A windshield molding is generally installed along the periphery of the windshield glass mounted in the window frame opening of a body panel. To be more precise, a long belt-shaped space is formed between the periphery of the windshield glass and the edge of the window opening of the body panel, and a windshield molding of a long belt-shaped extruded material is inserted into said space for sealing. The windshield molding consists of a support leg, which is inserted in the above space, and a decorative portion, which covers the space from the outside.
Japanese Utility Model Gazette No. 54416/1982 and other background art have proposed that such a windshield molding for vehicles should have grooves to drain rainwater from the windshield glass. In this case, it is desirable to provide grooves only at the places where they are really required so as to avoid whistling sounds being created during vehicle motion and to avoid the use of a more rigid material. Also, since rainwater is forced to flow upward on the windshield glass when the vehicle is traveling, the lower end section area of the side molding section is able to be comparatively small. Therefore, Japanese Utility Model Gazette No. 15044/1987 and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 31513/1984 stipulate that such a windshield molding should have a groove only in either the upper area or the lower area of the side molding section.
Grooves for the above utility models are made to have constant cross sections in their longitudinal direction. Therefore, they cannot convey and drain rainwater effectively. Windshield molding with such grooves cannot be formed in one piece with current extrusion molding technology. Namely, the groove must be formed by injection molding, but, in this case, the windshield molding should be composed of more than one connecting member. This requires larger injection molds and increased man-hours, resulting in lower productivity. The above publications have not disclosed how to form the groove.
The present invention intends to provide a vehicle windshield molding with good draining function and the production method thereof with a simple device.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds