CA1280787C

CA1280787C - Interior trim component for a motor vehicle and apparatus for producing same

Info

Publication number: CA1280787C
Application number: CA000499420A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Willibald Zimmermann; Klaus Hartmann; Heinz Wessel
Original assignee: Ford Motor Company of Canada Ltd
Current assignee: Ford Motor Company of Canada Ltd
Priority date: 1985-01-17
Filing date: 1986-01-13
Publication date: 1991-02-26
Anticipated expiration: 2008-02-26
Also published as: JPS61169347A; EP0188680A3; EP0188680B1; US4802948A; EP0188680A2; DE3571013D1; DE3501354A1; US4781956A

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF DISCLOSURE
An interior trim component 1 for a motor vehicle comprises a base 2 of a fibrous base material of approximately 80% wood fibers and approximately 20%
synthetic resin fibers, which is compressed and consolidated by the action of pressure and heat into the desired shape. Padding and/or a fabric insert 5 may be placed over selected areas of the surface of the base 2 and a sheet 7 of plastic material is bonded over the whole of the visible side of the base 2, the parts of the plastic sheet 7 overlying the insert 5 having a continuous impressed separation so that they may be removed. The fibrous base material which is in the form of fibrous fleece mats of approximately 20 to 30 mm thickness is consolidated in a hot-pressing shaping tool at 4000 N/M2 and approximately 200°C to a final thickness approximately one tenth the initial thickness, but is consolidated to a lesser extent in selected surface areas 4 to produce a greater final thickness between one fifth and two fifths the initial thickness, so as to provide a cushioning effect.

Description

8t7 INTERIOR TRIM COMPONENI' FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE
AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING SAME

The invention relate~ to an in~erior trim component for motor vehicle~ of the type comprising a ba6e of a fibrous ba~e material which iB pressed and consolidated by the action of pressure and heat into a 5 desired shape.
An interior trim component for motor vehicle6 iB
known from DE-OS 29 37 399, the base of which is pressed and consolidated into the desired shape under the action of pressure and heat from a fibrous base material impregnated with binder. Here, a mixture of polyester and acrylic fibers, which are pre~sed together with a synthetic resin binder in the form of fibrous fleece mats, i6 selected a6 the fibrous base material. This known interior trim component has the disadvantage that on account of the high proportion of 6ynthetic material fibers in the base material, it results in a very hard, rigid base which does not have the sound-proofing properties desired for an interior trim componant of a motor vehicle.
A further interior trim component for motor vehicles is known from F,P A O llB 796, in which is dificlosed a solution for a neat arrangement of the de6ired vi6ible side of the interior trim having different coating materials in different 6urface areas.
The differentiation which is indicated between different coating materials iB provided for trim materials not capable of beiny welded, ~uch a~ fabric or leather, but require~ the difficult formation of deep channels in the base.
An interior trim component for motor vehicle6 is known from DE OS 32 33 6'75, in which a ba6e, in a wet process, consists of an inherently stable pre66ed wood ~k ~L2~ 787 fiber mat~rial which is bonded with a plastic sheet in pre-selected surface areas after padding and fabric inserts have been placed in position. In this case, the inherently stable wood fiber material should be directly provided with a structure for the thin plastic sheet by a hot-pressing shaping tool.
A further interior trim component for motor vehicles is known from EP A 0 053 747, in which a base is formed by a laminate of two fibrous fleece mats with an interposed piece of corrugated cardboard. A shaping apparatus ~or the interior trim component is described.
This known interior trim component has the disadvantage that it cannot be shaped into any desired shape of varying depth on account of the piece of corrugated cardboard.
The present invention seeks to provide an improved interior trim component for motor vehicles of the type described above in such a way that it permits desired cushioning effects in pre-selected surface areas without the additional arrangement of strips of foam material.
In a separate aspect, the invention seeks to provide an apparatus for the convenient mass production of such an interior trim component.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an interior trim component for a motor vehicle comprising a compressed fiber base having a decorative surface and a plastic sheet adhered to at least selected portions of the decorative surface of the base, wherein the base is formed by compression molding a fibrous mat of substantially uniform thickness, selected areas of the fibrous mat being subjected to a lesser degree of compression than remaining areas of the fibrous mat, areas of the base corresponding to the selected areas of the mat being thicker than areas of the base corresponding to the remaining areas of the mat.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a trim component in a motor vehicle, having a visible surface and comprising a substantially self-supporting fibrous base material and a plastic sheet bonded to the base material and forming at least a 5 portion of the visible surface, the fibrous base material being the product o~ compression molding of a fibrous fleece mat of substantially uniform thickness of about 20 to 30 mm, under pressure o~ about 4000 N/M2 and at a temperature o~ about 200C, selected areas of the mat being subjected to a lesser degree of compression than remaining areas of the mat, areas o~ the base corresponding to the remaining areas having thickness equal to approximately one tenth that of the mat and areas of the base corresponding to the selected areas having thickness equal to approximately two to four tenths that of the mat.
Preferably, the surface areas having a cushioning effect are covered with padding and/or fabric inserts and the plastic sheet material overlies only the ~o surrounding areas o~ the base, the plastic sheet being provided with impressed separation seams to enable the removal o~ the parts of the sheet overlying the inserts.
Conveniently, the padding and/or fabric inserts are secured to the base by hot sealing following the application to the entire surface of the base of a thermosetting adhesive for adhering the plastic sheet to the base. In this way, undesired shifting o~ the inserts is reliably avoided in the subsequent overall plastic material sheet.
The invention will now be described further, by way o~ example, with re~erence to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a interior trim component according to the invention;
Figure la is a section along the line Ia-Ia in Figure 1;
Figure lb is a section drawn to an enlarged scale o~ the detail contained in the circle Ib in Figure la;
Figure 2 is a perspective view o~` an apparatus ~ - ~\

for the substantially automatic production of the interior trim component of Figure 1;
Figure 3a shows pin grippers of the apparatus in Figure 2 in their rest position;
Figure 3b shows the pin grippers of Figure 3a in their operating position;
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the hot shaping tool with the advancing member and e~ectors moved out;
Figure 5a is a vertical section, along line V-V in Figure 4, through the shaping tool with the fibrous fleece mat, which bulges forward, inserted;
Figure 5b is a section similar to Figure 5a after the shaping procedure has been carried out;
Figure 5c is a view similar to Figure 5a with the ejectors actuated;
Figure 6 is a perspective view of the sealing station; and Figure 7 is a vertical section through the region of the sealing punch.
~efsrring to the drawings, the interior trim component 1 illustrated in Figure 1 is intended for the door of a motor vehicle. The interior trim component 1 comprises a base 2 which is pressed and consolidated by the action of pressure and heat into the desired shape from a fibrous material of approximately 80% wood fibers and approximately 20% synthetic resin fibers. The maximum deformation of the base 2 is required in the region of the arm rest 3. Above the arm rest 3, in a preselected surface area 4 in which a padding and/or fabric insert 5 is to be provided, the base 2 is less compressed so that in this area a cushioning effect is achieved by the less compressed material from which the base 2 is formed.
The base 2 produced in this way is coated all over with a thermosetting adhesive 6 which is necessary for the intended overall bonding to a plastic sheet ~.
Padding and/or material inserts 5 of desired shape can be positioned on the surface areas 4 provided and by the " "` `'' ,. , ~z~

action of the adhesive 6 can be secured by hot sealing using a sealing punch corresponding to the peripheral shape of the inserts. The base 2 is then covered with the plastic sheet 7 which is bonded to the entire remaining surface of the base 2 in a manner known per se. Appropriate ornamental strips and the like may be provided.
The manual handling of the fibrous fleece mats is difficult on account of their soft nature, and in the past has led to widely differing positionings in the tool, as a result of which increased wastage and rejects arose. In the preferred embodiment described now with reference to Figures 2 to 7, a loading station 10 and an aligning station 20 are arranged upstream of a shaping station 30. A sealing station 40 is arranged downstream of the shaping station.

~:8~ 37 The loading sta-tion 10 comprir,es a support surface for stack6 of fibrou6 fleece mat6 12 ~u~plied on conveying pallet6 11. A first loadinq frame 13 is di6posed above the ~tack of fibrou~ fleece mat6 12 and a 5 second loading frame 14, parallel to the fir6t loading frame 13, i~ disposed above the aligning station Z0. The two loading frame6 13 and 1~ can be rai6ed and lowered independently of one another and are continuously movable laterally in a parallel manner.
Each loading frame 13 and 14 i6 provid~d with a plurality Oe pin grippers 15 ~F'igures 3a and 3b) which can be swung in opposite directions toward one ano~her and which allow a fibrou~ fleece mat 12 to be rai6ed individually from the 6tack of the loading 6tation 10 or a fibroug fleece mat 12 to be depo~ited in the aligning 6tation 20 or in the shaping station 30, respectively.
The aligning 6tation 20 compri6e6 a supporting plate 21 on which are provided a plurality of displaceable alignment rails 22 which cooperate with the edge6 of the fibrou~ Eleece mat 12 to align the mat with the mold. The frame 13 acts to tran6fer the mat~ from the 6tack to ~he alignment station and the frame 1~ move6 the mat6 after they have been aligned from the alignment 6tation to the 6haping sta-tion.
The 6haping station 30, better shown in Figure 4, con6i6t6 of a pres6 bed 31 on which a male mold 32 having the 6hape of the rear of the ba6e 2 i6 di6posed in conventional manner. The male mold 32 include6 a pre66ure actuated advancing member 33 in the regiotl of the base 2 in which the cJreatest degree of deformation ir3 to take place. When the fibrou~ fleece mat 12 i6 introduced into the mold by the second frame 14, the flexible fibrou6 fleece mat 12 i6 laid in the position shown in Figure 5a with an exaggerated bulge in the r~gion of maximutn deformatiotl.

~;28~317~

When the shaping tool is clo~ed by the female mold 35, the advancing member 33 i8 first retracted and then the ibrous fleece mat 12 is consolidated by the action of pressure and heat into the shape shown in 5 Figure 5b. The finished base 2 i6 subsequently ejected by actuation of the ejectors 34 and the advancing member 33 which likewise acts as an ejector. The base may now be removed from the mold.
The shaped base 2 can now be transEerred using a 10 conventional conveying device par~t a seraying device which covers it with an overall coating of a thermosetting adhesive 6. The base 2 coated in this way with the adhesive 6 can now be loaded in the sealing station 40 (6ee Figure 6) which essentially comprises a 15 recei~ing member 41 for the shaped base and a sealing punch 42 with a peripheral electrode 43, the shape of which corresponds to the area of the padding and/or fabric insert 5 to be elaced in position.
The arrangement of apparatus for producing an interior trim component according to the invention en~ures a friction-free and ~ub~tantially automatic manufacture of such interior trim components with the minimum of material wastage and rejects.

.,

Claims

1. An interior trim component for a motor vehicle comprising a compressed fiber base having a decorative surface and a plastic sheet adhered to at least selected portions of said decorative surface of said base, wherein said base is formed by compression molding a fibrous mat of substantially uniform thickness, selected areas of said fibrous mat being subjected to a lesser degree of compression than remaining areas of said fibrous mat, areas of said base corresponding to said selected areas of said mat being thicker than areas of said base corresponding to said remaining areas of said mat, and wherein a covering material other than said plastic sheet is adhered to said base and overlies said thicker areas of said base and portions of said base peripheral thereto, said plastic sheet and said covering material overlapping one another at said peripheral surface portions, and wherein said plastic sheet has impressed separation seams adapted to enable the removal of portions of said plastic sheet overlapping said covering material.

2. An interior trim component as claimed in claim 1 wherein said covering material comprises fabric.

3. An interior trim component as claimed in claim 1, wherein said covering material further comprises resilient padding material between said base and said fabric.

4. An interior trim component as claimed in claim 1, wherein said covering material is secured to said base by application of thermosetting adhesive to said base and, subsequently, heat sealing of said covering material thereto.

5. A trim component in a motor vehicle, having a visible surface and comprising a substantially self-supporting fibrous base material and a plastic sheet bonded to said base material and forming at least a portion of said visible surface, said fibrous base material being the product of compression molding of a fibrous fleece mat of substantially uniform thickness of about 20 to 30 mm, under pressure of about 4000 N/M2 and at a temperature of about 200°C, selected areas of said mat being subjected to a lesser degree of compression than remaining areas of said mat, areas of said base corresponding to said remaining areas having thickness equal to approximately one tenth that of said mat and areas of said base corresponding to said selected areas having thickness equal to approximately two to four tenths that of said mat.