A heated defrost radome and a method for manufacturing the same

Abstract

The application provides a method for manufacturing a heating defrosting radome, comprising the following steps: S1: providing a connector pin and a solder pad, and providing a film with a decorative pattern with a metal effect; S2: forming a radome front panel through a first insert injection molding process by using the connector pin, the solder pad and the film; S3: embedding a heating wire into the radome front panel through an ultrasonic embedding process, and fusion welding the heating wire and the solder pad; S4: taking the radome front panel after the ultrasonic embedding and fusion welding as an intermediate to form a radome panel base through a second insert injection molding; S5: taking the structure formed in the step S4 as an insert to perform polyurethane pouring to form a polyurethane coating, so that a radome product with a heating function and a metal decorative effect is obtained. According to the manufacturing process provided by the application, the problems of low paint utilization rate, environmental pollution and VOC exceeding the standard in the prior art are solved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of automobile manufacturing, and more particularly to a heated defrosting radome and a method for manufacturing the same. BACKGROUND

[0002] The radome is a cover for the surface of the radar sensor, which can ensure that the radar beam emitted by the radar sensor can pass smoothly and can receive the reflected radar wave again, and then generate environmental data or environmental images and other information detected by the radar sensor according to the reflected beam.

[0003] Such a radome is applied to the front of a motor vehicle with an automatic cruise function equipped with a millimeter wave radar as a radar cover, thereby protecting the millimeter wave radar from direct physical impact and damage, preventing the millimeter wave radar from being directly affected by mud, rain, ice / snow and losing function, ensuring that the millimeter wave radar collects real data and avoids misjudgment by the automatic cruise system.

[0004] Such a radome can be heated by electricity. By heating the radome, the formation of a fog layer, water layer, frost layer, and snow layer on the outer surface of the radome in cold weather is avoided. These fog layers, water layers, frost layers, and snow layers have a strong impact on the transmission loss of radar waves. Heating the radome can also remove the fog layer, water layer, frost layer, and snow layer that has already formed on the surface of the radome.

[0005] As a known technology, the radome outer plate is injection molded using transparent PC or transparent PA or other thermoplastic resins, and the connector pin of the heating wire circuit is integrally formed with the thermoplastic resin by insert molding.

[0006] For the entire technology, uniform heating should be achieved on the radar cover plate to avoid local circuit overheating.

[0007] The existing defrosting radome on the market uses a diaphragm process to form a diaphragm with a heating wire circuit by ultrasonic waves / laser or printed conductive silver paste, and the diaphragm with the heating wire circuit is molded and shaped and then insert molded. When the heating diaphragm is arranged on the product surface, the product surface needs to be sprayed with a UV-cured hard coating. The essence of the UV-cured hard coating is paint. During the paint spraying process, the paint needs to be atomized into paint mist, which adheres to the product surface to form a paint film and then a hard coating. The paint mist that does not adhere to the product cannot be reused, and the solvent volatilizes during the spraying process, which can easily cause environmental pollution and exceed the VOC standard. SUMMARY

[0008] The application aims to provide a heating defrosting radome and a method for manufacturing the heating defrosting radome, so as to solve the problems of low paint utilization, environmental pollution and VOC exceeding in the manufacturing process of the radome in the prior art.

[0009] In order to solve the above technical problems, the application adopts the following technical solutions:

[0010] According to the first aspect of the application, a method for manufacturing a heating defrosting radome is provided, comprising the following steps: S1: providing a connector pin and a solder pad, and providing a film with a decorative pattern of metal effect; S2: forming a radome front panel by first insert injection molding process of the connector pin, the solder pad and the film; S3: embedding a heating wire into the radome front panel by using an ultrasonic embedding process, and fusion welding the heating wire and the solder pad; S4: forming a radome panel base by second insert injection molding of the radome front panel with completed ultrasonic embedding and fusion welding as an intermediate; S5: forming a polyurethane coating by polyurethane pouring of the structure formed in step S4 as an insert, so as to obtain a radome product with heating function and metal decorative effect.

[0011] In step S1, the connector pin and the solder pad are made by stamping process and tin plating process, and the film with the decorative pattern of metal effect is made by high-pressure forming and cutting of the film with metal effect.

[0012] In step S2, the first insert injection molding is performed by using a thermoplastic resin to inject the film on the lower side of the structure.

[0013] In step S3, the heating wire is embedded into the surface of the radome front panel by using the ultrasonic embedding process, and the solder joint formed by fusion welding of the heating wire and the solder pad is tin soldered to form a tin layer protecting the solder joint and ensuring the connection strength of the solder joint.

[0014] In step S4, the second insert injection molding is performed by using a thermoplastic resin to form the radome panel base on the lower side of the structure formed in step S3, and at the same time, a connector shell extending from the lower surface is formed.

[0015] In step S5, the polyurethane coating is formed on the upper surface of the structure after the second insert injection molding process is completed.

[0016] The method further comprises step S6: after the polyurethane pouring is completed, milling of the injection gate and the pouring gate is performed.

[0017] The decorative pattern with metal effect is realized by indium plated film with metal effect or PET film with metal effect, or directly realized by PVD process.

[0018] The radome body is formed by insert injection molding and two-color injection molding. The insert injection molding forms the connector plug of the circuit and the pattern of the metal effect. The two-color injection molding forms the partition of the metal effect area and the conventional decorative effect area.

[0019] The radome outer surface is filled with polyurethane, which protects the heating wire from falling off, and enhances the weather resistance and scratch resistance of the thermoplastic resin.

[0020] According to the second aspect of the present application, a heating defrosting radome manufactured by the above method is provided.

[0021] The heating defrosting radome comprises: a radome front panel formed by first insert injection molding, the radome front panel having a connector pin, a solder pad, and a diaphragm; a heating wire embedded in the radome front panel by an ultrasonic embedding process, the heating wire being fusion welded with the solder pad; a radome panel base formed on the lower side of the radome front panel by second insert injection molding, and a connector housing protruding and extending from the lower side of the radome panel base, the connector pin being integrally formed with the connector housing; and a polyurethane coating formed on the upper side of the radome front panel by polyurethane filling.

[0022] Preferably, the thermoplastic resin used in the insert injection molding process is selected from: transparent PC, transparent PA, ABS, AES, PC / ABS.

[0023] In summary, according to the manufacturing method of the heating defrosting radome provided by the present application, the connector plug is insert injection molded, the heating wire is implanted by the ultrasonic wiring device, the heating wire and the connector plug are fusion welded by the fusion welding device, the solder joint of the heating wire and the solder pad is reinforced by soldering, and the radome shell is filled with polyurethane, finally forming a radome with transparent polyurethane protective coating, metal effect decorative area and defrosting function. The radome prepared by the method of the present application ensures that the transmission loss of radar waves is controlled within 2.0 dB, which meets the attenuation requirements of radar waves in the automotive industry, and realizes the defrosting function of the radome under cold conditions. At the same time, since the process of spraying UV curing coating is avoided, the problems of low paint utilization rate, environmental pollution, and VOC exceeding the standard in the prior art are solved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0024] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the heating defrosting radome according to a preferred embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 2 shows a front view of the heating defrosting radome as Figure 1

[0026] Figure 3 shows a front view of the heating defrosting radome as​Figure 1 a cross-sectional view of a heated defrosting radome;

[0027] Figure 4 a cross-sectional view of a heated defrosting radome is shown as Figure 1 a cross-sectional view of a heated defrosting radome is shown as

[0028] Figure 5 a cross-sectional view of a heating wire is shown;

[0029] In the drawings, the following reference numerals are used:

[0030] 1 heating wire; 2 connector pin pad; 3 radome product outer contour; 4 radome product conventional decorative area; 5 film with decorative pattern of metallic effect; 6 polyurethane coating; 7 heating wire after fusion welding with connector pin pad; 8 first thermoplastic resin; 9 connector pin; 10 connector housing; 11 second thermoplastic resin; 12 tin layer; 13 coating of conventional decorative effect area; 14 assembly structure; 15 radome body; 16 alloy conductor of heating wire with insulation layer; 17 insulation layer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] The application will be further described with reference to the following specific examples. It should be understood that the following examples are intended to be illustrative only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application.

[0032] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise" and the like indicate the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and therefore cannot be understood as indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present application.

[0033] In addition, the terms "first", "second" are only for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, the features defined with "first", "second" can explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present application, the meaning of "multiple" is two or more, unless otherwise specifically limited.

[0034] In conjunction with Figures 1 to 3 As shown, a heated defrosting radome 15 is provided according to a preferred embodiment of the present application, and the manufacturing method is as follows:

[0035] Step 1: Forming the connecting piece, including the connector pin 9 and the connector pin pad 2, by stamping process and tinning process on the alloy, as shown in Figure 3 、 Figure 4 The film sheet with metallic effect is cut to form the film sheet 5 with decorative pattern of metallic effect by high-pressure forming. In this embodiment, the decorative pattern shows the "YFPO" logo, but it should be understood that other suitable decorative patterns can also be selected according to actual needs.

[0036] Step 2: Using the connector pin 9 and the film sheet 5 with decorative pattern of metallic effect as inserts, using the first thermoplastic resin 8 to form the radome front panel with the connector pin 9 and the film sheet with decorative pattern of metallic effect by insert injection molding process, as shown in Figure 3 The first thermoplastic resin 8 used can be transparent PC or transparent PA. As can be seen from the figure, the film sheet 5 with decorative pattern of metallic effect is formed on the inner side of the radome front panel.

[0037] Step 3: On the basis of the radome front panel on which the connector pin 9 and the film sheet 5 with decorative pattern of metallic effect are insert injection molded, using the ultrasonic wire embedding equipment to embed the heating wire 1 with insulation layer into the radome front panel, as shown in Figure 2 、 Figure 3 As can be seen from Figure 2 , the heating wire 1 is distributed on the radome front panel in a substantially uniform manner, so as to achieve uniform heating of the entire radome. As shown in Figure 5 , the heating wire 1 includes an alloy conductor 16 and an insulation layer 17 covering the outer surface of the alloy conductor 16.

[0038] In order to achieve the best heating efficiency, the number of loops of the heating wire 1 is preferably a four-loop arrangement, and the number of loops can be adjusted according to the size and shape of the product. In order to achieve the balance of resistance between loops, the wire length between each loop needs to be consistent.

[0039] Step 4: Using the fusion welding equipment to fuse the heating wire 1 and the connector pin pad 2 of the radome front panel on which the ultrasonic wire embedding is completed, so as to realize the connection between the heating wire 1 loop and the power supply system, and then using the automatic tin wire supply equipment to tin the fusion welding spot to form a tin layer 12 protecting the welding spot, so as to guarantee the welding spot connection strength, as shown in Figure 4 .

[0040] Step 5: Using the radome front panel on which the ultrasonic wire embedding and fusion welding are completed as an insert, embedding the heating wire 1 and the connector pin 9 in the inner surface of the radome front panel, as shown in Figure 3The lower middle side undergoes a second insert injection molding process to form the radome panel base, thereby forming the radome body 15 with the assembly structure 14. A black second thermoplastic resin 11 is used, and a connector housing 10 is simultaneously formed in this step. The assembly structure 14 is used to connect the radome to corresponding components. The connector housing 10 is made of plastic and serves as insulation and a connection point with the wiring harness connector.

[0041] The second thermoplastic resin 11 used in this step is preferably PC (polycarbonate) or PA (polyamide resin), but other injection molding resins such as ABS, AES, PC / ABS, etc. can also be selected according to performance requirements.

[0042] Step 6: PUR (polyurethane) is injected into the radome body 15, which has undergone base insert injection molding, to form the insert on the outer surface of the radome body 15 (e.g., ...). Figure 3 A polyurethane coating 6 is formed on the upper middle side. This polyurethane coating 6 mainly serves to protect the thermoplastic resin and heating wire to pass the stringent test requirements of automotive exterior products, ultimately forming a radome product with a metallic decorative effect and heating function.

[0043] Step 7: Milling of the injection gate and PUR gate for the completed PUR radome. In this step, a high-speed milling machine is used to mill the injection gate and PUR gate. The milled gate is located in an area that is not visible after product assembly.

[0044] According to the preparation method provided in the above preferred embodiment, the present invention prepares a heated defrosting radome, the structure of which mainly includes: a radome front panel formed by a first insert injection molding, the radome front panel having connector pins 9, pads 2 and diaphragms 5; a heating wire 1 embedded in the radome front panel by an ultrasonic wire embedding process, the heating wire being fused to the pads 2; a radome panel base formed on the lower side of the radome front panel by a second insert injection molding, and a connector housing 10 extending protruding from the lower side of the radome panel base, the connector pins 9 and the connector housing 10 being integrally formed; and a polyurethane coating 6 formed on the upper side of the radome front panel by polyurethane infusion.

[0045] Preferably, the thermoplastic resin used in the insert injection molding process is selected from: transparent PC, transparent PA, ABS, AES, PC / ABS, etc.

[0046] According to the preferred embodiment, the outer contour of the heated defrosting radar radome product is as follows: Figure 2 As shown in Figure 3, the circle is divided into a metallic effect area and a regular decorative effect area through two-color injection molding. This includes the regular decorative area 4 of the radome product and the metallic effect area displayed by the film 5 with the decorative pattern of the metallic effect.

[0047] The above description is only the preferred embodiment of the present application, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application. The above-described embodiments of the present application can be variously changed. Any simple, equivalent change and modification made according to the application claims and the content of the specification fall within the scope of the present application. The present application is not limited by the above-described embodiments.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a heated defrosting radome, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: S1: Provide connector pins and pads made by tin plating process, and provide films with decorative patterns with metallic effect, which are achieved by indium plating film with metallic effect or PET film with metallic effect or directly by PVD process; S2: The connector pins, pads, and diaphragms are formed into the radar radome front panel using a first insert injection molding process with a transparent first thermoplastic resin. S3: The heating wire is embedded in the front panel of the radar dome using an ultrasonic embedding process, and the heating wire is fused to the pad. The solder joints formed by the fusion are then soldered to form a tin layer to protect the solder joints and ensure the connection strength of the solder joints. S4: Using black second thermoplastic resin, the radar radome front panel that has been ultrasonically embedded and welded is used as an intermediate body for a second insert injection molding to form the radar radome panel base. S5: The structure formed in step S4 is used as an insert for polyurethane infusion to form a polyurethane coating, thereby obtaining a radome product with a metallic decorative effect and heating function.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, In step S1, the connector pins and pads are made by stamping, and the diaphragm with the metallic decorative pattern is formed by high-pressure forming and cutting of the diaphragm with the metallic effect.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, In step S2, the first insert injection molding applies the diaphragm to the underside of the structure.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, In step S3, an ultrasonic wire embedding process is used to embed a heating wire into the surface of the front panel of the radar dome.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, In step S4, the second insert injection molding forms a radar radome panel base on the lower side of the structure formed in step S3, and simultaneously forms a connector housing that protrudes and extends from the lower surface.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, In step S5, a transparent polyurethane coating is formed on the upper surface of the structure after the second insert injection molding process.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes step S6: after completing the polyurethane infusion, milling the injection gate and the sprue.

8. A heated defrosting radome manufactured using the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. The heated defrosting radar cover according to claim 8, characterized in that, include: The radar dome front panel, formed by the first insert injection molding, has connector pins, solder pads, and diaphragms. A heating wire is embedded in the front panel of the radar dome using an ultrasonic embedding process, and the heating wire is fused to the solder pad. A radome panel base is formed on the lower side of the radome front panel through a second insert injection molding process, and a connector housing extends protruding from the lower side of the radome panel base, wherein the connector pins are integrally formed with the connector housing; and A polyurethane coating is formed by polyurethane infusion on the upper side of the front panel of the radome.

10. The heated defrosting radar cover according to claim 9, characterized in that, The thermoplastic resins used in the two insert injection molding processes are selected from: transparent PC, transparent PA, ABS, AES, and PC / ABS.

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