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Timestamp: 2020-02-23 17:22:26
Document Index: 535999091

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 37', 'art 38', 'art 37', 'art 38', 'art 38', 'art 38']

Structure for attachment of weather strip - Yoyada Gosei Co., Ltd.
United States Patent 5791722
A structure attaches weather stripping to the body along the side of a roof of a vehicle body, and is especially useful around a door opening thereof. A molding that extends along the side of a roof for covering an outside surface of the weather strip is attached to the vehicle by securing a base portion of the molding to an outer part of the body wall defining the door opening. The weather strip has a bottom portion and a sealing portion. An outer part of the bottom portion is bonded to the base portion of the molding with a first double-sided adhesive tape, while an inner part of the bottom portion is bonded to the body wall defining the door opening with a second double-sided adhesive tape which is made of a material having a density below that of a material forming the first double-sided adhesive tape.
Nozaki, Masahiro (Nakashima-gun, JP)
Hikosaka, Atsushi (Nakashima-gun, JP)
08/699059
Yoyada Gosei Co., Ltd. (Aichi-ken, JP)
B60J10/00; B60J10/04; B60J10/79; (IPC1-7): B60J10/08
296/206, 296/93, 296/146.9, 49/490.1, 49/498.1, 49/440, 49/441, 156/71, 428/31
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5527583 Structure for attachment of weather strip 1996-06-18 Nozaki et al. 296/146.9
5168668 Structure for attaching glass run 1992-12-08 Mishima et al. 49/440
EP0512673 1992-11-11 296/146.9 Sealing and guiding strips.
JP1112110 July, 1989
JP5213119 August, 1993
GB2036840A 1980-07-02
GB2186619A 1987-08-19
GB2266742A 1993-11-10
JPH05213119A 1993-08-24
JPH01112110A 1989-04-28
Patent Abstract of Japan, Publication JP5213119, Date: Aug. 24, 1993, Weatherstrip.
European Search Report, Jun. 6, 1995.
This is a division of application Ser. No. 08/391,605 filed Feb. 21, 1995, now patented under U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,926.
1. A structure for attaching a weather strip to a body wall along a side of a roof of a vehicle body wherein the weather strip has a tubular cross-sectional configuration and is comprised of a bottom portion and a sealing portion, the structure comprising:
a molding covering an outside surface of said weather strip and including a base portion secured to an outer part of said body wall;
a first double-sided adhesive tape bondingly secured to an outer part of said bottom portion and said base portion; and
a second double-sided adhesive tape bondingly secured to an inner part of said bottom portion and said body wall, said second double-sided adhesive tape being made of a material having a density below that of a material forming said first double-sided adhesive tape.
2. The structure as in claim 1, wherein said base portion is secured to said body wall with screws, the outer part of said bottom portion being bonded to said base portion by positioning said first double-sided adhesive tape outside of said screws.
The present inventors have contemplated one structure for attachment of weather strips based on the above-described examples of structures. Namely, as shown in FIG. 1, along a side 10' of the roof of a vehicle body, roof molding 16 is attached by securing a flat plate-shaped base portion 17 to an outer part of a body wall 12', which defines a door opening, with screws 20. A bottom portion 31 of a weather strip 30 is bonded to both the base portion 17 of the molding 16 and to an inner part of the body wall 12' with double-sided adhesive tape 50. With this arrangement, a retainer is not needed, thereby reducing production costs; and by virtue of the double-sided adhesive tape 50, the weather strip 30 can be attached easily and efficiently.
This structure, however, suffers from the formation of steps or depressions created around the heads of screws 20 and along the inner edge of base portion 17. These steps generate spaces between the double-sided adhesive tape 50 and both the facing roof molding 16 and body wall 12'. This can cause the double-sided adhesive tape 50 around these spaces to peel off gradually from the roof molding 16 and the body wall 12', so that the sealing properties of the weather strip 30 against the body wall 12' and the stability in attachment of the weather strip 30 to the vehicle body both will gradually degrade.
The object of the present invention is also attained by having the bottom portion of the weather strip formed of a hard material formed with an outer end portion configuration that acts as the roof molding. The resulting roof molding is bonded to an outer part of the body wall defining a door opening with a first double-sided adhesive tape, while an inner part of the hard bottom portion is bonded to an inner part of the body wall defining a door opening with a second double-sided adhesive tape .
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a prior art preliminary version of a weather strip attaching structure;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the portion A of FIG. 2 taken along the line IV--IV of FIG. 2;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the portion B of FIG. 2 taken along the line VII--VII of FIG. 2;
The body wall 12, defining a door opening, forms a flat weather strip-attaching face. A roof molding 21, on the side of the roof, is composed of a metal member 22 and a molding member 23 which covers an outer portion of the metal member 22. A base portion 24 of the metal member 22 is flat and has a width less than that of the body wall 12. The base portion 24 is positioned in contact with the body wall 12 and is secured thereto, for example, with screws 20.
FIG. 7 illustrates a molded joint member 35 which joins the weather strips 32 and a pillar weather strip 39, the portion designated B in FIG. 2. As shown, an outer part 37 of a bottom portion 36 of the joint member 35 forms a plane surface continuous with the bottom portions 33 of the weather strips 32. An inner part 38 of the joint bottom portion 36 has a concave configuration so as to join the bottom portions 33 of the weather strip 32 to the bottom portion of the pillar weather strip 39. The outer part 37 of the bottom portion 36 is bonded to the base portion 24 of the roof molding 21 (FIG. 3) with the first adhesive tape 51 which extends continuously along with the weather strips 32 as shown. The second adhesive tape 52, however, is cut off in the area of the inner part 38, of joint member 35, so as not to be-provided in and around the concave portion of the inner part 38 of the joint member 35. This structure eliminates the creation of gaps in the adhesive tape and thus the peeling of the second adhesive tape 52, which could occur if the second adhesive tape 52 was provided in and around the concave portion of the inner part 38.
The adhesive tape is generally composed of a belt-like foam member of a foamed acrylic resin or the like, and adhesive layers provided on opposite surfaces of the belt-like foam member. The hardness of the adhesive tape, which can range as described above, can be adjusted by varying the expansion ratio of the belt-like foam member.
In the present embodiment, the bottom portion 33 of the weather strip 32 is preferably formed of solid rubber. Alternatively, the entire portion of weather-strip 32 may be formed of sponge rubber. In addition, a trim molding 60, such as that shown in FIG. 8, may be formed integrally with the weather strip 32. The adhesive tapes 51 and 52 need not be formed into equal widths and thicknesses but they could be as well. Further, the second adhesive tape 52 may be divided, for example, into two or more sections, in accordance with the configurations of the various bonding surfaces of the weather strip 32 and body wall 12.
FIG. 8 illustrates a second embodiment of the present invention. A weather strip 40 has a hollow trapezoidal cross section, and is composed of a relatively thick and flat bottom portion 41 and a tubular sealing portion 42 formed integrally with bottom portion 41. The sealing portion 42 is pushed up by an upper edge of a door window pane 14. The bottom portion 41 is secured to body wall 120 approximately at its widthwise center with clips 26.
An outer end of the bottom portion 41 protrudes outwardly of the sealing portion 42 to form a molding 60 at the side of the roof. The molding 60 at the side of the roof has a generally triangular cross section. A bottom surface of the molding 60 comprises an extension of the bottom portion 41. An inside surface 61 of molding 60 is spaced from and opposed to an outside surface of the sealing portion 42. An outside surface 62 of the roof side molding 60 is generally flush with a body wall along the roof side 110.
An opening trim 19 is attached to a body flange 15 protruding from the body wall 120 to cover an inside surface of the weather strip 40.
The bottom surface of molding 60 and an inner part of the bottom surface of the bottom portion 41, of the weather strip 40, are bonded to the body wall 120 with first and second adhesive tapes 53 and 54, respectively. It is preferable, but not mandatory, to form the first adhesive tape 53 from a material that is softer than the second adhesive tape 54. With this arrangement, good sealing properties of the weather strip 40 against the body wall 120 can be ensured by virtue of the softer first adhesive tape 53. Also, good securing properties of the weather strip 40 to the body wall 120 can be ensured by virtue of the harder second adhesive tape 54.
With the second embodiment, since molding 60 is formed integrally with weather strip 40, it is unnecessary to separately prepare molding for the side of the roof and then attach it to the vehicle body. This simplifies construction, improves productivity, and lowers production costs. In addition, the body wall along the side 110 of the roof becomes flush with the outside surface of molding 60, thereby creating a simple and neat appearance around the side of the automobile roof.
Door window panes 140 tend to be drawn outwardly during high-speed travel of a motor vehicle. With the present embodiment, window panes 140 in contact with molding 60, which is rigid due to the triangular cross section through an outside wall of the sealing portion 42, provide support for the windows and prevents such window panes from being drawn further outwardly.
FIG. 9 illustrates a third embodiment of the present invention. As shown, a trim member 64, for example, one having a high gloss, is attached to a molding 63, again along the side of a roof. Molding 63 is formed integrally with a weather strip 43. The trim member 64 is, for example, composed of stainless steel or other metal plate. A base portion 65 of the trim member 64 is secured to an outer part of the body wall 120', that defines a door opening, with screws 20, while the outer portion of trim member 64 covers the upper half of the outside surface of molding 63.
A bottom portion 44 of the weather strip 43, with which the roof side molding 63 is integrally formed, extends around the heads of mounting screws 20. Molding 63 is bonded to base portion 65 of trim member 64 with a first adhesive tape 55. The inner part of the bottom portion 44 is bonded to the body wall 120' with a second adhesive tape 56. A sealing portion 45 and an opening trim 27, respectively, have a construction substantially identical to that of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 8.
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