JP2007526833A - Covering skin with sealing skirt for automotive components, corresponding components and motor vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

【Task】
The covering skin portion is a seal intended to be pressed by a foam material when the foam material expands against a surface 19 covering the layer of foam material and a cavity wall that receives the foam material. And a skirt portion 25, the cavity being disposed in the support member. The covering surface 19 is limited by a peripheral contour 21 and extends beyond this contour by a sealing skirt 25, the skirt having a free edge 35. The contour portion 21 on the peripheral edge of the covering surface 19 includes at least a portion 31 that is smaller than the radius of curvature R2 of the portion 39 of the free edge 35 arranged at a position where the radius of curvature R1 is opposed.
The application is, for example, an automobile instrument panel.

Description

  The invention comprises a surface covering a layer of foam material and a sealing skirt adapted to be pressed by the foam material when the foam expands against a cavity wall that receives the foam material. Disposed in the support member, the covering surface is limited by a peripheral contour and extends at least partially beyond this contour by a sealing skirt, the sealing skirt being of the type comprising a free edge The present invention relates to a covering skin portion for an automobile component.

  The present invention is used, for example, when manufacturing an instrument panel for an automobile.

  A skin part of the type described above is described, for example, in European Patent Specification EP 768 160. This skin is intended for use with certain methods involving expansion or foaming. In this method, the skirt portion of the skin is placed in the cavity of the support member, and then the cavity is filled with a resin intended to form a foam by expansion.

  During expansion, the foam presses the skirt of the skin against the wall of the cavity and provides a seal between the skin and the support member.

  This method is described as being selectable because it allows foaming to be provided only in certain areas of the instrument panel without requiring rework.

  This type of manufacturing method is simple and allows to limit material waste and the mass of the instrument panel produced. The interface between the skin and the support member has a satisfactory visual appearance and does not need to be covered with a trim. The number of cutting processes to be reworked also decreases.

  As a whole, the skin portion is manufactured by a rotomold method. The contour part of the skin part, in particular, the contour part of the free edge of the skirt part and the contour part of the peripheral edge of the covering surface have the same shape having a large radius of curvature.

  This detracts from the visible part of the epidermis, i.e. the visual appearance of the coated surface, and thus the overall visual appearance of the instrument panel. Many automobile manufacturers will particularly want to be able to improve this visual appearance using small radii of curvature or angled contours.

  However, reducing the radius of curvature introduces a defect with respect to the sealing effect between the skin portion and the member.

  The object of the present invention is to provide a satisfactory level of sealing effect for the support member while allowing the components, in particular the instrument panel, to be manufactured to have an improved visual appearance. It is to solve this problem by providing a coated skin part.

  For this purpose, the subject matter of the invention is characterized in that the contour of the peripheral edge of the covering surface comprises at least a portion that is smaller than the radius of curvature of the portion of the free edge that is arranged at a position where the radius of curvature is opposite. It is a covering skin part of the type mentioned above.

According to certain embodiments, the epidermis can comprise one or more of the following features, either alone or in all technically possible combinations:
The sealing skirt comprises at least one fold line to the rest of the skin to be pressed when the foam expands against the cavity wall;
The fold line extends along the peripheral contour of the covering surface,
The skin portion includes an intermediate portion disposed between the covering surface and the sealing skirt portion, and the folding line extends between the intermediate portion and the sealing skirt portion,
The intermediate portion has a cross-section substantially corresponding to the peripheral contour of the covering surface;
The fold line is formed by a region with reduced thickness,
The said part of the peripheral outline is a corner.

The present invention further provides:
A support member having walls that limit the receiving cavity;
A layer of foam disposed within the receiving cavity;
A covering surface covering the layer of foam material and a sealing skirt portion pressed against the wall of the receiving cavity by the foam material, the covering surface being limited by a peripheral contour and this contour being defined by the sealing skirt portion A vehicle structure, characterized in that it extends at least partially beyond the part, the sealing skirt part is a component of a motor vehicle of the type with a free edge, the skin part being a skin part as described above Regarding elements.

  According to one variant, the components constitute an automotive instrument panel.

  The invention further relates to a motor vehicle, characterized in that it comprises a component as described above.

  The invention will be better understood from the following description, given solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

  FIG. 1 schematically shows an instrument panel 1 mainly comprising a hard support member 3, a flexible coated skin portion 5, and a layer of foam 7 interposed between the skin portion 5 and the member 3. Shown graphically.

  A cavity 9 is provided in the member 3 and is limited by a wall 11. A main opening 13 for the passage of a material intended to form the foam 7 extends through the base 15 of the cavity 9. The auxiliary opening 17 can also extend through the base 15 and close the vent as will be described below.

  The skin portion 5 covers the foam material 7 and has a surface 19 that can be seen from the outer side of the instrument panel 1 (the right side surface in FIG. 1).

  This covering surface 19 can be seen in FIG. 1 by its upper edge and one lower edge, in particular by a peripheral contour 21 with an edge 23.

  The skin portion 5 further includes a peripheral sealing skirt portion 25 that extends the covering surface 19 beyond the contour portion 21 at the inner portion of the cavity 9. For this reason, the skirt part 25 is extended in the front side with respect to the position of the driver | operator of a motor vehicle, ie, toward the left direction of FIG. The skirt portion 25 is pressed against the wall 11 of the cavity 9 by the foam material 7. The skirt portion 25 forms an obtuse angle with respect to the covering surface 19 in the region of the edge 23.

  As shown in FIG. 2, due to the grooves 27 arranged in the inner surface 28 of the skin portion 5 facing the foam material 7, the thickness of the skin portion 5 extends along the edge 23 of the peripheral contour portion 21. Decrease. Thus, the edge 23 forms a fold line that allows the skirt 25 to move relative to the covering surface 19, as will be described below.

  It should be understood that the presence of the groove 27 does not cause an opposing relief portion on the outer surface of the skin portion 5 as in the case of the skin portion obtained by the rotomold method. For example, the relief portion provided on one surface of the skin portion causes a relief portion on the other surface of the skin portion 5. Similarly, the groove 27 is not caused by a relief portion existing on the outer surface of the skin portion 5.

  As an example only, the groove 27 can be easily obtained by the skin portion 5 manufactured by using an injection molding method instead of the conventionally used rotomolding method.

  FIG. 3 shows a mold 280 that allows the skin 5 to be manufactured using this type of injection molding process.

  The mold 280 includes a lower half mold 281 that forms a bottom die and an upper half mold that forms a header die. The upper half mold 282 is provided with an injection device 283 communicating with a molding cavity 285 limited between the two half molds 281 and 282 via a passage 284.

  In order to produce the skin part 5, the two half molds 281, 282 are closed and the plastic material intended to form the skin part 5 is injected into the cavity 285 using the device 283. Unlike the conventional rotomold method, this molding method allows the grooves 27 to be arranged on the inner surface 28 of the skin portion 5.

  The covering surface 19 of the skin portion 5 extends in the lateral direction over substantially the entire width of the instrument panel 1, for example. The covering surface 19 has, for example, a rectangular shape expanded so as to have four corners as a whole.

  Thus, the examined covering surface 19 has a contour portion 21 having a simple shape in order to simplify the description. However, the coated surface 19 can have a much more complex shape and different dimensions as a whole.

  FIG. 4 schematically shows the upper left corner 29 of the covering skin 5. In this case, it should be understood that the terms “upward” and “downward” are relative to the position of the driver of the car.

  As can be understood from FIG. 4, the peripheral contour portion 21 of the covering surface 19 of the skin portion 5 has a corner portion 31 between the upper edge 23 and the left side edge 23 of the contour portion 21. . As is conventional, the radius of curvature R1 of the contour 21 at the corner 31 is zero.

  The free edge 35 of the skirt portion 25 faces the corner portion 31 and has a curved portion 37. This portion 37 has a radius of curvature R2 which is, for example, 30 mm.

  The curved portion 37 is connected to the corner portion 31 by a region 39 of the skirt portion 25 shown by a broken line in FIG. This region 39 has a radius of curvature that converges from the curved portion 37 toward the corner 31 and gradually decreases from a value of R2 to a value of R1 of zero.

  The method of injection molding the skin portion 5 is particularly suitable for obtaining different radii of curvature between the contour portion 21 and the free edge 35 on the periphery of the skin portion 5. For this reason, this method can be used only for this purpose in some variants not shown, for example in the skin 5 without the grooves 27.

  Each of the corners 29 of the skin 5 has a structure similar to that described with reference to FIG.

  The free edge 35 is substantially straight between the curved portions 37 corresponding to each of the corners 29.

  As shown in FIG. 1, when the skin portion 5 is integrated into the instrument panel 1, only the covering surface 19 can be seen, and the contour portion 21 defines the boundary surface between the skin 5 and the member 3. It will be appreciated that the member 3 substantially covers the skirt 25 in such a way as to limit.

  In order to produce the instrument panel 1 of FIG. 1, it is possible to use, for example, a mold as described in European patent specification EP-768 160. A mold 41 of this type is shown in FIG.

  This mold 41 comprises two half molds 43, 45, both of which limit the cavity 47 that receives the rigid member 3 and the skin 5.

  The upper half mold 45 is provided with an injection device 49 that communicates with the cavity 47 via a passage 51 provided in the half mold 45.

  The device 49 allows the injection of a material M intended to form the foam 7, as will be explained below.

  The hard member 3 and the skin portion 5 are manufactured in advance. The member 3 is also manufactured using, for example, an injection molding method.

  The member 3 and the skin portion 5 are disposed in the cavity 47 of the mold 41, and the skirt portion 25 of the skin portion 5 is disposed in the cavity 9 of the member 3 as shown in FIG. The skirt portion 25 is not pressed against the wall 11 of the cavity 9 at that time.

  In a conventional manner, the mold 41 is closed and then the material M is injected using the device 49. This material M flows into the cavity 9 through the passage 51 and the main opening 13.

  Next, for example, the material M including polyurethane resin expands and fills all the cavities 9. When doing this, the material M pushes the skirt part 25 and gradually pushes the skirt part against the wall 11 of the cavity 9. The displacement of the skirt portion 25 is facilitated by a folding line formed along the edge 23 of the contour portion 21.

  Due to the locally reduced thickness of the skirt 5 along the edge 23, the skirt 25 moves quickly and is pressed against the wall 11 so that when the material M expands, the material M The risk of leakage can be avoided.

  When the material M expands, the air initially present in the cavity 9 is exhausted through the opening 17, so that the opening 17 forms a vent.

  When the layer of the foam material 7 is formed and bonded to the member 3 and the skin portion 5, the mold 41 is opened and the instrument panel 1 is removed.

  Since the free edge 35 of the skirt portion 25 has a large radius of curvature and is particularly 30 mm or more, the sealing level obtained between the skin portion 5 and the member 3 is satisfactory.

  However, the visible boundary surface between the member 3 and the skin portion 5, that is, the peripheral contour portion 21 has a radius of curvature of 30 mm or less and a portion having a corner 31.

  Surprisingly, it has been found that the contour 21 of the outer surface 19 does not have to have a minimum radius of curvature in order to achieve a satisfactory level of sealing effect. For this reason, the curvature of the contour part 21 can be made larger than the curvature of the free edge 35 without impairing the sealing level.

  Furthermore, the instrument panel 1 has all of the advantageous effects associated with the manufacturing method in which the sealing skirt is pressed by the foam when the foam expands.

  FIG. 6 shows a modification of the covering skin 5 that is different from the above-described one as follows.

  The skin portion 5 includes an intermediate sleeve 53 that extends between the covering surface 19 and the skirt portion 25. The sleeve 53 has a cross section substantially corresponding to the contour 21 on the periphery of the covering surface 19.

  As described above, the skirt portion 25 is connected to the intermediate sleeve 53 by the folding line 57 formed because the thickness of the skin portion 5 is locally reduced. The skirt portion 25 forms an obtuse angle with respect to the sleeve 53 along the fold line 57.

  The edge 23 of the contour portion 21 of the covering surface 19 does not decrease in thickness, and therefore does not form a fold line.

  The converging area 39 of the free edge 35 of the skirt portion 25 extends from the corresponding curved portion 37 to the corner 59 formed between the fold lines 57 and 57 so as to face the curved portion 37.

  This modification has the advantageous effect of moving the covering surface 19 of the skin portion 5 in a direction away from the outer surface of the member 3.

  Thus, as shown in FIG. 7, when the mold 41 is closed, a gap J exists between the outer surface 59 of the support member 3 and the lower half mold 43. This is particularly beneficial when the outer surface 59 of the member 3 has an aesthetic relief, for example when the surface 59 is grained. The gap J prevents the mold 41 from damaging the outer surface 59.

  In order to maintain the desired contour 21, it is beneficial that the lower half mold 43 has a recess 61 in which a part of the covering surface 19 and the intermediate part 53 can be received. Should be understood.

  In this way, a satisfactory finishing degree is achieved for the instrument panel 1 within the area of the surface 19 when removed from the mold 41 regardless of the texture of the outer surface of the member 3.

  However, this modification requires a thicker thickness of the foam 7.

  More generally, the contour 21 of the covering surface 19 does not necessarily have the corner 31. However, in at least one part, the covering surface has a smaller radius of curvature than the opposite part of the free edge 35 of the skirt 25, thereby retaining the advantage of the peripheral contour 21 of any shape. However, the criteria for the sealing level at the edge 35 can be met. That is, the curvature of the peripheral contour 21 is at least locally larger than the curvature of the free edge 35.

  More generally, this principle can be used to manufacture automotive components other than instrument panels, such as door panels, for example.

  More generally, this principle can be used with components in which the movable sealing skirt 25 extends only over a portion of the outer periphery of the contour 21 at the periphery of the covering surface 19.

  In this manner, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the lower side of the skirt portion 25 in FIG. It can be replaced with a fixed sealing flap that is sandwiched between. The flap is then covered with a trim.

  This type of sealing effect by the sandwiched flap is preferably retained against the side of the covering surface 19 that is not directly visible to the vehicle occupant.

  It is also understood that the skin part 5 can be manufactured using an injection molding method, and the principle that the curvature is different can be used regardless of the presence of the groove 27 on the inner surface 28 of the skin part 5. Should.

  On the contrary, although the radius of curvature is not different, the skin portion 5 having the groove 27 on the inner surface 28 can be used advantageously.

  In practice, the groove 27 supports the movement of the skirt portion 25 and reduces the risk of the foam 7 leaking between the member 3 and the skirt portion 5.

  More generally, a relief portion other than the groove 27 can be provided on the inner surface 28 of the skin portion 5. For example, there can be reinforcing ribs that improve the behavior of the skin 5 during the manufacture of the component 1 or during its useful life.

  In this way, this type of rib reinforces the skin portion 5 outside the fold line 23 or 57, and in this case, the skin portion 5 does not need to have a groove 57.

  Preferably, these reliefs provided on the inner surface 28 are independent of the local shape of the outer surface of the epidermis facing these reliefs, for aesthetic reasons on the outer surface of the epidermis. Prevent any influence on the surface condition that must be realized.

  The use of a method for manufacturing the skin part 5 by injection molding has proved to be particularly beneficial for this purpose. However, other molding methods can be used, such as, for example, a method of first molding a substance in liquid form in a container.

1 is a partial schematic cross-sectional view of an instrument panel according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic enlarged view of a portion II circled in FIG. 1. It is a partial schematic sectional view which shows the casting_mold | template which manufactures the covering skin part of the instrument panel of FIG. It is a partial schematic plan view which shows the corner part of the covering skin part of the instrument panel of FIG. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the casting_mold | template which manufactures the instrument panel of FIG. FIG. 5 is a partial schematic perspective view showing one modification of the skin portion of FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. 7 is a partial schematic cross-sectional view with an enlarged scale corresponding to a circled portion VII of FIG. 5, showing the skin portion of FIG. 6 in a mold for manufacturing an instrument panel.

Claims (10)

A sealing skirt adapted to be pressed by the foam when the foam expands against the outer surface (19) covering the layer of foam (7) and the wall (11) of the cavity (9) receiving the foam Part (25), the cavity being arranged in the support member (3), the covering surface (19) being limited by the peripheral contour (21) and said sealing skirt part (25) In the covering skin part (5) for a vehicle component (1) of the type comprising a free edge (35), the sealing skirt part extends at least partly beyond the contour part, and the covering surface (19) The peripheral contour portion (21) has a portion (31) which is at least smaller than the curvature radius (R2) of the portion (39) of the free edge (35) arranged at a position where the curvature radius (R1) faces each other. Automatic, characterized by having Covering skin portion for components.   2. The skin part according to claim 1, wherein the sealing skirt part (25) is against the other part of the skin part to be pressed when the foam (7) expands against the wall (11) of the cavity (9). Epidermis, characterized in that it comprises at least one fold line (23; 57).   The skin part according to claim 2, characterized in that the fold line (23; 57) extends along the contour part (21) of the periphery of the covering surface (19).   The skin part according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising an intermediate part (53) arranged between the covering surface (19) and the sealing skirt part (25), wherein the fold line (57) is provided in the intermediate part (53). ) And the sealing skirt (25).   5. A skin part according to claim 4, characterized in that the intermediate part (53) has a cross section substantially corresponding to the contour part (21) of the peripheral edge of the covering surface (19).   6. The skin part according to claim 2, wherein the fold line (23; 57) is formed by a region having a reduced thickness.   The skin part according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the part of the peripheral contour part (21) is a corner part (31). A support member (3) having a wall (11) limiting the receiving cavity (9);
A layer of foam (7) disposed in the receiving cavity (9);
A covering surface (19) comprising a covering surface (19) covering the layer of foam (7) and a sealing skirt (25) pressed against the wall (11) of the receiving cavity by the foam (7); Is limited by a peripheral contour (21) and extends at least partially beyond this contour by a sealing skirt (25), the sealing skirt having a free edge (35) In the component (1), the skin portion is the skin portion according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the component is an automobile component.   9. The component according to claim 8, wherein the component forms an automotive instrument panel.   An automobile comprising the component according to claim 8 or 9.

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