Abstract:
An assembly includes a carrier part and a door interior part. The carrier part has at least one opening and the door interior part has a one-piece stud capable of engaging in the opening. The one-piece stud has a plastically deformed portion that fastens the carrier part to the door interior part.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     The application claims priority to German Application No. 20 2005 018 470.5 which was filed on Nov. 25, 2005.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The invention relates to an assembly that includes a carrier part and a door interior part, in particular for a motor vehicle, with the carrier part having at least one opening and the door interior part having a one-piece stud capable of engaging in the opening.  
         [0003]     The carrier part is engaged by a carriage of a window lifter system, for instance. For the purpose of a simple installation, components of the window lifter system are pre-assembled on the carrier part and conveyed to a car body as a pre-assembled unit. The pre-assembled unit can then be mounted to the door interior part. The term “door interior part” is to be understood to refer to inner structural parts of lateral portions of the car body, in particular of a vehicle door.  
         [0004]     Typically, the carrier parts have been fastened to the door interior part by expensive or multi-part screw connections.  
         [0005]     It is the object of the invention to further develop an assembly that includes a carrier part and a door interior part such that a speedier and simpler installation is made possible.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     This is achieved in an assembly of the type initially mentioned that includes a one-piece stud with a plastically deformed portion that fastens a carrier part to a door interior part. Fastening the carrier part to the door interior part is accomplished as follows: The carrier part is oriented relative to the door interior part such that the one-piece stud, integrally formed with the door interior part, projects through an opening in the carrier part. Then, the one-piece stud is plastically deformed, so that the carrier part is mounted to the door interior part without any additional fastening devices. The plastically deformed portion of the one-piece stud further makes a hermetically sealed connection between the carrier part and the door interior part. Thus, a separate seal is no longer required.  
         [0007]     Preferably, a protrusion is provided comprising a bent edge of the carrier part that surrounds the opening. The protrusion is formed in one piece with the carrier part and is a stamped portion thereof. The protrusion reliably resists shearing forces.  
         [0008]     The plastically deformed portion may engage behind the carrier part, whereby the carrier part is safely fastened to the door interior part. No additional screw connections will be necessary.  
         [0009]     The plastically deformed portion preferably is formed by hot forming. Although “hot forming” is a term from metal working, which is to be understood as a deformation of a work piece by heating, it is also used in the following for plastics deformed by heating.  
         [0010]     The carrier part is in particular configured as a rail that is part of a window lifter system, and is made of metal.  
         [0011]     According to one embodiment, two openings are provided; a first opening being circular, and a second opening being oval. Two cylindrical studs are provided. A first stud, after positioning the carrier part on the door interior part, circumferentially engages on the protrusion surrounding the first opening. A second stud that is cylindrical engages only in sections on the protrusion surrounding the second opening, which is oval. The second stud can assume various positions in the second opening, whereby manufacturing tolerances of the carrier part can be compensated for in a z-direction.  
         [0012]     According to a second embodiment, two openings are provided which both are circular. Here, diameters of the openings correspond to those of the studs.  
         [0013]     It is preferred that two recesses are provided in the door interior part, which surround the two studs. One recess is configured as a groove and the other recess takes up an oval region. The protrusions facing the carrier part engage in the recesses after positioning the carrier part on the door interior part. The recess configured as a groove has a diameter that corresponds to that of the protrusion, so that the protrusion circumferentially engages on a wall of the recess. The second recess, however, has a width corresponding to the diameter of the stud and a length that is larger than the diameter of the stud. It is only at a lateral wall of the second recess where the protrusion engages. This is why the stud can slightly “push away” the protrusion, so that manufacturing tolerances of the carrier part in the z-direction can be compensated for in the range of millimeters.  
         [0014]     These and other features of the present invention can be best understood from the following specification and drawings, the following of which is a brief description. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]      FIG. 1  shows a schematic cross-section through a vehicle door with an assembly of the invention according to a first embodiment.  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  shows an enlarged cut-out of a region, identified by X in  FIG. 1 , of the assembly according to the invention.  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  is a broken view of the assembly according to  FIG. 2  prior to mounting a carrier part to a door interior part.  
         [0018]      FIG. 4  is a broken view of the assembly according to  FIG. 2  prior to deforming a portion.  
         [0019]      FIG. 5  shows a top view of the assembly according to  FIG. 4 .  
         [0020]      FIG. 6  is a view, corresponding to  FIG. 2 , of the assembly of the invention according to a second embodiment.  
         [0021]      FIG. 7  is a broken view of the assembly according to  FIG. 6  prior to mounting a carrier part to a door interior part.  
         [0022]      FIG. 8  is a broken view of the assembly according to  FIG. 6  prior to deforming a portion.  
         [0023]      FIG. 9  shows a top view of the assembly according to  FIG. 8 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0024]      FIG. 1  shows a vehicle door  10  that has a door outer sheet  12  and a door inner sheet  14  as essential structural components. Defined between the door outer sheet  12  and the door inner sheet  14  is a cavity in which components of a window lifter system  16  are arranged.  
         [0025]     The door inner sheet  14  is usually comprised of sheet metal, as is already implied by the name. The term “door inner sheet”, however, basically encompasses inner structural parts of a vehicle door, even if these structural parts are not made of metal, but are instead made of plastic, for instance.  
         [0026]     A carrier part is configured as a rail  18  that is part of the window lifter system  16 . The rail  18  accommodates individual components of the window lifter system  16  and is fastened to a door interior part  20 .  
         [0027]     The door interior part  20  is configured as a door module, is made of plastic and is mounted to the door inner sheet  14  with a screw, latching or hook connection. A screw connection is schematically shown at  21 .  
         [0028]     The rail  18  is of metal, in particular sheet metal, and has two openings  22   a ,  22   b  ( FIG. 5 ). A first opening  22   a  is circular and is arranged in an upper region of the rail  18  related to the illustration in  FIG. 1 . A second opening  22   b  is oval and is arranged in a lower region of the rail  18 . The first and second openings  22   a ,  22   b  are developed during punching of the rail  18 .  
         [0029]     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the first and second openings  22   a ,  22   b  are surrounded by one protrusion  24  each, which is a stamped portion of the rail  18 . Here, the protrusion  24  surrounding the first opening  22   a  is circular, and the protrusion  24  surrounding the second opening  22   b  is oval.  
         [0030]     A diameter of the first opening  22   a , which is circular, corresponds to a diameter of a cylindrical stud  26  that is formed in one piece with the door interior part  20  as shown in  FIG. 3 . A width of the second opening  22   b , which is oval shaped, likewise corresponds to a diameter of a stud  26  of the door interior part  20 .  
         [0031]     The two studs  26  each have a plastically deformed portion  28 , as shown in  FIG. 2 . The plastically deformed portions  28  can engage behind the rail  18 , in particular behind the protrusions  24  (see  FIG. 2 ), so that a connection established between the rail  18  and the door interior part  20  can withstand the existent shearing forces.  
         [0032]     The plastically deformed portions  28  are formed by hot forming. Although the term “hot forming” is a term from metal working, the term is also used here for the deformation of the door interior part  20  which is made of plastic.  
         [0033]     Positioning and attaching the rail  18  to the door interior part  20  is accomplished according to the first embodiment as follows: The rail  18  is oriented such that the two studs  26  of the door interior part  20  engage in the first and second openings  22   a ,  22   b . The protrusions  24 , after mounting the rail  18  to the door interior part  20 , face away from the door interior part  20  (FIGS.  3  to  5 ).  FIGS. 4 and 5  show the stud  26  that engages in the first opening  22   a , which is the upper circular opening related to the illustration in  FIG. 1 . In this arrangement, an outer surface of the stud  26  circumferentially rests at the protrusion  24 .  
         [0034]     The lower stud  26  of the door interior part  20 , related to the illustration in  FIG. 1 , engages in the second opening  22   b  and rests at the oval protrusion  24  only in sections, in particular at side edges ( FIG. 5 ). This stud  26  therefore can assume various positions, and in this way compensates for manufacturing tolerances of the rail  18  in a z-direction.  
         [0035]     When the rail  18  is positioned on the door interior part  20 , both portions of the studs  26  are plastically deformed by hot forming, so that the plastically deformed portions  28  engage behind the protrusions  24 . The connection that is established can resist the occurrence of shearing forces.  
         [0036]     FIGS.  6  to  9  show a second embodiment of the assembly including the rail  18  and the door interior part  20 .  
         [0037]     The differences between the first and second embodiment will be explained in the following. The same reference symbols will be used for those components which are known from the first embodiment, and reference is made in this respect to the above explanations. Both the first and second openings  22   a ,  22   b  are circular in this embodiment.  
         [0038]     Upper and lower recesses  30   a ,  30   b  surround the two cylindrical studs  26 . The upper recess  30   a , related to these Figures, is groove-shaped and has a diameter that corresponds to that of the stud  26 . The lower recess  30   b , which surrounds the lower stud  26 , related to these Figures, takes up an oval area.  
         [0039]     A depth of the upper and lower recesses  30   a ,  30   b  corresponds to a height of the protrusions  24 , or is selected so as to be somewhat deeper, so that the protrusions  24  can engage in the upper and lower recesses  30   a ,  30   b  with their entire height, and the rail  18  engages on the door interior part  20 .  
         [0040]     Positioning and fastening the rail  18  to the door interior part  20  is accomplished as follows: The protrusions  24  of the rail  18  face the door interior part  20  and the first and second openings  22   a ,  22   b  are oriented such that the studs  26  engage in the first and second openings  22   a ,  22   b  (FIGS.  7  to  9 ).  
         [0041]     The upper protrusion  24 , related to the illustration in  FIG. 1 , rests at the outer surface of the stud  26 , extends into the upper recess  30   a  surrounding the stud  26 , and circumferentially rests at a wall of the upper recess  30   a.    
         [0042]     The lower protrusion  24 , related to the illustration in  FIG. 1 , likewise circumferentially engages on an outer surface of the stud  26 . The lower protrusion  24 , however, only laterally engages a wall that surrounds the lower recess  30   b . This is why the stud  26  can slightly “push away” the lower protrusion  24 , in order to compensate for manufacturing tolerances of the rail  18  in the z-direction ( FIG. 9 ).  
         [0043]     When the studs  26  are positioned in the first and second openings  22   a ,  22   b , the portions will be plastically deformed by hot forming, such that the plastically deformed portions  28  engage behind the rail  18 . Thus, the connection between the rail  18  and the door interior part  20  can withstand existing shearing forces.  
         [0044]     The embodiments which have been described allow an attachment of the rail  18  on the door interior part  20  without any additional fastening methods or mechanisms.  
         [0045]     Also, the rail  18  according to one of the aforementioned embodiments could be fastened to the door inner sheet  14 ; and the door interior part  20  could be fastened to the door inner sheet  14 , too. It is only of importance that the stud  26  has a plastically deformed portion  28 .  
         [0046]     The carrier part could also be a plate-shaped metal part to which the rail of the window lifter system is fastened. In that case, the metal part according to one of the aforementioned embodiments would be mounted to door interior part  20  which is of plastic.  
         [0047]     Although a preferred embodiment of this invention has been disclosed, a worker of ordinary skill in this art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this invention. For that reason, the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this invention.