Movable or removable closures – With means mounting closure for reciprocation – Diverse or springy material guide or slide
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-30
2002-05-21
Cohen, Curtis (Department: 3634)
Movable or removable closures
With means mounting closure for reciprocation
Diverse or springy material guide or slide
C049S498100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06389754
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a glass run of an automobile for sliding and guiding the peripheral edge of a moving window glass of a door, and for sealing between the window glass and the door when the window glass is fully closed.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional glass run channel (glass run)
80
of an automobile is shown in
FIG. 7
for sliding and guiding the peripheral edge of a moving glass (door glass)
10
upwardly and downwardly. Such a glass run is disclosed in the Related Art Section of Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 5-62312. The glass run
80
comprises a main body
81
and two seal lips
82
,
83
. The main body
81
has a generally U-shaped cross section and is set in a holder (door sash)
20
. The seal lips
82
,
83
project from both opening ends of the main body
81
toward the bottom surface of the main body
81
. The seal lips
82
,
83
are provided with notches
86
at their roots, respectively, so as to decrease the load of the door glass
10
moving, which bears against the seal lips
82
,
83
when the door glass
10
slidably moves. With the thus-provided notch
86
, however, each seal lip
82
,
83
is liable to be bent on the boundary of notch
86
, which deteriorates the sealing and gripping properties of the glass run
80
compared with another conventional glass run (not shown) without any notches. Such defects of the glass run
80
are pointed out in the Specification of the above-mentioned No. 5-62312.
On the other hand,
FIG. 8
shows another glass run
30
, which is disclosed in the Embodiment Section of the same Specification. The glass run
30
comprises a main body
31
and two seal lips
32
,
33
. The main body
31
has a generally U-shaped cross section and is set in the holder
20
. The seal lips
32
,
33
project from both opening ends of the main body
31
toward the bottom surface of the main body
31
. At least one of two seal lips, e.g., the seal lip
32
in
FIG. 8
, is thinned in its wall thickness compared with that of other conventional glass run, and is provided with a sponge rubber layer
34
attached to the back side thereof.
According to the Specification of the above-mentioned No. 5-62312, the glass run
30
with the thinner lip
32
and the sponge rubber layer
34
shows an increased flexibility and decreased load of the slidably moving door glass
10
, which facilitates the vertical movement of the door glass
10
. Furthermore, the seal lip
32
bends over its full length and is not bent at its root, so the sealing and gripping properties are secured for the glass run
30
as well as a conventional glass run, so the door glass
10
never rattles, the Specification describes.
However, when the seal lip
32
is thinned in its wall thickness and the sponge rubber layer
34
is attached to the back side of the seal lip
32
, so that when the seal lip
32
bends over its full length and is not bent at its root, as is the case with the glass run
30
shown in
FIG. 8
, the following problem occurs. Namely, when the door glass
10
vertically moves, and the contact position on the door glass, where the door glass
10
slidably contacts the seal lip
32
, varies in the direction of the inside and outside of an automobile, as shown in
FIG. 9
, the radius of curvature on the outer surface of the seal lip
32
easily varies over its full length. Therefore, the contact width W of the seal lip
32
and the door glass
10
varies to vary their contact area, which causes the adverse effect for slidable movement of the door glass
10
. By the way, it is also disclosed in the same Specification that the sponge rubber layer
34
is divided at a position near its root to form a branch. The tip of the branch is connected to the middle portion on the inner surface of a side wall of the main body to form a hollow portion. Even if the hollow portion is formed, there is no change in that the above-mentioned problem remains.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide a glass run of an automobile which can achieve the following effects (1) to (4).
(1) A seal lip is thickened in its wall thickness at its middle portion in a manner that the back side of the seal lip projects more to the other side at the middle portion than at its root portion, thereby forming a convex at the middle portion on the back side of the seal lip. Accordingly, when a door glass moves, and a contact position on the door glass, where the door glass slidably contacts the seal lip, varies, the radius of curvature on the outer surface of the seal lip hardly varies over its full length except for the root portion of the seal lip. Therefore, the contact width of the seal lip and the door glass, consequently, their contact area, hardly varies, which never causes adverse effect for slidable movement of the door glass.
(2) when the door glass moves, and the contact position on the door glass, where the door glass slidably contacts a seal lip, varies, the seal lip easily bends by its root because of the concave formed in the root portion on the back side of the seal lip. Moreover, the elasticity of the seal lip is reinforced by a sponge elasticity-reinforcing member. As a result, the door glass is prevented from rattling without increasing the force in controlling the movement of the door glass.
(3) When a door is strongly closed with the door glass being slightly opened, the door glass swings widely. Even if the door glass swings widely, the seal lip is prevented from contacting a side wall of a channel portion by the sponge elasticity-reinforcing member intervening therebetween, which prevents generation of a contacting sound.
(4) With the sponge elasticity-reinforcing-member, occurrence of permanent set in fatigue or abnormal deformation of the seal lip is prevented, and the follow-up quality of the seal lip to the door glass and the sealing quality of the seal lip are not deteriorated.
A first invention resides in a glass run comprising a channel portion including a bottom portion and inner and outer side walls. The inner side wall is provided inside of an automobile, while the outer side wall is provided outside of the automobile. The glass run further comprises inner and outer seal lips projecting into the channel portion from the inner and outer side walls respectively. The inner seal lip is provided inside of the automobile, while the outer seal lip is provided outside of the automobile. The seal lips have back sides facing inside of the channel portion. At least the inner seal lip is thickened in its wall thickness at its middle portion in a manner that the back side of the seal lip projects more inwardly into the channel portion at the middle portion than at a root portion of the seal lip, thereby forming a convex at the middle portion on the back side of the seal lip while relatively forming a concave at the root portion on the back side of the seal lip. The glass run further comprises a sponge elasticity-reinforcing member provided between the root portion on the back side of the inner seal lip and the inner side wall.
The sponge elasticity-reinforcing member may extend to the middle portion of the seal lip. In such a case, it is preferable that the wall thickness of sponge on the middle portion is thinner than that formed between the root portion and the inner side wall.
A second invention resides in a glass run comprising a channel portion including a bottom portion and inner and outer side walls. The inner side wall is provided inside of an automobile, while the outer side wall is provided outside of the automobile. The glass run further comprises inner and outer seal lips projecting into the channel portion from the inner and outer side walls respectively. The inner seal lip is provided inside of the automobile, while the outer seal lip is provided outside of the automobile. The seal lips have back sides facing inside of the channel portion. At least the inner seal lip is thickened in its wall thickness at its middle portion in a manner that the back side of
Cohen Curtis
Toyoda Gosei Co,., Ltd.
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