KR20110019681A - Wiper blade and method for manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A wiper blade for a vehicle and a manufacturing method thereof are provided to reform the hydrophilic properties of a Diamond Like Carbon coating layer into the hydro phobic properties. CONSTITUTION: A wiper blade for a vehicle is composed of a Diamond Like Carbon coating layer and an implant layer. The DLC coating layer is deposited on the surface of the wiper blade using carbon ion. The thickness of the DLC coating layer is 0.1~2 micrometer. The implant layer is formed inside the DLC coating layer in order to reform the surface of the DLC coating layer.

Description

Automotive wiper blades and manufacturing method therefor {Wiper blade and method for manufacturing the same}

The present invention relates to an automotive wiper blade and a method for manufacturing the same. More specifically, the wiper for an automobile to improve the wipeability of the blade by performing a plasma post-treatment using a reactive gas on the DLC coated blade rubber surface A blade and a method of manufacturing the same.

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.

As a method of improving the quality of the wiper blade, there are 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 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, the latter is a method of coating lubricious or durable materials only on the surface of the blade body, and in terms of durability, it is a practically effective technique because it can improve the performance of the blade economically rather than modifying the body. In addition, the existing graphite coating (Graghite coating), which is used to improve lubricity, has a weak durability and causes a user complaint during use in the field.

As a prior art in view of the above problems, by coating a diamond-like carbon film (DLC Film) containing a metal on the wiper blade, the blade life can be maintained by reducing the friction coefficient and improve the wear resistance while maintaining the blade elasticity The wiper blade for an automobile and a method of manufacturing the same are disclosed in Korean Patent Registration Publication No. 10-765630.

However, DLC coated wiper blades have improved durability by enhancing the bond between the blade rubber and the DLC coating layer using Ion Beam Implanted Plating (IBBIP) deposition, but the durability between the blade and the glass surface is poor. There was a downside.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, to improve the wipeability of the blade, by performing a plasma post-treatment using a reactive gas on the DLC coated blade rubber surface, to increase the surface roughness of the DLC coated surface It is an object of the present invention to provide a wiper blade for an automobile and a method of manufacturing the same, in which a hydrophilic coating film is hydrophobically modified to improve wiping.

The present invention for achieving the above object is a DLC coating layer deposited by carbon ions incident on the surface of the wiper blade; It provides an automotive wiper blade comprising an implanted layer formed inside the DLC coating layer by irradiating ionized nitrogen or oxygen particles for surface modification of the DLC coating layer coated on the blade rubber.

As a preferred embodiment, the DLC coating layer is characterized in that the thickness of 0.1 ~ 2㎛.

In another preferred embodiment, the implant layer is characterized in that it forms a layer of between 10 ~ 100 nm inside the DLC coating layer.

In another preferred embodiment, the content of nitrogen or oxygen contained in the implant layer is characterized in that 5 to 50%.

The present invention for achieving the above object and the initial cleaning step for the wiper blade; Loading and fixing the washed blade in a vacuum chamber having vacuum conditions for the plasma process; Cleaning the blade made of rubber by injecting argon (Ar) ions to remove an oxide film or other contaminants on the blade surface; Using MEIG, generating plasma by hydrocarbon gas and simultaneously injecting carbon ions toward the wiper blade to form a DLC coating layer on which carbon particles are deposited on the surface of the wiper blade; Irradiating nitrogen or oxygen particles ionized for surface modification of the DLC coating layer coated on the blade rubber to form an implanted layer inside the DLC coating layer; It provides a wiper blade manufacturing method for a vehicle comprising a.

The initial cleaning step for the wiper blade is characterized in that the ultrasonic cleaning by 1 to 30 minutes by putting the wiper blade in the IPA solution in the ultrasonic cleaning device having a frequency of 40kHz.

In addition, the blade of the bipolar pulsed voltage (50 ~ 400khz) at -50 ~ -2000 volts to control the energy of ions incident to the blade and discharge the accumulated charge that damages the blade rubber It further comprises the step of applying to.

In particular, the implant layer is oxygen or nitrogen particles are extracted from the plasma formed inside the MEIG, and a voltage of 100 ~ 3000 volts is applied to the anode of the MEIG, depending on the ionization material, the oxygen accelerated by the applied voltage Alternatively, the nitrogen ion particles collide with the DLC layer at high speed and are formed inside the DLC.

In addition, a bipolar pulsed voltage of 10 to 500 volts and 50 to 400 kHz is applied to discharge the charge accumulated in the blade and the DLC coating layer.

Through the above problem solving means, the present invention provides the following effects.

According to the present invention, by forming an implant layer for surface modification on the surface of the DLC-coated blade rubber, and then performing a plasma post-treatment using a reactive gas, the hydrophilic DLC coating film is hydrophobically modified to greatly improve the wipeability of the blade. You can.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail.

Conventionally, a low temperature plasma coating technique for suppressing thermal deformation of rubber is used as a method for coating DLC on a rubber wiper blade. In the case of a wiper blade coated by this technique, a graphite coated wiper blade is used. The lubricity and durability of the coating film was improved, but there was a problem in that the wipeability was not obtained.

That is, in the prior art, there was a focus on coating DLC while suppressing thermal deformation of rubber in a plasma. In the coating process, a metal buffer layer was formed to improve the bonding strength between rubber and DLC, and then DLC coating was performed. There was a problem that the wipeability of the DLC coated wiper blade is poor.

In view of this, the present invention eliminates the metal buffer layer forming process in the conventional process, and performs a secondary plasma treatment using a reactive gas to improve the contact angle between the DLC coating surface and the water droplets, and to modify the hydrophilic coating film to be hydrophobic. The main focus is on improving the wipeability.

In the present invention, the reactive gas is a gas that reacts with DLC physical properties, and the kind refers to nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, and fluoride, and mainly uses nitrogen or oxygen.

Here, the manufacturing method of the wiper blade according to the present invention will be described in detail.

1 is a schematic diagram of the synthesis apparatus used in the present invention, Figure 2 is a coating process diagram for the wiper blade of the present invention.

The synthesizing apparatus for coating and plasma treatment of the wiper blade comprises a process chamber 17 for maintaining a vacuum by the vacuum pump 18 and a wiper in which the wiper blade 15 is charged and fixed in the process chamber 17. A power supply 12 and a hydro connected to the blade jig 14, a magnetic enhanced ion gun (hereinafter referred to as MEIG) 13 mounted on one side of the process chamber 17, and a magnetic enhanced ion gun 13. The gas supply part 11 etc. which supply carbon, argon, reaction gas, etc. are comprised.

First, an initial cleaning of the wiper blades is performed before performing DLC coating and plasma treatment on the wiper blades.

At this time, the initial cleaning of the wiper blade is cleaned using isopropyl alcohol (IPA), and the ultrasonic cleaning is carried out by putting the wiper blade in the IPA solution in the ultrasonic cleaning device having a frequency of 40kHz for 1 to 30 minutes.

Subsequently, the washed blade 15 is charged to the process chamber 17, that is, the wiper blade jig 14 in the vacuum chamber, and then evacuated to reach an initial vacuum of 10 ^-6 torr for the plasma process.

When the desired degree of vacuum is reached, argon gas is injected to remove the oxide film or other contaminants on the blade surface before planting the carbon particles on the wiper blade so that the rubber blade is cleaned by Ar ions.

The cleaning by Ar ions causes the blade rubber molecules to be excited together with the removal of contaminants to facilitate implantation and deposition of the coating material, and at this time, the self-enhanced ion gun ( 11) (magnetic enhanced ion gun, MEIG) is applied a voltage of 100 ~ 2000 volt, the ion cleaning process time is 10 to 100 minutes.

Next, after ion cleaning, the MEIG 13 is used as an ion beam source for depositing DLC on the blade rubber, and DC 3 kW is supplied from the power supply 12 as a power source of the MEIG, and from the gas supply 11 Hydrocarbon gas is supplied.

Accordingly, the plasma is generated inside the MEIG 13 using a hydrocarbon gas, and carbon ions are incident to the wiper blades, and carbon particles reaching from the MEIG are deposited on the wiper blades.

At this time, the bipolar pulsed voltage (50 to 400khz) from the HF power source 18 is controlled from -50 to -2000 volts to control the energy of ions incident on the blade and discharge the accumulated charge which damages the blade rubber. Apply to the blade at (volt).

If the frequency of the bipolar pulse voltage is less than 50kHz, there is a problem that can not discharge the stored charge, if it exceeds 400kHz there is a problem that can not control the flow of charge in the plasma, the frequency of 50 ~ 400kHz It is preferred to be applied.

In addition, when the bipolar pulse voltage is less than -50 volts, macroparticles may damage the DLC coating layer, and when the bipolar pulse voltage exceeds -2000 volts, the bond between the blade and the coating layer may be reduced due to internal stress. For this reason, it is desirable to apply the blade at -50 to -2000 volts.

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

In the present invention, the synthesis rate of the diamond-like carbon thin film is 0.2 ~ 5㎛ per hour, so that the diamond-like carbon thin film containing a metal on the blade is coated with a thickness of 0.1 ~ 2㎛, at this time, less than 0.1㎛ thickness wear resistance And the lubricity is remarkably inferior, and the peeling phenomenon due to the internal stress occurs in the thickness of 2㎛ or more, it is preferably 0.1 ~ 2㎛.

Next, after the DLC coating process as described above, the ionized particles, such as nitrogen and oxygen, for the surface modification of the DLC coated on the blade rubber is implanted (implanted) in the layer between about 10 ~ 100 nm inside the DLC coating layer Form a layer.

For this purpose, particles are extracted from the plasma formed inside the MEIG, and depending on the ionization material, a voltage of 100 to 3000 volts is applied to the anode of the MEIG, and the ion particles accelerated by the applied voltage are rapidly applied to the DLC layer. Impingement forms an implanted layer inside the DLC.

In this case, charges may accumulate on the surface of the DLC due to the non-conductivity of the DLC layer, and the charged charge may cause arcing, which may damage the blade rubber and the DLC coating layer. Must be discharged.

Accordingly, by applying a bipolar pulsed voltage of 10 to 500 volts and 50 to 400 kHz to discharge the accumulated charge, DLC reacted with reactive gases (nitrogen, oxygen) is 5 to 50% nitrogen or oxygen. DLC thin film having an implant layer containing the same, and when the reactive gas content is less than 5.0at.%, There is almost no change in DLC structure and no surface modification effect occurs. When the reaction with the nitrogen gas is severe dropping of the coating film occurs, and when reacting with the oxygen gas there is a problem of severe reduction of the DLC coating film thickness, the content of the reactive gas is preferably 5.0 to 50 at.%.

Therefore, the chemical structure of the DLC layer according to the present invention reacted with a reactive gas has a structure of CHX (X = O, N, F, ...), wherein oxygen (O), nitrogen (N) or fluorine (F) The content is within 5 to 50%, that is, DLC thin film (layer) having an implant layer.

The wiper blade of the present invention manufactured as described above is prepared by DLC coating film having a very small DLC coating texture, that is, having an implant layer, by injecting a reactive gas into the DLC coated blade surface to react with the DLC coating surface. .

That is, as a result of photographing and analyzing the conventional DCL coated surface and the DLC coated surface of the present invention with an electron scanning microscope, as shown in the electron scanning microscope (2000 times magnified photo) of Figure 3, the conventional wiper blades of the DLC coating layer While the surface texture has a large texture of 80 μm or more, in the case of the present invention subjected to the plasma treatment process using a reactive gas such as nitrogen or oxygen, the surface texture of the DLC coating layer is composed of very small structure of 25 μm or less. In particular, in the case of nitrogen treatment, it was composed of uniform tissue, whereas in the case of oxygen treatment, it was found that it was composed of non-uniform tissue.

Thus, as the surface manipulation of the coating layer of the present invention forms a very small structure, the water droplets reduce the area of contact with the blade surface, so that the hydrophilic blade surface is hydrophobically modified.

That is, as a result of dropping water droplets on the DLC coating surface of the blade and measuring the contact angle between the DLC coating surface and the droplet, the contact angle was 60-70 degrees in the prior art as shown in the electron scanning micrograph of FIG. In this case, the contact angle was measured at 100-110 degrees, and in the case of oxygen plasma treatment, the contact angle was measured at 110-120 degrees, indicating that the blade surface was modified to a hydrophobic surface which can improve the wiping property.

As described above, by performing a secondary plasma treatment using a reactive gas after DLC coating to improve the wiping property of the DLC coated wiper blade, the wiping performance test was performed based on the determination criteria of Table 1. Good results were obtained.

Wiping performance test method

* Related Standards: ES 98302

* Exam conditions

1) After attaching the blade and ARM to the test apparatus under normal use, reciprocate once and judge 50cm away.

2) When humidity exceeds 70%, it is judged after 4 seconds.

3) When humidity is less than 70% and 60% or more, it is judged after 3 seconds.

4) Determination is made after 1 second when humidity is less than 60%.

* Criteria

Hair Line on Wiping Surface: Thin line less than 0.5mm wide.

Heavier Line formed on the wipe surface: A thin line less than 1mm in width.

Wide Line Formed on Wiping Surface: Strip from 1mm to 20mm butterfly.

Wipe performance test results as shown above are shown in Table 2 below.

In the wipeability scores described in Table 2 above, the initial wipeability evaluation is an evaluation after 10 round trips with watering on the glass surface, and as a result of evaluating the up and down motions of the wiper blades, respectively. The evaluation grade was rated from 5 to 4 or more. Also, the durability wipe rating was evaluated after 400,000 round trips along with watering on the glass surface, and was evaluated for the up and down of the wiper blades, respectively. Five to four or more points were evaluated.

As described above, according to the present invention by performing a plasma post-treatment using a reactive gas on the surface of the DLC coated blade rubber, by increasing the surface roughness of the DLC coating surface to modify the hydrophilic coating film to hydrophobicity to improve the wipeability of the blade have.

1 is a schematic diagram of a synthesis apparatus used in the present invention,

Figure 2 is a coating process for the wiper blade of the present invention,

3 is an electron scanning micrograph showing a conventional DCL coated surface and the DLC coated surface of the present invention,

Figure 4 is an electron scanning micrograph showing the result of measuring the contact angle between the conventional DLC coating surface and the DLC coating surface of the present invention and the water droplets.

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

11: gas supply unit

12: power supply

13: Self-Enhanced Ion Gun (MEIG)

14: Wiper Blade Jig

15: wiper blade

17: process chamber

18: vacuum pump

Claims (9)

A DLC coating layer deposited by depositing carbon ions on the surface of the wiper blade; An implanted layer formed inside the DLC coating layer by irradiating ionized nitrogen or oxygen particles for surface modification of the DLC coating layer coated on the blade rubber; Automotive wiper blades, characterized in that consisting of. The method according to claim 1, Automotive DL wiper blade, characterized in that the thickness of the DLC coating layer is 0.1 ~ 2㎛. The method according to claim 1, The implant layer is a wiper blade for a vehicle, characterized in that formed in a layer of between 10 ~ 100 nm inside the DLC coating layer. The method according to claim 1, Automotive wiper blades, characterized in that the content of nitrogen or oxygen contained in the implant layer is 5 to 50%. Initial cleaning of the wiper blades; Loading and fixing the washed blade in a vacuum chamber having vacuum conditions for the plasma process; Cleaning the blade made of rubber by injecting argon (Ar) ions to remove an oxide film or other contaminants on the blade surface; Using MEIG, generating plasma by hydrocarbon gas and simultaneously injecting carbon ions toward the wiper blade to form a DLC coating layer on which carbon particles are deposited on the surface of the wiper blade; Irradiating nitrogen or oxygen particles ionized for surface modification of the DLC coating layer coated on the blade rubber to form an implanted layer inside the DLC coating layer; Automotive wiper blade manufacturing method comprising a. The method according to claim 5, The initial wiping step for the wiper blade is a wiper blade manufacturing method for an automobile, characterized in that the ultrasonic cleaning for 1 to 30 minutes by putting the wiper blade in the IPA solution in the ultrasonic cleaning device having a frequency of 40kHz. The method according to claim 5, A bipolar pulsed voltage (50 to 400 kHz) is applied to the blade at -50 to -2000 volts to control the energy of the ions entering the blade and discharge the accumulated charge that damages the blade rubber. Automotive wiper blade manufacturing method comprising the step of further comprising. The method according to claim 5, The implant layer is extracted from the plasma formed oxygen or nitrogen particles inside the MEIG, and a voltage of 100 ~ 3000 volts is applied to the anode of the MEIG, the oxygen or nitrogen ion particles accelerated by the applied voltage is fast A method of manufacturing a wiper blade for an automobile, which is formed inside the DLC and impinges on the DLC layer at a speed. The method according to claim 5, In order to discharge the charge accumulated in the blade and the DLC coating layer, a vehicle wiper blade manufacturing method characterized in that a bipolar pulsed voltage (bipolar pulsed voltage) of 10 ~ 500 volts and 50 ~ 400kHz is applied.

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