Vehicle door assembly with an organosheet door module carrier reinforcing a sill region

Abstract

A vehicle door assembly, having a first frame component including a window frame for a window opening and two opposing lateral frame for defining a frame cut-out and forming a sill portion connecting the two lateral frame portions to one another, a second frame component for strengthening the window frame, the second frame component fixed on the first frame component, and a door module carrier formed from an organosheet and at least partially closes the frame cut-out. The door module carrier forming an edge portion fixed to the sill portion in a longitudinal direction of the sill portion. The organosheet is a supporting structural component and an edge portion thereof is reinforced by a reinforcing structure injection-moulded onto the organosheet and the edge portion thereof strengthens the sill portion of the first frame component where no portion of the second frame component is provided.

Claims

1. A vehicle door assembly comprising: a first frame component including, a window frame defining a window opening, two mutually opposing lateral frame sections collectively defining a frame cutout, and a sill section connecting the two mutually opposing lateral frame sections to one another and separating the window opening and the frame cutout from one another; a second frame component configured to reinforce the window frame and fixed to the first frame component, the second frame component includes two mutually opposing flange sections and a window frame reinforcement which is configured to reinforce the window frame and extends above the sill section, wherein the two mutually opposing flange sections are connected to one another only by the window frame reinforcement; and a door module carrier formed with an organosheet and at least partially closing the frame cutout, wherein the door module carrier forms a load-bearing structural component and an edge section fixed to the sill section along a longitudinal extension direction of the sill section, and includes at least one stiffening structure injection-molded onto the organosheet and stiffening the edge section, wherein the edge section reinforces a continuous region of the sill section which extends between the two mutually opposing flange sections of the second frame component and in which no section of the second frame component is provided.

2. The vehicle door assembly of claim 1, wherein the sill section of the first frame component is not reinforced by the second frame component.

3. The vehicle door assembly of claim 1, wherein the first frame component includes a first transition region, in which a first lateral frame section of the two lateral frame sections transition into the sill section, wherein the two mutually opposing flange sections of the second frame component do not extend beyond the transition region.

4. The vehicle door assembly of claim 3, wherein the two mutually opposing flange sections includes a first flange section and a second flange section and the first frame component includes a second transition region, wherein the first flange section is fixed to the first transition region and the second flange section is fixed to the second transition region.

5. The vehicle door assembly of claim 1, wherein the stiffening structure is formed by a plurality of stiffening ribs.

6. The vehicle door assembly of claim 1, wherein at least one edge of the door module carrier lying opposite the sill section is formed partially or completely by material injection-molded on the organosheet.

7. The vehicle door assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least one stiffening structure forms at least one fastening point configured to fix the edge section of the door module carrier to the sill section of the first frame component.

8. The vehicle door assembly of claim 1, wherein the door module carrier includes a window regulator provided with a longitudinally extending guide rail, wherein the longitudinally extended guide rail lies completely within the frame cutout of the first frame component.

9. The vehicle door assembly of claim 8, wherein at least one component part of the window regulator is injection-molded on the organosheet.

10. The vehicle door assembly of claim 9, wherein the at least one component part is a guide rail.

11. The vehicle door assembly of claim 9, wherein the stiffening structure and the at least one component part are composed of the same material.

12. The vehicle door assembly of claim 1, wherein the organosheet of the door module carrier is composed of a fiber-reinforced thermoset material.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The attached figures illustrate possible embodiment variants of the proposed solution in exemplary fashion.

(2) In the figures:

(3) FIG. 1A shows an exploded illustration of a vehicle door assembly with a large-area organosheet door module carrier according to the proposed solution;

(4) FIG. 1B shows a perspective view looking at an inner side of a vehicle door formed with the vehicle door assembly of FIG. 1A (without interior trim part or interior trim parts);

(5) FIG. 2A shows a side view looking at an outer side of the door shell of the vehicle door assembly of FIGS. 1A and 1B, the door shell being defined by two frame parts;

(6) FIG. 2B shows, in a view corresponding to FIG. 2, the door shell with a door outer skin attached thereto and additional stiffening transverse struts for absorbing forces that occur as a result of a crash on the vehicle door;

(7) FIG. 3 shows, in a view corresponding to FIG. 2, the vehicle door assembly with the door module carrier assembled on the door shell;

(8) FIGS. 4 to 7 each show, on an enlarged scale, details of the vehicle door assembly corresponding to FIG. 3;

(9) FIGS. 8 to 11 each show, on an enlarged scale, details of the door module carrier looking at a stiffened and stiffening edge section by which the door module carrier is fixed to a sill section of the door shell.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(10) As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.

(11) In order to at least partially close the frame cutout on the first frame component, a door module carrier formed with an organosheet is assembled below the sill section. A generic vehicle door assembly with a door module carrier is known, for example, from WO 2016/17711 A1. Here, the door module carrier is fixed to the sill section at multiple points along a longitudinal extension direction of the sill section via an edge section close to the sill. Due to the design, the door module carrier of WO 2016/177711 A1 is configured to be comparatively flexible in the region of the edge section by which the door module carrier is fixed to the sill section of the door shell. In other words, a certain degree of flexibility is introduced in a targeted manner via the organosheet on the edge section in order to facilitate the assembly of the door module carrier on the frame cutout, which in the assembled state of the vehicle door defines access to a door shaft between a door outer skin (e.g. in the form of a door outer panel) and a door inner skin (e.g. in the form of a door inner panel). In this way, the door module carrier in the region of the sill section can only partially bear the loads occurring during operation of the vehicle door, such that it continues to be necessary to provide an at least two-part structure comprising a window frame reinforcement in the region of the sill section, in particular. The door module carrier thus only makes a minor contribution to the stiffness of the vehicle door. Correspondingly, load paths for forces that occur, along which the loads occurring during operation of the vehicle door propagate, are diverted around the frame cutout.

(12) FIGS. 1A to 11 illustrate various views of one embodiment variant of a proposed vehicle door assembly. Here, a door shell is formed from a first frame component 1 and a second frame component 2 which is fixed thereto and which has a reinforcing effect. The first frame component 1 defines a window frame 1A for a window opening 10 on a vehicle door T and has two mutually opposite lateral frame sections 13A and 13B for definition of a frame cutout 11 formed below the window opening 10. In order to separate the window opening 10 from the frame cutout 11, a continuous sill section 12 is formed on the first frame component 1, the continuous sill section connecting the two lateral (right and left) frame sections 13A and 13B to one another and being used to define a sill region B on the properly assembled vehicle door T.

(13) The comparatively large frame cutout 11 is closed by a large-area door module carrier 3. This door module carrier 3 is formed with organosheet, that is to say formed to a substantial extent by an organosheet, and configured in the form of a load-bearing structural component in the present case. For this purpose, an edge section 302 of a carrier surface 30 of the door module carrier 3 is stiffened by at least one stiffening structure 32 which is injection-molded on the organosheet and which has a plurality of stiffening ribs. Due to the load-bearing function of the door module carrier 3, no additional reinforcement by the second frame component 2 is necessary on the sill section 12 of the first frame component 1. The second frame component 2 forms merely a window frame reinforcement 20 of substantially U-shaped extent in the region of a window frame 1A of the first frame component 1. Via lateral flange sections 22A and 22B, the second frame component 2 is fixed merely in transition regions 14A and 14B of the first frame component 1, at which the lateral frame sections 13A and 13B each transition into the sill section 12.

(14) In this case, it is not only the stiffening structure 32 with the stiffening ribs that is injection-molded on the organosheet of the door module carrier 3 but in particular also two guide rails 31A and 31B, which form component parts of a window regulator. Here, the door module carrier 3 furthermore also carries a window regulator drive A and a control unit 4 for this window regulator.

(15) In addition, on the door module carrier 3, a continuous edge web 30A is formed in any case on the edge section 302 close to the sill by material which has been applied by injection-molding, on which edge web a seal is provided for sealing purposes in the region of the sill section 12.

(16) The stiffening structure 32, by which the door module carrier 3 stiffens the sill section 12 in the sill region B of the vehicle door T, is formed with a plurality of screw-on points 32A to 32F. These screw-on points 32A to 32F form fastening points for the door module carrier 3 at which the door module carrier 3 is fixed to the sill section 12 of the first frame component 1. These screw-on points 32A to 32F are also formed by material injection-molded on the organosheet and are formed within the stiffening structure 32 with stiffening ribs.

(17) The following is a list of reference numbers shown in the Figures. However, it should be understood that the use of these terms is for illustrative purposes only with respect to one embodiment. And, use of reference numbers correlating a certain term that is both illustrated in the Figures and present in the claims is not intended to limit the claims to only cover the illustrated embodiment.

LIST OF REFERENCE DESIGNATIONS

(18) 1 First frame component 1A Window frame 10 Window opening 11 Frame cutout 12 Sill section 13A, 13B Lateral frame section 14A, 14B Transition region 2 Second frame component/frame reinforcement 20 Window frame reinforcement 22A, 22B Lateral flange section 3 Door module carrier 30 Carrier surface 30A Edge web for seal 302 Edge section close to the sill 31A, 31B Guide rail 32 Stiffening structure 32A 32F Screw-on point 4 Control unit 5 Door outer skin 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 Transverse strut A Window regulator drive B Sill region S Window pane T Vehicle door

(19) While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention.