Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Door or window with specified vehicle feature
Reexamination Certificate
2002-08-08
2003-11-11
Pape, Joseph D. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Door or window with specified vehicle feature
C296S093000, C049S483100, C049S489100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06644718
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE OF RELATED APPLICATION
This application is related to and claims priority from Japanese patent application No. 2001-242200, incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure of a roof-side portion of a hardtop-type motor vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
As shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, a roof-side portion
10
which includes a front pillar
12
has a door-opening surface
14
around a door opening
16
formed in a side body of a vehicle. A roof-side weather strip
18
is attached to the door-opening surface
14
. When a vehicle door
20
is closed, a seal is formed between a door glass
22
in a fully closed position and the door-opening surface
14
. In addition, a pillar weather strip
24
is attached to a center pillar to form a seal between a vertical edge of the door glass
22
and the center pillar. In the drawings, reference numeral
26
designates a window glass secured to a rear part of the side body.
Generally, mouldings are attached along the roof-side portion
10
to improve an appearance around the door opening
16
.
FIGS. 1 and 2
disclose one example of such mouldings. As shown, a moulding
28
is attached to the door-opening surface
14
which extends inwardly of a roof-side surface
32
of the roof-side portion
10
, and the roof-side weather strip
18
is attached to the moulding
28
.
The moulding
28
is composed of a glossy metal plate. A main portion
30
of the moulding
28
is arranged along a lower end of the roof-side surface
32
of the roof-side portion
10
so as to cover an outside surface of the roof-side weather strip
18
. An inner portion
34
of the moulding
28
is placed under the door-opening surface
14
and is screwed thereto. A projection
36
is formed along an end edge of the inner portion
34
of the moulding
28
. The roof-side weather strip
18
is held in position by fitting the projection
36
of the moulding
28
in a groove
38
which is formed at about a widthwise center of the weather strip
18
. The inner portion
34
of the moulding
28
serves as a retainer for attaching the roof-side weather strip
18
to the roof-side portion
10
. The roof-side weather strip
18
thus arranged is bonded to the door-opening surface
14
on the inner side of the moulding
28
with a double-sided adhesive tape
42
. In
FIG. 2
, reference numeral
44
designates an opening trim attached around the door opening
16
.
The metal moulding
28
for attachment along the roof-side portion
10
has, however, problems that the configuration and dimensions thereof cannot be selected freely, and accordingly, the appearance around the roof-side portion
10
is not much improved with the metal moulding
28
. In addition, the bending work of the metal moulding
28
is complicated. Under these circumstances, it has been demanded to provide a roof-side garnish having a width capable of covering an outside surfaces of both the roof-side weather strip
18
and the roof-side portion
10
, which is readily produced and assembled, and ensures an improved appearance therearound.
Furthermore, the conventional structure of the roof-side portion using the mouldig
28
as a retainer, has the following problem. Namely, in some types of vehicles, the roof-side surface
32
of the front pillar
12
does not always have a constant height from an outside surface of the door glass
22
in the longitudinal direction thereof. In one example of such vehicles, as shown in
FIG. 1
, a lower end of the roof-side surface
32
of the front pillar
12
is flush with a rear upper end of a fender panel
40
. With this arrangement, as shown by two-dot chain lines in
FIG. 2
, the roof-side surface
32
of the front pillar
12
gradually rises from the outside surface of the closed door glass
22
towards the lower end thereof. Consequently, the distance S
1
between the roof-side surface
32
of the front pillar
12
and the outside surface of the closed door glass
22
enlarges, and a level difference S
2
is formed between the main portion
30
of the moulding
28
and the roof-side surface
32
of the front pillar
12
. This level difference degrades the appearance around the door opening
16
, and, if this level difference is large, it may cause the generation of wind noise.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved structure of a roof-side portion of a motor vehicle, which ensures an improved appearance therearound, overcomes the conventional problems such as the level difference between a roof-side portion and a closed door glass, and exhibits good sealing properties between a roof-side weather strip and a door-opening surface of the roof-side portion.
A structure of a roof-side portion of a motor vehicle in accordance with the present invention includes a door-opening surface which defines a door opening in a side body of the motor vehicle, a roof-side surface which extends from the door-opening surface towards a roof of the motor vehicle, a roof-side weather strip which is attached to the door-opening surface, a roof-side garnish composed of a synthetic resin, which covers the roof-side surface and of which a lower part extends downwardly of an outside end of the door-opening surface, and a retainer which is attached to the door-opening surface inwardly of a door glass in a closed state so as to face the lower part of the roof-side garnish in a width direction of the vehicle body. The roof-side weather strip is attached along the door-opening surface between the retainer and the lower part of the garnish such that a base portion of the roof-side weather strip is bonded to the door-opening surface.
With the present invention thus arranged, the roof-side garnish composed of a synthetic resin is apart from the retainer, and accordingly, the roof-side garnish can be readily molded with freely selectable design and with good productivity. In particular, the synthetic resin garnish can be freely colored as required. The attached roof-side garnish covers the outside surfaces of both the roof-side portion and the roof-side weather strip in close contact therewith without any occurrence of level difference therein.
Other objects, features, and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following description and the appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification.
REFERENCES:
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patent: 5050349 (1991-09-01), Goto et al.
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patent: 5527583 (1996-06-01), Nozaki et al.
patent: 5590926 (1997-01-01), Nozaki
patent: 5791722 (1998-08-01), Nozaki et al.
patent: 5806914 (1998-09-01), Okada
patent: 5852898 (1998-12-01), Hikosaka et al.
patent: 5950366 (1999-09-01), Uhlmeyer
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patent: 59-73339 (1994-04-01), None
patent: 6-106993 (1994-04-01), None
patent: 6-179324 (1994-06-01), None
patent: 07-291056 (1995-11-01), None
patent: 08-132882 (1996-05-01), None
Engle Patricia
Pape Joseph D.
Posz & Bethards, PLC
Toyoda Gosei Co,., Ltd.
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