WO2011057619A2

WO2011057619A2 - Method for producing a motor vehicle door latch and associated motor vehicle door latch

Info

Publication number: WO2011057619A2
Application number: PCT/DE2010/001327
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ludger Graute
Original assignee: Kiekert Aktiengesellschaft
Priority date: 2009-11-14
Filing date: 2010-11-11
Publication date: 2011-05-19
Also published as: DE102009053384A1; CN102597399A; WO2011057619A3; EP2499314A2; CN102597399B; RU2012117511A; RU2561860C2; EP2499314B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for producing a motor vehicle door latch and such a motor vehicle door latch. Electrical/electronic components (7, 8) are provided in and/or on a housing (6). Individual or all electrical conductive tracks for contacting the components (7, 8) are integrated in a plastic substrate (6a). According to the invention, the electrical conductive tracks are applied to the plastic substrate (6a), which is produced or is to be produced independently of the electrical conductive tracks.

Description

Method for producing a motor vehicle door lock

and associated motor vehicle door lock

Description:

The invention relates to a method for producing a motor vehicle door lock, with a housing, further comprising at least one plastic carrier, and with electrical / electronic components in and / or on the housing, which individual or all electrical conductors for contacting the electrical / electronic components in the plastic carrier are integrated in the course of or its manufacturing process. In a method of the initially described procedure according to DE 43 06 143 A1, the procedure is such that the electrical conductor tracks are embedded in regions of the lock housing which are made of injection-molded plastic by means of injection molding. That is, the production of the plastic carrier or the entire housing in the example case and the embedding of the associated electrical conductors in the plastic carrier in question take place simultaneously. The plastic carrier is in this case a part of the housing, which is not mandatory.

Similarly, DE 692 06 671 T2 deals with a vehicle door locking device. Here, a metallic circuit element is integrated with a component or the plastic support of the housing by being inserted during molding of the component made of plastic material.

Quite independently of this, DE 197 02 205 B4 is concerned with a motor vehicle door lock in which a motor / gear unit is in contact connection with conductor elements projecting from the plastic of a housing cover. The motor / gear unit is combined to form a structural unit with the aid of a plate-shaped component carrier. In the context of DE 20 2007 005 076 U1, such a component carrier or plastic carrier for locking systems is explained in detail. In fact, such a component carrier essentially consists of a conductor track unit which can be equipped with electrical or electronic components or components. These components may be connectors, microswitches, sensors, motors, etc. used in a motor vehicle door lock. The conductor track unit consists essentially of a flexible conductor foil or generally a so-called stamped grid, which is or which is encapsulated to form a module made of plastic. As a result, a relatively rigid or dimensionally stable component carrier is provided on the whole, with the aid of which a secure positioning of the aforementioned components in or on motor vehicle door locks can be ensured. This has proven itself in principle.

However, the known approaches encounter problems when the production of the plastic carrier on the one hand and its connection with the individual or all electrical conductors on the other hand can not or should not be made simultaneously. One reason for this may, for example, be the special design of the electrical conductor tracks, which are difficult to place within the overall surrounding injection molding tool. Also arise in practice sometimes requirements to equip one and the same component carrier or plastic carrier with different electrical conductors, for example, to realize different motor vehicle door locks by recourse to one and the same housing.

This is sometimes the case when different functions or different installation situations are to be mastered as a module, when resorting to one and the same motor vehicle door lock. All these requirements, the previous state of the art can not or only to meet restricted. For example, a change in the structure and guidance of the electrical conductor tracks in a stamped grid according to DE 692 06 671 T2 requires that a new stamped grid is produced and inserted for encapsulation. - This is where the invention starts.

The invention is based on the technical problem of further developing such a method so that the flexibility is increased and the production costs are reduced. To solve this technical problem, a generic method for producing a motor vehicle door lock within the scope of the invention is characterized in that the electrical conductors are applied to the independently produced or produced plastic carrier.

In the context of the invention, therefore, the production of the plastic carrier on the one hand and the definition or the application of the electrical conductor tracks on the plastic carrier on the other hand is carried out separately from each other. As a result, there is the fundamental possibility of adapting the electrical strip conductors with respect to their structure, expansion and design to the respective intended use, without the production of the plastic carrier being influenced thereby. The electrical conductors are unchanged in the plastic carrier in question - at least superficially - integrated and experienced on the one hand protection by the plastic carrier and on the other hand stabilized by the plastic carrier. Incidentally, the conductor tracks may still be completely or partially enclosed by the plastic of the plastic carrier. This is not mandatory.

The invention uses at this point on the known MID (Molded Interconnect Devices) technology, in which the from an electrical non-conductive plastic existing plastic carrier on its surface, for example, by electrically conductive stamping foils or by local metallization is equipped with the desired electrical conductors. These tracks follow more or less the three-dimensional topography of the plastic carrier. Since the so-called MID technology combines different approaches, it has not yet been successful in practice, as evidenced by DE 10 2006 037 159 A1. For this reason, a component carrier is here propagated for components to be wired to form an electrical assembly, in which case the components are supported on or in the bottom region of the component carrier. In addition, self-supporting circuit wires extending through a clearance above the ground area are attached to terminal portions of the components. Such a procedure is unsuitable for use in the motor vehicle sector because the circuit wires are partly exposed and thus more or less exposed to both mechanical and environmental influences.

In any case, the present invention proves that the so-called MID technology can now also be used for the production of housings in total or of plastic carriers, for example, as components of the housing of motor vehicle door locks. In this case, the respective plastic carrier may be part of the housing, form the housing as a whole or be designed as a so-called component carrier independently of the housing, as is explained in the context of the previously described DE 20 2007 005 076 U1. All variants are covered by the invention.

In principle, the procedure is such that the electrical conductor tracks are applied to the plastic carrier in question in a subtractive or additive metalizing manner. Basically, it is also a combination Both principle approaches conceivable and is included. In the case of the subtractive structuring of the electrical lines or strip conductors, the procedure is generally such that the plastic carrier in the relevant areas is completely equipped with a metallic coating (on its surface) or metallized overall. Following this, this metallization or the associated metal coating is largely removed, namely in the areas that serve as open areas between the remaining conductor tracks. In this approach, it is, of course, on the fact that the plastic carrier itself is designed to be electrically non-conductive, as has already been explained in the introduction.

In addition to this fundamental possibility of subtractively applying the electrical lines to the plastic carrier, there is the further option of providing an additive metallizing application. In this case, the conductor tracks are applied to the plastic carrier by the plastic carrier in the region of the subsequent conductor tracks undergoes - at least local - metallization. Alternatively, it is also possible to work with electrically conductive embossing foils or conductor foils or conductor foils which form a connection with the plastic carrier. For this purpose, the so-called hot stamping has proven to be particularly favorable.

In any case, the various basic procedures allow a particularly great flexibility in the definition of the electrical conductor tracks and their attachment to the associated plastic carrier. In this case, the plastic carrier may be the entire plastic housing of the motor vehicle door lock, that is to say the casing of the motor vehicle door lock with the recessed metal lock case, which is usually made of metal. In addition, the plastic carrier but also only represent a part of the housing. It also exists under the Invention, the option that the plastic carrier is designed as a component carrier in the sense of DE 20 007 005 076 U1.

In any case, the invention deliberately dispenses with, for example, a prefabricated stamped grid which is inserted into an injection mold and extrusion-coated with plastic. Rather, the interconnects can be flexibly adapted to the respective plastic carrier. As a result, various variants of the motor vehicle door lock can be realized by resorting to one and the same injection mold for the plastic carrier or the housing. As a result, the manufacturing costs can be reduced while at the same time achieving increased flexibility. Here are the main benefits.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the electrical conductor tracks are applied as metallic conductor tracks on the otherwise injection-molded plastic carrier. That is, the plastic carrier is produced in the course of an injection molding process. In particular, a two-component injection molding process can be used. In this context, a first non-metallizable and electrically non-conductive plastic forms a base body, while another second electrically non-conductive plastic can be made metallizable and defines the electrical conductor tracks. That is, the other second and metallizable plastic forms a printed circuit board layout.

The metallization of the further second plastic can be carried out, for example, as described in detail in DE 199 07 245 A1. In this case, usually a thermoplastic plastic is used as the second plastic, for example polyamide, which can be electrolessly and wet-chemically metallized. For this purpose, the polyamide surface is first roughened and then a metal layer is deposited. In this context, first a composite of two thermoplastic Made of plastics, of which one component, the second plastic, is metallizable. The other component, the first plastic, remains completely unaffected by the subsequent chemical action of the metallization electrolytes. As a result, the overall plastic carrier can be produced in such a way that metallic properties are present in part in the region of the desired conductor tracks. In this case, the metallizable plastic or the second plastic in the form of electrical conductors can be easily structured. For this purpose, first the first plastic is injected and then encapsulated by the metallizable second plastic, or vice versa. In any case, can be equipped in this way, the plastic carrier with the electrical lines additively metallizing.

At this point, the invention also proposes to use as the second plastic a metallizable and electrically non-conductive plastic, wherein the layout of the tracks is shown sublimely. The first non-metallizable plastic, which is also electrically non-conductive, then fills the open areas between the individual tracks. Instead of working with a sublime design to realize the track layout, but can also be used on recesses. In this case, the first plastic is again not metallizable and electrically non-conductive and are formed in the first plastic, the subsequent traces as wells. These recesses are then filled with the second metallizable and electrically non-conductive plastic. In any case, the procedures described are those in which the electrical conductor tracks are applied to the actual plastic carrier in an additive metallizing manner.

A comparable approach to additively metallizing order proposes the invention in such a way that the electrical conductors are designed as (flexible) conductor foil. This conductor foil will be advantageous hot stamping connected to the plastic carrier. In this context, the plastic carrier is usually inserted into a stamping die. The conductor film can then be punched simultaneously with a die and connected using pressure and heat with the plastic carrier. In order to intensify the compound even more, the conductor film may be equipped on its side facing the plastic carrier with an adhesive layer or generally an adhesive coating.

Within the scope of another embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the plastic carrier which is to be finished on the surface with the strip conductors is first surface-activated and structured on its surface. Then, a metal layer is applied to the individual structures or the plastic undergoes a corresponding metallization. Both approaches can be advantageously realized with a laser. In fact, with the help of such a laser in the plastic carrier, the subsequent conductor track as it were "inscribed". As a result of the laser irradiation, the plastic carrier can be converted into an electrically conductive state in the irradiation region of the laser. Then an additional metallization is not required, but rather the plastic of the plastic carrier is modified accordingly. Of course, this requires that the plastic itself is designed to be metallised.

Thus, it is conceivable, for example, to work with a polymer with the addition of additives for the realization of the metallizable plastic carrier. With the aid of the laser beam can now cause a chemical reaction of the additive with the polymer, as a result of which the previously electrically insulating polymer is converted into an electrically conductive material. Alternatively, it is also possible that in the polymer for the preparation of the plastic carrier from the outset electrically conductive particles are incorporated. These can be combined with one another by irradiation with the laser light merge and define the desired electrical trace. In this case, so to speak, subtractive structuring is used.

The same applies to the case that the plastic carrier is metallized overall and then a protective coating of the conductors takes place. Subsequently, the remaining metallization is then removed and there remain only the protected by means of the protective coating tracks. The metallization of the surface of the plastic carrier can be carried out again by means of laser irradiation, with inter alia Nd: YAG laser or fiber laser can be used. In the case of subtractive laser structuring, therefore, the entire surface of the plastic carrier is first of all metallized by means of laser radiation or, for example, by measurement. Subsequently, the structure of the desired printed conductors is defined by means of a protective coating. This may be an initially liquid and then curing plastic coating, which is resistant to subsequent etching processes. In any case, after this process, the metallized surface of the plastic carrier, which is not protected by the Ätzresist, then etch away. The same applies to the mask exposure process. In this case, first of all the entire surface of the plastic carrier can be metallized in a customary manner, that is to say by depositing a metal or copper layer. A metallization by laser irradiation is conceivable. This metallized component surface then undergoes laser structuring by structuring the previously applied plastic layer or layer resistant to the etching process. The remaining exposed copper layer or metal layer is then etched away. In the mask exposure process, the plastic substrate is again, for example wet-chemically, equipped with a metallic coating, for example a thin copper layer. On this copper layer is a applied photoresistant coating. This coating can be exposed using an example three-dimensional photomask, for example, with UV light. After applying the thus produced etching mask, the photoresistive layer and the copper which is no longer needed can be etched away.

In addition to these subtractive structuring methods, it is finally also conceivable to back-coat a conductor foil with a plastic for the purpose of depicting the plastic carrier with the applied electrical conductor tracks. In this case, the actual printed circuit film or conductor tracks are inserted as such in an injection mold and back-injected with suitable plastics, so that it is located on the surface side of the plastic carrier and are as it were applied to this or are.

Finally, a kind of flame spraying process is also suitable for the production of the plastic carrier. In this case, a metal wire is melted or melted and sprayed onto the plastic carrier. As in the case of the back-injected printed circuit foil, it is again an additive metallizing coating.

As a result, a method and an associated motor vehicle door lock are described, which are characterized by a particularly flexible production of the plastic carrier. In fact, the plastic carrier, which may be an electronic component carrier, is manufactured independently of the electrical conductors which are applied to the already produced or still to be produced plastic carrier. For this purpose, the invention uses known and in part modified MID methods. Here are the main benefits. In the following the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to a drawing showing only one exemplary embodiment; show it:

1 shows the motor vehicle door lock according to the invention in a partial section and

Fig. 2, the conductor sheet used in a schematic overview.

In the figures, a motor vehicle door lock is shown, which is of conventional design, that is a not explicitly illustrated locking mechanism with a catch and pawl has. Evident is a locking lever or central locking lever 1, which by means of a drive unit 2, 3, for example, in its positions "unlocked" and "locked" about an axis 4 can be pivoted. In the same way, an inner locking lever 5 may provide for corresponding pivoting movements of the central locking lever 1. Finally, the basic structure still includes a housing 6, which is partially opened or removed at the transition from Fig. 1 to Fig. 2. In fact, the housing 6 is composed of an upper housing part 6a and a lower housing part 6b.

In addition, it can be seen a connection socket 7 in the upper housing part 6a and two switches 8 in the upper housing part 6b which query the position of the rotary latch and the central locking lever 1. This is of course only to be understood as illustrative and not restrictive. The connection socket 7 and the two switches 8 are, like the electric motor 2, electrically connected to one another via a conductor track foil 9, which is basically shown in FIG. 2. That is, any signals of the switch 8 are transmitted to a remote control unit via the conductor foil 9 and finally the connection socket 7 or a plug inserted therein. Furthermore the connection socket 7 ensures the control of the electric motor 2 with the interposition of the conductor foil 9.

In the context of the invention, the one half of the housing or the upper housing part 6a functions as a plastic support 6a or component support in the sense of DE 20 2007 005 076 U1. For the plastic support 6a carries, inter alia, the connector 7 and can also be equipped with other electrical / electronic components. In addition, the component carrier 6a is equipped with the conductor foil 9, which is integrated in the component carrier 6a - at least in the region of its surface. The surface in which the printed circuit film 9 is integrated or onto which it is applied is the surface facing the lower housing part 6b and consequently the switches 8 and the electric motor 2. For the production of the housing half or the component carrier 6a, this is first formed by means of a plastic injection molding tool. Subsequently, electrical conductor tracks in the form of the conductor foil 9 are applied to the plastic carrier 9 in question. This happens within the scope of the invention by hot stamping.

In this process, the conductor foil 9 is punched out of a metal foil and impressed into the plastic carrier 6a with simultaneous application of pressure and heat. As a result, the strip conductor 9 dips into the plastic support 6a on the surface side and at least slightly and ensures plasticized and displaced plastic mass accordingly that the printed circuit film 9 is optionally sealed by the previously molten plastic. In principle, after this process, however, a potting compound can also be applied to the printed circuit film 9 for its protection, or the printed circuit film 9 can undergo a potting coating. In any case, the conductor foil 9 or the individual conductor tracks defined with the conductor foil 9 are applied to the plastic support 6a in an additive metallizing manner.

Claims

claims:

1. A method for producing a motor vehicle door lock, comprising a housing (6), further comprising at least one plastic carrier (6 a), and with electrical / electronic components (7, 8) in and / or on the housing (6), after which single or all electrical conductor tracks for contacting the components (7, 8) in the plastic carrier (6a) are integrated in the course of a manufacturing process, characterized in that the electrical conductor tracks are applied to the independently produced or produced plastic carrier (6a).

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that metallic conductor tracks are applied to the injection-molded plastic carrier (6a).

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the electrical to the plastic substrate subtractive structuring and / or additive metallizing be applied.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the plastic carrier (6a) is produced by two-component injection molding, wherein a first plastic forms a base body and a further second plastic is metallizable and a printed circuit board layout maps.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that a metallizable and electrically non-conductive plastic is used as the second plastic, wherein the printed circuit board layout is sublime mapped and as the first plastic non-metallizable and electrically non-conductive plastic free spaces between the conductors fills.

6. The method of claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the first plastic is not metallizable and electrically non-conductive and the printed conductors as wells, which fills the second metallizable and electrically non-conductive plastic.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the electrical conductor tracks are connected as a conductor foil (9) hot stamping with the plastic carrier (6a).

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that the conductor foil (9) is connected using pressure and heat with the plastic carrier (6a).

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the conductor foil (9) has an adhesive layer and / or a comparable adhesive coating on its plastic carrier (6a) facing bottom.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the plastic carrier (6a) is surface-activated and surface-structured, wherein subsequently applied to the thus structured surface, for example, a metal layer.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the plastic carrier (6a) is metallized overall on its surface, then a protective coating of the conductor tracks takes place and finally the remaining metallization is removed.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the electrical conductor tracks are back-injected with a plastic.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that a metal wire up or melted and is sprayed onto the plastic carrier (6a).

14. Motor vehicle door lock, in particular produced by the method according to claims 1 to 13, with a housing (6), further comprising at least one plastic carrier (6 a), and with electrical / electronic components (7, 8) in and / or on the housing (6), wherein individual or all electrical conductor tracks for contacting the components (7, 8) are integrated in the plastic carrier (6a) in the course of a manufacturing process, characterized in that the electrical conductor tracks applied to the independently produced or produced therefrom plastic carrier (6a) are.

15. Motor vehicle door lock according to claim 14, characterized in that the electrical conductor tracks are subtractive structured and / or additive metallizing applied.