Clip for a vehicle door assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10145401-B2
Application number	US-201715416783-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 26, 2017
Priority date	Jan 26, 2017
Publication date	Dec 4, 2018
Grant date	Dec 4, 2018

Abstract

A vehicle door assembly includes a door and a trim panel. The trim panel has a mount defining an aperture with a main portion and a keyway. A clip of the assembly includes a base connected to the door, a primary retainer, and a secondary retainer. The primary retainer is configured to extend through the aperture and engage with a periphery of the main portion. The secondary retainer is configured to extend through the aperture and to freely release through the aperture when the secondary retainer is disposed in the main portion allowing the clip to disconnect from the trim panel, and is configured to engage with the mount preventing release of the clip from the trim panel when the secondary retainer is disposed in the keyway.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle door assembly comprising:
a door;
a trim panel including a mount defining an aperture having a main portion and a keyway; and
a clip including:
a base connected to the door,
a primary retainer configured to extend through the aperture and engage with a periphery of the main portion, and
a secondary retainer including an elongate member extending outwardly from the base and extendable through the aperture and a locking tab disposed on a distal end of the elongate member, the locking tab being configured to freely pass through the main portion allowing the clip to disconnect from the trim panel when the secondary retainer is disposed in the main portion and configured to engage with a back side of the mount when the elongate member is disposed in the keyway to prevent release of the clip from the trim panel.

2. The vehicle door assembly of claim 1 , wherein the primary retainer and the secondary retainer are adjacent to each other.

3. The vehicle door assembly of claim 2 , wherein the primary retainer and the secondary retainer are each connected to the base and project outwardly from the base in a same direction.

4. The vehicle door assembly of claim 2 , wherein the primary retainer and the secondary retainer are spaced apart to define a gap.

5. The vehicle door assembly of claim 1 , wherein the main portion and the keyway are slots each having a lateral dimension, and the lateral dimension of the main portion is greater than the lateral dimension of the keyway.

6. The vehicle door assembly of claim 5 , wherein the secondary retainer includes a locking tab having a length that is greater than the lateral dimension of the keyway to prevent the secondary retainer from being removed from the keyway.

7. The vehicle door assembly of claim 5 , wherein the main portion and the keyway have a common longitudinal centerline.

8. The vehicle door assembly of claim 1 , wherein the mount is a doghouse formed on the trim panel and including at least a front wall and a bottom wall, wherein the front wall defines the aperture.

9. The vehicle door assembly of claim 1 , wherein the door includes a beltline flange, and the base is attached to the beltline flange.

10. A door assembly comprising:
a door;
a trim panel including a mount defining an opening and a keyway; and
a clip connected to the door and including a primary retainer engaging the mount to secure the trim panel to the door and a secondary retainer extending through the mount and having a locking tab configured to be retractable through the mount when disposed in the opening and not retractable when disposed in the keyway.

11. The door assembly of claim 10 , wherein the opening and the keyway are continuous with each other to form a single aperture.

12. The door assembly of claim 11 , wherein the opening and the keyway are side-by-side slots.

13. The door assembly of claim 10 , wherein the opening and the keyway are centered about a common centerline.

14. The door assembly of claim 10 , wherein the locking tab is configured to engage with a back side of the mount when the secondary retainer is disposed in the keyway to retain the trim panel to the door.

15. The door assembly of claim 14 , wherein the keyway is a slot having a lateral dimension and the locking tab has a length that is greater than the lateral dimension of the keyway to prevent the secondary retainer from passing through the keyway.

16. The door assembly of claim 10 , wherein the primary retainer includes resilient barbs engageable with a periphery of the opening.

17. A vehicle door assembly comprising:
a door;
a trim panel having a mounting surface defining an opening having a main portion and a keyway; and
a clip including a base connected to the door and primary and secondary elongate retainers each extending from the base to be receivable through the opening; wherein
the primary and secondary retainers are configured such that, when the door and trim panel are in a first position relative to each other, the primary retainer engages the mounting surface to retain the trim panel to the door and the secondary retainer is freely releasable through the main portion, and such that, when the door and trim panel are shifted relative to each other to a second position in which the secondary retainer is disposed in the keyway, the secondary retainer engages the mounting surface to retain the trim panel to the door.

18. The vehicle door assembly of claim 17 , wherein the secondary retainer includes a locking tab sized to pass through the opening when the door and trim panel are in the first position and sized to engage a back side of the mount preventing the clip from passing through the opening when the door and trim panel are in the second position.

19. The vehicle door assembly of claim 18 , wherein the main portion and the keyway are continuous with each other and are both slot shaped, wherein the main portion and the keyway each has a lateral dimension, and wherein the lateral dimension of the main portion is greater than the lateral dimension of the keyway.

20. The vehicle door assembly of claim 19 , wherein the secondary retainer includes a locking tab having a length that is less than the lateral dimension of the main portion and is greater than the lateral dimension of the keyway.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Snoeyink Diane Carole
• Spasovski Aleksandar
• Doan Linh
• Pinkerton John
• Thota Bhavani

Classifications

• B60J5/04

  arranged at the vehicle sides {(panel mounted arm-rests B60N2/78; wall liners B60R13/02; door edge guards B60R13/043; padded linings associated with the side doors B60R21/0428)} · CPC title

• B60J5/042

  Reinforcement elements · CPC title

• B60J5/0481

  plastic · CPC title

• F16B5/065 Primary

  the plates being one on top of the other and distanced from each other, e.g. by using protrusions to keep contact and distance · CPC title

• B60J5/0412

  Lower door structure · CPC title