A door anti-rattle assembly

Abstract: A door anti-rattle assembly for a vehicle comprises a first member (22) on the door (12) and a second member (26) on a part (20) of the vehicle defining a door opening. The first member (22) comprises a guide (38) and a wedge shaped anti-rattle member (40) for engagement with a tapering recess(76) formed in the second member (26). The guide (38) is used to align the first member (22) with the second member (26) and the wedge shaped anti-rattle member (40) wedges itself in the second member (26) to prevent relative vertical movement between the two members (22,26).

Description: This invention relates to a vehicle door assembly and in particular to an anti-rattle assembly for reducing door rattle. It is known to provide a door anti-rattle assembly having a first member formed with a wedge-shaped recess carried by part of the vehicle defining a door opening and a second member in the form of a spring biased wedge-shaped projection secured to the door. When the door is closed, the narrower end of the wedge-shaped projection enters the wider end of the first member so that there is initial abutment between the two members and the biasing action of the spring biases the second member into engagement with the first member thereby reducing rattling of the door. If the door is large or if it is a rear door of a vehicle upon which is mounted a spare wheel, the weight of the door can be considerable which may cause the door to drop slightly thereby creating mis-alignment between the first and second members and also make it difficult to obtain a smooth latching of the door in a closed position due to the consequential misalignment in an associated latching mechanism. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved door anti-rattle door assembly. According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a door anti-rattle assembly comprising a first member for attachment to a door and a second member for attachment to a part of the structure defining a door opening, the first member having a backplate for attachment to the door, at least one wedge shaped member slidingly supported by the backplate and a spring means to bias the or each wedge shaped member in a wedge engaging direction and the second member comprising a plate defining a tapering recess for co-operation with the or each wedge shaped member for attachment to the structure defining the door opening, wherein the first member has a separate guide member attached thereto for engagement with a surface of said tapering recess during closure of the door so as to align the first and second members as the door is closed. The tapering recess may have a lower surface which is inclined upwardly in the direction of door closing so as to form a ramp upon which the guide rides up during closing of the door thereby producing an upward force on the door to bring the first and second members into alignment. The guide may have a roller rotatably connected to the backplate. There may be two independently slideable wedge shaped members. Preferably, after initial engagement of the first member with the second member the spring means may be operable to encourage sliding between the first and second wedge members so as to absorb any clearance between the wedge members and the tapering recess. The backplate may have an upturned end portion forming an abutment for said spring means. The spring means may have a 'C' shaped spring having a first end in engagement with one of said wedge shaped members and a second end in engagement with the other of said wedge shaped members. The spring means may comprise of two compression springs each acting upon a respective one of the wedge shaped members. Advantageously, both of the wedge shaped members may be slidingly connected to the backplate by a common mounting. The backplate may include an integral guide rail along which at least one wedge shaped member is arranged to slide. According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a motor vehicle door assembly including a door anti-rattle assembly according to said first aspect of the invention. An anti-rattle assembly and a vehicle door assembly in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig.1 is a rear view of a motor vehicle having a door assembly in accordance with the invention; Fig 2 is a perspective view to a larger scale showing first and second members of a door anti-rattle assembly in accordance with the invention; Fig.3 is a cross-section through the first member shown in Fig 2 on the line IV-IV in Fig 2, Fig.4 is a diagrammatic cross-section sowing the anti-rattle assembly with the door partly closed; Fig.5 is a view similar to Fig 4 with the door fully closed and showing the wedge shaped members of the first member in engagement with a tapering recess formed in the second member; Fig.6 is a pictorial view of a first member showing an alternative spring biasing arrangement; Fig.7 is a perspective view similar to that shown in Fig. 6 but showing an alternative wedge securing means; and Fig.8 is a sectional view through a door anti-rattle assembly according to a second embodiment of the invention. In Fig 1, a vehicle 10 has a rear door 12 mounted for pivoting about a vertical axis by two hinges 14. The door 12 is held closed by a latch 16 of known kind which co-operates with a striker 18 mounted on a door post 20 on the left hand side of the vehicle. The door 12 also carries a first member 22 of a door anti-rattle assembly 24 and the door post 20 carries a second member 26 of the anti-rattle assembly 24. With reference to Figs. 2 and 3, the first member 22 of the anti-rattle assembly 24 comprises a backplate 30 which is, in use, attached to an edge of the door 12 by suitable fasteners (not shown) which pass through the apertures 32. The backplate 30 is stamped from sheet metal and has an elongate rectangular guide rail 34 to which is secured a pin 36 on which a roller 38 is rotatably mounted. The guide rail 34 also provides a support for an anti-rattle member indicated generally at 40 comprising of first and second wedge shaped parts 41, 48. The first wedge shaped member 41 is generally L-shaped in cross-section having a vertical limb 42 and a transverse limb 45 which extends with clearance C1 beneath the guide rail 34 into sliding contact with the backplate 30. The limb 45 has an inclined lower abutment surface 46. The second wedge shaped member 48 of the anti-rattle member 40 is generally T-shaped having a vertical limb 50 disposed slideably between the vertical limb 42 of the first wedge shaped member 41 and the guide rail 34. The second wedge shaped member 48 also has a transverse upper limb 52 which extends with clearance C2 over the limb 42 and over the guide rail 34 into sliding contact with the backplate 30. The transverse limb 52 has an inclined upper abutment surface 53. The vertical limbs 42, 50 are formed with respective elongate slots 54, 56 through which passes a single mounting pin 58 attached to the guide rail 34 to form a common mounting for the two wedge shaped members 41,48. The mounting pin 58 has a head 60 which overlies a shoulder 62 surrounding the slot 54 and is used to slideably hold both of the wedge shaped members 41, 48 on the guide rail 34 and hence to the backplate 30. The backplate 30 has an end portion bent upwardly to form a flange 64 at one end used as an abutment for a leaf spring 66. The leaf spring 66 has first and second resilient curved portions 68, 70 which contact the respective right hand ends of the first and second wedge shaped member 41, 48 of the anti-rattle member 40 and bias them into the positions shown in Fig 3 so that the pin 58 lies at the right hand end of the slots 54, 56. The first and second parts 41, 48 can be slid independently to the right against the bias of the resilient portions 68, 70 of the spring 66 so that relative sliding between the two wedge shaped members 41, 48 can occur. The second member in the form of a plastic plate 26 is secured, in use, to the door post 20 by means of screws (not shown) which pass through apertures 74 in the plate 26. The plate 26 is formed with a tapering recess 76 having lower and upper convergent surfaces 78, 80 which terminate at a parallel sided slot 82 having lower and upper surfaces 84, 86. The lower surface 78 is upwardly inclined to form a ramp for co-operation with the roller 38 which acts as an alignment guide during door closing. Operation of the anti-rattle assembly 24 is as follows. When the door 12 approaches its closed position, the roller 38 enters the recess 76 and if the door 12 has dropped slightly relative to the door post 20 the roller 38 will come into contact with the ramp surface 78 as it moves into the recess 76. A continued closing movement of the door 12 will cause the roller 38 to roll up the upwardly inclined ramp 78 thereby lifting the door 12 and realigning the first and second members 22, 26 and the striker 18 with the latch 16. Further closing of the door 12 causes the roller 38 to roll off the ramp 78 and onto the lower surface 84 of the parallel sided slot 82. It will be noted that the diameter of the roller 38 is less than the distance indicated at d (Fig 4) between the surfaces 84, 86 of the parallel sided slot 82. Therefore, the top of the roller 38 will remain clear of the surface 86 as it rolls into the slot 82 and will not prevent vertical displacement between the first and second members 22, 26. With reference to Figs 4 and 5, it will be appreciated that as the roller 38 enters the slot 82, the lower surface 46 of the first wedge shaped member 41 of the anti-rattle member 40 wedges against the ramp surface 78. The lower surface 46 is inclined at the same angle as the ramp surface 78 and so continued closing movement of the door causes the first wedge shaped member 41 to be slid towards the flange 64 thereby compressing the portion 68 of the spring 66. Initially, the second wedge shaped member 48 of the anti-rattle member 40 is not in contact with the recess 76 and so it continues to move with the backplate 30 until eventually, the upper surface 53 of the second wedge shaped member 48 wedges against the surface 80 of the recess 76. As the surface 53 is inclined at the same angle as the surface 80 further movement of the door 12 to interengage the latch 16 with the striker 18 causes the second wedge shaped member 48 to compress the portion 70 of the spring 66 against the flange 64 and causes further compression of the portion 68. Once the latch 16 and striker 18 are fully interengaged, the anti-rattle member 40 is wedged in the recess 76 to restrict up and down free movement of the door 12. The clearances C1 and C2 will permit slight pivoting of the parts 41, 48 on the mounting pin 58 so as to ensure that the surfaces 46, 53 of the parts 41, 48 will lie flat against the ramp 78 and surface 80. When the latch 16 is released from the striker 18 and the door 12 is opened, the roller 38 is withdrawn from the slot 82 and the recess 76 and the first and second wedge shaped members 42, 48 of the anti-rattle member 40 slide back into positions shown in Fig 2 under the bias of the spring 66. In Figs 6 and 7, the anti-rattle assembly is substantially the same as that shown in Fig 2 except that the single spring 66 is replaced by two helical coil compression springs 90, 92 which apply the resilient bias to the first and second members 41, 48 of the anti-rattle member 40. Parts in Figs 6 and 7 which correspond in construction and function to those in Figs 2 and 3 carry the same reference numerals. Operation of the anti-rattle assembly is as described above. With reference to Fig 8, there is shown a second embodiment of an anti-rattle assembly according to the invention in which instead of using an integral guide rail 34 to provide a slide for the anti-rattle member 40 a separate plastic slide block 95 of T-shaped cross-section is provided for two wedge shaped members 101, 102 to slide along. A small stiffening formation 34a is formed as part of the backplate to which the slide block 95 is attached. The slide block 95 forms a common mounting for the two wedge shaped members 101,102 forming the anti-rattle member 40. One limb 96 of the T-shaped slide block is formed with a number of bores 97 for receiving respective rivets 98 by which the slide block 95 is attached to the formation 34a. The other limb 99 of the T-shape is formed with undercuts 100 one each side of the limb 96. The two wedge shaped parts 101 and 102 are made from a plastics material and are formed with respective projections 104 which locate slideably in the undercuts 100. The inner surfaces 105 of the wedge members 101,102 are in sliding contact with the backplate 30. The wedge members 101 and 102 have respective inclined surfaces 106, 107 for wedging contact with the surfaces 78, 80 of the second member 26. The parts 101 and 102 are acted upon by a spring means (not shown) so as to enable them to operate in a similar manner to the parts 41, 48 described above. An alignment guide such as a roller (not shown) is rotatably attached to the backplate 30 as described with reference to Figs. 2-5 to align the wedge members 101, 102 with the second member 26 during door closing. It will be appreciated that by providing two independently slideable wedge shaped members it is possible to obtain a better engagement between the first and second members than if a single wedge member is used and this further reduces the opportunity for rattling of the door to occur.

Claims: A door anti-rattle assembly comprising a first member (22) for attachment to a door (12) and a second member (26) for attachment to a part of the structure defining a door opening, the first member (22) having a backplate (30) for attachment to the door, at least one wedge shaped member (41,48; 101,102) slidingly supported by the backplate (30) and a spring means (66) to bias the or each wedge shaped member (41,48; 101,102) in a wedge engaging direction and the second member comprising a plate (26) defining a tapering recess (76) for co-operation with the or each wedge shaped member (41,48; 101,102) for attachment to the structure defining the door opening, wherein the first member (22) has a separate guide member (38) attached thereto for engagement with a surface of said tapering recess (76) during closure of the door (12) so as to align the first and second members (22, 26) as the door (12) is closed. A door anti-rattle assembly according to Claim 1 in which the tapering recess (76) has a lower surface (78) which is inclined upwardly in the direction of door closing so as to form a ramp upon which the guide (38) rides up during closing of the door (12) thereby producing an upward force on the door (12) to bring the first and second members (22, 26) into alignment. A door anti-rattle assembly according to Claim 1 or 2 in which the guide is a roller (38) rotatably connected to the backplate (30). A door anti-rattle assembly according to any preceding Claim in which the backplate (30) has an upturned end portion (64) forming an abutment for said spring means (66). A door anti-rattle assembly according to any preceding Claim in which there are two independently slideable wedge shaped members (41,48; 101,102). A door anti-rattle assembly according to Claim 5 in which after initial engagement of the first member (22) with the second member (26) the spring means (66) is operable to encourage sliding between the first and second wedge members (41,101 and 48,102) so as to absorb any clearance between the wedge members (41,48; 101,102) and the tapering recess (76). A door anti-rattle assembly according to any of Claims 4 to 6 in which the spring means is a 'C' shaped spring (66) having a first end (68) in engagement with one of said wedge shaped members (41,48; 101,102) and a second end (70) in engagement with the other of said wedge shaped members(41,48; 101,102). A door anti-rattle assembly according to any of Claims 4 to 6 in which the spring means comprises of two compression springs (90, 92)each acting upon a respective one of the wedge shaped members (41,48; 101,102). A door anti-rattle assembly according to any of Claims 4 to 8 in which both of the wedge shaped members (41,48; 101,102) are slidingly connected to the backplate (30) by a common mounting (58, 95). A door anti-rattle assembly according to any preceding Claim in which the backplate (30) includes an integral guide rail (34) along which at least one wedge shaped member (41,48; 101,102) is arranged to slide. A motor vehicle door assembly including a door anti-rattle assembly as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 10.

Inventors: MISTRY DILIP, TIDBURY JOHN, MISTRY, DILIP, TIDBURY, JOHN
Applicants: ROVER GROUP, ROVER GROUP LIMITED
Application year: 1997
Main classification: E05F7
IPC codes: E05F7, E05F5