Abstract:
A vehicle door includes a window area and a hollow door body underneath the window area. A web divides the window area into a front and rear window, and extends into the door body. At least one of the windows has a movable pane, one edge of which engages into a groove of the web. A web holder is anchored on a wall of the door body, and plug connected with a lower end of the web in the longitudinal direction of the web.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to German Patent Application No. 102014019302.0, filed Dec. 20, 2014, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
       TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present disclosure pertains to a door, in particular for a motor vehicle, and more particularly to a door structure having a web that divides the window area into a front and rear window and extends into the door body. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Vehicle doors normally encompass a window area with a window pane above a waistline, which can be moved vertically, and a hollow door body below the waistline, into which the movable window pane can be lowered. EP 1 106 408 A1 discloses such a vehicle door, in which a web that guides the vertical movement of the pane divides the window area into a front and rear window above the waistline and extends over the waistline and into the door body. The web encompasses an elongated profile with an H-shaped cross section. The panes of the front and rear window engage into the two grooves therein, along with a bracket, which protrudes from the profile in proximity to its lower end, and is used for attachment to a wall of the door body. The bracket complicates the manufacture of the web, since it must either be joined to the H-profile after the fact, or, when molded as a single part with the latter, necessitates complicated molding tools. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    In accordance with the present disclosure a vehicle door with a movably guided pane is disclosed that can be easily and cost-effectively assembled. According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a vehicle door includes a window area and a hollow door body underneath the window area. A web divides the window area into a front and rear window and extends into the door body. At least one of the windows has a movable pane, one edge of which engages into a groove of the web. A web holder is anchored to a wall of the door body and plug-connected with a lower end of the web in the longitudinal direction of the web. 
         [0005]    During the assembly of the door, such a structural design makes it possible, for example, to first mount the web holder to the door body, then manufacture the plug connection, and finally join the upper end of the web with the vehicle door as well, or conversely insert the web into the door body from above, and subsequently plug the web holder onto the end of the web from below, and finally secure the web holder to the door body. The time expended to manufacture the plug connection at the lower end of the web is minimal. Manufacturing tolerances, in particular for the length of the web, can be balanced out, even if the position of its upper end potentially visible on the finished door is prescribed without any tolerance, by providing a clearance in the longitudinal direction of the web between the web and web holder, or by having the position of the web holder on the door body be variable in the longitudinal direction, e.g., by means of an oblong hole. 
         [0006]    The plug connection can take the form of a recess in the web holder that accommodates the lower end of the web. A wall of this recess can exhibit a slit that overlaps the groove of the web, so that the windowpane can be lowered right down to the lower end of the web. Conversely, the web holder can also encompass a journal, which engages into a recess of the web extending in the longitudinal direction. In the simplest case, this recess is identical to the groove into which the movable pane engages. 
         [0007]    Also conceivable is a combination of the aforementioned features in which the web holder exhibits both a recess for accommodating the lower end of the web, as well as a journal in the recess that engages into the recess of the web. The web holder can for its part exhibit a groove that lengthens the groove of the web; in this way, the lower edge of the windowpane can be lowered until just under the web holder. 
         [0008]    The web holder can be a molded part included of a plastic. Since its dimensions are generally small by comparison to the web, the web holder can be cost-effectively realized via injection molding. Because the web and web holder are separated, the web can be designed with a uniform cross section over its entire length. For this reason, the web can be inexpensively realized with a continuous casting technique, such as extrusion, roll forming or a combination of several continuous casting techniques. 
         [0009]    In order to fasten the web holder to the wall of the door body, the web holder can exhibit a wall facing the wall of the door body and a clamp plugged onto the wall. A threaded sleeve of the clamp aligns flush with an orifice in the wall. While a thread can be precut in the threaded sleeve, the thread can also be cut only by screwing a screw that fixes the web holder to the well into the sleeve. 
         [0010]    In order to form a seal along the edges of the pane and simultaneously accommodate the pane in the groove with a certain tolerance in the direction of its surface normal, at least one flexible lip can be arranged at an entry of the groove, and deflected by the edge of the pane engaging into the groove. Two flexible lips are preferably provided, which abut against respectively opposite sides of the pane. 
         [0011]    The web can encompass an extrusion profile, which preferably extends over the entire length of the web. The web preferably encompasses a jacketed reinforcing insert. In particular, this reinforcing insert makes it possible to impart the required stiffness to the web as a whole, while the lips can at the same time easily yield to the pressure of the pane that is moved up and down between them. Therefore, the flexible lips are preferably designed as a single piece with an extruded layer that jackets the reinforcing insert. The web can exhibit a second groove, which incorporates an edge of a pane of the other window of the door. 
         [0012]    Alternatively, the web can be guided between the windows in a rail, whose side facing away from the web exhibits a groove, which incorporates an edge of a pane of the other window. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]    The present disclosure will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the following drawing figures, wherein like numerals denote like elements. 
           [0014]      FIG. 1  is a view of a vehicle door, in which the outer wall of the door body has been removed so as to illustrate the interior of a hollow space between the outer and inner wall of the door body; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a web holder and part of a web held thereon according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure; 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a longitudinal section through the web holder and web from  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a web holder according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure; 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  is a longitudinal section through the web holder from  FIG. 4  and a web plug connected with the web holder; 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  is a variant of the web holder from  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0020]      FIG. 7  is a variant of the web holder from  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0021]      FIG. 8  is a further development of the web holder from  FIG. 7 ; 
           [0022]      FIG. 9  is a partial view of a retaining clamp; 
           [0023]      FIG. 10  is a section through the web at the height of the window area of the door from  FIG. 1 ; and 
           [0024]      FIG. 11  is a section similar to  FIG. 10  according to a third embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0025]    The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the invention or the application and uses of the invention. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theory presented in the preceding background of the invention or the following detailed description. 
         [0026]      FIG. 1  shows a door  1  for a motor vehicle according to the present disclosure. The door  1  conventionally encompasses a door body  3  under a waistline  2 , which is composed of an outer wall (not shown), an inner wall  4  and a door panel (not shown) on the side of the inner wall  4  facing away from the viewer. A window area  5  encompasses a front pane  6  and a rear pane  7 , a window frame  8  enveloping the panes  6 ,  7  as well as a web  9 , in which a rear edge of the pane  6  is guided in a vertically movable manner. An upper end of the web  9  is secured to the window frame  8 . The web  9  extends downward over the waistline  2  and into the door body  3 , and is fixed just below the waistline  2  by a clamp  10  and by a web holder  11  at its lower end to the inner wall  4 . 
         [0027]    The web holder  11  is an injection molded part included of a plastic. In a first embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 , the web holder  11  is roughly rectangular in shape, with two mutually parallel longitudinal walls  12 , end walls  13 ,  14 , an intermediate wall  15  parallel to the end walls  13 ,  14 , and a floor plate  16 , which extends to half the height of the walls  12 - 15  between the end wall  13  and intermediate wall  15 . A sheet steel clamp  17  with a hairpin shaped cross section is plugged onto the intermediate wall  13 . 
         [0028]    The web holder  11  is provided so as to be secured to the inner wall  4  in any suitable manner, here by means of a screw  18 , which sequentially penetrates openings in an inner wall  4  (not shown in  FIG. 3 , to be clamped between a flat washer  25  and the clamp  17 ), a leg  19  of the clamp  17  facing the inner wall  4 , as well as the end wall  13 , and engages into a thread formed in a sleeve  20  of a leg  21  of the clamp  17  that engages into the web holder  11 . One of these openings can be an oblong hole elongated in the direction of the web  9 , so that the position of the web holder  11  can be adjusted based on a length of the web  9  that potentially varies due to manufacturing tolerances. 
         [0029]    Prior to inserting the screw  18 , the clamp  17  could be frictionally held against the wall  13  by clamping the wall between the legs  19 ,  21 . In the case shown in  FIG. 3 , the opening  22  of the wall  13  is expanded on its exterior side, so as to enable a positive anchoring by having a projection  23  of the clamp  17  engage into the opening  22 . 
         [0030]    The end wall  14  and intermediate wall  15  along with the longitudinal walls  12  border a recess  24  open toward the top, into which the lower end of the web  9  is inserted. In this way, the web  9  is fixed orthogonally to its longitudinal direction; it remains somewhat movable in the longitudinal direction, so that manufacturing tolerances can be balanced out by a variable distance d between the floor of the recess  2  and the lower end of the web  9 . 
         [0031]      FIG. 4  shows a perspective view of the web holder  11  according to a second embodiment. The recess  22  is here replaced by a journal  26  that perpendicularly protrudes from the floor plate  16 , and is provided to engage into the web  9  through its open lower end. The clamp  17  plugged onto the end wall  13  is identical to the one depicted in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , as also visible in  FIG. 5 . Here as well, a plug connection between the web holder  11  and web  9  can be quickly and easily realized. 
         [0032]      FIG. 6  shows a variant of the web holder  11  from  FIG. 4  or  FIG. 5 . The journal  26  here bears two laterally protruding leaf springs  39 , which are slightly pressed against each other when plugging on the web  9 , and thereby frictionally hold the end of the web  9  free of play. 
         [0033]    The variant of the web holder  11  shown in  FIG. 7  differs from the one in  FIG. 2  by a slit  40 , which overlaps with the groove  35  of the web  9  in such a way that the pane  6 , when lowered as far as the lower end of the web  9 , also engages into the slit  40 . 
         [0034]    In the variant in  FIG. 7 , the floor plate  16  is drawn through at the lower end of the slit  40 , and forms a stop for the lower edge of the pane  6 . In the further development depicted in  FIG. 8 , the floor plate  16  elongates the groove  35  with its own groove  41 , which allows the pane  6  to lower beyond the web holder  11 . The web  9  can here be shorter than in the other embodiments, since it does not have to guide the movement of the pane  6  over its entire length. 
         [0035]      FIG. 9  shows the clamp  10  in a perspective partial view. The clamp  10  is cut out of sheet metal as a single piece and molded. A base plate  27  of the chamber  10  is fastened to the inner wall  4  in a rear area not completely depicted in  FIG. 6  in a manner not shown, via bolting, welding or the like. A middle finger  28  of the clamp  10  extends toward the front in the plane of the base plate  27 ; two outer fingers  29  are freely cut out of the sheet metal on either side of the base plate  24  and bent toward the front, and together with the middle finger  25  border a groove  30  in which the web  9  is fixed by clamping. 
         [0036]      FIG. 10  shows the web  9  in cross section at the height of the window area  5 . A reinforcing insert  31  of the web  9  having a U-shaped cross section is extruded out of a rigid plastic or roll formed out of a sheet metal strip. The reinforcing insert  31  is jacketed with a rubber layer  32  via co-extrusion. In the relieved state, lips  33 ,  34  co-extruded with the rubber layer  32  as a single piece seal the inlet of a groove  35 , in which an edge of the pane  6  can vertically move as the lips  33 ,  34  are deflected. 
         [0037]    For its part, the web  9  is here accommodated in a groove of an H-shaped profile, which extends between the two panes  6 ,  7 , and in whose second groove the pane  7  is clamped by a gasket  37 . The profile  36  is omitted in the embodiment in  FIG. 11 , with the reinforcing insert  31  having an H-shaped cross section instead, so that the web  9  itself forms not just the groove  35  that guides the pane  6  as it moves, but also a groove  38  in which the pane  7  is rigidly clamped by the rubber layer  32  enveloping the entire reinforcing system  8 . 
         [0038]    While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description, it should be appreciated that a vast number of variations exist. It should also be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing an exemplary embodiment, it being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims and their legal equivalents.