Weather strip for motor vehicles

Abstract: A weather strip used to seal about a door opening comprising: a bottom portion (51) including outer and inner side ends and adapted to be bonded by double-sided adhesive tape (74) to a body wall (11) which defines said door opening; and a seal wall (54) including inner and outer sides (53, 52) connected at spaced apart locations to said bottom portion to define a tubular portion therebetween, said seal wall being positioned about said door opening so as to be contacted by a peripheral edge of a door window pane (14) upon the closing of a vehicle door, is characterized in that an outer side end (520) of said seal wall (54) is connected to said bottom portion (51) at a position spaced inwardly of an outer side edge (740) of said double-sides adhesive tape (74) bonded to said bottom portion (51).

Description: The following priority applications, Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 6-145367, filed in Japan on June 3, 1994; Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 6-114519, filed in Japan on April 28, 1994; and Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 7-22166, filed in Japan on January 17, 1995, are hereby incorporated by reference into the present specification. Background of the Invention Field of the Invention The present invention relates to weather strips for motor vehicles and, more particularly, to weather strips to be attached along the side of a roof around door openings. Description of Related Art As shown in Fig. 1, a weather strip 30 is attached to a body wall 11 along an edge of a roof 10 of a vehicle body, which defines a door opening thereof. When a vehicle door is closed, the weather strip 30 is pushed by an upper edge of a door window pane 14. An example for a weather strip is described in Japanese Utility Model Application laid-open JP-U-112110/89, which is shown in Fig. 4 and constitutes subject-matter of preamble of appended main claim. This known weather strip comprises a bottom portion 31 including outer and inner side ends and adapted to be bonded by double-sided adhesive tape 70 to a body wall 11 which defines a door opening. Furthermore, it comprises a seal wall 34 including inner and outer sides connected at spaced apart location to said bottom portion to define a tubular portion therebetween, said seal wall being positioned about said door opening so as to be contacted by a peripheral edge of a door window pane 14 upon the closing of a vehicle door. When attaching the weather strip 30A its bottom portion 31 is pressed from the side of the seal wall 34 against the body wall 11 via the double-sided adhesive tape 70. With this arrangement however, if a sufficient pressing force is not exerted on the bottom portion 31, the double-sided adhesive tape 70, especially on outer side edge thereof, is likely to peel off from the body wall 11 for the following reason. When a door is closed the window pane 14 shifts in the direction of the arrow and this pulls an outer side wall 32 inward which applies first to an outer side end of the bottom wall 31 in a direction that will separate it from the body wall 11. In order to overcome this problem outer and inner side walls 32 and 33 are formed of solid rubber, similar to the bottom portion 31. By this means the pressing force to be exerted on both side edges of the double-sided adhesive tape 70 is enlarged and accordingly, the adhesive strength thereof is increased. In this arrangement, however, when the bottom portion 31 is pressed from the side of the seal wall 34 by hand or by a pressing roller, there is the possibility that the pressing force is exerted on the bottom portion 31 via the side walls 32 and 33 obliquely, with respect to the bottom portion 31, causing one of side ends of the bottom portion 31 not to be bonded sufficiently. Furthermore, in cases where the side walls 32 and 33 are not perpendicular but positioned obliquely with respect to the bottom portion 31, the possibility exists that the side walls 32 and 33 will not exert sufficient pressing force on the bottom portion 31, even if they are formed of solid rubber. Summary of the Invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a weather strip bonding which reduces pulling force to be exerted on an outer side end of a bottom portion upon the closing of a vehicle door, thereby preventing the bottom portion from peeling away from the vehicle body. A solution for this object is achieved by a weather strip according to appended main claim. With the inventive weather strip an outer side of the seal wall is connected to the bottom portion at a position spaced inwardly of an outer side edge of the double-sided adhesive tape bonded to the bottom portion, namely, adjacent the widthwise center of the bottom portion. By connecting the outer side of the seal wall to the bottom portion positioned inside the outer side edge of the double-sided adhesive tape, pulling forces created by door closure exerted by the door window pane on the outer side end of the bottom portion via the outer side wall can be reduced, whereby the outer side edge of the double-sided adhesive tape is prevented from peeling away from the body wall. Other object, features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following description and the appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification. Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a motor vehicle to which the present invention is applied; Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of the present invention, taken along a line A-A of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of the present invention, taken along a line A-A of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional weather strip, taken along a line A-A of Fig. 1. Detailed Description of the presently preferred exemplary embodiments Fig. 2 illustrates a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown, a weather strip 30E is formed with a tubular body formed integrally by extrusion, which is composed of a bottom portion 51, an outer side wall 52, an inner side wall 53 and a seal wall 54. The bottom portion 51 is thick and formed of solid rubber. The inner side wall 53 of sponge rubber is connected to an inner side end of the bottom portion 51. The inner side wall 53 also includes an inner cavity 84. An upper end portion 520 of the outer side wall 52 is connected to the bottom portion 51 slightly outwardly of the widthwise center thereof, and extends outwardly along the bottom portion 51. A lower portion of the outer side wall 52 has an outwardly expanding arc-shaped cross-section. The upper end portion 520 is made of solid rubber, while the lower portion of the outer side wall 52 is made of sponge rubber. Lower ends of the side walls 52 and 53 are connected by the seal wall 54 of sponge rubber. The bottom portion 51 of the thus-constructed weather strip 30E is bonded to body wall 11, which extends along a roof side rail 10, with a double-sided adhesive tape 74 over its entire width. A roof side molding 12 is attached along the roof side rail 10 so as to cover the weather strip 30E. An opening trim 18 is attached to a flange 13 protruding from an inner edge of the body wall 11. The opening trim 18 contacts a lip 86 projecting from the lower end of the inner side wall 53 of the weather strip 30E. Upon closing of a vehicle door, the door window pane 14 pushes the seal wall 54 of the weather strip 30E in the direction indicated by B to overstroke obliquely inward temporarily, and then returns to a predetermined closed position thereof. When the vehicle door is closed strongly, the above overstroke of the door window pane 14 becomes large enough to pull the outer side wall 52 inwards together with the seal wall 54. This creates a pulling force on the bottom portion 51 from the upper end portion 520 of the outer side wall 52. With the present embodiment, since the upper end portion 520 is connected at about the widthwise center of the bottom portion 51, which is positioned inside the outer side edge 740 of the double-sided adhesive tape 74, the outer side end of the bottom portion 51 is prevented from separating from the body wall 11 because the force is not applied at that outer end but more centrally along the bottom portion 51. Accordingly, the outer side edge 740 of the double-sided adhesive tape 74 is prevented from peeling away from the body wall 11 even if the vehicle door is closed strongly. Since the upper end portion 520 extends outwardly along the bottom portion 51, effect of any such pulling force on the bottom portion 51 will also be further reduced. Fig. 3 illustrates a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown, an outer part and an inner part of a bottom portion 88 of a weather strip 30F are respectively bonded to a body wall 11 with double-sided adhesive tapes 75 and 76, and the bottom portion 88 is secured to the body wall 11 along the widthwise center thereof by clips 63. An upper end portion 520 of an outer side wall 52 is connected to the bottom portion 51 close to the clip securing positions thereof. The remainder of the structure of the present embodiment is substantially identical to that of the first embodiment. In Fig. 3 parts similar to those in Fig. 2 are given the same reference numeral as in Fig. 3. With the present embodiment, the outer double-sided adhesive tape 75 can be prevented from peeling away from the body wall 11 further, as compared with the first embodiment. In the weather strip in accordance with the present invention, when the bottom portion thereof is bonded to the body wall with the double-sided adhesive tape, pressing forces applied during attachment and use, exerted on the bottom portion, are applied to the bottom portion and especially to the outer and inner side edges thereof. This increases the adhesive strength of both side edges of the double-sided adhesive tape, wherein peeling off the double-sided adhesive tape would otherwise be likely to occur. Furthermore, with the weather strip in accordance with the present invention, the action point of the pulling force exerted on the bottom portion via the outer side wall upon closing of the vehicle door can be shifted toward the widthwise center of the bottom portion so that peeling off the outer side edge of the double-sided adhesive tape can be prevented.

Claims: A weather strip used to seal about a door opening comprising: a bottom portion (51; 88) including outer and inner side ends and adapted to be bonded by double-sided adhesive tape (74; 75, 76) to a body wall (11) which defines said door opening; and a seal wall (54) including inner and outer sides (53, 52) connected at spaced apart locations to said bottom portion to define a tubular portion therebetween, said seal wall being positioned about said door opening so as to be contacted by a peripheral edge of a door window pane (14) upon the closing of a vehicle door, characterized in that an outer side end (520) of said seal wall (54) is connected to said bottom portion (51; 88) at a position spaced inwardly of an outer side edge (740; 750) of said double-sides adhesive tape (74; 75) bonded to said bottom portion (51; 88). A weather strip as in claim 1, wherein said outer side end (520) of said seal wall (54) is connected adjacent the widthwise center of said bottom portion (51; 88).

Inventors: HIKOSAKA ATSUSHI, NOZAKI MASAHIRO, HIKOSAKA, ATSUSHI, NOZAKI, MASAHIRO
Applicants: TOYODA GOSEI KK, TOYODA GOSEI CO., LTD.
Application year: 1995
Main classification: B60J10
IPC codes: B60J10