GB2109300A - Repairing a damaged region of a vehicle body panel - Google Patents

Abstract

A template is located in position around the damaged region of the panel and a router having a collar is used to form a hole in the panel, which hole has a lip protruding into the template aperture, whereafter the router is used with a changed collar and changed depth of cut to form a rebate in the lip around the panel aperture 8, and a patch 9 having a rebated edge defined by means of the same template is cemented in position to fill the hole in the panel. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in and relating to the repair of containers Field of invention This invention concerns containers such as are fitted to motor vehicles to form vehicle bodies and in particular to a device for repairing damaged areas of the panels making up such containers.

Background to the invention Conventionally motor vehicle bodies are today formed from GRP/Plywood laminate or fibreglass panels.

Hitherto the repairing of the panels making up such containers has presented a problem since an invisible repair is preferable but access to the inside of the panel is not always readily available and even if it is available, because of the size of the panels making up such containers, unless the damage occurs very close to an opening in the panel or the container, there is no facility for single handed work to proceed.

To date a repair has necessitated a large number of different steps involving cutting and rebating the material around the gash or damage and the cutting of an infill panel to fit into the enlarged rebated opening. In consequence the procedure has been both time consuming and has often required two operators and it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus by which repairs can be effected quickly and efficiently by a single operator.

Summary of the invention The invention lies in a method of repairing a damaged panel in a container of the type described which involves the steps of: (a) locating over the damaged region of the panel a template having an aperture therein, the size of the aperture being greater than the damage.

(b) cutting out a section from the panel containing the damaged region using a router having a collar so as to leave protruding into the aperture in the template a lip of the panel corresponding to the wall thickness of the collar.

(c) changing the collar so as to bring a radial flange into contact with the template (or the surface of the panel around the hole cut therein by the router), and adjusting the depth of cut of the router so that by moving the router around the template opening (or the edge of the cutout in the panel) so a rebate is formed therein having a radial dimension commensurate with the diameter of the router and a depth determined by the router setting, and (d) inserting into the rebated aperture a plug formed in accordance with the invention and cementing the plug therein.

The radial flange may be integrally formed with the first mentioned router collar, or two separate collars, one having the radial flange, may be employed.

The flanged collar (whether forming part of a composite collar or not) conveniently includes a cutaway section in the collar wall so as to expose the router tool and present an abutment displaced by a distance commensurate with the radius of the router fron the axis of rotation of the router tool, so as to prevent the latter from penetrating into the panel laterally by more than the diameter of the tool.

According to another aspect of the invention a method of repairing a hole in a panel of a container which may not be accessible from the rear compris es the steps of: 1. Locating over the hole a template containing an aperture larger than the hole so that the hole is generally in the centre of the aperture; 2. Securing the template in position as by screwing; 3. Using a router with a first large diameter collar, removing a piece of the damaged panel containing the hole which corresponds to the shape of the template aperture; 4. Removing the first large diameter collar and replacing it by a second smaller diameter collar and adjusting the router depth of cut and using the router with the second collar and with the same template to form a rebate around the periphery of the first hole in the external surface of the panel; 5.Removing the template and fitting the latter over a sheet of material from which a repair patch is to be formed; 6. Using the router with the second reduced diameter collar in place and cutting from the sheet of patch material a sheet which will form the patch; 7. Inverting the patch material and cutting a rebate around the edge of the patch using a third collar having a central aperture through which the router extends and a flange of larger diameter surrounding the centre of aperture which runs on the surface of the underside of the patch material, the depth of the rebate being determined by the cutting depth setting of the router; and 8. Fitting the patch into the rebated aperture in the panel and securing in place by means of a bonding resin, adhesive or the like.

The invention allows a hole to be patched and by using a bonding resin adhesive compatible with the material forming the panel and the patch, and providing excess of the adhesive so that a small ribbon of adhesive remains above the surface of the panel, the latter can be removed after it has hardened by sanding or grinding or other smoothing technique so as to leave a flush and virtually invisible repair.

The second and third collars referred to above may in fact be combined into a single collar by forming a collar from a large diameter flange having a central aperture through which the router tool extends and cutting away the normal cylindrical body of the collar so as to leave only a portion of collar on one side of the central axis of the aperture with the cut-away surface lying in a plane which just insets the circularaperture through which the router tool extends, this surface being generally flat.

According to another aspect of the present invention, apparatus for performing the method of the invention comprises in combinatiion: 1. A router having a cutting tool which can be adjusted to alter the depth of cut; 2. A first collar having a first diameter for spacing the routertool from an internal or external guide edge; 3. A second collar having a reduced diameter and adapted for use with the same router tool to allow a second cut to be formed at a controlled depth to form a rebate around the periphery of an aperture formed using the first collar; and 4.A third collar having a flange and upstanding therefrom a stop number in the form of a part collar having a flat surface which can be used to determine the width of material to be removed by the router tool from around the edge of a panel around which the router is moved using the edge of the panel as the template for the router.

According to a particularly preferred feature of the invention, the second and third collars may be combined into a single composite collar comprising a flange having a central circular aperture through which the router tool will pass, and a part collar upstanding from the surface of the flange, of D section, the flat surface of which is in a plane which intersects or is tangential to the circular aperture through which the router tool extends and the radius of the curved surface of which is equivalent to the radius of the second collar required by the invention.

In this way, by using either the curved surface or the flat surface against an appropriate panel edge or aperture edge, so a hole or rebate can be cut.

According to another aspect of the invention, a plug for filling a hole in a containerwall is formed by the following steps: (a) fitting a template containing an aperture over a sheet of material from which the plug is to be formed; (b) Using a router with a collar to cut a plug from the sheet material, using the internal wall of the aperture in the template as the router guide; and (c) Inverting the plug and using a router having a flanged collar, cutting a rebate around the edge of the plug, the depth of which is equivalent to the depth setting of the router tool below the collar flange.

The invention also lies in a plug when formed by the above method.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: :- Figure 1 is a plan view, and Figure2 is a cross section through, a first collar; Figure 3 is a plan view, and Figure 4 is a side elevation of a second composite collar; Figure 5 illustrates how a template and improved router can be used to cut out a section of a panel containing a damaged region, to form a patch; Figures 6 and 7show how the composite collar and router can be used; Figure 8 is a perspective view of a patch or plug; and Figure 9 is a cross section through a plug and panel.

Detailed description of drawings Figures 8 and 9 show the way in which a rebated aperture 8 is filled by a rebated patch or plug 9, in accordance with the invention.

Reference is then made to Figure 5 in which Figure 5a shows how a patch 10 and template 12 are formed from a single sheet of material by means of a single endless cut using a 12 mm diameter router cutter leaving a 12 mm annular gap between the patch and template designated 14.

The template 12 is then fitted as shown in Figure 5b around the damaged region so that the latter fits entirely within the aperture in the template and the latter is screwed to the body panel which is designated by reference numeral 16 by means of screws (not shown).

A collar such as shown in Figures 1 and 2 is then fitted to the 12 mm routertool and the depth of cut adjusted so that the router tool extends beyond the end face 18 of the collar generally designated 20 by a distance at least equal to the thickness of the panel material 16.

Keeping the outer cylindrical face of the collar 20 in contact with the internal edge of the aperture in the template 12, as shown in Figure 5b, the router tool is used to cut from the panel 16 the damaged region. This leaves an annular lip of panel material protruding radially inwardly of the outline of the aperture in the template 12.

The collar 20 is then moved from the router and the second collar generally designated 22 is fitted to the router in place of the first one. The second collar has a large diameter flange 24 and upstanding D section part collar 26 and a circular aperture 28 through which the router tool protrudes is run around the edge of the aperture in the template 12 the cutting depth of the router tool set to produce the rebate designated 30 in Figure 5b.

The depth setting for the router is selected so that the depth of the rebate formed at 36 is 9.5 mm if the panel is 18 mm thick.

The diameter of the cylindrical section of the router collar 20 is 56 mm and since the routertool diameter is itself 12 mm, the lip left by the second cut (before the rebate is formed) is 22 mm.

By providing a radius of curvature on the part collar section 26 is 17 mm, it will be seen that with a 12 mm cutter, the step around the rebate and the width of the rebate will be identical and will amount to 11 mm in each case.

The patch 10 is then taken and a rebate is formed around the underside periphery of the patch material using the other half of the collar shown in Figures 3 and 4. The router tool is adjusted so as to remove material from the underside surface to a depth sufficient to just leave a 9 mm step 32 below the external surface 34 of the patch 10. To this end the router tool is offered up to the edge of the patch 10 with the part collar section 26 outboard from the router and is moved radially inwardly until the flat surface 27 of the D section of the collar section 26 comes into contact with the external edge of the patch 10. The router is prevented from moving inwardly by any greater distance and the large diameter flange 24 prevents the router tool from removing a greater depth of material from the patch 10 than is desired.

It will be seen that the flat surface 27 is displaced from what would be the tangential plane to the router tool by approximately 1 mm so that the effective diameter of the router tool is 11 mm which corresponds to the width of the cut removed by the tool to leave the tongue 32.

Figures 6 and 7 demonstrate more clearly how the D shaped collar 26 is used to guide the cutter around the external periphery of the patch 10 so as to form the rebate leaving the peripheral overhang 32.

It will be seen from the dimensions mentioned above that when cut in this way, the patch always fit exactly within the rebated aperture in the panel 16 with a small fraction of a millimeter clearance between all adjoining surfaces to allow a thin film of adhesive bonding resin or the like and smearing a generous quantity around the rebated aperture before the insertion of the patch, excess adhesive will be squeezed out when the patch is forced into position and can either be wiped clean whilst still liquid or allowed to set hard and then sanded or otherwise smoothed away so as to leave a flush finish at least on the exterior.

By cutting the patch from a sheet of material which is commensurate with the thickness and is similar in colour to that from which the panel is formed into which the patch is to be inserted, so an invisible mend can be achieved.

It goes without saying that after the rebated aperture has been formed using the template 12, the latter is removed from the panel and any screw holes or other securing means either filled in or removed as required.

Claims (14)

1. A method of repairing a damaged panel forming the wall of a vehicle body or like container, comprising the steps of: (a) locating over the damaged region of the panel a template having an aperture therein, the size of the aperture being greater than the damage; (b) cutting out a section from the panel contain ing the damaged region using a router having a collar so as to leave protruding into the aperture in the template a lip of the panel corresponding to the wall thickness of the collar;; (c) changing the collar so as to bring a radial flange of the latter into contact with the template (or the surface of the panel around the hole cut therein by the router), and adjusting the depth of cut of the router so that by moving the router around the template opening (or the edge of the cutout in the panel) so a rebate is formed in the lip having a radial dimension commensurate with the diameter of the router and a depth determined by the router setting; and (d) inserting into the rebated aperture a plug formed with a rebated edge and cementing the plug therein.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein step (c) includes substituting a radially flanged collar for the first mentioned collar.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein step (c) includes the use of a radial flange as a composite collar.

4. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2 or claim 3,wherein the flanged collar (whether forming part of a composite collar or not) includes a cut away section in the collar wall so as to expose the router tool and present an abutment displaced by a distance commensurate with the radius of the router from the axis of rotation of the router tool, so as to prevent the latter from penetrating into the panel laterally by more than the diameter of the tool.

5. A method according to any of claims 1 to 4, including the step of cementing the plug by use of a bonding resin adhesive compatible with the material forming the panel and the patch and providing an excess of the adhesive so that a small ribbon of adhesive protrudes above the surface of the panel, the latter then being removed after it has hardened by sanding or grinding or any other smoothing technique so as to leave a flush and virtually invisible repair.

6. A method according to any of claims 1 to 5, including the preliminary step of cutting the template and the patch simultaneously by means of a single endless cut in a single sheet of material.

7. A method according to any of claims 1 to 5, including the step of forming the plug by the steps of: (e) fitting a template containing an aperture over a sheet of material from which the plug is to be formed; (f) using a router with a collarto cut a plug from the sheet material, using the internal wall of the aperture in the template as the router guide; (g) inverting the plug and using a router having a flanged collar to cut a rebate around the edge of the plug, the depth of which is equivalent to the depth setting of the router tool below the collar flange.

8. A method of repairing a damaged panel forming the wall of a vehicle body or like container, comprising the steps of: (a) locating over the damaged region a template containing an aperture larger than the region; (b) securing the template in position to the panel; (c) using a router with a first collar to remove a piece of the panel containing the damaged region, which removed piece corresponds to the shape of the template; (d) removing the first collar and replacing it by a second collar and adjusting the router depth of cut and using the router with the second collar and with the same template to form a rebate around the periphery of the hole corresponding to the removed piece of the panel;; (e) cutting a rebate around the edge of a patch using a third collar having a central aperture through which the router extends and a flange of larger diameter surrounding the centre of aperture which runs on the surface of the underside of the patch material, the depth of the rebate being determined by the cutting depth setting of the router; and (f) fitting the patch with a rebated edge into the rebate aperture in the panel and securing in place by means of a bonding resin orthe like.

9. A method according to claim 8, including the steps of: (g) removing the template and fitting the latter over a sheet of material from which a repair patch is to be formed; and (h) using the router with the second reduced diameter collar in place and cutting from the sheet of patch material a sheet which will form the patch.

10. A method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the second and third collars are combined into a single collar by forming a collar from a large diameter flange having a central aperture through which the router tool extends and by cutting away the normal cylindrical body of the collar so as to leave only a portion of collar on one side of the central axis of the aperture with the cut-away surface lying in a plane which just insets the circular aperture through which the router tool extends, this surface being generally flat.

11. Apparatus for carrying out the method of claim 8, comprising: (a) a router having a cutting tool which can be adjusted to alter the depth of cut; (b) a first collar having a first diameter for spacing the routertool from an internal or external guide edge; (c) a second collar having a reduced diameter and adapted for use with the same router tool to allow a second cut to be formed at a controlled depth to form a rebate around the periphery of an aperture formed using the first collar; and (d) a third collar having a flange and upstanding therefrom a stop member in the form of a part collar having a flat surface which can be used to determine the width of material which will be moved by the router tool from around the edge of a panel around which the router is moved using the edge of the panel as the template for the router.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the second and third collars are combined into a single composite collar comprising a flange having a central circular aperture through which the router tool will pass, and a part collar upstanding from the surface of the flange of D-section, the flat surface of which is in a plane which intersects or is tangential to the circular aperture through which the router tool extends and the radius of the curved surface of which is equivalent to the required radius of the second collar.

13. A method of repairing a damaged container wall panel substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

14. Apparatus for carrying out the method of claim 13, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.