Patent ID: 8613478

Claim:
A deck lid for closing a vehicle luggage compartment in a vehicle body; a hinge assembly mounted on a vehicle body and having a hinge lever pivotally attached to the vehicle body and a hinge arm attached to the deck lid, said hinge lever being a stamped steel member having opposed sidewalls and the hinge arm being a round tube welded to the hinge lever; a trim panel lining the luggage compartment and having a frontside and a backside and an oversize aperture creating a gap through which the hinge arm travels freely in and out of the oversize aperture between the frontside and the backside of the trim panel without interference with the trim panel during the opening and closing movement of the deck lid, while the hinge lever remains behind the backside of the trim panel; and a closeout panel mounted on the hinge assembly behind the backside of the trim panel, said closeout panel being molded plastic and having a mounting portion with integrally formed fasteners mounting the closeout panel on the hinge lever and a closeout portion that encircles the hinge arm, said closeout portion having a slit defining flexible closeout arms that spread apart to enable the closeout portion to be installed in encirclement of the round tube by spreading apart the closeout arms, said closeout portion sized larger than the size of the oversize aperture, and upon the deck lid reaching the open position, the closeout panel having moved with the hinge assembly to a position closely adjacent the backside of the trim panel so that the closeout panel closes the gap and prevents an observer from seeing through the gap.