Draftex Industries Limited

Gencorp Property, Inc.

Reimund Plottnik

Hans Wilde

A vehicle door has inner and outer panel parts () defining the hollow interior () of the door which supports a rigid frame (not shown) for a window glass () which slides into and out of the hollow interior () through a waist gap () formed by the upper marginal edges of the panel parts (). Inner and outer waist seals () are mounted on the inner and outer panel parts () for sealing against the window glass () along the waist gap (). The outer waist seal () comprises flexible material (), preferably extruded, which defines first and second channels () facing in opposite directions. The first channel () embracingly grips the marginal edge of the outer panel part () to support the waist seal () in position. The second channel () embracingly grips interlocking legs of a decorative strip arrangement (). The decorative strip arrangement () may comprise two separate parts (A andB) presenting contrasting decorative appearances. The decorative strip arrangement () can thus be very easily mounted in position, and demounted, simply by clipping it into and unclipping if from the outer channel ().

Sealing, trimming and finishing strips and vehicle doors incorporating such strips

A force-responsive sensor comprises upper and lower cover layers, the upper layer being resilient and flexible and shown as transparent for ease of illustration. An electrically conductive layer carries separate individual electrically insulating spacers which separate it from two electrically conductive members. Each of these members has a plurality of spaced resilient fingers, the fingers of the two members being inter-digitated. The members are formed as films on the layer. Where the members are not supported by the spacers, they are normally held apart from the conductive layer by the resilience of the upper layer. In response to an applied force, one or more of the fingers is pressed into contact with the conductive layer to enable the production of a corresponding electrical signal. The positioning of the spacers ensures that they do not increase the overall width of the sensor. A force applied by a relatively large-area flat object is transmitted by a protruberance to one of the fingers. There may be a plurality of protruberances spaced apart along the sensor. The sensor may be used in a safety system for detecting obstructions in a window opening having a motor-slidable window glass.

Force-responsive detectors and systems and methods of making them

A force-responsive sensor comprises upper and lower cover layers, one superimposed on the other. The underside of the upper layer carries a first conductive layer which is electrically insulated from a second conductive layer carried by the upper surface of the lower cover sheet by a series of electrically insulating spacers placed along the length of the sensor with longitudinally spaced gaps between them, each spacer extending over substantially the full width of the sensor and being obliquely inclined to the longitudinal direction of the sensor.

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Viersen, Germany

Reimund Plottnik