Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Harry Duane Miller

Suresh Deepchand Shah

Carl Henry Visconti

Mark Manuel

Waldemar Wawrzyniec Gmurowski

Mark Stephen Salmonowicz

James Edward Ochenski

Timothy Bartholomew Madeja

An apparatus for installing a window, a window drive mechanism, and a latch carrier mechanism within a vehicle door includes a one-piece cable regulator having a molded passage thereabout for guiding at least one length of cable between the window and the window drive mechanism, a molded vertical passage for guiding motion of the window, a molded cantilever beam for contacting and gradually reducing the downward motion of the window near a window stop position and a molded guide for slideable cooperation with the door latch carrier, whereby the door latch carrier, once slideably secured within the guide, may be shifted over the cable regulator to a compact shipping and installation position, and then may be shifted outward from the cable regulator to a final assembly position within the door.

Vehicle door hardware

A vehicle door assembly according to the invention includes a structural framework, including a rear end for mounting a latch, a front end for mounting a hinge and a beam portion extending between the front and rear ends. An outer door panel is provided for mounting on the structural framework to provide the outer surface of the door assembly. A structural inner panel is provided for mounting on the structural framework and is of molded plastic and has a generally planar trim wall facing toward the occupant compartment and edge wall portions which extend transverse to the planar trim wall to thereby envelope the structural framework within the structural inner panel. The structural inner panel has integrally molded hollow tubular stiffening structures molded therein by a gas injection molding process and which extend substantially all around the periphery of the door so that the molded plastic inner panel is substantially structurally self-supporting and contributing to the structural integrity of the door assembly. The integrally molded hollow tubular stiffening structure is preferably located substantially at the juncture between the planar trim wall and the edge wall portions. Additional stiffening structure is obtained by also integrally molding the hollow tubular stiffening structure at least partially around the periphery substantially at the terminal edge of the edge wall portion.

Vehicle door with structural plastic inner panel

Growing community of inventors

Canton, MI, United States of America

Harry Duane Miller