Foamed steering wheel manufacturing method and foamed steering wheel

Abstract

The application provides a foamed steering wheel manufacturing method and a foamed steering wheel, and relates to the technical field of automobiles. The foamed steering wheel manufacturing method comprises the following steps: placing a steering wheel framework in a first mold to perform foaming forming to obtain a primary foamed body, the primary foamed body comprises a hub and a spoke, and a boss is integrally formed between the hub and the spoke, the boss has a wire groove which is recessed from the upper surface of the boss to the inside; placing a wire in the wire groove, wherein one end of the wire extends to the hub area and the other end extends to the spoke area; and placing the primary foamed body in a second mold to perform secondary foaming forming, and foaming material fills the wire groove so that the upper surface forms a flat surface to obtain a foamed steering wheel, good sealing of the wire groove is realized, the working efficiency of manufacturing the foamed steering wheel is improved, and the performance of the manufactured steering wheel is also optimized.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of automobiles, in particular to a foamed steering wheel manufacturing method and a foamed steering wheel. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the foaming forming process of the steering wheel, first foaming is performed, a wire slot for embedding a wire is formed between the spoke switch position and the hub center, and then the wire is arranged in the wire slot and secondary foaming is performed. However, in the secondary foaming process of the traditional technology, due to the insufficient sealing, the foaming material often overflows to the hub center outside the cavity through the wire slot opening, resulting in a failure steering wheel, and such a failure steering wheel can only be improved through subsequent repair processes, thereby wasting a large amount of manpower and material resources and seriously affecting the production efficiency. SUMMARY

[0003] Therefore, the foamed steering wheel manufacturing method and the foamed steering wheel provided by the embodiments of the present application realize good sealing of the wire slot, improve the working efficiency of manufacturing the foamed steering wheel, and optimize the performance of the manufactured steering wheel.

[0004] In one aspect, a foamed steering wheel manufacturing method is provided, comprising:

[0005] placing a steering wheel framework in a first mold to perform foaming forming to obtain a primary foaming body, the primary foaming body comprising a hub and spokes, and a boss being integrally formed between the hub and the spokes, the boss having a wire slot recessed from an upper surface of the boss to the inside;

[0006] arranging a wire in the wire slot, wherein one end of the wire extends to the hub area and the other end extends to the spoke area;

[0007] placing the primary foaming body in a second mold to perform secondary foaming forming, and filling the wire slot with foaming material to form a flat surface on the upper surface, to obtain a foamed steering wheel.

[0008] In some embodiments, placing a steering wheel framework in a first mold to perform foaming forming to obtain a primary foaming body comprises:

[0009] forming the upper surface above the steering wheel framework, forming the inner surface towards the hub area, forming the upper side surface towards the upper part of the steering wheel handle, and forming the lower side surface towards the lower part of the steering wheel handle, wherein the boss is a wedge-shaped boss, the inner surface, the upper side surface and the lower side surface all have a preset included angle with the central axis of the boss, and extend downward in an inclined direction away from the central axis;

[0010] placing the primary foaming body in a second mold to perform secondary foaming forming comprises:

[0011] When the second mold is closed, the upper surface of the boss is in contact with the first abutting surface of the second mold, the inner surface of the boss interferingly abuts the second abutting surface of the second mold, the upper side surface of the boss interferingly abuts the third abutting surface of the second mold, and the lower side surface of the boss interferingly abuts the fourth abutting surface of the second mold, wherein the first abutting surface, the second abutting surface, the third abutting surface, and the fourth abutting surface constitute a mold core that is adapted to the surface profile of the boss.

[0012] In some embodiments, the interferingly abutting is in the form of an interference seal, and the interference of the interference seal is less than 1 mm.

[0013] In some embodiments, the primary foamed body is placed in a second mold for secondary foaming molding, comprising:

[0014] The upper surface is abutted by a first elastic sealing strip arranged on the first abutting surface, and the steering wheel framework is abutted by a second elastic sealing strip arranged on the lower surface of the mold core, the width of the first elastic sealing strip is greater than or equal to the width of the upper surface, and the width of the second elastic sealing strip is greater than or equal to the width of the bottom of the inner surface.

[0015] In some embodiments, the wire portion passing through the wire slot is sealingly installed in the wire slot.

[0016] In some embodiments, the wire portion extending from the wire slot is arranged in a wire harness protection shell, the wire harness protection shell is detachably connected to the steering wheel framework, and one end abuts the side of the boss close to the hub.

[0017] In some embodiments, the longitudinal section of the groove of the wire slot is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom.

[0018] In some embodiments, the inner surface of the groove of the wire slot is staggered with protrusions.

[0019] In some embodiments, the protrusion surface is a curved structure, and the protrusions are staggered vertically or horizontally.

[0020] In another aspect, a foamed steering wheel is provided, which is manufactured by the foamed steering wheel manufacturing method according to any one of the above aspects, and comprises a steering wheel framework and a secondary foamed body, the secondary foamed body comprising a primary foamed body, the primary foamed body being formed by foaming and molding the primary foamed body in a first mold by the steering wheel framework, the primary foamed body comprising a hub and a spoke, and a boss being integrally formed between the hub and the spoke, the boss having a wire slot recessed from an upper surface of the boss to an interior; a wire being arranged in the wire slot, wherein one end of the wire extends to the hub area, and the other end of the wire extends to the spoke area; and the secondary foamed body being formed by foaming and molding the secondary foamed body in a second mold by a foaming material.

[0021] Compared with the prior art, the above at least one technical solution adopted by the embodiments of the present application can achieve the beneficial effects at least including:

[0022] 1. By foaming a boss for installing a wire in a wire slot area in a primary foaming process, and then in a secondary foaming and molding process, the foaming material can fill the gap area outside the wire in the boss wire slot to achieve good sealing of the wire slot, avoid the adverse effects of forming a failed steering wheel due to insufficient sealing, improve the working efficiency of manufacturing a foamed steering wheel, and also optimize the performance of the manufactured steering wheel.

[0023] 2. By setting the boss as a wedge-shaped boss, under the effective extrusion between the wedge-shaped boss and each contact surface of the second mold in the secondary foaming process, the foaming material fills the gap outside the wire in the boss wire slot to form a sealed receptor by interference fit, further improving the sealing effect.

[0024] 3. By combining the setting modes of the elastic sealing strip, the interference seal, and the staggered arrangement of the protrusions in the foaming and molding process, the good sealing between each surface of the boss and the contact surface of the second mold in the secondary foaming can be ensured, which is more conducive to the foaming material to form a sealed receptor when filling, and finally further improves the wire slot sealing performance. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0025] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following will briefly introduce the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described in the following only some embodiments of the present application, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained without creative labor on the basis of these drawings.

[0026] Figure 1 is a foamed steering wheel manufacturing method flowchart provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0027] Figure 2 is a primary foamed part structure schematic diagram provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0028] Figure 3 is Figure 2 is a partial enlarged view of the boss in the middle;

[0029] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a foamed steering wheel structure provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Figure 5 is Figure 4 is a partial enlarged view of the sealed bundle area (circle area) in the middle; Figure 4

[0031] Figure 6 is Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a cross section of the partial structure along B-B;

[0032] Figure 7 is Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a cross section of the partial structure along C-C;

[0033] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a boss structure after secondary foaming provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a boss structure before installation of a lead wire provided by an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] The following will illustrate the embodiments of the present application through specific, concrete examples, and those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present application from the disclosure of the present specification. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, not all the embodiments. The present application can also be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments, and each detail in the present specification can be modified or changed based on different views and applications without departing from the spirit of the present application. It should be noted that the following embodiments and features in the embodiments can be combined with each other without conflict. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative labor are within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0036] ​It should be noted that various aspects of embodiments within the scope of the appended claims are described below. It will be apparent that the aspects described herein can be embodied in a wide variety of forms, and any particular structure and / or function described herein is merely illustrative. Based on this application, those skilled in the art will understand that one aspect described herein can be implemented independently of any other aspect, and two or more of these aspects can be combined in various ways. For example, any number and aspects set forth herein can be used to implement the device and / or practice the method. Additionally, this device and / or method can be implemented using structures and / or functionalities other than one or more of the aspects set forth herein.

[0037] It should also be noted that the illustrations provided in the following embodiments are merely schematic representations of the basic concept of this application. The drawings only show components relevant to this application and are not drawn according to the actual number, shape, and size of components in implementation. In actual implementation, the form, quantity, and proportion of each component can be arbitrarily changed, and the component layout may also be more complex. Furthermore, specific details are provided in the following description to facilitate a thorough understanding of the examples. However, those skilled in the art will understand that practice can be carried out without these specific details.

[0038] The technical solutions provided by the various embodiments of this application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0039] like Figures 1 to 7 As shown in the embodiments of this application, the method for manufacturing a foamed steering wheel may include the following steps:

[0040] Step 101: Place the steering wheel frame 11 in the first mold (not shown in the figure) for foam molding to obtain a primary foam body 12. The primary foam body 12 includes a hub 13 and spokes 14. A boss 15 is integrally formed between the hub 13 and spokes 14. The boss 15 has a groove 15b that is recessed from the upper surface 15a of the boss 15 inward.

[0041] Step 102: Place the wire 17 in the wire groove 15b; wherein, one end of the wire 17 extends to the hub 13 area and the other end extends to the spoke 14 area.

[0042] Step 103: Place the primary foam 12 into the second mold 18 for secondary foaming and molding. The foam material fills the groove 15b, making the upper surface 15a of the boss 15 form a flat surface (e.g., Figure 8 As shown), a foamed steering wheel is thus obtained. During the secondary foaming process, the foaming material can fill and seal the gap area outside the wire 17 in the groove 15b of the boss 15, thereby achieving a good seal for the groove 15b.

[0043] The steering wheel made by the foaming steering wheel manufacturing method comprises a steering wheel framework 11 and a secondary foaming body 19, the secondary foaming body 19 comprises a primary foaming body 12, the steering wheel framework 11 is firstly placed in a first mold (not shown in the figure) to be foaming molded to obtain the primary foaming body 12, the primary foaming body 12 comprises a hub 13 and a spoke 14, and a boss 15 is integrally formed between the hub 13 and the spoke 14, the boss 16 has a wire slot 15b which is recessed from an upper surface 15a of the boss 15 to the inside, and a wire 17 is arranged in the wire slot 15b, wherein one end of the wire 17 extends to the hub 13 area, and the other end extends to the spoke 14 area; then the primary foaming body 12 is placed in a second mold 18 to be foaming molded by a foaming material to obtain the secondary foaming body 19.

[0044] In some embodiments, the boss 15 is a wedge-shaped boss, the inner surface 15c, the upper side surface 15d and the lower side surface 15e of the boss 15 all have a preset angle with the central axis of the boss 15, and extend downward in a tilting direction away from the central axis. In the primary foaming body molding process of step 101, the upper surface 15a is formed above the steering wheel framework 11, the inner surface 15c is formed towards the hub 13 area (i.e. close to the hub 13 area), the upper side surface 15d is formed towards the upper part of the steering wheel handle 20 (e.g. the left side of the steering wheel handle 20 as shown in Figure 2 、 Figure 3 Figure 2 、 Figure 3 the right side of the steering wheel handle 20 as shown in

[0045] In the secondary foaming molding process of step 103, as shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7 , when the second mold 18 is closed, the upper surface 15a of the boss 15 is in contact with the first abutting surface 18a of the second mold 18, the inner surface 15c of the boss 15 interferes with the second abutting surface 18b of the second mold 18, the upper side surface 15d of the boss 15 interferes with the third abutting surface 18c of the second mold 18, and the lower side surface 15e of the boss 15 interferes with the fourth abutting surface 18d of the second mold 18, wherein the first abutting surface 18a, the second abutting surface 18b, the third abutting surface 18c and the fourth abutting surface 18d constitute a mold core which is adapted to the surface profile of the boss 15. With such a structure, in the secondary foaming process, the foaming material can be fully filled in the gap outside the wire 17 in the wire slot 15b of the boss 15 under the effective extrusion between the wedge-shaped boss 15 and the various contact surfaces of the second mold 18 (e.g. the extrusion force shown by the arrow in 3), and a sealed receptor is formed by interference and adhesion, which further guarantees the sealing effect. ​

[0046] In some embodiments, the aforementioned interference contact is achieved using a dry seal method (e.g.) Figure 6 , Figure 7 (As shown inside the elliptical circle), the specific interference amount of the interference seal can be set to less than 1mm. The interference seal method with a smaller interference amount can ensure good sealing between the contact surfaces of the boss 15 and the second mold 18 of the secondary foaming.

[0047] In some embodiments, to further enhance the sealing effect, such as Figure 6 and Figure 7 As shown, the upper surface 15a is abutted by a first elastic sealing strip 21 on the first abutting surface 18a, and the steering wheel frame 11 is abutted by a second elastic sealing strip 22 on the lower surface of the mold core. The width of the first elastic sealing strip 21 is greater than or equal to the width of the upper surface 15a, and the width of the second elastic sealing strip 22 is greater than or equal to the width of the bottom of the inner surface 15c.

[0048] In some embodiments, the portion of the wire 17 passing through the wire groove 15b is sealed and installed within the wire groove 15b, ensuring a basic seal between the wire portion installed in the primary foaming component and the wire groove. In some embodiments, the portion of the wire 17 extending from the wire groove 15b is housed within the wire harness protective shell 23, thereby protecting the internal wire 17 from damage during the secondary foaming process. The wire harness protective shell 23 is detachably connected to the steering wheel frame 11. The wire harness protective shell 23 can be installed on the steering wheel frame 11 before secondary foaming, with one end abutting against the surface of the boss 15 near the wheel hub 13. It can be removed after the secondary foaming process, which does not affect its function of protecting the wire 17 and is convenient and flexible to operate.

[0049] In some embodiments, such as Figure 9 As shown, during a single foaming process, the longitudinal section of the groove 15b formed by the boss 15 is narrower at the top and wider at the bottom. The upper width of the groove 15b is smaller than the lower width. The lower width of the groove 15b is wider to accommodate the wires 17. For example, one or more wires 17 can be provided. The lower width of the groove 15b can be adaptively set according to the width of one or more wires 17 installed. The upper width of the groove 15b is used to maintain a certain filling gap on the upper part of the boss 15. Its width setting only needs to meet the performance requirements. The specific setting of this application embodiment is not particularly limited.

[0050] In some embodiments, the formed boss 15 is staggered with protrusions 15f on the inner surface of the groove of the wire slot 15b, so as to facilitate the formation of a sealing receptor when the foaming material fills in the secondary foaming process, and further improve the sealing performance of the wire slot 15b. In some embodiments, the surface of the formed protrusion 15f is a curved structure, which is more convenient for the foaming material to forcefully block the gap between the grooves. The protrusions 15f can be arranged vertically or horizontally, and the present application is not particularly limited in this regard.

[0051] In summary, the foamed steering wheel manufacturing method and the foamed steering wheel provided by the embodiments of the present application have at least the following beneficial effects:

[0052] 1. By forming a boss for installing wires in the wire slot area in the first foaming process, the foaming material can fill and block the gap area outside the wires in the wire slot of the boss in the secondary foaming process, thereby achieving good sealing of the wire slot, avoiding the adverse effects of forming a failed steering wheel due to insufficient sealing, improving the working efficiency of manufacturing the foamed steering wheel, and optimizing the performance of the manufactured steering wheel;

[0053] 2. By setting the boss as a wedge-shaped boss, the foaming material can be fully filled in the gap outside the wires in the wire slot of the boss under the effective extrusion between the wedge-shaped boss and each contact surface of the second mold in the secondary foaming process, and a sealing receptor is formed by interference fit, thereby further improving the sealing effect;

[0054] 3. By combining the setting modes of the elastic sealing strip, the interference sealing, and the staggered arrangement of the protrusions in the foaming process, the good sealing performance between each surface of the boss and the contact surface of the second mold in the secondary foaming process can be ensured, which is more conducive to the formation of a sealing receptor when the foaming material fills in, and finally further improves the sealing performance of the wire slot.

[0055] In the specification, the same or similar parts among various embodiments can be referred to each other, and each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. In particular, for the product embodiments described later, since they correspond to the methods, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can be referred to the part of the system embodiment. Meanwhile, specific terms are used in the specification to describe the embodiments of the specification. For example, "one embodiment", "an embodiment", and / or "some embodiments" means a certain feature, structure or characteristic related to at least one embodiment of the specification. Therefore, it should be emphasized and noted that the "an embodiment" or "one embodiment" or "one alternative embodiment" mentioned in different positions in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, some features, structures or characteristics in one or more embodiments of the specification can be properly combined.

[0056] Furthermore, the order of processing elements or sequence of steps in the description of the present description is not limiting, unless the description states otherwise. The use of directional terms such as top, bottom, side, front, rear, left and right are made for the purpose of illustration only and do not connote or dictate any required or particular orientation of the described implementation. Although the above disclosure discusses some presently preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to these particular embodiments. It is possible that, given the above disclosure, other embodiments, modifications, and variations of the specific examples discussed herein could be practiced by one skilled in the art. For example, although the system components described above can be implemented by hardware devices, they can also be implemented by software solutions, such as installing the described system on existing processing devices or mobile devices.

[0057] Having described basic concepts, it is obvious that the above detailed disclosure is only an example and does not limit the present description. Although the above disclosure does not explicitly state, those skilled in the art can make various modifications, improvements and corrections to the present description. Such modifications, improvements and corrections are suggested in the present description, so such modifications, improvements and corrections still belong to the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of the present description.

Claims

1. A method of making a foamed steering wheel, characterized by, The application relates to a method for manufacturing a steering wheel, which comprises the following steps: placing a steering wheel skeleton (11) in a first mold to perform foaming molding to obtain a primary foaming body (12), the primary foaming body (12) comprising a hub (13) and a spoke (14), and a boss (15) being integrally formed between the hub (13) and the spoke (14), wherein the boss (15) has a linear groove (15b) which is recessed from an upper surface (15a) of the boss (15) to the inside, wherein the upper surface (15a) of the boss (15) is formed above the steering wheel skeleton (11), an inner surface (15c) is formed towards the hub (13) area, an upper side surface (15d) is formed towards the upper part of a steering wheel handle (20), a lower side surface (15e) is formed towards the lower part of the steering wheel handle (20), the boss (15) is a wedge-shaped boss, the inner surface (15c), the upper side surface (15d) and the lower side surface (15e) all have a preset included angle with the central axis of the boss (15), and all extend downwards in an inclined direction away from the central axis; placing a wire (17) in the linear groove (15b), wherein one end of the wire (17) extends to the hub (13) area, and the other end extends to the spoke (14) area; performing secondary foaming molding on the primary foaming body (12) in a second mold (18), and filling the linear groove (15b) with foaming material to form a flat surface on the upper surface (15a) to obtain a foaming steering wheel. When the second mold (18) is closed, the upper surface (15a) of the boss (15) is in contact with a first abutting surface (18a) of the second mold (18), the inner surface (15c) of the boss (15) is in interference abutment with a second abutting surface (18b) of the second mold (18), the upper side surface (15d) of the boss (15) is in interference abutment with a third abutting surface (18c) of the second mold (18), and the lower side surface (15e) of the boss (15) is in interference abutment with a fourth abutting surface (18d) of the second mold (18), wherein the first abutting surface (18a), the second abutting surface (18b), the third abutting surface (18c) and the fourth abutting surface (18d) constitute a mold core which is adapted to the surface profile of the boss (15). The interference abutment adopts an interference sealing mode, and the interference amount of the interference sealing is less than 1 mm.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The method for performing secondary foaming molding on the primary foaming body (12) in the second mold (18) comprises the following steps:

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, a first elastic sealing strip (21) is arranged on the first abutting surface (18a) to abut against the upper surface (15a), and a second elastic sealing strip (22) is arranged on the lower surface of the mold core to abut against the steering wheel skeleton (11), the width of the first elastic sealing strip (21) is greater than or equal to the width of the upper surface (15a), and the width of the second elastic sealing strip (22) is greater than or equal to the width of the bottom of the inner surface (15c). ​ 4. The method of claim 1, wherein, The wire (17) part passing through the wire groove (15b) is sealingly installed in the wire groove (15b).

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, The wire (17) part extending from the wire groove (15b) is arranged in a wire harness protection shell (23) which is detachably connected to the steering wheel framework (11) and abuts against one side of the boss (15) close to the hub (13).

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The longitudinal section of the groove of the wire groove (15b) is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, The inner surface of the groove of the wire groove (15b) is staggered with protrusions (15f).

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, The surface of the protrusion (15f) is a curved structure, and the protrusions (15f) are staggered vertically or horizontally.

9. A foamed steering wheel produced according to the method of any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that The steering wheel framework (11) and a secondary foaming body (19) are provided, the secondary foaming body (19) comprises a primary foaming body (12), the primary foaming body (12) is obtained by foaming and molding the primary foaming body (12) in a first mold by the steering wheel framework (11), the primary foaming body (12) comprises a hub (13) and a spoke (14), and a boss (15) is integrally formed between the hub (13) and the spoke (14), the boss (15) has a wire groove (15b) recessed from the upper surface (15a) of the boss (15) to the inside; a wire (17) is arranged in the wire groove (15b), one end of the wire (17) extends to the hub (13) region, and the other end of the wire (17) extends to the spoke (14) region; and the secondary foaming body (19) is obtained by foaming and molding a foaming material in a second mold (18) by the primary foaming body (12).

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