GB2406128A - Method of manufacturing a vehicle door - Google Patents
Method of manufacturing a vehicle door Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2406128A GB2406128A GB0418451A GB0418451A GB2406128A GB 2406128 A GB2406128 A GB 2406128A GB 0418451 A GB0418451 A GB 0418451A GB 0418451 A GB0418451 A GB 0418451A GB 2406128 A GB2406128 A GB 2406128A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- inner panel
- panel
- flange
- outer panel
- vehicle door
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 title claims description 14
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 11
- 238000004512 die casting Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 9
- 230000002093 peripheral effect Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 5
- 238000005452 bending Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 3
- FYYHWMGAXLPEAU-UHFFFAOYSA-N Magnesium Chemical compound [Mg] FYYHWMGAXLPEAU-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 4
- 229910052749 magnesium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 4
- 239000011777 magnesium Substances 0.000 claims description 4
- 230000002787 reinforcement Effects 0.000 claims description 2
- 238000010008 shearing Methods 0.000 claims description 2
- 238000005266 casting Methods 0.000 abstract description 3
- 229910052751 metal Inorganic materials 0.000 description 8
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 description 8
- 238000009957 hemming Methods 0.000 description 3
- 230000003014 reinforcing effect Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000004026 adhesive bonding Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000005357 flat glass Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60J—WINDOWS, WINDSCREENS, NON-FIXED ROOFS, DOORS, OR SIMILAR DEVICES FOR VEHICLES; REMOVABLE EXTERNAL PROTECTIVE COVERINGS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLES
- B60J5/00—Doors
- B60J5/04—Doors arranged at the vehicle sides
- B60J5/0468—Fixation or mounting means specific for door components
- B60J5/0469—Fixation or mounting means specific for door components for door panels, e.g. hemming
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60J—WINDOWS, WINDSCREENS, NON-FIXED ROOFS, DOORS, OR SIMILAR DEVICES FOR VEHICLES; REMOVABLE EXTERNAL PROTECTIVE COVERINGS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLES
- B60J5/00—Doors
- B60J5/04—Doors arranged at the vehicle sides
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60J—WINDOWS, WINDSCREENS, NON-FIXED ROOFS, DOORS, OR SIMILAR DEVICES FOR VEHICLES; REMOVABLE EXTERNAL PROTECTIVE COVERINGS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLES
- B60J5/00—Doors
- B60J5/04—Doors arranged at the vehicle sides
- B60J5/0463—Conceptual assembling of door, i.e. how door frame parts should be fitted together to form door
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60J—WINDOWS, WINDSCREENS, NON-FIXED ROOFS, DOORS, OR SIMILAR DEVICES FOR VEHICLES; REMOVABLE EXTERNAL PROTECTIVE COVERINGS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLES
- B60J5/00—Doors
- B60J5/04—Doors arranged at the vehicle sides
- B60J5/0463—Conceptual assembling of door, i.e. how door frame parts should be fitted together to form door
- B60J5/0466—Conceptual assembling of door, i.e. how door frame parts should be fitted together to form door using cast parts
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60J—WINDOWS, WINDSCREENS, NON-FIXED ROOFS, DOORS, OR SIMILAR DEVICES FOR VEHICLES; REMOVABLE EXTERNAL PROTECTIVE COVERINGS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLES
- B60J5/00—Doors
- B60J5/04—Doors arranged at the vehicle sides
- B60J5/048—Doors arranged at the vehicle sides characterised by the material
- B60J5/0483—Doors arranged at the vehicle sides characterised by the material lightweight metal, e.g. aluminum, magnesium
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Automobile Manufacture Line, Endless Track Vehicle, Trailer (AREA)
Abstract
A vehicle door has an outer panel 4 or 5 which includes a border flange 4a, 5a along a periphery of the outer panel and an inner panel 3 comprising a hem flange 6 or 7. The inner panel 3 is assembled to the outer panel by bending the border flange of the outer panel 4a or 5a around the hem flange of the inner panel 6 or 7. The inner panel 3 has a stepped peripheral edge 3b with at least two steps, which are formed during the casting. The inner panel 3 can be sheared at the vicinity of one of the two steps so that it may be fitted onto different outer panels 4 or 5. This method allows for minimized tooling by providing from a single die-casting tool an inner panel 3 which can be fitted onto two different outer panels.
Description
2406 1 28 Method of manufacturing a vehicle door The present invention
relates to a method of manufacturing a vehicle door.
A vehicle doors are usually formed from inner and outer sheet metal panels which are connected by a hem. The outer sheet metal panel is slightly larger than the inner sheet metal panel. The outer panel of sheet metal is joined to the second inner reinforcing panel of sheet metal by hemming a flange over and along the edge of the door.
According to known processes, an outer sheet metal panel is stamped and formed to include a border flange along a periphery of the outer panel. An inner sheet metal reinforcing panel is formed and shaped to be slightly smaller than the outer sheet metal panel. The inner panel is placed against the outer panel such that a periphery of the inner panel is disposed adjacent and generally parallel to the border flange of the outer panel.
The two panels are then secured together by hemming the border flange of the outer panel over the adjacent periphery of the inner panel.
One disadvantage of such assembly is that the outer panel and the inner panel must be customized for each type of vehicle, thereby adding tooling cost to each vehicle type.
According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a vehicle door having an outer panel which includes a border flange along a periphery of the outer panel and an inner panel comprising a flange, the inner panel being assembled to the outer panel by securing the border flange of the outer panel on the flange of the inner panel, wherein the flange of the inner panel has previously been obtained by forming, at the time of manufacturing the inner panel, a stepped peripheral edge with at least two steps then shearing the inner panel at the vicinity of one of the steps depending of the size of the outer panel with which the inner panel must be secured. - 2 -
One advantage of the present invention is that it provides an inner panel which can be adapted to fit the outer panel of at least two different vehicle models, thereby minimising the tooling required.
Preferably, the inner panel is manufactured by die-casting.
Also preferably, the inner panel is made of magnesium.
Preferably the inner panel is joined to the outer panel by bending the border flange of the outer panel around the flange of the inner panel.
The invention also provides, according to another aspect, a vehicle door assembled by a method according to said first aspect.
The invention also provides, according to a further aspect, a series of vehicle doors, each according to said other aspect, the series including one type of vehicle door in which the inner panel is fitted to one type of outer panel and another type of vehicle door in which the same inner type is adapted to fit to another type of outer panel so as to provide, for each type of vehicle door, a single shape of inner panel.
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 are schematic vertical sectional views of two different vehicle doors, Fig.3 is a stacking view of Fig.1 and Fig.2, illustrating the method of manufacturing a vehicle door according to the present invention by using a similar basic inner panel, and Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the inner panel shown in Fig. 3, in its basic configuration. - 3
Referring to the drawings in particular Figs 1 and 2, there is shown two different vehicle doors designated by the numeral reference 1 and 2. Each vehicle door 1, 2 comprises an inner panel 3,, 32 and an outer panel 4, 5. Each outer panel 4 and 5 includes conventionally a border flange 4a or 5a along a periphery of the outer panel. The inner panel 3 or 32 has a flat edge or hem flange 6 or 7 along its periphery to allow it to be joined to the outer panel 4 or 5.
The inner panel 3' or 32 is formed from magnesium, cast using highpressure die- casting techniques, as for instance explained from JP-A-8282295. Hence, an intermediate component called a basic inner panel 3a is obtained from the die-casting tool and this has the general three dimensional shape of the inner panel.
It will be noted that to build up different vehicle doors, as shown Fig.1 and Fig.2, different inner panels 3, or 32 are needed and normally this requires as many die-casting tools as there are different variations of inner panel.
To overcome this problem, the basic inner panel 3a obtained from the diecasting has a stepped peripheral edge 3b, in this case with two steps 6a, 7a. Each step on the intermediate component 3a corresponds to one of the hem flanges 6, 7 to fit with one of the outer panels. Hence, such a profile for the basic inner panel 3a allows supplying two different door assembly lines with the same basic inner panel 3a. The profile of one of the outer panels 4 is shorter in length and in width than the other one 5, as shown in Fig. 3, in order that the basic inner panel 3a is adaptable to both outer panels of a series of vehicle doors.
The method of manufacturing the vehicle door will now be described with reference only to a first assembly line, the operations being similar on the second line.
The basic inner panel 3a is transferred to a cutter tool of a first door assembly line, referred to also as a hot trim, to trim the inner panel 3, e.g. to form various features such as - 4 an aperture 8 for a drop-down window glass. The basic inner panel 3a is then sheared at the vicinity of one of its two steps, as shown by the stitch lines in Fig. 2, depending on which outer panel will be attached to it, in order to form a hem flange 6 or 7 which fits onto an outer panel 4 or 5.
The inner panel 3 provided with its hem flange 6 or 7 is then placed in a conventional manner against an outer panel 4 or 5 on a hemming tool which clenches the border flange of the outer panel 4a or 5a to the flat edge of the first inner panel 6 or 7.
It will be appreciated that the basic inner panel 3a can include reinforcements such as ribs formed during the casting. The basic inner panel 3a can also include several mounting points integrated into the casting that can be used for hinges, locks, etc. for different vehicle doors.
Such a method of manufacturing a vehicle door offers the advantage of reducing the tooling costs by using only one die-casting tool to manufacture a basic inner panel 3a which can be used to supply different door assembly lines which provide different models of door. Furthermore, the stepped peripheral edge on the basic inner panel also allows the inner panel to have the requisite thickness levels for the varying doors.
Although the method of manufacturing the basic inner panel as described herein is a die-casting techniques using magnesium it will be appreciated that this need not be the case and it could be stamped or made from other materials. Also, the inner panel could be joined to the outer panel using other fastening techniques such as adhesive bonding. - 5
Claims (9)
1. A method of manufacturing a vehicle door having an outer panel which includes a border flange along a periphery of the outer panel and an inner panel comprising a i flange, the inner panel being assembled to the outer panel by securing the border flange of the outer panel on the flange of the inner panel, wherein the flange of the inner panel has previously been obtained by forming, at the time of manufacturing the inner panel, a stepped peripheral edge with at least steps then shearing the inner panel at the vicinity of one of the two steps depending of the size of the outer panel with which the inner panel must be secured.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the inner panel is manufactured by die- casting.
3. A method as claimed in claim 2 in which the inner panel is made of magnesium.
4. A method as claimed in any preceding claims in which the inner panel includes reinforcements formed at the time of manufacturing the inner panel.
5. A method as claimed in any preceding claims in which the inner panel is joined to the outer panel by bending the border flange of the outer panel around the flange of the inner panel.
6. A vehicle door assembled by a method as claimed in any preceding claims.
7. A series of vehicle doors, each according to claim 6, the series including one type of vehicle door in which the inner panel is fitted to one type of outer panel and another type of vehicle door in which the same inner type is adapted to fit to another type of outer panel so as to provide, for each type of vehicle door, a single shape of inner panel. - 6
8. A series of vehicle doors substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.
9. A method of manufacturing a series of vehicle doors substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US49962303P | 2003-09-03 | 2003-09-03 |
Publications (3)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| GB0418451D0 GB0418451D0 (en) | 2004-09-22 |
| GB2406128A true GB2406128A (en) | 2005-03-23 |
| GB2406128B GB2406128B (en) | 2006-12-20 |
Family
ID=33098361
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB0418451A Expired - Fee Related GB2406128B (en) | 2003-09-03 | 2004-08-19 | Method of manufacturing a vehicle door |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| GB (1) | GB2406128B (en) |
Citations (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP1465786A1 (en) * | 2002-01-16 | 2004-10-13 | Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Vehicle door |
-
2004
- 2004-08-19 GB GB0418451A patent/GB2406128B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Patent Citations (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP1465786A1 (en) * | 2002-01-16 | 2004-10-13 | Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Vehicle door |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| GB0418451D0 (en) | 2004-09-22 |
| GB2406128B (en) | 2006-12-20 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCNP | Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee |
Effective date: 20230819 |