JP4344444B2 - Manufacturing method of inner trim material for vehicle - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an inner trim material for a vehicle formed on the basis of a fiber blended material of natural fiber blended by mixing olefinic thermoplastic resin with natural fibers such as kenaf. The present invention relates to an inner trim material for a vehicle in which a fiber compounding material in which natural fibers are uniformly mixed is used as a base material and a skin material is provided on the surface thereof.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a conventional inner trim material for a vehicle made of a mixture of natural fibers and a thermoplastic resin as a reinforcing material, a mixture of natural fibers such as kenaf, palm, and cotton, and a polyolefin-based thermoplastic resin such as polyethylene and polypropylene is used. The thing which becomes.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, since the said conventional thing mixes pellet-shaped olefinic thermoplastic resins and natural fibers, such as kenaf, in the mixing process, there is a problem that both are not mixed uniformly. is there. In addition, when such a mixture is transferred to the next step, the specific gravity of the pellet-shaped olefinic thermoplastic resin and the natural fiber is greatly different, and thus there is a possibility that both of them are separated. Therefore, in the case where the natural fibers are mixed, there is a problem that it is difficult to obtain a high rigidity and it is difficult to mold a complicated shape since both are not mixed uniformly. In order to solve such problems, an olefinic thermoplastic resin and natural fibers are uniformly mixed, and a skin layer made of such a fiber compounding material as a base material and made of a soft resin material or the like on the surface. It is an object (problem) of the present invention to provide an inner trim material for a vehicle that is provided with high rigidity and excellent cushioning properties.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, the following measures are taken in the present invention. That is, in the first aspect of the invention, with respect to the method for producing the inner trim material for a vehicle, the step of introducing the olefin resin powder and the natural fiber into the mixing container and stirring and mixing them, The step of kneading the mixture formed in the mixing step with a predetermined kneader, and the kneaded material blended with natural fibers formed in the kneading step (hereinafter referred to as fiber blending material) are taken out of the kneader and cooled. And a step of forming the fiber-blended material into a pellet, a step of forming a substrate using the pellet-shaped fiber-blended material, and a skin made of an olefin-based resin containing a thermoplastic olefin on the surface of the substrate. And forming a material.
[0005]
By adopting such a process, in the present invention, the powdered olefin resin and the natural fiber are uniformly mixed. As a result, the rigidity of the substrate formed of the fiber compounding material can be made uniform. In addition, since an olefin resin is employed as the resin material, a method such as injection molding can be used, and a molded body having a complicated shape can be obtained. Furthermore, a skin layer with good cushioning properties can be provided on the surface.
[0006]
Further, in the present invention, by adopting the above steps, the injection pressure can be made lower than that of normal injection molding, and the impact applied to the skin material at the time of injection molding can be reduced. become. As a result, the damage received by the skin material can be reduced. Moreover, it becomes possible to provide a skin material having a cushioning property and an excellent appearance design on the surface of a substrate having high rigidity made of a fiber-mixed material uniformly mixed.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. An inner trim material for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention is a skin made of a soft resin material 9 on the surface of a base material 11 using a fiber blending material 1 in which a powder of an olefin resin 2 and natural fibers 3 are mixed. The material 12 is formed. And the manufacturing method of such an inner panel material for vehicles is demonstrated below.
[0008]
First, as shown in FIG. 1A, the powder of the olefin resin 2 and the natural fiber 3 are put into a mixing container 4. As the olefin resin 2, polypropylene (PP) is adopted in the present embodiment. Moreover, the shape is a powder form and the thing with a particle size of about 0.7 mm is employ | adopted. Further, as the natural fiber 3, kenaf fiber is employed, and a fiber cut to a length of about 3 to 10 mm is used. Furthermore, the blending ratio of the olefin resin 2 and the natural fiber 3 is blended so that the natural fiber 3 is contained by 50% or more. The total amount of the olefin resin 2 and the natural fiber 3 is about ½ of the volume of the mixing container 4 so that the space in the mixing container 4 is sufficient. I try to give it.
[0009]
Next, the stirring / mixing step will be described. As shown in FIG. 1B, the mixing container 4 is covered with a lid 41 so that the olefin resin 2 and the natural fiber 3 do not scatter and jump out of the mixing container 4 during stirring and mixing. Then, the stirring blade 45 is rotated. As a result, the olefin-based resin 2 made of a relatively lightweight powder is wound up in the mixing container 4 by the wind pressure generated by the stirring blade 45. Moreover, since the natural fiber 3 cut | disconnected by 3-10 mm is also comparatively light, it is similarly wound up in the mixing container 4. FIG. Since the total amount of the olefin resin 2 and the natural fiber 3 is about ½ with respect to the volume of the mixing container 4, the space in the mixing container 4 is given a margin. The natural fibers 3 freely move around in the mixing container 4, and finally the olefin resin 2 and the natural fibers 3 are mixed in a uniform state.
[0010]
Next, a process of kneading such a mixture using a predetermined kneader as shown in FIG. 1C will be described. The lid 41 of the mixing container 4 is opened, and the mixture of the olefin resin 2 and the natural fiber 3 mixed in a uniform state is moved into the hopper 5. Then, the olefin resin 2 and the natural fiber 3 are mixed in a uniform state while being heated up to a predetermined temperature, and are then melted while being sent from the hopper 5 to the kneader 6 in sequence. As a result, a molten fiber compounding material 1 in which the olefin resin 2 and the natural fiber 3 are uniformly mixed is obtained.
[0011]
Next, the pelletization process of the fiber compound material 1 in such a molten state will be described with reference to FIG. The molten fiber compounding material 1 extruded from the kneader 6 is gradually cooled to a predetermined temperature by a cooling device 71 using a water-cooled shower or the like while being conveyed by the belt conveyor 7. Then, the cooled product is cut into a predetermined shape by the cutter 8. As a result, it is possible to obtain a fiber blending material 1 which is composed of the olefin resin 2 and the natural fiber 3 and is pelletized. The base material 11 of the vehicle inner trim material is formed using such a pellet-shaped fiber compounding material 1.
[0012]
Next, the process of forming the skin material 12 made of the soft resin material 9 on the surface of the substrate 11 using such a fiber compounding material 1 will be described. First, as a first example, a two-layer molding method as shown in FIG. 2 will be described. In this case, first, the fiber compounding material 1 is injected (injected) into the mold 99 from the (A) port of the injection molding machine in FIG. Then, the mold 99 is moved (rotated), (B) is installed on the port side, and the skin is formed in two layers when the fiber compounding material 1 is injected from the (B) port side. A soft resin material 9 forming the material 12 is injected (injected). In this way, a two-layer inner trim material for a vehicle having a skin material 12 on the surface of the base material 11 as shown in FIG. 3 is formed. In the present embodiment, a soft olefin resin (TPO: Thermo Plastic Olefin) is employed as the soft resin material 9 forming the skin material 12.
[0013]
Next, as a second example, what is made of a sandwich molded body in which the entire base material 11 (the entire surface) is covered with the skin material 12 (formed by a sandwich molding method) is based on FIG. explain. First, in FIG. 4, the fiber compounding material 1 for forming the base material 11 is injected (injected) into a predetermined mold 99 from the (A) port side of the injection molding machine. Next, while injecting (injecting) the fiber blending material 1, the soft resin material 9 forming the skin material 12 is injected (injected) from the (B) port side with the timing slightly delayed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, a sandwich-like inner trim material for a vehicle provided with the skin material 12 made of the soft resin material 9 is formed so as to cover the entire surface of the base material 11 made of the fiber blending material 1. It becomes.
[0014]
Next, FIG. 6 shows a third example (molding method) in which the skin material 12 is previously provided in the mold 99 so that the skin material 12 is integrally provided on the surface of the substrate 11. This will be explained based on the above. First, as shown in FIG. 6A, a sheet-like skin material 12 is installed on the female side of the mold 99. Next, as shown in FIG. 6B, the fiber compounding material 1 to be the base material 11 is injected from the injection molding machine side while the mold 99 is half open, and injected into the female mold side. The injection pressure at this time is set to a value lower than the normal injection pressure. Thereby, damage applied to the skin material 12 can be reduced. After the injection (injection) of the fiber compounding material 1 is completed in this way, the mold 99 is closed and the skin material 12 and the base material 11 are compressed together as shown in FIG. To do). Thereby, both 11 and 12 are integrally molded. Finally, as shown in FIG. 6 (d), by taking out the integrated one from the mold 99, an inner trim material for a vehicle having a skin material 12 integrally provided on the surface is obtained. Become.
[0015]
In addition, the skin material 12 used here consists of sheet-like materials or film materials, such as a product made from a soft olefin resin (TPO) or a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin, for example. Also, a cushion material such as polypropylene (PP) foam should be attached to the back side of the material that will form a skin layer made of fabric, soft olefin resin (TPO), or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin. By using the two-layer structure formed by the above, it is possible to obtain the skin material 12 having excellent cushioning properties.
[0016]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, with respect to a method for manufacturing an inner trim material for a vehicle, an olefin resin powder and natural fibers are charged into a mixing container, and a step of stirring and mixing them and a step of mixing and mixing are performed. A step of kneading the resulting mixture with a predetermined kneader, and a kneaded mixture of natural fibers formed in the kneading step (hereinafter referred to as a fiber compounding material) is taken out of the kneader and cooled, and the fiber compound is mixed. A step of forming a material into pellets, a step of forming a base material using the pellet-like fiber compounding material, and a step of forming a skin material made of a soft resin material on the surface of the base material. As a result, the powdery olefin resin and the natural fiber are uniformly mixed. Therefore, the rigidity of the base material formed on the basis of such a fiber compounding material can be made uniform. Further, by using means such as an injection molding method, it becomes possible to obtain a molded body (base material) having a complicated shape, and a skin material excellent in cushioning properties is integrated on the surface side of such a base material. Can now be provided.
[0017]
Furthermore, while forming a base material using such a fiber compounding material and taking a process of integrating with a skin material previously set in a mold, the injection pressure is lower than that of normal injection molding. It has become possible to reduce the impact applied to the skin material during injection molding. Moreover, it has become possible to provide a skin material having a cushioning property and an excellent appearance design on the surface of a substrate having high rigidity made of a fiber-mixed material uniformly mixed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a manufacturing process of a fiber compounding material used for a base material of an inner trim material for a vehicle according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a manufacturing process for the first example of the vehicle inner trim material according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an inner trim material for a vehicle manufactured according to the first example of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a manufacturing process for the second example of the vehicle inner trim material according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an inner trim material for a vehicle manufactured based on a second example according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a manufacturing process for the third example of the vehicle inner trim material according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fiber compounding material 11 Base material 12 Skin material 2 Olefin resin 3 Natural fiber 4 Mixing container 41 Lid 45 Stirring blade 5 Hopper 6 Kneading machine 7 Belt conveyor 71 Cooling device 8 Cutter 9 Soft resin material 99 Mold

Claims (1)

Adding the olefin resin powder and natural fiber into the mixing container, stirring and mixing them, and kneading the mixture formed in the stirring and mixing process in a predetermined kneader; A step of taking out the natural fiber-blended kneaded product (hereinafter referred to as a fiber-blended material) formed in the kneading step from the kneader and cooling it, and forming the fiber-blended material into pellets, and the pellet-shaped fibers Production of an inner trim material for a vehicle characterized by comprising a step of forming a base material using a compounding material and a step of forming a skin material made of an olefin-based resin containing a thermoplastic olefin on the surface of the base material Method.

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