LOCK ENGAGEMENT Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to production of the plastic channels; which, when the window glass is opened on the side doors, enables the glass to remain stable by being held from the front edge thereof closer to the front part of the vehicle and the rear edge thereof closer to the rear part the vehicle; by a rapid and inexpensive method, and mounting thereof onto the door in a short period of time.

Background of the Invention The window glasses on the vehicle side doors are held by the glass channels positioned inside the vehicle door so that the door can be closed when the windows are open and does not cause vibration and noise. In the solution provided in the state of the art, in order to mount the plastic glass channels to the door, generally 2 special and high-cost bolts with T type structure are installed on the channels after they are produced by injection. Then, these parts are connected to the door with 4 nuts through 4 connection holes at the front and rear parts of the glass.

French patent document no FR2998835A1, an application in the state of the art, discloses a plastic window glass channel which is engaged to the nearest piece before it is mounted onto the door. Thus, when a part is being mounted on the door, two different functional parts are mounted at the same time and fewer connecting members are used, thereby providing an advantage in mounting time and cost. The invention disclosed in the United States patent document no US5855095, an application in the state of the art, relates to a vehicle door having a glass run channel extending vertically to guide vertical movement of a window glass.

The invention disclosed in the United States patent document no US5771637, an application in the state of the art, relates to a structure for guiding and holding the window glass that is accommodated inside the side door panel in vehicles.

The invention disclosed in the United States patent document no DE4311262, an application in the state of the art, relates to a side window for motor vehicle doors with a lowerable and raisable window pane which above the belt line of the motor vehicle door is guided at the sides in a window frame, and whilst being lowered is held on each side edge.

Summary of the Invention

The objective of the present invention is to enable the plastic glasses channels, which, when the window on the side doors is open, enables the window glass to remain stable at the front and back, to be produced by a rapid and inexpensive method.

Another objective of the present invention is to enable the glass provided on the side doors to be mounted to the door easily and in a short period of time.

Detailed Description of the Invention

“A vehicle door having door plastic glass channel with lock engagement” realized to fulfill the objectives of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying figures, in which,

Figure 1. is a representation of the vehicle door having door plastic glass channel with lock engagement according to the invention. Figure 2. is a perspective view of the plastic glass channels produced as a single piece via plastic injection.

Figure 3. is a view of the connection of the plastic glass channels without screws.

Figure 4. is a view of the locking via the screwless connection shown in Figure

3 and then the connection with screw.

The components given in the figures are assigned reference numbers as follows:

100. A vehicle door having a door plastic glass channel with lock engagement

1. Door inner panel

2. Glass channel

2a. Front plate

2b. Rear plate

2c. Opening

3. Protrusion

4. Locking member

4a. Rod

4b. Extension

5. Locking bore

6. Screw hole

7. Screw connection hole

8. Screw

The vehicle door structure having the door plastic glass channel with locking engagement (100) according to the present invention is used for gripping the glass in the side door body of the vehicles and provides a simple structure enabling easy production and assembly, and comprises

- at least one door inner panel (1) which includes thereon all the functional and aesthetic parts on the vehicle door, and is an assembly of formed sheet metals, - at least one glass channel (2), which enables to grip and hold the vehicle side door window glass from the side near the door inner panel (1) and comprises a front plate (2a) and a rear plate (2b) that are connected in Y- form and have a rectangular form and similar sizes, and which grips the glass via the opening (2c) at which the front plate (2a) and the rear plate (2b) approach each other from one surface thereof to form the Y form,

- at least two protrusions (3), which extend from the surface of the front plate (2a) of the glass channel (2) facing the door inner panel (1) towards the door inner panel (1) and one of which is positioned on the front plate (2a) near the top and the other near the bottom with respective to the door inner panel (1) wherein the glass channel (2) will be positioned,

- a locking member (4) having a cylindrical rod (4a) fixed at one end to the protrusion (3) closer to the lower part of the door inner panel (1) and extending towards the door inner panel (1); and extensions (4b) at the other end of the rod (4a) forming a T-form and extending perpendicular to the long sides of the front plate (2a) and the rear plate (2b),

- at least one locking bore (5), which is provided on the door inner panel (1) and is in the form of a hole of the same size as the extensions (4b) forming the T-form of the locking member (4), and through which the T-formed locking member (4) extensions (4b) can pass upon rotation (preferably 90 degrees) of the glass channel (2) about the axis of the locking member (4) rod (4a) parallel to the surface of the door inner panel (1); and which, if the glass channel (2) makes a rotation (again preferably 90 degrees) in the opposite direction of the said rotation (preferably 90 degrees) and the opening (2c) of the glass channel (2c) faces the glass, enables the T- formed locking member (4) extensions (4b) to hold on to the edges of the hole and to be locked,

- at least one screw (8) (preferably a self tapping screw), which, after the locking member (4) is passed through the locking bore (5), and the locking member (4) and thus the glass channel (2) are enabled to be locked and attached to the door inner panel (1) by means of the rotation (preferably 90 degrees) made by the glass channel (2), is passed through both the at least one screw hole (6) provided on the protrusion (3) that is at the upper part of the glass channel (2) with respect to the door inner panel (1) and the at least one screw connection hole (7) that is aligned at the same level after the rotation and is located on the door inner panel (1) in order to enable fixing the glass channel (2) to the door inner panel (1).

The vehicle door structure having door plastic glass channel with lock engagement (100) according to the present invention comprises plastic glass channels (2) which, when the window glass located in the side doors of the vehicles are opened, enables to hold the glass in the vehicle door (100) body in a stable manner from its side towards the front part of the vehicle and its side towards the rear part of the vehicle; wherein there are provided two glass channels (2) to be disposed at the vehicle door (100) one at the said closer to the front part of the vehicle and another at the side closer to the rear part of the vehicle for holding the glass from two sides thereof.

In the solution provided according to the invention, after the injection process is completed, the plastic glass channels (2) already have a screw hole (6) and a locking member (4) for being mounted to the vehicle door inner panel (1). Thus, there is no need to mount any mounting members on the plastic glass channels (2) that are obtained as a result of injection. When mounting the plastic glass channel (2) onto the door inner panel (1), the locking member (4) providing the screwless connection located on the protrusion of the glass channel (2) that is provided at the lower part thereof towards the bottom of the door inner panel (1) is passed through the locking bore (5), which is provided on the door inner panel (1) and is of the same size and shape with the T-formed locking member (4) extensions (4b), and then turned to enable locking. The locking bore (5) does not match with the extensions (4b) of the locking member (4) when it is at a position during the normal use of the channel (2), and alignment and matching can be achieved only when the channel (2) is rotated about the axis of the locking member (4) rod (4a) and parallel to the door inner panel (1). When the said matching is achieved, locking is enabled as the extensions (4b) of the locking member (4), which are passed through the locking bore (5), cannot come out of the locking bore (5) when the rotational movement is realized in this state. When the channel (2) is brought to its normal operating position (to a position where the opening (2c) of its Y- shaped structure is directed towards the glass such that its open part will grip the glass) after the rotational movement performed in case of locking, the screw hole (6) on the protrusion (3) of the channel (2) that is closer to the door inner panel (1) is aligned with the screw connection hole (7). After this positioning is performed, a screw (8) which is first passed through the screw connection hole (7) and then through the screw hole (6) and which is preferably of a self-tapping material enables to complete the mounting process. This way, mounting is carried out by using only one connecting member (screw (8)) in addition to the locking member (4) integrated within the channel (2). Thanks to the fact that additional mounting members and structures are not required or the need for them is minimized and that the mounting process is performed with a simplified structure, production and mounting process times and costs are minimized.

The most important advantage of the invention is ability to produce the plastic channel (2) by a fast and inexpensive method and to mount them on the door inner panel (1) in a short period of time thanks to the simple and plain design of the vehicle door structure (100) of the invention. Furthermore, with the solution provided within the scope of the invention, high-cost bolts required during the mounting of the structures used in holding the glasses in conventional methods are not required and ease of positioning is provided during mounting. Thus, the production costs and mounting time and costs of the parts are reduced. In addition to reducing the nuts or screws used in the mounting process in the conventional applications from 2 to 1, the fact that another connection has already been provided when the channel (2) is being brought to the position where it will be mounted differs the present invention from the current applications. This way, the time and costs for production of the parts will be reduced, and at the same time the vehicle production time and assembly labor time will be reduced making it advantageous.