Patent Abstract:
A package tray assembly of a vehicle includes a package tray panel and a Z-member. The package tray panel may be located adjacent a rear window cutout and defines a speaker cutout in a substantially central region of the panel, a first edge, and a second edge. The Z-member may be mounted to the panel adjacent the speaker cutout and spans across the panel from the first edge to the second edge, or from substantially the first edge to the second edge, to structurally reinforce the package tray panel and reduce vibration therein. The Z-member may be mounted to an under surface of the package tray panel and proximate a sunshade to reduce vibration within the sunshade resulting from activation of a speaker at least partially extending through the speaker cutout.

Full Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This disclosure relates to a package tray panel assembly of a vehicle. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Automotive manufacturers consistently strive to improve vibration characteristics of vehicle component assemblies and loudness or rattles associated therewith. Increasing customer demand for higher audio system output may increase vibration issues of the vehicle component assemblies adjacent and proximate thereto. Damping structures may assist in reducing these vibration issues. 
     SUMMARY 
     A package tray assembly of a vehicle includes a package tray panel and a Z-member. The package tray panel is located adjacent a rear window cutout and defines a speaker cutout in a substantially central region of the panel, a first edge, and a second edge. The Z-member is mounted to the panel adjacent the speaker cutout and spans across the panel from the first edge to the second edge to structurally reinforce the package tray panel and reduce vibration therein. The Z-member may be mounted to an under surface of the package tray panel and proximate a sunshade to reduce vibration within the sunshade resulting from activation of a speaker at least partially extending through the speaker cutout. The Z-member may be arranged with a sunshade mounted to the package tray to dampen an interaction between the speaker and sunshade due to operation of the speaker. A seat belt retractor may be mounted to one of a vehicle frame or the package tray panel and arranged with the Z-member to reduce vibration affecting a belt-lock of the seat belt retractor due to operation of a speaker at least partially extending through the speaker cutout. The Z-member may be tapered at a central portion thereof to provide space between an edge of the speaker cutout and the Z-member. The Z-member may further include a plurality of mounting features dispersed along a length of the Z-member and oriented thereon for securing to the package tray panel to an under surface of the package tray panel. The package tray panel may further define a pair of rear cutouts, and the Z-member may be mounted to the package tray panel between the speaker cutout and the rear cutouts. 
     A package tray assembly of a vehicle includes a package tray, a sunshade, and a Z-member. The package tray panel is mounted to a vehicle frame and defines a first lateral edge, a second lateral edge, and a speaker cutout disposed between the edges at a substantially central region of the package tray panel. The sunshade is secured to an upper surface of the package tray panel adjacent the speaker cutout. The Z-member is secured to an under surface of the package tray panel adjacent the speaker cutout and proximate the sunshade to structurally reinforce the assembly and to reduce vibration in the sunshade resulting from operation of a speaker at least partially extending through the speaker cutout. The Z-member may span from the first lateral edge to the second lateral edge. The Z-member may include two ends, and one of each of the ends may be spaced from the first edge or the second edge. The Z-member may define a tiered structure having a first portion transitioning to a second portion in a step-like manner. The second portion may be sized to provide clearance for a surface feature defined by the package tray panel. The package tray panel may be disposed between two C-pillars of the vehicle. The package tray panel may further define two rear cutouts located rearward of the speaker cutout, and the Z-member may be disposed between the cutouts. The Z-member and sunshade may be arranged with one another such that a vibration output within the sunshade and due to speaker operation is within a predetermined range. 
     A package tray assembly of a vehicle includes a package tray panel, a seat belt retractor, and a structural reinforcement member. The package tray panel defines a speaker cutout and is mounted to a vehicle frame adjacent a vehicle frame rear window cutout. The seat belt retractor is mounted to the vehicle frame adjacent the package tray panel. The structural reinforcement member extends along an under surface of the package tray panel adjacent the speaker cutout and is arranged with the seat belt retractor to reduce vibration therein as a result of operation of a speaker at least partially extending through the speaker cutout. The package tray further may define a first edge, a second edge, and a pair of rear cutouts. The structural reinforcement may be disposed between the edges and the cutouts. The seat belt retractor may include a belt-lock mechanism arranged to engage with a belt, and the structural reinforcement member and the seat belt retractor may be arranged such that vibration generated by the operation of the speaker does not drive engagement of the belt lock mechanism and belt. The structural reinforcement may define a two tiered structure having a first portion transitioning to a second portion in a step-like manner. The second portion may be sized to provide clearance for a surface feature defined by the package tray panel. The package tray panel may be disposed between two C-pillar regions of the vehicle. A sunshade may be mounted to an upper surface of the package tray panel proximate the structural reinforcement member and such that ends of the sunshade extend over portions of the vehicle frame. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an example of a vehicle frame. 
         FIG. 2  is a detailed perspective view of a portion of the vehicle frame of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of an example of a portion of a package tray panel assembly. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective underside view of an example of a portion of the package tray panel assembly of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view, in cross-section, of a portion of the package tray panel assembly of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 6  is a graph depicting a comparison of rattle loudness of two examples of package tray panel assemblies. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. It is to be understood, however, that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples and other embodiments can take various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features could be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ embodiments of the present disclosure. As those of ordinary skill in the art will understand, various features illustrated and described with reference to any one of the figures can be combined with features illustrated in one or more other figures to produce embodiments that are not explicitly illustrated or described. The combinations of features illustrated provide representative embodiments for typical applications. Various combinations and modifications of the features consistent with the teachings of this disclosure, however, could be desired for particular applications or implementations. 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  show an example of a vehicle frame, referred to generally as a vehicle frame  100 . The vehicle frame  100  may include A-pillar regions  102   a , B-pillar regions  102   b , and C-pillar regions  102   c . Various vehicle components may be mounted to the vehicle frame  100 . For example, a package tray assembly  106  may be mounted to a rearward portion of the vehicle frame  100  disposed between the C-pillar regions  102   c . The rearward portion of the vehicle frame  100  may include a region adjacent to a rear window cutout  108  sized to receive a rear windshield (not shown). The package tray assembly  106  may include a package tray panel  112 , a Z-member  114 , and a sunshade  116  as further shown in  FIG. 3 . A first seat belt retractor  120  and a second seat belt retractor  122  may be mounted to the vehicle frame  100 . Alternatively, the first seat belt retractor  120  or the second seat belt retractor  122  may be mounted to the package tray panel  112 . 
     The package tray panel  112  may define various cutouts sized for vehicle components as further shown in  FIG. 4 . For example, a speaker cutout  128  may be defined by the package tray panel  112  and located at a substantially central region thereof. The speaker cutout  128  may be sized for a portion of a speaker, such as a speaker  132 , to extend therethrough. The package tray panel  112  may further define a pair of rear cutouts  136 , seat belt cutouts  138 , a first edge  140 , and a second edge  142 . The package tray panel  112  may define a rear edge  143 . The rear edge  143  may be sized for location adjacent the rear window cutout  108 . The package tray panel  112  may include a vertical portion  144  extending from a horizontal portion  145  at substantially ninety degrees relative to the horizontal portion  145 . The vertical portion  144  and the horizontal portion  145  may define an L-shaped profile. 
     The Z-member  114  may be mounted to the package tray panel  112  and disposed between the speaker cutout  128  and the rear cutouts  136 . The Z-member  114  may operate as a structural reinforcement to the package tray panel  112  and surrounding region. For example, the Z-member  114  may be secured to the package tray panel  112  via a plurality of mounting features  146  dispersed along a length of the Z-member  114 . Examples of suitable mounting features for the plurality of mounting features  146  include space to facilitate welding or an application of an adhesive. The Z-member  114  may be mounted to an under surface of the package tray panel  112 . The Z-member  114  may span across the package tray panel  112  from the first edge  140  to the second edge  142 . Alternatively, the Z-member  114  may span substantially across the package tray panel  112  as shown in  FIG. 4  and such that ends of the Z-member  114  are spaced from the first edge  140  and the second edge  142 . 
     The Z-member  114  may define a tapered central portion  150 . The tapered central portion  150  may be sized to accommodate a portion of the speaker cutout  128 . The Z-member  114  may be multi-tiered to accommodate surface extrusions or features of the package tray panel  112 . For example,  FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the package tray assembly  106  showing a surface feature  151  defined by the package tray panel  112  and located adjacent a mounting location for the Z-member  114 . The Z-member  114  may include a first portion  152  transitioning to a second portion  154  in a step-like manner. As such, the second portion  154  may be offset from the package tray panel  112  to provide space for the surface feature  151 . Inclusion of the Z-member  114  as part of the package tray assembly  106  may also assist in facilitating use of a package tray panel having less weight in comparison to a heavier structure needed to provide adequate stiffness characteristics for a package tray panel without a reinforcement member. 
     The sunshade  116  may be mounted to the package tray panel  112  and may also be partially mounted to the vehicle frame  100 . The sunshade  116  may include internal components relating to operation thereof. These internal components and the sunshade  116  may incur vibrations during operation of, for example, the speaker  132 . The sunshade  116  may be oriented proximate the Z-member  114 . For example,  FIG. 5  shows an example of an orientation for the sunshade  116  relative to the Z-member  114 . 
     The package tray assembly  106  may assist in reducing vibration occurring within the sunshade  116  and the seat belt retractors due to operation of a speaker, such as the speaker  132 . For example, location of the Z-member  114  proximate the sunshade  116  may provide additional structural reinforcement to a surrounding region to assist in reducing the vibrations occurring within the sunshade  116 . 
     As another example, the package tray assembly  106  may assist in reducing vibrations within the seat belt retractors as a result of, for example, operation of the speaker  132 . The first seat belt retractor  120  and the second seat belt retractor  122  may include a belt lock mechanism  160  as shown in  FIG. 5 . The belt lock mechanism  160  may be arranged with a belt  162  for engagement under certain conditions. For example, the belt lock mechanism  160  may engage the belt  162  to prevent extension or retraction of the belt  162 . Vibrations proximate to or within the first seat belt retractor  120  may cause the belt lock mechanism  160  to engage the belt  162  outside of certain acceptable conditions. The Z-member  114  may assist in reducing the vibrations proximate to or within the seat belt retractors that may cause the undesirable engagement of the belt lock mechanisms  160  and the belt  162  by structurally reinforcing a region including the package tray assembly  106 . 
       FIG. 6  shows an example of a graph  200  illustrating a vibration comparison in sones relative to the package tray assembly  106  including the Z-member  114  and a package tray assembly without a component similar to the Z-member  114 . A sone may be described as a unit representing how loud a sound is perceived. In this example, the sound is derived from vibrations during operation of a speaker. For example, the vibrations may occur within a sunshade of the package tray assembly  106  or within one of the seat belt retractors located proximate the speaker. In  FIG. 6 , a Y-axis  202  represents a vibrational output in sones and a X-axis  204  represents a frequency in hertz (Hz) of an output of a speaker, such as the speaker  132 , proximate a package tray panel assembly, such as the package tray assembly  106 . The Y-axis  202  lists values of A, B, C, D, and E which may be considered sone output values. For example, the D value may be approximately equal to a target plot  206 . 
     In this example, a region at and below plot  206  represents a predetermined acceptable level of vibration output of a package tray panel assembly in sones. Plot  208  represents a vibration output for a package tray panel assembly including a Z-member, such as the package tray assembly  106  including the Z-member  114 . Plot  210  represents a vibration output for a package tray panel assembly without a component similar to the Z-member  114 . The graph  200  shows the plot  210  rising above the plot  206  between approximately 67 Hz and 79 Hz, at a delta of approximately 30 sones. However, the plot  208  stays below the plot  206  in a region of the predetermined acceptable level of vibration output. As such, the graph  200  shows that an environment including a package tray assembly including a Z-member incurs a lower vibrational effect due to operation of a speaker in comparison to the environment including a package tray assembly without a Z-member. 
     While various embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms encompassed by the claims. The words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. As previously described, the features of various embodiments can be combined to form further embodiments of the disclosure that may not be explicitly described or illustrated. While various embodiments could have been described as providing advantages or being preferred over other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more desired characteristics, those of ordinary skill in the art recognize that one or more features or characteristics can be compromised to achieve desired overall system attributes, which depend on the specific application and implementation. These attributes can include, but are not limited to marketability, appearance, consistency, robustness, customer acceptability, reliability, accuracy, etc. As such, embodiments described as less desirable than other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more characteristics are not outside the scope of the disclosure and can be desirable for particular applications.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1