JP2010058485A - Skin material molding equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the cooling properties of a mold in skin material molding equipment. <P>SOLUTION: The skin material molding equipment for molding a skin material is equipped with: the mold composed of a molding surface having a mold shape for forming the skin material into a predetermined shape and having a venting hole for sucking the skin material formed thereto and a substrate having venting properties; a negative pressure applying part, which applies negative pressure for applying the skin material to the molding surface through the venting hole, to the inside of the mold; and a temperature adjusting part for supplying a cooling fluid to the mold to adjust the temperature of the mold. The temperature adjusting part has a cooling fluid discharge part for discharging the cooling fluid within the mold and a cooling fluid supply part for supplying the cooling fluid at the position near to the molding surface as compared with the cooling fluid discharge part within the mold. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

    The present invention relates to a skin material forming apparatus for forming a skin material.

  Conventionally, a technique has been proposed in which a skin material covering the surface of an interior material is molded into a shape that matches the interior material using a molding die, and a texture pattern is transferred (Patent Documents 1 and 2). In this technique, the skin material can be molded while sucking the skin material from the air holes opened in the mold surface. In forming the skin material, if the skin material is heated and softened with a heater or the like and then placed on a mold, a smooth molding process can be realized. However, the temperature rise of the mold causes the skin material shape to become unstable, resulting in a decrease in molding accuracy. The mold surface is cooled by heat transfer by circulating a cooling fluid such as water (Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  However, the cooling by the heat transfer from the cooling pipe is effective in cooling the periphery of the cooling pipe, but there is a situation where sufficient cooling cannot be realized in other places.

JP 2006-326904 A JP 2007-83586 A

  The present invention has been made to solve at least a part of the above-described conventional problems, and is a skin material molding apparatus that molds a skin material, and provides a technique for improving the cooling performance of a mold. For the purpose.

[Application Example 1]
A skin material forming apparatus for forming a skin material,
A mold having a mold shape for forming the skin material into a predetermined shape, and a mold surface including a mold surface on which a vent hole for sucking the skin material is formed and a base having air permeability;
A negative pressure application unit that applies a negative pressure for sucking the skin material to the mold surface through the vent hole, and the inside of the mold;
A temperature adjusting unit for supplying a cooling fluid to the mold and adjusting the temperature of the mold;
With
The temperature adjustment unit is
A cooling fluid discharger for discharging the cooling fluid inside the mold;
A cooling fluid supply unit that supplies the cooling fluid at a position closer to the mold surface than the cooling fluid discharge unit inside the mold; and
A skin material forming apparatus.

  The skin material forming apparatus according to the application example 1 includes a cooling fluid discharge unit that discharges the cooling fluid and a cooling fluid supply unit that supplies the cooling fluid at a position closer to the mold surface than the cooling fluid discharge unit. Since the cooling fluid is supplied to the inside of the molding die and the cooling fluid discharge unit discharges the cooling fluid inside the molding die, the flow of the cooling fluid can be created inside the molding die. The resin sheet constituting the mold surface of the mold can be efficiently cooled. Thereby, a shaping | molding die can fully be cooled and the fall of the shaping | molding precision of a skin material can be suppressed.

[Application Example 2]
A skin material forming apparatus according to Application Example 1,
The cooling fluid discharge portion is a flow path that allows a predetermined fluid to flow through the mold, and has a through flow path that discharges the cooling fluid from the mold using the flow rate of the fluid. Material forming equipment.

  In the skin material forming apparatus of Application Example 2, so-called ejector suction (Bernoulli suction) that can discharge the cooling fluid staying in the mold from the through-flow passage through which the fluid flows through the mold is effectively used. Thus, the cooling fluid can be efficiently discharged from the mold, and the cooling efficiency of the mold can be improved.

  In addition, this invention is realizable not only with a skin material shaping | molding apparatus but with various methods, such as a skin material shaping | molding method or the manufacturing method of a skin material shaping | molding apparatus.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, in the skin material shaping | molding apparatus which shape | molds a skin material, the cooling performance of a shaping | molding die can be improved and the shaping | molding precision of a skin material can be raised.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following order based on examples.
A. Structure of skin material forming apparatus of Example:
B. Method of forming skin material using skin material forming apparatus of Example:
C. Example mold manufacturing method:
D. Variation:

A. Structure of skin material forming apparatus of Example:
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a skin material forming apparatus 10 according to an embodiment. The skin material forming apparatus 10 is an apparatus for forming a skin material SK that covers the surface of an interior material of a vehicle into a preset shape and transferring a texture pattern on the surface of the skin material SK. The skin material forming apparatus 10 includes a mold apparatus 100, a mating mold 300 that is opposed to the mold apparatus 100 and is movable in the direction of the mold apparatus 100, and that is superimposed on the mold apparatus 100, and a control device that controls these operations. 200.

  The mold apparatus 100 includes a mold 110, a suction device (suction pump 141 and suction pipe 142) for sucking and shaping the skin material SK on the mold surface 110 s of the mold 110, and a cooling tool for cooling the mold 110. And a cooling device (cool air blower 121, cooling air pump 131, solenoid valves 125, 135, 136 and pipes 122, 123, 124, 132, 133, 134). In the present embodiment, the suction device and the cooling device respectively correspond to a “negative pressure application unit” and a “temperature adjustment unit” in the claims.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section of the mold 110 of the embodiment. The molding die 110 includes a first grain layer 112, a second grain layer 113, a barrier layer 114, a resin sheet 115, a mold 116, a lattice rib 118, and a lid body 117. The mold 116 is a mold formed of metal, synthetic resin, or the like, and constitutes the main structure (airtight structure) of the mold 110. In this embodiment, the first grain layer 112 and the second grain layer 113 correspond to the “base” in the claims.

  The mold surface 110s on which the skin material SK is molded is composed of a resin sheet 115 on which a texture pattern as an uneven pattern is formed. In the present embodiment, the resin sheet 115 is an extensible member formed of an epoxy resin containing ceramic whiskers. The resin sheet 115 is bonded to the surface of the barrier layer 114 laminated on the surface of the second particle layer 113 with an adhesive, and a plurality of air holes 115h are formed to communicate with both the resin sheet 115 and the barrier layer 114. ing. In addition, the resin sheet 115 can use what was disclosed by Japanese Patent Publication No.2-14173, for example.

  The barrier layer 114 is a layer formed by hardening aluminum powder with an epoxy resin. Since the air permeability of the barrier layer 114 is suppressed by including aluminum powder, an adhesive or the like for joining the barrier layer 114 and the resin sheet 115 is applied to the second particle layer 113 which is the lower layer. It is configured as an impermeable layer serving as a barrier for suppressing impregnation. The lower layer means a layer on the side away from the mold surface 110s.

  The second particle layer 113 has a particle size larger than that of the aluminum powder, that is, a coarse particle of aluminum (hereinafter referred to as an aluminum grid) is formed by using an epoxy resin as a binder for hardening the particles. Layer. The second grain layer 113 is bonded to the first grain layer 112 which is a lower layer. The first grain layer 112 is a layer formed by solidifying an aluminum grid having coarser grains than the aluminum grid of the second grain layer 113 with an epoxy resin. Both the first grain layer 112 and the second grain layer 113 have air permeability and are also called porous materials.

  The second grain layer 113, the barrier layer 114, and the resin sheet 115 are configured to have sufficient rigidity with respect to the forming pressure of the mating mold 300 and the skin material SK by being supported by the lattice ribs 118. Yes. The grid-shaped rib 118 further plays a role of supporting the cold air supply pipe 123 and the cold air discharge pipe 133 of the cooling device at predetermined positions inside the mold 110. In this embodiment, the cold air supply pipe 123 is disposed on the side relatively close to the mold surface 110 s (position in contact with the second particle layer 113) inside the first particle layer 112. The cold air discharge pipe 133 is disposed at a position farther from the mold surface 110 s than the cold air supply pipe 123.

  A large number of pores (not shown) are formed on the tube walls of the cold air supply pipe 123 and the cold air discharge pipe 133. The cold air supplied from the cold air supply pipe 123 passes through the pores while absorbing heat inside the air-permeable first particle layer 112 and is discharged from the cold air discharge pipe 133. In this embodiment, the cold air supply pipe 123 and the cold air discharge pipe 133 correspond to a “fluid supply part” and a “through channel” (or “fluid discharge part”) in the claims, respectively.

  The suction device (suction pump 141 and suction pipe 142) included in the mold apparatus 100 includes a mold surface 110s of the mold 110 through the first particle layer 112, the second particle layer 113, and the air holes 115h having air permeability. The skin material SK can be shaped on the mold surface 110S by sucking air between the skin material SK and making it negative pressure.

B. Method of forming skin material using skin material forming apparatus of Example:
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the skin material forming method. In step S110, the worker heats the skin material in the skin material heating step. The skin material heating process is a process for heating the skin material SK with a heating device (not shown) such as a heater to soften it and smoothing the molding process. In step S <b> 120, the skin material forming apparatus 10 (FIG. 1) executes a pressing process in accordance with a command from the control apparatus 200.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an operating state of the skin material forming apparatus 10 in the pressing process. The pressing step is a step of pressing the skin material SK onto the mold surface 110 s with the mating die 300 in order to shape the shape of the skin material SK into a shape along the shape of the mold surface 110 s of the mold 110.

  In step S <b> 130, the skin material forming apparatus 10 executes a solenoid valve closing confirmation process. The electromagnetic valve closing confirmation step is a step of confirming that the electromagnetic valves 125, 135, and 136 are closed or performing a closing operation as a preparation for the vacuuming step (step S140). The reason for such confirmation is that when at least one of the electromagnetic valves 125, 135, 136 is open, the execution of the evacuation process is hindered as will be described later. In step S140, the skin material forming apparatus 10 executes a vacuuming process.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing an operating state of the skin material forming apparatus 10 in the vacuuming step. The suction pump 141 sucks out the air inside the mold 110 through the suction pipe 142, and thereby passes through the first particle layer 112, the second particle layer 113, and the air holes 115h (FIG. 2) having air permeability. A negative pressure can be applied by sucking air between the mold surface 110s of the 110 and the skin material SK. Due to this negative pressure, the skin material SK is molded along the surface shape of the mold surface 110s, and the embossed pattern is transferred.

  As a preparation for the evacuation process (step S140), it was confirmed that the solenoid valves 125, 135, 136 were closed because the cooling device had at least one of the solenoid valves 125, 135, 136 opened. This is because air leaks from the supply pipe 123 and the cold air discharge pipe 133 and obstructs the application of negative pressure.

  The evacuation process is completed by stopping the suction pump 141 after elapse of a preset time (time required for molding). When the evacuation process is completed, the solenoid valves 125, 135, and 136 are opened in the solenoid valve opening process (step S150), and then the cooling start process (step S160) is performed.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing an operating state of the skin material forming apparatus 10 in the cooling start process. The cooling start step is a step of operating the cool air fan 121 and the cooling air pump 131 included in the cooling device in a state where the electromagnetic valves 125, 135, and 136 are open.

  The cool air machine 121 supplies cooling air to the mold 110. The cooling air is supplied to the cold air supply pipe 123 through the supply pipe 122 and supplied to the inside of the mold 110 from the pores of the cold air supply pipe 123. A return pipe 124 is connected to the cold air supply pipe 123 so that the cooling air returns to the cold air machine 121.

  The reason why the configuration having the return pipe 124 is that it is preferable to suppress the occurrence of a temperature gradient upstream and downstream of the cold air supply pipe 123, and is not an essential configuration. In other words, if the return air pipe 124 is not provided and the internal flow rate of the cold air supply pipe 123 is small, the cooling air flowing inside the cold air supply pipe 123 is heated in the cold air supply pipe 123 and becomes hot as it goes downstream. It is. Since the temperature gradient generated in this way becomes a cause of uneven temperature in the mold 110, it is preferable to provide the return pipe 124 to suppress the temperature gradient.

  The cooling air pump 131 causes the cooling air inside the mold 110 to be cooled by the Bernoulli's law from the pores of the cold air discharge pipe 133 by flowing air at high speed inside the cold air discharge pipe 133 arranged inside the mold 110. Suction into the discharge pipe 133 and discharge to the outside. Such suction is also called ejector suction.

  While continuing such a cooling state, the process proceeds to the mold opening process (step S170). In the mold opening process, the skin material forming apparatus 10 raises the mating mold 300 and separates it from the mold 110 so that the product can be taken out. In such a state, the process proceeds to the product removal step (step S180).

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing an operating state of the skin material forming apparatus 10 in the product removal step. The product removal process is a process in which the skin material molding apparatus 10 removes the skin material SK molded by the operator from the mold 110 in a state where the mating mold 300 is separated from the mold 110.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the skin material SK can be molded while the inside of the mold 110 is efficiently cooled. In the present embodiment, in particular, cooling air can be allowed to flow inside the mold 110 to uniformly cool the inside of the mold 110. Therefore, for example, cooling of the mold surface with cooling water proposed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 is possible. Can be efficiently and uniformly cooled.

  Conventionally, the mold is cooled by heat transfer from a cooling pipe through which cooling water passes, but in this embodiment, a ventilation system (first particle layer 112 having air permeability, Efficient and uniform cooling is realized by diverting the second grain layer 113 and the air holes 115h) for cooling.

  It is contrary to common general technical knowledge to let cooling air flow through the air passage used in the vacuuming process where airtightness is important. However, the inventor of the present application makes it possible to use the air passage for both evacuation and cooling by separating the cooling system (cool air blower 121 and the like) by the electromagnetic valves 125, 135, and 136 in the evacuation process.

C. Example mold manufacturing method:
FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a method for manufacturing the mold 110 according to the embodiment. In step S210, the operator executes a base mold forming process. The base mold forming process is a process of manufacturing a base mold BM that is a basic mold for setting a mold shape in manufacturing the mold 110.

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a machining process in the base mold forming process (step S210). The base mold BM has a shape obtained by inverting the mold surface shape of the mold 110. In this embodiment, the base mold BM is manufactured from a synthetic resin material by machining.

  FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the barrier layer forming step (step S220). In step S220, the worker executes a barrier layer forming process. The barrier layer forming step is a step of forming the barrier layer 114 on the surface of the base mold BM coated with the release agent after placing the mold 116 on the base mold BM. The barrier layer 114 is formed by laminating a soft epoxy resin containing aluminum powder having a predetermined particle diameter on the base type BM. Since the barrier layer 114 is an impermeable layer, it is desirable to form the barrier layer 114 thinly.

  FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the stacking order of each component in the second grain layer forming step (step S230) to the first grain layer forming step (step S250). In step S230, the operator executes the second grain layer forming step. The second grain layer forming step is a step of forming the second grain layer 113 on the barrier layer 114 in a state before the barrier layer 114 applied on the base type BM is completely solidified. The formation of the second grain layer 113 is performed by pressing a soft epoxy resin containing an aluminum grid having a predetermined roughness from above for a predetermined time and solidifying it together with the barrier layer 114.

  In step S240, the worker executes a cooling air supply piping arrangement process. The cooling air supply piping arrangement step is a step of placing the cold air supply piping 123 at a predetermined position on the solidified second particle layer 113.

  In step S250, the operator executes the first grain layer stacking step. The first grain layer laminating step is a step of laminating the first grain layer partway on the second grain layer on which the cold air supply pipe 123 is placed. Lamination of the second grain layer is performed by laminating a soft epoxy resin containing an aluminum grid together with the grid ribs 118 halfway.

  In step S260, the worker executes a cooling air discharge pipe arrangement process. A cooling air exhaust pipe arrangement | positioning process is a process of mounting the cold wind exhaust pipe 133 on the 1st particle layer laminated | stacked to the middle. The cold air discharge pipe 133 may be placed by fitting into a notch for positioning (not shown) formed in the grid-like rib 118.

  In step S270, the operator executes the first grain layer forming step. The first grain layer forming step is performed by laminating again a soft epoxy resin containing an aluminum grid and pressing it from above for a predetermined time to solidify. The first grain layer forming step is completed by covering the upper part of the first grain layer 112 with the lid 117 and closing the upper part, and forming the inside of the mold 110 with a secret structure.

  FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the resin sheet bonding step (step S280). In step S280, the operator executes a resin sheet bonding step. The resin sheet bonding step is a step of bonding the resin sheet 115 to the surface of the barrier layer 114 with an adhesive or the like. The surface of the barrier layer 114 is preferably roughened by, for example, shot blasting or sandpaper before the bonding step. This is because the bonding with the resin sheet 115 can be strengthened by the so-called anchor effect in which the adhesive enters and gets caught on the rough surface portion of the surface or the enlargement of the adhesion area by the rough surface.

  FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing the vent hole forming step (step S290). In step S290, the operator executes a vent hole forming step. The vent hole forming step is a step of drilling a plurality of vent holes 115h on the surface of the resin sheet 115 with a drill DR, for example. The vent hole 115h is, for example, a through-hole having a diameter of about 0.1 mm, penetrates the resin sheet 115 together with the barrier layer 114, and reaches the second grain layer 113, through which the resin sheet 115 is formed. A ventilation path for introducing negative pressure to the surface is formed.

D. Variation:
As mentioned above, although several embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to such embodiment at all, and implementation in various aspects is possible within the range which does not deviate from the summary. is there. In particular, elements other than the elements described in the independent claims in the constituent elements in each of the embodiments described above can be omitted as appropriate because they are additional elements. Furthermore, elements described in the independent claims can be appropriately replaced with elements not described in the independent claims within the scope disclosed in the present specification.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiments, not all of the above-described advantages and effects lead to the essential constituent elements of the present invention, and the present invention has a degree of freedom in design that can easily realize each of the above-described advantages and effects. As long as it achieves at least one advantage or effect.

D-1. First Modification: In the embodiment described above, the mold is cooled by cold air, but may be a gas or liquid containing mist, for example. The cooling fluid that can be used in the present invention may be any fluid that takes heat away from the mold. The gas containing mist can be cooled using latent heat. The use of latent heat can be adjusted by using the negative pressure of ejector suction from the cold air discharge pipe 133.

D-2. Second Modification: In the above-described embodiment, the cold air discharge pipe 133 is formed as a through passage that penetrates the inside of the mold 110 and is configured to discharge the cooling air inside the mold 110 according to Bernoulli's law. However, it does not necessarily have to be configured as a through-flow channel, and may be configured as a closed channel.

  For example, the cooling air pump 131 may be configured to suck from the inside of the mold 110 (a suction pump may be used instead), or the cooling air pump 131 may be removed to open to the atmosphere. The cooling fluid discharge part to which the present invention can be used generally only needs to be configured to discharge the cooling fluid to the outside of the mold.

D-3. Third Modification: In the above-described embodiment, the control device 200 performs integrated control including the operation of the counterpart mold 300. However, for example, an operator may manually issue a command. Each process of the above-described embodiment may be automatically controlled by the control device 200, or may be manually operated by an operator. However, the confirmation of the open / closed state of the solenoid valve is preferably configured so that the control device 200 can confirm so as to prevent erroneous operation.

D-4. Fourth Modification: In the above-described embodiment, the skin material is molded by the polymerization of the mold 110 and the counterpart mold 300, but the skin material is molded only by the suction force of the mold 110 and the suction device. Also good.

Explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the skin material shaping | molding apparatus 10 of an Example. Sectional drawing which shows the cross section of the shaping | molding die 110 of an Example. The flowchart which shows the procedure of a skin material shaping | molding method. Explanatory drawing which shows the operating state of the skin material shaping | molding apparatus 10 in a press process. Explanatory drawing which shows the operation state of the skin material shaping | molding apparatus 10 in a vacuuming process. Explanatory drawing which shows the operation state of the skin material shaping | molding apparatus 10 in a cooling start process. Explanatory drawing which shows the operating state of the skin material shaping | molding apparatus 10 in a product taking-out process. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the manufacturing method of the shaping | molding die 110 of an Example. Explanatory drawing which shows the machining process in a base type | mold formation process (step S210). Explanatory drawing which shows a barrier layer formation process (step S220). Explanatory drawing which shows the lamination | stacking order of each component in a 2nd grain layer formation process thru | or a 1st grain layer formation process. Explanatory drawing which shows a resin sheet adhesion process (step S280). Explanatory drawing which shows a vent hole formation process (step S290).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Skin material forming apparatus 100 ... Mold apparatus 110s ... Mold surface 110 ... Mold 112 ... 1st grain layer 113 ... 2nd grain layer 114 ... Barrier layer 115 ... resin sheet 115h ... vent hole 116 ... formwork 118 ... lattice rib 121 ... cold air machine 122 ... supply pipe 123 ... cold air supply pipe 124 ... return pipe 125 ... Solenoid valve 131 ... Cooling air pump 133 ... Cold air discharge piping 141 ... Suction pump 142 ... Suction piping 200 ... Control device 300 ... Mating type SK ... Skin material BM ... Base type DR ... Drill

Claims (2)

A skin material forming apparatus for forming a skin material,
A mold having a mold shape for forming the skin material into a predetermined shape, and a mold surface including a mold surface on which a vent hole for sucking the skin material is formed and a base having air permeability;
A negative pressure application unit that applies a negative pressure for sucking the skin material to the mold surface through the vent hole, and the inside of the mold;
A temperature adjusting unit for supplying a cooling fluid to the mold and adjusting the temperature of the mold;
With
The temperature adjustment unit is
A cooling fluid discharger for discharging the cooling fluid inside the mold;
A cooling fluid supply unit that supplies the cooling fluid at a position closer to the mold surface than the cooling fluid discharge unit inside the mold; and
A skin material forming apparatus. The skin material forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The cooling fluid discharge portion is a flow path that allows a predetermined fluid to flow through the mold, and has a through flow path that discharges the cooling fluid from the mold using the flow rate of the fluid. Material forming equipment.

Images