JP2008531348A - Adhering material provided with outer skin and supporting material, and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

  The present invention is an adherend comprising a support member (126) for imparting rigidity to the adherend member, and an outer skin (110) comprising a peripheral skirt (112) coupled to the support member (126). And the stiffness of the skin material relates to a substrate that is not adapted to form a continuous bonding surface with the support (126). According to the invention, at the edge of the skirt (112), the skin (110) is made of a mechanically deformable material with low or negligible springback, such as heat treated metal or alloy. With a landscape element (124). The skin (110) is formed of leather and the oblong element (124) is a lip seal with two flanges (118, 120) applied against the opposing surfaces of the skirt (112) and The lip (122) is held at the edge of the skirt (112). This inventive member is used for automobile interior furniture.

Description

  The present invention relates to an adherend, for example, an automobile interior adherend, and a method for manufacturing the same.

  The adherend with which the present invention is concerned has a visible skin formed of an easily deformable material, such as leather or textile material, which skin is carried on a support material with foam inclusions.

  Conventional methods for manufacturing such members include forming a member with a visible skin made of a support material, foam, for example, a plastic material obtained by rotational molding. The resulting member is then worn by applying leather or the like to the skin of plastic material. The finished product thus comprises two skins and requires two continuous manufacturing operations, one of which is manual and therefore expensive.

  Furthermore, in some cases, for example in the case of automobile dashboards, the visible skin of the finished product can be selected by the purchaser from several types, such as leather skin or plastic material skin. is there. In the case of leather, the total thickness of the combined outer skin of the finished product is the sum of the thickness of the inner skin of the plastic material and the thickness of the leather, whereas in the case of plastic material it is constant for one skin. There is a thickness of.

  Thus, if the thickness of one skin made of plastic material is selected to be equal to the thickness of only the inner skin of the combined leather skin, both parts can be manufactured using the same equipment. Although possible, the next decoration work requires different equipment for different types of skins. This is because the total thickness of the skin from the combined leather greatly exceeds the thickness of one skin from the plastic material. On the other hand, if the thickness of one skin from the plastic material is chosen to be equal to the thickness of the skin from the combined leather, both parts must be manufactured by different devices. Therefore, it will be understood that the equipment cost is high.

  The thickness of leather and plastic material can be the same thickness, thus avoiding these two continuous operations and using the same equipment for both leather and plastic material. Methods that are possible are already known. Such a method uses a leather skin directly, and optionally uses a skin of the sealing layer when the properties of the skin are suitable for bonding between the skin and the backing material. In the resulting member, the outer skin is held on the support by applying an edge portion or skirt of the outer skin to the hidden surface of the support, and the skirt, for example, a plastic material foam between the outer skin and the support. It is pressed against the support material by pouring in between.

  However, it is known that leather does not retain its shape, ie it cannot maintain the shape given to itself. Therefore, there is a problem with the above method. For example, the skin material may be very soft and may not hold enough of the plastic material foam that is injected into the mold, or the skin material may be very rigid and may not allow continuous bonding to the support. I don't know. Disadvantages thus seen are foam leakage at the skin / support interface and poor bonding between the skin and the support.

  Document FR-2843066 describes a method in which rigidity is imparted to the periphery of a very soft skin by adding retaining elements associated with the peripheral skirt of the skin, at least in the region facing the support. The skin is thus held in an area where it can be deformed by the foam and can leak the foam.

  Although the method described in the document is effective, it requires the production of a holding element adapted to the shape of the interface between the skin and the support. In that method, the specially required contour holding element is either a special shaped shaping of the holding element or the heat of the laminate formed by the holding element, the skin, and optionally the sealing layer. Manufactured either by shaping.

  The object of the present invention is to remedy the drawbacks of having to produce special holding elements for each substrate.

  More precisely, the present invention is concerned with solving the two above-mentioned problems posed by a very soft skin and a very rigid skin. More precisely, according to the first problem, the skirt is strengthened, for example under the action of an injectable plastic foam, when the outer skin material is very soft and cannot keep enough contact with the support. And its shape can be approximated to the shape of the surface to which it must be bonded. According to the second problem, when the skin material is very stiff and continuous contact with the support is not possible, the skin is brought close to the shape of the surface to which it must be bonded, i.e. the skin is of the support material. It can be easily adapted to the shape.

  More precisely, according to the invention, the skirt of the skin forming the bond with the support is provided with a laterally long element made of a substantially inelastic, mechanically deformable material at its edge. Thereby, it is possible to bring the part of the skin forming the skirt for coupling with the support material closer to a shape adapted to the local shape of the support material. For example, the outer skin part can be directly shaped with the mold part used to manufacture the adherend without using a separate step of manufacturing the holding element.

  As used herein, “substantially inelastic, mechanically deformable material” is defined as a material that itself remains substantially in a deformed shape. However, those skilled in the art know that when the deformation applied to the material matches the sum of the elastic deformation and the plastic deformation, an equivalent material can be obtained with the elastic material. Thus, in this specification, the expression “substantially inelastic, mechanically deformable material” also refers to a material having an offsetable elasticity. Such materials, however, complicate the method of the invention and are not advantageous.

  More precisely, the present invention is a method for producing an adherend comprising an outer skin and a support material partially covered by the outer skin, of the type in which the outer surface of the peripheral skirt of the outer skin contacts the support material. The method relates to a method including disposing the support material and the skin separately on a part of a mold, and closing the mold at a position where the skirt contacts the support material. According to the method, before the mold is closed, the skin is prepared so that the peripheral part of its skirt is provided with an elongated element of mechanically deformable material with low elasticity or negligible elasticity. The The oblong element of the deformable material is placed in contact with the edge of the skirt and shapes the peripheral area of the outer skin so that the skirt has a shape corresponding to the shape that the finished adherend has. Including that.

  In one embodiment, the preparation of the skin includes forming an inner sealing layer, wherein the elongate element is a layer of mechanically deformable material having low or negligible elasticity, the layer Is adjacent to the sealing layer.

  In another embodiment, the skin preparation includes tightening a lip seal including the oblong element to the edge of the skirt.

  The shaping of the peripheral region of the outer skin is preferably achieved by pressing the outer skin against the shaping surface.

  If the skirt material is very soft and it is difficult to retain the shape of the skirt, the shaping step advantageously prevents the skirt from deforming on the closing path of the mold part.

  When the material of the skirt is very rigid and difficult to adapt to the shape of the support material, the shape of the outer skin is adapted to the shape of the support material by the shaping step.

  The mechanically deformable material of the oblong element is preferably selected from heat treated metals and alloys. For example, the oblong element may be a heat treated drawing wire with iron or aluminum base material or a heat treated aluminum sheet with a thickness of 0.03 mm to 1 mm.

  The material of the outer skin is preferably selected from leather and woven materials.

  In one embodiment, the skirt is formed by obliquely shaving the peripheral area of the outer skin.

  Preferably, the method comprises injecting foam into the space formed between the support and the skin after the mold is closed.

  The present invention is also an adherend, an outer skin having a support material for imparting rigidity to the adherend material, and a peripheral skirt for coupling to the support material, wherein the rigidity of the material of the outer skin is For an adherend of the type comprising an outer skin that is not suitable for forming a continuous coupling surface with the support material, according to the invention, the outer skin is less elastic or negligible at the edge of the skirt. It has a horizontally long element with possible mechanically deformable material.

  The mechanically deformable material with low or negligible elasticity is preferably selected from heat-treated metals and alloys. For example, the elongate element may be a heat treated drawing wire with iron or aluminum base material or a heat treated aluminum sheet with a thickness of 0.03 mm to 1 mm.

  The outer skin is preferably selected from leather and woven materials.

  In one embodiment, the outer skin has an outer decorative layer and an inner sealing layer, and the oblong element is a layer of a mechanically deformable material having low elasticity or negligible elasticity. Is adjacent to the sealing layer.

  In another embodiment, the oblong element is held by a band having at least one flange pressed at the edge of the skirt near the edge of the face of the skin. For example, the band is flexible and is bonded to the outer skin with an adhesive.

  In a further embodiment, the oblong element is held by a band having two flanges pressed at the edges of the skirt and in the vicinity of the edges of the skirt facing each other.

  The band preferably further comprises a lip adjacent to the skirt and parallel to a portion of the support.

  In one example, the band forms a lip seal that is clamped to the edge of the skirt.

  In one example, the outer skin is formed of leather, and the skirt has a thickness that is at least locally reduced when, for example, the edge of the skirt is shaved.

  Other features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood by reading the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

  FIG. 1 shows a cross-section of the edge portion of an outer skin used to produce an adherend according to the method of the present invention.

  The skin 10 is manufactured from a material 12 that forms a decorative surface. The material can be, for example, leather, woven fabric, non-woven fabric, or any sheet material of woven or other material. The method of the present invention is particularly useful when the outer layer 12 forming the decorative surface contains a material that is so soft that it is difficult to maintain its shape when bent or the like. The material 12 is generally not impervious and is backed by a thin inner sealing layer 14 comprising a very flexible material, for example a plastic material.

  According to the present invention, a sheet 18 of a material that is negligible or negligible in elasticity and mechanically deformable is inserted into the peripheral region of the skin. A heat-treated metal or alloy can be cited as the material of the layer 18. For example, it is possible to use an aluminum sheet with a thickness of a few tens of millimeters, for example 0.03 mm to 1 mm.

  FIG. 2 shows the skin edge portion of FIG. 1 when used in conjunction with the skin, when placed on a shaping surface constituted by a mold part 20 and advantageously completed by an anvil part 22. . Pressure is applied to the peripheral portion (by a simple roller or the like) from the opposite side of the mold portion 20, as indicated by arrow 24, so that the peripheral portion effectively has a contour that the same portion must have in the finished product. take. As such, the skirt 25 is formed in contact with the anvil portion 22 and the shape of the sheet 18 is maintained because the sheet 18 is a deformable material. The skirt contacts the support in the finished product.

  3 and 4 show how an outer skin having the shape shown in FIG. 2 is then used.

  In FIG. 3, the anvil portion 22 is removed and the mold portion 28 carrying the support 26 is moved forward to close the injection mold. When the support material 26 is in a predetermined position with respect to the outer skin, the foam is injected into a space 30 formed between the support material and the outer skin. The edge 16 of the inner layer 14 is pressed against the support by the pressure applied by the foam.

  If the outer skin is not formed as shown in FIG. 2, the peripheral portion of the outer skin is captured by the mold portion 28 carrying the support material while the mold is closed in the direction indicated by the arrow 32 as shown in FIG. There is a risk that the mold cannot be closed properly.

  Compared to the prior art, this embodiment of the invention does not require the production of special holding elements. The outer skin shown in FIG. 1 only needs to apply the sheet to the peripheral portion, and since the sheet can be discontinuous, the manufacturing of the outer skin is extremely simple. In fact, it is possible to place several pieces of sheets with their edges overlapping. Even if the resistance of the material to deformation varies, it can be held in place. As shown in FIG. 2, it is sufficient that the material 18 is sufficiently deformed by the deformation force applied at least at the edge region of the skirt as indicated by reference numeral 24.

  It should be noted that the skirt is not close to the shape of a strong and tight support. In fact, the shaping shown in FIG. 2 is slightly downward, with the skirt itself parallel to the support, or slightly upward, especially when the mold is closed in a direction parallel to the surface of the skin. In the latter case, the skirt is reinforced by the material 18, so that the injected foam presses the skirt moderately against the support.

  The present invention has been described above in the case where the layer of deformable material is located between the leather and the sealing layer. However, the layer of deformable material can also be arranged on the side of the sealing layer facing the leather. For example, a heat-treated metal sheet is already known in which a layer of deformable material can be bonded to the sealing layer with an adhesive, and one side or even an adhesive is applied on both sides. The benefits gained thereby are substantially the same.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the skin 110 having a peripheral skirt 112 that terminates at an edge 114. The skirt 112 is shown on the outside of the surface of the skin 110 and is substantially similar to the configuration that the skin must have in the finished adherend.

  The skin 110 is manufactured from a material that forms a decorative surface. The material is, for example, leather, woven fabric, non-woven fabric, or any sheet of woven or other material. The method of the present invention is particularly useful when the outer layer 110 forming the decorative surface contains a material that is so soft that it is difficult to maintain its shape when bent or the like.

  According to the present invention, a horizontally long element of mechanically deformable material is inserted near the edge 114 of the skirt 112, with little or negligible elasticity. More precisely, in the example described here, a lip seal 116 having two flanges 118, 120 clamped on each side of the skirt and a sealing lip 122 is provided at the skirt edge 114. . The seal is pushed in as shown by the arrow in FIG. 5 and sandwiches the skirt 112 by bringing the two flanges 118 and 120 close together. A wire 124 made of a material selected from heat-treated metals and alloys, such as heat-treated drawn wire of iron or aluminum base material, which is less elastic or negligible and mechanically deformable, after being pinched Incorporated into the lip seal to be near the edge 114 of the lip seal.

  FIG. 6 shows the portion of the skin 110 of FIG. 5 when the skirt 112 is near the surface 128 of the rigid support 126 of the adherend, provided with a lip seal 116. The lip 122 of the seal 116 is pressed against the support surface 128 to prevent the foam being passed through in the next step.

  FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing shapes that the outer skin 110 can take when the skirt 112 of the outer skin 110 is brought close to an accurate shape suitable for positioning on the support member 126 as shown in FIG. Its exact shape is obtained by simply pressing the oblong elements contained in the seal 116 against the mold to take and maintain the desired shape with its own deformable and low elasticity properties.

  If the outer skin is not shaped as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 during closure of the mold for making the adherend, the skirt 112 will not be in continuous contact with the support and the injected foam will leak. There is a fear. In extreme cases, the mold portion 128 captures the skirt, which prevents the mold from closing properly.

  In the above, an example in which the lip seal is tightened has been shown. However, the lip seal may be adhesive-bonded. Furthermore, the lip seal does not necessarily have to be provided with two flanges 118, 120, and a single flange is sufficient.

  Compared to the prior art, the present invention does not require the production of special holding elements. The manufacture of the hull shown in FIG. 6 is very simple because it only involves adding a lip seal to the edge of the skirt.

  Furthermore, the seal may be discontinuous, i.e. it can only be placed at places where shaping is required, such as the bend 130 in FIG.

  The present invention has been described above for the case where the horizontally long element made of a deformable material is located outside the edge of the skirt. However, it can also be near one or both sides of the skirt, especially when the element is flat. However, in order to have sufficient thickness to perform its function of maintaining the shape of the edge of the skirt, at least a portion of the element needs to exceed the edge.

  It should be noted that because the rigidity is provided by the wire 124, the skirt 112 is reasonably pressed against the support 126 by the injected foam, so the skirt does not have to be close to the shape of the strong support tightly. Don't be.

  An example of a skin having a remarkable softness in the area of the skirt is a leather skin having a thin skirt formed by, for example, forming an edge at an angle. It is possible to hold the skirt at its end by a sheet or wire of deformable material.

  The present invention has been described above which is applied to the production of an adherend that is so soft that the outer skin does not retain a shape that matches the shape of the complementary portion of the support material. However, the present invention can also be used when the outer skin is too stiff and does not exactly follow the shape of the support. In that case, the outer skin is held sufficiently close to the support by a sheet or wire of deformable material, thereby preventing foam leakage.

  In the above, the present invention applied to the manufacture of the adherend including the outer skin supported by the foam and surrounded by the rigid support material has been described. However, the present invention is required to allow a very soft material to cooperate with a rigid support prior to applying internal pressure by imparting sufficient rigidity to maintain shape. It can be applied to any method.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the edge of the skin before shaping, prepared in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the outer skin part of FIG. 1 when the said edge forms a joint skirt. FIG. 3 shows the intermediate steps in the mold closing phase of the method according to the invention. It is a figure which shows arrangement | positioning of various elements before removing an adherend from a type | mold at the time of finishing of an adherend. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of an edge of an outer skin being prepared according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the skin edge of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 provided with a lip seal including an elongated element positioned against a rigid support prior to foam injection. FIG. 6 is a view showing an outer skin held in a predetermined shape by a horizontally long element in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5.

Claims (20)

An outer skin (10, 110) and a support material (26, 126) partially covered by the outer skin (10, 110); and a peripheral skirt (25, 112) of the outer skin (10, 110). A method of manufacturing an adherend of the type whose outer surface is in contact with the support (26, 126),
The method includes disposing the support (26, 126) and the skin (10, 110) separately on a part of a mold;
Closing the mold at a position where the skirt (25, 112) contacts the support (26, 126);
Prior to closing the mold, the method
In the peripheral part of the skirt (25, 112), a laterally long element (18, 124) made of a mechanically deformable material with low or negligible elasticity is provided. , 124) adjacent the edges of the skirt (25, 112) to prepare the skin (10, 110);
Shaping the peripheral region of the outer skin (10, 110) such that the skirt (25, 112) has a shape corresponding to the shape of the finished adherend.   The preparation of the skin includes forming an inner sealing layer (14), wherein the transverse element is a layer (18) of mechanically deformable material having low elasticity or negligible elasticity. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that is adjacent to the sealing layer (14).   The preparation of the skin (110) comprises tightening a lip seal (116) including the oblong element (124) to the edge of the skirt (112). Method.   The shaping of the peripheral region of the outer skin (10, 110) is achieved by pressing the outer skin (10, 110) against a shaping surface. the method of.   The material of the skirt (25, 112) is a material that is extremely soft and difficult to retain the shape of the skirt. In the shaping step, the skirt (25, 112) is deformed on the closed path of the mold part. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is prevented.   The material of the skirt (25, 112) is a material that is extremely rigid and difficult to conform to the shape of the support material. In the shaping step, the shape of the outer skin (10, 110) is changed to the support material (26, 126). The method according to claim 1, wherein the method is adapted to the shape of   A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the mechanically deformable material is selected from heat treated metals and alloys.   A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the skin material is selected from leather and woven materials.   The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the preparation of the skin (10, 110) comprises shaving the peripheral area of the skin.   The method of claim 1, wherein the method comprises injecting foam into a space formed between the support (26, 126) and the skin (10, 110) after the mold is closed. The method as described in any one of. An adherend,
A support material (26, 126) for imparting rigidity to the adherend;
A skin (10, 110) having a peripheral skirt (25, 112) for coupling to the support (26, 126), wherein the rigidity of the material of the skin (10, 110) is the support (26, 126). 126) with an outer skin (10, 110) not suitable for forming a continuous bonding surface with
The outer skin (10, 110) has an elongated element (18, 124) of mechanically deformable material with low elasticity or negligible elasticity at the edge of the skirt (25, 112) Adhering material.   The adherend according to claim 11, wherein the mechanically deformable material having low or negligible elasticity is selected from heat-treated metals and alloys.   The skin (10) has an outer decorative layer (12) and an inner sealing layer (14) and the oblong element is a layer (18) of mechanically deformable material with low elasticity or negligible elasticity. The adherend according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the layer (18) is adjacent to the sealing layer.   The adherend according to claim 13, characterized in that the layer (18) of deformable material is made of heat-treated aluminum and has a thickness of 0.03 mm to 1 mm.   The adherend according to any one of claims 11 and 12, wherein the horizontally long element is a drawn wire obtained by heat-treating a ferrous material.   Adhering material according to any one of claims 11 to 15, characterized in that the outer skin (10, 110) is selected from leather and woven materials.   The oblong element (124) is held by a band having at least one flange (118, 120) at the edge of the skirt (112) pressed against the edge of the skin (110) near the edge. The adherend according to any one of claims 11 and 12, characterized in that:   The elongate element (124) has two flanges (118, 120) pressed against the facing surfaces of the skirt (112) near the edge (114) at the edge of the skirt (112). The adherend according to any one of claims 11 and 12, wherein the adherend is held by a band having the following.   19. The adherend according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the band further comprises a lip (122) parallel to a part of the support material adjacent to the skirt. .   20. The adherend according to any one of claims 11 to 19, characterized in that the skirt (25, 112) is formed by an edge that is cut off obliquely.

Images