Mounting structure for frame garnish

The present invention relates to a mounting structure for a frame garnish that is mounted on a door window frame of an automobile.

Referring to FIG. 9 , a door window frame 101 is shaped to surround a door window glass 103 , which is arranged in the upper half portion of each side door 102 of an automobile. Patent document 1 discloses the mounting of a frame garnish 104 on each door window frame 101 near the boundary between the door window glass 103 located at the front side of the vehicle and the door window glass 103 located at the rear side of the vehicle. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 , the frame garnish 104 is generally plate-shaped and extends in a generally vertical direction.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 11 , the door window frame 101 includes a diagonal portion, which is located at the front side of the vehicle, an upper portion 101 b , which extends along the upper rim of the door window glass 103 , and a vertical portion 101 a , which is located at the rear side of the vehicle and extends in a generally vertical direction so as to cover the center pillar of the vehicle. A hooking hole 101 c extends through an upper part of the vertical portion 101 a , and a reception hole 101 d extends through a lower part of the vertical portion 101 a . The frame garnish 104 is mounted on the vertical portion 101 a.

In detail, as shown in FIG. 12 , a hooking portion 104 a projects orthogonally from the upper inner surface of the frame garnish 104 . The hooking portion 104 a is insertable into the hooking hole 101 c , which is formed in the vertical portion 101 a of the door window frame 101 , and hooks the frame garnish 104 to the vertical portion 101 a.

As shown in FIG. 13 , a boss 104 b projects orthogonally from the lower inner surface of the frame garnish 104 . The boss 104 b is insertable into the reception hole 101 d , which is formed in the vertical portion 101 a of the door window frame 101 . The frame garnish 104 is mounted on the door window frame 101 by inserting the boss 104 b into the reception hole 101 d of the vertical portion 101 a and hooking the hooking portion 104 a to the hooking hole 101 c of the vertical portion 101 a . The frame garnish 104 decorates the exterior of the door window frame 101 .

Referring to FIGS. 12 and 13 , a door weather strip 105 , which is used for sealing purposes and formed from a rubber material, is attached along the door window frame 101 on a surface of the door window frame 101 facing toward the passenger compartment side. The door weather strip 105 includes a vertical portion 105 a , which corresponds to the vertical portion 101 a of the door window frame 101 . The vertical portion 105 a has a width that is greater at an upper part 105 b of the vertical portion 105 a than a lower part. The width at the main part of the vertical portion 105 a is about half the width of the upper part 105 b . Thus, the upper surface of the door window frame 101 facing toward the passenger compartment is covered by the wide section (upper part 105 b ) of the door weather strip 105 , and the hooking hole 101 c and the hooking portion 104 a , which is hooked to the hooking hole 101 c , are not exposed toward the passenger compartment. However, the reception hole 101 d and the boss 104 b , which is inserted into the reception hole 101 d , are neither covered nor hidden by the door weather strip 105 and are exposed toward the passenger compartment.

As described above, in the conventional mounting structure 100 for the frame garnish 104 , the surface of the door window frame 101 facing toward the passenger compartment is only partially covered by the door weather strip 105 . This lowers the aesthetic appeal of the surface of the door window frame 101 facing toward the passenger compartment. To solve this problem, the width may be increased throughout the vertical portion 105 a of the door weather strip 105 from the upper part 105 a to the lower part in order to cover and hide the reception hole 101 d and the boss 104 b , which is inserted into the reception hole 101 d . However, the production of a mold for molding the door weather strip 105 with a wide vertical portion would increase the manufacturing costs of the door weather strip 105 . Additionally, more material would be necessary to mold the door weather strip 105 and further raise costs.

Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 02-026927

It is an object of the present invention to provide a mounting structure for a frame garnish that allows for easy mounting and obtains an aesthetic appeal without having to modify the weather strip.

To achieve the above object, one aspect of the present invention provides a mounting structure for mounting a frame garnish on a door window frame of a vehicle. The door window frame includes a vertical portion extending in a generally vertical direction so as to overlap a center pillar of the vehicle. The door window frame is formed to surround a door window glass of the vehicle. The vertical portion includes a hooking hole formed in an upper part of the vertical portion and an insertion hole formed in a lower part of the vertical portion. The frame garnish includes a main portion, a hooking portion, and an insertion portion. The main portion is generally plate-shaped and extends along the vertical direction. The hooking portion projects from an inner surface of the main portion orthogonally to the inner surface. The insertion portion projects vertically downward from a bottom part of the inner surface of the main portion.

Preferably, opposite sides of the insertion hole are cut out from the bottom part of the vertical portion for a predetermined length along a longitudinal direction of the vertical portion to form a tab that includes the insertion hole. The tab is bent to have a crank-shaped cross-section.

With such a structure, the frame garnish may be attached to the vertical portion by inserting the insertion portion into the insertion hole and inserting the hooking portion into the hooking hole. This allows for the mounting of a frame garnish that is easy to mount and has satisfactory aesthetic appeal without the need for modifying the weather strip, without increasing the vehicle weight, and without raising costs. Further, when mounting the frame garnish, sideward movement of the frame garnish is prevented. This decreases differences in the fastening position, improves the aesthetic appeal, and increases the working efficiency.

FIG. 1 is a left view showing a vehicle including a frame garnish according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2 - 2 in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3 - 3 in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4 - 4 in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a section near a lower part of the frame garnish;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 6 - 6 in FIG. 5 ;

FIG. 7 is a view showing an inner surface of the frame garnish in FIG. 5 ;

FIG. 8 is a view showing a mounting structure for the frame garnish in FIG. 5 ;

FIG. 9 is a left view showing a typical vehicle;

FIG. 10 is a view showing a mounting structure for a frame garnish in the prior art;

FIG. 11 is a view showing the mounting structure for the frame garnish in the prior art;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 12 - 12 in FIG. 11 ; and

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 13 - 13 in FIG. 11 .

A mounting structure 1 for a frame garnish 5 according to one embodiment of the present invention will now be discussed with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8 . The frame garnish 5 is used as an exterior cover for a door window frame 3 of each side door mounted on left and right sides of the vehicle. Further, the frame garnish 5 is mounted on an outer surface of a vertical portion 3 a of the door window frame 3 . In the description of this specification, the terms “upward”, “forward”, and “leftward” respectively correspond to the characters “Up”, “Fr”, and “LF” shown in the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1 , in this embodiment, a vehicle 2 includes a front left side door 7 , which is mounted on the front left side of the passenger compartment, a front right side door (not shown), which is mounted at a location opposite the front left side door 7 in the vehicle widthwise direction, a rear left side door 8 , which is mounted at the rear of the front left side door 7 , and a rear right side door (not shown), which is mounted at a location opposite the rear left side door 8 in the vehicle widthwise direction. As shown in FIG. 2 , a center pillar 9 extends in the generally vertical direction at the boundary between the front left side door 7 and rear left side door 8 and at the boundary between the front right side door and the rear right side door, that is, at a central part of the left and right sides of the vehicle 2 in the longitudinal direction.

The door window frames 3 for the front left side door 7 , the front right side door, the rear left side door 8 , and the rear right side door each have a vertical portion 3 a , which extends in the generally vertical direction to overlap the corresponding center pillar 9 . The frame garnish 5 is mounted on each vertical portion 3 a.

The mounting structure 1 for the frame garnish 5 of the door window frame 3 for the front left side door 7 in the present embodiment will now be discussed.

The front left side door 7 has a front portion, which is hinge-coupled to the vehicle 2 so that it can freely open and close the front left side of the passenger compartment. As shown in FIG. 4 , the front left side door 7 includes an outer panel 7 a , which faces away from the passenger compartment, and an inner panel 7 b , which faces toward the passenger compartment. A window glass 6 , which is vertically movable, is arranged at an upper part of the front left side door 7 . When the door window glass 6 is moved downward, the door window glass 6 is retained in the door 7 .

The door window frame 3 is arranged at the upper part of the front left side door 7 so as to surround the door window glass 6 . As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the door window frame 3 includes the vertical portion 3 a , which extends in the generally vertical direction to overlap part of the center pillar 9 , and a diagonal portion 3 b , which extends along a gradually descending curve from the top end of the vertical portion 3 a toward the front end of the front left side door 7 .

As shown in FIG. 3 , a hooking hole 3 c extends through the vertical portion 3 a near the top end of the vertical portion 3 a . As shown in FIG. 4 , the vertical portion 3 a has a lower part fixed to the inner panel 7 b of the front left side door 7 . An insertion hole 3 d is formed in the lower part of the vertical portion 3 a . An insertion portion 5 b ( FIG. 7 ), which is formed in a bottom part of the frame garnish 5 , is inserted into the insertion hole 3 d.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 , opposite sides of the insertion hole 3 d are cut out from the lower part of the vertical portion 3 a for a predetermined length from the bottom end of the vertical portion 3 a . This forms a tab 3 e , which includes the insertion hole 3 d . In detail, the tab 3 e is valley-folded with respect to the vertical portion 3 a and mountain-folded so that a section near the bottom end of the tab 3 e is parallel to the vertical portion 3 a . In other words, the tab 3 e has a crank-shaped cross-section. Thus, when the insertion portion 5 b of the frame garnish 5 (refer to FIG. 7 ) is inserted into the insertion hole 3 d , the insertion portion 5 b is fixed to the door window frame 3 while maintaining an overlapping range L with the door window frame 3 (refer to FIG. 4 ). Further, the insertion portion 5 b is not displaced in the insertion hole 3 d in the widthwise direction of the vertical portion 3 a . Accordingly, the frame garnish 5 is fixed to the door window frame 3 without becoming loose.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the frame garnish 5 includes a generally plate-shaped main portion 5 h , which has a width that is slightly greater than that of the vertical portion 3 a . The two edges of the main portion 5 h in the widthwise direction are inwardly rounded ( FIG. 4 ). This allows for the main portion 5 h to cover the two edges in the widthwise direction and the outer surface of the vertical portion 3 a . The main portion 5 h has an inner surface with a hooking portion 5 a projecting orthogonally from an upper part of the inner surface. The insertion portion 5 b , which is insertable into the insertion hole 3 d , is formed in the bottom part of the frame garnish 5 projecting vertically downward.

When mounting the frame garnish 5 on the door window frame 3 , referring to FIG. 7 , double-sided strips 5 c and 5 c are adhered to the two widthwise direction edges in the inner side of the frame garnish 5 so as to extend continuously from almost the top end to almost the bottom end. Next, the insertion portion 5 b of the frame garnish 5 is inserted into the insertion hole 3 d of the door window frame 3 . Then, the hooking portion 5 a of the frame garnish 5 is inserted into and hooked to the hooking hole 3 c of the door window frame 3 . Finally, the double-sided strips 5 c and 5 c are adhered to an outer surface of the door window frame 3 thereby completing the mounting of the frame garnish 5 onto the vertical portion 3 a of the door window frame 3 .

As described above, the tab 3 e has a crank-shaped cross-section. Thus, the insertion portion 5 b is fixed to the door window frame 3 while maintaining an overlapping range L with the door window frame 3 . Accordingly, the insertion portion 5 b does not move relative to the vertical portion 3 a in the widthwise direction, and the frame garnish 5 is stably fixed to the door window frame 3 .

As shown in FIG. 2 , a door weather strip 10 , which is used for sealing purposes and formed from a rubber material, is attached along the door window frame 3 on the surface of the door window frame 3 facing toward the passenger compartment. The door weather strip 10 includes a vertical portion 10 a , which corresponds to the vertical portion 3 a of the door window frame 3 . The vertical portion 10 a has a width that is greater at an upper part 10 b of the vertical portion 10 a than a lower part of the vertical portion 10 a . The width at the main part of the vertical portion 10 a is about half the width of the upper part 10 b.

As shown in FIG. 8 , the upper surface of the door window frame 3 facing toward the passenger compartment is covered by the upper part 10 b of the door weather strip 10 (not shown in FIG. 8 ). Thus, the hooking hole 3 c and the hooking portion 5 a , which is hooked to the hooking hole 3 c , are covered and hidden. The width at the lower part of the vertical portion 10 a in the door weather strip 10 is smaller that the width of the upper part 10 b . However, the insertion portion 5 b , which is formed in the lower part of the frame garnish 5 , is inserted into the insertion hole 3 d of the door window frame 3 in the front left side door 7 . Thus, the section near the insertion portion 5 b is not exposed to the exterior. As a result, the section near the portion of the frame garnish 5 mounted on the door window frame 3 is not exposed to the exterior. This increases the aesthetic appeal.

As discussed above, the insertion portion 5 b , which projects downward, is arranged at the bottom end of the frame garnish 5 , and an insertion hole 3 d , into which the insertion portion 5 b is insertable in a vertically downward direction, is arranged in the lower part of the door window frame 3 . Accordingly, the frame garnish 5 may easily be mounted on the door window frame 3 by inserting the insertion portion 5 b into the insertion hole 3 d . The mounting structure for a frame garnish according to the present invention may be embodied in various forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.