Pressurized sealing systems for vehicle closure members
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsShunmugam Baskar, Lohitha Dewasurendra
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vehicle closure member sealing system includes a first seal including a first bulb section and an inflatable geometric feature disposed on a discrete portion of the first seal. The inflatable geometric feature includes a second bulb section separate from the first bulb section. A pressure source is configured to communicate a fluid into the second bulb section to inflate the inflatable geometric feature between a first position and a second position. The vehicle closure member sealing system may be utilized to seal a side door or liftgate.
Claims25
A vehicle closure member sealing system, comprising:
- a first seal including a first bulb section;
- an inflatable geometric feature disposed on a discrete portion of the first seal, wherein the inflatable geometric feature includes a second bulb section separate from the first bulb section;
- and
- a pressure source configured to communicate a fluid into the second bulb section to inflate the inflatable geometric feature between a first position and a second position.
A vehicle, comprising:
- a vehicle body;
- a liftgate movably mounted to the vehicle body;
- and
- a sealing system for sealing a gap between the vehicle body and the liftgate, wherein the sealing system includes a first seal and a second seal, wherein at least one of the first seal and the second seal includes an inflatable geometric feature that is automatically inflatable from a first position to a second position to seal the gap in response to a vehicle speed exceeding a predefined speed threshold.
A vehicle, comprising:
- a vehicle body;
- a closure member mounted to the vehicle body;
- and
- an elastomeric seal for sealing a gap between the vehicle body and the closure member,
- wherein the elastomeric seal includes a non-inflatable bulb section and a geometric feature extending along only a discrete portion of an exterior surface of the elastomeric seal,
- wherein an inflatable bulb section of the geometric feature is non-fluidly connected to the non-inflatable bulb section.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.