One-piece decorative trim bezel having plural unpainted finishes

Abstract

A one-piece trim bezel formed from multiple components. In the event of two co-molded components, the first co-molded part is composed of a polymerized material having an unpainted surface that may be a high gloss smooth surface or a textured low gloss surface and the second co-molded part, formed with the first part, is composed of a plateable plastic material. The second co-molded part is co-molded with the said first co-molded part to form a single piece trim bezel. The color of the polymerized material of the first co-molded part may be selected from a variety of colors. The plateable plastic material may be plateable with chrome. A multiple-shot injection molding process is used to form the one-piece trim bezel which joins the first co-molded part and the second co-molded part in one operation. The formed part is then subjected to a plating process during which time the chrome only deposits on the surface of the plateable plastic material of the second co-molded part while the surface of the first co-molded part remains unplated.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present invention relates generally to trim bezels for vehicles. More particularly, the present invention relates to unpainted one-piece trim bezels for vehicles comprising a chrome-plated finish and an un-painted and un-plated finish.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]It is known to include trim bezels in the interiors of vehicles of all types. Decorative trim bezels are often desired by the styling designer to compliment a particular surface, to highlight a feature or to differentiate vehicle series. Trim bezel designs with multiple surface finishes have become increasingly popular in vehicle design studios. For example, it is common in vehicle interiors to find a single trim bezel comprising two or more connected parts with one of the parts having a high gloss surface (such as a high gloss piano black surface) or low-gloss textured surface adjacent to a thin, chrome-plated ring surrounding the periphery.[0003]An example of such a known two-piece trim bezel ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]The disclosed invention provides a one-piece trim bezel formed from two or more co-molded components. Where two co-molded components are involved, the first co-molded part is composed of a polymerized material having an unpainted high gloss surface or a textured low gloss surface and the second co-molded part, formed with the first part, is composed of a plateable plastic material. The plateable plastic material can be selected from the group consisting of ABS, PC/ABS or any polymerizable that can be plated. The second co-molded part is composed of any polymerizable material that will not take a deposition of chrome plating. This component may be, for example, a polycarbonate (PC) or a PC blend in which the majority of the component is PC. Regardless of the material, in the two co-molded component construct the second co-molded part is co-molded with the said first co-molded part to form a single piece trim bezel. The color of the polymerized material of the first co-molded part may be selected from a variety of colors, such as piano black. The plateable plastic material may be plateable with chrome with different finishes such as bright or satin.

[0009]A multi-shot injection molding process is used to form the one-piece trim bezel. The multi-

Problems solved by technology

While providing a satisfactory trim bezel, the known two-piece approach suffers from several drawbacks.

One of them is the high cost resulting from multiple pieces and the necessary labor to attach the two parts together.

Another problem is inherent with two closely positioned pieces which inherently has the high risk of squeaking or rattling when the vehicle is in motion, particularly over time as the vehicle age advances.

An additional problem of known two-piece assemblies is the potential for a poor surface appearance caused by any of several painting defects, including orange peel, sag, paint spits, and the like.

Still a further problem inherent in known manufacturing processes of two-piece bezels is the negative environmental impact generated by VOC of painting as is well known.

While having certain desirable aspects, this approach requires a long supply chain and suffers from labor-intensive steps including repeated masking and painting processes and the difficult-to-avoid result of having a rough-cut line between the chrome finish and the high gloss finish due to limitations of the chrome coating-resistant paint.

Accordingly, for both known methods discussed above in which the two-piece component or the single-piece component is masked, painted, plated and painted again, both inconsistent and poor quality and high labor and production costs are known problems.

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