Weather strip for motor vehicle

Abstract: An extruded weather strip (30B) having a tubular configuration and adapted to be bonded to a body wall along a roof side of a vehicle body, which defines a door opening thereof, with a double-sided adhesive tape. The weather strip includes a bottom portion (35) adapted to be bonded to the body wall (11) with the double-sided adhesive tape (71), and a seal wall (38) including sides that are connected to both side ends of the bottom portion. The weather strip further includes first (42) and second internal bridge (43) members which interconnect the bottom portion (35) and the seal wall (38). One end of the first bridge is connected to the seal wall at a position inside of where a door window pane will push on that seal wall while the other end is connected to an outer side end of the bottom portion. One end of the second bridge is connected to the seal wall in a position similar to the first bridge while the other end is connected to an inner side end of the bottom portion.

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. Weather strips generally have tubular configurations and conventionally have been attached by fitting them into retainers secured to body walls defining door openings. In Japanese Utility Model Application laid-open No. Hei 1-112110 JP-U-112 110/89), which constitutes the basis for the preamble of the appended main claim, there is disclosed a weather strip 30A as shown in Fig. 5. This known weather strip comprises a bottom portion 31, having an inner side end and an outer side end, and a seal wall 34 including inner and outer sides connected to said inner side end and said outer side end, respectively, to define a tubular portion. In order to simplify the attaching process, the weather strip 30A is attached by bonding its bottom portion 31 to the body wall 11 with a double-sided adhesive tape 70 without using retainers. To attach the weather strip 30A, the 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 an outer side edge thereof, is likely to peel off from the body wall 11 for the following reason. When a door is closed hard, as shown in Fig. 5, the window pane 14 shifts in the direction of the arrow, and this pulls an outer side wall 32 inward which applies force to an outer side end of the bottom portion 31 in a direction that will separate it from the body wall 11. In order to overcome this problem, as shown in Fig. 5, by forming outer and inner side walls 32 and 34 of solid rubber, similarly to the bottom portion 31, 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 38 will not exert sufficient pressing force on the bottom portion 31, even if they are formed of solid rubber. Summary of the Invention Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an approach for a tubular weather strip which exerts stable and sufficient pressing force on a double-sided adhesive tape for attaching the weather strip along the bottom side of a roof of a vehicle, thereby exhibiting excellent adhesive and sealing properties. A solution for this object is achieved by a weather strip of the type disclosed in JP-U-112 110/89 and according to the appended main claim. Appended subclaims are directed towards advantageous embodiments of the inventive weather strips. With the present invention, when the seal wall is pressed toward the body wall during attachment, the pressing force is exerted on the outer side edge or both side edges of the double-sided adhesive tape via the bridge, whereby adhesive strength of the outer side edge or both side edges of the double-sided adhesive tape is increased. Other objects, 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 the line A-A of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of the present invention, also taken along a line A-A of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a third embodiment of the present invention, also taken along a line A-A of Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional weather strip, taken along a line A-A of Fig. 1 (See also figure 2 of JP-U-112 110/89). Detailed Description of the presently preferred exemplary embodiments Fig. 2 illustrates a first embodiment of the present invention, weather strip 30B in the form of a tubular extruded body having a sector-like cross-section composed of a bottom portion 35, an outer side wall 36, an inner side wall 37 and a seal wall 30. Bottom portion 35 is relatively thick and formed of solid rubber. The outer side wall 36 extends obliquely outwardly from an outer side end of the bottom portion 35 and is also formed of solid rubber except for its lower portion which is formed of sponge rubber. An inner side wall 37 extends obliquely inwardly from an inner side end of the bottom portion 35 and is formed of sponge rubber except for its upper portion which is formed of solid rubber. Lower ends of both side walls 35 and 37 are connected by the sponge rubber seal wall 38 which has an outwardly curved configuration. Bottom portion 35 is connected to the seal wall 38 by a bridge, generally indicated at 39, formed of sponge rubber, and which extends across the interior of the tubular weather strip 30B. The bridge 39 has a generally Y-shaped cross-section, and is composed of a base portion 41, a first bridge 42 and a second bridge 43. The base portion 41 protrudes generally upright from the seal wall 38 and is positioned inside the point where a door window pane pushes upon seal wall 38. The first and second bridges 42 and 43, respectively, diverge upwardly from the base portion 41. The first bridge 42 is connected to the bottom portion 35 slightly inside the upper end of the outer side wall 36, while the second bridge 43 is connected to the upper part of the inner side wall 37. In the thus-constructed weather strip 30B, nearly the entire surface of the bottom portion 35 is bonded to body wall 11 along a roof side rail 10 with a strip-shaped double-sided adhesive tape 71. In the drawing, reference numeral 12 denotes a roof side molding, and 15 denotes an opening trim attached to a flange 13 of the body wall 11. To attach the weather strip 30B, the double-sided adhesive tape 71 is first bonded to the surface of the bottom portion 35. Then the weather strip 30B is pressed from the outside of the seal wall 38 against the body wall 11. At this time, the open leg-shaped bridges 42 and 43 extend in the undeformed state between the seal wall 38 and the bottom portion 35 to exert a pressing force on both side ends of the bottom portion 35. The pressing force from the seal wall 38 is also exerted on the outer end of the bottom portion 35 via the outer side wall 36. This pressing force, however, is insufficient in transmission efficiency thereof because the outer side wall 36 extends obliquely with respect to the exerting direction of the pressing force. With the present embodiment, by virtue of the exertion of the pressing force via the first bridge 42, necessary bonding force is ensured in the outer side end of the bottom portion 35. In the inner side end of the bottom portion 35, sufficient bonding force is also ensured because pressing force developed via the second bridge 43 is added to that coming via the inner side wall 37. Thus, with this arrangement, uniform and sufficient pressing force is exerted on and around both side edges of the double-sided adhesive tape 71. These are the two areas where peeling off the double-sided adhesive tape 71 is likely to occur. By firmly pressing the double-sided adhesive tape 71 in these areas, tape 71 will be prevented from peeling off from the body wall 11. The first bridge 42 extends obliquely across the interior of the seal wall 38 so as to support the seal wall 38 which is pushed up by the door window pane 14 upon closing of the vehicle door. Accordingly, the first bridge 42 enables the close contact between the door window pane 14 and the seal wall 38 to improve the sealing properties therebetween. In the case where that the door window pane 14 deviates inwards due to variations in the assembled position thereof, the first bridge 42 exerts reaction force on the door window pane 14 to push it toward the predetermined assembling position. Fig. 3 illustrates a second embodiment of the present invention. An opening trim 16 is formed integrally with a modified extended weather strip 30C, and serves as an inner side wall thereof. A bridge member having a generally Y-shaped cross-section is formed across the tubular weather strip 30C and includes first bridge 45 and a second bridge 46 which diverge from a common base portion 44. The first bridge 45 is connected to an outer part of the bottom portion 47 near an upper end of an outer side wall 48, and the second bridge 46 is connected to an inner part of the bottom portion 47 near an upper end of the opening trim 16. The bottom portion 47 is bonded to a body wall 11 with parallel outer and inner double sided adhesive tapes 72 and 73, respectively. The remainder of the structure of the second embodiment is substantially identical to that of the first embodiments. With the second embodiment, both the outer side wall 48 and the first bridge 45 exert pressing force on the double-sided adhesive tape 72, and both the opening trim 16 and the second bridge 46 exert pressing force on the double-sided adhesive tape 73, whereby sufficient adhesive strength of both the tapes 72 and 73 is ensured. Furthermore, by virtue of the first bridge 45, good sealing properties between the door window pane 14 and the seal wall 47 can be ensured. Fig. 4 illustrates a third embodiment of the present invention. A plurality of spaced apart clip holes 80 are formed about the widthwise center of a bottom portion 82 of an extruded weather strip 30D at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction of the bottom portion 82. The remainder of the structure of the weather strip 30D is substantially identical to that of the weather strip 3B of the first embodiment (Fig. 2). In Fig. 4, parts similar to those in Fig. 2 are given the same reference numeral as in Fig. 2. To attach the weather strip 30D, double-sided adhesive tapes 74 and 75 are first bonded to a surface of the bottom portion 82 in the longitudinal direction thereof on both sides of the clip holes 80, and heads 61 of clips 60 are respectively inserted into the clip holes 80 and then clips 60 are press-fitted into clip holes 14 formed in a body wall 11, respectively, thereby positioning the weather strip 30D on the body wall 11. Next, the bottom portion 82 is bonded to the body wall 11 with the double-sided adhesive tapes 74 and 75, thereby attaching the weather strip 4 thereto. It is preferable to form the outer double-sided adhesive tape 74 softer and thicker, as compared with the inner double-sided adhesive tape 75. With this arrangement, the outer double-sided adhesive tape 74 can be pressed firm against the body wall 11 to come into close contact therewith in conformity with irregularities such as joints thereof, thereby exhibiting good sealing properties. The inner double-sided adhesive tape 75 which is harder than the outer double-sided adhesive tape 74 ensures good stability in the attachment of the weather strip 30D to the body wall 11. For example, the outer double-sided adhesive tape 74 is formed of a soil material compressible by 25% in thickness under a load of 0.1 to 0.5 kg/cm 2 , and the inner double-sided adhesive tape 75 is formed of a relatively hard material compressible by 25% in thickness under a load of 0.8 to 2.0 kg/cm 2 . Where clip heads project inwardly from the bottom portion of the weather strip, due to variations in the attached position of the door window pane and due to strong closing of the vehicle door, the seal wall is likely to be pushed up excessively by the window pane and be pressed against the hard clip heads. If the seal wall is repeatedly pressed against the hard clip heads, there is a possibility that the seal wall will be damaged. With the present embodiment, by virtue of the first bridge 42 which is interposed between the clip heads 61 and the seal wall 82, the seal wall 82 is not pressed against the clip heads 61 directly, even when the seal wall 82 is pushed up by the window pane 14 excessively. Consequently, the seal wall 82 is prevented from being damaged due to rubbing of the seal wall 82 directly against the clip heads 61. 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 of the double-sided adhesive tape would otherwise be likely to occur.

Claims: A weather strip having a tubular configuration and adapted to be bonded by double-sided adhesive tape to a body wall which defines a door opening, comprising: a bottom portion (35; 41; 82) having an inner side end and an outer side end, said bottom portion adapted to be bonded to said body wall (11) with said double-sided adhesive tape (71; 72, 73; 74, 75) and a seal wall (38) including inner and outer sides connected to said inner side end and said outer side end, respectively, to define a tubular portion; characterized by a bridge (41, 42, 43; 44, 45, 46) for interconnecting said bottom portion (35; 41; 82) and said seal wall (38) across said tubular portion, said bridge being comprised of one bridge member (42; 45) having spaced apart ends, one end being connected to said seal wall at a position inside a point where a door window pane (14) pushes on said seal wall and another end being connected to said outer side end. A weather strip as in claim 1 characterized in that said bridge (41, 42, 43; 44, 45, 46) is further comprised of another bridge member (43; 46) having spaced apart ends, one end being connected to said seal wall (38) adjacent said one bridge member and another end being connected to said inner side end. A weather strip as in claim 2 characterized in that said one end of each of said one and another bridge members (42, 43; 45, 46) are connected to said seal wall (38) by a common base member (41; 44). A weather strip as in claim 1 characterized in that said bridge (41, 42, 43; 44, 45, 46) has a Y-shaped cross-section, and one end of said bridge is connected to said seal wall (38); at a position inside a point where a door window pane (14) pushes on said seal wall, and two diverging ends are connected to said outer side end and said inner side end, respectively. A weather strip as in claim 4 characterized in that said bottom portion (82) further includes a plurality of clip holes (80) spaced apart along the widthwise center thereof, said bottom portion (82) being positioned on said body wall (11) with clips (60) which are fitted into said clip holes, and said bottom portion being bonded to said body wall with separate double-sided adhesive tapes (74, 75) located on opposite sides of said clip holes. A weather strip as in claim 5 characterized in that an outer adhesive tape (74) of said separate double-sided adhesive tapes (74, 75) is thicker than and formed of a material softer than an inner adhesive tape (75) of said separate double-sided adhesive tapes.

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