JPH11291069A - Method for processing instrument panel with lid for air bag - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify a laser beam machine used for processing of an instrument panel. SOLUTION: This method consists of a laser cutting stage for lancing a peripheral groove 11 of a lid 10 for an air bag while forming a U-sectioned groove on the rear surface of the instrument panel 1 while the residual wall of a prescribed thickness is left by the laser beam cast to the rear surface and a photoinspecting stage for emitting an inspection beam of light to the peripheral groove 11 and inspecting the thickness of the residual wall in accordance with the transmitted light quantity of this beam of light. When the laser beam is oscillated by an oscillation mirror 34, laser output is controlled according to the oscillation angle of the laser beam in order to make the energy applied to the cutting part of the instrument panel 1 uniform. As a result, the laser beam may be oscillated by continuously changing the angle of this oscillation mirror 34.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a method for processing an instrument panel with a lid for an airbag.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional instrument panel with a lid for an air bag. The instrument panel 100 with the lid for the airbag is a panel arranged in front of the driver's seat of the vehicle for arranging instruments and operation switches. Opening 102 and opening 10
4. Open the airbag lid 10 on the left side of the opening 102.
5 is attached. Lid for airbag 105
Has a breaking groove 105a in the center so that the airbag 106 opens when inflated.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG.
Shows a state in which is attached. When the airbag 106 inflates,
When the pressing force acts as shown by the outline arrow A, the breaking groove 10
5a is torn and the airbag lid 105 is
The opening is performed as indicated by arrows B and B, with 7, 107 as a fulcrum.

[0004] Since the airbag lid 105 as a separate member is attached to the instrument panel 100, steps 108, 108 are formed at the boundary between the airbag lid 105 and the instrument panel 100. Further, since the breaking groove 105a is formed on the surface of the airbag lid 105, the breaking groove 105a can be seen. Since the steps 108 and 108 and the breaking groove 105a are visible, the appearance is not preferable, and there is a possibility that dust may accumulate in the steps 108 and 108 and the breaking groove 105a.

On the other hand, there is an instrument panel in which an airbag lid is integrally formed by using, for example, a laser processing machine. According to this instrument panel, the step between the lid for the airbag and the instrument panel can be eliminated, and the appearance of the appearance can be improved by forming a break groove on the back surface of the lid for the airbag. There is no danger of accumulation of dust.

As a laser processing machine which can be used for processing an instrument panel, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-60467.
There is a gazette of "work cutting method". In this technique, as shown in FIG. 5 of the publication, a laser nozzle of a laser processing machine is moved so as to be orthogonal to a transfer direction of a work while a work is transferred to a downstream side, and laser light is emitted from the laser nozzle. Is output to process the workpiece. Hereinafter, the main part of the laser beam machine disclosed in this publication will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 8 is a schematic explanatory view of a conventional laser beam machine. The laser beam machine 110 reflects a laser beam 112 emitted from a light projector 111 on a reflection mirror 113, condenses it with a condenser lens 114, and guides the laser beam 112 to a work 115. Reference numeral 112a denotes a focal point. In order to advance cutting while maintaining the level of the focal point 112a, the laser nozzle 1
16 is moved in parallel with the work 115 as indicated by the arrow.
The work 115 moves in the front and back direction of the drawing. Thus, the work 115 can be cut.

[0008]

However, for the purpose of moving the laser nozzle 116, a flexible duct 117 must be arranged between the flexible duct 117 and the laser transmitter 111. Thus, in this type of laser processing machine, the laser nozzle 11
Moving 6 complicates the structure.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to simplify a laser beam machine used for machining an instrument panel.

[0010]

Means for Solving the Problems In the course of simplification of a laser processing machine, it has been found that cutting can be performed by placing a cutting portion of an instrument panel within a range of a “depth of focus” of laser light. I found it. Then, if the change in the position of the focal point is allowed to some extent, the inventors have noticed that the focal point can be scanned along the section to be cut by continuously changing the angle of the reflecting mirror.

More specifically, the peripheral groove of the lid for an airbag is cut while forming a U-section groove while leaving a residual thickness of a predetermined thickness by a laser beam applied to the back surface of the instrument panel. A laser cutting step, emitting an inspection light beam to the circumferential groove, based on the amount of transmitted light of this light, an optical inspection step of inspecting the thickness of the remaining wall, the laser cut,
The laser light is oscillated by an oscillating mirror, and the laser output is controlled in accordance with the oscillating angle of the laser light so as to uniformly apply energy to a cutting portion of the instrument panel.

The laser beam can be scanned by swinging the laser beam while continuously changing the angle of the swing mirror. As a result, only the means for continuously changing the angle of the oscillating mirror need be prepared, so that the laser processing machine can be simplified. The laser beam machine performs an inspection of an instrument panel in an optical inspection process. By continuously performing the laser cutting process and the optical inspection process, productivity can be greatly increased.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the peripheral groove is intermittently formed in a perforated shape by intermittently irradiating a laser beam. By making the circumferential groove perforated, there is no fear that the lid for the airbag may be opened carelessly with a slight load or come off the instrument panel.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings should be viewed in the direction of reference numerals. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an instrument panel with a lid for an airbag according to the present invention. In the description, “front”, “rear”, “left”, and “right” are as illustrated. Instrument panel 1 with lid for airbag
Is a panel arranged in front of the driver's seat of the vehicle for arranging instruments and operation switches. An opening 2 is provided at the right and center of the panel for attaching instruments and operation switches.
The opening 4 is opened, and an airbag lid 10 is integrally formed on the left side of the opening 2. 6a, 6b, 8a, 8
b is an opening opened to attach an air outlet for cooling and heating.

The lid 10 for an airbag has a peripheral groove 11 formed in a rectangular shape on the back surface side of the instrument panel 1 and a central U-section groove 16 formed in the center on the back surface side.
The peripheral groove 11 forms a front side of the lid 10 with the front hinge groove 12a, and forms a rear side of the lid 10 with the rear hinge groove 12b.
The left side of the lid 10 is formed by the left U-section groove 14a, and the right side of the lid 10 is formed by the right U-section groove 14b.

The front and rear hinge grooves 12a and 12b are perforated grooves formed on the back surface of the instrument panel 1. The left and right U-section grooves 14a, 14b are perforated grooves formed on the back surface of the instrument panel 1, and are formed deeper than the front and rear hinge grooves 12a, 12b. The center U-section groove 16 is a groove formed in the center of the rear surface of the lid 10 in a perforated shape, and
This is a groove formed at the same depth as a and 14b.

The front and rear hinge grooves 12a, 12b, the right and left U
The cross-sectional grooves 14a and 14b and the central U-shaped cross-sectional groove 16 were formed in perforations. For this reason, it is possible to maintain a certain level of strength. As a result, there is no fear that the lid 10 is opened or detached from the instrument panel 1 with a slight load.
Reference numeral 18 denotes an airbag for a passenger seat which is attached to a lower side of the airbag lid 10.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1. The lid 10 for an airbag is composed of a base material 20 and a sheet material 22 attached to the surface of the base material 20. A rear hinge portion 12b is formed on the rear side of 10 in a perforated shape,
A central U-section groove 16 is formed in the center of the lid 10 in a perforated shape, and the groove depth D1 of the center U-section groove 16 is set to the rear hinge groove 12.
b is set larger than the groove depth D2, so that the center U
The remaining portion 16a of the sectional groove 16 is replaced with the remaining portion 12 of the rear hinge groove 12b.
It shows a state thinner than c. The front hinge 12a
Have the same shape as the rear hinge portion 12b, and
Since the cross-sectional grooves 14a and 14b have the same shape as the central U-shaped cross-sectional groove 16, the description is omitted.

As a result, the airbag 18 (shown in FIG. 1)
When the airbag 18 is inflated, the pressing force of the airbag 18 acts as shown by a white arrow, and the central U-section groove 16 and the left and right U-section grooves 1
4a, 14b (shown in FIG. 1), the air bag lid 10 is broken and the front and rear hinge portions 12a, 12b
(Only the rear hinge portion 12b is shown) is used as a fulcrum to open as shown by the arrow. Note that the lid 10 shown by the imaginary line shows an open state.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a laser beam machine according to the present invention. In the description, “X axis” and “Y axis” are as illustrated. The laser processing machine 30 mainly includes a laser oscillator (not shown) that emits a laser beam 31 and a galvanomirror (hereinafter, referred to as an “oscillating mirror unit”) that guides the laser beam 31 to a cutting portion on the back side of the instrument panel 1. ) 3
Consists of two.

The oscillating mirror unit 32 includes a oscillating mirror 34 disposed on a case 33 for reflecting the laser light 31 and a substantially U-shaped frame 36 for oscillatingly supporting the oscillating mirror 34.
An X-axis drive unit 38 attached to the frame 36 to swing the swing mirror 34 as shown by an arrow; a mounting table 40 attached to the case 33; and a mounting table 40 to swing the frame 36 as shown by the arrow. It comprises a moving Y-axis drive section 42 and a condenser lens (convex lens) 44 disposed below the oscillating mirror 34 and condensing the laser beam 31 at the focal point F.

The oscillating mirror unit 32 includes an X-axis driving unit 3
8, the swing angle is changed in parallel with the X axis of the swing mirror 34 in proportion to the drive current of the swing mirror 34, and swings in parallel with the Y axis of the swing mirror 34 in proportion to the drive current of the Y axis drive unit 42. It is a device that can change the angle. As a result, the X-axis drive unit 38
By controlling the drive current of the Y-axis drive unit 42 and the Y-axis, the laser beam 31 can be arbitrarily scanned by continuously changing the X-axis angle and the Y-axis angle of the oscillating mirror 34.
Therefore, the peripheral groove 11 and the central U-section groove 16 of the airbag lid 10 can be processed by the laser beam 31.

The laser processing machine 30 is capable of processing the airbag lid 10 in the range of the depth of focus D of the laser beam 31. In order to make the energy applied to the cutting portion of the instrument panel 1 uniform, The laser output can be controlled according to the swing angle of the laser beam 31. 46 is a controller for that purpose. For this reason, since the groove depth can be changed by changing the laser output, the left and right U-section grooves 14a, 1a shown in FIG.
4b and the central U-section groove 16 are connected to the front and rear hinge grooves 12a, 12
It is also possible to work deeper than b.

The laser beam machine 30 is provided with a swing mirror 3
The laser beam 31 can be scanned by swinging the laser beam 31 while continuously changing the angle of 4. As a result, only the X-axis drive unit 38 and the Y-axis drive unit 42 that continuously change the angle of the oscillating mirror 34 need be prepared, so that the laser processing machine 30 can be simplified.

Next, a method for processing the instrument panel with a lid for an airbag according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a first explanatory view of a method for processing an instrument panel with a lid for an airbag according to the present invention. The instrument panel 1 is set on the work set jig 50 in an inverted state, and then the work set jig 50 is placed on the table 52. The instrument panel 1 has a rear surface facing upward.

Next, the laser cutting step will be described. The work set jig 50 is placed on the rotary table 54, and the instrument panel 1 is arranged below the laser beam machine 30. In this state, a laser beam 31 is emitted from the laser beam machine 30 to irradiate the back surface of the airbag lid 10, and the laser beam 31 is used to irradiate the peripheral groove and the center U of the airbag lid 10.
Cut the cross-section groove. Next, the laser cutting step will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

FIGS. 5A to 5C are second explanatory views of a method for processing an instrument panel with a lid for an airbag according to the present invention. As an example, the content of processing the central U-section groove 16 will be described. 2A, the laser beam 31 is reflected by the swing mirror 34 and guided to the convex lens 44, and is focused on the focal point F by the convex lens 44 and guided to the back surface of the airbag lid 10. Since the laser beam 31 has the swing angle θ, the focal point F is located above the back surface of the airbag lid 10.

The laser beam 31 is applied to the airbag lid 10.
The center U cross-sectional groove 16 having a depth D1 is machined from the back surface side of FIG.
In this state, the X-axis driving unit 38 is driven to rotate the swing mirror 3.
4 is continuously rotated as indicated by the arrow, thereby scanning the laser beam 31 as indicated by the arrow.

In (b), the laser beam 31 is intermittently irradiated while the laser beam 31 is scanned from P1 to the vertical position P2, so that the central U-section groove 16 is machined into a perforated shape. While scanning the laser beam 31 from P1 to the vertical position P2, the laser output is controlled to gradually decrease according to the change of the swing angle θ of the laser beam 31,
The depth D1 of the central U-section groove 16 is kept constant.

In (c), the laser beam 31 is intermittently irradiated while the laser beam 31 moves from the vertical position P2 to the vertical position P3, so that the central U sectional groove 16 is processed into a perforated shape. While scanning the laser beam 31 from the vertical position P2 to the vertical position P3, the laser output is controlled to gradually increase in accordance with the change in the oscillation angle θ of the laser beam, so that the depth D1 of the central U-section groove 16 is kept constant. keep.

In FIG. 5, the description has been given of the case where only the X-axis drive section is driven to machine the central U-section groove 16. However, by driving the two drive sections, the X-axis drive section and the Y-axis drive section, By scanning the laser beam along the X axis and the Y axis, the circumferential groove 11 can be formed on the back surface of the airbag lid 10 in the same manner as the center U sectional groove 16.

Next, returning to FIG. 4, the optical inspection process will be described. By driving the drive motor 55 to rotate the turntable 54, the instrument panel 1
Set to 6. In this state, an inspection light beam 58 is emitted from the inspection light projecting light source 57 of the inspection device 56 to the circumferential groove 11 and the central U-section groove 16. Part of inspection light beam 58 (transmitted light beam) 58
a is the remaining portion 16a of the peripheral groove 11 and the central U-section groove 16 (FIG. 2).
See also), the opening 50a of the work set jig 50.
And the sensor 6 passing through the opening 54a of the turntable 54
Incident at 0. The sensor 60 receives the transmitted light beam 58a
It is inspected based on the quantity of light to determine whether the thickness of the remaining wall of the peripheral groove 11 and the central U-section groove 16 is appropriate. After the inspection is completed, the instrument panel 1 set on the work set jig 50 is taken out to the table 62.

The inspection device 56 is integrated with the laser beam machine 30, and the instrument panel 1 is moved to the inspection device only by rotating the rotary table 54. For this reason, since the laser cutting process and the optical inspection process can be continuously performed, productivity can be greatly improved.

In the above-described embodiment, the description has been given of the case where the peripheral groove 11 and the central U-section groove 16 are processed into perforations by intermittently irradiating the laser light 31.
The peripheral groove and the central U-section groove may be formed as continuous grooves by continuously irradiating.

[0035]

According to the present invention, the following effects are exhibited by the above configuration. According to the first aspect of the present invention, the laser beam is swung by the swinging mirror to cut the circumferential groove of the airbag lid, so that the laser beam is scanned by continuously changing the angle of the swinging mirror. Can be. Since only means for continuously changing the angle of the oscillating mirror need be prepared, the laser processing machine can be simplified. The laser beam machine performs an inspection of an instrument panel in an optical inspection process. By continuously performing the laser cutting process and the optical inspection process, productivity can be greatly increased.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the peripheral groove is intermittently formed in a perforated shape by intermittently irradiating a laser beam. By making the circumferential groove perforated, there is no fear that the lid for the airbag may be opened carelessly with a slight load or come off the instrument panel.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an instrument panel with an airbag lid according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a laser processing machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a first explanatory view of a method for processing an instrument panel with a lid for an airbag according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a second explanatory view of a method for processing an instrument panel with a lid for an airbag according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional instrument panel with a lid for an air bag.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a schematic explanatory view of a conventional laser beam machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Instrument panel with lid for airbag,
10: lid for airbag, 12c, 16a: remaining meat, 3
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Laser light, 32 ... Oscillating mirror unit, 34 ... Oscillating mirror, 57 ... Inspection light projection light source, 58 ... Inspection light beam, 58a
... transmitted light, 60 ... sensor.

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI B60R 21/20 B60R 21/20

Claims (2)

[Claims] A laser cutting step of cutting a peripheral groove of an airbag lid while forming a U-shaped groove while leaving a residual thickness of a predetermined thickness with a laser beam applied to the back surface of the instrument panel; Emitting an inspection light beam into the groove, and based on the transmitted light amount of the light beam, an optical inspection step of inspecting the thickness of the remaining wall, the laser cutting, while oscillating the laser light with an oscillating mirror A method for processing an instrument panel with a lid for an airbag, wherein a laser output is controlled in accordance with a swing angle of a laser beam so as to uniformly apply energy to a cutting portion of the instrument panel. 2. The method for processing an instrument panel with an airbag lid according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral groove is intermittently formed in a perforated shape by intermittently irradiating a laser beam.