Patent Publication Number: US-2005132564-A1

Title: Apparatus for attaching a seal to an encapsulated window assembly

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application claims the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e), of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/398,454, filed Jul. 25, 2002 under 35 U.S.C. § 111(b), which application is incorporated herein in its entirety.  
      This application is a divisional application of and claims benefit, under 35 U.S.C. § 120, of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/442,470, filed May 21, 2003, now, U.S. Pat. No. 6,______, which application is incorporated herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention generally relates to a seal attachment fixture and, more particularly, to a seal attachment fixture for an encapsulated window assembly. Most particularly, the present invention relates to a seal attachment fixture for attaching a seal to an automotive window with an encapsulated gasket. A method for operating such a seal attachment apparatus is also disclosed.  
      Encapsulated window assemblies are well known in the art, where a first side of the gasket has been disposed onto at least a portion of the periphery of the window. The encapsulated window assembly may also include a means to: 1) mount the window assembly to a vehicle, 2) to minimize chipping and breaking of the window, and 3) to reduce noise, wind, and moisture from entering the vehicle. In addition, the encapsulated window assembly should be aesthetically pleasing.  
      Although the gasket is composed of plastic/rubber, the gasket material is typically relatively rigid and not flexible enough to allow a second side of the gasket to completely prevent noise, wind, and moisture from entering the vehicle. For this reason it is common to provide additional means to more reliably seal out these environmental elements.  
      One means that is used is to attach a more flexible plastic/rubber seal to the second side of the gasket. In the past the attachment of the seal to the gasket has been accomplished by using a gasket that has a female feature and/or retention slot defined along the second side, wherein the retention slot has lips covering the retention slot opening.  
      Next, a male portion of the seal is disposed within the gasket by manually spreading the lips apart at the opening of the gasket retention slot so as to allow entry of a male portion of the seal. When the male portion of the seal is completely in place in that portion of the retention slot, the lips of the gasket are released, which results in the seal being firmly seated.  
      This manual operation is continued until the entire male portion of the seal is firmly seated within the gasket. Thus, when the window is attached to a vehicle, the exterior portion of the seal is available to completely seal an area between the gasket and a vehicle aperture mounting surface.  
      There are, however, drawbacks to the abovementioned manual attachment of the seal. For example, an installer can damage the seal, the gasket, or window during manual seal installation. Also, by attaching the seal manually within the gasket, the gasket may become bunched. Both of these drawbacks can result in the leakage of noise, wind, and moisture into the vehicle compartment. In addition, manual attachment is time consuming and, therefore, costly.  
      Thus those skilled in the art continued to seek a solution to the problem of how to provide a more reliable seal attachment means for an automotive window and at a lower cost.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to a seal attachment fixture that is used for attaching a flexible seal to a relatively rigid gasket, the gasket having openable lip portions on a second side of the gasket, opposite a first side of the gasket that is disposed upon a work piece. The gasket may extend around at least a portion of the work piece. The work piece is preferably an encapsulated automotive window assembly.  
      The fixture comprises at least one fixture member and at least one locating stop for holding a work piece. The work piece includes at least a portion of a gasket having lip portions that define a retention slot therebetween. When the fixture member is moved into contact with the gasket, the fixture member urges the lip portions to open, thus exposing the retention slot for seal insertion.  
      A method of attaching the seal to the gasket is provided where the gasket is disposed on the work piece that is positioned on the seal attachment fixture, the work piece having openable lip portions that define the retention slot therebetween. The method comprises: 1) urging the separate fixture member into contact with the openable lip portions of the gasket, wherein the fixture members cause the lips of the gasket to open, and thereby to expose the retention slot defined within the gasket, 2) inserting a portion of the flexible seal into the gasket by inserting a male portion of the seal between the open lip portions of the gasket, 3) moving the fixture members out of contact with the gasket, thus allowing the lips of the gasket to close over the male portion of the flexible seal, and 4) removing the work piece with attached seal from the fixture.  
      Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and appended claims, reference being made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of a specification, wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts of several views. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a plan view of a seal attachment fixture, with arms extended, in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of the seal attachment fixture of  FIG. 1  with arms retracted, taken along the  2 - 2  line of  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 3  is an exploded cutaway cross-sectional view of the work piece with gasket, seal, and fixture member of  FIG. 2 ;  
       FIG. 4  is an exploded cutaway cross-sectional view of an edge of an assembled work piece with seal disposed within the gasket, in accordance with the present invention; and  
       FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the seal of  FIG. 4 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      The present invention involves a seal attachment fixture  10  as shown in  FIG. 1 , where a work piece  22 , for example, an automotive window with encapsulated gasket  24 , is positioned within the seal attachment fixture  10 .  
      The seal attachment fixture  10  comprises a plate  26  (shown in  FIG. 2 ), a drive  42  that is attached to the plate  26 , a rotating hub mechanism  12 , which is rotatably attached to the drive  42 , and having at least two arms  18 , but preferably four arms  18 . A first end of each arm  18  is pivotably attached to the rotating hub mechanism  12 , while a second end of each arm  18  is pivotably attached to separate fixture members  14  that are slidably attached to at least two rails  28 . The seal attachment fixture  10  also comprises at least one locating stops  16 , but preferably a minimum of three (see  FIG. 1 ), which are attached to the plate  26  and possibly adjustably attached to the plate  26 .  
      Initially, as  FIG. 1  illustrates, the rotating hub mechanism  12  is rotated by the drive  42 , for example, a pneumatic cylinder, an electric motor, a hydraulic mechanism, or other rotating means that are known in the art, in a first direction to extend the arms  18 . The extension of the arms  18  provides clearance between the fixture members  14  and the work piece, so that the work piece  22  can be positioned on the locating stops  16 . The locating stops  16 , which are positioned between the slidable fixture members  14  and inside of the gasket, are aligned with openable gasket lip portions  34  (refer to  FIG. 3 ). With the arms  18  extended, as so described, the lips  34  are not in contact with the fixture members  14 .  
      Next, the rotating hub mechanism  12  is rotated by the drive  42  in a second direction so that the arms  18  are retracted, which causes the fixture members  14  to come into contact with the lips  34 . This results in the fixture members  14  spreading the lips  34  open and exposing a retention slot  32 . The retention slot  32  is preferably defined within the gasket  24  on a side opposite a side of the gasket  24  that is disposed on the work piece  22 .  
      A male portion  36  of a seal  20 , as shown in  FIG. 5 , is inserted between the lips  34  and within the retention slot  32  (shown in  FIG. 3 ) throughout the gasket  24 . Insertion of the seal  20  may be by any appropriate method, for example, manually or robotically.  
      When the complete male portion  36  has been inserted into the retention slot  32  around at least a portion of the periphery of the gasket  24 , the rotating hub mechanism  10  is rotated in the first direction so as to extend the arms  18 . This rotation causes the arms  18  to slide the fixture members  14  out of contact with the lips  34 , which close over the male portion  36  of the seal  20 .  
      Thus, the work piece  22  is removed from the locating stops  16  with the seal male portion  36  attached to the gasket  24 , while a seal exterior portion  38  is exposed outside of the gasket  24 . This exterior portion  38  is then available for creating sealable contact between the work piece  22  and an automotive vehicle window aperture (not shown).  
       FIG. 2  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the seal attachment fixture of  FIG. 1 , taken along the  2 - 2  line of  FIG. 1 , however, with the arms  18  retracted. Therein are shown the fixture members  14  causing the lips  34  to be spread apart and exposing the gasket retention slot  32 .  FIG. 3  shows an exploded cutaway cross-sectional view of the work piece  22  with the lips  34  spread apart and the retention slot  32  exposed. It should be noted that the present invention may be practiced as shown where the fixture member  14  is pointed at the point of contact with the lips  34 , but may also be non-pointed (not shown) and still be within the spirit and scope of the invention.  
       FIG. 4  illustrates an exploded cutaway cross-sectional view of an edge of an assembled work piece  22  with the seal  20  disposed within the gasket retention slot  32 . Shown in  FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the seal  20  with the male portion  36  and the exterior portion  38 . The encapsulated gasket  24  may be composed of any suitable thermoplastic or thermoset material. The seal  20  may be composed of any suitable extrudable plastic material.  
      A method of attaching the flexible seal  20  to the rigid gasket  24  is provided where the gasket  24  is disposed on the work piece  22 , for example, an encapsulated window assembly, that is positioned on the seal attachment fixture  10 , the work piece  22  having openable lip portions  34  that define the retention slot  32  therebetween. The method comprises: 1) urging the separate fixture members  14  into contact with the openable lip portions  34  of the gasket  24 , wherein the fixture members  14  cause the lips  34  of the gasket  24  to open, and thereby to expose the retention slot  32  defined within the gasket  24 , 2) inserting a portion of the flexible seal  20  into the gasket  24  by inserting a male portion of the seal  36  between the open lip portions  34  of the gasket  24 , 3) moving the fixture members  14  out of contact with the gasket  24 , thus allowing the lips  34  of the gasket  24  to close over the male portion  36  of the flexible seal  20 , and 4) removing the work piece  22  with attached seal  20  from the fixture  10 .  
      In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, the principles and modes of operation of this invention have been described and illustrated in its preferred embodiments. However, it must be understood that the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically explained and illustrated without departing from its spirit or scope.