Exterior door strip assembly

A structure of an exterior door strip includes a mounting portion mounted to an outer side of a outer door panel positioned, and a SUS trim coupled to an outer side of the mounting portion, and including: a first mounting portion formed in a longitudinal direction and having an end piece; a bridge connected to an other end of the first mounting portion; and a second mounting portion connected to the other end of the bridge and having a screw hole, in which the first mounting portion, the bridge, and the second mounting portion are integrally formed, and torque caused by screw engagement of the second mounting portion is not transmitted to the first mounting portion, thereby resolving a problem regarding quality in external appearance of the vehicle, preventing corrosion caused by rain water, and reducing production costs of the vehicle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority of Korean Patent Application Number 10-2013-0098256 filed Aug. 20, 2013, the entire contents of which application is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a structure of an exterior door strip, and more particularly, to an exterior door strip assembly that includes a first mounting portion and a second mounting portion, which are connected to each other by a bridge, thereby preventing torque caused by screw engagement from being transmitted to an end piece.

2. Description of Related Art

In general, a passenger door for a vehicle is formed on the side of a vehicle body, and has an outer door panel disposed outward and an inner door panel disposed inward, with structural door frame is attached thereto defining a space in which a door regulator and the like are installed therein.

Particularly, a door glass is installed to be movable upward and downward between the outer door panel and the inner door panel, and an exterior door strip is mounted to an outer side of the outer door panel in order to block exterior dust, rain water, and noise from entering when the door glass is opened and closed, remove foreign substances on the door glass, and make an external appearance design of a vehicle be attractive.

As illustrated inFIGS. 1A and 1B, the prior art exterior door strip includes a mounting portion2mounted by a screw to an outer side of the outer door panel1, and a stainless steel (SUS) trim3fitted into and mounted to the mounting portion2, and end pieces4are coupled to both ends of the mounting portion so as to close both ends of the exterior door strip.

However, the exterior door strip of the related art has problems in that torque is generated by screw engagement when the mounting portion2is mounted to the outer side of the outer door panel1, and due to the torque, a gap is enlarged between the SUS trim3and the end piece4.

That is, because the gap between the SUS trim and the end piece, which are exposed to the outside of the vehicle, is enlarged, there are problems in that the entire external appearance of the vehicle becomes unattractive, and corrosion occurs at a portion where a gap is enlarged because of rain water, dust, or the like that flows into the enlarged gap.

In the related art, in order to resolve the aforementioned problem when the gap between the SUS trim and the end piece is enlarged by torque, the mounting portion is configured to be divided into two pieces so that torque caused by a screw is not transmitted to a surface that forms an external appearance.

However, because the mounting portion is configured to be divided into two pieces, there are also problems in that working time and the number of workers required for assembling the vehicle body are increased, and production costs of the vehicle are raised, in comparison with the case in which a single mounting portion is provided.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The present invention has been made in an effort to provide a structure of an exterior door strip in which a first mounting portion, a bridge, and a second mounting portion, which are integrally formed, are provided such that torque caused by screw engagement of the second mounting portion is not transmitted to the first mounting portion by the bridge, thereby resolving a problem regarding quality in external appearance of the vehicle, and preventing corrosion due to rain water at a portion where a gap is enlarged.

Various aspects of the present invention provide for a structure of an exterior door strip including a mounting portion mounted by a screw to an outer side of a outer door panel positioned at a side of a vehicle, and a stainless steel (SUS) trim coupled to an outer side of the mounting portion, the structure including: a first mounting portion formed in a longitudinal direction and having one end to which an end piece is coupled; a bridge having one end connected to the other end of the first mounting portion; and a second mounting portion connected to the other end of the bridge and having a screw hole formed so that a screw is coupled to the second mounting portion, in which the first mounting portion, the bridge, and the second mounting portion are integrally formed, and torque caused by screw engagement of the second mounting portion is not transmitted to the first mounting portion by the bridge.

In addition, the bridge may be formed as an elastically deformable elastic body so as to absorb torque caused by screw engagement of the second mounting portion.

In addition, the bridge may be formed in a straight line with the screw hole in a longitudinal direction of a vehicle body, and the bridge may have a center portion which is curved toward an upper side or a lower side of a vehicle body.

Moreover, the bridge may be U-shaped wiring which connects the first mounting portion and the second mounting portion.

The first mounting portion and the second mounting portion, which are connected by the bridge, may be provided such that torque caused by screw engagement of the second mounting portion is not transmitted to the first mounting portion by the bridge, thereby preventing a gap from being enlarged at a portion where the SUS trim of the vehicle body and the end piece are coupled to each other.

That is, by preventing a gap between the SUS trim and the end piece from being enlarged, quality in external appearance of the vehicle may be improved such that an initial quality index and a durability quality index may be increased, and corrosion of a gap portion due to rain water may be prevented.

In addition, the bridge may be configured as an elastically deformable elastic body so as to absorb torque caused by screw engagement of the second mounting portion such that when torque occurs, only the bridge is elastically deformed and torque is not transmitted to the first mounting portion.

Moreover, instead of the two-piece type structure of the exterior door strip of the related art in which the mounting portion is configured by two pieces, a one-piece type structure may be applied, thereby reducing working time and the number of workers required for assembling a vehicle body, and production costs of the vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A structure of an exterior door strip according to the present invention includes a mounting portion mounted by a screw to an outer side of a outer door panel10positioned at a side of a vehicle, and an steel use stainless portion20coupled to an outer side of the mounting portion. The structure of the exterior door strip includes a first mounting portion30formed in a longitudinal direction and having one end to which an end piece32is coupled, a bridge50having one end connected to the other end of the first mounting portion30, and a second mounting portion40connected to the other end of the bridge50and having a screw hole42formed so that a screw may be coupled to the second mounting portion40. The first mounting portion30, the bridge50, and the second mounting portion40are integrally formed, and torque caused by screw engagement of the second mounting portion40is not transmitted to the first mounting portion30by the bridge50. One will appreciate that such integral components may be monolithically formed.

As illustrated inFIG. 2, a stainless steel (SUS) trim20is fitted into and mounted to the outer side of the mounting portion that is mounted to the outer side of the outer door panel10positioned at the side of the vehicle. One will appreciate that the trim may be made of other suitable materials.

As illustrated inFIG. 2, the end piece32is coupled to the one end of the first mounting portion30so as to close an end of the exterior door strip, and although only one end of the exterior door strip is illustrated inFIG. 2, the first mounting portion30having one end to which the end piece32is coupled is also similarly connected to the opposite end of the exterior door strip.

In addition, the screw hole42is formed in the second mounting portion40, which is connected to the first mounting portion30by the bridge50, so that the second mounting portion40may be mounted to the outer door panel10of the vehicle by a screw, and torque is generated at the second mounting portion40when the outer door panel10and the second mounting portion40are engaged by the screw.

As illustrated inFIG. 2, the first mounting portion30and the second mounting portion40are connected by the bridge50, and the bridge50may be formed to have a width relatively narrower than those of the first mounting portion30and the second mounting portion40so that torque generated at the second mounting portion40is not transmitted to the first mounting portion30but is absorbed by the bridge50.

That is, the first mounting portion30and the second mounting portion40are formed to have a predetermined width similar to a width of a mounting portion of the related art, and the bridge50is formed to have a structure like a narrow bridge, which connects the first mounting portion30and the second mounting portion40.

In addition, the first mounting portion30, the bridge50, and the second mounting portion40may be integrally formed so as to reduce working time and the number of workers required for assembling a vehicle body, and production costs of the vehicle, in comparison with a structure of an exterior door strip of the related art, which has two pieces of mounting portions. One will appreciate that such integral components may be monolithically formed.

Moreover, in various embodiments of the present invention, the bridge50may be formed as an elastically deformable elastic body such as a rubber, a spring, or a thin iron plate so as to completely absorb torque caused by screw engagement of the second mounting portion40.

That is, since the bridge50is configured as the elastically deformable elastic body, the bridge50completely absorbs torque generated at the second mounting portion40, so that even though the second mounting portion40and the bridge50are deformed, the deformation may be prevented from being transmitted to the end piece32.

As illustrated inFIG. 2, the bridge50is disposed in a straight line in a longitudinal direction with the screw hole42in the second mounting portion40, and structurally prevents torque generated in the screw hole42from being transmitted to the first mounting portion30on the basis of the bridge50.

That is, the bridge50is disposed at a position to which the smallest amount of torque generated in the screw hole42is applied, such that a minimum amount of torque generated at the second mounting portion40is transmitted to the first mounting portion30.

As illustrated inFIGS. 4 and 5, the bridge50may be formed such that a center portion is curved toward an upper side or a lower side of the vehicle body on the basis of a center axis of the mounting portion so as to disperse torque generated at the second mounting portion40.

Although the bridge50is curved toward an upper side of the vehicle body so as to have a V-shape and a U-shape, one will appreciate that the bridge50may have various shapes in accordance with a type of vehicle, a shape of a vehicle body, a shape of a mounting portion, an amount of generated torque, and the like, and the bridge50may be formed to be curved downward on the basis of the center axis.

In addition, as illustrated inFIG. 6, the bridge50is formed as U-shaped wiring52which connects the first mounting portion30and the second mounting portion40so as to form a predetermined space between the first mounting portion30and the second mounting portion40, and prevent a gap between the end piece32and the SUS trim20from being enlarged, using elastic force of the wiring52.

For convenience in explanation and accurate definition in the appended claims, the terms upper or lower, and etc. are used to describe features of the exemplary embodiments with reference to the positions of such features as displayed in the figures.