Structure of side sill garnish for closure stopper

A vehicle assembly includes a vehicle body frame, a closure connected to the vehicle body frame, a garnish connected to the vehicle body frame, and a closure stopper seat body disposed between the garnish and the vehicle body frame. The closure is movable between an open position and a closed position. The stopper seat body is configured to absorb an impact from the movable closure when the movable closure moves toward the closed position. The closure stopper seat body can be used with a number of different closures including a door, a tailgate, a trunk lid, and the like.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure generally relates to a structure for a sill garnish and a closure stopper for a vehicle.

FIGS. 1 and 2depict the lower portion of a vehicle body frame10where a center pillar12extends upwardly from a side sill14. The center pillar12and the side sill14generally define a door opening16. A door18, which is movable between an open position and a closed position, covers the door opening16when in the closed position. A side sill garnish22attaches to the side sill14below the door opening16to conceal and to protect the connection of the panels that make up the side sill.

As more clearly seen inFIG. 2, the side sill14includes an outer sill panel24, an inner sill panel26, and a reinforcement panel28disposed between the inner sill panel and the outer sill panel. A stopper seating surface32is formed on an outer surface34of the outer sill panel. The stopper seating surface32absorbs some of the impact when the door18is closed.

The door18includes an outer panel36and an inner panel38. An opening42is formed in the inner panel38to receive a door stopper44that cooperates with the stopper seating surface32. A seal46is also attached to the door inner panel38and contacts the outer surface34of the outer sill panel24when the door is in the closed position. The stopper44is configured to absorb an impact from the door18when the door moves into the closed position as is shown inFIG. 2.

It becomes difficult to use this conventional side sill and side sill garnish structure if it is desired to have the side sill garnish22extend vertically above the location for the stopper seating surface32.

SUMMARY

A vehicle assembly that overcomes the aforementioned shortcomings includes a vehicle body frame, a closure connected to the vehicle body frame, a garnish connected to the vehicle body frame, and a closure stopper seat body disposed between the garnish and the vehicle body frame. The closure is movable between an open position and a closed position. The stopper seat body is configured to absorb an impact from the movable closure when the movable closure moves toward the closed position. The closure stopper seat body can be used with a number of different closures including a door, a tailgate, a trunk lid, and the like.

An example of a closure sill garnish and closure stopper seat assembly that overcomes the aforementioned difficulties includes a garnish configured to attach to a vehicle body frame of an associated vehicle and a closure stopper seat body connected with the garnish. The garnish includes an interior surface and an exterior surface. The interior surface of the garnish is configured to face the vehicle body frame when the garnish is attached to the vehicle body frame. The exterior surface of the garnish is configured to face away from the vehicle body frame when the garnish is attached to the vehicle body frame. The closure stopper seat body connects with the garnish adjacent the interior surface of the garnish so as to be positioned between the garnish and the vehicle body frame when the garnish is attached to the vehicle body frame.

A method for assembling a closure sill garnish and a closure stopper body assembly that overcomes the aforementioned difficulties includes attaching a closure sill garnish to a vehicle body frame of the vehicle and attaching a closure stopper seat body to at least one of the garnish and the vehicle body frame. According to this method, the closure stopper seat body can be disposed between the garnish and the vehicle body frame.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description and drawings herein are merely illustrative and various modifications and changes can be made in the structures disclosed without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims and the equivalents thereof. Like numerals refer to like and similar parts throughout the several views. Various identified components of the structures disclosed herein are merely terms of art that may vary from one manufacturer to another and should not be deemed to limit the invention.

FIG. 3depicts a vehicle body frame10and a closure, which inFIG. 3is a door18, connected to the vehicle body frame and movable between an open position and a closed position. Even thoughFIG. 3only discloses a door18, the closure sill garnish and closure stopper seat assembly shown inFIG. 3can also be used with other closures such as a trunk lid and a tailgate. InFIG. 3, the garnish22connects to the vehicle body frame10and more particularly to the side sill14in a conventional manner, which is not shown. The garnish22can be attached to the outer sill member24using conventional fasteners such as rivets, nuts and bolts, and the like. The garnish22is typically an extruded piece of plastic and the side sill14, which is made up of the outer sill panel24, the inner sill panel26and the reinforcement panel28, is typically made from metal. Different than what is shown inFIG. 1, the garnish22extends upwardly with respect to and terminates above a stopper seating surface. More particular to the embodiment disclosed inFIG. 3, the garnish includes an interior surface50and an exterior surface52. The interior surface50of the garnish22is configured to face the vehicle body frame10when the garnish22is attached to the vehicle body frame, which is shown inFIG. 3. The exterior surface52of the garnish22is configured to face away from the vehicle body frame10when the garnish is attached to the vehicle body frame. The door stopper44, which is received in the opening42formed in the inner door panel38of the door18, contacts the exterior surface52of the garnish22when the door is moved into the closed position such as that shown inFIG. 3. The door stopper can also be integrally formed with the door, for example similar to the stopper seating surface shown inFIG. 1, or the door stopper can be absent.

The assembly shown inFIG. 3includes a closure stopper seat body60that is configured to absorb the impact from the door18when the door moves towards the closed position. The stopper seat body60is made from a resilient material similar to the material from which the stopper44is made. Examples of such resilient materials include hardened rubber-like materials and the like. The stopper seat body60fills a void62between the garnish22and the side sill14that is aligned with the location where the door stopper44contacts the garnish. With additional reference toFIG. 4, the stopper seat body60is generally box-shaped and includes a lower flange64having openings66that each receive a bolt68to fix the stopper seat body to the vehicle body frame and more particularly to the outer sill panel24. The outer sill panel24includes openings72aligned with the openings66to receive the bolts68. A nut74threads onto each bolt68. The stopper seat body60can attach to the vehicle body frame10in other conventional manners such as rivets, adhesive and the like.

In the embodiment shown inFIG. 3, the stopper seat body60contacts the interior surface50of the garnish22and the exterior surface34of the outer sill panel24, which forms a portion of the vehicle body frame10. When the door18is moved from the open position toward the closed position the stopper seat body60absorbs the impact from the door when the door moves into the closed position. By filling the void62between the garnish22and the vehicle body frame10, the garnish22does not bend or deform greatly when contacted by the door stopper44thus maintaining the structural integrity of the garnish in the area where the garnish is contacted by the door stopper44. This allows the door stopper44to be positioned lower with respect to the garnish22and the garnish can provide a seating surface for the door stopper44, which allows the garnish to be raised higher on the side sill14.

With reference toFIG. 5, an alternative embodiment of a closure stopper seat body70is shown. This stopper seat body70is generally cube shaped. The stopper seat body is made in a manner which allows the stopper seat body to be disposed in a vehicle assembly or a closure sill garnish and closure stopper seat assembly in at least two orientations. This will be described in more detail below. The stopper seat body70is extruded in a direction along arrow72to provide an extruded piece of material. In the depicted embodiment, the stopper seat body70includes channels: the upper and lower channels74and side channels76. The channels74,76are formed during the extrusion process and planar surfaces78, which are normal to the extrusion direction as indicated by arrow72, are formed by cutting the extruded piece of material normal to the extrusion direction. Side surfaces82are formed by the shape of the die through which the extruded material is made. The stopper seat body70is made from hardened rubber-like materials and the like similar to the material from which the stopper44is made.

FIG. 6depicts a vehicle body frame10and a closure, which inFIG. 6is also a door18, connected to the vehicle body frame and movable between an open position and a closed position. The closure sill garnish and closure stopper seat assembly shown inFIG. 6can also be used with other closures found on vehicles, for example a trunk lid and a tailgate. The garnish22connects to the vehicle body frame at the side sill14in a conventional manner, with the exception that the garnish22extends upwardly with respect to and terminates above a stopper seating surface. The garnish22includes the interior surface50and the exterior surface52, where the interior surface50faces the vehicle body frame when the garnish22is attached to the vehicle body frame and the exterior surface faces away from the vehicle body frame when the garnish is attached to the vehicle body frame. The door stopper44, which is received in the opening42of the inner door panel38of the door18, contacts the exterior surface52of the garnish22when the door is moved into the closed position. This is shown inFIG. 6.

In the assembly shown inFIG. 6, the closure stopper seat body70is configured to absorb the impact from the door when the door moves towards the closed position. In the illustrated embodiment, the stopper seat body70connects with the garnish22adjacent the interior surface50of the garnish so as to be positioned between the garnish and the vehicle body frame when the garnish is attached to the vehicle body frame. The garnish22includes at least one projection that extends inwardly from the interior surface50of the garnish that engages the stopper seat body70to connect the stopper seat body with the garnish. More particular to the embodiment shown inFIGS. 6-8, flange-shaped projections84engage with the upper and lower channels74of the stopper seat body. The projections84each have a first section86extending away from and generally normal to the interior surface50of the garnish and a second section88extending away from and generally normal to the first section and spaced from the interior surface of the garnish.

As more clearly seen inFIGS. 7 and 8, the upper and lower projections84are connected at respective ends by an interconnection projection92, which is disposed generally vertically. The projections84and92generally define a receptacle that receives the stopper seat body70to allow for attachment of the stopper seat body to the garnish22. A detent94is disposed vertically between the upper and lower projections84and is spaced horizontally from the interconnection projection92in a direction of travel (either forward or rearward) of the vehicle to which the garnish22is attached. The detent94restrains the stopper seat body70from moving with respect to the garnish in the direction of travel when the stopper body has been pushed past the detent. The stopper seat body70attaches to the garnish22by moving the stopper seat body with respect to the garnish in a direction as indicated by arrow96(FIG. 8) that is generally parallel to a direction of travel (either forward or rearward) for the vehicle.

With reference back toFIG. 6, the stopper seat body70contacts the interior surface50of the garnish22and the exterior surface34of the outer sill panel24. The stopper seat body70fills the void62between the garnish22and the vehicle body frame10where the door stopper44hits the garnish so that the garnish does not bend or deform greatly when contacted by the door stopper44. This maintains the structural integrity of the garnish at the location where the garnish is contacted by the door stopper. This allows the door stopper44to be positioned lower with respect to the garnish22and the garnish can provide a seating surface for the door stopper, which allows the garnish to extend vertically above the location for the stopper seating surface.

The stopper seat body70is configured to be disposed in a first orientation, which is shown inFIGS. 6-8, and a second orientation, where the second orientation is where the stopper seat body is rotated at least about 90° with respect to the first orientation. The orientation of the stopper seat body70is contingent upon the shape and orientation of the projections on the garnish to which the stopper seat body attaches. With reference back toFIG. 5, the stopper seat body70is extruded having a height h a width w and is cut normal to the extrusion direction resulting in a depth d. Dependent upon the orientation of the stopper seat body70, the depth d is determined. Not to be limited to only the examples provided below (as explained above the stopper seat body can be used with other closures such as a trunk lid and a tailgate),FIG. 6depicts the front right door and the portion of the vehicle body adjacent thereto andFIG. 9depicts the rear right door and the portion of the vehicle body adjacent thereto. When the stopper seat body70is used with the rear right door shown inFIG. 9, the depth d is different as compared toFIG. 6while the remainder of the stopper seat body configuration remains the same. This allows one extruded piece of material to be used in different orientations and with different closure sill garnish and closure stopper seat assemblies. More particular to the embodiments described inFIGS. 6 and 9, the depth d for the stopper seat body70shown inFIG. 9is approximately ⅗ the depth d for the stopper seat assembly shown inFIG. 7.

With reference toFIG. 9, the garnish22can also include projections102that extend inwardly from and generally normal to the interior surface50of the garnish22. These projections102also form a receptacle104(FIG. 11) that receives the stopper seat body70to attach the stopper seat body to the garnish and more particularly adjacent to the interior surface50of the garnish. The projections102each include teeth106configured to preclude the stopper seat body70from moving perpendicular to the direction of travel of the vehicle.

As seen when comparingFIG. 8toFIG. 11, the orientation of the closure stopper seat body70is rotated 90° from the orientation shown inFIG. 8as compared to the orientation shown inFIG. 11. Moreover the depth of the stopper seat body70inFIG. 11is less than the depth of the stopper seat body inFIG. 8. Additionally, the stopper seat body70attaches to the garnish22by moving the stopper seat body with respect to the garnish in a direction (designated by arrow108) that is generally perpendicular to the direction of travel for the vehicle. The stopper seat body70is pushed in the direction of arrow108and the projections102engage the channels74and76to retain the stopper seat body against the interior surface50of the garnish22. With reference back toFIG. 9, in the second orientation, the stopper seat body70still contacts the interior surface50of the garnish22and the exterior surface34of the outer sill panel24.

The projections that extend from the garnish to engage the stopper seat body can take alternative configurations. Moreover, the configuration of the stopper seat body can also take alternative configurations as to those that are shown inFIGS. 3 and 5. One such example of a stopper seat body could be the stopper seat body110shown inFIG. 12were the stopper seat body includes notches112formed in the body extending along a direction114, which is the direction that the body is extruded. Similar to the stopper seat body depicted inFIGS. 5-11, stopper seat body110inFIG. 12is symmetrical about two mutually perpendicular axes and the depth of the stopper seat body is a function of where the extruded piece of material is cut with respect to the extrusion direction. The notches or cut-out portions112and protrusions116defined by the notches can engage appropriately shaped projections formed on a garnish in a similar manner to those previously described. In addition to, or in lieu of, having the notches112or the channels76and74(for the stopper seat body70), an opening can also be provided, for example an elongated opening, that is formed in or through the body extending along a direction of which the body is extruded. For such an example of a stopper seat body, the projections that extend inwardly from the garnish can be configured similarly to those shown inFIG. 11and can be received inside the openings for retaining the stopper seat body adjacent the garnish and more particularly adjacent an interior surface of the garnish.

A vehicle assembly and a closure sill garnish and closure stopper seat assembly have been described with particularity. Modifications and alterations will occur to those upon reading and understanding the detailed description provided above. The invention is not limited to only the embodiments shown and described, but instead is defined by the appended claims and the equivalents thereof.