Door Sill Garnish Trim

The present invention relates to a door sill garnish trim piece that: 1) conceals and protects a vehicle door or hatch opening flange of riveted construction; and 2) provides a hard sealing surface to receive the vehicle door seal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel carpeted door sill garnish trim piece with an extruded base member that features: 1) a pair of curved projections, which deflect around and snap over a line of rivet heads; 2) a closed cell section, which provides support for the load of the occupant's body during entry and exit of the vehicle; and 3) a narrow "U" channel section, which maintains tension against the door or hatch opening flange and rivets, accepts a carpet covering, and establishes a rigid sealing surface for a vehicle door seal.

In response to demands for fuel efficiency, the auto industry is exploring the application of new materials that reduce weight in passenger and commercial autobody construction. One of the many challenges presented by the use of aluminum alloys to achieve lightweight autobody construction is how to conceal and protect riveted body panel flanges. Rather than being welded together as is typical with steel body panels, aluminum alloy body panels are often riveted together.

A particular challenge presented in lightweight aluminum autobody construction is developing a trim piece to conceal and protect a riveted door or hatch sill flange, while simultaneously providing a sealing surface for the vehicle door bulb seal. A trim piece that meets this challenge must deflect around and snap over a line of rivet heads having the ability to compensate for minor variations in the placement of these rivet heads. Such a door sill garnish trim piece must also be sufficiently strong and stiff to support the load of the vehicle occupant as he or she gets into or out of the vehicle.

A conventional approach to meet this challenge would be to specify either an injection molded trim piece, which requires separate attaching screws and/or clips, or an extruded seal section, which could include a continuous internal metal carrier. In the automotive application of the present invention, both of these conventional alternatives were found to be cost prohibitive in terms of tooling investment.

Therefore, to conceal and protect a vehicle door or hatch opening flange of riveted construction and to provide a sealing surface for the door seal, the present invention provides a door sill garnish trim piece with an extruded section that features a seating member opposite a pair of curved projects. When the door sill garnish trim is snapped onto the metal door or hatch flange, these curved projections deflect around and provide clearance for a line of rivet heads on the vehicle door or hatch flange allowing the flange to seat snugly. Contiguous with this pair of curved projections is a tubular closed cell structure that provides support for an occupant's hand or body as he or she gets into or out of the vehicle door. A narrow U-shaped channel extending from and looping behind the seating member maintains the pair of curved projections in tension against the flange and provides a rigid sealing surface for a vehicle door seal. To finish the door sill garnish trim, a piece of carpeting is affixed to the outside surface of the tubular closed cell structure and tucked into the U-shaped channel. Prior to installation, the door sill garnish trim piece is trimmed to a predetermined length. At installation, the door sill garnish trim piece is visually located then manually pressed onto the riveted flange, thus eliminating the need for hand or power tools, as well as fasteners.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view depicting the interior vehicle door opening flange of riveted construction with a door sill garnish trim of the present invention snapped over the flange.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the door sill garnish trim of the present invention taken in the direction of Arrows 2--2 of FIG. 1.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals represent the same components among the several views, FIG. 1 is the interior of an automotive vehicle with a door sill garnish trim 10 of the present invention snapped over a riveted door opening flange 12.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the door opening flange 12 in the preferred embodiment is a high and narrow section of aluminum construction having a line of rivet heads 14, which secure the exterior door sill panel 16 to the interior door sill panel 18. In the preferred embodiment, the door sill garnish trim 10 is made of a material conforming or similar to Chrysler Material Standard (MS) AR30, which specifies a material that is semi-rigid but resilient. MS AR30 is attached to this description and incorporated by reference. The door sill garnish trim 10 is formed in an extrusion process that is well known in the art.

The cross-section of the door sill garnish trim 10 features a pair of curved projections 20a and 20b that deflect around the line of rivet heads 14 during installation. The curved projections 20a and 20b return to their original positions once the door sill garnish trim 10 is seated allowing it to snap over the line of rivet heads 14 onto the vehicle door opening flange 12. When the curved projections 20a and 20b are seated over the rivet heads 14, they maintain pressure against the vehicle door opening flange 12 seating it against a flat surface 22 on a seating member 23 forming part of the door sill garnish trim 10. The curved projections 20a and 20b are shaped such that a rivet head clearance 24 is provided. The rivet head clearance 24, in combination with the curved geometry of the projections 20a and 20b and the resilient properties of MS AR30, enable the door sill garnish trim 10 to tolerate minor variations in the location of the rivet heads 14 relative to the top of the vehicle door opening flange 12 allowing flat surface 22 to seat snugly against the vehicle door opening flange 12.

Contiguous with the curved projections 20a and 20b is a substantially box-shaped tube 28, which forms a closed cell structure. When the door sill garnish trim 10 is installed on the vehicle door opening flange 12, the tube 28 faces toward the interior of the vehicle. The closed cell 30 and substantially box-shape design of the tube 28 in combination with the stiffness of MS AR30 combine to create a structure that is strong enough to support an occupant's hand or body as he or she gets into or out of the vehicle.

The seating member 23 extends away and loops in the direction opposite from the tube 28 and the curved projections 20a and 20b to form a "U"-shaped member 32 having a channel 34. This U-shaped member 32 maintains the door sill garnish trim 10 in tension against the vehicle door opening flange 12 and provides a rigid sealing surface 36 facing toward the exterior of the vehicle when the door sill garnish trim 10 is installed. In the preferred embodiment, this sealing surface 36 accepts a door-mounted bulb seal 38. The thickness of this U-shaped member 32 is maintained at the consistent dimension of the tube 28 and the seating member 23 in the preferred embodiment, which is approximately 0.125 inches.

The door sill garnish trim 10 is manually installed on the vehicle door opening flange 12. The extruded section of the door sill garnish trim 10 is cut to an predetermined length that corresponds to the vehicle door opening flange 12. The door sill garnish trim 10 is then covered with a die-cut piece of carpet 26. The carpet piece 26 is affixed to the exterior surface of the tube 28 with its end tucked into the channel 34 of the U-shaped member 32 using any suitable adhesive, many of which are well known in the art. The door sill garnish trim 10 is visually located then pressed manually onto the riveted vehicle door opening flange 12 to cover and conceal the top of the interior vehicle carpeting 40, which is unfinished. This installation process is particularly advantageous because it requires no fasteners or locating fixtures and it eliminates the need for power or hand tools to effect installation thereby precluding damage to either the trim installer or the vehicle. In addition, the absence of fastening holes in the door sill garnish trim 10 helps to minimize the intrusion of water and road noise into the passenger compartment of the vehicle.

For applications in which the sweep angle of the vehicle door opening flange 12 is more aggressive or in which the length of the door sill garnish trim 10 is increased, cuts in the top area of the seating member 23 may be provided to relieve stress in the door sill garnish trim 10 as it conforms to the door opening flange 12. Alternatively, a sweep can be induced in the door sill garnish trim 10 prior to its installation by fixing it on an appropriately shaped plate before application of the carpet 26.

This new and innovative means of designing and applying garnish trim to a riveted flange can be used in any motor vehicle application from passenger car through class 8 trucks and off-road vehicles. Alternative constructions, of course, will be apparent to those skilled in the art who should realize that obvious variations made to the disclosed embodiment still properly fall within the scope of the present invention, as defined by the claims that follow.