KR100765630B1 - Wiper blade and manufacturing method of it for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

A wiper blade for a vehicle and a method for manufacturing thereof are provided to enhance durability of the wiper blade by coating a diamond like carbon film onto the wiper blade. A wiper blade comprises an implanted layer and a diamond like carbon film. The implanted layer is formed by irradiating particles, such as ionized carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen, to the blade so that the coupling property between a blade rubber and surface coating material is improved. The diamond like carbon film is coated onto a surface of the blade. The implanted layer is formed in the blade at the depth of 10 to 100nm. The particles are generated from plasma which is formed in a magnetic enhanced ion gun(11).

Description

Wiper blades for automobiles and manufacturing method thereof

1 is a schematic view for explaining the irradiation of the cation in the blade rubber surface in the plasma by the ion beam planted plating method according to the present invention,

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a self-enhancing ion gun according to the present invention,

Figure 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a synthesis apparatus of a diamond-like carbon thin film containing a metal according to the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: wiper blade 11: ion gun

12: blade rubber 13: anode

14 plasma 15 gas supply unit

16a: ion gun power supply 16b: sputter gun power supply

17: sputter gun 18: HF power

19: reaction chamber 20: vacuum pump

21: wiper blade jig 22: hydrocarbon gas

23: argon gas

The present invention relates to an automotive wiper blade and a method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly, by coating a diamond-like carbon thin film (DLC Film) containing a metal on the automotive wiper blade, thereby reducing the coefficient of friction and improve wear resistance The present invention relates to a wiper blade for an automobile and a method for manufacturing the same, which enable the blade to maintain elasticity and thus improve the life of the blade.

The vehicle wiper blade is composed of a fixing part for the wiper support and a perturbation part which wipes impurities while making direct contact with the glass surface, and is generally made of rubber.

Rubber materials used for wiper blades are relatively flexible, elastic, and resilient. Natural rubber (NR), isoprene rubber (IR), styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), butadiene rubber (BR), and acrylonitrile-butadiene Rubber (NBR), ethylene-propylene rubber (EPDM), chloroprene rubber (CR) and the like can be used.

However, since these rubber materials are basically soft and have high frictional forces when perturbed with the glass surface, when these materials are used as wiper blades without surface treatment, dust or sand introduced by the counterpart or from the outside during continuous friction with glass It is easily worn by impurities such as a decrease in lifespan, and the damage of the blade contact surface is sharply worsened, which hinders the driver's vision and increases the risk of rain.

In addition, the stick-slip phenomenon, which is easily generated due to the frictional characteristics of the elastic body, may disturb the driver's nerves due to high noise and tremor, and thus, may interfere with safe driving.

Recently, as the technology of the automobile industry has been radically developed, the production of noise-free automobiles has emerged as a measure of technological competition, and the importance of quality control as an emotional component has been increased even for the wiper blades, which have been relatively insignificant among the vehicle components. Accordingly, the production of high quality wiper blades is required.

The method of improving the quality of the wiper blade includes a method of improving the quality by essentially improving the composition of the rubber component, which is a material of the blade, and a method of functionally modifying only the surface layer of the blade that is in contact with the glass surface and is rubbed.

In the former case, since the problem of the material is fundamentally improved, a high quality and a long service life can be obtained. However, there are many difficulties in developing such a high quality rubber product and economically effective. There is a problem that is difficult to develop the product.

On the other hand, in the latter case, the lubricity or durability is coated only on the surface of the blade body. In terms of durability, the performance of the blade can be improved more economically than the method of modifying the body. It is a realistically effective technique.

However, the conventional graphite coating (Graghite coating) that is used to improve the lubricity has a problem of weak durability and causing user dissatisfaction during use in the field.

In addition, the conventional DLC (Diamond Like Carbon) coating technology is used to improve the durability and lubricity of metals.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, by coating a diamond-like carbon thin film (DLC Film) containing a metal on the automotive wiper blade, thereby reducing the coefficient of friction and improve wear resistance while maintaining the blade elasticity It is an object of the present invention to provide an automobile wiper blade and a method for manufacturing the same, which can improve the service life of the blade.

In the present invention for achieving the above object in the vehicle wiper blade (10),

Implanted layer formed by irradiating particles such as carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen ionized inside the blade to improve physical properties of the blade rubber and bonding with the surface coating material, and diamond coated on the blade surface Characterized in that it comprises a phase carbon thin film.

In a preferred embodiment, the implant layer is formed in a layer between 10 and 100 nm inside the blade.

In a more preferred embodiment, the particles are extracted from the plasma formed inside the Magnetic Enhanced Ion Gun (MEIG), a voltage of 100 ~ 3000volt is applied to the anode of the MEIG according to the ionizing material, The ion particles accelerated by the voltage impinge on the blade at high speed and form an implant layer inside the blade rubber.

In addition, the charge accumulated on the surface of the blade rubber is characterized in that the bipolar pulsed voltage (bipolar pulsed voltage) is applied to the blade at a frequency of 50 ~ 400kHz and -50 ~ -2000 volt is discharged.

In addition, it characterized in that it further comprises a buffer layer coated to improve the bonding strength between the implant layer and the diamond-like carbon thin film by using a magnetron sputter (magnetron sputter) or MEIG.

In addition, the coating material used to form the buffer layer is characterized in that any one or two or more selected from Si, W, Ti and Cr are combined.

In addition, a metal is added to the diamond-like carbon thin film to improve thermal stability, the amount of the metal is characterized in that 1 to 50 at.%.

In addition, the diamond-like carbon thin film containing the metal on the surface of the blade is characterized in that the coating of 0.1 ~ 2㎛.

Moreover, in the manufacturing method of the wiper blade for automobiles,

Inserting a wiper blade into the reaction chamber using an ion beam deposition apparatus having an ion gun and an ion gun power supply, and a thin film synthesis apparatus including a reaction chamber, a magnetron sputter gun, and a sputter gun power supply; Supplying a hydrocarbon-based gas to the ion beam deposition apparatus; Generating carbon plasma by ion beam deposition by applying power to the ion gun; Mounting a metal target on the magnetron sputter gun; Sputtering a metal material onto the metal target by applying power to the magnetron sputter gun while supplying argon gas (23) to the metal target; And depositing carbon and metal at the same time on the wiper blade inserted into the reaction chamber to form a diamond-like carbon thin film containing the metal.

In addition, the step of evacuating the reaction chamber to reach the initial vacuum (~ 10 ^-6 torr) for the plasma process before the hydrocarbon-based gas supply after charging the wiper blade; And cleaning the blade rubber by using argon ions to remove an oxide film or contaminants on the blade surface.

In addition, the anode pulse voltage is applied to the blade at a frequency of 50 to 400 kHz and -50 to -2000 volt to discharge the energy to control the energy of ions incident to the blade and to accumulate charge.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

DLC thin films are difficult to apply to rubber coatings and coating technologies that are used in a variety of VCR head drums, molds for IC packaging, infrared (IR) windows, hard disks, artificial joints, and the like.

The present invention can improve the durability / wipeability by coating the surface of the wiper blade 10, using the high hardness and excellent lubricity of the DLC.

When explaining the physical properties of the DLC film compared with diamond and graphite are shown in Table 1 and Table 2.

1) Diamond: It is a cubic crystal structure and has a sp ³ bond.

2) Graphite: hexagonal crystal structure, sp ² bond

3) DLC: An amorphous structure in which sp ² and sp ³ bonds are mixed.

As shown in Table 1, the DLC film has a high hardness and abrasion resistance of 1000 to 4000 HV, and has a lubricity of TiN, TiCN, TiAlN, and diamond with a coefficient of friction of 0.1 to 0.2, as shown in Table 2.

It has high light transmittance in the IR region, electrical insulation, and good chemical stability of carbon bonds, and has a low modulus of elasticity while being made of carbon or hydrogen.

In addition, there is an advantage that the physical properties of the film can be freely adjusted over a wide range in accordance with the synthesis conditions in terms of synthesis technology.

The DLC film is applied to VCR head drums and heads, electron gun assembly tools, IC packaging molds and various dental tools, IR windows, sunglasses, hard disks and sliders, VCR tapes, artificial replacement materials such as artificial joints, and razor blades.

However, it is difficult to apply to mass production for rubbers.

Conventional wiper blade 10 manufacturing process of the wiper blade 10 molding → chlorine surface treatment → graphite coating → cutting, the manufacturing process of the wiper blade 10 according to the present invention is a graphite coating process DLC coating process Is replaced by

In order to apply the DLC coating to the wiper blade 10, physical properties for optimizing blade performance are adjusted.

In the conventional process, the main role of the ion beam that is scanned to form the coating thin film on the surface of the wiper blade 10 is to activate the sputtered material or the molecules on the surface of the blade so that the coating material and the rubber layer of the blade It was to enhance the bond.

However, in the Ion Beam Implanted Plating (IBIP) deposition method used in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the cations in the plasma 14 are directly irradiated onto the surface of the blade to form carbon and nitrogen into the blade surface. The hardness of the blade is reinforced by penetrating ions and the like.

At this time, the carbon atoms or molecules planted in the blade rubber 12 are covalently bonded with the carbon atoms of the DLC layer or other thin film atoms deposited on the surface to enhance the bonding force between the blade rubber 12 and the coating layer.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a magnetic enhanced ion gun 11 (MEIG) used for the present invention, wherein the electrons used for generation of plasma 14 in the MEIG are present in the gas. Of free electrons.

The free electrons undergo a rapid rotational movement toward the anode 13 by a strong magnetic field and a voltage of 100 to 3000 volts applied to the anode 13. At this time, the electrons collide with the supplied gas molecules to release the electrons, thereby converting the gas into plasma 14.

The cations in the plasma 14 obtain kinetic energy by the voltage applied by the anode 13, and the ion beam is scanned. Unlike the ion source used in other IBIP processes, these MEIGs do not require hot electrons, so there is no heat generation by the ion gun 11 or the ion source, so there is no increase in the device temperature even in a long process for mass production. .

Therefore, it is suitable for the synthesis of implanted DLC thin film applied to the heat-sensitive wiper blade 10.

3 is a schematic diagram of a synthesis apparatus used in the present invention, wherein the synthesis apparatus is composed of four parts, such as an ion gun 11, a sputter gun 17, power supply units 16a and 16b, and a gas supply unit 15.

1) After the wiper blade 10 is charged into the vacuum chamber where the process is performed, the vacuum is evacuated to reach an initial vacuum of 10 ⁻⁶ torr or less for the plasma 14 process.

After reaching this degree of vacuum, before planting carbon particles in the wiper blade 10, the blade rubber 12 is cleaned using Ar ions to remove oxide films or other contaminants on the blade surface.

This cleaning with Ar ions, along with the removal of contaminants, excites the blade rubber 12 molecules to facilitate implantation and deposition of the coating material. At this time, the voltage of 100 ~ 2000 volt is applied to MEIG according to the blade loading amount and surface contamination, and the ion cleaning process time is 10 ~ 100 minutes.

2) After ion cleaning, particles of ionized carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, etc. are irradiated to the layer between about 10 and 100 nm inside the blade to improve the physical properties of the blade rubber 12 and the bonding property of the surface coating material. An implanted layer is formed.

If the implant layer is less than 10 nm, there is a problem in that the physical properties of the blade rubber cannot be changed, and the adhesion with the coating material is significantly decreased. If the implant layer is more than 100 nm, the physical properties of the blade rubber are completely changed. Since this problem is not easy, it is preferable to form an implant layer between 10 and 100 nm.

To this end, particles are extracted from the plasma 14 formed inside the MEIG, and a voltage of 100 to 3000 volt is applied to the anode 13 of the MEIG according to the ionization material.

The ion particles accelerated by this voltage impinge on the blade at a high speed and form an implant layer inside the blade rubber 12. At this time, charges are accumulated on the surface of the rubber due to the non-conductivity of the blade rubber 12.

The accumulated charge can cause arcing, which can damage the blade rubber 12, and to prevent the damage, the accumulated charge must be discharged. In this step, a bipolar pulsed voltage of 10 to 50 volts is applied to discharge the charge.

3) After the formation of the implant layer, a DLC thin film or a buffer layer for bonding strength is coated on the surface of the blade. Magnetron sputter (magnetron sputter) or MEIG may be used for the coating of the buffer layer, and a coating material such as Si, W, Ti, Cr, or the like may be used.

DLC thin films have low friction, high wear resistance and chemical stability, and metals are added to DLC thin films to improve thermal stability.

Since the metal forms sp ³ bonds that do not contain sp ² , it improves thermal stability without affecting the inherent properties of the DLC thin film, and maintains a low coefficient of friction even at high humidity.

4) MEIG and magnetron sputter were used as the ion beam source for depositing metal-doped DLC.

At this time, DC 3kW was used as the MEIG power supply, 99.99% metal target was installed in the magnetron sputter, and DC 6 kW was used as the sputter power supply.

DLC synthesis method doped with the metal is as follows.

In the MEIG, plasma 14 is generated using hydrocarbon gas 22 to supply carbon ions. At this time, the voltage applied to MEIG shall be a value between 100 and 2500 volt.

At the same time, argon gas 23 is supplied to the magnetron target surface to sputter the metal target at a pressure of 0.5-20 mTorr to react with the carbon particles reached from the MEIG on the wiper blade 10.

At this time, a bipolar pulsed voltage (50 to 400 kHz) is applied to the blade at -50 to -2000 volt to control the energy of ions incident on the blade and discharge the accumulated charge.

In this case, when the frequency of the positive electrode pulse power is less than 50 kHz, a problem arises in that it is impossible to discharge the stored charges. If the frequency exceeds 400 kHz, there is a problem in that the flow of charges in the plasma cannot be controlled. The frequency of is preferably applied.

In addition, when the voltage of the anode pulse is less than -50 volts can cause damage to the DLC coating layer due to macroparticles, and if it exceeds -200 volts, the bond between the blade and the coating layer due to internal stress may be reduced. It is desirable to apply it to the blade at -50 to -2000 volts.

Through the energy control of the incident ions, a diamond-like carbon thin film containing a metal is formed on the blade.

In this step, a diamond-like carbon thin film containing a metal is coated on the blade with a thickness of 0.1 to 2 μm, with the synthesis rate of the diamond-like carbon thin film containing metal being 0.2 to 5 μm per hour. At this time, the metal content of the thin film is 1.0 to 50 at.%.

At this time, since the wear resistance and lubricity are remarkably inferior to the thickness of 0.1 μm and the peeling phenomenon due to the internal stress occurs at the thickness of 2 μm or more, the thickness is preferably 0.1 to 2 μm. In addition, when the metal content is less than 1.0 at.%, There is a problem in that a low coefficient of friction cannot be maintained at high humidity due to a decrease in thermal stability of a few, and when in excess of 50 at.%, Intrinsic properties of diamond-like carbon thin films Since there is a problem of having a very high coefficient of friction value while affecting one property, it is preferably 1.0 to 50 at.%.

Therefore, by coating a diamond-like carbon thin film (DLC Film) containing a metal on the automotive wiper blade 10, it is possible to reduce the coefficient of friction and improve wear resistance, while maintaining the elasticity of the blade to improve the life of the blade .

While the invention has been shown and described with respect to certain preferred embodiments thereof, the invention is not limited to these embodiments, and has been claimed by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains. It includes all the various forms of embodiments that can be carried out without departing from the spirit.

As described above, according to the automotive wiper blade and the manufacturing method thereof according to the present invention, by coating a diamond-like carbon thin film (DLC Film) containing a metal on the automotive wiper blade, to reduce the coefficient of friction and improve the wear resistance At the same time it is possible to maintain the elasticity of the blade has the effect of improving the life of the blade.

Claims (11)

In automotive wiper blades, Implanted layer formed by irradiating particles of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen ionized inside the blade to improve physical properties of the blade rubber 12 and bonding of the surface coating material, and on the blade surface. An automobile wiper blade comprising a coated diamond-like carbon thin film. The method according to claim 1, The implant layer is a wiper blade for an automobile, characterized in that formed in the layer between 10 ~ 100nm inside the blade. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The particles are extracted from the plasma 14 formed inside the magnetic enhanced ion gun 11 (hereinafter referred to as MEIG), and a voltage of 100 to 3000 volts is applied to the anode 13 of the MEIG according to the ionizing material. And the ion particles accelerated by the voltage collide with the blade at a high speed, and form an implant layer inside the blade rubber (12). The method according to claim 3, Charges accumulated on the surface of the blade rubber (12) is a wiper blade for the vehicle, characterized in that the bipolar pulsed voltage (bipolar pulsed voltage) is applied at a frequency of 50 ~ 400kHz and -50 ~ -2000 volt to discharge. The method according to claim 1 or 2, A wiper blade for automobiles, further comprising a buffer layer coated to improve adhesion between the implant layer and the diamond-like carbon thin film by using a magnetron sputter or MEIG. The method according to claim 5, The coating material used to form the buffer layer is a vehicle wiper blade, characterized in that any one or two or more selected from Si, W, Ti and Cr are combined. The method according to claim 6, A metal wiper blade is added to the diamond-like carbon thin film to enhance thermal stability, and the amount of the metal is 1 to 50 at.%. The method according to claim 6, Automotive wiper blades, characterized in that the diamond-like carbon thin film containing the metal is coated on the surface of the blade 0.1 ~ 2㎛. In the manufacturing method of a wiper blade for an automobile, An ion beam deposition apparatus including an ion gun 11 and an ion gun power supply 16a, and a thin film synthesis apparatus including a reaction chamber 19, a magnetron sputter gun 17, and a sputter gun power supply 16b are used. Charging a wiper blade (10) into the reaction chamber (19); Supplying a hydrocarbon-based gas to the ion beam deposition apparatus; Generating carbon plasma (14) by ion beam deposition by applying power to the ion gun (11); Mounting a metal target on the magnetron sputter gun (17); Sputtering a metal material onto the metal target by applying power to the magnetron sputter gun (17) while supplying argon gas (23) to the metal target; Simultaneously depositing carbon and metal on the wiper blade 10 charged in the reaction chamber 19 to form a diamond-like carbon thin film containing metal; Method for manufacturing a wiper blade for a vehicle, characterized in that it comprises a. The method according to claim 9, Evacuating the reaction chamber (19) to reach an initial vacuum (˜10 ⁻⁶ torr) for the plasma (14) process after loading the wiper blade (10) and before supplying the hydrocarbon-based gas; Cleaning the blade rubber (12) using argon ions to remove oxide films or contaminants on the blade surface; Method for manufacturing a wiper blade for a vehicle, characterized in that it comprises a. The method according to claim 9 or 10, In order to control the energy of ions incident on the blade and discharge the accumulated charge, the anode pulse voltage is applied to the blade at a frequency of 50 to 400 kHz and -50 to -2000 volt to discharge the wiper blade for a vehicle. Manufacturing method.

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