Interior trim panel for vehicle, interior trim part and manufacturing method

Abstract

The invention relates to an interior panel for a vehicle, an interior trim part and a manufacturing method. Wherein the interior trim panel comprises a decorative layer, and the decorative layer is provided with an outer surface and an inner surface; the heating structure comprises a first heating layer, an electrode and a second heating layer, the heating structure is located on the inner side of the decoration layer, the first heating layer and the second heating layer comprise heating elements extending in the plane of the heating layer, and the heating elements are made of heating carbon materials; the first heating layer and the second heating layer are respectively connected with the electrode on the outer side and the inner side of the electrode so as to fix the electrode, so that the first heating layer, the electrode and the second heating layer form a sandwich structure.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to an interior trim panel, an interior trim part and a manufacturing method for a vehicle. Background Art

[0002] In current transportation tools, such as vehicles, heating is provided to passengers through the vehicle's air conditioner. However, the vehicle's air conditioner has a slow heating effect on passengers, especially for some parts of the body where there are blind spots for heating, and the heating consumes a lot of energy, especially for electric vehicles. There is a certain impact on the range of the vehicle.

[0003] In addition, the air conditioning heating solution will produce a certain amount of noise, and the hot air flow from the air conditioning heating may also cause dry discomfort to the passengers' faces and eyes.

[0004] Therefore, there is a need in the art for an interior panel or interior part for a vehicle to enhance the passenger experience. Summary of the invention

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide an interior trim panel for a vehicle.

[0006] Another object of the present invention is to provide an interior decoration component.

[0007] Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing an interior trim panel.

[0008] According to a first aspect of the present invention, an interior trim panel for a vehicle comprises:

[0009] A decorative layer having an outer surface and an inner surface; and

[0010] A heating structure includes a first heating layer, an electrode and a second heating layer, wherein the heating structure is located on the inner side of the decorative layer, and the first heating layer and the second heating layer include heating elements extending in the plane of the heating layer, and the heating elements are formed of a heating carbon material; the first heating layer and the second heating layer are respectively connected to the electrode on the outer side and the inner side of the electrode to fix the electrode so that the first heating layer, the electrode and the second heating layer form a sandwich structure.

[0011] The interior panel described in the above embodiment achieves efficient heating by using a heating element formed of a slurry of a heat-generating carbon material as a heating layer, and realizes the heating effect provided by the heating of the interior panel, can provide a heating effect to the parts of the occupants that are difficult for the hot air flow to reach, and can reduce the dry feeling felt by the occupants similar to air conditioning heating. In addition, the heating structure uses a first heating layer, an electrode, and a second heating layer to form a sandwich structure, so that the electrode can be manufactured at a low cost and stably fixed, so that the electrode stably contacts the heating layer reliably to stimulate the heating layer, so that the interior panel has a low manufacturing cost on the basis of reliable heating.

[0012] In one or more embodiments of the interior trim panel, the electrode is a woven copper mesh.

[0013] In one or more embodiments of the interior trim panel, the heat-generating carbon material includes at least one of carbon nanotubes, carbon fibers, and graphene.

[0014] In one or more embodiments of the interior trim panel, the heating element of the first heating layer is attached to one side of the inner surface of the decorative layer by screen printing; and the heating element of the second heating layer is attached to the electrode by screen printing.

[0015] In one or more embodiments of the interior panel, the interior panel further includes a first insulating layer, and the first insulating layer is located between the first heat-generating layer and the decorative layer to isolate the first heat-generating layer from the decorative layer.

[0016] In one or more embodiments of the interior trim panel, the interior trim panel further includes a substrate, which is disposed on the inner side of the heat-generating structure to support the heat-generating structure.

[0017] In one or more embodiments of the interior trim panel, the interior trim panel further includes a second insulating layer, wherein the second insulating layer is located between the second heat-generating layer and the substrate to isolate the second heat-generating layer from the substrate.

[0018] In one or more embodiments of the interior trim panel, the interior trim panel further comprises a connector connected to the electrode, wherein the connector is used to be electrically connected to a control unit to control the temperature of the heat generating structure.

[0019] An interior trim according to a second aspect of the present invention comprises an interior trim body and an interior trim panel as described in the first aspect, wherein the interior trim panel is disposed on the body, and an outer surface of a decorative layer of the interior trim panel provides at least a portion of the surface of the interior trim.

[0020] The beneficial effect of the interior parts introduced in the above embodiments is that the interior panels introduced in the first aspect can provide a high-efficiency and low-energy heating solution, and the heating experience of the passengers is good, while the manufacturing cost of the interior parts is low.

[0021] A method for manufacturing an interior trim panel according to a third aspect of the present invention comprises:

[0022] Preparing a decorative layer;

[0023] Preparing a first heating layer on the inner side of the decorative layer;

[0024] Disposing electrodes to the first heating layer;

[0025] A second heating layer is prepared on the inner side of the electrode to the electrode.

[0026] The beneficial effect of the manufacturing method introduced in the above embodiment is that its manufacturing cost is relatively low. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] The above and other features, properties and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent through the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments, in which:

[0028] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of a transportation tool according to an embodiment.

[0029] Figure 2 The figure is a schematic structural diagram of an interior decoration part according to an embodiment.

[0030] Figure 3 It is a schematic structural diagram of an interior trim panel according to an embodiment.

[0031] Figure 4 The present invention is a schematic flow chart of a method for manufacturing an interior trim panel according to an embodiment.

[0032] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the control architecture of a control unit of an interior trim panel according to an embodiment.

[0033] Reference numerals:

[0034] 1000-Transportation;

[0035] 100- interior parts;

[0036] 101-Dashboard;

[0037] 102-door panel;

[0038] 1021-Inlay panel;

[0039] 103-Center console;

[0040] 10-Interior panel;

[0041] 1-Decorative layer;

[0042] 11- outer surface;

[0043] 12-Inner surface;

[0044] 2-Heating structure;

[0045] 21- first heating layer;

[0046] 22-electrode;

[0047] 23- second heating layer;

[0048] 24- Heating element;

[0049] 3- first isolation layer;

[0050] 4- second isolation layer;

[0051] 41-first glue layer;

[0052] 42- second glue layer;

[0053] 30-base;

[0054] 5- Connector;

[0055] 51-protection device;

[0056] 200-Control unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0057] The present invention is further described below in conjunction with specific embodiments and drawings. More details are elaborated in the following description to facilitate a full understanding of the present invention. However, the present invention can obviously be implemented in a variety of other ways different from the description herein. Those skilled in the art can make similar generalizations and deductions based on actual application situations without violating the connotation of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should not be limited by the content of this specific embodiment.

[0058] At the same time, the present application uses specific words to describe the embodiments of the present application. The directional words "inside and outside" refer to the inside and outside relative to the outline of each component itself. In addition, "one embodiment", "an embodiment", and / or "some embodiments" mean a certain feature, structure or characteristic related to at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, it should be emphasized and noted that "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" mentioned twice or more in different locations in this specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, certain features, structures or characteristics in one or more embodiments of the present application can be appropriately combined.

[0059] Although the interior panels and interior parts disclosed in the embodiments of the present application are preferably suitable for vehicles, they are not limited to this. For example, they can be applied to other transportation applications, such as railway trains, ships, and airplanes. As long as they are transportation vehicles, the interior panels and interior parts disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be applied.

[0060] In addition, compared with the current air conditioning heating solution, the present application improves the user experience and the heating efficiency, but it can be understood that this does not mean that the vehicle using the interior panels and interior parts of the present application cannot also be equipped with a heating air conditioner. For example, the interior panels and interior parts of the present application, as well as the heating air conditioner, can exist in a vehicle at the same time. The interior panels and interior parts of the present application can correspondingly replace part of the heating air conditioner, thereby reducing energy consumption and further improving the heating effect. The meaning of the passengers described below is broad, that is, the people in the vehicle are all passengers, such as the driver and passengers.

[0061] refer to Figure 1 As shown, taking a car as an example, the vehicle 1000 includes interior parts 100, such as a dashboard 101, door panels 102, a center console 103, etc. The current dashboard 101 and door panels 102 are generally split structures, which can clearly distinguish the dashboard 101 and the door panels 102 visually, but it does not rule out that the dashboard 101 and the door panels 102 have similar structures, forming a solution for the interior system of the vehicle 1000 in which the dashboard 101 and the door panels 102 visually form an integrated visual appearance.

[0062] The interior trim panel 10 described in the following embodiment is Figure 2 Taking the door panel 102 as an example, since the door panel 102 corresponds to a position where the current vehicle air conditioner is difficult to fully heat, the interior panel 10 is arranged on the door panel so that the passengers can feel the heating more fully. Figure 2 As shown, in some embodiments, the interior trim 100 includes an interior trim body 101 and an interior trim panel 10, wherein the interior trim panel 10 is disposed on the body 101, and an outer surface 11 of the decorative layer 1 of the interior trim panel 10 provides at least a portion of the surface of the interior trim 100. Figure 2 As shown, the interior trim panel 10 is located at the position of the trim panel 1021 of the door panel 102 .

[0063] refer to Figure 3 As shown, in some embodiments, the interior panel 10 includes a decorative layer 1 and a heat generating structure 2 located inside the decorative layer 1. The inside and outside here refer to the side of the interior panel 10 close to the occupant as the outside and the opposite side as the inside.

[0064] The decorative layer 1 has an outer surface 11 and an inner surface 12 opposite to the outer surface 11. The outer surface 11 is generally the surface that the interior panel 10 provides for the occupants to directly contact or directly see. The decorative layer 1 also means the outermost layer of the interior panel 10, which generally plays the role of providing directly visible decoration, so it is called a decorative layer. It can be understood that the decorative layer 1 can be made of plastic, fabric, leather, artificial leather, metal, etc., or a composite of the above materials, such as leather plus base cloth, such as the commonly used artificial leather (PVC / PU / TPU, etc.) with a total thickness of about 1.1 mm plus a base cloth, or leather with a thickness of about 3 mm plus foam. The materials mentioned are used only as examples and are not intended to imply any restrictions on certain materials. For example, the above materials can also be subjected to additional treatments such as softening, polishing, corrosion-resistant coating, etc. The decorative layer 10 can be flexible and can therefore be covered on any 3D structure.

[0065] The heating structure 2 includes a first heating layer 21, an electrode 22 and a second heating layer 23. The heating structure 2 is located on the inner side of the decorative layer 1. The first heating layer 21 and the second heating layer 23 include a heating element 24 extending in the plane of the heating layer. The heating element 24 is formed of a heating carbon material. The first heating layer 21 and the second heating layer 23 are directly connected to the electrode 22 on the outer side and the inner side of the electrode 22 respectively to fix the electrode 22 so that the first heating layer 21, the electrode 22 and the second heating layer 23 form a sandwich structure.

[0066] The heat-generating carbon material here refers to a material that generates heat through the following principle: when electricity is turned on, carbon molecules generate atoms, ions and electrons, and carbon molecular groups rub and collide with each other (also known as Brownian motion) to generate heat energy, which is radiated by far-infrared rays with a wavelength of 5-14 microns. The heat-generating carbon material can be a carbon material such as carbon nanotubes, carbon fibers, graphene, graphite, carbon black, etc. Preferably, the heat-generating carbon material can include at least one of carbon nanotubes, carbon fibers, and graphene. The carbon nanotubes can be in the form of single-walled carbon nanotubes, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, etc. In addition, carbon nanotubes, carbon fibers, and graphene can also be carbon materials with doped atoms. The beneficial effect of using at least one of carbon nanotubes, carbon fibers, and graphene is that it has better conductivity, so the heat-generating performance is stable and the electric-heat conversion efficiency is higher. Compared with the heat generation of traditional carbon materials, it has the characteristics of large power per unit area and high energy efficiency, which can make the heat-generating structure miniaturized and reduce energy consumption.

[0067] The specific process of forming the heating element 24 from the heat-generating carbon material can be formed by covering with a slurry mixed with the heat-generating carbon material. The slurry generally includes a solvent, a heat-generating carbon material ink, a dispersant, a binder, and other additives, wherein the mass percentage of each component is selected according to the specific situation. The slurry covering process can be a screen printing process, but is not limited thereto. For example, it can also be achieved by a coating process such as ultrasonic spraying.

[0068] The first heating layer 21 and the second heating layer 22 include a heating element 24 extending in the plane of the heating layer, which means that it extends at least partially in the plane of the heating layer. The first heating layer 21 and the second heating layer 22 can be decorative by forming a circuit with different visual shapes of graphics, patterns, logos, texts, images or symbols or other decorative elements through screen printing. Generally speaking, the graphic part of the screen printing is opaque, and the non-graphic part is translucent.

[0069] The sandwich structure formed by the first heating layer 21, the electrode 22, and the second heating layer 23 means that the electrode 22 is also a component that occupies a certain thickness of space, and is fixed by the first heating layer 21 and the second heating layer 23 that are directly connected on the outside and the inside, so that the electrode 22 can be stably and reliably in contact with the first heating layer 21 and the second heating layer 23, so that the first heating layer 21 and the second heating layer 23 can be stably and reliably powered on and excited, especially for the operation scenario where the vehicle faces certain vibration conditions, the stable and reliable effect is particularly important. In addition, due to the method of fixing the first heating layer 21 and the second heating layer 23 on both sides, the electrode 22 itself can use a relatively low-cost component, such as a woven copper mesh, without the need to use a relatively expensive silver component, and there is no need to use the process of forming the electrode by the process of using the silver metal wire mesh, but only needs to directly set the prepared woven copper mesh directly on the first heating layer 21, and then carry out the covering process of the second heating layer 23. Preferably, in some embodiments, the heating element 24 of the first heating layer 21 is attached to one side of the inner surface 12 of the decorative layer 1 by screen printing; the heating element 24 of the second heating layer 23 is attached to the electrode 22 by screen printing, so that the first heating layer 21 and the second heating layer 23 can be fixed more reliably, and the shapes of the first heating layer 21 and the second heating layer 22 can be set by screen printing.

[0070] As can be seen from the above, the beneficial effect of using the interior panel 10 and the interior part 100 introduced in the above embodiments is that by using the heating element formed by the slurry of the heat-generating carbon material as the heating layer, efficient heating is achieved, and the heating effect of the heat of the interior panel is achieved, which can provide a heating effect to the parts of the passengers that are difficult for the hot air flow to reach. And it can reduce the dry feeling felt by the passengers similar to air conditioning heating. In addition, the heating structure uses a first heating layer, an electrode and a second heating layer to form a sandwich structure, which can make the electrode manufactured at a low cost and stably fixed, so that the electrode can stably contact the heating layer and stimulate the heating layer, so that the interior panel has a low manufacturing cost on the basis of reliable heating.

[0071] like Figure 3As shown, in some embodiments, the heating structure 2 is located on the inner side of the decorative layer 1, and a first insulating layer 3 is provided between the first heating layer 21 located at the outermost layer of the heating structure 2 and the inner surface 12 of the decorative layer 1 to isolate the heating structure 2 from the decorative layer 1. The purpose of providing the first insulating layer 3 is to prevent the surface of the decorative layer 10 from stretching too much, and to prevent the marking of the surface of the surface caused by covering different slurries. It can be understood that the provision of the first insulating layer 3 is not necessary. If the decorative layer 10 itself is not sensitive to the stretching caused by the heating structure 2 and the marking caused by covering, for example, the thermal expansion coefficient of the decorative layer 10 is small, and the color of the decorative layer 10 itself is dark, then the first heating layer 21 can be directly covered on the inner surface 12 of the decorative layer 1 by screen printing, spraying and other processes.

[0072] Continue to refer Figure 3 As shown, in some embodiments, the interior panel 10 may further include a substrate 30, which is disposed on the inner side of the heating structure 2 to support the heating structure 2. The substrate 30 may be formed of a thermoplastic or hard plastic polymer (including PET, MMA, PC, PU, ​​ABS, PP and NFPP, etc.). The thickness of the substrate 30 is between 1 mm and 5 mm, preferably between 2 mm and 2.5 mm. Preferably, in some embodiments, the interior panel 10 may further include a second isolation layer 4, which is located between the second heating layer 23 and the substrate 30 to isolate the second heating layer 23 from the substrate 30, and the second isolation layer 4 may be adhered to the second heating layer 23 and the substrate 30 through a first glue layer 41 and a second glue layer 42. The second isolation layer 4 may be a spacer fabric material, such as a composite fiber material (including synthetic fibers and natural fibers), or a material such as felt. The second isolation layer preferably uses a material with good thermal insulation performance. While isolating and protecting, it reduces the heat loss caused by heat transfer to the inner side of the interior panel 10, that is, to the side of the substrate 30, thereby improving the thermal efficiency of the heating structure 2.

[0073] refer to Figure 3 as well as Figure 5As shown, the interior panel 10 may also include a connector 5 connected to the electrode 22, and the connector 5 is used to electrically connect to the control unit 200 to control the temperature of the heating structure 2. The connector 5 is electrically connected to the control unit 200 to send and receive signals and control the heating function. The control unit 200 controls the temperature provided by the heating structure 2 within a predetermined threshold of about 50°C, which roughly corresponds to the heating temperature of the carbon nanotubes. In this way, the outer surface 11 of the decorative layer 1 can provide a more comfortable temperature for the occupant, and the occupant will not accidentally touch the outer surface 11 and cause a hot feeling. The protective device 51 can be set to detect and ensure that the temperature of the interior panel 10 does not exceed the predetermined threshold. When the detected temperature is higher than the predetermined threshold, the protective device 51 disconnects the circuit between the electrode 22 and the control unit 200, or the protective device 51 changes its own resistance value to adjust the current and voltage allocated to the heating element, thereby affecting the power of the heating element. As an option, the protective device 51 can be selected from at least one of an NTC sensor and a PTC sensor. It can be understood that the control unit 200 here can be a control unit 200 located near the interior panel 10 in space, or can be a control unit 200 of the vehicle, and in addition to being connected by wire through the connector 5, it is not excluded that the electrode 22 is wirelessly connected to the control unit 200. The beneficial effect of the solution using the connector 5 is that the connection is more reliable.

[0074] It is understood that flow charts are used in the present application to illustrate the operations performed by the system according to the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that, according to the actual situation, the previous or following operations are not necessarily performed precisely in order. Other operations may also be added to these processes, or one or more operations may be removed from these processes.

[0075] As mentioned above, please refer to Figure 4 As shown, the steps of manufacturing the interior trim panel 10 may be:

[0076] S1. Prepare decorative layer 1;

[0077] For example, the decorative layer 1 can be obtained by a process such as injection molding, or a ready-made decorative layer 1 can be obtained from a supplier.

[0078] S2. Preparing a first heating layer 21 on the inner side of the decorative layer 1;

[0079] For example, as described above, the slurry containing the heat-generating carbon material is screen-printed on the inner side of the decorative layer 1 by screen printing, which can be directly printed or printed on the first isolation layer 3 disposed on the inner surface 12 of the decorative layer 1;

[0080] S3. Setting the electrode 22 to the first heating layer 21;

[0081] For example, as described above, the electrode 22 is a woven copper mesh. After the first heating layer 21 is screen-printed, the woven copper mesh can be directly placed on the inner side of the first heating layer 21 .

[0082] S4. Preparing a second heating layer 23 to the electrode 22 on the inner side of the electrode 22;

[0083] For example, as described above, the slurry containing the heating carbon material is screen-printed on the inner side of the electrode 22 through the screen printing process. In this way, the first heating layer 21, the electrode 22, and the second heating layer 23 form a sandwich structure, which achieves full contact and stable and reliable fixation between the heating layer and the electrode at a low cost, and also achieves a higher heating efficiency of the interior panel and a more comfortable heating experience for the user.

[0084] In summary, the beneficial effects of the interior panels, interior parts, and manufacturing methods described in the above embodiments include but are not limited to: by using a heating element formed by a slurry of a heat-generating carbon material as a heating layer, efficient heating is achieved, and the heating effect of the heat of the interior panel is achieved, and a heating effect can be provided to the parts of the passengers that are difficult for the hot air flow to reach. And the dry feeling felt by the passengers similar to air conditioning heating can be reduced. In addition, the heating structure uses a first heating layer, an electrode, and a second heating layer to form a sandwich structure, which allows the electrode to be manufactured at a low cost and stably fixed, so that the electrode can stably and reliably contact the heating layer to stimulate the heating layer, so that the interior panel has a low manufacturing cost on the basis of reliable heating.

[0085] Although the present invention is disclosed as above with preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in the art may make possible changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, any modification, equivalent change and modification made to the above embodiments according to the technical essence of the present invention without departing from the content of the technical solution of the present invention shall fall within the protection scope defined by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. An interior panel (10) for a vehicle, It is characterized in that include: A decorative layer (1), wherein the decorative layer (1) has an outer surface (11) and an inner surface (12); as well as A heating structure (2) comprises a first heating layer (21), an electrode (22) and a second heating layer (23); the heating structure (2) is located on the inner side of the decorative layer (1); the first heating layer (21) and the second heating layer (22) comprise heating elements (24) extending in the plane of the heating layer; the heating elements (24) are formed of a heating carbon material; the first heating layer (21) and the second heating layer (23) are respectively connected to the electrode (22) on the outer side and the inner side of the electrode (22) to fix the electrode (22) so that the first heating layer (21), the electrode (22) and the second heating layer (23) form a sandwich structure.

2. The interior trim panel (10) according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The electrode (22) is a braided copper mesh.

3. The interior trim panel (10) according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The heat-generating carbon material includes at least one of carbon nanotubes, carbon fibers, and graphene.

4. The interior trim panel (10) according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The heating element (24) of the first heating layer (21) is attached to one side of the inner surface (12) of the decorative layer (1) by screen printing; and the heating element (24) of the second heating layer (23) is attached to the electrode (22) by screen printing.

5. The interior trim panel (10) according to claim 1, It is characterized in that It also comprises a first isolation layer (3), wherein the first isolation layer (3) is located between the first heat-generating layer (21) and the decorative layer (1) so as to isolate the first heat-generating layer (21) from the decorative layer (1).

6. The interior trim panel (10) according to claim 1, It is characterized in that It also comprises a base (30), wherein the base (30) is arranged on the inner side of the heating structure (2) and supports the heating structure (2).

7. The interior trim panel (10) according to claim 6, It is characterized in that It also includes a second isolation layer (4), which is located between the second heat-generating layer (23) and the substrate (30) to isolate the second heat-generating layer (23) from the substrate (30).

8. The interior trim panel (10) according to claim 1, It is characterized in that It also includes a connector (5) connected to the electrode (22), and the connector (5) is used to be electrically connected to a control unit (200) to control the temperature of the heating structure (2).

9. An interior decoration part (100) for a vehicle, It is characterized in that It comprises an interior trim body (101), and an interior trim panel (10) as described in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the interior trim panel (10) is arranged on the body (101), and the outer surface (11) of the decorative layer (1) of the interior trim panel (10) provides at least a portion of the surface of the interior trim (100).

10. A method for manufacturing an interior trim panel (10) for a vehicle, It is characterized in that include: Preparing a decorative layer (1); Preparing a first heating layer (21) on the inner side of the decorative layer (1); Arranging an electrode (22) on the first heating layer (21); A second heating layer (23) is prepared on the inner side of the electrode (22) to the electrode (22).

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