Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Background of the Invention
This invention concerns installing windscreens on motor vehicles,
in a frame of a vehicle body that accommodates the screen, the frame
having a support face parallel with the inside surface of the screen and
an edge face surrounding the screen.
Windscreens are customarily held in place in motor vehicles
either by embedding the margin of the screen in a groove of a peripheral
rubber sealing strip and forcing the strip into a channel running around
the windscreen opening of the vehicle body, or by bonding the screen
directly to a frame portion of the body. Such a rubber strip can be stuck
to the body as well as being held mechanically by the frame if desired;
the strip is usually so shaped as to bridge the peripheral gap between
the screen and body so as to seal against the ingress of moisture. Such
a strip may also present the finished assembly with a pleasing appearance,
but, where there is a visible gap between the strip and the body, or, as
is inevitably the case where the screen is bonded directly to the body,
between the screen and the body, it is customary to provide a trim
strip to bridge it. One recognized way of securing such a trim strip
is by welding T-studs to the body at intervals around the frame,
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assembling trim strips, which may be metal or plastics, on the studs,
and then clipping a strip of channelled-shaped cross-section onto the clips.
Conventional ways of installing wlndscreens vary in complexity
and cost and do not usually result in an assembly which can readily
be dismantled for replacement of the screen if it is broken.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved method
of installing windscreens which, as economically as practicable from
the point of view of cost, provides an adequately secured screen effectively
sealed in the body frame of a car body, which is convenient to install
with the dimensional variations of screens and frames currently
tolerated in their manufacture and which permits ready replacement
of the screen if necessary.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved
windscreen assembly in which the screen is adequately secured and
readily replaceable.
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Summary of the Invention
The foregoing objects are achieved in accordance with the invention
by a method of installing a wirldscreen i~n a frame of a motor vehicle body,
the frame providing a support face para:llel to the rear surface of the
screen and an edge face at substantially 90 to the support face and
5 surrounding the periphery of the screen, headed studs projecting
from the edge face at intervals around the frame, wherein a sealing
strip of resilient material having a groove running along its length
is placed round the screen with the margin of the screen accommodated
in the groove of the strip, the screen and strip are placed in the frame,
10 and clips are assembled on the studs to hold the screen and strip in
place, each clip having a base with a slot in it to engage under the
stud head and a rib projecting from the base and bearing against the
exposed surface of the strip to press the strip and screen firmly against
the support face.
Preferably, the clips are molded of plastics material and are
shaped to receive a channel-shaped trim strip which can be clipped
onto them. The clips are preferably secured to headed studs provided
on the dge face of the frame of the body, such studs conveniently
being T-studs welded to the frame. The clips may thus have a base
20 with a slot for reception on the stud and, projecting at substantially 90
- from the base, a rib which bears against the sealing strip. Elongated
fingers may project upwardly and curve outwardly from a top edge of
the rib of each clip for reception in an inturned rim along an inner side
of the strip. A flap projecting from the rib between the fingers may be
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interposed between the trim strip and the screen to prevent squeaking
when the body vibrates.
The slot in the base of a clip as referred to may, in a windscreen
assembly in accordance with the invention, be inclined to the direction
of the rib so that the rib is urged more closely towards the support
5 face of the frame the further it is pushed onto the stud in assembling
of the windscreen.
The sealing strip may have a depending tongue to engage the
edge face of the frame in addition to the support face, and the sealing
strip may carry a pressure-sensitive adhesive to enhance the seal against
10 the frame. The groove of the sealing strip may have teeth running along
it to facilitate gripping of the screen. The sealing strip may be shaped
to leave the studs exposed for reception of the clips.
A windscreen assembly in accordance with the invention thus
comprises a frame of L-shaped cross-section around an opening for
15 the windscreen, a windscreen with its margin embedded in a groove of
a resilient sealing strip seated in the frame, headed studs located at
intervals around the frame on an edge face surrounding the screen,
and clips of L-shaped cross-section assembled on the studs and bearing
on the exposed surface of the sealing strip to press the strip and screen
20 against a support face of the frame and thus hold the windscreen in
place. Such a screen is adequately secured and effectively sealed but
readily replaceable. Its installation is compatible with economy of
cost and is able to accommodate the dimensional variations customarily
tolerated in vehicle manufacture.
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There now follows a detailed description, to be read with
reference to the accompanying drawings, of a method of installing
a windscreen in a frame of a motor vehicle body in accordance with the
invention and illustrative thereof. It will be realized that this
illustrative method, and the assembly which results from carrying
S it out, have been selected for description of the invention by way of
example and not of limitation of the invention.
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Brief Description of the Drawing
An example of the invention is represented in the drawings,
wherein:
Fig. 1 is a section through the device with a pane accommodated
in a recess; and
S Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the clip employed in the arrangement
according to Fig. 1.
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Description of the Preferred Embodiment
Fig. 1 shows the margin of a glass screen 10 which is embedded
in a groove 12 of a flexible resilient sealing strip 14. On the walls of
the groove 12 that are opposite to the flat sides of the screen there are
longitudinal teeth 16 which exert locally relatively high pressure on the
S surface of the screen, so that they grip the screen and make a good seal.
If so desired, the edge of the screen may be introduced into the groove 12
with an additional sealing agent.
The sealing strip 14, together with the screen 10, is accommodated
in a recess which is formed by a sheet metal frame 17 of a vehicle body
lO which is L-shaped in cross-section to provide a support face 18 parallel
to the inner surface of the screen and an edge face 20 surrounding the
periphery of the screen. In this recess the screen 10, together with
the strip 14, can be freely inserted from the front (i . e . from the
right viewing Fig. 1) . Thus, a wall 22 of the strip 14 is compressed
15 between the screen 10 and the support face 18. Thus a sealing zone 24
is effectively produced between the support face 18 and the wall 22.
If so desired the wall 22 in this zone can be provided with a pressure
sensitive adhesive to ensure effective sealing.
The flexible sealing strip 14 is supported on the one hand against
20 the support face 18 and on the other hand against the edge face 20. In
this way the screen 10, together with the strip 14, is given a defined
position within the frame 17.
In order that the screen 10 in the position represented in Fig. 1
is secured against falling out of the frame, clips 30 are provided which
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are formed in essence by a base 32 and an upstanding rib 34.
As can be seen from Fig. 2, the base 32 of the clip 30 is
provided with a slot 36 which extends as far as the edge 35 of the base
opposite the rib 34 (the slot being L-shaped in plan so that it opens into
the edge 35) thus enabling the clip to be pushed onto a T-stud
38 with a head 39 of the stud bearing on a shoulder 40 of the base
around the end and along the side of the slot, the shoulder providing
ramps which force the base against the frame beneath the stud head.
To allow the clips 30, after the screen 10 together with the sealing
strip 14 has been placed in position, to be assembled on these studs,
the strip 14 is provided with a recess 42 (or "cut-away" portion)
into which the base 32 of a clip can be pushed when assembling the
clip on the stud. Such recess may appropriately run continuously
lengthwise along the whole sealing strip so that the latter can be extruded
as a rod of uniform cross-section. It is possible, however, to provide
separate recesses locally only at the sites where the studs are located.
It is also possible merely to rely on the flexibility of the sealing strip
and to push the clips into the flexible, yielding material of the strip
without preformed "cut-away" portions; such a procedure could enable
the strip to press additionally on the clips and further ensure their
retention in their assembled positions.
As can be seen from Fig. 2, two elongated fingers 46 project
upwardly and curve outwardly from an upper edge of the rib 34 of a
clip 30 to engage an inturned rim along an inner side of a trim strip 48
of channel-shaped cross-section (see Fig. 1) . The trim strip 48 at
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its side remote from the fingers 46, locks over a shoulder 50 of the
rib 34 and the trim strip is thus attached to give a pleasing appearance
around the periphery of the windscreen. A flap 52 also projects from
the rib 34 between the fingers 46 and becomes seated between the trim
strip 48 and the screen 10, and hence prevents the trim strip from
5 scratching the screen or squeaking when the vehicle vibrateæ.
Whereas in the illustrative embodiment shown in Fig. 1 the wall
22 of the resilient sealing strip is pressed against the support face 18
of the frame by the pressure exerted by the clips 30 through the outer
wall 26 of the strip, it will be realized that the clip, in an assembly
10 according to the invention, may be shaped to exert pressure directly
onto the glass screen, or by causing a trim strip to press upon the
screen, preferably with an intermediate flap. The arrangement shown
in Fig. 1, however, with the rib 34 upstanding from the base 32 of the
clip, the material of the clip and the cross-section of the junction between
15 the rib and base being such that the rib remains in fixed relationship to
the base when the clip is assembled on the stud 38 and pushed onto the
stud far enough to cause the rib to press strongly against the strip,
the fingers 46, while bearing through the trim strip 48 and flap 52,
being sufficiently resilient to retain the trim strip but not to exercise
20 a significant influence on the pressure exerted by the screen upon the
- wall 22 of the sealing strip, is preferred.
In carrying out the illustrative method, the screen 10 with its
surrounding sealing strip 14 is first placed behind the studs 38 so
that the wall 22 of the sealing strip 14 lies against the support face 18.
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l'hus, placing the windscreen in the frame is effected by compressing
the sealing strip walls to enable it to squeeze past the studs. The
clips 30 are then assembled on the studs and pushed as far as
the operator can push them to bring the ends of the slots 36 close
to the studs 38 and thus press the screen and sealing strip firmly
5 against the support face 18 of the frame. Finally, the trim strip 48 is
assembled on the clips . Alternatively, some of the clips, for example
those along one side of the frame (preferably the top or bottom) may
be assembled on the studs first, and then one side of the screen, with
its surrounding sealing strip placed behind clips, the remainder
10 being assembled on the studs after positioning the screen against
the support face 18; in such a procedure, the first row of clips would
be merely lodged under the stud heads, and tightened up by pushing
them along the studs after positioning the screen. The procedure may
be carried out in reverse order if the windscreen has to be reversed
5 for a replacement.
The illustrative method enables a windscreen to be assembled
on a car body securely and in a manner to provide an effective seal
against the frame, which is compatible with the dimensional variations
of screens and frames currently tolerated in the manufacture of motor
20 vehicles and which permits ready replacement of the screen if necessary.
The method is economical from the point of view of cost, both in material
and labor.
