Patent Publication Number: US-6334236-B1

Title: Vehicle door prop clip for a vehicle hinge with split pins

Description:
This application claims benefit of provisional application Ser. No. 60/113,179, filed Dec. 21, 1998. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a clip for positioning and holding a vehicle door in an open position. 
     BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     Generally, in the process of manufacturing a vehicle, the vehicle body and doors are painted simultaneously. This is required to ensure color match between the body and the doors, which could not otherwise be guaranteed if the doors were painted separately. In this manner, the door assemblies are fitted onto the door hinges and positioned in proper vehicle orientation. Subsequently, during the painting process, the door assemblies are repeatedly opened and closed to permit access to all of the surfaces to be painted by the painting equipment. During some of these operations, the vehicle doors must be positioned and retained in the open position. Alternately, other operations require that the vehicle doors be positioned and returned in the closed position. Accordingly, the door assemblies must be equipped with means for releasably positioning and retaining the doors in the open or closed position. 
     Heretofore, difficulties have been encountered in equipping the door assemblies with a suitable detent mechanism, especially those with separate checks. More particularly, due to the overspray of the paint and other adverse environmental conditions, the production check strap assemblies cannot be utilized. Accordingly, temporary check strap fixtures have been utilized. More particularly, a multiple piece check strap assembly is secured to the door assembly and operably coupled to the vehicle body. The temporary check strap fixture provides a detent for the door assembly between an open and closed position. Upon completion of the painting process, the temporary check strap fixture is uncoupled from the body, the door assemblies are removed from the vehicle body and then the temporary check strap fixture is removed from the door assembly. Since each temporary check strap fixture is fairly costly, they are reconditioned by removing excess paint from the fixture and recycled for use again on other vehicle bodies. Thus, these temporary check strap fixtures are costly in design, in installation, and in maintenance. 
     Additionally, detent mechanisms have been proposed for particular types of hinges which requires the mechanism to be screwed or fastened to the hinge which has a removable hinge pin as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,295, entitled “Three Diameter Hinge Pin”. The screw on type detent mechanism adds considerable cost to the door painting process due to fastener cost and additional labor costs for drilling and tapping a receiving hole in the bracket body and the cost of removal. The use of the screw on type mechanism is thus limited to applications which employ this particular hinge. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The disadvantages of the prior art may be overcome by providing a vehicle door prop clip which is easily installed without a fastener and is easily removed. 
     In a major aspect, the invention comprises a vehicle door hinge-mounted prop clip for a vehicle hinge with split pins, comprising first and second interference lobes defining an undulating circumferential edge, said interference lobes being adapted to sequentially releasably contact a position of the hinge as the door is rotated about first and second axial hinge pins from a closed position to an open position, said contact releasably compressing said interference lobes severally or simultaneously and generating sufficient frictional resistance to releasably hold the door in a partially or fully open position. 
     In a further aspect, the prop clip comprises a cylindrical sleeve body adapted to be mounted on the first hinge pin, a sector shaped flange extending radially from the body, maintenance means to maintain the prop clip in fixed relationship with one portion of a hinge comprising body side and door side portions, and first and second holes in the flange to define a deformation zone for the first and second interference lobes. 
     In a further aspect, the maintenance means comprises a cut-out portion of the flange adapted to form fit with a link rotatably mounted between the body side and door side portions of the hinge along a common axis of rotation. 
     In a further aspect, the radial distance between the axis of rotation of the sleeve and the circumferential extent of the first and second interference lobes slightly exceeds the distance between the axis of rotation of the pin, and a bight portion of the body side portion of the hinge, which bight portion the lobes are adapted to contact sequentially or simultaneously. 
     In a further aspect, the clip is removable from the hinge without removal of either of said first or second hinge pins. 
     In a further aspect, the clip comprises a flexible thermoplastic material which may be a mineral reinforced nylon resin. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In drawings which illustrate the preferred embodiment of the present invention, 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle incorporating a door hinge with a door prop clip of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a door hinge and prop clip of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a door hinge in a closed condition; 
     FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the door hinge of FIG. 3 in an initial opening position; 
     FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the door hinge of FIG. 3 in a mid-open position; 
     FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the door hinge of FIG. 3 in an open position; 
     FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the door hinge of FIG. 3 in a painting position. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a prop clip  10  and a door hinge  12 . Door hinge  12  comprises a body bracket  14  and a U-shaped bridge  16  secured to the vehicle and a door bracket  18  secured by bolts to a vehicle door  20 . Door bracket  18  is pivotally mounted onto pins  22  and  23  of body bracket  14 . 
     Door hinge  12  is conventional in design and manufacture. Such hinges can be found on a CHEVROLET SILVERADO™. 
     Referring to FIG. 2, body bracket  14  is generally U-shaped having a bight portion  24  and two legs  26 ,  28  extending therefrom. Legs  26 ,  28  each have an aperture for mounting pins  23 ,  22 , respectively. Pins  23 ,  22  extend upwardly. Leg  26  has a formed dimple  30  presenting a stop limit for swing of the hinge  12 . Leg  28  has a pin  32  also presenting a stop limit for the U-shaped bridge  16 . Body bracket  14  is welded onto the vehicle frame in a manner well known in the art. 
     Hinge  12  has a U-shaped bridge or side link  16 . Side link  16  is configured to fit between legs  26  and  28  and is coaxially mounted on pins  23 ,  22 . The bight portion of link  16  has an aperture for receiving a bolt  34 . 
     Door bracket  18  is generally U-shaped having a bight portion  36  and two legs  38 ,  40  extending therefrom. Legs  38 ,  40  are configured to be pivotally mounted over top of pins  22 ,  23  and have apertures for receiving the pins  22 ,  23 . The distal ends of the legs  38  and  40  are configured to abut with the stops  30  and  32 , respectively. The bight portion  36  has a tab  42  having a threaded through bore  44 . The threaded bore  44  receives bolt  34  through the link  16  after the door bracket  18  has been mounted on the pins  22 ,  23  to retain the door  20  on the vehicle. Door bracket  18  is welded onto the vehicle door  20  in a manner well known in the art. 
     Referring to FIG. 1, the door prop clip  10  has a cylindrical sleeve body  46  having a sector shaped flange  48  radially extending therefrom. The sector flange  48  has a rectangular cut-out  50  and two interference lobes  52  and  54  defining an undulating circumferential edge  56 . The radial distance between an axis of rotation of the cylindrical sleeve body  46  and the cut-out  50  is the same as the distance between the axis of rotation of the pins  22 ,  23  and the link  16  (FIG.  2 ). Clip  10  is thus configured to mount onto the hinge  12  by the sleeve body  46  mounting onto pin  22  and the cut-out  50  receiving link  16  in a form fit. The radial distance between an axis of rotation of the sleeve  46  and the circumferential extent of the interference lobes  52  and  54  is slightly greater than the distance between the axis of rotation of the pins  22 ,  23  and the bight portion  24  of vehicle bracket  14 . Preferably, the prop clip  10  is made from a mineral reinforced nylon resin, having flex modulus of about 5100 MPa. 
     Referring to FIG. 3, the door prop clip  10  is mounted on the hinge  12  in the door closed position. The door prop clip  10  is form fitted between the link  16  and pin  22 . The sector flange  48  is spaced from the leg  40  of the door bracket  18  in order to minimize the coverage of the clip  10  for painting purposes (FIG.  2 ). 
     As the door  20  and the door bracket  18  are opened, bight  24  of body bracket  14  frictionally engages the interference lobe  52  (FIG.  4 ). Some effort is required to overcome the compressive and frictional forces generated by the clip  10 . 
     As the door is further opened to the mid-open position (FIG.  5 ), the bight  24  of body bracket  14  has moved across interference lobe  52  and now engages both interference lobes  52  and  54 , which now restricts the movement of the door  20  to maintain the door  20  in the mid-open condition. As the door is further opened (FIG.  6 ), the bight  24  of body bracket  14  has moved beyond the interference lobe  54 , to maintain the door in the fully open position. Interference lobe  54  is not compressed which allows easy removal of the clip  10 . 
     Referring to FIG. 7, the door is slightly closed to compress interference lobe  54 . The compression and frictional forces generated by the interference lobe  54  will hold the door in position for the paint process. 
     While the present invention has been described in reference to a particular embodiment, one skilled in the art can recognize that certain modifications could be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.