Patent ID: 6582293
Filing Date: 2003-06-24
Classification: B60H

Abstract:
An air vent damper assembly for controlling air flow into the passenger compartment of an automotive vehicle, the assembly comprising:an air passage; a gasketless damper door pivotally supported in the air passage for rotation about a door axis between a closed position in which the door blocks airflow through the air passage and a fully open position in which the door presents minimum obstruction to airflow through the air passage, the damper door being positionable at intermediate positions between closed and filly open to meter the amount of airflow through the air passage, the damper door being configured and positioned to control the direction of airflow from an exit end of the air passage when the damper door is out of the closed position; two elongated door stop surfaces extending perpendicularly inward from respective opposing side walls of an interior surface of the air passage, one of the door stop surfaces being positioned and shaped to engage an inner surface of the damper door along one side edge of the damper door when the damper door is in the closed position, the other of the two door stop surfaces being positioned and shaped to engage an outer surface of the damper door along a side edge of the damper door opposite the one side edge when the damper door is in the closed position; and the door stop surfaces being shaped to complement and lie flat against the respective damper door surfaces that they engage to reduce airflow between the interior surface of the air passage and the lateral edges of the door when the door is in the closed position.