JP3768298B2 - Instrument panel and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an instrument panel for automobiles, and relates to an instrument panel having an aesthetic appearance in which an epidermis is formed across both a soft part and a hard part, and a method for manufacturing the instrument panel.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, an instrument panel is made up of a soft part and a hard part in order to partially provide flexibility and strength as required. Compared with a hard part which consists only of a hard resin layer, a soft part consists of the outer skin layer in which the foam layer was formed in the back surface, and the hard resin layer as a core material. This soft layer has a shock-absorbing action, and is mainly provided in a portion that hits the front of the passenger seat.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the above-described instrument panel, the hard resin layer of the soft part and the hard resin layer of the hard part are made continuous in common, but the skin layer of the soft part is formed so as to cover only the foam layer.
[0004]
Therefore, the end of the skin layer is located at the boundary between the soft part and the hard part, and a gap is formed by the roundness of the skin layer. This gap is called a parting line, and those with many parting lines have no sense of quality and the value of the product decreases. In addition, there is a problem that a parting line may be reflected in the window due to reflection, resulting in poor visibility.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of such problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to remove the parting line and have an excellent appearance with a sense of unity, and a method for manufacturing the instrument panel. Is to provide.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, an instrument panel according to claim 1,
(A) a core layer serving as a base of the panel;
(B) a foam layer formed on a predetermined portion of the surface of the core material layer; and (c) a surface other than the surface of the foam layer and the portion of the surface of the core material layer on which the foam layer is formed. A hard skin layer composed of a skin layer and a core material layer, and a soft skin layer in which a skin layer, a foam layer and a core material layer are sequentially laminated. The instrument panel is characterized by being seamless and continuous, and provides an instrument panel having an excellent appearance with a sense of unity.
[0007]
Moreover, in addition to the invention of Claim 1, the instrument panel of Claim 2 can mount | wear with an airbag apparatus on the back surface of the said core material layer, and forms the opening part at the time of deployment of this airbag apparatus For this purpose, a notch is formed on the back surface of the skin layer, and a break material having a tear strength lower than that of the material of the skin layer is filled in the notch.
[0008]
The notch facilitates opening when the airbag is deployed. At other normal times or when molding the core material, the break material can prevent the thin portion due to the notch from cracking or breaking.
[0009]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the second aspect of the instrument panel, the airbag device can be mounted on the back surface of the hard portion.
[0010]
Moreover, the manufacturing method of the instrument panel of Claim 4 is a method of manufacturing the instrument panel of Claim 1,
(A) a step of producing a skin layer,
(B) a step of forming a foam layer on a predetermined portion of the back surface of the skin layer; and (c) a skin layer having a foam layer formed on the back surface is disposed in the mold, and the back surface of the foam layer by injection molding; and It is characterized by comprising a step of closely forming a continuous core material layer on the skin layer of the unlined portion of the foam layer.
[0011]
Since the core material layer is injection-molded after the foam layer is formed in a predetermined portion on the back surface of the skin layer, the core material layer can be easily adhered.
[0012]
The invention according to claim 5 is a method of manufacturing the instrument panel according to claim 1,
(A) a step of producing a skin layer,
(B) Step of manufacturing the core material layer, and (c) The skin layer and the core material layer are set in the upper mold and the lower mold of the mold, and foamed in a space formed in a predetermined portion of the skin layer and the core material layer. It is characterized by comprising a step of forming a foamed layer by injecting a material and foaming and solidifying.
[0013]
Since the foam layer is formed last, it is easy to form a soft foam layer.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described together with illustrated examples.
FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of an embodiment of an instrument panel according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional explanatory view taken along a line XX in FIG.
[0015]
As shown in FIG. 1, the instrument panel of the present invention is excellent in aesthetic appearance because there is no parting line because the hard part 1 and the soft part 2 are covered with a single skin.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 2, the hard part 1 includes a skin 3 and a core material 4, and the soft part 2 extends one end side of the skin 3 and the core material 4 forming the hard part 1, In between, the foamed layer 5 is provided.
[0017]
The skin 3 is preferably made of a resin material that has a good appearance and feel, is inexpensive, and can easily create a complex uneven shape. For example, PVC resin, TPC (olefin-based) resin, or the like is slush-molded or vacuum-molded.
[0018]
The core material 4 is preferably made of a resin material that is strong, inexpensive, and capable of easily creating a complicated uneven shape. For example, ABS resin, PP, PP composite material, etc. are injection molded. In this case, the injection molding in this case includes SPM molding (Sumitomo Press Molding) and medium-high pressure injection molding in a broad sense. In the case of the SPM molding method, since the resin is injected at a low pressure (substantially dripping), skin damage can be prevented.
[0019]
The foamed layer 5 is preferably made of a soft and light resin, and a foamed polyurethane foam is optimal, but other resins can be appropriately selected as long as they are soft. In addition, it is preferable that the thickness of the soft part 2 is 6-15 mm in the foam layer 5, and within 3 mm in the skin layer 3 and the core material layer 4. If the thickness of the soft part 2 exceeds the maximum, urethane puncture occurs, and if it is less than the minimum, the appearance becomes uneven.
[0020]
The foam layer 5 is formed by forming the skin layer 3 and the core material layer 4 separately, forming only the skin layer 3 first, and then forming the foam layer 5 and the core layer. There is a method of forming the material layer 4 in this order.
[0021]
The instrument panel of the present invention can be fitted with an airbag device. In that case, it is preferable to form a notch 7 on the back surface of the skin layer 3 in order to form the opening 6 when the airbag apparatus is deployed. Similarly, it is preferable to form a notch 8 in the core material 4. The notch 10 is a broken line of the opening 6.
[0022]
In addition, by forming the notch 7 in the skin layer 3, there is a risk that the thin part will be cracked or broken during normal times other than when the airbag device is deployed or when the core material layer 4 is formed. This can be prevented by filling the notch 7 with the break material 9. The break material 9 is preferably made of the same material as that of the skin layer 3 (however, the tear strength is reduced) from the viewpoint of maintaining physical properties and preventing the skin layer and the break material from being peeled off. In addition, since the skin is thin, when the break material is different from the skin and the transparency and color are different, it can be seen through the surface, which may deteriorate the appearance quality. The tear strength can be lowered by a method such as adding a foaming agent. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the thin-walled portion of the skin layer 3 from being cracked not only when the skin layer is in a normal handling state but also when the skin layer is placed on the core material layer or by the foaming pressure of the foam layer.
[0023]
The opening 1 described above is preferably formed in the hard part 1 including only the skin layer 3 and the core material layer 4 (in that case, the airbag device is mounted on the back surface of the hard part 1). This is because it is not necessary to break the foamed layer 5 of the soft part 2 when the airbag is deployed, and it can be easily broken.
[0024]
However, the present invention is not limited to the one in which the airbag device is mounted on the back surface of the hardware portion 1, and the skin layer 3 of the soft portion 2 so that the airbag device can be mounted on the back surface of the software portion 2. An opening may be formed by providing a notch on the back surface of the substrate. In that case, in addition to the core material 4, it is preferable to provide a notch in each layer so that the foamed layer 5 can be easily broken.
[0025]
Below, the manufacturing method of the instrument panel of this invention of Claim 4 is demonstrated. This way is to keep forms form the foam layer 5 and the skin layer 3, and forms a core layer 4.
[0026]
First, the skin layer 3 is formed by a conventionally appropriate method such as slush molding or vacuum molding.
[0027]
Next, the foam layer 5 is formed at a predetermined position on the back surface of the skin layer 3. The foam layer 5 is formed by placing the skin layer 3 on a mold, disposing a foamed resin material at a predetermined position on the back surface thereof, heating the foamed resin material to an appropriate temperature, foaming it, and cooling it to room temperature. It is molded in a state of being in close contact with a predetermined portion on the back surface of the sheet.
[0028]
Finally, the core material layer 4 is formed. The core material layer 4 is formed by injection molding as follows. First, the skin layer 3 having the foamed layer 5 made by the steps described above is disposed in the mold. Next, molten resin is injected into the mold. In this case, the normal foam molding may cause the soft foam layer 3 to be crushed by the pressure of the injection. Therefore, it is preferable to control the injection pressure to an intermediate pressure or employ the SPM molding method described above.
[0029]
By this method, the core material layer 4 is molded in a form in which the core material layer 4 is firmly attached to the back surface of the foam layer 5 and the back surface of the skin layer 3 where the foamability is not formed.
[0030]
Below, the manufacturing method of the instrument panel of this invention of Claim 5 is demonstrated. In this method, the skin layer 3 and the core material layer 4 are separately formed, and then the foam layer 5 is formed.
[0031]
First , the skin layer 3 is formed by a conventionally appropriate method such as slush molding or vacuum molding. Next, the core material layer 4 is formed by a conventionally appropriate method such as injection molding or SPM molding .
[0032]
Finally, the skin layer 5 and the core material layer 4 made by the steps described above are disposed in the mold. The mold is composed of upper and lower molds, and the skin layer 5 is disposed on the upper mold and the core material layer 4 is disposed on the lower mold. When the upper and lower molds are put together, a space is generated in a predetermined portion, and the foamable raw material is injected into the portion by one shot.
[0033]
The foam layer is formed by heating the mold to about 40 to 50 ° C. and heating the foamable raw material punched therein for about 2 to 3 minutes.
[0034]
In addition, in the hard part 2, the outer skin layer 3 and the core material layer 4 can be closely_contact | adhered using an adhesive agent as needed. The skin layer 3 and the core material layer 4 of the soft part 1 are bonded by the foam layer 5.
[0035]
Thus, since the foam layer is formed last, there is no possibility that the foam layer is damaged during the formation of other layers, and a soft foam layer can be formed.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, since the hard part and the soft part are covered with the common skin layer, there is no parting line between the hard part and the soft part, and a sense of unity is achieved. It becomes an instrument panel having a certain excellent appearance, and can improve the commercial value.
[0037]
According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the effect of claim 1, the opening of the skin layer for the airbag device is formed by a notch on the back surface, and this notch is protected by the break material, and the skin layer It is possible to prevent cracks from being caused by covering the core material layer or by foaming pressure of the foam layer.
[0038]
According to the invention of claim 3, in addition to the effect of claim 2, since it is a hard part, opening at the time of airbag deployment is facilitated.
[0039]
According to the invention of claim 4, the foamed layer can be easily formed on a part of the skin layer, and the core material layer can be easily and closely formed on the entire surface thereof.
[0040]
According to the invention of claim 5, a soft foam layer is easily formed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of an embodiment of an instrument panel according to the present invention.
2 is a cross-sectional explanatory view taken along a line XX in FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Hard Layer 2 Soft Layer 3 Skin Layer 4 Core Material Layer 5 Foam Layer 6 Opening 7 Notch 9 Break Material

Claims (5)

(A) a core layer serving as a base of the panel;
(B) A foam layer formed on a predetermined portion of the surface of the core material layer, and (c) a surface other than the surface of the foam layer and the portion of the surface of the core material layer where the foam layer is formed. A hard skin layer composed of a skin layer and a core material layer, and a soft skin layer formed by sequentially laminating the skin layer, the foam layer and the core material layer. The instrument panel is characterized by being seamless and continuous. An airbag device can be mounted on the back surface of the core material layer, and a notch is formed on the back surface of the skin layer to form an opening when the airbag device is deployed. The instrument panel according to claim 1, wherein the notch is filled with a break material having low tear strength. The instrument panel according to claim 2, wherein the airbag device can be mounted on a back surface of the hard part. A method for manufacturing an instrument panel according to claim 1,
(A) a step of producing a skin layer,
(B) a step of forming a foam layer on a predetermined portion of the back surface of the skin layer, and (c) a skin layer having a foam layer formed on the back surface is disposed in the mold, and the back surface of the foam layer by injection molding, and A method for manufacturing an instrument panel, comprising a step of closely forming a continuous core material layer on a skin layer of a portion of a foam layer that is not backed. A method for manufacturing an instrument panel according to claim 1,
(A) a step of producing a skin layer,
(B) Step of manufacturing the core material layer, and (c) The skin layer and the core material layer are set in the upper mold and the lower mold of the mold, and foamed in a space formed in a predetermined portion of the skin layer and the core material layer. A method for producing an instrument panel, comprising a step of forming a foamed layer by injecting a material and foaming and solidifying the material.

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