Patent Publication Number: US-2020290443-A1

Title: Sealing system for movable window of vehicular rear window assembly

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims the filing benefits of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 62/818,139, filed Mar. 14, 2019, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a slider window assembly for a vehicle and, more particularly, a rear slider window assembly for a vehicle and, more particularly, a rear slider window assembly for a pickup truck or the like. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     It is known to provide a slider window assembly for an opening of a vehicle, such as a rear slider window assembly for a rear opening of a pickup truck. Conventional slider window assemblies for rear openings of trucks or the like typically include two or more panels, such as one or two fixed window panels and a slidable window panel. The slidable window panel is supported by rails and may be moved along the rails to open and close the window. The slidable window panel may be manually moved or may be driven or moved by a cable drive system. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a vehicular rear slider window assembly that has a unitarily formed perimeter seal for sealing the movable window panel relative to the fixed window panels when the movable window panel is closed. The perimeter seal comprises elongated sealing portions with corner sealing tabs or lips molded or formed at the ends of respective elongated sealing portions. The perimeter seal is formed via a multi-shot molding process. For example, the perimeter seal may be formed via a two (or more) shot molding process, with a first shot or molding process injection molding a base portion of each sealing portion and with a second shot or molding process injection molding at least one sealing lip along the respective base portion of each sealing portion. The perimeter seal also comprises corner sealing elements molded at and joining the adjacent ends of some of the sealing lips. The perimeter seal also includes other corner sealing elements molded at and extending from a respective end of a sealing lip and spaced from an adjacent end of another sealing lip, with a flexible seal element joining the corner sealing element with the adjacent sealing lip to allow for flexing of the sealing lips at the corner region. 
     These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of the present invention will become apparent upon review of the following specification in conjunction with the drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a rear perspective view of a pickup truck having a rear slider window assembly in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the rear slider window assembly; 
         FIG. 3  is another perspective view of the rear slider window assembly; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a perimeter seal for the sealing the movable window panel a the window assembly when in its closed position; 
         FIG. 5  is another perspective view of the perimeter seal; 
         FIG. 6  is an opposite perspective view of the perimeter seal; 
         FIG. 7  is a plan view of the perimeter seal; 
         FIG. 7A  is a sectional view of the perimeter seal and window taken along the line A-A in  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIG. 7B  is a sectional view of the perimeter seal and window taken along the line B-B in  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIG. 7C  is a sectional view of the perimeter seal and window taken along the line C-C in  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIG. 7D  is a sectional view of the perimeter seal and window taken along the line D-D in  FIG. 7 ; and 
         FIG. 8  is an enlarged view of a corner region of the perimeter seal, showing the curved sealing lip that extends from the vertical sealing lip and partially along the upper sealing lip. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to the drawings and the illustrative embodiments depicted therein, a rear slider window assembly  10  of a vehicle  12  (such as a pickup truck or the like) includes a fixed window panel  16  (or a pair of side fixed window panels or fixed window panel portions) having an opening established therethrough, and a movable window panel  20  that is movable relative to a frame or rails  14  and the fixed window panel  16  between an opened position and a closed position ( FIGS. 1-3 ). The rails include an upper rail  22  and a lower rail  24 , with the upper and lower edge regions of the movable window panel  20  ( FIG. 1 ) movably or slidably received in and along the respective upper and lower rails  22 ,  24 . The window assembly  10  includes a perimeter seal  26  disposed at the fixed window panels and around window opening or aperture established between the side panel portions of the fixed panel  16 . When the movable window panel is closed, the perimeter seal  26  seals against a perimeter region of the surface of the movable window panel that faces the fixed window panel. The perimeter seal comprises a continuous seal having corner regions that include an integral sealing lip at the corner of at least the upper and lower ends of one of the vertical sealing portions (such as at the latch side of the movable window panel), as discussed below. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the window assembly comprises two fixed window panels or panel portions that are spaced apart so as to define an opening therebetween, with upper and lower appliqués or trim or filler panels or elements  19   a ,  19   b  disposed at the upper and lower regions of the opening and between the fixed window panels. Optionally, the window assembly may comprise a hole-in-glass window configuration, where the single fixed glass panel has an aperture or hole or opening established therethrough to define separate spaced apart fixed window panels or panel portions. The window assembly may utilize aspects of the window assemblies described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,915,018 and/or 8,881,458, and/or U.S. Publication No. US-2003-0213179, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The perimeter seal may utilize aspects of the sealing systems described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 10,239,397; 9,475,364 and/or 9,242,533, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. 
     The upper and lower rails  22 ,  24  may comprise any suitable channel or rail element configured to slidably receive an upper or lower edge portion of the movable window panel. The movable window panel  20  is movable along the lower rail  24  and the upper rail  22  of the frame portion  14  to open and close the aperture or opening, such as in a manner similar to known slider window assemblies. The movable window panel  20  may include or may be disposed at a lower carrier, which may receive the lower perimeter edge region of the slider window panel  20  therein and is slidably or movably received in the channel portion of the lower rail  24  of frame portion  14 . The rails and window assembly may utilize aspects of the rails and window assemblies described in U.S. Pat. No. 10,023,026, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     The perimeter seal  26  comprises a continuous seal having a first side leg or portion  28 , an upper leg or portion  30 , a second side leg or portion  32  and a lower leg or portion  34 . Each of the sealing legs or portions  28 ,  30 ,  32 ,  34  has a respective elongated body portion or base portion  28   a ,  30   a ,  32   a ,  34   a  that has an attachment surface or element or portion  28   b ,  30   b ,  32   b ,  34   b  for attaching at the fixed window panel or panels and the rail attachment portions at the upper and lower appliqués and around the opening. For example, the attachment element may comprise an adhesive strip established along the body portion of the respective sealing leg for adhesively attaching the perimeter seal  26  to the fixed window panels around the opening (such as to portions of the fixed window panel that have a darkened or opaque or non-light-transmissive coating established thereat). In the illustrated embodiment (and such as shown in  FIGS. 7A-D ), the base portions  28   a ,  30   a ,  32   a ,  34   a  are formed with a recessed attachment surface  28   b ,  30   b ,  32   b ,  34   b  that receives a bead of adhesive therein and that includes side walls the set the bond-line thickness of the adhesive at the glass or plastic surface at which the perimeter seal is attached. The perimeter seal thus may be adhered or otherwise attached to the surface of the fixed window panel (with the adhesive strip attached at the back of the elongated body portion and having a removable film or cover that is removed to expose the adhesive for attaching at the window panel) around the opening so as to circumscribe the opening or aperture (or, for two fixed window panel configurations, the perimeter seal may be adhered or otherwise attached to the surfaces of the fixed window panels and to the upper and lower appliqués so as to circumscribe the opening). 
     Each of the legs or portions  28 ,  30 ,  32 ,  34  of the perimeter seal  26  has a respective seal configuration comprising a respective sealing lip  28   c ,  30   c ,  32   c ,  34   c  established along and formed or extruded with the base portion  28   a ,  30   a ,  32   a ,  34   a , as discussed in detail below. Also, each of the legs or seal portions  28 ,  30 ,  32 ,  34  has its end regions joined to adjacent end regions of adjacent ones of the other sealing legs or portions via respective corner sealing elements  36 ,  37 ,  38 ,  39 , as also discussed below. 
     The perimeter seal  26  is formed via a multi-shot molding process. For example, the perimeter seal may be formed via a two (or more) shot injection molding process, which molds (such as via a plastic injection molding process) the base portions  28   a ,  30   a ,  32   a ,  34   a  during a first molding process or first shot, and which molds (such as via a plastic injection molding process) the sealing lips  28   c ,  30   c ,  32   c ,  34   c  along the respective base portions during a second molding process or second shot. For example, the base portions may be injection molded out of a rigid polypropylene material or the like, and the sealing lips may be overmolded along the base portions using a soft rubber material (such as a thermoplastic elastomer or Santoprene rubber material or the like). Optionally, the base portion and/or the sealing lips may comprise extruded elements, with the corner sections overmolded to join the extruded elongated sealing elements together. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the seal portions  28 ,  30 ,  32 ,  34  provide a desired sealing lip configuration for their particular application or position or orientation relative to the movable window panel. For example, the vertical seal portion  34  is at the side of the window opening at which the movable window panel will slide along as it is opened and closed, and thus may have a sealing lip configuration (e.g., a Y-shaped sealing lip configuration) that seals against the window panel as it is moved in either direction, while the other vertical seal portion  30  is at the opposite side of the window opening, where the movable window panel will be moved to when it is closed, and thus may have a sealing lip configuration that is configured for engagement with the window panel during only small movement of the window panel, and the upper and lower seal portions  28 ,  32  are configured to seal against the surface of the window panel as the window panel moves in a longitudinal direction along the seal portions  28 ,  32 . 
     The seal portion  34  may have a Y-shaped sealing lip configuration (as best shown in  FIG. 7D ) having two flexible lips  34   c ,  34   d  that flex in opposite directions, while the seal portion  32  may have a double lip configuration (as best shown in  FIG. 7B ) having two flexible lips  32   c ,  32   d  that flex or curve in the closing direction of the movable window panel so that the lips seal against the surface of the movable window panel as it is closed. The upper and lower seal portions  28 ,  32  comprise single lip seal configurations (as best shown in  FIGS. 7A and 7C ) having a single flexible sealing lip  28   c ,  32   c  that flexes towards the opening and slidably engages the upper perimeter region of the surface of the movable window panel as the panel moves between its opened and closed positions. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, and as best seen with reference to  FIG. 8 , the upper sealing leg  28  and vertical sealing leg  30  are joined or molded together. At the corner junction of the sealing legs  28  and  30  (and similarly at the lower corner junction of sealing legs  30  and  32 ), a sealing tab or lip  36  is established so as to provide additional sealing at the corner regions and at the glass surface of the fixed window panel  16 . The sealing lip  36  extends from the inboard sealing lip  30   c  of the sealing leg  30  and partially along the upper sealing leg  28  above the sealing lip  28   c  and extends towards the glass surface of the movable glass window panel  16  when the seal  26  is attached at the window panels and appliqués. The sealing tab or lip  36  engages the glass surface of the movable window panel  20  when the seal  26  is attached at the fixed window panel  16  and the upper appliqué  19   a  and when the movable window panel is closed. The sealing tab or lip  36  limits water intrusion at the curved attachment area of the upper sealing leg  28  at the upper rail  22 . 
     Similarly, the lower sealing leg  32  and vertical sealing leg  30  are joined or molded together at a lower corner region. At the corner junction of the sealing legs  32  and  30 , a sealing lip  37  is established at the end regions of sealing legs  32 ,  30  so as to provide additional sealing at the lower corner region and at the glass surface of the movable window panel  20  when the movable window panel is closed. The sealing lip  37  extends from the lower end of the inboard sealing lip  30   c  of the sealing leg  30  and partially along the lower sealing leg  32  below the sealing lip  32   c  and extends towards the glass surface of the movable glass window panel  20  when the seal  26  is attached at the window panels and appliqués. The sealing lip  37  limits water intrusion at the attachment area of the lower sealing leg  32  at the lower rail  24 . 
     The sealing lips  36 ,  37  are formed so that they curve away from the end of the respective upper or lower lip  28   c ,  32   c  and then curve along the respective upper or lower sealing leg  28 ,  32  and taper toward the sealing leg  28 ,  32 . As can be seen with reference to  FIG. 8 , the upper lip  28   c  (and similarly the lower lip  32   c ) terminates such that there is a gap between the end of the lip  28   c  and the corner sealing lip  36  (and similarly there is a gap between the end of the lip  32   c  and the corner sealing lip  37 ). The sealing lip  36  is thus not directly connected to or joined with the end of the upper sealing lip  28   c . However, a flexible joining element  36   a  (such as, for example, a bendable or accordion-type element) joins a portion of the corner sealing lip  36  to a portion of the upper lip  28   c . The seals and flexible joining elements are molded together in the respective injection molding step or process. 
     Thus, the sealing lips  28   c ,  30   c ,  36  are joined but, when pressed against the glass, are allowed to flex in different directions due to the gap between the seals and the accordion-type element. For example, when the seals are pressed against the glass, the upper horizontal sealing lip flexes downward and the vertical sealing lip flexes to the right, with the downward flexing of the upper sealing lip  28   c  pulling at the corner sealing lip  36  (joined to the upper part of the vertical sealing lip  30   c ) via the accordion-type element, and not pulling directly at the vertical sealing lip  30   c  in a direction opposite the direction that the vertical sealing lip  30   c  flexes. This is an improvement because, if the sealing lips  28   c ,  30   c  are joined together at the corner, the seals pull at each other and limit the desired flexing. With the gap at the corner (between the sealing lips) and the flexible joining element that joins the corner sealing lip with the upper or lower sealing lip), the vertical sealing lip  30   c  can flex to the right and the upper sealing lip  28   c  can flex downward (and similarly the lower sealing lip  32   c  can flex upward), without one of the seals limiting the flexing of the other seal and possibly causing an ineffective seal against the glass at the corner regions. 
     Although shown and described as having the additional lip at the corner junctions of the double seal sealing leg  30  and the upper and lower sealing legs  28 ,  32 , an additional sealing lip  38 ,  39  is also provided at the corner junctions of the Y-seal sealing leg  34  and the upper and lower sealing legs  28 ,  32 . As can be seen with reference to  FIGS. 4, 5 and 7 , the corner sealing lips  38 ,  39  join the ends of the inboard vertical lip  34   d  of the Y-shaped sealing configuration and the respective end of the upper and lower sealing lips  28   c ,  32   c  so as to provide a continuous seal against the glass at the corner regions of the perimeter seal. 
     Thus, the perimeter seal of the present invention may be formed to provide a continuous perimeter seal about an opening of a rear slider window assembly (or other type of window assembly). The sealing legs may comprise extruded sealing elements that are extruded or otherwise formed of a flexible rubber material (or any suitable sealing material). The corners or junctions of the sealing legs may be molded or joined together and an additional sealing lip may be provided or established at the corner region (such as by overmolding the additional sealing lip (such as via injection molding or the like) as part of the sealing lips at the end regions of the vertical sealing leg so as to limit water intrusion at the corner regions. When formed in this manner, the perimeter seal comprises a unitary perimeter seal that may be attached or adhered to the glass surface of the fixed window panel so that the perimeter seal provides a continuous sealing lip about its periphery and fully circumscribes the opening of the window with a continuous sealing lip. Thus, the present invention provides for enhanced sealing at the window seal with no gaps between sealing lips or elements arranged around the window opening. 
     The movable or slider window panel  20  is thus movable between its opened and closed positions and along the sealing elements, which maintain sealing engagement with the window panel as it moves along the rails  22 ,  24  of the window assembly. The movable window panel may be movable via any suitable means, such as via manual pushing or pulling at the window panel and/or in response to actuation of a drive motor of a drive motor assembly or system, which may move cables or wires of cable assemblies relative to a sheath of the cable assemblies or the like to impart horizontal movement of the slider window panel  20  along the rails  22 ,  24 . Optionally, the drive motor assembly may utilize aspects of the drive assemblies of the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,920,698; 4,995,195; 5,146,712; 5,531,046; 5,572,376; 6,955,009 and/or 7,073,293, and/or U.S. Publication Nos. US-2004-0020131 and/or US-2008-0127563, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. 
     Although shown and described as a horizontally movable center window that moves relative to a pair of opposite side windows (such as for applications at the rear of a cab of a pickup truck or the like), it is envisioned that the present invention is applicable to other types of movable window assemblies, such as horizontally movable window panels that move relative to a single fixed window panel and/or frames (such as for a rear or side opening of a vehicle or the like), and/or such as vertically movable window panels that move relative to one or more fixed panels and/or frames (such as for a rear or side opening of a vehicle or the like), while remaining within the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     Optionally, the fixed window panel and movable window panel of the window assembly of the present invention may include one or more electrically conductive elements, such as heater grids or the like, which may be powered utilizing aspects of the window assemblies described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,402,695 and/or 8,881,458, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The window assembly may include a heater grid on each of the fixed window panels and on the movable window panels, with a heating system that provides power to the heater grid on the movable window panel irrespective of the position of the movable window panel relative to the fixed window panel and throughout the range of movement of the movable window panel between its opened and closed positions, such as by utilizing aspects of the window assemblies described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,402,695 and/or 8,881,458, incorporated above. 
     Optionally, the window assembly or assemblies of the present invention may utilize aspects of the window assemblies described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,915,018; 8,881,458; 8,402,695; 7,073,293; 7,003,916; 6,119,401; 6,026,611; 5,996,284; 5,799,444 and/or 6,691,464, and/or U.S. Publication Nos. US-2014-0047772; US-2006-0107600; US-2008-0127563; US-2004-0020131 and/or US-2003-0213179, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. 
     Changes and modifications to the specifically described embodiments may be carried out without departing from the principles of the present invention, which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims, as interpreted according to the principles of patent law.