Movable or removable closures – Closure seal; e.g. – striker gasket or weatherstrip – With corner or corner forming portions; i.e. – corner seal
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-12
2001-06-26
Stodola, Daniel P. (Department: 3634)
Movable or removable closures
Closure seal; e.g., striker gasket or weatherstrip
With corner or corner forming portions; i.e., corner seal
C049S498100, C049S475100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06250018
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to front door weather strips, and more particularly to a front door weather strip which comprises a base section which is mounted on the periphery of a front door of a vehicle, and a hollow sealing section which is extended from the base section. The front door weather strip is annular as a whole.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, a front door weather strip is mounted on the periphery of a front door of a vehicle to seal the gap between the front door and the vehicle body. In the weather strip of this type, its mainly substantially straight part is formed by extrusion molding, and its corner part small in the radius of curvature is formed by using a mold (hereinafter referred to as “mold molding”, when applicable) (cf. Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei. 1-168346, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei. 2-26934, or the like). The weather strip fundamentally comprises a base section which is mounted on the periphery of a front door, and a hollow sealing section which is extended from the base section, and is formed, for instance, with EPDM solid rubber or sponge rubber.
FIG. 8
is a side view of a conventional front door weather strip. As shown in
FIG. 8
, the weather strip
70
comprises three extrusion molding sections (a first extrusion molding section
71
, a second extrusion molding section
72
, and a third extrusion molding section
73
); and three mold molding sections (a first mold molding section
74
, a second mold molding section
75
, and a third mold molding section
76
) which connect the ends of those three extrusion molding sections and are dotted in FIG.
8
. The reason why the mold molding sections
74
through
76
are provided is as follows: If the whole weather strip is formed by extrusion molding suffers from the following trouble: In the case where the corner is small in the radius of curvature, and it is desired to curve the extrusion molding section along the corner section, the corner section is deformed in such a manner that the hollow sealing section collapses; that is, a predetermined sealing force cannot be obtained. The extrusion molding sections are greatly different in sectional configuration from each other, the mold molding section is provided at the junction of the extrusion molding sections.
FIG. 9
is a sectional view taken along line IX—IX in FIG.
8
.
FIG. 10
is a sectional view taken along line X—X in FIG.
8
.
FIG. 11
is a sectional view taken along line XI—XI in FIG.
8
. As shown in those figures, the first extrusion molding section
71
corresponding to the region from the upper section to the front side section of the front door, as was described before, fundamentally comprises a base section
77
, and a hollow sealing section
78
which is integral with an outwardly protruded seal lip
79
, and a rear surface seal
80
. On the other hand, the second extrusion molding section
72
corresponding to the front side section of the front door has no seal lip
79
. Also, in the second mold molding section
75
, the seal lip
79
is gradually changed in length, and the seal lip
79
is eliminated at the junction of the second extrusion molding section
72
and the second mold molding section
75
.
The above-described weather strip
70
has the following problems: The front door weather strip needs three extrusion molding sections
71
,
72
and
73
, and three mold molding sections
74
,
75
and
76
. Therefore, those sections
71
through
76
must be formed in different manufacturing steps, and accordingly the number of manufacturing steps is considerably large; that is, the manufacturing work is low in efficiency, and the manufacturing cost is large.
On the other hand, a method may be employed in which the second mold molding section
75
and the third mold molding section
76
, which are relatively larger in the radius of curvature than the first mold molding section
76
, are eliminated, and the part corresponding to the upper section, the front side section, lower section and the rear side section of the front door is provided as one extrusion molding section. However, in this case, as was described above, the hollow sealing section of the part corresponding to the corner section between the front side section and the lower section of the front door is deformed in such a manner that the hollow sealing section collapses; that is, the predetermined sealing force cannot be obtained.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing, an object of the invention is to provide a front door weather strip and its manufacturing method which are designed as follows: The manufacturing work is high in efficiency, and manufacturing cost is low, and substantially the same sealing force is obtained at any point of the weather strip.
To achieve the forgoing object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a front door weather strip provided with a base section mounted on a periphery of a front door of a vehicle, and a hollow sealing section extended from the base section. The weather strip has an annular shape as a whole, the base section and the hollow sealing section are formed all over a periphery of the weather strip. Further, the weather strip comprises a mold molding section corresponding to a corner of a rear side upper section of the front door, the mold molding being formed with a mold, and an extrusion molding section being formed continuous by extrusion molding. The extrusion molding section comprises: a first part corresponding to a region of from an upper section to a front side section of the front door, the first part having a seal lip; a second part corresponding to a corner part between the upper section and the front side section of the front door; a third part corresponding to the front side section; a fourth part corresponding to a corner part between the front side section and a lower section of the front door, a height of the hollow sealing section at the fourth part is larger than other parts in the weather strip; and a fifth part corresponding to the lower section and a rear side section of the front door. A base end of the sealing section on a vehicle outside at least the lower section of the fifth part is smaller in thickness than that of a part in the first part corresponding to the upper section of the front door.
In a preferred embodiment, a length of the seal lip is gradually changed so as to become zero at the second part.
In another preferred embodiment, both side walls of the hollow sealing section at the fourth part are added to a same volume substantially uniformly thickness, so that a height of the hollow sealing section at the fourth part is larger than other parts in the weather strip.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a front door weather strip provided with a base section mounted on a periphery of a front door of an automobile, and a hollow sealing section extended from the base section. The weather strip has an annular shape as a whole, the base section and the hollow sealing section are formed all over a periphery of the weather strip. The method comprises the steps of: (A) continuously forming one extrusion molding section by extrusion molding, comprising the steps of: forming a first part corresponding to a region of from an upper section to a front side section of the front door, the first part having a seal lip integral with the hollow sealing section; forming a second part corresponding to a corner part between the upper section and the front side section of the front door, a length of the seal lip being gradually changed so as to become zero, and the hollow sealing section being changed to a substantially circular shape from a shape of the hollow sealing section at the first part; forming a third part corresponding to the front side section, the hollow sealing section being changed to an elliptic shape from the substantially circular shape of the hollow sealing section at the second part; forming a fourth
Hanabusa Hisao
Kawai Katsunori
Nakajima Takao
Pillsbury & Winthrop LLP
Stodola Daniel P.
Thompson Hugh B.
Toyoda Gosei Co,., Ltd.
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