Patent Application
20110025087
The present invention relates to an access door system and, particularly, to an access door system that may be included on a vehicle body.
Vehicles, such as, for example, trucks and cars, are typically provided with one or more hinged access doors. By way of example, and not limitation, many vehicles include hinged access doors that are used to selectively cover and provide access to a gas tank. Such hinged access doors typically include one or more springs that are used for purposes of mounting, biasing, or controlling the opening and closing of the door.
Selective Catalytic Reduction (“SCR”) emission control systems are becoming more and more common place on vehicles and equipment. SCR systems utilize urea (“(NH2)2CO”) for purposes of reducing emissions. The urea is stored in a tank. It may be desirable to utilize a hinged access door to selectively cover and provide access to a urea tank.
Urea, which may be aqueous or gaseous, imparts a corrosive nature to the local environment. Due to this corrosive nature, special measures should be taken to ensure that hinged access doors are suitable use in such an environment. Not only should the door itself be immune to the effects of the corrosive environment, but any mounting hardware, such as springs, clips, or fasteners, should also be immune to the corrosive effects of the environment.
While a corrosive resistant material, such as stainless steel, may be used, it may prove costly to manufacture the entire assembly, including the springs, from such a material. Furthermore, the very use of springs entails additional labor during installation. Such installation may also prove difficult due to the confined nature of the area. This may be particularly problematic, where it is an option to purchase a vehicle or equipment with a complete access door assembly, i.e. bezel, door, and any mounting hardware, or with an incomplete access door assembly, i.e. just a bezel without the door and mounting hardware. In such a situation, subsequent to purchasing a vehicle or equipment with an incomplete access door assembly, i.e. with just a bezel, a user may decide to upgrade and purchase the door. Simple installation may prove difficult for such a purchaser, and installation may require professional assistance and special tools.
The present invention is directed to an improved access door system
According to one embodiment of the present invention, an access door system includes a door, a bezel, and a hinge. The door is provided with an open position and a closed position. The hinge connects the door and the bezel and is provided with an end journaled to the bezel about an axis of rotation. The hinge rotating about the axis of rotation between a first position, whereat the door is open, and a second position, whereat the door is closed. One of the hinge or the bezel is provided with a detent receiving portion. The other of the door or the bezel is provided with a detent. The detent receiving portion releasably receives the detent to releasably hold the door in a position.
Turning now to
As shown in
As shown in
As the second end 22 of the bezel 20 is continued to be forced in the direction of the opening 101 of the vehicle 100, the ramped surface 35 slides against the periphery of the opening 101. According to one aspect of the present embodiment, the ramped surface 35 may be angled so as to cause one or both of the bezel 20 or vehicle body 100 to elastically flex, whereby once the ramped surface 35 moves past the periphery of the opening 101, one or both of vehicle body 100 or bezel 20 resiliently snap towards the other, whereupon the retaining surface 36 cooperates with the underside of the lip 32 to capture a portion of the vehicle body 100 within slots 53, 54 defined by the underside of the lip 32 and the retaining surface 36.
Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the outer surface 25 of the bezel 20 may be provided with additional catches and additional snap clips. By way of example, and not limitation, as shown in
Turning now back to
In the present embodiment, first ends 73 of the hinges 70, 71 are journaled to the respective bearings 40, 41 whereby the hinges 70, 71 are provided with an axis of rotation 72 (
According to another aspect of the present embodiment, the inner surface 39 is configured to releasably hold the hinges 70, 71 in one or more positions. As shown in
As shown in
In the present embodiment, the first and second detents 47, 48 may be provided as flexible members that flexibly and releasably snap into and out of the open and closed position detent receiving portions 80, 81 located on each of the hinges 70, 71. As shown, the first and second detents 47, 48 may be provided as cantilevered members having hooked ends 49, which flexibly and releasably snap into and out of the open and closed position detent receiving portions 80, 81 of said hinges 70, 71. As shown in the embodiment depicted, the detents 47, 48 may be defined by one or more elongated cutouts 50 formed into the first and second sides 42, 43. Also shown in the embodiment depicted, the detents 47, 48 may terminate in hooked ends 49, which preferably extend inward from the opposing sides 42, 43 such that the hooked ends 49 of the first and second detents 47, 48 extend toward each other.
According to yet another aspect of the present embodiment, the inner surface 39 may be configured to cooperate with the door 60 to releasably hold the door 60 in the closed position. As shown in
Turning now to
According to another aspect of the present embodiment, the door 60 may be configured to cooperate with the bezel 20 to releasably hold the door 60 in the closed position. As shown in
According to another aspect of the present embodiment, the door 60 is configured to connect to the hinges 70, 71. As shown in
Turning now to
According to one aspect of the present embodiment, the hinges 70, 71, are configured to connect to the bezel 20. In the present embodiment, the first ends 73 of the hinges 70, 71 are journaled to the bearings 45, 46 on the bezel 20. According to one aspect of the present embodiment, the first ends 73 may be releasably journaled to the bearings 45, 46. As shown in
In the present embodiment, the hinges 70, 71 may be releasably secured to the bezel 20 by positioning the door 60 slightly past a normally fully open position, positioning the hinges 70, 71 within the bezel 20, and forcing a cutout portion 76 defined by the snapping members 75 towards the bearings 45, 46. As the snapping members 75 are forced against the bearings 45, 46 this causes at least one of two opposing arms 77, 78 on the snapping members 75 to elastically flex, whereby the diameter of the cutout portion 76 slightly increases to accommodate the diameter of the bearings 45, 46. As the cutout portion 76 is further forced past the bearings 45, 46, at least one of the arms 77, 78 resiliently snap towards the other to releasable capture the bearings 45, 46 within an bearing receiving portion 79 defined by the arms 77, 78. The arms 77, 78 extend semi-circumferentially around the bearing receiving portion 79 and, when the hinges 70, 71 are secured to the bezel 20, semi-circumferentially around the bearings 45, 46 and axis of rotation 72. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that in a similar, but opposite manner, the hinges 70, 71 may be released from the bezel 20.
According to another aspect of the present embodiment, the hinges 70, 71 are configured to cooperate with the bezel 20 to releasably hold the hinges 70, 71 in one or more positions. In the presently preferred embodiment, the hinges 70, 71 may be provided with one or more detent receiving portions, such as, the open and closed position detent receiving portions 80, 81. According to one aspect of the present embodiment, as shown in
In the present embodiment, the detent receiving portions 80, 81 may be provided as a recessed area or cut outs defined within said hinges 70, 71. In
According to one aspect of the present embodiment, the access door system 10 may be fabricated using a plastic. According to another aspect of the present embodiment, the access door system 10 may be fabricated using a thermoplastic. According to yet another aspect of the present embodiment, the access door system 10 may be fabricated using a thermoset. According to still another aspect of the present embodiment, the access door system 10 may be fabricated using a fiber, such as, for example, a glass fiber or carbon fiber. According to still yet another aspect of the present embodiment, the access door system 10 may be fabricated using molding. According to a further aspect of the present embodiment, the access door system 10 may be fabricated using injection molding. In the presently preferred embodiment, the access door system 10 is fabricated from Polycarbonate and Polybutylene Terephtalate.
Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the components of the access door system 10 may be fabricated from a variety of materials and using a variety of manufacturing techniques and that the foregoing materials and techniques are examples and not limitations. For example, and not limitation although it may be preferred to manufacture the access door system 10 from relatively inexpensive materials such as a plastic, it is within the scope of the present invention to fabricate the access door system 10 from any material, such as a metal, including corrosive resistant metals, such as a stainless steel.
Furthermore, although the present embodiment is shown provided with a first hinge 70 and a second hinge 71, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that it is within the scope of the present invention to utilize any number of hinges, such as, for example, one hinge or more than two hinges. Moreover, although the present embodiment is shown provided with hinges 70, 71 that include open and closed position detent receiving portions 80, 81, those of ordinary skilled in the art will appreciate that it is within the scope of the present embodiment to fabricate the hinges 70, 71 with any number of detent receiving portions, including one or more than two. By way of example, and not limitation, in certain embodiments the hinges 70, 71 may not include the closed position detent receiving portion 81 and the locking member receiving portion 50 on the bezel and the locking member 68 on the door 60 may be relied upon to releasably hold the door 60 in the closed position.
Additionally, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the bezel 20 may be provided with any number of detents. By way of example, and not limitation, the bezel 20 may be provided with a plurality of detents positioned such that at least one engages a detent receiving portion 80 when in the open position and another engages the detent receiving portion when in the closed position.
Similarly, although the present embodiment is shown provided with a door 60 that includes at least one locking member 68 and a bezel 20 that includes at least one locking member receiving portion 50, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the it is within the scope of the present embodiment to fabricate the bezel 20 and the door 60 with a plurality of such features or without the respective locking member receiving portion 60 and the locking member 68. By way of example, and not limitation, in such embodiments, the detents 47, 48 and the closed position detent receiving portions 81 may be relied upon to releasably hold the door 60 in the closed position.
Moreover, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the location of various cooperating structures on the bezel 20, door 60, and hinges 70, 71 may be reversed. By way of example, and not limitation, the bezel 20 may be provided with one or more detent receiving portion 200, 201, as shown in
Additionally, although in the present embodiment, the detents 47, 48 cooperate with the open position and closed position detent receiving portions 80, 81 to releasably hold the door 60 in an open position and a closed position, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the principals of the present embodiment encompass using detents on either the hinges 70, 71 or the bezel 20 and detent receiving portions on either the hinges 70, 71 or the bezel 20 to releasably hold the door 60 in any number of positions.
The present description depicts specific examples to teach those skilled in the art how to make and use the best mode of the invention. For the purpose of teaching inventive principles, some conventional aspects have been simplified or omitted. Those skilled in the art will appreciate variations from these examples that fall within the scope of the invention. The detailed descriptions of the above embodiments are not exhaustive descriptions of all embodiments contemplated by the inventors to be within the scope of the invention. Indeed, persons skilled in the art will recognize that certain elements of the above-described embodiments may variously be combined or eliminated to create further embodiments, and such further embodiments fall within the scope and teachings of the invention. It will also be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the above-described embodiments may be combined in whole or in part to create additional embodiments within the scope and teachings of the invention. Thus, although specific embodiments of, and examples for, the invention are described herein for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is determined from the appended claims.
