Abstract:
The connection of a vehicle fuel fill system access door to an access door hinge includes exposed guide members on the access door and the hinge to assist an installer in properly positioning and moving the access door relative to the hinge. Spacing structures between the access door and the access door hinge have a variable relationship for accommodating part variations. An audible sound is generated as the door is connected to indicate final positioning of the door on the hinge.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is national phase of PCT/US2010/042993 filed Jul. 23, 2010, and claims the benefits of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/238,248 filed on Aug. 31, 2009. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to automobile fuel fill systems, and, more particularly, the invention pertains to structures aiding and facilitating the assembly of an access door on an access door hinge on automobiles. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In a known automobile configuration, a fuel fill pipe is accessed through a fuel fill door located in a vehicle body side opening. The opening contains a fuel fill system housing which protects the end of the fuel fill pipe, and an access door hinge connects the fuel fill door to the housing. It is known to provide the fuel fill doors in the same color as the body panels adjacent the door and to fit the access door surface smoothly into the contour of the body panel in which it is located. It is known also to provide the fuel fill system housings and the plastic fuel fill doors separately to the vehicle assembly plants because the doors require painting to match the vehicle body. The access doors either are painted with the vehicle body in the assembly plant, or are painted in a separate outside vendor location and provided to the assembly plant in a painted condition. In either situation, it is common that the access door is installed onto the vehicle in a separate location from the housing installation. It is often desired that the access door and hinge attachment features are not visible to the customer, thereby providing a cleaner, more aesthetically appealing and upscale appearance for the vehicle. 
     It can be difficult to align the access door correctly for attachment to the access door hinge in the environment of an assembly line. By hiding attachment features from the consumer in the final installation, the attachment features are also hidden from or difficult to be seen by the assembly line worker. This can slow the worker&#39;s performance, especially if the worker has several operations to complete on each vehicle. Accordingly, to increase assembly plant efficiency, there is value in simplifying the assembly line workers&#39; job requirements. A difficult to align door may also increase worker stress and frustration. As a result of difficult alignment, the assembly line worker might not properly or fully install the fuel fill system access door on the access door hinge. This may later surface as a quality issue if the door becomes detached from the hinge and/or has poor appearance or fit in relation to the vehicle body side. 
     Another problem that can arise is in fitting the access door and access door hinge together so as to achieve a no gap assembly. The door to hinge interface is designed with a specified fit relationship between confronting parts; however, due to manufacturing variations, a specific combination of a hinge and a door may have an actual fit relationship different from the designed relationship. In a known assembly procedure, the parts are tested fit together, which of course requires additional time. Any looseness between the test fitted parts is measured, and if the looseness is within the design parameters, tunable surfaces are modified to eliminate the gap and achieve a no gap assembly. If the measured gap is outside of the design parameters, such that adjustment would not achieve the desired fit, the parts are not used, and are therefore wasted. With the target being a no gap fit in the final assembly, installation efforts are high and the possibility of improper installation are also high. 
     Known designs for access doors and access door hinges provide no definitive signal or indication to the installer that the parts are fully, completely and correctly installed. An installer may believe that the door has been attached completely when the door remains out of position slightly relative to the hinge on which it is installed. Further, known designs require high assembly force, which can lead to installer fatigue and incompletely attached access doors. 
     Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a construction in which a no gap installation can be achieved without requiring pre-installation fitting and adjustment of the parts, a construction which tolerates a wider range in manufacturing variations, a construction which provides visible cues and physical control of part positioning during assembly, and/or a construction which assembles easily with minimal force to thereby reduce installer fatigue. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A self-adjusting and self-aligning access door for automobiles is provided with attachment features that also function as visible alignment targets and installation guides for an installer. Slots and rails on the hinge and door guide the installation to its proper position. Inclined and deflectable confronting surfaces ease installation and accommodate variations in paired component part makeup. 
     In one aspect of a form of a self-adjusting and self-aligning access door for automobiles, a vehicle fuel fill system is provided with a fuel fill system housing and an access door hinge operatively connected to the fuel fill system housing. The access door hinge includes an arm and an access door support at a distal end of the arm. The access door support has a rim and a guide slot defining a shaped opening through the rim. An access door is connected to the access door hinge, the access door including a guide rail of a shape and size for fitting in the guide slot. Cooperative connecting features on the access door support and the access door connect together the access door support and the access door. 
     In another aspect of a form of a self-adjusting and self-aligning access door for automobiles a vehicle fuel fill system is provided with an access door hinge including an arm and an access door support at a distal end of the arm, the access door support having either a guide slot or a guide rail. An access door is connected to the access door hinge, the access door having the other of the guide slot and the guide rail. The guide slot defines a shaped opening, and the guide rail is of a size and shape for closely fitting in the guide slot. One of the access door support and the access door has a deflectable tongue; and the other of the access door support and the access door has a projecting element engaging the deflectable tongue with the access door connected to the access door support. 
     In still another aspect, a method for connecting an access door of a vehicle fuel fill system to an access door hinge of the vehicle fuel fill system has steps of positioning a guide rail on one of the access door and the access door hinge in a guide slot on the other of the access door and the access door hinge; moving the access door and the access door hinge relative to one another and thereby sliding the guide rail and the guide slot relative to one another while retaining the guide rail in the guide slot; continuing to move the access door and the access door hinge relative to one another until an audible signal indicates a final relative positioning between the access door and the access door hinge has been achieved; and terminating the step of moving the access door and the access door hinge relative to one another after the audible signal. 
     Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following detailed description, claims and drawings in which like numerals are used to designate like features. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a vehicle fuel fill system in a vehicle body side, with a self-adjusting and self-aligning access door installed on an access door hinge; 
         FIG. 2  is a fragmentary perspective view of an early stage in the installation of a self-adjusting, self-aligning access door on the access door hinge; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the access door installation at the stage depicted in  FIG. 2 , but showing the components from a different angle; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective of a stage in the installation of the access door later than the stage illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a still later stage in the installation of the access door; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the completed assembly; 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view illustrating the self-adjusting feature of the access door; 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the access door hinge; 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the inner surface of the vehicle access door; and 
         FIG. 10  is a fragmentary elevational view of the guide rails and guide slots in final positions. 
     
    
    
     Before the embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or being carried out in various ways. Also, it is understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use herein of “including”, “comprising” and variations thereof is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof, as well as additional items and equivalents thereof. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now more particularly to the drawings and to  FIG. 1  in particular, a vehicle fuel fill system  10  is shown, having a fuel fill system housing  12  positioned in a vehicle body side panel  14 . An access door hinge  16  is pivotally connected to fuel fill system housing  12  and has an access door  18  connected thereto. Access door  18  can be of a same color as the surrounding color of side panel  14  and thus may be separately prepared apart from the vehicle fuel fill system housing and access door hinge. Fuel fill system housing  12  defines a cavity accessed through an opening that is selectively covered and exposed by movement of access door  18 . Access door  18  can be moved between closed and opened positions relative to housing  12  through the pivotal movement of access door hinge  16 , which can be accomplished by pulling or pushing access door  18  from the closed and opened positions thereof, respectively. Various types of locks, latches and/or spring assists mechanisms (not shown) can be incorporated into the operation of access door  18 . Such mechanisms are well-known to those skilled in the art and will not be described in further detail herein. 
     Fuel fill system housing  12  includes a refueling nozzle access opening  20  at an inner end of housing  12  relative to the opening of housing  12  covered and exposed by the operation of access door  18 . Refueling nozzle access opening  20  may be closed by a primary shutoff valve  22 , as those familiar with the art will readily understand. The present invention can be used for various types of fuel fill system housings and can be adapted to use with various types, styles, designs and shapes for access door hinges and access doors. The specific configurations shown herein are merely illustrative and exemplary of the self-adjusting and self-aligning access door. 
     Access door hinge  16  includes an arm  24  pivotally connected to fuel fill system housing  12  and an access door support  26  at a distal or outer end of arm  24 . Support  26  engages and is attached to access door  18 . Support  26  includes a peripheral rim  28  projecting from the periphery of an inner surface  30  ( FIG. 8 ) of support  26 . Rim  28  engages or confronts access door  18  to conceal connecting features between access door  18  and support  26  and to provide a clean, aesthetically appealing interface between support  26  and access door  18 . At the forward portion thereof, in an area readily visible to installers during assembly, peripheral rim  28  defines first and second guide slots  32 ,  34 , which are openings through rim  28 . Guide slots  32 ,  34  are generally L-shaped, having primary slot portions  36 ,  38  opening through an outer edge  40  of rim  28  and extending from outer edge  40  toward inner surface  30  of support  26 . Secondary slot portions  42 ,  44  extend from inner ends of primary slot portions  36 ,  38  respectively, and extend laterally in rim  28  relative to inner surface  30  and outer edge  40 . 
     Access door  18  is a generally plate-like body shaped to cover the outer opening to fuel fill system housing  12 . In the exemplary embodiment shown, access door  18  is substantially round; however, it can be of other shapes as well. Access door  18  can be substantially flat, or can be curved as necessary to blend into the shape and contour of the body side panel in which it is located. At one edge of access door  18  of the exemplary embodiment, an outwardly curved finger grip area  46  is provided, whereby a person can insert a fingertip behind the edge of access door  18  to pull it from a closed position. Access door  18  includes one or more snap connecting feature  48 , projecting from an inner surface  50  of access door  18 , a plurality of such snap connecting features  48  being shown in the drawings. Snap connecting features  48  can be positioned to engage inner configurations on rim  28  or independent complementary snap connecting features such as partitions  52  projecting from inner surface  30  of support  26  within the area defined by rim  28 . 
     Access door  18  further includes first and second guide rails  54 ,  56  projecting from inner surface  50  thereof. Guide rails  54 ,  56  are of a shape and size to be received in guide slots  32 ,  34  while closely fitting in guide slots  32 ,  34 . Guide rails  54   56  include primary bodies  58 ,  60 , respectively, extending away from inner surface  50 , and lateral projections  62 ,  64 , respectively, extending from the distal edges of bodies  58 ,  60  and substantially at right angles to bodies  58 ,  60 , respectively. In the exemplary embodiment shown, projections  62 ,  64  are flush with forward edges  66 ,  68  of bodies  58 ,  60  and extend along side surfaces of bodies  58 ,  60  less than the full lengths of bodies  58 ,  60 . 
     A self-adjusting aspect of the exemplary embodiment can be seen more clearly in  FIGS. 7-9 . Hinge  16  includes a deflectable tongue  70  in support  26 . Tongue  70  includes a ramp  72  on the inside thereof, facing inner surface  50  of access door  18 . Ramp  72  includes a wall  74  and brace  76 . The back side of wall  74  has an angular surface  78  facing away from guide slots  32 ,  34 . Deflectable tongue  70  is separated on three sides from support  26  by a U-shaped void  80 . Inner surface  50  of access door  18  includes an angular pedestal  82  having an angular leading edge  84  and an apex  86 . In the exemplary embodiment, two such angular pedestals  82  are shown. 
     Access door  18  is attached to access door hinge  16  by first positioning the access door at an angle to the hinge and aligning guide rails  54 ,  56  with guide slots  32 ,  34  ( FIG. 3 ). Guide rails  54 ,  56  are placed into and engage with guide slots  32 ,  34 . Rails  54 ,  56 , and specifically main bodies  58 ,  60  thereof, can be caused to enter guide slots  32 ,  34 , and specifically primary slot portions  36 ,  38  of guide slots  32 ,  34  with projections  62 ,  64  outwardly of the guide slots ( FIG. 4 ). Once bodies  58 ,  60  have been fully inserted, the door is rotated to a parallel position relative to support  26 , with rim edge  40  against inner surface  50  ( FIG. 5 ). A slight sliding movement of access door  18  relative to access door hinge  16  causes projections  62 ,  64  to enter secondary slot portions  42 ,  44 , respectively, of L-shaped guide slots  32 ,  34  ( FIG. 6 ). Snap connecting features  48  are caused to engage complimentary structures  52  in support  26 , thereby securing the access door  18  on support  26 . To prevent the door from backing away from its fully installed position, fore and aft snaps  88 ,  90  can be used between door  18  and support  26  ( FIG. 7 ). 
     As can be seen in  FIGS. 1 ,  6  and  10 , in the completed installation of access door  18  on access door hinge  16 , bodies  58 ,  60  and projections  62 ,  64  substantially fill primary slot portions  36 ,  38  and secondary slot portions  42 ,  44 , respectively. Forward edges  66 ,  68  are substantially even with an exposed outer surface  92  of rim  28 , thereby providing a neat, clean appearance to the completed assembly. However, during assembly guide slots  32 ,  34  and rails  54 ,  56  are readily visible to the assembly line worker, and the sliding relationships therebetween direct sliding attachment of door  18  to hinge  16  so that proper alignment and connection of the access door relative to the access door hinge can be completed quickly and accurately. Easier installation may decrease assembly line cycle times, with positive guidance being provided by the rails in the slots for proper alignment. Higher peel off strength can be provided due to optimization of location for attachment features between the hinge support and access door. 
     During assembly, pedestals  82  pass along opposite sides of brace  76 , and angular leading edges  84  of pedestals  82  engage the distal edge of ramp  72 . Deflectable tongue  70  is thereby caused to deflect outwardly. As apexes  86  clear the distal edge of the ramp, the apexes momentarily are spaced from angular surface  78  which slopes away. Tongue  70  rebounds from the deflected position thereof until ramp  72  forcefully impacts apexes  86 . A discernible sound emanates as the contact points engage, thus indicating to the installer that the fully installed position has been reached. The angular relationship of the confronting surfaces and the flexibility of tongue  70  assist in accommodating variations in the component parts, and the springiness of flexible and deflectable tongue  70  provides biasing force against cover  18  through pedestal  82 . The confronting angular surfaces and the flexible, deflectable tongue ease installation and accommodate component part pairings even if relative positioning of the parts vary from designed relationships, and thereby achieve a no gap installation even with slight variations in the part makeup. Angular surface  78  supported on deflectable tongue  70  provides a variable contact relationship with apex  86  to accommodate variations in parts without requiring manual manipulation or adjustment of the parts, thereby eliminating the need for test fitting the parts together. 
     A self-adjusting, self aligning fuel door in accordance with the descriptions herein provides a robust, solid attachment that does not require adjustment. The designed allows for the door to install even when mating features are warped or damaged. The designed rebound contact provides a loud audible click when the part is fully installed, thereby signaling the installer that the part is fully and accurately installed. The designed gap and confronting angular surfaces allow for an ergonomically low installation effort, thereby reducing installer fatigue. The readily visible guide slots and guide rails facilitate alignment of the parts and proper movement while maintaining alignment to promote rapid and complete attachment of the fuel door to the hinge. 
     Variations and modifications of the foregoing are within the scope of the present invention. It is understood that the invention disclosed and defined herein extends to all alternative combinations of two or more of the individual features mentioned or evident from the text and/or drawings. All of these different combinations constitute various alternative aspects of the present invention. The embodiments described herein explain the best modes known for practicing the invention and will enable others skilled in the art to utilize the invention. The claims are to be construed to include alternative embodiments to the extent permitted by the prior art. 
     Various features of the invention are set forth in the following claims.