Field of the Invention

The invention relates to support strips for supporting window panes and to methods for supporting such panes, particularly window panes for motor vehicles.

Background to the Invention

It is known to support window panes, particularly for vehicles using a strip that holds the window pane around the periphery of the pane. The strip may, for example, be moulded from a mouldable material. In order to provide a strip that has a satisfactory sealing performance, the strip has been made from a relatively soft material and, as a result, it has been customary to re-inforce such strips with a metal reinforcement. This complicates manufacture and increases cost.

Brief Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a support strip for supporting a window pane comprising an un-reinforced length of moulded harder material including a channel for receiving the window pane and having an external surface covered with a softer material moulded over the harder material. According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of supporting a window pane comprising moulding an un-reinforced harder material around a peripheral edge of said window pane so that the pane is received in a channel of the harder material and then moulding a softer material over external surfaces of the harder material.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The following is a more detailed description of some embodiments of the invention, by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which:-

Figure 1 is a side view of a first motor vehicle with a rear quarter light window pane circled, Figure 2 is a schematic side elevation of a support strip for supporting the quarter light window pane of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a section on the line III-III of Figure 2, Figure 4 is section on the line IV-IV of Figure 2, Figure 5 is a section on the line of V-V of Figure 2, Figure 6 is a side view of a second motor vehicle showing a rear side window separate from the rear door, Figure 7 is a section on the line VII-VII or Figure 6, and, Figure 8 is a section on the line of VIII-VIII of Figure 6.

Detailed Description of Mode of Carrying out the Invention

Referring first to Figure 1, the first motor vehicle has a rear door 10 provided with a first window pane 11 that can be moved downwardly and upwardly into an out of the door 10 either manually or electrically as is well known. The door 10 also carries a fixed second quarter light window pane 12.

The first and second panes 11, 12 are mounted in the rear door 10 by a support strip 13 shown schematically in Figure 2. The support strip 13 is formed with a first portion 14 that separates the first window pane 11 from the second window pane 12. This is followed by a second portion 15 that supports the second window pane 12 at the waist 16 of the door 10 and by a third portion 17 that supports the second window pane 12 around the curved rear edge of the door 18.

Referring next to Figure 3, the first portion 14 of the support strip 13 is formed by an un-reinforced length of harder material 19 moulded around the associated edge 20 of the second window pane 12. The harder material 19 thus forms a first channel 21 that receives this edge 20. This channel 21 is integral with the rest of the hard material 19. During the moulding the harder material 19 is also formed with a second channel 22 opening in a direction opposite to the first channel and holding a separately formed seal 23 that will be described in more detail below. After the harder material 19 has been moulded around the second window pane 12, the external surfaces of the harder material 19 are over-moulded with a softer material 26. The softer material 26 has an attractive appearance and is seen from the outside and the inside of the motor vehicle.

The second channel 22 is generally U-shaped with a base 27 and first and second upstanding limbs 28, 29. The seal 23 contained within the second channel 22 is for engaging the first movable window pane 11. The seal 23 is moulded from a flexible material (or may be formed by extrusion) and has a generally U-shaped cross-section with a base 30 and first and second limbs 31, 32. A pair of flanges 33 project from respective opposite ends of the base 30 and engage in the second channel 22 to hold the seal 23 in the second channel 22.

The first limb 31 and the second limb 32 terminate at their free ends in respective flanges 34, 35 that cover respective ends 36, 37 of the limbs 28, 29 of the second channel 22. The first limb 31 of the seal 23 carries two inwardly projecting lips 38, 39. The first lip 38 is located toward the free end of the first limb 31 and the second lip 39 is located at the junction between the first limb 31 and the base 30. Both lips 38, 39 have flocked surfaces 40, 41 for engagement with an edge of the first window pane 11. The softer material 26 is moulded onto or bonded to the window pane 12. The softer mataerial 26 extends over the entire visible surface of the harder material 19 (when the seal 23 is mounted thereto). The softer material 26 extends up to and may abut the flanges 34 and 35 of the seal 23.

Referring next to Figure 4, the second portion 15 is formed by a length of un- reinforced harder material 42 moulded around the associated edge of the second quarter light pane 12 so holding the edge of the second quarter light pane 12 in a channel 43. The harder material 42 is generally U-shaped with a base 45 and limbs 46, 47. A softer material 44 is next moulded around the harder material 42 and is provided with lips and recesses described in more detail below.

First, the softer material 44 is moulded to provide three flanges 48a, 48b, 48c extending from the first limb 46 of the harder material 42. The flanges 48a,48b and 48c are formed entirely from the softer material 44. One flange 48a is located adjacent to base, another flange 48b is located intermediate ends of the limb 46 and the third flange 48c projects from the free end of the limb 46. The softer material 44 is also formed with a flange 49 projecting from the second limb 47 of the harder material 42 at the base 45 of the harder material 42. The flange 49 is formed entirely from the softer material 44. In addition, intermediate the ends of the second limb 47, the softer material 44 is moulded to provide a recess 50. As seen in Figure 4, the flanges 48a, 48b, 48c and 49 and the recess 50 mount the second portion 15 between an outer door panel 51 and an inner door panel 52 as well as engaging it with an interior trim 53.

Referring next to Figure 5, the third portion 17 comprises a body of un-reinforced harder material 54 moulded around the associated edge of the second quarter light pane 12 so that the edge of the quarter light pane 12 is held in a channel 55 in the harder material 54. Again, the harder material 54 is generally U-shaped with first and second limbs 56, 57 connected by a base 58. A softer material 59 is then moulded around the harder material. The moulding provides the softer material 59 with two spaced lips 60, 61 projecting outwardly from the first limb 56 (and formed entirely of the softer material 59). The first lip 60 is adjacently the base 58 and the second lip 61 is adjacent the free end of the first limb 56. In addition, the softer material 59 provides an L-shaped lip 62 (formed entirely of softer material 59) extending outwardly of the second limb 57 adjacent the free end of the second limb 57. These lips 60, 61, 62 allow the third portion 17 to be mounted on a portion 63 of the rear door 10 and to engage a portion 64 of the door frame formed in the car body.

The first portion 14, second portion 15 and third portion 17 may be formed by separate moulding operations, and may subsequently be moulded together to form a continuous support strip around the quarter light pane 12. Alternatively, the portions 14, 15 and 17 (or any two of them) may be moulded simultaneously in a single moulding operation. A further alternative is to mould the harder material of the portions 14, 15 and 17 (or any two of them) in separate moulding operations, and subsequently to mould those parts together and to form the softer material in a single moulding operation. The single moulding operation to form the softer moulding may provide an attractive, join- free appearance to the support strip 13.

Referring next to Figures 6, 7 and 8, the second motor vehicle has a fixed rear side window pane 70 in the body of the vehicle separate from the rear door 71. The window pane 70 is mounted on the body of the vehicle by a support strip indicated generally at 72. The support strip 72 includes a first portion 73, shown in Figure 7, and a second portion 74, shown in Figure 8.

The first portion 73 of the support strip 72 comprises an un-reinforced length of a harder material 75 moulded around the associated edge 76 of the window pane 70. The harder material 75 thus forms a channel 71 that receives this edge 76. The harder material 75 is of generally U-shaped cross-section (see Figure 7) with a shorter limb 78a and a longer limb 78b connected by a base 79. The longer limb 78a is significantly thicker than the shorter limbs 78b with a curved exterior surface. A softer material 80 is mounted over this exterior surface and around a portion of the exterior surface of the base 79.

In use, this portion 73 of the support strap 72 is mounted at the waist of the motor vehicle where the vehicle body is provided with an L-shaped edge having a vertical portion 81 and a horizontal portion 82. The base 79 of the first portion 73 is located on the horizontal portion 82 and the window pane 70 is glued to the vertical portion 81 using an adhesive or a double sided adhesive tape 83. The softer material 80 thus forms the visible exterior surface of the support strip 72 and the portion of the softer material 80 on the base 79 provides a seal against the vehicle body.

The second portion 74 of the support strip 72 comprises an un-reinforced length of a harder material 84 moulded around the associated edge 76 of the window pane 70. The harder material 84 thus forms a channel 77 that receives this edge 76. The harder material 84 is of generally U-shaped cross-section (see Figure 8) with first and second limbs 85, 86 of generally equal length interconnected by a base 87. A softer material 88 is moulded over an exterior surface of the second limb 86 and, at the base 87, extends beyond the limb 85 to form a lip 89 (formed entirely of softer material 88).

In use, the second portion 74 of the support strip 72 is mounted around a curved portion of the body of the motor vehicle extending upwardly from the waist and curving towards the front of the vehicle until it reaches the rear door aperture. This portion of the vehicle body is formed with an L-shaped edge having a vertical portion 90 and an inwardly and upwardly projection portion 91. The window pane 70 is adhered to the vertical portion 90 using an adhesive or a double sided adhesive tape 92. The softer material 88 thus forms the visible exterior surface of the support strip 72 and the lip 89 provides a seal against the vehicle body. The support strip 72 may be formed in any of the ways described above with reference to Figures 1 to 5.

In any of the embodiments described above with reference to the drawings the harder material preferably has a Shore D-hardness of 40 and may, for example, be polypropylene. The softer material may have a Shore A-hardness of 60 and may be formed from a thermoplastic elastomer. Alternatively the harder material and/or the softer material may be formed of EPDM. Further alternatively, the harder material and/or softer material may be PVC (polyvinyl chloride).

It will be appreciated that the arrangement of the support strip 13 need not be exactly as described above. More or less lips may be provided and more or less recesses may be provided. The number of lips and recesses will usually be determined by the configuration of the door with which the support strip 13 is designed to co-operate. The glass of the second quarter light pane 12 and the fixed rear side window pane 70 may be secured to the harder material and/or the softer material by an adhesive or other bonding material (not shown). The adhesive (or other bonding material may be applied to the glass pane 12, 70 prior to the moulding of the harder and/or softer material to bond with that material when formed. Alternatively, the adhesive may be applied to the material and/or glass after the material has been formed, to secure the material to the glass. Further alternatively, the glass may be secured to the material by the moulding operation along forming a bond between the material and the glass, or by frictional engagement between the material and the glass. While in some embodiments, the softer material may be moulded over the whole of the exposed exterior surface of the harder material, this is optional. Only a portion of the exposed visible surface of the harder material may be so covered.