GB2345301A - Vehicle panel material - Google Patents
Vehicle panel material Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2345301A GB2345301A GB0007423A GB0007423A GB2345301A GB 2345301 A GB2345301 A GB 2345301A GB 0007423 A GB0007423 A GB 0007423A GB 0007423 A GB0007423 A GB 0007423A GB 2345301 A GB2345301 A GB 2345301A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- thermo
- formable
- panel
- mat
- vehicle
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
Classifications
-
- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
- D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS, NON-WOVEN FABRICS; COTTON-WOOL; WADDING ; NON-WOVEN FABRICS FROM STAPLE FIBRES, FILAMENTS OR YARNS, BONDED WITH AT LEAST ONE WEB-LIKE MATERIAL DURING THEIR CONSOLIDATION
- D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
- D04H1/40—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties
- D04H1/58—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties by applying, incorporating or activating chemical or thermoplastic bonding agents, e.g. adhesives
- D04H1/60—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties by applying, incorporating or activating chemical or thermoplastic bonding agents, e.g. adhesives the bonding agent being applied in dry state, e.g. thermo-activatable agents in solid or molten state, and heat being applied subsequently
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29B—PREPARATION OR PRETREATMENT OF THE MATERIAL TO BE SHAPED; MAKING GRANULES OR PREFORMS; RECOVERY OF PLASTICS OR OTHER CONSTITUENTS OF WASTE MATERIAL CONTAINING PLASTICS
- B29B17/00—Recovery of plastics or other constituents of waste material containing plastics
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29B—PREPARATION OR PRETREATMENT OF THE MATERIAL TO BE SHAPED; MAKING GRANULES OR PREFORMS; RECOVERY OF PLASTICS OR OTHER CONSTITUENTS OF WASTE MATERIAL CONTAINING PLASTICS
- B29B17/00—Recovery of plastics or other constituents of waste material containing plastics
- B29B17/0026—Recovery of plastics or other constituents of waste material containing plastics by agglomeration or compacting
- B29B17/0042—Recovery of plastics or other constituents of waste material containing plastics by agglomeration or compacting for shaping parts, e.g. multilayered parts with at least one layer containing regenerated plastic
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
- B29C70/00—Shaping composites, i.e. plastics material comprising reinforcements, fillers or preformed parts, e.g. inserts
- B29C70/04—Shaping composites, i.e. plastics material comprising reinforcements, fillers or preformed parts, e.g. inserts comprising reinforcements only, e.g. self-reinforcing plastics
- B29C70/06—Fibrous reinforcements only
- B29C70/10—Fibrous reinforcements only characterised by the structure of fibrous reinforcements, e.g. hollow fibres
- B29C70/16—Fibrous reinforcements only characterised by the structure of fibrous reinforcements, e.g. hollow fibres using fibres of substantial or continuous length
- B29C70/18—Fibrous reinforcements only characterised by the structure of fibrous reinforcements, e.g. hollow fibres using fibres of substantial or continuous length in the form of a mat, e.g. sheet moulding compound [SMC]
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
- B29C70/00—Shaping composites, i.e. plastics material comprising reinforcements, fillers or preformed parts, e.g. inserts
- B29C70/04—Shaping composites, i.e. plastics material comprising reinforcements, fillers or preformed parts, e.g. inserts comprising reinforcements only, e.g. self-reinforcing plastics
- B29C70/28—Shaping operations therefor
- B29C70/40—Shaping or impregnating by compression not applied
- B29C70/42—Shaping or impregnating by compression not applied for producing articles of definite length, i.e. discrete articles
- B29C70/46—Shaping or impregnating by compression not applied for producing articles of definite length, i.e. discrete articles using matched moulds, e.g. for deforming sheet moulding compounds [SMC] or prepregs
- B29C70/465—Shaping or impregnating by compression not applied for producing articles of definite length, i.e. discrete articles using matched moulds, e.g. for deforming sheet moulding compounds [SMC] or prepregs and impregnating by melting a solid material, e.g. sheets, powders of fibres
-
- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
- D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS, NON-WOVEN FABRICS; COTTON-WOOL; WADDING ; NON-WOVEN FABRICS FROM STAPLE FIBRES, FILAMENTS OR YARNS, BONDED WITH AT LEAST ONE WEB-LIKE MATERIAL DURING THEIR CONSOLIDATION
- D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
- D04H1/40—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties
- D04H1/42—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties characterised by the use of certain kinds of fibres insofar as this use has no preponderant influence on the consolidation of the fleece
- D04H1/4209—Inorganic fibres
- D04H1/4218—Glass fibres
-
- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
- D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS, NON-WOVEN FABRICS; COTTON-WOOL; WADDING ; NON-WOVEN FABRICS FROM STAPLE FIBRES, FILAMENTS OR YARNS, BONDED WITH AT LEAST ONE WEB-LIKE MATERIAL DURING THEIR CONSOLIDATION
- D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
- D04H1/40—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties
- D04H1/42—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties characterised by the use of certain kinds of fibres insofar as this use has no preponderant influence on the consolidation of the fleece
- D04H1/4274—Rags; Fabric scraps
-
- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
- D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS, NON-WOVEN FABRICS; COTTON-WOOL; WADDING ; NON-WOVEN FABRICS FROM STAPLE FIBRES, FILAMENTS OR YARNS, BONDED WITH AT LEAST ONE WEB-LIKE MATERIAL DURING THEIR CONSOLIDATION
- D04H1/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres
- D04H1/40—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties
- D04H1/54—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of staple fibres or like relatively short fibres from fleeces or layers composed of fibres without existing or potential cohesive properties by welding together the fibres, e.g. by partially melting or dissolving
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
- B29C43/00—Compression moulding, i.e. applying external pressure to flow the moulding material; Apparatus therefor
- B29C43/003—Compression moulding, i.e. applying external pressure to flow the moulding material; Apparatus therefor characterised by the choice of material
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29K—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES B29B, B29C OR B29D, RELATING TO MOULDING MATERIALS OR TO MATERIALS FOR MOULDS, REINFORCEMENTS, FILLERS OR PREFORMED PARTS, e.g. INSERTS
- B29K2101/00—Use of unspecified macromolecular compounds as moulding material
- B29K2101/10—Thermosetting resins
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29K—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES B29B, B29C OR B29D, RELATING TO MOULDING MATERIALS OR TO MATERIALS FOR MOULDS, REINFORCEMENTS, FILLERS OR PREFORMED PARTS, e.g. INSERTS
- B29K2105/00—Condition, form or state of moulded material or of the material to be shaped
- B29K2105/06—Condition, form or state of moulded material or of the material to be shaped containing reinforcements, fillers or inserts
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29L—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASS B29C, RELATING TO PARTICULAR ARTICLES
- B29L2031/00—Other particular articles
- B29L2031/30—Vehicles, e.g. ships or aircraft, or body parts thereof
- B29L2031/3005—Body finishings
- B29L2031/3041—Trim panels
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- B60R13/00—Elements for body-finishing, identifying, or decorating; Arrangements or adaptations for advertising purposes
- B60R13/02—Internal Trim mouldings ; Internal Ledges; Wall liners for passenger compartments; Roof liners
- B60R13/0212—Roof or head liners
- B60R13/0225—Roof or head liners self supporting head liners
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- B60R13/00—Elements for body-finishing, identifying, or decorating; Arrangements or adaptations for advertising purposes
- B60R13/02—Internal Trim mouldings ; Internal Ledges; Wall liners for passenger compartments; Roof liners
- B60R13/0237—Side or rear panels
- B60R13/025—Pillars; Roof rails
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- B60R13/00—Elements for body-finishing, identifying, or decorating; Arrangements or adaptations for advertising purposes
- B60R13/02—Internal Trim mouldings ; Internal Ledges; Wall liners for passenger compartments; Roof liners
- B60R2013/0287—Internal Trim mouldings ; Internal Ledges; Wall liners for passenger compartments; Roof liners integrating other functions or accessories
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02W—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO WASTEWATER TREATMENT OR WASTE MANAGEMENT
- Y02W30/00—Technologies for solid waste management
- Y02W30/50—Reuse, recycling or recovery technologies
- Y02W30/62—Plastics recycling; Rubber recycling
Abstract
A vehicle panel material comprises a mixture of recycled shredded thermo-formable material and reprocessed headliner material which includes fibrous bats with polyester fibres, glass fibres and a thermo-setting resin. The method of manufacturing such material includes the steps of shredding (40) thermo-formable material into strips; shredding (50) thermo-formable fibrous bats, glass fibres and thermo-setting resin; mixing and carding (45) into a mat (46); heating (48) the mat to at least partially melt the thermo-formable material; and shaping the mat into a vehicle panel. The material may form an impact-absorbent member for a pillar in the form of a flanged member with sinusoidal projections or it may form a corrugated sheet bonded to a flat sheet of the same or different material.
Description
VEHICLE PANEL
The present invention relates to a panel for a vehicle, including panels used for
impact absorption in the event of an accident.
A wide variety of materials have been employed in vehicles for panels such a
headliners, door panels and the like. U. S. Patent No. 4,828,910 discloses one such material.
Behind decorative panels padding or other impact absorbing techniques are employed for
minimizing injuries in the event of an accident. Although air bags are now becoming
commonplace, areas of the vehicle, such as the A-pillars and the headliner, need to meet or
exceed the federally mandated head injury criterion (HIC (d)) performance which will be
required for such areas in future vehicles. In the past, a variety of open and closed cell foam
materials have been employed for areas such as the instrument panel. In order to provide
head impact absorption in contemporary vehicles, padded visors are sometimes employed as
shown in U. S. Patent No. 4, 958,878 for protecting the occupants in the front windshield area.
In recent years, headliners for vehicles have been integrally molded and have a
variable thickness depending upon the area of the headliner. In some instances, efforts have
been made to increase the thickness of headliners in areas where impact absorption may be
important. With such increased thickness, however, the cost of manufacturing the headliner
through a molding process increases as does the complexity of the size and shapes of the
molds employed. Further, modem vehicles do not allow space for a significant additional
conventional padding or cushioning materials in view of the more compact interior design and
sharply slanting windshield. r' The system of the present invention provides yet an even more economical solution to
the formation of. decorative panels including those for impact absorption by utilizing recycled
material and waste material from headliner manufacturing and, in addition, provides a moldable material which can be configured to provide differing panel shapes and/or impact
absorption characteristics. According to the present invention there is provided a vehicle panel according to the independent claim ; with optional features set out in the claims dependent thereto.
Panel material in one embodiment of the present invention comprises a panel made of about 40-60% recycled, reground thermo-plastic fibers mixed with about 60-40% reprocessed thermo-formable fibrous bats including polyester fibers, glass fibers and a thermo-setting resin used in the manufacture of headliners. In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the material comprises a 50% mixture of reground fibers and reprocessed headliner material which is carded to produce a mat which is compression moldable. The reground fibers are shredded, and the resultant mat is heated and compression formed in a cold tool to the desired panel shape. In one embodiment of the invention, the preformed shape is superimposed on a base which is an elongated arch-shaped member to conform to the shape of an A-pillar. In a preferred embodiment, the curvilinear projections are sinusoidal shaped. In another embodiment, a face sheet of planar material is bonded to a preformed shape including such sinusoidal projections.
Thus, with the panel material according to one embodiment, a relatively inexpensive material is employed and can be shaped to fit any desired area of the vehicle including those where impact absorption is desirable and molded to specifically fit tubular members such as an A-pillar of a vehicle or other structural members. These and other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following description thereof together with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, of which:
Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a vehicle including a panel in the form of an impact absorption member of one embodiment of the present invention ;
Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the impact absorption member taken along section line II-II of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the structure shown in Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the impact absorption member shown in Figs. 2 and 3;
Fig. 5 is a block diagram of the method of manufacturing a panel of the present invention;
Fig. 6 is a G-force deceleration diagram of comparative tests ;
Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the invention;
Fig. 8 is a side elevational view of the structure shown in Fig. 7 mounted to a sheet metal vehicle body part; and
Fig. 9 is a fragmentary perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the impact absorption member.
Referring initially to Fig. 1, there is shown a vehicle 10, such as an automobile, including a windshield 12, a roof 14 supported to the vehicle body by a structural steel
A-pillar 16 extending between the windshield 12 and the side window 18. The A-pillar extends, thus, from the vehicle frame at the side of the instrument panel 19 to the roof 14.
The A-pillar 16 is covered by an impact absorption member 20 of the present invention which, in turn, is covered by a molded, decorative cover 22 to provide a clean trim appearance to the interior of the vehicle. Roof 14 is covered by a molded headliner 15 which can be an integral one-piece structure. The roof beam area above windshield 12 an other locations may also include a preformed impact absorption member such as that shown in Figs.
7 and 8 described below. Turning now to Figs. 2 and 3, the impact absorption member's geometric shape is first described followed by a description of its composition and method of manufacnlring.
Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along section line II-II in Fig. 1 and shows the impact absorption member 20 as having a base 24 which is shaped to conform to the-cross- sectional configuration of the generally rectangular A-pillar 16. Thus, base 24 inclues a pair of outwardly projecting lower flanges 26,28, upwardly extending walls 25,27 and a top 29 all integrally formed. The flanges 26,28 extend continuously along the length of the impact absorption member 20 as seen in Fig. 3; however, the sidewalls 25,27 and top 29 are interrupted by integrally formed curvilinear projections 30 which, in the preferred embodiment, have a sinusoidal shape when viewed from the side (Fig. 3) and a generally rounded arch shape as viewed in Fig. 2.
In Figs. 1-6, the sinusoidal wavelength (the distance from one peak 32 to the next adjacent peak 32) of the curvilinear projections 30 was 1" (25.4mm). The depth of the projections from the top 29 of base 24 and peak 32 was, in the preferred embodiment, 1.2" (30.5mm), while the overall width from edge to edge of the flanges 26 and 28 was 3.2" (81.3mm). The thickness of the material was substantially uniform and comprises about 1/16" (1. 6mm). The width of each of the rounded projections 30 from one sidewall 34 to an opposite sidewall 36 (Fig. 4) was approximately. 5" (12.7mm) with the edges 38 of the curvilinear projections being generally arch-shaped, as seen in Fig.
2, and rounded, as also seen in the top view of Fig. 4.
The material employed for manufacturing the impact absorption member 20 or other panels including decorative panels, such as headliners, door panels and the like, is preferably made of a mixture of recycled thermo-formable material in combination with waste material from the manufacture of a headliner from the material disclosed in U. S. Patent No.
4,958,878. The headliner manufacturing involves the trimming of the final headliner shape and the scrap material from such trimming process is employed with the recycled thermoformable material to form the crushable material employed for the impact absorption member 20. The method of manufacturing the material is now described in connection with Fig. 5.
In Fig. 5, recycled thermo-formable material, such as waste fibers from carpet manufacturing is employed. The fiber density can be from 1-10 denier and be made of polypropylene, polyethylene, Nylon or PET. This material is employed as shown by block 40 and is shredded into strips of about 1/2-2" (12.7-50.8mm) in length depending on the material being recycled. This step is indicated by the shredding step of block 42 utilizing a commercially available shredding machine. At the same time, a supply of scrap or waste headliner material is employed as indicated by block 50 and is stretched and separated into strips by pairs of rollers having needle-like projections as indicated by the step of block 52.
The somewhat similar size and shapes of the thermo-formable material and headliner material are mixed and carded in a carding machine and process as indicated by block 45 to form a mat, as indicated by block 46, of, in the preferred embodiment, a mixture of about 50% reground thermo-formable material and about 50% of reprocessed headliner material. The thermo-formable material serves as a binder for the glass fibers of the headliner material and the blend of thermo-formable material and headliner material can vary from about 40-60%, respectively, to about 60-40%, respectively.
The resultant mat of blended material has a thickness of about 3/4-1" (19.1-25.4mm) and a mat area density of about 1800 g/ml. The mat is heated to a temperature of about 420 F (216 C) in surface heaters which heat opposite sides of the mat sufficiently to melt and fuse the thermo-formable material with glass fibers. The heated blend retains the mat-like shape and is fed into a compression mold tool at room temperature (about 72 F (22 C)) which forms the final shape of the panel as indicated by block 54. If the panel is a decorative panel, such as a door panel, upholstery is bonded or laminated to the panel either simultaneously with the molding step 54 or as a separate step as indicated by block 55.
It has been discovered that the curvilinear projections 30, such as shown in Fig. 1-4, which are made of the material of the manufacturing process represented in Fig. 5 provide a slower and controlled deceleration of a head form eliminating sharp spikes in G-force loading in the event of an impact during an accident. The material itself is crushable and, although shaped to retain its configuration during incidental bumping, deforms and crushes during an impact which would otherwise cause head injuries. The decorative covering 22 hides the arch-like curvilinear projections 30 from view. Fig. 6 shows the impact force of a 10-pound head form under a simulated 15 m. p. h. crash. Waveform A represents the spike-shaped fatal deceleration encountered when the head form strikes a naked steel A-pillar. Waveform B shows the dramatic effect of the use of the impact absorption material of the present invention where the maximum G-force is less than ~ that of the uncovered A-pillar and exceeds the
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 201 requiring an HIC (d) < 1000.
Referring now to Figs. 7 and 8, there is shown an alternative embodiment of the present invention in which an impact absorption member 65 includes elements 60 and 70.
Element 60 is a planar sheet 60 of material, of the same type as manufactured by the process shown in Fig. 5, is made and has a thickness of about 1/16" (1. 6mm). Bonded to the sheet 60 of such material is a washboard patterned sheet 70 of the same material also haying a thickness of 1/16" (1. 6mm) and which has a sinusoidal pattern of peaks 72 and troughs 74 with the troughs 74 being bonded to the upper surface 62 of sheet 60 by any number of bonding steps such as hot melt glue, ultrasonic welding, heat staking or the like. The composite structure forms an impact absorbing member which, as seen in Fig. 8, can be attached to a sheet metal member 80 on a vehicle, such as vehicle 10 shown in Fig. 1.
Member 80 can be one of the roof beams or other area requiring impact absorption. The absorption characteristics of member 65 is similar to that shown in the diagram B of Fig. 6.
In the embodiment shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the distance between adjacent peaks of the patterned sheet 70 is about 1" (25.4mm) while the distance between the peaks 72 and troughs 74 is approximately 3/4" (19. lmm). This construction is particularly well suited for mounting to planar surfaces such as a wide sheet metal beam 80 of a vehicle roof.
Planar sheet 60 in one embodiment comprises the same thickness of material as manufactured by the process shown in Fig. 5, however, in some embodiments, a significantly thicker, lower density material could also be employed. Sheet 60, as manufactured by the process shown in Fig. 5, is a relatively stiff and rigid thin sheet. A relatively thick resilient sheet also could be employed, such a sheet having a thickness of, for example, 3/4" (19. lmm) and a significantly lower area density than sheet 60, which is the same as that described in connection with Figs. 2-4, namely 1800 glu=.
Yet another embodiment of the invention is shown in Fig. 9 in which an impact absorption member 90, of the material made according to the process shown in Fig. 5, is formed in a three-dimensional or curved configuration to mate with a similarly curved body part of a vehicle. Member 90 is an integral sheet including a sinusoidal pattern of peaks 92 and valleys 94 which peaks can be spaced approximately 1" (25.4mm) apart with the height between the peaks and valleys being approximately 3/4" (l9. lmm) as in the embodiment shown in Figs. 7 and 8. In this embodiment, however, the sheet alone is attached by bonding to a mating curvilinear surface of a vehicle.
Although in a preferred embodiment of the invention the reprocessed waste headliner material is employed, the shredded recycled thermo-formable material could be mixed with a similar percentage blend of glass fibers or polyethylene tetra fluoride (PET) fibers in some applications.
Claims (4)
- CLAIMS 1. A vehicle panel comprising a fused blend of thermo-formable fibrous material, and further including a filler having polyester fibers, glass fibers and thermo-setting resin, said blend molded into the shape of a vehicle panel.
- 2. The panel as defined in claim 1 and further including an upholstery layer on one side.
- 3. A panel as defined in claim 1 wherein said thermo-formable material is selected from the group of polypropylene, polyethylene, Nylon @ and PET.
- 4. The panel as defined in claim 1 wherein said filler is shredded headliner material.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US08/713,001 US5879802A (en) | 1996-09-12 | 1996-09-12 | Vehicle panel material |
GB9719537A GB2317189B (en) | 1996-09-12 | 1997-09-12 | Vehicle panel material |
Publications (3)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
GB0007423D0 GB0007423D0 (en) | 2000-05-17 |
GB2345301A true GB2345301A (en) | 2000-07-05 |
GB2345301B GB2345301B (en) | 2001-01-10 |
Family
ID=26312243
Family Applications (2)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
GB0007424A Expired - Fee Related GB2345302B (en) | 1996-09-12 | 1997-09-12 | Panel member |
GB0007423A Expired - Fee Related GB2345301B (en) | 1996-09-12 | 1997-09-12 | Vehicle panel |
Family Applications Before (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
GB0007424A Expired - Fee Related GB2345302B (en) | 1996-09-12 | 1997-09-12 | Panel member |
Country Status (1)
Country | Link |
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GB (2) | GB2345302B (en) |
Cited By (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2003070523A1 (en) * | 2002-02-19 | 2003-08-28 | Intier Automotive Inc. | Dimpled recyclable substrate for an interior trim panel |
FR2887561A1 (en) * | 2005-06-22 | 2006-12-29 | Saertex France Soc Par Actions | Manufacturing procedure and material for insulation made from new and/or recycled waste fibres consists of carding, matting, bonding and corrugating |
CN109075671A (en) * | 2016-04-13 | 2018-12-21 | 黑田精工株式会社 | Magnet is embedded to the manufacturing method of shaped iron core, the manufacturing device of magnet embedment shaped iron core and manufacture tool |
Families Citing this family (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE10206127A1 (en) * | 2002-02-14 | 2003-09-04 | Wacker Polymer Systems Gmbh | Process for the cold pressing of particulate materials |
WO2010151627A2 (en) | 2009-06-24 | 2010-12-29 | Federal-Mogul Powertrain, Inc. | Nonwoven sheet material, panel constructed therefrom and methods of construction thereof |
Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
GB2096195A (en) * | 1981-04-06 | 1982-10-13 | Dresser Corp | Autogeneously bonded mat |
US4946738A (en) * | 1987-05-22 | 1990-08-07 | Guardian Industries Corp. | Non-woven fibrous product |
US5049439A (en) * | 1990-05-25 | 1991-09-17 | Fibre Converters, Inc. | Thermoformable article |
WO1993025609A1 (en) * | 1992-06-09 | 1993-12-23 | Baker Richard D | Recycled fibre reinforced resin containing product and method and apparatus therefor |
Family Cites Families (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JPS6357355A (en) * | 1986-08-27 | 1988-03-12 | Kotobukiya Furonte Kk | Trimming material for vehicle |
-
1997
- 1997-09-12 GB GB0007424A patent/GB2345302B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1997-09-12 GB GB0007423A patent/GB2345301B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Patent Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
GB2096195A (en) * | 1981-04-06 | 1982-10-13 | Dresser Corp | Autogeneously bonded mat |
US4946738A (en) * | 1987-05-22 | 1990-08-07 | Guardian Industries Corp. | Non-woven fibrous product |
US5049439A (en) * | 1990-05-25 | 1991-09-17 | Fibre Converters, Inc. | Thermoformable article |
WO1993025609A1 (en) * | 1992-06-09 | 1993-12-23 | Baker Richard D | Recycled fibre reinforced resin containing product and method and apparatus therefor |
Cited By (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2003070523A1 (en) * | 2002-02-19 | 2003-08-28 | Intier Automotive Inc. | Dimpled recyclable substrate for an interior trim panel |
FR2887561A1 (en) * | 2005-06-22 | 2006-12-29 | Saertex France Soc Par Actions | Manufacturing procedure and material for insulation made from new and/or recycled waste fibres consists of carding, matting, bonding and corrugating |
CN109075671A (en) * | 2016-04-13 | 2018-12-21 | 黑田精工株式会社 | Magnet is embedded to the manufacturing method of shaped iron core, the manufacturing device of magnet embedment shaped iron core and manufacture tool |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
GB2345302A (en) | 2000-07-05 |
GB0007423D0 (en) | 2000-05-17 |
GB0007424D0 (en) | 2000-05-17 |
GB2345302B (en) | 2001-01-24 |
GB2345301B (en) | 2001-01-10 |
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Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
PCNP | Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee |
Effective date: 20070912 |