefore any friction noise between the trim 5 and the clip 13, especially when they are made in metal. Taken all together the height of the connecting

portion

15, 19, is not more than 5mm. This low thickness enables therefore the connecting

portion

15, 19 to be easily fix by adhesion against the disk 25 of the trim 5.

Concerning the hollow protruding portion 29 of the clip 13, it comprises at least two wings 31 having end surfaces 33 that engage with the body part 3 around the insertion hole 9. However, as is apparent in the embodiment of the figure 2, the hollow protruding portion 29 can be also formed by a cylindrical portion with flexible terminal ends allowing the male portion 11 of the trim 5 to be easily inserted.

Moreover, it should be noted that the clip 13 may be integrally formed as a unit by molding of resin such polyacetal, but it can be also realized in metal, or other composite material. A plurality of fastener 7 according to the invention can be used to attach an exterior trim 5 to a body part 3 of a vehicle. In a first time the hollow protruding portion 29 of a clip 13, formed by at least two wings 31, is pushed into an insertion hole 9, previously made in the body part 3, by applying a desired force. Upon insertion of the hollow protruding portion 29 of the clip 13, engagement surfaces 35 of the wings 31 engage a periphery of the insertion hole 9, so that the clip 13 can be retained with a desired retention force. In a second time, glue is added on the opposing face 21 of the ring 15, then the male portion 11 of the trim 5 is inserted into the clip 13 between the wings 31 of the hollow protruding portion 29 and thus the lower face of the disk 25 surrounding the male portion 11 are fixed on the ring 15.

Generally, the present invention is interesting in that the fixation of an exterior trim on a body part of a vehicle has been simplified. Moreover, the trim fixation device of this invention is adaptable to any design of trim/and or body part without further modifications. Consequently, the fixation of an exterior trim is faster but still strong.

Claims

Vehicle comprising a body part (3) , a trim (5) and at least one fastener (7) cooperating with the trim (5) and respectively with a hole (9) in the body part (3) for fastening said trim (5) to said body part (3) ；

characterized in that,

the at least one fastener (7) comprises a male portion (11) protruding from the trim (5) and a clip (13) inserted in the hole (9) of the body part (3) and receiving said male portion (11) .
Vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one clip (13) comprises a ring (15) with a face (17) provided with sealing material (19) contacting the body part (3) around the respective hole (9) and an opposite face (21) provided with adhesive adhering to the trim (5) .
Vehicle according to claim 2, characterized in that the opposite face (21) of the ring (15) of the at least one clip (13) comprises a foam layer (23) .
Vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the at least one male portion (11) is integrally formed with the trim (5) .
Vehicle according to claim 4, characterized in that the at least one male portion (11) extends from a disk (25) fixed to internal wall (27) of the trim (5) .
Vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the at least one clip (13) comprises a hollow protruding portion (29) inserted into the respective hole (9) of the body part (3) , said hollow protruding portion (29) receiving the male portion (11) .
Vehicle according to claim 6, characterized in that the hollow protruding portion (29) comprises at least two flexible wings (31) with end surfaces (33) that engage with the body part (3) around the respective hole (9) .
Vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the at least one male portion (11) protruding from the trim (5) comprises at least two engagement surfaces (35) with a distal end of the hollow protruding portion (29) of the at least one clip (13) .
Vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the trim (5) comprises surfaces (37) around the at least one male portion (11) , in contact with the body part (3) and adhered to said body part (3) .
Trim (5) for a body part of a vehicle, comprising a trim body (6) and at least one fastener (7) for engaging with at least one hole (9) of the body part (3) , characterized in that the fastener (7) comprises a male portion (11) protruding from a body (6) of the trim (5) and a clip (13) to be inserted in the hole (9) of the body part (3) and for receiving said male portion (11) .