Automotive door construction

• US 6,615,546 B2
• Filed: 03/08/2001
• Issued: 09/09/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kasai Kogyo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Kasai Kogyo Company Limited
• Inventors: Saito, Masayuki, Furuyama, Junichi
• Primary Examiner(s): REDMAN, JERRY E
• Application Number:
  US09/801,056
• Publication Number:
  US 20010025456A1
• Time in Patent Office: 915 Days
• Field of Search: 493/52, 493/75, 493/74, 495/02, 493/48, 493/49, 296/146.7
• US Class Current: 49/502
• CPC Class Codes: B60J 5/0416 Assembly panels to be installed in doors as a module with components, e.g. lock or window lifter, attached thereto
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 13/02 Internal Trim mouldings ; Internal Ledges; Wall liners for passenger compartments; Roof liners B60R13/01 takes precedence ; padded linings for the vehicle interior B60R21/04; arrangements or adaptations of floor mats or carpets in vehicles B60N3/04; internal lining for trains B61D17/18
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 13/0206 Arrangements of fasteners and clips specially adapted for attaching inner vehicle liners or mouldings devices for fastening or securing F16B
• CPC Class Codes: E05F 15/689 specially adapted for vehicle windows
• CPC Class Codes: E05Y 2900/55 Windows

Abstract

A door trim 50 is made up of two divided trims of an upper trim 51 and a lower trim 52. A door elevating mechanism 27 composed of a guide rail 28, a motor 30, a step lamp 57, a speaker grille 56, are subassembled to the lower trim 52. In particular, the motor 30 is mounted on an extended attachment element 67 formed by extending the upper part of a pocket back cover 6 constituting a pocket 47 of the lower trim 52. The lower trim 52 configured in this manner is mounted to an inner panel 21. After a door glass 26 is installed to the door elevating mechanism 27, the upper trim 51 is mounted to the inner panel 21. Therefore, even if the area of an opening in the inner panel is not increased so much, the installation work of the door glass can be done easily, and a demand for increased size of the door glass can be met.

Claims

1. An automotive door construction for a vehicle configured so that a door space is formed by joining outer edges of an outer panel and an inner panel, and the inner panel side of said door space is covered with a door trim, wherein

said door trim is made up of two divided trims of an upper trim and a lower trim, said lower trim being an innermost trim with respect to the vehicle;

at least a glass elevating mechanism is installed on the side of said lower trim so as to facilitate positioning of said glass elevating mechanism on said inner panel by positioning said lower trim piece on said inner panel;

the upper and lower end portions of a guide rail constituting said glass elevating mechanism project from the upper and lower end side of said lower trim;

said guide rail and said lower trim are mounted to said inner panel such that said guide rail is connected to said inner panel in a state of being disposed in said door space so as to lie across an opening, which is formed in the central portion of said inner panel and is open to said door space; and

said upper trim is mounted to an upper portion of said inner panel,

wherein said opening includes an upper portion and a lower portion with respect to a floor of the vehicle, said upper trim covering said upper portion of said opening and said lower trim covering said lower portion of said opening.

2. The automotive door construction according to claim 1, wherein a subassembly of said glass elevating mechanism is at least a subassembly in which said guide rail is assembled to a pocket back cover constituting a pocket of said lower trim.

3. The automotive door construction according to claim 2, wherein an extended attachment element is formed integrally at an upper part of said pocket back cover, and a motor constituting said glass elevating mechanism is mounted on said extended attachment element.

4. The automotive door construction according to claim 3, wherein said extended attachment element is attached to said inner panel.

5. The automotive door construction according to claim 1, wherein said guide rail is fixed to an upper part of said lower trim.

6. The automotive door construction according to claim 1, wherein said guide rail and said lower trim are fixed to each other so as to be finely adjustable in the longitudinal and vertical directions of a vehicle body.

7. An automotive door construction according to claim 1, wherein a door glass to be elevated by said glass elevating mechanism is mounted to said guide rail through said opening of said inner panel on which said lower trim is mounted.

8. The automotive door construction according to claim 1, wherein said glass elevating mechanism is installed on the side of said lower trim in advance by subassembling.

9. An automotive door for a vehicle including an internal door space and an inner panel, said inner panel including an opening to said internal door space, comprising:

an upper trim mounted on said inner panel;

a lower trim mounted on said inner panel, said lower trim being an innermost trim with respect to the vehicle;

a glass elevating mechanism mounted on said lower trim so as to facilitate positioning of said glass elevating mechanism on said inner panel by positioning said lower trim piece on said inner panel; and

a guide rail mounted to said inner panel so as to lie across said opening and reinforce said inner panel,

wherein said opening includes an upper portion and a lower portion with respect to a floor of the vehicle, said upper trim covering said upper portion of said opening and said lower trim covering said lower portion of said opening.

10. The automotive door of claim 9, wherein said lower trim comprises a pocket back cover, said glass elevating mechanism being pre-mounted to said pocket back cover.

11. The automotive door of claim 10, wherein said lower trim further comprises an extended attachment element integrally formed at an upper part of said pocket back cover, and wherein said glass elevating mechanism comprises a motor mounted on said extended attachment element.

12. The automotive door of claim 11, wherein said extended attachment element is attached to said inner panel.

13. The automotive door of claim 9, wherein said guide rail is mounted to an upper part of said lower trim.

14. The automotive door of claim 9, wherein said guide rail is adjustably mounted to said inner panel so as to be finely adjustable in at least one of a substantially longitudinal and a substantially vertical direction of a vehicle body.

15. The automotive door of claim 9, wherein said glass elevating mechanism is pre-mounted on said lower trim by subassembling.