A panel mounting device and a panel mounting arrangement for attaching a panel onto a vehicle

The present invention relates to a panel mounting device for attaching a panel onto a vehicle, which is capable of absorbing relative movement caused by thermal expansion. The invention also relates to a panel mounting arrangement for mounting a panel onto a substructure of a vehicle using such panel mounting device.

US 5,358,302 describes a fastening arrangement of such kind. This arrangement comprises a clip and bracket fastening arrangement for attaching a plastic panel to a substructure of a vehicle, so that said clip and bracket combination accommodates for thermal expansion of the panel as the mounting involves elongated slots through which fastening members are provided. By appropriately arranging these elongated slots, the thermal expansion of the panel may be accommodated in the panel mounting.

From US 3,726,178 is known a plastic panel provided with pins on its inner surface. These pins are arranged around the circumference of the panel. The pins cooperate with a metal frame having slots positioned with their longitudinal axis through the centre of the panel. When subjected to thermal expansion, the pins are arranged to slide in the slots.

Other examples of fastening arrangements for attaching plastic components, such as fenders or grilles to a metal body of a vehicle allowing for thermal expansion of the plastic component are known from US 6,929,313, US6,669,274, US4,973,102 and US 4,573,733.

Common to these fastening arrangements is that they allow movement in one or more directions by means of fasteners slidable in slots or fastening arrangements where the fastener itself allows for relative movement.

The movements due to thermal expansion may be up to approx. 8-10 mm for large panels, such as sunvisors, chassis skirts, front panels, lists or grills.

Although these vehicle panel mounting arrangements are capable of absorbing thermal expansion of the panel due to the ability of the mounting pins, e.g. screws, to move within the slot, this panel mounting involves the disadvantage of rattling as vibrations coming from e.g. the vehicle drive system or uneven road surfaces. This can contribute to a raise in the noise level of the vehicle during driving.

On this background, it is an object of the present invention to provide a panel mounting arrangement and a panel mounting device therefore, which can eliminate the disadvantages of the known panel mounting systems.

This object is achieved by a panel mounting device of the initially mentioned kind, wherein said mounting device comprises an elongated member having a first end including first pivotable mounting means for pivotably mounting the device to said substructure, and a second end including second pivotable mounting means for pivotably attaching the device to the panel.

Moreover, the invention concerns a panel mounting arrangement for mounting a panel onto a substructure of a vehicle, which allows for relative movement between said panel and said substructure caused by thermal expansion, said arrangement including at least two panel mounting devices of the above mentioned kind, wherein the panel mounting arrangement comprises a first mounting device having a first elongated member and a second mounting device having a second elongated member, said first and second elongated members being substantially parallel.

By the invention, there is provided a mounting device and an associated panel mounting assembly for fastening exterior panels onto a substructure of a vehicle, which allows for movement without having to mount the panel in a loose manner whereby any rattling noise is significantly reduced or even eliminated completely.

Preferably, the first pivotable mounting means is adapted to pivot the mounting device about a first pivot axis, and said second pivotable mounting means is adapted to pivot the mounting device about a second pivot axis, where said first and second pivot axis are substantially parallel and different from the direction in which the elongated member extends.

In the preferred embodiment, said first and second pivot axes are substantially perpendicular to the elongated member. Hereby, a relative effortless pivotal movement is ensured, in particular, as the first pivotable mounting means are provided with the first pivot axis having an orientation substantially perpendicular to the substructure, just as the second pivotable mounting means are preferably also provided with the second pivot axis having an orientation substantially perpendicular to the panel.

In a preferable embodiment, the elongated members are approx. 10-50 mm, more preferably 30 mm in length, whereby a movement of 8-10 mm may comfortably be achieved without risking a distortion of the panel or detachment of the mounting device due to the thermal expansion.

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the panel mounting arrangement for mounting a panel onto a substructure of a vehicle, which allows for relative movement between said panel and said substructure caused by thermal expansion, includes that the first pivot axis of the first and second mounting devices are substantially parallel, as well as the second pivot axis of the first and second mounting devices are preferably also substantially parallel. By such mounting, the panel is effectively mounted to the substructure in a parallel swing-like mounting.

According to the invention, it is found advantageous in relation to large elongated panels that a plurality of mounting devices are arranged in two or more substantially parallel rows for providing a multiple of mounting points between the panel and the vehicle substructure. Hereby, a sufficient degree of thermal expansion in the panel may be absorbed without the risk of detaching the panel from the mounting points.

The vehicle panels in relation to the invention could be an elongated exterior vehicle panel, such as a sunvisor, a cover skirt or the like. However, it is realised that other types of panels could be mounted by the use of the present invention.

In the following, the invention is described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 is an exploded detailed view of a panel and a substructure of a vehicle with a panel mounting assembly according to the preferred embodiment of the invention; figure 2 is the assembled view of the panel mounting assembly of figure 1 ; figure 3 is a detailed view of the panel mounting devices according to the preferred embodiment of the invention; and figure 4 is a schematic view of the technical function of the mounting assembly according to the invention.

With reference to the figures 1 to 3, the invention is shown with reference to a preferred embodiment, where a vehicle panel 1 , such as a sunvisor, is mounted to a substructure 3 of a vehicle 2. The mounting includes a number of mounting devices 10 preferably arranged in rows of two or more. In the figures, a section of a panel is shown as an example, where one row with two mounting devices 10 are arranged in each end of the vehicle panel 1 and where only one row is shown in the figures. By the invention it is realised that more than two rows each with two or more pivoting mounting devices may be used without departing from the invention.

With reference particularly to figure 3, each of the mounting devices 10 are provided with an elongated member 11 having first pivotable mounting means 12 and second pivotable mounting means 13 at each of the distal ends of the elongated member 11.

A shown in fig. 3, the row of two mounting devices 10 are mounted at the first pivotable mounting end 12 on a substrate 14 which is fastened to the substructure 3 of the vehicle 2. The mounting devices could alternatively be mounted directly to the substructure. The device 10 is preferably mounted with a first pivot axis of the pivotable mounting means 12 which is approximately perpendicular to the substrate mounting structure 3, 14.

At the second pivotable mounting end 13, the mounting devices are mounted to the panel, which is provided with receiving means 15 for receiving the second mounting means of the distal end of the elongated member 11. The pivot axis for this panel mounting is also preferably perpendicular to the general surface area extension of the panel 2.

The substrate 4 may be preferable in the event that the row or rows of mounting devices are to be mounted onto a curved vehicle substructure 3 so that the substrate 4 can be formed to ensure that the pivot axis of the individual mounting devices 10 are at least substantially parallel.

In figure 4, the principle idea of the invention is illustrated. Rather than mounting a panel 1 to the substructure 3 of the vehicle by pins, screws or the like through associated slotted openings, the invention set forth a swing-like mounting which is capable of absorbing the relative movements between a panel, e.g. made in plastic, and the substructure, e.g. made in steel, as a result in a change in temperature due to different expansion coefficients in the two materials.

Above, the invention is described with reference to a preferred embodiment. However, it is realised that variations of this embodiment may be provided without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims.