Movable or removable closures – Panel with closure feature – With means to accommodate window accessory; e.g.,...
Patent
1996-07-31
1998-08-04
Chen, Jose V.
Movable or removable closures
Panel with closure feature
With means to accommodate window accessory; e.g.,...
49506, 2961465, 29467, 298972, B60J 504
Patent
active
057876460
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to door panel construction and a method of manufacturing a door panel, more particularly it relates to improving the accuracy in the mutual attachment or connections between components of a door panel.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
In general, a door panel for use in motor vehicles is constructed in such a manner that an inner panel, a hinge panel and a belt-like reinforcement are joined together by means of a welding process to produce an inner panel assembly which, in turn, is joined to an outer panel using a hemming processes. The door panel is equipped with a locking system for locking and unlocking the door and a glass operating system for elevating and supporting window glass. The fittings of each system are mounted across or between parts making up the door panel, and hence the quality of the door itself is affected by the accuracy of the fit between parts comprising the inner panel assembly and the accuracy of the fit between the inner panel assembly and outer panel. Of the fittings of the locking system, a latch is fitted into the inner panel, a door outer handle is mounted on the outer panel, and a hinge is installed on the hinge panel. In addition, the latch and the door outer handle are coupled through a control rod to each other. Therefore, if the inner panel and outer panel are shifted relative to each other or if the inner panel and the hinge panel are shifted with respect to each other, the timing of the locking or unlocking responsive to the movement of the door outer handle varies, thus impairing the sensation of operation or making door opening and closing failures occur.
Moreover, of the fittings of the glass operating system, a regulator for guiding the elevation of the glass is installed across the inner panel to the belt-like reinforcements, and an inner stabilizer for holding the glass is mounted on the belt-like reinforcement. In addition, in the case of a sashless door, an up-stop for limiting the top dead center of the glass is attached to the belt-like reinforcement. Thus, if the parts comprising the inner panel assembly are not aligned with each other, the window glass fails to elevate or the window glass comes into contact with a weatherstrip in such manner as to spoil the sealing function.
For these reasons, for the formation of the door panel, the inner panel, the hinge panel and the belt-like reinforcement have heretofore been welded to each other by means of a special welding tool (jig) to form the inner panel assembly, and the inner panel and the outer panel are joined to each other on a hemming table. The welding tool is provided with a locator or a location pin useful to individually position the inner panel, the hinge panel and the belt-like reinforcement so that the respective parts are positioned with respect to the welding tool before the inner panel assembly is completed by the spot welding technique. Like the welding tool, the hemming table is provided with a means for positioning the inner panel assembly and the outer panel so that the inner panel assembly and outer panel are positioned with respect to the hemming table and then pressed by an upper mold before the hemming process is performed so that the inner panel assembly and the outer panel are joined to each other to produce the door panel. Thus, movement between the parts composing the door panel does not occur, which keeps the quality of the door high.
In the above-mentioned prior door panel construction or structure, since the positional relation between the parts forming the inner panel assembly is made on the welding tool and the positional relation between the inner panel assembly and the outer panel is made on the hemming table, the positional relation between the parts comprising the door panel does not vary. However, since the positioning of the parts making up the door panel are made in relation to the welding tool and separately on the hemming table, in fact complete alignment of the parts making up the door panel is not accomplished. In ad
REFERENCES:
patent: 4648208 (1987-03-01), Baldamus et al.
patent: 5095659 (1992-03-01), Benoit et al.
patent: 5325632 (1994-07-01), Djavairian et al.
Chen José V.
Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Tran Hanh V.
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