Windows sealing strip with ease of mounting

Sealing strip (9) intended to be mounted on an upper edge (3A) of an exterior panel (3) of the door provided with a window (5), comprising: a body (11) forming a slot (13) with two opposing faces (15, 17) able to fit over the upper edge (3A); a lip (19) extending along the body (11), intended to contact the window (5); and wherein at least one of the two opposing faces (15, 17) of the slot (13) comprises edge corners (25) running transversely to the strip (9) and each having an end face (25A) external to the slot (13), having a profile that makes a mean angle (α, β) comprised between 10° and 30° with a main direction of said slot (13) so as to encourage insertion of the edge (3A) in the slot (13).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the US National Stage under 35 USC § 371 of International Application No. PCT/FR2018/051998, filed 2 Aug. 2018 which claims priority to French Application No. 1758593 filed 15 Sep. 2017, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The invention relates to the field of motor vehicles, more particularly to the exterior sealing strips of motor vehicle doors.

An exterior sealing strip is intended to be mounted on an exterior panel of a motor vehicle door. This strip comprises a slot fitting over an upper edge of the exterior panel of the door, and a lip resting on the window of the door, the lip limiting the penetration of water and dust into the door.

European Pat. No. 1755911B1 discloses an exterior sealing strip comprising a U-shaped body mounted on an exterior panel of a motor vehicle door. This strip comprises a slot fitting over the upper edge of the exterior panel of the door. One of the two opposing faces of this slot has inclined longitudinal slats to hook onto the upper edge of the door panel. The creation of these slats can, however, present difficulties and therefore additional production costs, particularly if they are made of a material other than that of the body forming the face on which they are provided. Moreover, the grip and hold achieved by these slats can prove insufficient.

Published French App. No. 2943280A1 discloses an exterior sealing strip positioned along the upper edge of a door panel of a motor vehicle. The upper edge has the particularity of being folded at 180° around a stiffening edge arranged on the interior face of the panel, the stiffener comprising regularly spaced openings. These openings make it easier to hook on the fixing lugs located on the internal faces of the strip body, thus improving the seal of the strip along the upper edge. This fixing system is advantageous in that the fixing is good; however, the fitting of the strip requires particular care in order to engage each of the lugs in the openings. Moreover, the fact that the upper edge of the door panel is folded around that of the stiffener has the advantage of presenting a rounded and non-projecting surface for the interior of the slot fitted onto the edge. The creation of such a fold, however, requires additional steps generating an extra cost.

SUMMARY

The object of the invention is to overcome at least one of the drawbacks of the above-mentioned state of the art. More particularly, the object of the invention is to propose a mounting of a window sealing strip on an exterior panel of a door that is robust, economical and easy to install, particularly along the edges of potentially projecting door panels.

The subject sealing strip is intended to be mounted on an upper edge of an exterior panel of a door provided with a window, the strip comprising: a body forming a slot with two opposing faces, able to fit over the upper edge of the door panel; a lip extending along the body, intended to contact the window; wherein at least one of the two opposing faces of the slot comprises ridges running transversely to the strip and each ridge having an end face external to the slot, having a profile that makes a mean angle (α, β) of between 10° and 30° with a main direction of the slot so as to facilitate insertion of the edge in the slot.

Advantageously, a stiffener can be positioned on the rear face of the exterior panel, at the upper edge.

Advantageously, the ridges extend perpendicular to the strip.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the ridges each have a semi-circular cross section and are distributed evenly along the strip. The ridges are advantageously fluted.

According to an advantageous embodiment, one of the two opposing faces of the slot is an internal face located on the side of the lip, the face also comprising at least one boss having a triangular section extending longitudinally so as to form an inclined sliding face along the upper edge, the boss forming a clip able to engage in a corresponding orifice in the upper edge.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the or each boss also comprises a face engaging in the corresponding orifice of the upper edge, and two end faces, the inclined sliding face forming with the end faces two edges, at least one of the edges having a chamfer of at least 2 mm×2 mm. These two values are the distances in millimeters between each of the new ridges created by the chamfer and the theoretical ridge that the latter suppresses. Advantageously, the edge or edges that have the chamfer are those located on the same side corresponding to the edges that come into contact with the upper edge when gradually fitting the strip onto the door panel by bending.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the or each boss comprises, on the inclined sliding face, a metal piece able to reduce the grip of the boss on the upper edge when fitting the strip onto the upper edge of the door panel.

Advantageously, the metal piece is an insert fitted when molding the strip, or a fastener fixed to the boss after molding. The fastener is preferably fixed onto the strip from a lower end of the clip.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the portion of the body forming the interior face of the slot is a wall with transverse cutouts on either side of each boss so as to enable the wall to bend at the face between the cutouts when fitting the strip onto the upper edge. The cutouts extend through the wall of the strip, that is to say they pass through the entire thickness of the wall.

Advantageously, the clips are arranged solely at the ends of the strip, for example on the end portions of the corresponding strip, each at one quarter of the length of the strip.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the cutouts extend from one exterior edge of the interior face towards the bottom of the slot to a distance from the bottom of between 0 mm and 10 mm. This distance is advantageously between 0 mm and 5 mm.

According to another advantageous embodiment, the wall forming the interior face of the slot has at least one opening between two cutouts on either side of the or at least one bosses.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the opening or openings extend longitudinally in alignment with the bottoms of the cutouts. Alignment between the openings and bottoms of the cutouts means that the openings have a longitudinal axis that is aligned with the bottoms of the directly adjacent cutouts.

Advantageously, the wall forming the interior face of the slot has a reduced height at the level of the clip or clips. The reduced height of the wall may be less than 80% or greater than 50% of the maximum height of the wall.

Advantageously, the strip comprises at least one closing surface of the slot at one end of the strip intended to serve as an end stop for positioning the strip when fitting.

Also disclosed is a motor vehicle comprising at least one door, the door comprising: a movable window; an exterior panel; and the sealing strip described above with the window mounted on an upper edge of the exterior panel.

Advantageously, the portion of the body of the sealing strip forming the exterior face of the strip comprises an upper end and a lower end. From the lower end extend two lower lips and one exterior molding, the two lower lips being in contact with the exterior panel of the door. By contrast, the exterior molding forms in its upper part a hook positioned between the lip and the upper end of the body portion. This exterior molding is preferably made of a different material to the material of the strip, such as chrome. Advantageously, the strip is made of thermoplastic materials.

Advantageously, the strip is fitted onto the upper edge in accordance with the following steps: orientation of the strip at around 30° in relation to the upper edge of the exterior panel of the door, the closing surface of the strip being positioned in abutment against a respective end stop of the panel, then unrolling the strip onto the upper edge of the panel.

The sealing strip is advantageous in that it is easier to fit onto the exterior panel of the vehicle door. The sealing strip also has greater flexibility, and thus the speed of fitting the strip to the door panel is to be increased. The strip also has an exterior molding positioned at the front of the strip that will improve its aesthetic appearance. The cutouts make it possible to have both bending flexibility in the strip in order to facilitate assembly, and to achieve good fixing after fitting. Lastly, the sealing strip is robust, economical and easy to fit onto a door panel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1is a side view of a motor vehicle with sealing strips. The vehicle comprises two doors1, front and back. Each door1comprises an exterior panel3, a window5that can slide along the panel3, and a trim7. This exterior panel3comprises an upper edge onto which is fitted the sealing strip9, commonly called the window seal.

FIG. 2is a sectional view of the sealing strip, the strip being fitted on the upper edge of the outer panel of the door. A stiffener3B can be arranged on the rear face of the upper edge3A of the exterior panel3, serving to stiffen it. In this case, the upper edge3A, complete with the stiffener3B, is fitted with the sealing strip9. This strip9comprises a body11forming a slot13, the slot comprising two opposing faces, i.e., an interior face15located on the side of the lip19resting against the window5and an exterior face17opposite the interior face15. The interior face15is formed on a wall16of the body11, the wall16comprising an upper end16A, above which is located the lip19, and a lower end16B.

The exterior face17of the slot13is formed on a wall18of the body11, the wall18comprising an upper end18A and a lower end18B. From the lower end18B extend two lower lips21that rest against the exterior panel3of the door, and an exterior molding23. This molding23completely and longitudinally covers the strip9and serves to improve the appearance of the strip9. The upper end of this molding23ends in a hook positioned between the lip19and the upper end18A of the wall18forming the exterior face17.

The interior and exterior faces (15,17) also comprise ridges25positioned transversely to the longitudinal axis of the strip9. The ridges25can be fluted. Each ridge25has an exterior end face25A making a mean angle α or β of between 10° and 30° in relation to the longitudinal direction of the slot13, the exterior end face25A, due to its inclination, facilitating assembly while limiting the risk of the ridge25of the strip9being pulled off. These ridges25advantageously have a semi-circular cross-section and are distributed evenly along the strip9.

FIG. 3is another cross-sectional view of the strip showing a boss. The boss27is positioned on the interior face15in the longitudinal direction of the strip9. This boss27has a triangular section with one inclined sliding face27A along the upper edge3A and one retaining face27B in relation to an orifice3B.1in the stiffener3B. This boss27improves the hold of the strip9on the panel3. Above the boss27and in the wall16of the interior face15there is an opening16C serving to improve the flexibility of the wall16. Thus, the boss27is adjacent to the lower margin of the opening16C.

FIG. 4shows a rear view of two strips fitted on the exterior panels of the doors inFIG. 1. In this view, parts of the strips9of the front and rear doors can be seen. The wall16forming the interior face15is then subdivided into front16D, central16E and rear16F portions, the portions of the strips (16D,16E,16F) being separated by clips16G. The portions of the strips (16D,16E,16F) and the clips16G are formed by cutouts16H in the strips, the cutouts16H extending from an exterior edge of the wall16of the interior face15of the slot to a distance from the bottom of the slot of between 0 mm and 10 mm, more preferably between 0 mm and 5 mm. Increasing the depth of the cutouts16H also facilitates, by improving the flexibility of the strip9, its mounting onto the exterior panel3of the door. Each clip16G also comprises the opening16C, as described inFIG. 3. This opening16C has a longitudinal axis preferably aligned with the bottoms of the cutouts16H. The clips16G are preferably adjacent to the lateral ends of the strip9, and more preferably positioned in the first quarter from the lateral ends of the strip9. The clips16G have a reduced height of the wall16that can be less than 80% and/or more than 50% of the maximum height of the wall16. The strip9also comprises fixing elements29, which can in particular be screws, positioned at the lateral ends of the strip9.

FIG. 5is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the strip, showing the interior face of the strip's slot. The boss27is located on the clip16G and below the opening16C. The boss27also comprises two end faces27C that form edges27D with the inclined sliding face27A, at least one of the edges27D forming a chamfer of at least 2 mm×2 mm. The ridges25are more preferably located on the wall16forming the interior face15, in the central, front and rear portions and/or on the exterior face of the slot. Preferably, these ridges25are at least two in number, positioned in the front or rear portion respectively and in the central portion, and more preferably positioned longitudinally at less than 10 cm from the cutout16H separating the respective portion of the clip16G.

FIG. 6is a view of the interior face of the strip with the boss comprising a metal piece according to a first variation of the strip. The metal piece (27E,27F) is, in this variation, a metal insert27E incorporated when molding the strip9. It is on the inclined sliding face27A of the boss27. This insert27E serves to reduce the grip of the boss27on the exterior panel of the door, and more particularly the grip of the inclined sliding face27A on the upper edge of the panel.

FIGS. 7A and 7Bshow a second variation of the strip where the inclined sliding face of the boss is created by a fastener. A cross-section of the fastener is shown inFIG. 7Aand its mounting onto the boss is shown inFIG. 7B. Fastener27F is preferably thin and is fixed onto the strip9from the lower end16B of the wall16of the clip16G. The fastener27F extends along the interior face15up to the inclined sliding face27A. It extends to the back of the wall16of the interior face15up to the retaining face27B of the boss27.

The mounting of the strip9can comprise a first phase of orientation at around 30° of the strip9in relation to the upper edge3A of the exterior panel3. A closing surface of the slot13(not shown in the Figures), located at one end of the strip9, is positioned abutting against a respective end stop of the exterior panel3of the door1. The strip9is then unrolled along the upper edge3A of the panel3.

Preferably, the strip is made of thermoplastic materials, the exterior molding23possibly made of different materials to the strip itself, such as chrome. The strip is preferably made by molding, but can be produced by other techniques known to a person skilled in the art. The stiffener can be made by stamping, the orifices then preferably being cut out before fixing the stiffener to the back of the upper edge of the exterior panel of the door.