U.S. patent application number 10/665874 was filed with the patent office on 2004-06-24 for storage compartment.
Invention is credited to Muehlbauer, Josef, Nesch, Gerhard, Schaal, Falk, Schreff, Reinhold.
Application Number | 20040118853 10/665874 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 31896342 |
Filed Date | 2004-06-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040118853 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Schaal, Falk ; et
al. |
June 24, 2004 |
Storage compartment
Abstract
A storage compartment having a shell composed of a hard plastic,
a lining composed of a softer plastic and bonded to an interior of
the hard plastic, the lining having a ring facing the lid and
formed as a sealing edge, the lid having a sealing surface seated
on the sealing edge.
Inventors: |
Schaal, Falk; (Alpirsbach,
DE) ; Nesch, Gerhard; (Eutingen, DE) ;
Muehlbauer, Josef; (Postau, DE) ; Schreff,
Reinhold; (Postau, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
STRIKER, STRIKER & STENBY
103 East Neck Road
Huntington
NY
11743
US
|
Family ID: |
31896342 |
Appl. No.: |
10/665874 |
Filed: |
September 19, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
220/495.06 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B60R 7/04 20130101; B60N
3/104 20130101; B60N 2/793 20180201 |
Class at
Publication: |
220/495.06 |
International
Class: |
B65D 025/14 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Sep 24, 2002 |
DE |
102 44 485.4 |
Claims
What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters
Patent is set forth in the appended claims:
1. A storage compartment, comprising a shellcomposed of a hard
plastic; a lining composed of a softer plastic and bonded to an
interior of said hard plastic; and a lid, said lining having a ring
facing said lid and formed as a sealing edge, said lid having a
sealing surface seated on said sealing edge.
2. A storage compartment as defined in claim 1, wherein said lining
is formed as a thermoplastic polyurethane lining.
3. A storage compartment as defined in claim 1, wherein said
sealing surface of said lid is formed as a sloping surface.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The invention relates to a storage compartment. More
particularly, it relates to a closable lidded storage compartments,
especially for installation in motor vehicles.
[0002] A large number of closable lidded storage compartments,
especially for instalaltion in motor vehicles, are known from the
prior art. The movements and vibrations in motor vehicles often
given rise to noise caused by articles rattling in the storage
compartment. Such compartments are therefore sometimes produced
using a two-component injection-moulding technique in which a hard
plastics, which forms the shell, is combined with a softer
plastics, which lines the interior of the storage compartment. The
soft plastics cushions jolts and at the same time muffles resulting
noise, while the hard and rigid plastics provides the necessary
stability.
[0003] In order to be able to cool the contents of a storage
compartment, for example for drinks, such storage compartments are
sometimes ventilated by means of a ventilating inlet and a
ventilating outlet. In order that undesirable noise and an
unpleasant draught caused by escaping air are avoided, a seal has
to be provided between the shell and the lid. Solutions are known
in which a sealing ring or the like is inserted as an additional
component into the shell or the lid, but this requires considerable
manufacturing and assembly work.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to
provide a storage compartment of the above mentioned general type
which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art.
[0005] More particularly, it is an object of the present invention
to provide a storage compartment of the soft lining, which has a
simple seal between the lid and the shell.
[0006] In keeping with these objects and with others which will
become apparent hereinafter, one feature of the present invention
resides, briefly stated, in a storage compartment having a shell;
composed of a hard plastic; a lining composed of a softer plastic
and bonded to'an interior of said hard plastic; and a lid, said
lining having a ring facing said lid and formed as a sealing edge,
said lid having a sealing surface seated on said sealing edge.
[0007] The softer plastics with which the interior is lined is also
used for forming a sealing edge at the upper rim of the lining. As
a result, an additional component for sealing the shell relative to
the lid is not required. A sealing surface, on which the sealing
edge is seated, is arranged at a corresponding place on the
lid.
[0008] The softer material used in the inventive storage
compartment is preferably a thermoplastic polyurethane.
[0009] In order that the sealing edge can be brought reliably into
contact with the sealing surface of the lid, in a preferred
embodiment the sealing surface is in the form of a sloping surface.
As a result, the sealing edge is displaced resiliently to the side
when the lid is closed, so that continuous surface-to-surface
contact is ensured.
[0010] The novel features which are considered as characteristic
for the present invention are set forth in particular in the
appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its
construction and its method of operation, together with additional
objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the
following description of specific embodiments when read in
connection with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a closable storage
compartment, and
[0012] FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the storage compartment.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0013] A storage compartment 1 in accordance with the present
invention as shown in FIG. 1 has a shell 2 which is closable with a
lid 4 that is pivotable about the joint 3. The storage compartment
1 is intended, for example, for installation in a motor vehicle in
the region of the central console. The lid 4 is itself likewise in
the form of a closable storage compartment. The interior of the
storage compartment 1 can be ventilated byway of the air-inlet
connection 5 and outlet openings 6 in order to cool, for example, a
drinks can (not shown). In order to prevent air escaping between
the shell 2 and the lid 4 when the storage compartment 1 is closed,
a peripheral sealing edge 7 is arranged on the shell 2 and a
peripheral sealing surface 8 is arranged on the lid 4.
[0014] FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of the storage compartment.
The shell 2 and the lid 4 consist of a hard plastics, for example
on a polycarbonate basis, and have the necessary stability. The
shell 2 has a lining 9 of a softer plastics, for example DESMOPAN,
being a thermoplastic polyurethane, which serves to provide
cushioning, damping and sound insulation for articles (not shown)
moving in the storage compartment 1. Because they are manufactured
in a two-component injection-moulding process, the shell 2 and the
lining 9 are bonded to one another.
[0015] The lip-shaped sealing edge 7 is also produced from the
relatively soft plastics and is formed as part of the lining 9. As
the lid 4 is closed, the sealing edge 7 comes into contact with the
sealing surface 8 and is thereby displacaed resiliently to the
side. A continuous, surface-to-surface contact and thus a good
sealing action are achieved as a result. Without departing from the
inventive concept, it would be possible for the lid also to have an
edge-like sealing surface that, on closure, is pressed into a
planar rim of the lining as sealing partner.
[0016] In addition, the lining 9 is extended over the closure edge
10 in the form of a tolerance-compensating edge 11. This serves for
compensating for tolerance-related gaps between the storage
compartment 1 and an adjacent component 12.
[0017] It will be understood that each of the elements described
above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application
in other types of constructions differing from the types described
above.
[0018] While the invention has been illustrated and described as
embodied in storage compartment, it is not intended to be limited
to the details shown, since various modifications and structural
changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of
the present invention.
[0019] Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal
the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying
current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications
without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art,
fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or
specific aspects of this invention.
* * * * *