Glass Drop Design for Automobile Windows - Design of Glass Contour, Shape, Drop Motion, and Motion Guidance Systems ABSTBALT “This pupcr presents 2 new cornpuicrized approach for Acsigning me automobile window glass contour, the glass drop moling, und the regulator systenns, The threc-dimensici) geometrical selationship ofthe glass eacuaur, Une dep path, and its guidance qynem lave been studied. Methods for tasvel and Tielicil drops are presented for optimizing the glass preite and dhup pate rivers fr paging the glass eomtout tre deveopad Tor staging ie patil of the vehicle clay wodel, Meshols for ‘correcta Une glass contour and shape are presenced Exsinplos ar provided to astra how 1a imiprove the dasiga. “Vhs approach integrates ye development works oF glass ecatour. drog ation and veguluior systems. Threuuh this design agpraacts te winciow lass con ft and cave pero i. the doo sssembiy. IePROQUCTION ‘Thy design work of an automobile window glass atx glass guidnce subsisterns is 2 complex engineering process, This ix due to the nalure of glass motion in the Wuree-diinensional space. To cempishend the glass coataur and its moven in the Unrge-imensional space, it roquices epociah analpussal cision dual knowhode> uf turce-dimensional objecis. Bafere computer vols were available in the industry, thee design work ‘yas conendoaally canancted en two-dimenstonat drawings. The design works conducted om a two-dimensional drawing, ick accuneey ‘mony assumptions and sinpUsteauors nave $e be incorporated, sce CAD couspuler systems became available, more -dvauerd ducien work. has been zecumptished, Glass dzep and eguiator dosiyn, however, art vat easy tasks even wis she help of these Sophisticated CAD tools, The design of glass drop requires fundsmentg! understanding of ylass moteau ts Ube vapoc-dimeasionsl space. The designer ts sequired to spoctalize HY. Chang and Jl Oh Song Geneva! Motors Cor. 1m thzce-dimensional analytical goorcry, spatial mathematic, mechanism, mechanics, and compurcrimowledgo, This paper presents the findamentals of qutocsobile gloss drop design. The generic approach is provided to asset the desien of, ‘glass contour, drop path, and their regulator systema for ‘supporting the glass motion, GLASS DESIGN PI.OCESS ‘The development of a vehitie can be divided to the Soilowing simplified steps: defining die target customcet base and market, defining tive overall shape of the vehicle; designing the vebicle structure subsysiems and mechs nical eomnpanents, building and validating prototypes, and manufacturing, marketing, sales, End services. “The glass contout und tis drop motion is designed ia the earliest singe, The shaps is uarmally vated on a teal-size vehicle clay model, On te elay model the glass cactaur is alse daveloged. ‘The glass contour oreated on a clay modet needs many ‘design iterations for 2 perfect shape, The Heration aa be sceompllehtd by analyzing Ue glass proiie and its drop motion in relation to its regulator and guidance chaanels. Figure | ‘Dhtrates the averall contous of an aytornobile under Aoyelopmem. Figare & Scan plet of a volticls under development.‘The coutour is digitized from the clay model. The glass ‘When a (anslation is added along the rotation axis, as drop design can be accomplished by using the scanned data, illustrated in Figure 36, the path becomes a helical mtion, This type of drop'is called a helieil drop. DARKEL AND HELICAL GLASS DROPS ‘The path of the glass drop maton between be guter and inner door paaels should be carefully studied and designed io achitwe a shiuple, logical, sn elegant regulator systems, The path is best described by mathematical formulation, When tke rrotion can be delined from muthematica! formulation, isis nommally elegant and tagical Figure 2 shows the close-up of the vehicle door glass. The fore/all and verticed axes form the glass curvature so that thie as Sts in the vehicle overal stye,, ‘igure 3b. Glass moves forward, a helical drop, ny the process of Vehicle design and developmert, the Sonjoitr of the glass is normally developed first, The axis of rotation is not known in dic beginning. Determining the toeation and direction of the unis is a major arslyteal task, PARALLEL HELICAL DROP AND INCLINED HSLICAL DROP ‘roon the front radius is equal te the rear radius, the drop is Pualtel, This ype of drop fits most car Lines, A mzjor ‘Figure 2: Two majer uses ofan automobile window plas, advantage i hat the frout and tear guidance chanwels have the sane curvature, ‘The curvature wiso allows the glass f0 rotate about its avs ia ‘When the Gomt rlas is shorter tha the rear radius, the ‘the Geop motion, Figure 3a HMustrates that tie glass rolates drop is inctined. This type of drop fis car Lines which Rave a ‘boat the forefaft axis. This rotation allows the glass to pase Circular B pillar. For example, ths GM C/K truck line tes this ‘thicugh the belt fixe ia a narrow band, This motion hos the inclined drop. This type of drop produces a circular motion at Stape resernbling the curvature of a basrel and is normally the rear edge. salfed 2 barrel drop, GUIDANCE CHANNELS, REGULATORS AND GLASS DROP During the cicp motion, the glase is positioned by several horéware oquipmenis: ewo guidance channels , a regulator, weather seals, and stablizing devices. The. ‘Suidance chanzels are used to focate the horizontal position ofthe glass, The regulator, oa the cthar hand, controls the vertical elevation and ‘some Of the inclination, depending on their arrangement. The guidsace channel should be shaped and arranged 19 Support the desived drop motion. Depending on the style of the door the guidance channels may be arranged diereaty, * Suldance Chaunels supporting Glass Edges: Fora fmaaiad door the gricatce chanae!s are located 10 support tke front Figure 3e. Glass rotting about the for/al axis, bare drop. aad rear plass edges, as illustrated in Figure 62, The fart ® Glass relating about the for/al axis, bare crop. ‘utd tear edges of glass side along the path of the channel 2021 ._ats type of guidance channel provides a good suppérting fanesion Ser both barrel and helical drops © Guidance Chnsnely supporting Glass Sasht For a hardtep door such as a convertible, the guidance ‘channels are located jnward Wo suppor the glass thuowgli Sash, as illustrated to Figure 4b. ‘This (pe of channel way Support the baci or helical drop, Because the glass moves in the direction oatrolie by Ue cikannet, the edge of Uk giass may rot move ina bolical pot, Figure 4a, Guidance channels for Sramed doors, Figure 4b, Gvidance ebrancls for berdtop doors, REQUIREMENTS OF GLASS SHAPE AND MOTION: ‘The glass, asa pan of de overt veticie boy, is bende in he overall utomotile profite, The ykiss shape and its motion bas lo cahanoe the appearance ofthe woicle. ‘The folowing ‘oquirements should be cocuptied. * The curvature ofthe gless fits in us evereit shape of the vebiole * The eurvaturs of dhe glass allows a very smooth motion, * During movouiens dowuetd, te glass fie interaction is within a design tnt. * Bach ploss edge saoves in a sal envelope within a design Jimut * The guidance chanzst supports the mation, DESIGN OF GLASS DROR To design the glass contour, ts drop metioa and the ‘upping regulator system, we noed o ensure dt the glese Can move smoothly, Adjustment should be made for any « incorrect profiles is the: ‘clay model, ‘The rans important work is the design ofthe guidance Chanoel and the regulator system to support the motion, For preeeined glass profit, we ean detettine the drop parumeters from the contour and design the drop path and te Tegulator systems. We should assume the drop to be a helical dop, Tt tums ut ta bea barrel drop, it il jus. bea scat ase of the helical drop when the pitch rate is zero, ‘The design ofthe glass dcop icvolvs the ftlowing Brocedures: « + Finding the axis of rotation 7 +_~Finding the roiation apglé <7 eee » “Dropping the glass * Checkdig dae bt: ns interference, glass edge travel envelope * Crcating’a'Belt Line ‘Swent Surface * Glas contour acjustment | ‘The first step isto fdemity the rotation axis, Two methods uy be employed to identify the axis of rotation: (A) Find the ‘axis defined by the cut line along the rear puidance channel and, the belt ins, and (B) Find the ax defied bythe cut Hine along the rear guidance chanel and te font ext Ying aloug fron, guidance channel, Each method may produce te best glass contour and drop motion using the approach outlined in the. following scctions. ‘Metod A can be applied when the ‘overall shape is well fined. Method B can be used when limited shape infomation isavallabic. - Metiod A figure 5 ilustrates the goometrcal relationship ofthe glass and ti center of rotation. The edge of the glass conv.zges to an axis. ‘The axis moves forward shea the glass drops in x helical iotion. Figure 52, Finding axis using Method A.‘We may treat tie rear guidance channel as a circular are in | space. We scloct three points, A, 1 and C, oa the glass surface 5 sp locate the center of the are, P, in space. | Theoretically, the :noving axis of the helical path wit) not yuteh wilh ihe center from the planar cizele. But ibe approximation from Use circular center is one of the best sncthod. The ertor from the approximation will be removed | ‘whoa the surfiice is corrected as deseribed in the following | seebioas, : ‘The nest step is to scientily tire belt line. ‘The beit fine ig an | ngortant aa when it comes to evaluating the quality of the schicle glass aystem, Jt is where the customer sees the Litres of| the glass. ‘Tho uniformity of fog scrap during glass drop fully teflets he quaity of he glass ester, From Be belt xeon | the glass we obtain (wo points: T, and T,. Mapping the bell line and transfating 7, parallel to P, gives tise to the new position of | Ty Py. Line P, P, is the axis of rotation, Method B ¥ Is Method B we find P, and P, by finding the center ofthe arc af the rear and front edges of the glass, 14 may be desirable to use glass cul Lines iascead of ylass eiyes for locating the are ceqwrs, Figure Sb illustrates the details Figure Sb. Finding P, ond P, by Method B. ‘Hinge The Rotation Ancle As oat on Figure 6, on the plane perpendicutar to ine P, E,, we measure doe angle of total drop. This angle is the tots Grop angle between full up and full down position, Figure 6, Total rouation angle and pitch rate. i : Einding The Pitch Rate Roferring to Figure 6, two methods can be used for futding the pitch rates Method 1 Project Cu and Cd to line P, P,, we have Cu" and Cd. From Cul and CA’, find: Piten,/Ang(Drop) = @XUANG Pitehy/Ang(Drop) = d¥/ANG PitchglAng(Drop) = aZ/ANG Method 2: Rotate the glass ANG without pitch. Find new position of Cu, Cu", Find it d¥, dz between Cd and Cu’ Find Plich,/Ang, Pitch /Aag and Pitch Jeng, Dreppia, te Afior we defined the axis P, P, and pitch rate, we can put the glass in motion, When the glass moves according to the rotation and wranstatiaa motion as desined by P, P, and the piteh ale, the coordinates of grids on the glass will be calculated. ‘The new positions of the glass at esch elevation form the path ofthe glass drop. « Checking? , w Envelopss With the glass dropped, the travel envelope of the glass edges may be identified, The envelope siculd be within the design limit, If the envelope i not acceptable, the glass profits should be adjusted, ‘Crsating Balt Line Sep! Sustise . Af.we work on the contour backwards, we will be able 10. creale a perfect glass. The quality of the g’ase design is reflecied in the iotiea and variation of the foot edge, rear edge, and the belt line intersection. When we create the cnutour from sweeping the belt line, the glass will meet all. requires, “Phe process is * Selosting and fine tuning the belt line, © Selocting axis P, P, using Method A. ‘+ Sweeping the belt fine by moving up and down using P, P, and Pitch Rate, The sweeping creates a surcice, » Relocating the glass grids a match on the surface of the Belt Line Swept Susface. The new lass surfice is the veiw glass soatout of Glass Contour Adjustment a N‘ha nowt step is to adjust the plass profile to fit in the sueface ‘suspt by the dalt fine, DESIGN EXAMPLE ‘The design procedures ovlinad in the previous section are sed ona cus line as a design example. Both micthed 4 and B se used io lea 2 ie optimtucn axis of rotation, Figute 7a shows the glass motion using Meth! A. Figuie 7a, Glass drop using Method A. Figure 79 shows the gluss motion using Method B, Figure 7b. Glass drop using Method B, Tn method A, ws use the circular radius of the nar elge to identify P,. We also map the axis of te belt line (use the front ‘and sear cud points of the bett line) to identify P,, In method B, we use two different radii to find the rotation axis, The front ‘dius is obweined from the glass section ut atthe front end, ‘The rear radius is oztained from the rear edge, ‘The parameters are compared below: Motel: A. Be Py: Radius of rear edge Radius of rear edge Pz: Bafius of rear edge Radius of front edge Rolation Axis: Trarsisted Bolt Line P, to PjLine Pitch Rate: PitevDrop Angle —_itetvirop Angle As soen in Figures 7a and 7b, these deops have their haracteristicd: AMéthod A: The bok Line Inceresctions for al glass clevations are plotted in Figure 82. We observed thatthe belt line intersection tas {large variations. ee ER Top View Figure 8a. Bett fine imersertion of Method A drop, igure 89 illustrates the front edge travel envelope, The savelope has too much variation on the front view, although on ‘he side view, it does not show any distinctive variations, Rear ( J Figure 8b. Front edge vavel eavelope. Method B: ‘The helt line imersection and the front edge are plotted on Figures 9 and 9b, respectively, As shown in Figure 9a, the glass-belt Line intersection of ‘Method B has too mach variation, Figure 9b shows the front edge travel envelope has too much variation oa the side view.‘Top View Figure $a, Belt line intersection of Method B drop. / Rear View \ Figuce 9b. Front edge tavet eaveloge, Side View This observation indicates an impostant fact: The gluse ceds a shape correerioa, The glass contour, as oblained tem the clay model, seeds adjustment. The solution is to use he Belt Line Sixept Surface to smooth out the glass profite, Use the belt line and the drop parannsess, we create a Belt «ise Swept Surface LSS) as shawn on Figure 10 . Lace Figure 10, Belt dine sept surface With this BLSS, we create a new glass contour using the following procedures » Rear edge: use the rear edge of BLSS * Front edge 2t leader: use the hender edge + Front edge below bets fine; use the edge of BLSS Based on the new glass contour, we analyze the drop motion, Figure Lta iltustrates the analysis result of the belt tine intersection, Figure 116 shows the wavel envelope of the trout edge, ae ‘Top View Figure 11a, Bolt line intersection of the corzected less centout, Lf f / / Rear \ / Side View Figure 11b. Front edge tcavel envelope of the cotrecied glass. contour. Figure 17 demonstrated that whea the glass contour is Adjusted, the crop path is almost perfect. The glass interacts with she bell line without any variation. ‘The glass edge wavel cavelope is slmost zero because all variations have been Temoved. When the glass is manufactured from this shape, itis a perfect glass, In this study, itis found that the maximum adjustment of the slass profile is $ mm. This means the adjustment will not affect ‘the styling of the vehicle, But the benefit is treaendous. For ‘only 4 mum adjustment, the weather seal can scrap the rain mist vniforrdy. That is a perfec glass system : ‘The guidance chaanels, however, Bave to be designed frora the drop parameters, If tie guidance chanmals cai net use the design parameters dus to packaging concer, the érop has to be-<-deiigrad and aless profile readjusted, Cany ou! this iterative prooest uni dhe haxdwae design aud the drep both converge 104 perfect glass, OTHER SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES EXTENDED FROM ‘THis sTupy Tne, Une desi iinprovoment canbe exended to other related areas. Fo: extauple, the shape of te pote: guidance hanes can be eeoerates froin the op analysts by alacling a Siess ston ef the euidaioe chanel othe glas and caving ‘9 die crop siotiou culcwlation. The new resulting postin of the ros section of the guidance cham ge the desigced shape af the gsdanne chaael, Speccly the extendod studies ineluded the following aetivities: * Georcecal relation of ross arm design for achieving parabzt telical drop and inclined Ilia drop, { Guetsace channel design uiicing she glass diop paremeters, + Regular design CONCLEStONS ‘The Gop path af tie ustorsibile window plas should be espn during the early vehicle development stage. The dap ‘path die glass probe, the guice channel affects each other Enc ure the guidance chanze is relocaid, the ghse profile shosld be reudjstad, The glass profis i best adjusied by using the Belt Line Swept Scatace ‘Tbe adjustment may between 2 manta dev, ‘This amnsens will wt alee ths ste oF the vehicle, bt it ‘weaiznderslyaffons the quality of the dooe ‘Tie s-aemutiespproach present ia this papetcan be incorpovarn ico the regular vehicle design procese ABOUT THE MAIN AUFHOR HY. Cuang ls been working ow various Vehicle prec 1 Gl sizes 1984. i veived his doctorue fom Wex Vugnia Universi tn 1978 aad becaus'a Michigan Stee rgsrarad Drofessices eagiueer in 1982, He his devoted much of his time in che design apd anaiysia of vehicle sats, inetuding body suctures, door riututee, hoods eine concent, cil andi prings, dor tating Sst, gts cop, sass puldnee systems, and veils body Sacre simian. For wecniak dieusson, sealers ay + camace B51 $10-575083$1,