WO2002072390A1

WO2002072390A1 - Panel member with fastener and method for manufacturing same

Info

Publication number: WO2002072390A1
Application number: PCT/US2002/003527
Authority: WO
Inventors: Masashi Dendo; Toshinori Kakehi; Takahiro Sano
Original assignee: Newfrey Llc
Priority date: 2001-02-16
Filing date: 2002-02-08
Publication date: 2002-09-19
Also published as: JP2002240056A; WO2002072390A8

Abstract

A panel member (26), such as a sound insulator for an automobile, has a stud engagement clip (1). The panel member (26) comprises a plate member (25) having a given thickness, and a facing member (21) fixed on one of the opposite surfaces of the plate member. The clip (1) is wrappedly held by the facing member (21) so as to be embedded in the plate member (25). The facing member (21) is brought in tight contact with the outer wall (3) of the clip (1) by vacuum suction during vacuum forming. The outer wall (3) is formed with an air vent hole (9) for the vacuum sanction during the vacuum forming. The clip (1) is provided with a tubular engagement portion (2) for engageably receiving therein an anchor member such as a stub.

Description

PANEL MEMBER WITH FASTENER AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SAME

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a panel member, such as a sound insulator for automobile, having a fastener, such as a clip, to be engaged with an anchor member, such as a stud, fixed to an automobile body, and a method for manufacturing the panel member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Typically, when a sound insulator (a silencer or dash insulator) is attached to an automobile body, a mounting hole is. bored in the sound insulator, and a fastener such as a clip is attached to the mounting hole. Then, the fastener is fastened to an anchor member such as a stud fixed to the automobile body. In this attaching method, the sound insulation effect is degraded due to the mounting hole bored in the sound insulator. Further, the operation for attaching the clip to the sound insulator is essentially required.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-12770 discloses that a hard backing member is placed on the rear surface of a carpet, and the carpet and the backing member are wrapped by a facing member to provide improved appearance and quality of the edge of the carpet. In this technique, for wrappedly fastening the carpet and backing member to the facing member with placing the backing member on the rear surface of the carpet, the carpet with the backing member overlaid thereon are placed on a vacuum forming die, and the facing member is further overlaid on the backing member. Then, the carpet and the backing member are wrappedly surrounded by the facing member through vacuum suction to fix the carpet and the backing member to the facing member. The above publication does not include any suggestion of attaching the sound insulator to the automobile body. In particular, the above publication does not have any awareness of the above issue in terms of fastening a fastener such as a clip to a panel member such as a sound insulator.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a panel member, such as a sound insulator, capable of eliminating the need for any mounting hole to be bored in the panel member and any attaching operation of a fastener such as a clip to the panel member, and to provide a method for manufacturing the panel member. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a panel member, such as a sound insulator for an automobile, having a fastener, such as a stud engagement clip. The panel member comprises a plate member having a given thickness, and a facing member fixed on one of the opposite surfaces of the plate member. The fastener is wrappedly held by the facing member so as to be embedded in the plate member. The facing member is brought into tight contact with the outer surface of the fastener by vacuum suction during vacuum forming. The outer surface of the fastener is formed with an air vent hole for the vacuum sanction during the vacuum forming, and the fastener is provided with engagement means for engageably receiving therein an anchor member such as a stud. As above, the fastener is wrappedly held in the plate member by the facing member, and is embedded in and reliably fixed to the panel member. Thus, the need for boring in the panel member a mounting hole otherwise necessary for attaching the fastener can be eliminated, and thereby the need for the attaching operation is completely eliminated. Further, sound insulation properties are significantly improved because of no mounting hole. The fastener may include a tubular engagement portion for receiving an anchor member such as a stud. The tubular engagement portion may be a tubular body closed excepting an inlet thereof for receiving the anchor member therethrough, and the air vent hole is formed in the outer wall. In this case, sound insulation properties can be further improved.

Further, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing the above panel member, comprising the steps of; positioning the fastener at a predetermined position on the flat surface of a molding die where an air vent hole allowing vacuum suction is formed; positioning a facing member made of heated thermoplastic resin at a predetermined position covering the fastener in the molding die; supplying a negative pressure air to the air vent hole of the molding die, and cooling down the facing member while bringing the facing member into tight contact with the periphery of the fastener by vacuum suction according to the negative pressure air, so as to subject the facing member to vacuum forming; and forming a plate member using a resin material on the opposite side of the surface of the facing member with which the fastener is wrappedly in tight contact.

This method may further include the step of, after forming the plate member, cutting off the facing member covering the engagement portion for engageably receiving an anchor member such as a stud to expose the inlet of the engagement portion of the fastener. Further, the fastener may be formed with an relief groove for receiving a cutting blade for cutting off the facing member portion, on the outer periphery of the inlet of the engagement portion. The outer surface of the fastener may be formed with an air vent hole for bringing the facing member into tight contact with the outer surface of the fastener by the vacuum suction during the vacuum forming. The fastener may include a tubular engagement portion for receiving a stud, and an outer wall provided outside the tubular engagement portion. The tubular engagement portion is a tubular body closed excepting an inlet thereof for receiving the stud member therethrough, and the air vent hole is formed in the outer wall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a half-sectional front view of a clip as a fastener according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing the state when the clip of Fig. 1 is positioned in a molding die.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the state when a facing member is positioned after the clip of Fig. 2 is positioned.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing the state when a negative pressure air is supplied to the molding die for vacuum suction after the state in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing the state when the facing member has been vacuum -formed by the vacuum suction in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing the state when a plate member is formed after the facing member has been vacuum-formed in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view showing the state when the facing member of the inlet of the clip engagement portion is cut off after the state in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view showing the state after the panel member with clip has been completely formed.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view showing the state when the panel member with clip is fastened to an automobile body. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to the drawings, an embodiment of the present invention will now be described. Fig. 1 shows a clip 1 as a fastener to be fixed to a panel member with a fastener according to the embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the clip 1 is integrally formed by using a hard plastic material, and serves as a fastener to be engaged with a threaded stud, a grooved stud or the like fixed to an automobile body or the like. The clip 1 may have any other suitable shape, and may be any other suitable type of fastener other than the clip to be engaged with the stud. Figs. 2 to 8 show the steps of forming the panel member having the clip 1 as a fastener. Fig. 9 shows the state when the finished panel member with the clip is attached to the automobile body.

The clip 1 as a fastener is formed in an approximately double or concentrical tubular shape as a whole. The clip 1 includes a tubular engagement portion 2 disposed at the center around the axis of the clip, and an annular outer wall 3 surrounding the outer periphery of the tubular engagement portion 2. The tubular engagement portion 2 is formed as a tubular body which is closed excepting an inlet 5 for receiving a stud as an anchor member. The closed end 6 of the tubular engagement portion 2 protrudes from the bottom of the outer wall 3, and the protruding end is received in a positioning concave portion formed at a predetermined position of a molding die. On the side of the inlet 5 of the tubular engagement portion 2, a pair of engagement pawls 7 to be engaged with a thread groove or a peripheral groove of the stud are formed. Since the tubular engagement portion 2 is closed excepting the inlet 5, any sound transmission is blocked between the outer wall and the inlet 5. Further, the inlet 5 is formed to have a large inner diameter allowing the stud to be received therethrough. The annular outer wall 3 is fixed to a panel member through the outer peripheral surface thereof. This fixing is established by vacuum forming. For this purpose, a plurality of air vent holes 9 are formed around the peripheral surface of the outer wall 3 at even intervals. The outer wall 3 has a closed end on the side of the inlet 5, and an open end 10 on the side of the protruding end 6. When a negative pressure air is supplied to the open end 10, an air outside the outer wall 3 is sucked in the open end 10 through the air vent holes 9.

The open end 10 of the outer wall 3 and the portion in the vicinity thereof are formed to have a larger diameter than that of other portions in a bell shape. This prevents the clip 1 from coming off from the panel member in the direction of the inlet 5, and provides an increased force for holding the clip 1 to the panel member. An annular relief groove 11 for receiving a tubular cutting blade, such as a Thomson blade, for cutting a facing member covering the inlet 5 is formed adjacent to the inlet 5 and on the closed end of the outer periphery of the outer wall 3. The portion having the relief groove 1 1 is formed to have a larger outer diameter than that of another adjacent portion of the outer wall 3, and forms a shoulder 13. This shoulder prevents the clip 1 from coming off in the direction of the open end 10 in cooperation with the panel member in tight contact with this portion. With reference to Figs. 2 to 8, the steps of forming a panel member, such as a sound insulator, having the above clip 1 fixed thereto as a fastener will be described. In Fig. 2, a molding die 14 is prepared in a molding machine (not shown). At a position where the clip is placed, the molding die 14 is formed with a positioning concave portion 15 for receiving the protruding end 6 of the clip 1 therein. Further, an air vent hole 17 is formed around the positioning concave portion 15 at least at a position corresponding to the open end 10 when the clip 1 is positioned. In this embodiment, a number of air vent holes 17 are provided over the entire molding die to hold the facing member of the panel member on the flat surface of the molding die. A pipe from a negative-pressure air supplying apparatus (e.g. a vacuum pump) of the molding machine is coupled with the lower surface of the molding die or the lower ends of the air vent holes 17 to supply a negative pressure air to the upper side of the molding die. The upper surface of the molding die 14 is formed approximately flatly to hold the facing member in its flattened state. The positioning concave portion 15 is formed in the portion of this flat surface where the clip 1 is positioned. The positioning concave portion 15 is formed in the upper surface of the molding die in accordance with each position and number of the clips each fixed to a predetermined position of the panel member. An operator positions the clip 1 in the molding die 14 to allow the protruding end 6 to be received in the positioning concave portion 15 of the molding die 14 (the arrow 18). Fig. 3 shows the state after the clip 1 is positioned in the molding die 14. The outer wall 3 of the clip 1 is seated on the surface of the molding die 14. The open end 10 of the clip outer wall 3 is in communication with several numbers of the air vent holes 17 of the molding die. In this state, as shown by the arrow 19 in Fig. 3, a facing member 21 forming a part of the panel member is set up at a predetermined position of the molding die. This position is set at a predetermined position covering the position where the clip 1 is placed. The facing member 21 is formed, for example, of a sheet member made of a thermoplastic resin material such as vinyl chloride. Then, the facing member 21 is positioned with a heated and deformable state at the predetermined position of the molding die 14 covering the clip 1. As shown in Fig. 4, immediately after the heated facing member 21 is positioned, a negative air is supplied from the negative-pressure air supplying apparatus to the lower side of the air vent holes 17 of the molding die 14 (the arrow 20), and an air on the upper side of the air vent holes 17 is sucked toward the lower side. As shown by the arrows 22 representing the airflow, the vacuum suction force outside the clip 1 acts to bring the facing member 21 into tight contact with the surface of the molding die 14. As shown by the arrow 23, the vacuum suction force from the air vent holes 17 located at the open end 10 of the outer wall 3 of the clip 1 arises at the outer surface of the outer wall 3 from the open end 10 of the outer wall 3 through the air vent holes 9, and thereby acts to bring a part of the facing member 21 into tight contact with the outer surface of the outer wall 3.

Fig. 5 shows the state when the heated facing member 21 is vacuum-formed around the clip 1 by supplying the negative pressure air. The facing member 21 and is brought into tight contact with the outer surface of the clip 1 by the vacuum suction with entirely covering the outer periphery of the clip 1. The facing member 21 heated before the vacuum suction is cooled down and hardened during the vacuum forming. If the cooling time is too long, a cooling air may be supplied to the outer surface side of the facing member 21 to forcibly cool down the facing member.21. The portion of the facing member 21 in tight contact with the clip 1 is also in tight contact with the large diameter of the open end 10 of the clip 1 and the portion of the shoulder 13 adjacent to the relief groove 11 , to reliably fix the clip 1 to the facing member 21. Further, another portion of the facing member 21 not in contact with the clip 1 is formed along the flat surface of the molding die 14 to have a flat surface.

As shown in Fig. 6A, after the vacuum forming of the facing member 21 , a plate member 25 having a given thickness and defining a main body of the panel member is formed on the facing member 21. In this embodiment, polyurethane foam (foaming material) is injected on the facing member 21 to form the plate member 25 having the given thickness on the facing member 21. The plate member 25 is integrally coupled with the surface of the facing member 21. Since the clip 1 is also integrally in tight contact with the facing member 21 , the plate member 25, the facing member 21 and the clip 1 are integrally coupled with each other. Thus, a panel member 26 with clip is formed.

Fig. 7 shows the steps of exposing the inlet 5 of the tubular engagement portion 2 of the clip 1 to allow an anchor member such as a stud to be received therethrough, after the panel member 26 is formed by combining the plate member 25. In the state shown in Fig. 6, the inlet 5 is closed by the facing member 21 , and thereby cannot receive the stud therethrough. Thus, it is necessary to cut off the portion of the facing member 21 covering the inlet 5. This is done by pressing down a cutting tool 27 having a cutting blade at the end of a tubular body, such as a so- called Thomson blade, in the direction of the arrow 29. Conveniently, the annular relief groove 11 is formed around the outer periphery of the inlet 5 of the clip 1. Even if a given portion of the facing member 21 is cut off, the blade is received in the relief groove 11 of the clip 1. Thus, the cutting tool never damages the clip 1 , and the blade of the cutting tool 27 is never damaged. Fig. 8 shows the state after the panel member 26 with clip is completed in the above manner.

Fig. 9 shows the state when the panel member 26 with clip is fastened to an automobile body 30 by using a threaded stud 31 as an anchor member fixed to the automobile body 30. With carrying the panel member 26, the inlet 5 of the tubular engagement portion 2 of the clip 1 is roughly positioned at the end of the threaded stud 31. Then, the panel member 26 is slightly moved to allow the widely opened inlet 5 to catch the stud end, and the panel member 26 is moved as-it toward the automobile body 30 along the stud 31. In this manner, the stud 31 is inserted into the tubular engagement portion 2, and the engagement pawls 7 are engaged with the thread of the stud 31. When the upper surface of the plate member 25 is brought into surface contact with the automobile body 30, the panel member 26 is fastened to the automobile body 30 by virtue of the maintained engagement between the engagement pawls 7 and the thread of the stud 31. In this state, the tubular engagement portion 2 is a closed tubular body excepting the inlet. Thus, the sound at one of the sides of the panel member 26 is never transmitted to the other side. This provides enhanced sound insulation effect when the panel member is used as a sound insulator.

According to the present invention, a fastener such as a clip can be attached to the panel member without forming any mounting hole in the panel member. Further, the fastener is wrappedly held in the plate member by the facing member, and is embedded in and reliably fixed to the panel member. Thus, the need for boring in the panel member a mounting hole otherwise necessary for attaching the fastener can be eliminated, and thereby the attaching operation is improved. Further, sound insulation properties are significantly improved because of no mounting hole.

Claims

CLAIMS We Claim:

1. A panel member, such as a sound insulator for an automobile, having a fastener such as a stud engagement clip comprising: a plate member having a given thickness; and a facing member fixed on one of the opposite surfaces of said plate member, wherein said fastener is wrappedly held by said facing member so as to be embedded in said plate member, said facing member is brought into tight contact with the outer surface of said fastener by vacuum suction during vacuum forming, said outer surface of said fastener is formed with an air vent hole for the vacuum sanction during said vacuum forming, and said fastener is provided with engagement means for engageably receiving therein an anchor member such as a stud.

2. A panel member of claim 1 , wherein said fastener includes a tubular engagement portion for receiving the anchor member such as a stud, and an outer wall provided outside the tubular engagement portion, wherein said tubular engagement portion is a tubular body closed excepting an inlet thereof for receiving said anchor member therethrough, and said air vent hole is formed in said outer wall.

3. A method for manufacturing a panel member, such as a sound insulator for an automobile, having a fastener such as a stud engagement clip, said method comprising the steps of: positioning said fastener at a predetermined position on the flat surface of a molding die where an air vent hole allowing vacuum suction is formed; positioning a facing member made of heated thermoplastic resin at a predetermined position covering said fastener on said molding die; supplying a negative pressure air to said air vent hole of said molding die, and cooling down the facing member while bringing said facing member into tight contact with the periphery of said fastener by vacuum suction according to said negative pressure air, so as to subject said facing member to vacuum forming; and forming a plate member using a resin material on the opposite side of the surface of said facing member with which said fastener is wrappedly in tight contact.

4. A method of claim 3 further including the step of, after forming said plate member, cutting off said facing member covering said engagement portion for engageably receiving an anchor member such as a stud to expose said inlet of said engagement portion of said fastener.

5. A method of claim 4, wherein said fastener is formed with a relief groove on the outer periphery of said inlet of said engagement portion for receiving a cutting blade for cutting off said facing member portion.

6. A method of claim 3, wherein the outer surface of said fastener is formed with an air vent hole for bringing said facing member into tight contact with the outer surface of said fastener by the vacuum suction during said vacuum forming.

7. A method of claim 6, wherein said fastener includes a tubular engagement portion for receiving an anchor member such as a stud, and an outer wall provided outside the tubular engagement portion, wherein said tubular engagement portion is a tubular body closed excepting an inlet thereof for receiving said anchor member therethrough, and said air vent hole is formed in said outer wall.

8. A method of claim 4 wherein the outer surface of said fastener is formed with an air vent hole for bringing said facing member into tight contact with the outer surface of said fastener by the vacuum suction during said vacuum forming.

9. A method of claim 8 wherein said fastener includes a tubular engagement portion for receiving an anchor member such as a stud, and an outer wall provided outside the tubular engagement portion, wherein said tubular engagement portion is a tubular body closed excepting an inlet thereof for receiving said anchor member therethrough, and said air vent hole is formed in said outer wall.