Abstract:
A first fitting portion of a vehicle door frame is formed to enable attachment of a bending-type door weather strip including a lip thereto. A second fitting portion is formed to enable attachment of a parting weather strip thereto. A first seal surface is formed to enable the lip to be pressed thereagainst. A second seal surface is formed to enable attachment of an opening weather strip thereto, which is attached to a vehicle body inward relative to the vehicle from the door weather strip. The second fitting portion includes a bottom wall portion and an engagement piece that is folded back from the bottom wall portion at one side end of the bottom wall portion. The parting weather strip is engageable with the engagement piece. The first fitting portion includes the side end and a wall that is arranged at a rear side of the bottom wall portion. The wall is formed so that the side end projects toward the wall. Accordingly, the number of processing steps when rolling the door frame rolling process is prevented from increasing, and the door frame obtains a high sealing capacity and ornamentality.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a door frame for a vehicle. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Patent Document 1 describes an example of a door frame for a vehicle in the prior art. The vehicle door frame includes a door frame body (1), which is formed by bending a metal plate, and an exterior design member (17), which is formed by bending another metal plate. The vehicle door frame has a cross-section including a door weather strip fitting portion (31), to which a door weather strip (12) is attached, a glass channel (30), to which a glass run (8) is attached, and a parting weather strip fitting portion (32), to which a parting weather strip (21) is attached. 
         [0003]      FIG. 3  shows another example of a vehicle door frame proposed in the prior art and formed by bending (rolling) a single metal plate. The vehicle door frame  80  has a cross-section including a door weather strip seal surface  82 , against which a lip  81   a  of a door weather strip  81  is pressed, a door weather strip fitting portion  83 , to which the door weather strip  81  is attached, an opening weather strip seal surface  86 , against which an opening weather strip  85  attached to a vehicle body  84  is pressed, an interior ornamental portion  87 , a glass run fitting portion  89  and a glass channel  90 , to which a glass run  88  is attached, an exterior ornamental portion  91 , and a parting weather strip fitting portion  93 , to which a parting weather strip  92  is attached. The door weather strip seal surface  82 , the door weather strip fitting portion  83 , the opening weather strip seal surface  86 , the interior ornamental portion  87 , the glass run fitting portion  89 , the glass channel  90 , the exterior ornamental portion  91 , and the parting weather strip fitting portion  93  are formed integrally. 
         [0004]    Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-334367 (FIG. 1) 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    The vehicle door frame  80  includes many folded portions and has a complicated cross-sectional shape. This increases the number of steps required in the rolling process. As the number of processing steps increases, the number of roll molds used in these steps and the number of roll mold pieces that form each of the roll molds (roll stages) increases accordingly. This may affect the production preparation period and the precision management for the points described below: 
         [0006]    the cost of the molds increases as the processing steps (roll stages) increases; 
         [0007]    the factory space for the rolling process increases as the processing steps in the rolling process (roll stages) increases; and 
         [0008]    time is required for obtaining the required precision and making the necessary adjustments as the processing steps in the rolling process (roll stages) increases, and operators (maintenance crew and the like) that obtain the required precision and make the necessary adjustments are required to have high skill. 
         [0009]    It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle door frame having a high sealing capacity and superior ornamentality while preventing the number of processing steps in the rolling process from increasing. 
         [0010]    To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vehicle door frame formed by rolling a metal plate so that the door frame has a cross-section including a first fitting portion, a second fitting portion, a first seal surface, a second seal surface, a glass channel, and an exterior ornamental portion that are formed integrally. The first fitting portion is formed to enable attachment of a bending-type door weather strip including a lip thereto. The second fitting portion is formed to enable attachment of a parting weather strip thereto. The first seal surface is formed to enable the lip to be pressed thereagainst. The second seal surface is formed to enable attachment of an opening weather strip thereto. The opening weather strip is attached to a vehicle body inward relative to the vehicle from the door weather strip. The glass channel is formed to enable attachment of a glass run thereto. The second fitting portion includes a bottom wall portion and an engagement piece that is folded back from the bottom wall portion at one side end of the bottom wall portion. The parting weather strip is engageable with the engagement piece. The first fitting portion includes the side end and a wall that is arranged at a rear side of the bottom wall portion, and the wall is formed so that the side end projects toward the wall. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view of a vehicle door frame according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of a vehicle door that includes the vehicle door frame of  FIG. 1 ; and 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of a prior art vehicle door frame. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0014]    A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. 
         [0015]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of a door  1  for a vehicle, such as an automobile, to which the present invention is applied. As shown in the drawing, the vehicle door  1  includes a door frame  2 . The door frame  2  is substantially channel-shaped along the outer upper portion of the vehicle door  1 . 
         [0016]      FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view of the door frame  2  taken along line A-A of  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the door frame  2  is formed by rolling a single metal plate. The cross-section of the door frame  2  includes a first fitting portion  11 , which functions as a door weather strip fitting portion, a first seal surface  12 , which functions as a door weather strip seal surface, a second seal surface  13 , which functions as an opening weather strip seal surface, an interior ornamental portion  14 , a glass channel  15 , an exterior ornamental portion  16 , and a second fitting portion  17 , which functions as a parting weather strip fitting portion. The first fitting portion  11 , the first seal surface  12 , the second seal surface  13 , the interior ornamental portion  14 , the glass channel  15 , the exterior ornamental portion  16 , and the second fitting portion  17  are formed integrally. The metal plate that is used to form the door frame  2  includes a first end piece  2   a  and a second end piece  2   b . The metal plate is rolled from the first end piece  2   a  toward the second end piece  2   b  to form the first fitting portion  11 , the first seal surface  13 , the interior ornamental portion  14 , the glass channel  15 , the exterior ornamental portion  16 , the second fitting portion  17 , and the first seal surface  12  in the stated order. 
         [0017]    The first fitting portion  11  extends from an outer side of the vehicle toward an inner side of the vehicle. The first fitting portion  11  has a C-shaped cross-section. An outer end of the first fitting portion  11  is bent to form a first engagement portion  11   a . An inner end of the first fitting portion  11  is folded back to form a second engagement portion  11   b . The first fitting portion  11  opens toward the vehicle body  20  (to the left in  FIG. 1 ). A bending-type door weather strip  21  is hooked to and held by the first engagement portion  11   a  and the second engagement portion  11   b . This attaches the bending-type door weather strip  21  to the first fitting portion  11 . The door weather strip  21  is pressed against a contact surface  20   a  of the vehicle body  20  while the door weather strip  21  is being bent and deformed. This enables the door weather strip  21  to have a higher sealing capacity than a compression-type door weather strip. 
         [0018]    A compression-type door weather strip has an unstable form (elastic deformation) when pressed against the vehicle body. Thus, the compression-type door weather strip has lower sealing capacity. To compensate for this drawback, the compression-type door whether strip needs to be accurately attached to the vehicle body. The compression-type door weather strip typically tends to be larger than the bending-type door weather strip. This increases the material cost. 
         [0019]    The first seal surface  12  extends continuously from an open end of the first fitting portion  11  at the outer side of the vehicle and is then folded back to the outer side of the vehicle. The door weather strip  21  has a first lip  21   a . The first lip  21   a  is pressed against the first seal surface  12  by a repulsion force generated when the door weather strip  21  is bent and pressed against the contact surface  20   a.    
         [0020]    The second seal surface  13  extends continuously from an open end of the first fitting portion  11  at the inner side of the vehicle and is then folded so as to straightly extend away from the vehicle body  20  (to the right in  FIG. 1 ). An opening weather strip  22  is attached to the vehicle body  20  inward from the door weather strip  21 . The opening weather strip  22  is pressed against the second seal surface  13 . 
         [0021]    The interior ornamental portion  14  extends continuously from the second seal surface  13  and straightly from the inner side toward the outer side of the vehicle. The interior ornamental portion  14  forms an ornamental interior surface of the vehicle body  20 . 
         [0022]    The glass channel  15  has a channel-shaped cross-section that opens in a direction opposite the vehicle body  20  (to the right in  FIG. 1 ). An open end of the glass channel  15  at the inner side of the vehicle extends continuously to the interior ornamental portion  14 . The glass channel  15  has a third engagement portion  15   a , which is bent along the rear surface of the first engagement portion  11   a  of the first fitting portion  11 . A glass run  23  is attached to the glass channel  15 . The glass run  23  has a second lip  23   a . The second lip  23   a  is engaged with the third engagement portion  15   a . This holds the glass run  23 . A peripheral portion of a glass window (not shown) slides along the glass run  23 . The opening of the glass channel  15  has a width that is optimized so as to prevent the glass window that slides along the glass run  23  from being separated from the glass run  23 . 
         [0023]    The exterior ornamental portion  16  has a cross-section that extends straightly continuous to an open end of the glass channel  15  at an outer side of the vehicle. The exterior ornamental portion  16  forms an exterior ornamental surface. 
         [0024]    The second fitting portion  17  has a C-shaped cross-section. The second fitting portion  17  has two ends at the outer side and inner side of the vehicle that are folded back, and the second fitting portion  17  opens toward the vehicle body  20  (toward the left in  FIG. 1 ). The folded portion of the second fitting portion  17  at the outer side of the vehicle extends continuously to the exterior ornamental portion  16 . More specifically, the second fitting portion  17  and the glass channel  15  are adjacent to each other and open in opposite directions. A parting weather strip  24  is attached to the second fitting portion  17 . The parting weather strip  24  suppresses wind noise and improves the outer appearance. 
         [0025]    The door frame  2  is formed by a single metal plate that has the first end piece  2   a  and a second end piece  2   b . The first end piece  2   a , which is arranged between the glass channel  15  and the second fitting portion  17 , extends from the outer side toward the inner side of the vehicle. A wall  31 , which forms part of the first fitting portion  11 , extends continuously from an inner end of the first end piece  2   a . The wall  31  includes an inclined portion  31   a  and a first bottom wall portion  31   b , which extends continuously from the inclined portion  31   a  and from the outer side toward the inner side of the vehicle. The first bottom wall portion  31   b  extends continuously to the second engagement portion  11   b . The inclined portion  31   a  is bent from the first end piece  2   a  and extends from the outer side toward the inner side of the vehicle and away from the vehicle body  20  (toward the interior ornamental portion  14 , or to the right in  FIG. 1 ). The inclined portion  31   a  extends along the third engagement portion  15   a  of the glass channel  15 . The inclined portion  31   a  is continuous with the first end piece  2   a  at an obtuse angle and with the first bottom wall portion  31   b  at an obtuse angle. More specifically, the part between the inclined portion  31   a  and the first end piece  2   a  is bent at an obtuse angle and the part between the inclined portion  31   a  and the first bottom wall portion  31   b  is bent at an obtuse angle. 
         [0026]    The second fitting portion  17  includes a second bottom wall portion  32  and an engagement piece  33 . The second bottom wall portion  32  extends from the outer side toward the inner side of the vehicle in contact with the first end piece  2   a . The engagement piece  33  is folded back at one side end  32   a  of the second bottom wall portion  32 , which is the end located at the inner side of the vehicle. The engagement piece  33  corresponds to the second end piece  2   b  of the metal plate forming the door frame  2 . The side end  32   a  of the second bottom wall portion  32  projects toward the wall  31  located of the first end piece  2   a  (toward the inner side). More specifically, the wall  31  arranged at the rear side of the second bottom wall portion  32  is formed so that the side end  32   a  projects from the inclined portion  31   a . As a result, the first engagement portion  11   a  of the first fitting portion  11  is formed by the inclined portion  31   a  and the side end  32   a . The rear surface of the second fitting portion  17  refers to the side facing away from the vehicle body  20  with respect to the second bottom wall portion  32  (right side in  FIG. 1 ) that faces the vehicle body  20  (to the left in  FIG. 1 ). 
         [0027]    The parting weather strip  24  is held by the engagement with the engagement piece  33 . The engagement piece  33  has the first seal surface  12 , against which the first lip  21   a  of the door weather strip  21  is pressed. 
         [0028]    The preferred embodiment has the advantages described below. 
         [0029]    (1) The first engagement portion  11   a , which is part of the first fitting portion  11 , is formed by the inclined portion  31   a  of the wall  31  and the side end  32   a  of the second bottom wall portion  32  that projects toward the inner side of the vehicle with respect to the inclined portion  31   a . More specifically, part of the first fitting portion  11  (the first engagement portion  11   a ) is formed by the second fitting portion  17 . This simplifies the cross-sectional shape of the door frame  2  as compared with when the first fitting portion  11  is formed independently, and reduces the number of processing steps in the rolling process. 
         [0030]    The door frame  2  includes the first fitting portion  11  and the second seal surface  13 . The door frame  2  uses the bending-type door weather strip  21  having a high sealing capacity. Further, the door frame  2  has a double seal structure formed by the door weather strip  21  and the opening weather strip  22 , which is arranged inward from the door weather strip  21 . This improves the sealing capacity of the door frame  2 . 
         [0031]    The door frame  2  includes the door weather strip  21  and the parting weather strip  24 , which are substantially separate members and arranged independently of each other. The door weather strip  21  and the parting weather strip  24  are arranged next to each other in the vertical direction as viewed in  FIG. 1  (in the direction from the inner side toward the outer side of the vehicle). This enables the setting of the width W 1  of the exterior ornamental portion  16  (refer to  FIG. 1 ) without affecting the sealing capacity of the door weather strip  21 . As a result, the width of the exterior ornamental portion  16  can be set more accurately, and the appearance as viewed from the outer side of the vehicle can be improved. 
         [0032]    (2) The engagement piece  33  includes the first seal surface  12 . In other words, the engagement piece  33  also functions as the first seal surface  12 . This eliminates the need to independently form the first seal surface  12 , simplifies the cross-sectional shape of the door frame  2 , and reduces the processing steps in the rolling process. 
         [0033]    (3) The third engagement portion  15   a  of the glass channel  15  is arranged at the rear side of the wall  31  (the inclined portion  31   a ), which forms the first fitting portion  11 . The rear side of the wall  31  is the side facing away from the vehicle body  20  (to the right in  FIG. 1 ) with respect to the first fitting portion  11 , which opens toward the vehicle body  20  (to the left in  FIG. 1 ). To form a space for accommodating the door weather strip  21 , the first fitting portion  11  is preferably formed or arranged near the interior ornamental portion  14 . Thus, the third engagement portion  15   a , which is arranged at the rear side of the wall  31  (the side of the interior ornamental portion  14 ), is also formed or arranged near the interior ornamental portion  14 . This shortens the length by which the interior ornamental portion  14  extends with respect to the glass channel  15  (the dimension of the interior ornamental portion  14  in the lateral direction of  FIG. 1 ). Consequently, the glass run  23  is held in a more stable manner. 
         [0034]    Further, for example, the glass run fitting portion  89  is arranged separately from the glass channel  90  in the prior art structure (refer to  FIG. 3 ). In contrast, the third engagement portion  15  shown in  FIG. 1 , which functions as a glass run engagement portion, is arranged in the glass channel  15 . This further simplifies the cross-sectional shape of the door frame  2 . 
         [0035]    (4) The inclined portion  31   a  is continuous with the first end piece  2   a  and the first bottom wall portion  31   b  at obtuse angles. This enables the door frame  2  to be formed with fewer stages (roll stages). 
         [0036]    (5) The reduction in the rolling steps (roll stages) improves the productivity of the door frame  2  and lowers the cost (cost for molds) of the door frame  2 . This enables production preparation to be performed smoothly within a shorter period of time. 
         [0037]    The above embodiment may be modified in the following forms. 
         [0038]    In the above embodiment, the engagement piece  33  of the second fitting portion  17  may be formed by a middle part of a metal plate. 
         [0039]    In the above embodiment, the inclined portion  31   a  may be folded with respect to the first end piece  2   a  or the first bottom wall portion  31   b  at a right angle or at an acute angle. 
         [0040]    The cross-sectional shape of the door frame  2  may be changed without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
         [0041]    The present invention is applicable to a front door or a rear door for a vehicle.