Abstract:
The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a laminate flexible strip for attachment to a vehicle in the form of a weather sealing strip. The strip includes a core member and a filler layer of elastomeric seal material disposed about and into the voids of the core member. The core member is formed by bending a wire into an undulating pattern that forms a number of continuously connected longitudinally spaced and laterally extending u-shaped metal clamping clips for reinforcing the seal material. A number of continuous laterally spaced and longitudinally extending linear fibers are attached to the clips to maintain the spatial relationship between the bent wire members. While the fibers or laminate maintain the longitudinal spacing of the wires, they also allow the core to flex laterally and compress longitudinally in the finished extrusion. The fibers may be made of the same material as or a material dissimilar to the clips.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application is a divisional of Ser. No. 10/075,788, filed Feb. 13, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,761,954. 

   BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
   The instant invention relates to reinforced sealing materials. More particularly the present invention relates to a reinforced laminate sealing strip and a method of manufacturing such a sealing strip type that is commonly utilized in sealing the edges of various parts of an automobile in mated fashion to one another. 
   For example, glass windows need to be sealed when in communication with the door frame. Most automotive doors have a body envelope that is created by two door panels, an inner and an outer which are generally in parallel spaced-apart relation to one another. An extendable pane of window glass is nested in the parallel opening between the door panels. In addition, a window regulator is provided for selectively moving the glass pane in and out of the door envelope to open and close the window opening of the door. In many vehicles, the vehicle door includes a door window frame extending from the top of the door panels and extending over the top of the window opening for enclosing the window. This door window frame has a seal, typically called weather stripping, which is installed into the door window frame to seal the perimeter edges of the window glass when the window glass is in its uppermost position. 
   Additionally, a weather stripping seal of similar construction is employed in other locations around the vehicle where a weather tight seal is required between an operable component of the vehicle and the vehicle body such as the trunk lid and the doors. In these locations, generally a metal fin is formed as part of the vehicle body panels around the perimeter of these openings. The sealing material is compressed between the body panels and the operable component to form a weather tight seal when the component is in a closed position. 
   A typical weather sealing strip has a U-shaped retention portion that contains a reinforcing carrier and is installed over an edge of the sheet metal of the door window frame or other body opening that surrounds the perimeter of the opening. Connected with the retention portion is a portion of the weather stripping referred to as the sealing member or the glass seal. The sealing member is typically shaped as an inverted U-shaped section with respect to the retention portion or a compressible bulbous section and is laterally joined thereto. The glass seal typically has flocked wings, which seal against the side of the glass when the glass is in the closed position and inserted within the U shape of the glass seal. The bulbous type profile is typically compressed against the operable component when the component is in a closed position. 
   The carrier is typically reinforced by a roll formed or stamped thin metal member. Typical materials utilized for the carrier reinforcement are cold rolled steel, stainless steel or aluminum. After the carrier is formed, it is passed through an extruder and covered with a polymeric material, typically an elastomeric material such as rubber. The interior of the retention portion may or may not have formed barbs to assist the weather stripping in retaining itself to the sheet metal of the door once it is pushed over the edge of the sheet metal. 
   In most vehicles however, the openings around the windows and doors do not have edges that are square or parallel to opposing edged thereto and the corners are typically radiused. For example, the lateral edge of a front door window frame at the front end is inclined due to the inclination of the automobile&#39;s “A” pillar. The door window frame, generally rearward of the “A” pillar, curves into a second horizontal linear section called the header which usually runs longitudinal with the vehicle. A third linear section of the door window frame is oriented generally vertically and is usually conformed to the shape of the “B” pillar. Between the “A” pillar and the top of the door window frame, is a first curved section. Between the top of the door window frame and the “B” pillar portion of the window opening is a second curved section. Most carrier materials, which are formed using thin metal reinforcement, are not flexible enough to bend to conform to the small radiuses of the curves of the door window frame. Therefore, in these applications, a first length of weather stripping is utilized to seal the first linear section of the window. A second length of weather stripping is used to seal the second linear section of the window, and a third length of weather stripping was utilized to seal the third linear section. 
   Many known door windows require an additional molded joint component to be installed between two linear sections to seal the curved sections. The molded joint however has a dissimilar cross-section than that of the adjoining linear sections. Another method used to seal the radius sections is to notch the carrier to allow it to fold and then mold a polymeric patch into the notched area. The prior sealing systems either do not provide a constant sectioned extrusion through the corners and therefore lack firm retention to a seal-mounting flange of the door window frame at these locations, or are limited to relatively large radiuses, which would otherwise cause seal wrinkling or buckling. Lack of retention to the seal to the mounting flange or wrinkling or buckling of the seal degrades the integrity of the seal. Also, without additional operations, many molded corners lack the low friction areas between the window glass and seal. The lack of low friction causes squeaks and mandates that higher window regulator forces be utilized to ensure closure of the window. 
   While in most instances, the metal used as the carrier within the extruded seal, such as stamped metal reinforcing, is not flexible enough to corner through the small radius required. Most carrier material, that is flexible enough to corner through the small radius, does not have the tensile strength required to process the carrier material through the roll forming mill or the polymer injection molding and/or extruding processes. Prior art attempts to overcome these difficulties include the replacement of the stamped or rolled metal reinforcing carrier with an undulating knitted wire material. Since the undulating wire has little tensile strength, the knitted or woven fabric material is added between each pass of the wire to provide longitudinal stability and maintain the spacing of the wires as the carrier is subjected to the extrusion process. In these instances, the equipment required to weave the fabric carriers with the wire strand is expensive and requires a high degree of calibration and maintenance thus increasing the cost and manufacturing time required to produce the reinforcing material. In addition, the reinforcing carriers are generally produced by one manufacturer and supplied to another manufacturer as raw material for further extrusion and incorporation into a finished weather stripping product. 
   Finally, in all of the prior art weather stripping materials, the reinforcing carrier material is directly crosshead extruded into the finished product. While this process proves to be expedient from a manufacturing standpoint, the finished product tends to have ribbed pattern that appears in the surface of the finished extrusion corresponding to the locations of the reinforcing members. This appearance is referred to as the “hungry horse” and is aesthetically unattractive and, therefore, not considered desirable in the weather stripping industry. 
   It is therefore desirable to provide a process that provides a reinforcing web that can be employed as raw material for further extruding weather stripping. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a reinforcing carrier that maintains longitudinal stability during the fabrication process while allowing the required flexibility required in the finished product. It is another object of the present invention to provide a reinforcing carrier that can be incorporated into a weather stripping extrusion that minimizes or eliminates the “hungry horse” appearance. 
   SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
   In this regard, the present invention provides a laminate flexible strip for attachment to a vehicle in the form of a weather stripping gasket. The strip includes a core member and a cover layer of elastomeric material disposed about the core member. The core member includes a bent wire in an undulating pattern that forms a plurality of continuously connected longitudinally spaced and laterally extending U-shaped metal clamping clips for reinforcing the seal material and a plurality of continuous laterally spaced and longitudinally extending linear fibers connected to the clips to maintain the spatial relationship between the bent wire members. While the fibers maintain the longitudinal spacing of the wires, they also allow the core to flex laterally and compress longitudinally in the finished extrusion. The fibers may be made of the same material as or a material dissimilar to the clips. 
   The clips are evenly spaced and alternately attached to one another on the right and left sides in linear sequence and include apertures formed between the parallel clip members in a continuously connected pattern. This undulating pattern is preferably formed of wire that is bent using a wire-bending machine. The continuously connected clips are simply laid onto the fibers, or other longitudinal carrier material, and may be secured by an adhesive potting laminate, a thermosetting resin or by welding as the fiber material indicates. A filler material is filled in the apertures to create a ribbon that presents a smooth, continuous outer surface. In other words, the filler material is disposed in the apertures between the clips to eliminate the “hungry horse” effect when the ribbon of the present invention is incorporated into a finished weather stripping gasket in further extrusion processes. 
   Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the present invention: 
       FIG. 1  is a partially cut away perspective view of the reinforced flexible laminate strip of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a partially cut away perspective view of the reinforced flexible laminate strip of  FIG. 1  with an extruded covering; 
       FIG. 3  is a plan view of the preferred embodiment of the reinforcing wire employed in the strip of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 4  is a plan view of an alternate embodiment of the reinforcing wire employed in the strip of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 5  is a plan view of a second alternate embodiment of the reinforcing wire employed in the strip of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 6  is a plan view of a third alternate embodiment of the reinforcing wire employed in the strip of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 7A  is a cross-sectional view through the line  7 — 7  of  FIG. 3  showing a wire of a circular cross-section; 
       FIG. 7B  is a cross-sectional view through the line  7 — 7  of  FIG. 3  showing a wire of a polygonal cross-section; 
       FIG. 7C  is a cross-sectional view through the line  7 — 7  of  FIG. 3  showing a wire of an oval cross-section; 
       FIG. 8  is a plan view of the reinforcing wire employed in the strip of the present invention of  FIG. 1  showing the preferred embodiment of the longitudinal reinforcing material; 
       FIG. 9  is a plan view of the reinforcing wire of the present invention showing an alternative embodiment of the longitudinal reinforcing material; 
       FIG. 10  is a plan view of the reinforcing wire of the present invention showing a second alternative embodiment of the longitudinal reinforcing material; 
       FIG. 11  is a plan view of the reinforcing wire of the present invention showing a third alternative embodiment of the longitudinal reinforcing material; and 
       FIG. 12  is a perspective view of the reinforced laminate strip of the present invention incorporated into a finished weather stripping gasket. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   Referring now to the drawings, the reinforced flexible laminate strip of the instant invention and the various features thereof are illustrated in  FIGS. 1-12 . Turning to  FIG. 1  the flexible laminate strip  10 , formed in accordance with the present invention, is shown. The laminate strip  10  has a continuous reinforcing wire  12 . The wire  12  is formed into an undulating looped pattern that extends along the length of the strip  10 . When the wire  12  pattern reaches the end of one pass at the edge of the strip  10 , the wire  12  is bent forming a series of alternately opposing U-shaped retaining clips  14  running in a regularly spaced pattern throughout the strip  10 . The wire  12  is bent into the undulating looped pattern using a wire bending machine (not shown) where the wire  12  is fed into the machine as straight stock and the bending machine bends the wire  12  into the desired configuration to form the retaining clips  14 . 
   At least one longitudinal reinforcing strand  16  is attached to the looped passes of the reinforcing wire  12  using an adhesive material such as an epoxy potting compound or other suitable adhesive known in the art. Alternatively, a woven or non-woven laminate, as shown in  FIG. 9 , may be employed instead of the strands. However, more than one reinforcing strand  16  is preferably used. The longitudinal reinforcing strands  16  or laminate are used to maintain the even spatial relationship between each of the wire  12  passes. Since subsequent manufacturing steps may include drawing the reinforcing wire  12  through an extrusion process, the longitudinal reinforcing strands  16  serve to maintain a uniform spacing of the retaining clips  14 . The addition of the reinforcing strands  16  are an important improvement over the prior art in that as described above, no highly calibrated weaving machines are required to apply the longitudinal reinforcing strands  16  to the reinforcing wire  12 . 
   The longitudinal strands  16 , in the preferred embodiment, are preferably made of fiberglass although the material may also be an elastomeric material, EPDM rubber or a plastic film, woven laminate, non-woven laminate or knitted laminate material that can be effectively applied to the looped reinforcing wire  12 . In some configurations, for example, no filament reinforcement  16  is required. The longitudinal strands  16  serve to transfer the tension of the extrusion process in a uniform linear fashion to each pass of the looped wire  12  to prevent the looped wire  12  from being bent or distorted thereby maintaining a uniform pattern of retaining clips  14  within the extruded strip  10 . The present invention includes the use of at least one longitudinal strand  16  but may include a number of longitudinal strands  16  in various configurations across the width of the looped wire  12  pattern. The arrangement of the longitudinal strands  16  across the width of the looped wire  12  pattern is determined by the final application for which the strip  10  is to be used. In applications where the longitudinal forces applied during the extrusion process are great, a larger number of longitudinal strands  16  are applied to the looped wire  12  to resist and evenly distribute the extrusion forces. In addition, placement of longitudinal strands near the edges of the looped wire  12  pattern are adjusted based on the desired bending properties of the finished strip  10  as will be discussed below. 
   Once the longitudinal reinforcing strands  16  are applied to the looped wire  12 , the assembly is drawn through an extruder to apply a filler material  18 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the filler material  18  is applied over both the looped wire  12  and the reinforcing strand  16  to fill in the voids  20  between each lateral pass of the looped wire  12 . In this manner, a laminate strip  10  is formed that has a smooth outer surface appearance that reduces the telegraphed appearance of the looped wire  12  on the surface of the filler material  18 . This appearance, known in the art as the “hungry horse”, is when the looped wire  12  contained in the strip  10  stresses the surface of the filler  18  causing it to have a ribbed appearance. The filler material  18  is selected to be compatible with the material used in the finished application. Preferably, the filler material  18  is an EPDM rubber but may also be other elastomeric rubbers, thermoplastic, high durometer rubber, laminated rubber or combinations thereof. At this point in the process, the strip  10  of the present invention is sufficiently completed and may be offered to other manufacturers as raw material component substrate. Additionally, the strip  10  can be further processed as shown in  FIG. 1   a  by further extruding an outer covering  19  onto the strip  10  of the present invention for incorporation into other forms of weather stripping material. 
   For example, as shown in  FIG. 12 , the strip  10  can be further extruded to add an integral sealing element. Before further incorporating the strip  10  into a weather stripping product, the strip  10  of the present invention is normally bent using a roll-forming device into a U-shaped profile. By bending the strip  10  in this fashion, the ends of the retaining clips  14  are in an opposed relationship enabling the strip  10  to be used as weather stripping material by pressing the strip  10  onto the sheet metal edge (not shown) around a vehicle window, door or trunk opening. The retaining clips  14  exert a spring-biased force inwardly against the sheet metal edge thus retaining the weather stripping in place after installation. 
   Turning to  FIGS. 3-6 , various configurations of looped reinforcement wire  12  placement are shown for use in the strip  10  as shown in  FIG. 1  of the present invention.  FIG. 3  shows a bent wire pattern  22  having symmetrical wire loops. The placement provides for clip loops  24  that are equal in dimension along both edges of the strip  10 . Because the loop pattern  22  is symmetrical, spaces  26  are provided along each side of the strip  10  equal in width to the clip loops  24 . This allows for a finished product that can be flexed equally well in either an inside or outside curve. 
   Turning to  FIG. 4 , a wire pattern  28  of looped reinforcement wire  12  is shown where the clip loops  30  are bent into a tapered configuration. Because the clip loops  30  are very small and have large spaces  32  between them, the finished strip is permitted to be bent in a very tight radius before the clip loops  30  contact one another.  FIG. 5  shows yet another embodiment of a wire pattern  34  for looped reinforcing wire  12 , in accordance with the present invention, having smaller wire loops  36  on one side and larger wire loops  38  on the other side of undulating wire  12 . This wire pattern  34  allows the finished strip  10  to have improved bending in the direction of the smaller loops  36  with greater rigidity in the direction of the larger loops  38 . The wire pattern  40  shown in  FIG. 6  has flared clip loops  42  that allow the strip  10  to bend while providing broad contact of the clip loops  42  with the substrate (not shown) to provide improved torsional rigidity for the weather stripping when installed. Thus, the structural pattern of wire  12  can be configured to meet the structural needs of the environment into which the strip  10  is installed. 
     FIGS. 7A ,  7 B and  7 C show the various possible cross sections for the reinforcement wire  12 . The reinforcement wire  12  preferably has a round cross-section  23  as shown in FIG.  7 A. Also, the reinforcing wire  12  may also have a polygonal cross-section  25 , such as square or rectangular, as shown in FIG.  7 B. Further, the wire  12  may also have an oval cross-section  27 , as shown FIG.  7 C. Other cross-sectional configurations may be employed to suit the application and environment at hand. 
     FIGS. 8-11  show various configurations for placement of the longitudinal reinforcing strands  16 .  FIG. 8  shows the preferred placement of the longitudinal reinforcing strands  16 . The preferred material for the strands  16  is a fiberglass yarn. At each point where the strand  16  intersects the looped wire  12  it is fastened with a suitable adhesive. This configuration allows the looped wire  12  to be drawn through an extrusion process without deformation or bending of the uniform spacing of the loops  44  formed in looped wire  12 . Depending on the final application for strip  10 , the number of reinforcing strands  16  used is varied. In some applications where the longitudinal stresses of the subsequent extrusion process are low, no reinforcing strand  16  need be applied to looped wire  12 . As the longitudinal stresses of the extrusion process increase, additional reinforcing strands  16  are applied to looped wire  12  to increase the ability of the assembly of looped wire  12  and reinforcing strands  16  to resist longitudinal deformation. This can also be accomplished with a laminate material. Further, where reinforcing strands  16  are placed near the edges of the looped wire  12  the finished strip  10  becomes restrained against longitudinal extension and therefore has greater dimensional stability. The extent to which the final application requires restraining the finished strip  10  to preserve dimensional stability is used to determine the number and placement of longitudinal reinforcing strands  16  across the width of the looped wire  12  pattern. 
     FIG. 9  shows an alternative material for use as a longitudinal reinforcing strand  16 . Strips of laminate material  46 ,  48  and  50  may be applied onto the looped wire  12  either using adhesive or other bonding methods. These strips  46 ,  48  and  50  may all be of the same material or may each be of a different material depending on the desired characteristics of the finished strip  10 . The materials used are selected from elastomers, rubbers or thermoplastics. Further, strips  46 ,  48  and  50  may be woven laminate, non-woven laminate or knitted laminate to suit the application at hand. As an example, the center strip  48  may be a rigid thermoplastic imparting a rigidity to the finished strip  10  in the up and down bending axis while one side strip  46  may be a low durometer EPDM material and the other side strip  50  may be a harder high durometer rubber to provide for a directional bending strip  10  that is more flexible in one direction than in the other. 
   Further,  FIG. 10  illustrates the use of laminate strips  52  in combination with fiberglass yarns  54  where the fiberglass yarns  54  are imbedded within the laminate strip  52  material. Finally,  FIG. 11  illustrates the use of longitudinal strips  56  and  58  to provide improved masking of the “hungry horse” effect. A wider longitudinal strip  58  is, for example, applied toward the outside of the finished product. 
     FIG. 12  illustrates the strip  10  of the present invention bent into a U-shaped profile, as described above. The strip  10  has the looped reinforcement wire  12  with longitudinal reinforcement strands  16  attached to the wire  12 . Retaining clips  14  are bent into a downward position creating a channel  60  to receive the sheet metal edge of an automobile door, window or trunk opening (not shown) therein. Further, a filler material  18  is shown extruded over the wire  12  and longitudinal reinforcement  16  and into the voids  20  between the looped wire  12  and a sealing element  62  is shown attached to one leg of the bent strip  10 . The sealing element  62  is bulbous in shape and is generally compressible. When the door, window or trunk lid is in a closed position, the sealing element  62  is compressed forming an effective seal. The strip  10  portion of the present invention effectively retains the sealing element  62  in the required operative position. The filler material  18  used in the present invention is selected to be compatible with the material that is used to form the sealing element  62  so that the overall product has a uniform finished appearance. 
   The present invention represents an improvement over the prior art in that the looped reinforcing wire  12  and the non-woven longitudinal carrier strands  16  combine to produce a laminate strip having reduced raw material weight and an improved flexibility. The prior art carriers that employed stamped or expanded metal require a much higher percentage by weight of raw metal to produce the desired product. This results in a higher cost for production. Additionally, these metal sections are much less flexible than the present invention. Further, the prior art designs that employ knitted strand carriers cannot produce bent wire patterns where each pass of the wire is straight and parallel to the previous pass. As a result, the wire reinforcing pattern in these cases is not symmetrical and balanced, therefore, imparting uneven bending properties to the finished product. 
   It can therefore be seen that the instant invention provides a novel weather stripping retention strip  10  having improved flexibility and provides for reduced cost in manufacturing. Since the looped reinforcing wire  12  has a uniform even pattern that is maintained throughout the entire process, the finished strip  10  has an improved consistency when bending. In addition, since the wire  12  is more flexible than the stamped or expanded metal carriers used previously, the finished strip  10  has improved bending characteristics. 
   While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claims.