Seal assembly for automotive door module
AssigneeHi-Lex Controls, Inc.
InventorsShigeki Arimoto, Beau Cook
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A door assembly may include a sub-assembly having a sub-assembly panel, one or more rails, an edge strip, and a sealing gasket. The rails may extend from the sub-assembly panel and may overhang an edge of the panel to be sealed. The edge strip may be configured to seal the panel extending across a region of the edge where the rail overhangs the edge. The sealing gasket may be a foam-in-place gasket. The sealing gasket may be applied to the sub-assembly panel around the perimeter of the sub-assembly panel and may interact with the edge strip at the region where the at least one rail overhangs the edge to form a contiguous seal around the sub-assembly panel.
Claims20
A door assembly having an inner door panel, an outer door panel, and a window regulator assembly, the window regulator sub-assembly comprising:
- A sub-assembly panel;
- At least one rail extending from the sub-assembly panel, the at least one rail overhanging an edge of the panel to be sealed;
- An edge strip configured to seal the panel extending across a region of the edge where the at least one rail overhangs the edge;
- A foam-in-place gasket that is applied to the sub-assembly panel around the perimeter of the sub-assembly panel and interacting with the edge strip at the region where the at least one rail overhangs the edge to form a contiguous seal around the sub-assembly panel.
A method for sealing a sub-assembly panel comprising:
- molding the sub-assembly panel to from an edge and a channel;
- providing rails on the sub-assembly panel that form an overhanging region with the edge;
- placing an edge strip over the edge along the overhanging region;
- applying a foam-in-place gasket in the channel such that the foam-in-place gasket overlaps with the edge strip and forms a continuous seal with the edge strip.
A door assembly comprising:
- A sub-assembly panel;
- At least one rail extending from the sub-assembly panel, the at least one rail overhanging an edge of the panel to be sealed;
- An edge strip configured to seal the panel extending across a region of the edge where the at least one rail overhangs the edge, the edge strip including a sealing portion formed of a sponge material, the edge strip having locking features that engage the panel;
- A foam-in-place gasket that is applied to the sub-assembly panel around the perimeter of the sub-assembly panel and interacting with the edge strip at the region where the at least one rail overhangs the edge to form a contiguous seal around the sub-assembly panel;
- wherein the locking feature force the sealing portion against the foam-in-place gasket.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.