Motor vehicle tailgate comprising a plastic box structure

Abstract

The motor vehicle tailgate has a plastic box structure including at least one structural element supporting a rear screen. The structural element delimits, with the rear screen, a housing including an interior opening, the interior opening being closed by way of a lining which is attached in such a way that the housing houses an electrical element of the vehicle.

Claims

1. A motor vehicle tailgate comprising a plastic box structure comprising at least one structural element supporting a rear screen, the structural element being elongated in a longitudinal direction, wherein the structural element delimits, with the rear screen, a housing comprising an interior opening, the interior opening being closed by means of a lining which is attached so as to form at least partially a longitudinal wall of the housing, adjacent to the rear screen and arranged towards the inside of the rear screen, in such a way that the housing houses an electrical element of the vehicle.

2. The tailgate according to claim 1, wherein the structural element belongs to the group comprising a lateral upright and a horizontal cross member.

3. The tailgate according to claim 1, wherein the lining forms a support for the electrical element.

4. The tailgate according to claim 1, wherein the electrical element is an optical element.

5. The tailgate according to claim 1, wherein the lining comprises an attachment part for a light source and an attachment part for a reflector, these attachment parts comprising holes made in offset support surfaces at different distances from the rear screen.

6. The tailgate according to claim 1, wherein the electrical element comprises an element from the group consisting of a camera, a sensor, a receiver, a transmitter, an antenna.

7. The tailgate according to claim 1, wherein the structural element, assembled with the screen and the lining has a cross-section whose outer contour has a substantially quadrilateral shape, one side of the quadrilateral being formed by the rear screen, two other consecutive sides being formed by the structural element and the last side, connecting the rear screen and the structural element, being formed at least partially by the lining.

8. The tailgate according to claim 1, wherein the lining is removably mounted on the structural element.

9. The tailgate according to claim 1, wherein the lining comprises a longitudinal edge connecting with the rear screen, provided with a flexible seal.

10. The tailgate according to claim 1, wherein the lining is made of thermoplastic material and/or the structural element is made of thermoplastic material, thermosetting material or composite material.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention will be better understood on reading the accompanying figures, which are given solely by way of example and not limiting in any way, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the outside of a motor vehicle tailgate according to one embodiment;

(3) FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view through the plane I-I of an upright of the tailgate of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 is a detached and diagrammatic perspective partial view of the lining of the upright of FIG. 2;

(5) FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of the lining of the upright of FIG. 2;

(6) FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of the reflector of the upright of FIG. 2;

(7) FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view through the plane II-II of a cross member of the tailgate of FIG. 1;

(8) FIG. 7 is a detail view of part III of FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(9) We now refer to FIG. 1. A motor vehicle tailgate 10 comprises a plastic box structure comprising, in this example, two side uprights 16 and a lower horizontal cross member 17 connecting the side uprights 16. The uprights 16 and the cross member 17 surround and support a glass rear screen 12. Each upright 16 and the cross member 17 each form an elongated structural element, each extending in a longitudinal direction corresponding to the axis of elongation of the structural element. More precisely, the cross member 17 is elongated in a substantially horizontal direction considering the tailgate when mounted on the vehicle so that the longitudinal direction of the cross member 17 corresponds to this substantially horizontal direction. The side uprights 16 are elongated in a substantially vertical direction when the tailgate is mounted on the vehicle, so that the longitudinal direction of the side uprights 16 is the substantially vertical direction.

(10) As can be seen on FIG. 2, the upright 16 has a semi-U-shaped cross-section, i.e. one side inner leg of the is not complete. The outer wall of the upright 16 is bonded to the screen 12 by a glue bead 18, which both maintains the screen 12 and seals the box structure with respect to the outside of the vehicle. The screen 12 has a screen printed area 20 at the bonding tape 18. ??// It is understood in this case that the outside of the vehicle corresponds to the part that is farthest from the centre of the rear screen 12, i.e. the left part of FIG. 2, and that the inside of the vehicle corresponds to the part that is closest to the centre of the rear screen 12, i.e. the right side of FIG. 2.

(11) The upright 16 delimits, with the rear screen 12, a housing 14 comprising an interior opening which is closed by means of a lining 22 which is attached so as to form at least partially a longitudinal wall of the housing, adjacent and arranged towards the inside of the rear screen 12. The lining 22 is removably mounted to the upright 16, for example by means of a rivet 24. Furthermore, the lining 22 comprises a longitudinal edge connecting with the screen 12, provided with a leaf type flexible seal 26. The screen 12 comprises a second screen printed area 40 at the seal 26.

(12) Thus, the upright 16, assembled with the screen 12 and the lining 22, has a cross-section whose outer contour has a substantially quadrilateral shape, in this case a trapezoidal shape. A first side of the quadrilateral is formed by the rear screen 12 and two other consecutive sides, the two left and lower sides, are formed by the upright 16. The last side, the right side connecting the rear screen 12 and the upright 16, is formed at least partially by the lining 22. In this example, substantially all the last side, except the part forming the corner, is formed by the lining. The upright 16 further comprises a blocking rib 36 to position the elements described below.

(13) In this example, the lining 22 forms a support for several electrical elements housed in the housing 14. In particular, it carries a printed circuit board PCB 32 provided with LEDs 33 and a connection cable 34. The lining 22 also forms a support for a reflector 30.

(14) As can be seen on FIG. 3, the lining 22 has a first group of support surfaces 42 and a second group of support surfaces 44 which are offset relative to each other, in other words the support surfaces 42 and the support surfaces 44 are at different distances from the rear screen 12. Attachment means 46, 48 are made respectively in these support surfaces 42, 44 to attach the reflector 30 and the PCB 32.

(15) As illustrated on FIG. 5, the reflector 30 has at least one clip 56 to be inserted into the hole 46 to attach the reflector 30 to the lining 22. Similarly, clips 48 made on the support surfaces 44 are adapted to attach the PCB 32 by clipping.

(16) The lining 22 is also shown on FIG. 4. In addition to the means for attaching the optical elements, the lining comprises means 50 for attaching the connection cable 34 consisting of a hollow with resilient tabs 58 to grip the cable 34. Moreover, the lining 22 comprises in its wall covering the side opening a hole 54 which allows it to be attached by the rivet 24 to the upright 16.

(17) We now refer to FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrating a second example of a structural element.

(18) In this case, the screen 12 extends vertically and covers in its lower part the junction of an outer skin 15 of the tailgate 10 with an inner lining of the tailgate, composed by the box structure. It is therefore understood that in this case, the outer part of the screen 12 is in the lower part and that the inner part of the screen, being closer to the centre of the screen, is in the upper part of the figure. The outer skin 15 is attached to the box structure of the tailgate 10 at the cross member 17 by a bonding tape 78. The screen 12 has a screen printed area 70 at the bonding tape 78. The cross member 17 is part of the tailgate box structure and forms a structural element.

(19) The cross member 17 delimits, with the rear screen 12, a housing 74 comprising an interior opening which is closed by means of a lining 72 which is attached so as to form a longitudinal wall of the housing, adjacent and arranged towards the inside of the rear screen 12. In this case, the cross member 17 locally has a semi--shaped cross-section in which the bottom of the is not complete and the side inner leg of the does not exist.

(20) Furthermore, the lining 72 comprises a longitudinal edge connecting with the rear screen 12, provided with a leaf type flexible seal 76. The screen 12 comprises a second screen printed area 90 at the seal 76.

(21) In this example, the lining 72 forms a support for an electrical element 80, for example an external camera or a light. To this end, the lining 72 comprises a substantially horizontal plate 76 which supports the electrical element 80.

(22) The lining 72 is removably mounted on the cross member 17 by means of a screw.

(23) In the examples described, the box structure of the tailgate 10 is made of composite material, such as fiber reinforced plastic.

(24) The invention is not limited to the examples described and other embodiments will be clearly apparent to those skilled in the art.

(25) In particular, the structural element may take a different overall shape. Preferably, it has a semi--shaped cross-section, i.e. at least one side leg of the is absent.