Drainage guide for automobile window

The present invention relates to a drainage guide assembly for directing the flow of water that gets into the outside part of the door of an automobile around the auto glass window. The guide comprises a sloping channel gutter affixed to the outside of the window and positioned below the belt line sill of the window. The gutter is an elastomeric material extruded onto the glass window.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a drainage guide assembly for directing 
the flow of the water that gets into the outside part of the door of an 
automobile around the auto window. The guide comprises a sloping channel 
affixed to the outside of the window and positioned below the belt line 
sill of the window. 
2. The Prior Art 
Various kinds of devices and assemblies are known for mounting glass window 
panels in automobile doors, to permit the raising and lowering of the 
window by a mechanism mounted within the automobile door. 
For example, the applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,519 discloses an H-shaped 
element channel that receives the window panel in the upper U-shaped part 
and receives the sash element of a window regulator mechanism in the 
U-shaped lower part. 
The applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,132 discloses an assembly for mounting 
a glass window panel within an automobile door for raising and lowering 
the window. The glass panel has an end undercut onto which is placed a 
plastic buffer cap and around which are placed primary and secondary 
locking tabs that hold the panel to angle member for resting within a 
follower channel. This patent shows how anchors holes in the angle member 
can be used to permit the bolting of the window to the angle member to 
further secure the atachment thereto. 
A major problem with many vehicle door window system is that vehicle door 
glass does not have any means to guide accumulated rain water that 
gravitates to the bottom of the vehicle glass, and then falls directly 
onto the top of the door window operators, electrical motors, as well as 
the interior door panel of the vehicle. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the invention to provide a drainage guide system for a 
vehicle window contained within a vehicle door, for directing the flow of 
water along the surface of the vehicle glass panel window, so as to 
minimize the amount of water that freely flows within the vehicle door, in 
order to prevent contact between the water and any mechanical or 
electrical systems within the door that would be damage by the water. 
The above object is accomplished in accordance with the present invention 
by providing a drainage guide for the direction of accumulated water away 
from the major portion of the vehicle door interior to a specific location 
without the use of any add on channels, by applying a door glass 
elastomeric water drip gutter extrusion directly to the outside of a 
vehicle door glass. The extrusion is formed and applied simultaneously to 
one side of the vehicle door glass, and all of this being done while the 
elastomeric gutter extrusion is applied in an un-cured state of 
elasticity. 
The drainage guide of the invention is independent from any assembly for 
mounting the glass window panel within the vehicle door. More 
particularly, the present invention is directed to a drainage guide for a 
vehicle window panel positioned for vertical movement within the door of 
the vehicle comprising a vehicle glass window panel; a water drip gutter 
adhesively affixed to said window panel outside window surface for 
guttering water that collects and passes below the belt line of a vehicle 
door cavity, within said cavity for the useful function of directing the 
movement of said water to a lower corner of the window panel; said gutter 
comprises an elastomeric material extruded onto said outside window 
surface; and said elastomeric material being extruded onto said outside 
window surface and being applied prior to said glass panel being installed 
into said vehicle door cavity and/or said elastomeric material extruded 
onto said outside surface after said window panel has been installed into 
said vehicle door cavity. 
The present invention has the advantage of providing a simple, inexpensive 
and effective drainage guide for protecting the electrical and mechanical 
compomnents on the inside of a vehicle door from water that drops below 
the windown sill inside this door.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRD EMBODIMENTS 
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a drainage guide 10 for a vehicle glass 
window panel 12 positioned for vertical movement within the door 14 of the 
vehicle. The drainage guide is an assembly which includes the vehicle 
glass window panel 12, a mounting means 16 shown to be a pair of clips, 
for holding and positioning the window panel 12 during the vertical 
movement thereof. This vertical movement is effected by any conventional 
mechanism known to those skilled in the art, and shown and described in 
the above noted U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,776,132 and 4,811,519. The drainage guide 
also includes a water drip gutter 18 affixed to the window for catching 
water 20 that gets within the door 14 of the vehicle and for directing the 
movement of the water 20 to a lower corner 22 of the window panel. 
Mounting means 16 can be two spaced apart U-shaped brackets, as shown and 
described in applicant's copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 
389,175 filed Aug. 24, 1989. 
The vehicle door 14 has a belt line sill 26. The gutter is affixed to the 
window panel at a position below the belt line sill 26 and above the 
mounting means 16. The sill 26 represents the lowest visible line on the 
window panel 12, when the panel is raised to its uppermost vertical 
position, so as to close the window. Thus, that part of the window panel 
below the sill is not visible. Therefore, gutter 18 would not be seen. The 
gutter 18 has two ends 28 and 30, with one end being higher than the other 
lower end. This will cause the water to flow downwardly from the higher 
end to the lower end. 
The gutter 18, in one embodiment, has the higher end near the front 32 of 
the window panel 12, and the gutter slopes downwardly to a lower end near 
the rear 34 of the window panel. 
In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 the gutter has a higher end near 
the rear 34 of the window panel 12, and the gutter slopes downwardly to a 
lower end near the front 32 of the window panel. 
As shown in FIG. 2, the gutter comprises a channel with a flat bottom 
surface 36 for catching the water and for directing the flow of the water. 
Thus surface 36 is a flat water carrying surface. 
As shown in FIG. 3, the gutter 18 comprises a channel with a concave upward 
surface 38 for catching the water and for directing the flow of the water 
which it is carrying. 
The gutter is comprised of an elastomeric material which as shown in FIG. 
2, is extruded onto the glass windown in an uncured state. Generally this 
occurs by utilizing a conventional extrusion gun that forces the uncured 
elastomeric sealant through a configured nozzle onto the outside portion 
of the vehicle window glass panel below the belt line sill. This 
elastomeric sealant can be any of the conventionally utilized and know 
materials that will firmly adhere to a glass surface for use as the 
sealant in a water containing environment. The glass window panel 12 is a 
conventional glass window material, and is usually automobile safetly 
plate glass which is comprised of two plates of glass with a thermoplastic 
layer sealed between to produce the safety plate laminated glass that is 
conventional in the art. The attachment means 16 which are used for 
mounting the glass window panel are also conventional; and it is to be 
understood that any other form of automobile window mounting means can be 
utilized in place of the two clips which are shown merely for illustration 
purposes. 
The term "vehicle" is understood to means preferably an automobile; however 
any other type of motor vehicle that has windows which are capable of 
being raised and lowered, are included within the term "vehicle", such as 
trucks, vans, or buses. 
The drainage guide according to the present invention would be utilized as 
follows. After the gutter elastomeric material has been applied to the 
glass window panel and firmly dried thereto, the window would be inserted 
into the door compartment of the vehicle. Alternatively the elastomeric 
material could be extruded onto the outside surface after the window panel 
had been installed into the vehicle door cavity. The window would be 
raised to its maximum vertical extent so as to produce an essentially 
water tight arrangement for protecting the passengers, and the inside of 
the vehicle from water which may be applied to the vehicle. FIG. 1 shows 
that even with the window raised to the maximum vertical extent possible, 
the gutter 18 would not be visible to anyone observing the window 12. 
Water, either in the form of rain, or possibly water applied to the 
vehicle during a car washing operation, would run down the window to the 
sill belt line. Some of this water would be deflected by the sill covering 
to a lower part outside of the vehicle door. However, some of the water is 
able to seep between the sill covering and the window, such that it would 
gravitate down to the gutter 18. Because the gutter is arranged with one 
end 28 either higher than or lower than the other end 30, this trapped 
water will flow from the higher end to the lower end. As shown in FIG. 1, 
end 30 is higher than end 28, such that the water being collected will 
flow to end 28 which is at the front end of the window 12, and will drip 
down to a disposal site at the bottom of the car door. At this point the 
water collected at the bottom of the car door will exit through an 
appropriately provided exit orifice 40, and out onto the ground below the 
vehicle. Having gutter 18 located between the belt line 26 and mounting 
means 16 assures that the water is trapped and prevented from coming 
contact with mechanical or electrical components of the vehicle which may 
be housed within the inside of the door 14, as in conventional and well 
known in the art. In other words the gutter 18 prevents corrosion and 
damage to mechanical and electrical parts of the vehicle, and thereby 
prolongs the life of these mechanical or electrical components, such that 
repair or reconstruction of these components and of the vehicle door is 
thereby unnecessary. 
While only one embodiment of the present invention has been shown and 
described, it is to be understood that many changes and modifications may 
be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the 
invention as defined in the appended claims.