This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-235036 filed on Oct. 9, 2009, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
An aspect of the present invention relates to a drain plug for draining water accumulated in a body panel of a motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, a body panel (such as a trunk lid, a door, a fender and the like) of a motor vehicle is formed of an outside panel and an inside panel. For example, the end part of the outside panel and the end part of the inside panel are connected together, and a space defined between the panels is suitably widened to thereby form the body panel having a prescribed thickness. In such body panel, rain water or washing water during a cleaning work of a vehicle body may occasionally enter and may be possibly accumulated. Accordingly, a hole for draining water is formed in the body panel to drain outside the water in the body panel from the hole.
However, under a state that such a drain hole is opened, there is a fear that smell of fuel, muddy water, dust and noise may enter the vehicle body. Accordingly, a plug is attached so as to close the drain hole and permit water to be drained from the drain hole.
For example, JP-S61-226375-A discloses a drain plug including a flange head part (non-insert part) and an insert part connected to the head part. The insert part is to be inserted into a drain hole. The cylindrical-shaped insert part protrudes with a prescribed height from the back side of the head part, and a part of the insert part is cut out along the peripheral direction to form a sector-shaped cut-out groove. Along an outer periphery of the insert part at an end part, an engaging pawl is formed to radially protrude with a prescribed height. When the insert part is inserted into the drain hole formed in a body panel, the head part is engaged with the drain hole from a front side, while the engaging pawl on the insert part is engaged with the drain hole from a back side, thereby attaching the plug to the drain hole.
In the body panel formed of a pair of panels defining a prescribed space therebetween, for example, one panel may be bent to come close to the other panel or both the panels may be bent to come close to each other so as to reduce the space toward a connecting part of the panels. In this case, water entering the body panel will be guided to and accumulated in the connecting part of the panels, due to its tare weight. Therefore, it is preferably to provide the drain hole around the connecting part of the panels.
In JP-S61-226375-A, the insert part of the plug is formed in the cylindrical shape protruding with the prescribed height. In this case, when the drain hole is provided at a position where the space between the panels is reduced, it is difficult to ensure a sufficient insert stroke for inserting the insert part, and the plug cannot be attached to the drain hole. Since the space between the panels is extremely narrow in an end edge part as in a trunk lid, for example, the drain hole cannot be provided closely to the end edge part.
One object of the present invention to provide a drain plug applicable to a drain hole formed around the connecting part of a body panel so as to sufficiently drain water.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a drain plug fitted to a drain hole formed in a body panel at an end edge part thereof, the body panel being formed of a pair of outside and inside panels, a space between the pair of panels being widened toward a prescribed direction from the end edge part, the drain plug including: a head part arranged on a peripheral edge of the drain hole from a front side, so as to cover the drain hole; and an engaging leg formed on a back surface of the head part, so as to be engaged with the peripheral edge of the drain hole from a back side by being inserted thereinto, wherein the engaging leg includes: a frame wall formed of a front wall and both side walls, so as to be extended in the prescribed direction while being separated from the head part; an opening part provided in a rear part of the frame wall, so as to face the end edge part of the body panel; engaging parts formed on both the side walls, so as to be engaged with the peripheral edge of the drain hole from the back side; and a guide surface formed on the front wall facing the head part, so as to guide the engaging parts to pass through the drain hole.
The head part may include: a thick part having a first thickness; a thin flange part having a second thickness smaller than the first thickness and extending from a peripheral edge of the thick part, so as to elastically abut on the peripheral edge of the drain hole from the front side; and pressing protrusions formed on a back surface of the thick part at positions facing to the engaging parts on the engaging leg, so as to abut on the peripheral edge of the drain hole from the front side.
The pressing protrusions may be formed into ribs extending in a direction perpendicular to the prescribed direction.
A rib or a recess may be formed on a back surface of the thin flange part at an opposite side to the frame wall, so as to form a gap for draining water between the peripheral edge of the drain hole and the thin flange part.
According to the present invention, when the end part of the frame wall of the engaging leg is inserted into the drain hole to obliquely insert the engaging leg along the guide surface, the engaging parts of both the side walls are engaged with the peripheral edge of the drain hole from the back side, and the head part abuts on the peripheral edge of the drain hole from the front side to sandwich the peripheral edge of the drain hole between the engaging leg and the head part, so that the drain plug can be attached to the drain hole.
At this time, since the end part of the frame wall is obliquely extended to the direction in which the space between the pair of panels is widened from the end edge part of the body panel and separating from the head part, the engaging leg can be obliquely inserted into the drain hole, and even when the drain hole is provided around the end edge part of the body panel and the space between the pair of panels is narrow, the drain plug can be attached to the drain hole. As a result, the drain hole can be formed more closely to the connecting part of the pair of panels of the body panel, and water can be sufficiently drained from the opening part on the rear part of the frame wall facing the end edge part of the body panel.
Since the engaging leg includes the front wall and both the side walls, for example, even when the drain plug 10 is formed with an elastic material such as rubber or elastomer, a sufficient rigidity can be ensured. Further, even when water enters inside the engaging leg, the water is drained through the opening part formed in the frame wall, and can be prevented from being accumulated inside the engaging leg.
Next, referring to
As shown in
The above-described trunk 6 includes an outer part 7 having a prescribed bent form and an inner part 8 connected to the outer part 7. To a rear part of the connecting part of the outer part 7 and the inner part 8, a weather strip 9 is attached. As shown in
As shown in
The head part 20 includes a transversely-elongated thick part 21 and an umbrella-like thin flange part 25 extended from a peripheral edge of the thick part 21 so as to abut on the peripheral edge of the front side of the drain hole 5. A thickness of the thin flange part 25 is smaller than that of the thick part 21.
In the embodiment, as shown in
As shown in
The thin flange part 25 is widened obliquely outward in an umbrella-like shape at a prescribed angle toward the back surface side from an outer peripheral edge of the thick part 21. The thin flange part 25 is bent correspondingly to the bent form of the inside panel 3 similarly to the above-described thick part 21. Further, the thin flange part 25 is thinner than the thick part 21 and its thickness is gradually smaller toward its end in an extending direction thereof (see
As shown in
Next, the engaging leg 30 will be described below. The engaging leg 30 includes the frame wall 32 formed of a front wall 31 and both side walls 33 and 33. The opening part 35 is formed in a rear part of the frame wall 32. An end part of the frame wall 32 is obliquely extended in a direction toward which the space between the panels 2 and 3 is widened from the end edge part of the body panel 1 while separating from the head part 20. On the other hand, the opening part 35 is opened in the frame wall 32 toward the end edge part of the body panel 1.
As shown in
Both the side walls 33 and 33 are connected to both side edge parts of the front wall 31 and include the part vertically extended from the back side of the thick part 21 and the part extending obliquely outward so as to separate from the head part 20.
The front wall 31 and both the side walls 33 and 33 are extended, and the opening part 35 is formed in the rear part opposite to the extending direction of the engaging leg 30. As a result, when the drain plug 10 is viewed from the back surface side, the frame wall 32 has a substantially V-shape. The front wall 31 has the width gradually reduced toward an extending end as shown in
In outer side surfaces of both the side walls 33 and 33, engaging parts 37 and 37 protruding with prescribed height are provided so as to be engaged with the peripheral edge of the drain hole 5 from the back side. On the engaging part 37, an engaging surface 37a (see
In outer side edges of both the side walls 33 and 33 in the opposite side of the head part 20, tapered surfaces 33a and 33a are formed along the extending direction of the engaging leg 30 (see
As shown in
Next, a method for using the above-described drain plug 10 will be described below.
Namely, the head part 20 of the drain plug 10 is gripped to align a direction of the extending end part of the engaging leg 30 with a direction in which the space between both panels 2 and 3 is widened and obliquely insert the end part of the engaging leg 30 into the drain hole 5 of the body panel 1. At this time, when the engaging leg 30 is viewed from a side surface and a bottom surface of the drain plug 10, the engaging leg 30 is formed with a tapered frame wall (see
After the end part of the engaging leg 30 is inserted into the drain hole 50 as described above, the engaging leg 30 is obliquely inserted into the drain hole along the guide surface 39 on the front wall 31 (see an imaginary line in
At this time, the pair of ribs 26 and 26 on the thin flange part 25 at the opposite side to the extending direction of the engaging leg 30 abut on the peripheral edge of the drain hole 5 from the front side, thereby forming the gap G for draining water between the peripheral edge of the front side of the drain hole 5 and the thin flange part 25 (see
Then, in the drain plug 10, the end part of the frame wall of the engaging leg 30 is obliquely extended toward the direction in which the space between the panels 2 and 3 is widened from the end edge part of the body panel 1 and separating from the head part 20. Accordingly, as described above, since the engaging leg 30 can be obliquely inserted into the drain hole 5, as shown in
In this embodiment, since the ribs 26 are provided on the back surface side of the thin flange part 25 at the rear side of the engaging leg 30 to form the gap G for draining water, the water accumulated in the space between the panels 2 and 3 can be easily drained through the gap G. Further, since the ribs 26 are provided on the back side of the thin flange part 25, while ensuring the gap G for draining water, a space between the peripheral edge of the front side of the drain hole 5 and the thin flange, part 25 can be set to a minimum size so that the smell of exhaust gas can be effectively restrained from entering through the drain hole 5.
Since the engaging leg 30 includes the front wall 31 and both the side walls 33 and 33, for example, even when the drain plug 10 is formed with an elastic material such as rubber or elastomer, a sufficient rigidity can be ensured. Further, even when water enters inside the engaging leg 30, the water can be discharged from the opening part 35 formed in the frame wall 32 and drained from the gap G. Thus, the water is prevented from being accumulated inside the engaging leg 30.
In the drain plug 10, since the opening part 35 is provided in the rear part opposite to the extending direction of the engaging leg 30, when the engaging leg 30 is inserted into the direction in which the space between the panels 2 and 3 is widened, the opening part 35 is arranged in a part where the space between the panels 2 and 3 is narrow. Thus, the opening part 35 can be assuredly aligned in a direction (downward, in this embodiment) suitable for draining water.
In this embodiment, the head part 20 includes the thick part 21 and the thin flange part 25 extending in the umbrella-like shape. At the positions on the back side of the thick part 21 facing the engaging parts 37 of the engaging leg 30, the pair of pressing protrusions 23 and 23 are formed to abut on the peripheral edge of the drain hole 5 from the front side. Accordingly, the engaging leg 30 is inserted into the drain hole 5 so that the pressing protrusions 23 abut on the peripheral edge of the drain hole 5 from the front side, while the engaging parts 37 are engaged with the peripheral edge of drain hole 5 from the back side. The inside panel 3 is sandwiched by both the members at the drain hole 5, so that the drain plug 10 can be attached to the drain hole 5. At this time, since the pair of pressing protrusions 23 and 23 are formed in the thick part 21, a load during the attachment of the drain plug 10 is concentrated on the pressing protrusions 23 and 23 and the flexibility of the thin flange part 25 can be maintained. Thus, the thin flange part 25 can be flexibly deformed along the form of the inside panel 3 and allowed to come into close contact therewith.
In this embodiment, since the pair of rib-like pressing protrusions 23 and 23 are extended in the direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the engaging leg 30, the pressing protrusions 23 and 23 come into contact with the peripheral edge of the drain hole 5 from the front side. Thus, an angle of the head part 20 relative to the drain hole can be suitably changed with respect to the pressing protrusions 23 as supporting points, and the drain plug 10 can be attached by flexibly following the bent form of the inside panel 3. Even when the form of the inside panel 3 around the drain hole 5 is changed depending on the kind of a vehicle, the drain plug 10 may also be applicable thereto.
In a drain plug 10a according to this embodiment, at an opening part 35 side of an engaging leg 30 on a back surface side of a thin flange part 25, a recess 27 is provided for forming a gap for draining water. In this embodiment, the recess is formed at a center of one side of the opening part 35 side on the thin flange part 25 along a direction opposite to the extending direction of the engaging leg 30.
Then, when the drain plug 10a is attached to a drain hole 5, a peripheral edge of the recess 27 of the thin flange part 25 abuts on the peripheral edge of the drain hole 5 from a front side, so as to assuredly drain water while suppressing the entrance of smell of exhaust gas.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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P. 2009-235036 | Oct 2009 | JP | national |