Movable or removable closures – With means mounting closure for reciprocation – Diverse or springy material guide or slide
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-01
2001-06-26
Stodola, Daniel P. (Department: 3634)
Movable or removable closures
With means mounting closure for reciprocation
Diverse or springy material guide or slide
C049S489100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06250017
ABSTRACT:
The subject of the present invention is a slideway, particularly a reinforced slideway for a motor vehicle door, and the method for fitting it.
The invention relates, in particular, to slideways made of EPDM or TPE, preferably comprising a reinforcement, particularly to slideways which, for motor vehicle architecture or style reasons must seal both a moving drop glass, side by side with a fixed glass (generally triangular and known as a quarter light), the two glasses (mobile and fixed) being separated by a U- or H-shaped upright, known as a fixed glass upright or post.
When a moving glass needs to be associated with a fixed quarter light, it is very tricky both to provide esthetic continuity on the outside of the vehicle and acoustic continuity on the inside of the vehicle.
Specifically, there are two main scenarios encountered:
in the first scenario, the slideway runs in parallel along the crimped doorframe (the case, for example, of the front door of the Renault Scenic automobile) and the joint at the top of the post is not very esthetic from outside the vehicle, because the strip which covers the post reaches the top practically edge to edge with the slideway, but what is more, acoustic sealing inside the vehicle in the upper region of the post is not easy to ensure, because of the discontinuity of the pressing lips.
in the second scenario, the slideway turns at the top of the post and runs down along it, and the fixed glass is then sealed by an independent rubber component which is either driven in or overmolded. This solution is acoustically acceptable, but is becoming ever less tolerated from the esthetic point of view.
The object of the present invention is to at least partially overcome the above drawbacks.
The basic idea underlying the invention is to achieve this by locally dissociating the acoustic and esthetic functions in order to allow the desired result to be obtained.
The invention thus relates to a method for fitting a slideway, particularly a reinforced slideway, to a door of a motor vehicle exhibiting a doorframe, as well as a fixed glass and a moving glass which are separated by a fixed post, said slideway exhibiting a region for mounting on a support such as a rebate and a sealing region comprising at least two opposed sealing lips, the mounting region and the sealing region exhibiting a common wall region which bears at least one said sealing lip, and the sealing region exhibiting an outer wall region forming outer covering of the slideway, characterized in that it involves:
longitudinally separating the slideway, over part of its length, into an outer portion which exhibits at least said outer wall region, and an inner portion which exhibits at least said mounting region and said sealing lip borne by said common wall, so that the slideway exhibits an unseparated region in which it consists of a main portion and, from a point of separation onward, a separated region in which the main portion is split along a longitudinal cutting line to form the inner portion and the outer portion;
mounting the main portion on the doorframe up to the point where the point of separation comes into line with the post;
mounting the outer portion and the inner portion on the doorframe beyond said point of separation and along the post, respectively.
This makes it possible both to obtain acoustic sealing inside the vehicle in the upper region of the post while at the same time eliminating the esthetic drawback of the independent rubber component, which is present in the second scenario mentioned hereinabove.
Furthermore, longitudinally separating the slideway into two half-slideways consisting of the outer portion and the inner portion, means that the neutral axes are dissociated, which makes them easier to bend. In particular, the method advantageously involves differential bending of the outer portion and of the inner portion.
The post may be covered with a cover strip.
Furthermore, this method also lends itself to eliminating the esthetic problem at the top of the post, by virtue of the cover strip being articulated to the outer wall region.
The cover strip may also exhibit at least one sealing lip which comes to lie opposite the at least one said sealing lip borne by the common wall.
The invention also relates to a slideway for a vehicle door, exhibiting a region for mounting on a support such as a rebate and a sealing region comprising at least two opposed sealing lips, the mounting region and the sealing region exhibiting a common wall region which bears at least one sealing lip, and the sealing region exhibiting an outer wall region forming outer covering of the slideway, characterized in that it exhibits an unseparated region in which it consists of a main portion and, from a point of separation onward, a longitudinally separated region in which the main portion is split along a longitudinal cutting line into an outer portion which exhibits at least said outer wall region, and an inner portion which exhibits said mounting region and said sealing lip borne by said common wall.
The slideway may have an outer cover strip, preferably articulated to the outer wall region.
To supplement the sealing on the mobile-glass side, the cover strip may exhibit at least one sealing lip which, when the cover strip is parallel to the inner portion, comes to lie opposite one said sealing lip borne by the common wall.
The cover strip may, in cross section, be shaped as a barbed hook, allowing it to be snap-fastened into a complementary groove in the post.
To facilitate cutting and possibly to reinforce the outer half-slideway after cutting, when the slideway is reinforced, the slideway advantageously has a shoulder located near to the longitudinal cutting line.
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patent: 5557890 (1996-09-01), Levy
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patent: 0 267 073 (1988-05-01), None
patent: WO 98 35847 (1998-08-01), None
Alston & Bird LLP
Cohen Curtis A.
Hutchinson
Stodola Daniel P.
LandOfFree
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