Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

Mohan Ramachandra Kulkarni

Paxton Steven Williams

James Dennis Cunningham

A self-cleaning weather strip seal is provided for a vehicle. The self-cleaning weather strip seal includes an attachment portion configured to couple the self-cleaning weather strip seal to a vehicle component. The seal includes a main body portion having a length dimension and a width dimension. The main body portion includes a flexible wall that defines an interior region configured to retain a volume of air. A relief opening is defined in the main body portion and provides selective fluid communication from the interior region to an external environment. Upon receiving a compressive force on the main body portion, the relief opening is aligned and configured to direct pressurized air toward a surface of the vehicle susceptible for accumulating debris. In various aspects, the main body portion defines a plurality of chambers aligned in a series along the length dimension.

Self-cleaning weather strip seal

A sealing system can be used between a first vehicle component and a second vehicle component. As an example, the first vehicle component can be a filler panel, and the second vehicle component can be a bumper panel. The first vehicle component and the second vehicle component can be spaced from each other such that a gap is formed between the first vehicle component and the second vehicle component. A seal can be operatively positioned at least partially between the first vehicle component and the second vehicle component to close at least a portion of the gap. The interface seal can be floatingly connected to the first vehicle component. The interface seal can be unconnected to the second vehicle component. The interface seal can be substantially adjacent to the second vehicle component.

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Novi, MI, United States of America

Mohan Ramachandra Kulkarni