VEHICLE SIDE WINDOW HAVING A RETAINING ELEMENT ATTACHED ON ONE SIDE

Abstract

A side window for a vehicle, having a first surface, a second surface opposite thereto, and a lower edge, and having at least one retaining element attached in the region of the lower edge, wherein the retaining element has a contact section with a contact surface for securing to the side window and a securing section connected to the contact section for securing to the vehicle, and wherein the retaining element is secured to the side window on one side, by connecting the contact surface to the first surface via an adhesive, wherein the adhesive has a thickness of at least 1 mm and a modulus of elasticity of at least 150 MPa.

Claims

1. A side window for a vehicle, having a first surface, a second surface opposite thereto, and a lower edge, and having at least one retaining element attached in a region of the lower edge, wherein the retaining element has a contact section with a contact surface for securing to the side window and a securing section connected to the contact section for securing to the vehicle, and wherein the retaining element is secured to the side window on one side, by connecting the contact surface to the first surface via an adhesive, wherein the adhesive has a thickness of at least 1 mm and a modulus of elasticity of at least 150 MPa.

2. The side window according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the adhesive is at least 2 mm.

3. The side window according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive has a modulus of elasticity of 150 MPa to 600 MPa.

4. The side window according to claim 1, wherein the contact section is connected to the securing section via a step section.

5. The side window according to claim 1, wherein the retaining element has a filling opening for injecting the adhesive into the intermediate space between the contact section and the first surface of the side window.

6. The side window according to claim 5, wherein the contact surface has at least one channel, which is directed toward the filling opening and is suitable for influencing the flow direction of the adhesive.

7. The side window according to claim 5, wherein the contact surface has a plurality of channels, which are directed toward the filling opening and are distributed over the contact surface in a fan-like manner.

8. A method for producing a side window having a retaining element for a vehicle, comprising: providing a retaining element that has a contact section with a contact surface and a securing section connected to the contact section, and a side window having a first surface, a second surface opposite thereto, and a lower edge, and securing the retaining element to the side window on one side in the region of the lower edge, by connecting the contact surface to the first surface via an adhesive, wherein the adhesive has a thickness of at least 1 mm and a modulus of elasticity of at least 150 MPa.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the adhesive is applied only to a central region of the contact surface and has a distance from the side edges of the contact surface of at least 2 mm, and the retaining element is then placed on the first surface.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein a second adhesive is applied between the adhesive and the side edges of the contact surface, which second adhesive is suitable for temporary stabilization of the retaining element on the side window, until the adhesive is cured.

11. The method according to claim 8 with a retaining element that has a filling opening and a contact surface that has at least one channel that is directed toward the filling opening and is suitable for influencing the flow direction of the adhesive, wherein the retaining element is arranged in the desired position relative to the side window, wherein the contact surface is directed toward the first surface, and the adhesive is then injected through the filling opening into the intermediate space between the contact surface and the first surface.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein at least 95% of the contact surface is wetted with adhesive before the adhesive flows beyond the contact surface.

13. The method according to claim 8, which is carried out without sealing the intermediate space between the contact surface and the first surface.

14. The method according to claim 8, wherein the adhesive has a curing time of less than 10 min, and wherein no measures for temporary positional stabilization during the curing of the adhesive are taken.

15. A method comprising utilizing a side window according to claim 1, wherein the side window is an openable side window of a motor vehicle.

16. The side window according to claim 2, wherein the thickness of the adhesive is from 2 mm to 4 mm.

17. The side window according to claim 3, wherein the modulus of elasticity is from 400 MPa to 600 MPa.

18. The method according to claim 9, wherein the distance from the side edges of the contact surface is from 2 mm to 10 mm.

19. The method according to claim 14, wherein the adhesive has a curing time of from 1 min to 5 min.

20. The method according to claim 15, wherein the motor vehicle is a passenger car.

Description

[0051] In the following, the invention is explained in detail with reference to drawings and exemplary embodiments. The drawings are a schematic representation and not to scale. The drawings in no way restrict the invention.

[0052] They depict:

[0053] FIG. 1 a plan view of a side window with two generic retaining elements,

[0054] FIG. 2 a cross-section through a side window according to the invention,

[0055] FIG. 3 a plan view of the surface of an embodiment of the retaining element 1 facing the side window I,

[0056] FIG. 4 a section A-A through the retaining element 1 of FIG. 3,

[0057] FIG. 5 a cross-section through another embodiment of the side window,

[0058] FIG. 6 a plan view of the surface of another embodiment of the retaining element 1 facing the side window I,

[0059] FIG. 7 a flow chart of an embodiment of the method according to the invention, and

[0060] FIG. 8 flow chart of another embodiment of the method according to the invention.

[0061] FIG. 1 depicts a plan view of a generic side window I, which is intended as an openable side window for the front side window of a passenger car. Two retaining elements 1, which are intended for connecting to a raising mechanism within the vehicle door, are attached in the region of the lower edge U of the side window. For this, the retaining elements 1 have passages 8 to which the raising mechanism can be secured.

[0062] FIG. 2 depicts a cross-section through an embodiment of the side window I according to the invention with the retaining element 1. The retaining element 1 is attached to the side window I on one side. The retaining element 1 is composed of a single contact section 2, which is secured to the first surface Ia of the side window I. For this purpose, the contact surface 2a of the contact section 2 facing the side window I is bonded to the surface Ia via a layer of an adhesive 9. A securing section 3 with the passage 8 is connected to the contact section 2 via a step section 5. The retaining element 1 covers a region of the lower edge U and a region of the surface Ia adjacent thereto. The securing section 3 protrudes beyond the lower edge U of the side window I, is offset laterally relative to the contact section 2 such that it is arranged roughly in the plane of the side window I, and is directed toward its lower edge U him

[0063] The retaining element 1 is made in one piece from glass-fiber-reinforced polyamide 66. The contact section 2, the securing section 3, and the step section 5 have a thickness D (material thickness) of 3 mm. The width B of the retaining element 1 is, for example, 80 mm. The length L of the contact section 2 is, for example, 30 mm. The length L of the securing section 3 is, for example, 50 mm.

[0064] The adhesive 9 is, for example, DOW Betaforce 9050S with a modulus of elasticity of 400 MPa, elongation at break of 80%, tensile strength of 15 MPa, and pot life of 6 min. The thickness of the adhesive layers is, for example, 3 mm.

[0065] The side window I is, for example, implemented as single-pane safety glass (ESG) made of 3.85-mm-thick soda lime glass. For the sake of simplicity, the side window I is depicted flat in the figure; however, in reality, it has a curvature as is usual for passenger car windows.

[0066] FIG. 3 depicts a plan view of the side of an embodiment of the retaining element 1 according to the invention facing the side window I with the securing section 3 together with the passage 8, the step section 5, and the contact section 2. In the plan view, the contact surface 2a of the contact section 2, which is connected to the side window I, can be seen. The contact surface has, near the edge facing the step section 5, a filling opening 6 through which an adhesive is injected into the intermediate space between the side window I and the contact section 2 during assembly of the retaining element 1. A plurality of channels 4 are introduced into the contact surface 2a. The channels 4 are provided to distribute the adhesive injected through the filling opening 6 as homogeneously as possible over the contact surface 2a. Thus, good wetting of the contact surface 2a and of the region of the surface Ia opposite it are achieved without the risk of excess adhesive escaping from the intermediate space, which had to be prevented in prior art retaining elements 1 by a sealing device or remedied by post-processing. The channels 4 are straight and are directed, on the one hand, toward the filling opening 6 and, on the other, toward the side edge of the contact surface 2a. The channels 4 are distributed in a fan-like manner around the filling opening 6 and run radially between the filling opening 6 and the side edge of the contact surface 2a to distribute the adhesive.

[0067] The filling opening 6 could alternatively also be arranged in the step section 5 or on the boundary between the contact section 2 and the step section 5.

[0068] In the figure, arrows indicate the dimensions of the width B and the length L in the context of the invention.

[0069] FIG. 4 depicts a section along A-A through the retaining element 1 of FIG. 3. In addition, an arrow indicates the dimension of the thickness D (material thickness) in the context of the invention. The channels 4 that are introduced into the contact surface 2a are seen. They have, for example, a width of 1.5 mm and a depth of 1 mm.

[0070] FIG. 5 depicts a cross-section through a side window I according to the invention with another embodiment of the retaining element 1. Here, the filling opening 6 for injecting the adhesive 9 is arranged in the step section 5. In this case, it can be advantageous for the distribution of the adhesive 9 for the channels 4 to continue beyond the contact section 2 into the step section 5.

[0071] FIG. 6 depicts a plan view of the side of another embodiment of the retaining element 1 according to the invention of the side window I with the securing section 3 including the passage 8, the step section 5, and the contact section 2. Discernible in the plan view is the contact surface 2a of the contact section 2 which is connected to the side window I. A layer of the adhesive 9 is applied on the contact surface 2a. The adhesive 9 is applied only in a central region of the contact surface 2a such that a circumferential edge region with a width of 5 mm of the contact surface 2a remains free. When the retaining element 1 is glued on, the adhesive 9 can be distributed over this free surface such that it does not escape from the intermediate space between the side window I and the contact section 2.

[0072] FIG. 7 depicts a flow chart of an exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention for producing a side window according to the invention with a retaining element. Since the uniform distribution of the adhesive 9 is ensured by the channels 4, the sealing of the intermediate space between the retaining element 1 and the side window I can be dispensed with at the time of injection of the adhesive 9.

[0073] FIG. 8 depicts a flowchart of another embodiment of the method according to the invention for producing a side window according to the invention with a retaining element. The central arrangement of the portion of the adhesive 9 ensures that no adhesive 9 escapes from the intermediate space between the retaining element 1 and the side window I. Consequently, measures for sealing the intermediate space can be dispensed with.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

[0074] (1) retaining element for a side window of a vehicle [0075] (2) contact section of the retaining element 1 [0076] (2a) contact surface of the contact section 2 [0077] (3) securing section of the retaining element 1 [0078] (4) channel [0079] (5) step section of the retaining element 1 [0080] (6) filling opening [0081] (8) passage through the securing section 3 [0082] (9) adhesive [0083] I side window of a vehicle [0084] Ia first surface of the side window I [0085] Ib second surface of the side window I [0086] (O) upper edge of the side window I [0087] (U) lower edge of the side window I [0088] (V) front edge of the side window I [0089] (H) rear edge of the side window I [0090] (L) length/height [0091] (B) width [0092] (D) thickness/material thickness [0093] A-A section line