Patent Publication Number: US-2017355254-A1

Title: Sealing structure of a door frame

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2016-0071070, filed Jun. 8, 2016, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a sealing structure of a door frame. More particularly, to a sealing structure of a door frame improving assemblability. 
     Description of Related Art 
     Generally, a sealing structure of a door frame (hereinafter, simply referred to as a sealing structure) is applied at a door of the vehicle for preventing moisture, dust, and noise inflow into inside of the vehicle. The sealing structure is disposed at the door frame of the door to operate between a body weatherstrip and a side outer panel of the vehicle body. This sealing structure includes a door frame molding having gloss to realize greater luxury appearance regardless door types. If the sealing structure has an excellent combination, it is confirmed that not an open and close operation but shaking or shape of sealing is excellent. However, a conventional sealing structure has a problem that coherence force is deteriorated because the door frame molding is assembled by simple fitting type at an outer side of a glass run introducing a window glass. Also, in the conventional sealing structure, the weatherstrip contacted with the side outer panel is fixed at the door frame by a clip, duration and coherence force is low. 
     The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     Various aspects of the present invention are directed to providing a sealing structure in which a molding device is fitted into an insert home formed at one side of an outside weather strip unit through an insert end as a wedge shape to improve coherence force, and the outside weather strip unit is strongly fitted to improve coherence force in a state in which the outside weather strip unit is fitted to the fitting end of the door frame. 
     According to various aspects of the present invention, a sealing structure of a door frame disposed at the door frame of a vehicle to seal a body weather strip disposed at a body and a side outer panel of the vehicle to prevent noise, the door frame including a fitting end bent to an outside at an upper end, an installing end protruding to an inside at lower side of the fitting end, and a curved portion contacting the body weather strip to a lower inside, may include an outside weather strip unit including an upper weather strip correspondingly contacting a side outer panel and a lower weather strip introducing a door glass integrally or monolithically formed at an upper surface and lower surface of a carrier disposed at a fitting end of the door frame, an inside weather strip disposed at an installing end of the door frame to correspondingly contact the side outer panel, and a molding device inserted and fixed in one side of the carrier. 
     The outside weather strip unit may include the carrier in which a fitting home open to an inside direction at an upper side is formed to be fitted to the fitting end and assembled, and an insert home open to an outside direction at a lower side is formed so that the molding device is assembled, the upper weather strip integrally or monolithically formed by extrusion molding at the upper surface of the carrier and having a plurality of rims correspondingly contacting the side outer panel, and the lower weather strip integrally or monolithically formed by extrusion molding at the lower surface of the carrier and having a plurality of rims at both sides so that the door glass is inserted and introduced. 
     The lower weather strip may include a support surface at an inside lower portion to be supported by a supporting end formed at a lower end portion of the curved portion of the door frame through the support surface. 
     A space portion may be formed between the curved portion of the door frame and the lower weather strip. 
     The carrier may be fitted to the fitting end by a locking bump formed at a front end in a state of being fitted to the fitting end of the door frame through the fitting home. 
     The carrier may be made of plastic material. 
     The door frame may be made of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) material. 
     The inside weather strip may include an installing home to be fitted to the installing end of the door frame and a cushion portion formed as a closed cross section surface at an upper side. 
     The molding device may include a molding in which an insert end is integrally or monolithically formed along an inside surface to be inserted to an insert home formed at the carrier, and a foil integrally or monolithically formed by extrusion molding surrounding an outside surface of the molding. 
     The molding may be fitted between the upper weather strip and the lower weather strip in state in which the upper end portion and the lower end portion are surrounded by the foil. 
     The insert end of the molding may be partially cut along a length direction to be fitted into the insert home of the carrier. 
     The insert end of the molding may be inserted into the insert home of the carrier to be fitted by a wedge shape. 
     According to various embodiments of the present invention, the carrier of the outside weather strip unit is made of light weight plastic material, and the upper weather strip and the lower weather strip are integrally or monolithically formed by an extrusion molding to improve formability. 
     Furthermore, according to various embodiments of the present invention, the inside weather strip is installed in the same direction as a direction of force applied when the door is closed to the door frame to improve fixing force of the inside weather strip. 
     It is understood that the term “vehicle” or “vehicular” or other similar terms as used herein is inclusive of motor vehicles in general such as passenger automobiles including sports utility vehicles (SUV), buses, trucks, various commercial vehicles, watercraft including a variety of boats and ships, aircraft, and the like, and includes hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, hydrogen-powered vehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles (e.g., fuel derived from resources other than petroleum). As referred to herein, a hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that has two or more sources of power, for example, both gasoline-powered and electric-powered vehicles. 
     The methods and apparatuses of the present invention have other features and advantages which will be apparent from or are set forth in more detail in the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and the following Detailed Description, which together serve to explain certain principles of the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view of a sealing structure of a door frame according to various embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a use cross-sectional view of a sealing structure of a door frame according to various embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a partially cut-away perspective view of a door frame according to various embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of a door frame according to various embodiments of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     It should be understood that the appended drawings are not necessarily to scale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of various features illustrative of the basic principles of the invention. The specific design features of the present invention as disclosed herein, including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations, locations, and shapes will be determined in part by the particular intended application and use environment. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the present invention(s), examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described below. While the invention(s) will be described in conjunction with exemplary embodiments, it will be understood that the present description is not intended to limit the invention(s) to those exemplary embodiments. On the contrary, the invention(s) is/are intended to cover not only the exemplary embodiments, but also various alternatives, modifications, equivalents and other embodiments, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 
       FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view of a sealing structure of a door frame according to various embodiments of the present invention,  FIG. 2  is a use cross-sectional view of a sealing structure of a door frame according to various embodiments of the present invention,  FIG. 3  is a partially cut-away perspective view of a door frame according to various embodiments of the present invention, and  FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of a door frame according to various embodiments of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , a sealing structure of a door frame according to various embodiments of the present invention is disposed at a door frame of a door for a vehicle. 
     The sealing structure  1  of the door frame  10  seals a body weather strip  5  disposed at a vehicle body and a side outer panel  3  and prevents noise. 
     At this time, the door frame  10  according to various embodiments of the present invention, referring to  FIG. 3 , has a fitting end  11  bent towards outside at an upper end. Further, the door frame  10  has an installing end  13  protruded to inside at lower side of the fitting end  11  and a curved portion  15  contacting the body weather strip  5  at a lower inside. The door frame  10  may be made of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) material. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , the sealing structure of the door frame according to various embodiments of the present invention includes an outside weather strip unit  20 , an inside weather strip  60  and a molding device  70 . 
     In some embodiments, the outside weather strip unit  20  includes a carrier  30 , an upper weather strip  40  and a lower weather strip  50 . 
     The carrier  30  has a fitting home  31  open to inside direction at an upper side to be fitted to the fitting end  11  and assembled. Further, the carrier  30  has an insert home  33  open towards an outside direction at a lower side to be assembled with the molding device  70  described below. This carrier  30  is fixed by a locking bump  35  formed at a front end in a state of being fitted to the fitting end  11  of the door frame  10  through the fitting home  31 . The carrier  30  may be made of plastic material. In addition, the upper weather strip  40  may be integrally or monolithically formed by extrusion molding at an upper surface of the carrier  30 . 
     In some embodiments, the upper weather strip  40  has a plurality of rims L correspondingly contacting the side outer panel  3 . The upper weather strip  40  may be made of soft Thermal Plastic Elastomer (TPE) material. 
     Further, the lower weather strip  50  is integrally or monolithically formed by extrusion molding at a lower surface of the carrier  30 . 
     In some embodiments, the lower weather strip  50  has a plurality of rims L at both sides so that the door glass  7  is inserted and introduced. Furthermore, the lower weather strip  50  has a support surface  51  at inside lower portion. The lower weather strip  50  may be made of middle degree hardness TPE material that is harder than the upper weather strip  40 . The lower weather strip  50  is disposed to be supported by a supporting end  17  formed at a lower end portion of the curved portion  15  of the door frame  10  through the support surface  51 . Here, a space portion S is formed between the curved portion  15  of the door frame  10  and the lower weather strip  50 . That is, the outside weather strip unit  20  is integrally or monolithically formed with an upper weather strip  40  correspondingly contacting the side outer panel  3  at an upper surface of the carrier  30  installed at the fitting end  11  of the door frame  10 . Likewise, the outside weather strip unit  20  is integrally or monolithically formed with the lower weather strip  50  introducing the door glass  7  at a lower surface of the carrier  30 . 
     In some embodiments, the inside weather strip  60  is installed at an installing end  13  of the door frame  10  to correspondingly contact the side outer panel  3 . The inside weather strip  60  has an installing home  61  to be fitted to the installing end  13  of the door frame  10 . Further, the inside weather strip  60  has a cushion portion  63  formed as closed cross section surface at an upper side. 
     In some embodiments, the molding device  70  includes a molding  71  and a foil  75 , and is inserted and fixed in at one side of the carrier  30 . The molding  71  is integrally or monolithically formed along an inside surface to be inserted to the insert home  33  formed at the carrier  30 . Accordingly, the insert end  73  of the molding  71  is partially cut along a in the length direction to be fitted into the insert home  33  of the carrier  30 . Here, the insert end  73  is inserted into the insert home  33  of the carrier  30  to be fitted by a wedge shape. 
     In some embodiments, the molding  71  may be made of Polypropylene (PP) material. Further, the foil  75  is integrally or monolithically formed by extrusion molding surrounding outside surface of the molding  71 . At this time, the foil  75  may be made of stainless material, and of 500 μm thickness. The molding device  70  above described is fitted between the upper weather strip  40  and the lower weather strip  50  in a state in which the upper end portion and the lower end portion are surrounded by the foil  75 . 
     Accordingly, in the sealing structure  1  of a door frame  10  according to various embodiments of the present invention, the carrier  30  of the outside weather strip unit  20  is made of light weight plastic material, and the upper weather strip  40  and the lower weather strip  50  are integrally or monolithically formed by an extrusion molding to improve formability. 
     In addition, according to sealing structure  1  of the door frame, the inside weather strip  60  is installed in the same direction as a direction of force applied when the door is closed to the door frame  10  to improve fixing force of the inside weather strip  60 . 
     Furthermore, according to the sealing structure  1  of the door frame, the locking bump  35  is applied to the carrier  30  to improve fixing force between the door frame  10  and the carrier  30 . 
     Additionally, according to the sealing structure  1  of the door frame, a wedge shape is applied to the insert end  73  of the molding device  70  to improve fixing force between the molding device  70  and the carrier  30 . 
     For convenience in explanation and accurate definition in the appended claims, the terms “upper” or “lower”, “inner” or “outer” and etc. are used to describe features of the exemplary embodiments with reference to the positions of such features as displayed in the figures. 
     The foregoing descriptions of specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The exemplary embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain certain principles of the invention and their practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to make and utilize various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, as well as various alternatives and modifications thereof. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto and their equivalents.