Movable or removable closures – With operator for movably mounted closure
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-31
2001-06-05
Stodola, Daniel P. (Department: 3634)
Movable or removable closures
With operator for movably mounted closure
C049S397000, C049S402000, C016S225000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06240676
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to orientable glazing for motor vehicles, attached to a glazing frame which has an attachment flange, and comprising a toughened window glass, a run of elastically deformable adhesive along part of the periphery of the window glass for bonding the window glass to the attachment flange, a profiled elastomer seal laid against the window glass at least in that part of the periphery of the window glass that is not covered by the run of adhesive, and an opening and closing mechanism acting at a point on the window glass that lies opposite the run of adhesive.
Pivoting orientable glazing of this type is already known from document DE-U-8709446. In this known orientable glazing, the run of adhesive acts as a hinge and is installed along the vertical front edge of the window glass. Along the other edges of the window glass, there is a preformed profiled seal fixed to the edge of the window glass.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,153 discloses orientable glazing for motor vehicles, in which a run of adhesive laid along the upper horizontal edge of the window glass acts as a hinge, the opening and closing mechanism acting on the middle of the lower edge of the window glass. In this case too, the run of adhesive extends only in a straight line along the middle of the upper edge of the window glass and ends before the rounded corner region which, in the same way as the remaining part of the periphery of the window glass, is sealed by a simple tubular seal which, for its part, is laid on the window frame flange.
Known orientable glazings of this type have specific drawbacks. Specifically, all the known embodiments have in common the fact that when the glazing is in the open position in a motor vehicle travelling in the rain, it does not prevent the rain from coming in. Furthermore, known orientable glazing has the drawback that the window glass, when open, shakes, particularly when the vehicle is travelling at high speed, and thus creates annoying noises.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to improve orientable glazing of the type described in the preamble in such a way that when in the open position in a moving vehicle, it is, on the one hand, sufficiently sealed against rain coming in and, on the other hand, does not shake about annoyingly, particularly at high speed.
The orientable glazing according to the invention is characterized in that the run of adhesive is along the vertical front edge, along the upper edge and, following the contour of the upper rear corner of the window glass, along an upper segment of the rear edge of the window glass, and in that the mechanism for opening and closing the orientable glazing acts in the region of the lower rear corner of the window glass.
Unlike the known orientable glazing, in the case of the orientable window glazing according to the invention, the run of adhesive is also laid along part of the periphery of the window glass in which the run of adhesive does not in any way act as a hinge when opening and closing the glazing. On the contrary, when opening the glazing the run is exclusively, or at least for the most part, made to stretch at this point. Not only will the angle through which the window glass is pivoted in this case cause the elastic stretching of this part of the run of adhesive, but also, part of the bending moment exerted on the window glass by the opening mechanism will also, to a certain extent, lead to elastic bending of the window glass, which will further increase the mechanical rigidity of the window glass when in its open position. Given that the window glass is made of toughened glass, the opening mechanism may, if the bonding is relatively secure, exert a relatively high bending moment on the window glass, which gives a particularly stable construction.
The orientable glazing according to the invention also has the favourable effect that, even in the open position, it is remarkably well sealed against the ingress of rain and airborne dust, because the front edge in the direction of travel, the upper edge and the upper part of the rear edge, in the direction of travel, of the window glass are connected to the vehicle bodywork from one end to the other in a sealed manner.
The length over which the run of adhesive extends along the vertical rear edge of the window glass is advantageously determined on a case by case basis as a function of the geometry of the window and of the configuration of the run of adhesive. In general, the length of this segment may be of the order of from 10 to 40%, especially 15 to 30%, particularly 15 to 25%, of the total length of this vertical rear edge. When using a commonplace bonding system, for example a bonding system based on a system of polyurethane with a component which cures under the effect of moisture, the length of this segment of the run of adhesive may be from about a quarter to a third of the total length of this vertical rear edge of the window glass.
According to another advantageous aspect of the invention, the profiled elastomer seal laid along the edge of the window glass has two sealing lips substantially parallel to one another, namely a long lip extending over the space that separates the periphery of the window glass from the window frame, and a short lip resting against the window frame in the region of the angle between the window frame and the attachment flange. Whereas the long outer sealing lip constitutes sufficient protection against normal splashes of water in rainy weather, the short inner sealing lip presses against the window frame with a bending stress which is higher because of its smaller size and increases the sealing effect to the extent that a good seal is also ensured under high loading, as is inevitable, for example, during cleaning with a high-pressure water jet.
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Cornils Gerd
Panitz Jürgen
Pennie & Edmonds LLP
Saint-Gobain Vitrage
Stodola Daniel P.
Strimbu Gregory J.
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