Vehicle door

Details Vehicle door Vehicle door

2000-07-13

2001-10-16

Pape, Joseph D. (Department: 3612)

Land vehicles: bodies and tops

Bodies

Door or window with specified vehicle feature

C296S146600, C296S182100, C049S501000, C049S502000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06302472

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a vehicle door.
Vehicle doors, especially doors for motor vehicles, consist in the current state of the art of an inner panel and an outer panel, these two being connected to one another and forming the basic element of the door. It is completed by the generally moveable window pane, its guiding and actuating elements, by other functional elements, such as for example handles, locks, loud speaker and cable harnesses, nowadays generally mounted on a module support plate, and by an inner lining which determines the appearance of the interior of the vehicle. The door inner and outer panels are here arched in opposite directions inside the vehicle door and enclose the interior door space, which receives window pane and functional elements. The door inner panel here has mounting apertures or cutouts, which make possible the fitting of the functional elements. As representative of the state of the art, DE 295 07 235 and DE 195 11 105 C1 may be mentioned which explain in detail the state of the art, from which the invention proceeds.
The known arrangement of door outer panel and door inner panel is admittedly. a satisfactory solution in respect of the statics of the door, but it does have a number of disadvantages:
the assembly of the functional elements through the cutouts in the door inner panel requires swivelling, rotating and tipping movements, which make assembly more difficult, particularly if the functional elements are pre-mounted on module supports and the module support has to be “threaded in” as a whole.
In relation to a lateral impact, the door box is “soft”; however increasing attention is being give to the “side crash”. In the state of the art, the behaviour of doors in a side crash is improved by additionally fitted reinforcement profiles, which represents additional expenditure.
Finally, the predetermination of assembly cutouts restricts the possibilities of the free equipment of the interior. Equipment variants, with which a uniform door having door inner and outer panels can be fitted in as varied a way as possible, will however be increasingly desired in the future by manufacturers and buyers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The purpose of the invention, therefore, is to quote a vehicle door in which simple assembly of the functional elements is possible, above all when these are premounted on module supports, the behaviour of the door in a side crash is improved without needing additional elements, and more degrees of freedom for the inner equipment of the vehicle are obtained.
Because the module support and the functional elements supported by same are located in the interior door space formed between door inner panel and inner lining, the door inner panel does not need to have any mounting apertures since the interior door space, which receives the functional elements, is completely accessible for their mounting, even if they are pre-assembled on a module support. Also, the functional elements, module supports and inner linings disposed in the interior door space or adjoining same are not subject to any restrictions in respect of a design variant. If then the door outer panel and the door inner panel still form a peripheral stiffening box, and the door inner panel, inside the area bordered by this stiffening box, abuts against the door outer panel, at least in regions, the stability of the door system is ensured in the same way as with door systems according to prior art. There is then the advantageous possibility of so designing the door inner panel that it forms together with the door outer panel in addition at least one (preferably several) horizontally running box profile(s) which form with the peripheral box profile a static unit and thus strengthen the door against a side crash without additional structural parts.
In the region of the lock, the peripheral stiffening box can be realised flattened and thus make it possible for the lock not to be pushed through but placed on same, which in particular makes easier the mounting of a lock attached to a module support.
Particularly in the region of the B-column, i.e. where on the front door the door lock engages in the corresponding vehicle body strut, it can be advantageous if the door inner panel (and thus the stiffening box) is designed undercut, such that the moveable window pane can be realised wider, i.e. with a larger field of vision.
The undercutting makes it possible to provide adequate pane areas, without the stability, predetermined by the stiffening box, of the door system being reduced, sincean adequate width of the stiffening box can be realised.
Where the hinges are attached, the door inner panel can be reinforced, specifically inside the stiffening box, i.e. not visible after the connection of door outer and inner panels. If necessary, subsequent (i.e. individual) fitting of the door to the vehicle body is possible, for example if the door is delivered to the assembly line as a complete pre-assembled system.
Inner and outer panels are expediently connected at their outer edge by folding of the outer panel. In the regions below the window breast, in which the door inner panel abuts against the door outer panel, the panels can be interconnected by spot or seam welding however it is particularly advantageous if they are interconnected here by flat gluing. The layer of adhesive not only dampens natural oscillations of the panels and thus improves the acoustics in the vehicle, but it also makes it possible to connect non-metallic materials to one another. In this way it becomes possible to insert door outer or inner panels which have a hybrid structure, i.e. which consist of a metal/plastics composition. Thus it is possible for example, to integrate in the lower region of the door outer panel a protection against stones which is formed from polymeric materials. The moulded polymer regions can here have stiffening rib networks which engage in the approximately horizontal stiffening profiles of the door inner panel and improve the inherent rigidity of the door and thus its security against a side crash.
If single- or double-stranded cable-operated lifting devices are used for the window pane movement, the free accessibility of the interior door space makes it possible for the cable-operated lifting device together with guide rails for the panes to be fastened to the module support: an arrangement which is admittedly also usual in the state of the art, but in which the free accessibility of the interior door space simplifies assembly (it can be undertaken with the pane inserted) and allows a complete functional testing of the fitted module support. On simple equipment variants, however, it is also possible to attach the guiding elements of the cable-operated lifting device directly to the door inner panel, such that the pane is disposed in front of the cable-operated lifting device, when viewed from the vehicle interior. In this case, it is also possible to let the pane slide as on a cable-operated lifting device on two separate guide rails, which are attached directly to the door inner panel, but to have the lifting movement of the pane carried out by sheers disposed on the module support. In this arrangement, the advantages of both systems are combined: the pane is led exactly in the interior door space and cannot tip; on the other hand the lifting movement is carried out with the operationally reliable sheers. Between the module support with assembled functional elements and the pane (with the guiding elements of the lifting device), a peripherally sealed flat humidity barrier can be disposed, for example a reusable moulded shell in the form of a thermoplastic thermoformed part. But even single-use foils (for example shrink films) can be used. It is particularly advantageous if the humidity barrier is an airbag formed from foils and which is inflatable after assembly of the module support. It forms then on the one hand the flat humidity barrier with peripheral seal, on the other hand it acts in the event of a side crash as an additional dampening element.

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