Plastic-metal composite automobile tail door assembly and automobile

Abstract

The invention belongs to the field of automobiles, and particularly relates to a plastic-metal composite automobile tail door assembly and an automobile. The plastic-metal composite automobile tail door assembly comprises a tail door inner plate and a tail door outer plate; the tail door inner plate is made of light metal or light alloy; the tail door outer plate is made of plastic with a low linear expansion coefficient; the tail door inner plate and the tail door outer plate are connected through connecting glue in a gluing mode to form a cavity structure. Compared with the prior art, the problems that in the prior art, when an automobile tail door is made of a light alloy material, stamping is difficult, the cost is high, when the automobile tail door is made of a plastic material, the performance is poor, a large number of reinforcing structures and reinforcing pieces need to be arranged, and the lightweight effect is weakened are solved. According to the tail door assembly, the cavity structure is formed, light weight is guaranteed, meanwhile, reinforcement can be achieved through simple thickening, the mechanical performance of the tail door assembly can be improved through the formed cavity structure, and high-low-temperature deformation of products is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the automotive field, specifically relating to a plastic-metal composite tailgate assembly and an automobile. Background Technology

[0002] With the increasing demand for lightweight vehicles, lightweight materials are increasingly being used to replace sheet metal in tailgates, with aluminum alloy tailgates and plastic tailgates being the most common types.

[0003] The advantage of aluminum alloy tailgates lies in their high lightweight nature, but to ensure aesthetic appeal, their outer panels are mostly made of stamped aluminum, resulting in complex and costly processes. Plastic tailgates, compared to aluminum alloy tailgates, offer advantages such as lower cost, greater design flexibility, and excellent light and wave transmission. However, to achieve performance comparable to metal tailgates, the inner panel requires more plastic reinforcement structures and metal reinforcements, reducing the weight reduction effect. Examples of lightweight automotive tailgates include those disclosed in CN210161881U and CN209008360U. Furthermore, tailgates have numerous components, such as hinges, strut ball joints, door locks, glass, high-speed brake lights, windshield washer fluid nozzles, wiper motors, taillights, tailgate wiring harnesses, antenna wiring harnesses, door lock motors, and interior panels. The design of these components necessitates the incorporation of interfaces in the inner or outer panels and spoiler, which often compromise tailgate performance.

[0004] Therefore, there is a need to provide a new type of car tailgate that can simultaneously ensure its structural strength, performance, and lightweight requirements. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to solve at least one of the above-mentioned problems by providing a plastic-metal composite tailgate assembly and an automobile. This addresses the issues in the prior art where tailgates made of lightweight alloy materials suffer from stamping difficulties and high costs, while those made of plastic materials exhibit weak performance and require numerous reinforcing structures and components, thus weakening the weight-loss effect. This solution achieves this by bonding a lightweight alloy inner panel and a plastic outer panel together to form a cavity structure. This ensures weight reduction while simultaneously achieving reinforcement through simple thickening. Furthermore, the formed cavity structure improves the mechanical properties of the tailgate assembly and reduces high and low temperature deformation.

[0006] The objective of this invention is achieved through the following technical solution:

[0007] The first aspect of this invention discloses a plastic-metal composite automobile tailgate assembly, including an inner tailgate panel and an outer tailgate panel;

[0008] The material of the tailgate inner panel is a light metal or a light alloy;

[0009] The tailgate outer panel is made of plastic with a low coefficient of linear expansion.

[0010] The inner tailgate panel and the outer tailgate panel are glued together to form a cavity structure.

[0011] Preferably, the structural mounting area on the inner panel of the tailgate is provided with a thickened structure.

[0012] Preferably, the structural mounting area includes at least a hinge mounting area, a ball joint mounting area, a latch mounting area, a wiper motor mounting area, a buffer block mounting area, a through taillight mounting area, and a damper mounting area. That is, the mounting area for other structures and components on the tailgate can be thickened to improve the structural strength of the mounting point.

[0013] Preferably, the width of the thickened structure is 1.5-3 times that of the unthickened tailgate inner panel.

[0014] Preferably, the thickened structure is further provided with a reinforcing structure on its side.

[0015] Preferably, the reinforced structure is provided at intervals along the length of the thickened structure.

[0016] Preferably, the extension directions of the reinforced structures are arranged parallel to each other.

[0017] Preferably, the inner panel of the tailgate is made of aluminum alloy or magnesium alloy.

[0018] Preferably, the tailgate outer panel is made of modified polypropylene.

[0019] A second aspect of the present invention discloses an automobile, including a tailgate assembly as described above, the tailgate assembly being mounted on the tailgate of the automobile.

[0020] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0021] This patent provides a hybrid aluminum-plastic tailgate. The inner panel uses a lightweight alloy material, ensuring performance while improving weight reduction. The manufacturing process employs lightweight alloy die-casting, using a variable wall thickness design to achieve localized reinforcement in key areas, thus enhancing tailgate performance. The outer panel uses plastic material, ensuring weight reduction while improving the product's appearance, design, and light and wave transmission. The lightweight alloy inner panel and plastic outer panel are bonded together with adhesive, ensuring connection performance and improving water tightness. Attached Figure Description

[0022] Figure 1 This is an exploded view of the inner and outer panels of a stamped aluminum or plastic tailgate in the prior art.

[0023] Figure 2 This is an exploded view of the structure of the reverse side of the automotive guardrail assembly;

[0024] Figure 3 for Figure 2 Schematic diagram of section AA;

[0025] In the diagram: 1-Tailgate inner panel; 2-Tailgate outer panel; 3-Connecting adhesive; 11-Thickened structure; 12-Reinforced structure. Detailed Implementation

[0026] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0027] like Figure 1 The exploded views of the inner and outer panel structures of existing stamped aluminum or plastic tailgates are shown. It is evident that the structures of the inner and outer panels are complex, requiring the installation of various external structures, components, and assemblies, such as hinges, ball joints, latches, wiper motors, bumpers, taillights, and dampers. These installation structures often involve deep protrusions and recesses, making it difficult to form them in a single stamping operation. Therefore, using an all-aluminum tailgate presents high stamping requirements and difficulties, resulting in high costs. Conversely, using an all-plastic tailgate requires numerous additional reinforcing structures and components to assist in the installation of external structures, components, and assemblies, thus diminishing the weight-loss effect.

[0028] Example 1

[0029] A plastic-metal composite automotive tailgate assembly, such as Figure 2 , 3 As shown, it includes the inner tailgate panel 1 and the outer tailgate panel 2;

[0030] The material of the tailgate inner panel 1 is light metal or light alloy;

[0031] The tailgate outer panel 2 is made of plastic with a low coefficient of linear expansion;

[0032] The inner tailgate panel 1 and the outer tailgate panel 2 are glued together by adhesive 3 to form a cavity structure.

[0033] More specifically, in this embodiment:

[0034] like Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, the tailgate assembly is constructed by bonding an inner tailgate panel 1 made of aluminum alloy and an outer tailgate panel 2 made of plastic using adhesive 3.

[0035] In this design, the tailgate inner panel 1 is made of Al-Si series non-heat-treated high-toughness aluminum alloy material, formed by die casting. The mounting areas of external components to be installed on the tailgate inner panel 1, such as hinges, ball joints, latches, wiper motors, buffer blocks, continuous taillights, and dampers, can be locally thickened to achieve structural reinforcement and integrated molding. Figure 3 The area shown is the thickened structure 11; the width of this thickened structure 11 is 1.5-3 times wider than the conventional section, depending on the requirements of the installation object. Areas and points requiring further reinforcement can be strengthened by adding stiffening structures 12 (such as reinforcing ribs), as shown below. Figure 3 As shown in the diagram, each reinforcing structure 12 extends outward from the side of the thickened structure 11, and the extension direction of each reinforcing rib can generally be controlled to be consistent or parallel to each other. The visible area of ​​the tailgate inner panel 1 can be painted to ensure the appearance, and the paint color should be coordinated with the interior.

[0036] The outer tailgate panel 2 is made of modified polypropylene material with a low linear expansion coefficient and is connected to the inner tailgate panel 1 by adhesive 3. The resulting cavity structure increases the moment of inertia of the cross section, thereby improving the mechanical properties of the tailgate assembly and reducing high and low temperature deformation of the product.

[0037] The tailgate assembly in this solution is compared to... Figure 1 The difference between the existing stamped aluminum tailgate or plastic tailgate shown is that the existing tailgate inner panel 1 requires the design of an additional reinforcing plate for structural reinforcement; while this solution can be achieved through simple local thickening (which can be integrally formed during the stamping process). Therefore, this solution can reduce the amount of additional component assembly, reduce the difficulty of production and assembly, and improve the lightweight effect.

[0038] This embodiment further discloses an automobile that includes the aforementioned tailgate assembly, which is mounted on the tailgate of the automobile.

[0039] In some other embodiments, the tailgate inner panel 1 may also be made of other lightweight alloys and light metals such as magnesium alloy, and is processed using a corresponding integrated die-casting process.

[0040] This solution provides a tailgate assembly constructed by bonding an aluminum alloy inner panel and a plastic outer panel, which further improves the tailgate's lightweight nature and product performance while ensuring the tailgate's appearance, design freedom, and light and wave transmission functions.

[0041] The above description of the embodiments is provided to enable those skilled in the art to understand and use the invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to these embodiments, and the general principles described herein can be applied to other embodiments without inventive effort. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and any improvements and modifications made by those skilled in the art based on the disclosure of the present invention without departing from the scope of the invention should be within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A plastic-metal composite automobile tailgate assembly, characterized in that, Includes the inner tailgate panel (1) and the outer tailgate panel (2); The material of the tailgate inner panel (1) is light metal or light alloy; The material of the tailgate outer panel (2) is plastic with a low linear expansion coefficient; The inner tailgate panel (1) and the outer tailgate panel (2) are glued together by adhesive (3), forming a cavity structure between the inner tailgate panel (1) and the outer tailgate panel (2).

2. The plastic-metal composite automobile tailgate assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, The structural mounting area on the inner panel (1) of the tailgate is provided with a thickened structure (11).

3. The plastic-metal composite automobile tailgate assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that, The structural mounting areas include hinge mounting areas, ball joint mounting areas, latch mounting areas, wiper motor mounting areas, buffer block mounting areas, through-type taillight mounting areas, and damper mounting areas.

4. The plastic-metal composite automobile tailgate assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that, The width of the thickened structure (11) is 1.5-3 times that of the unthickened tailgate inner panel (1).

5. A plastic-metal composite automobile tailgate assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that, The thickened structure (11) is further provided with a reinforcing structure (12) extending along its side.

6. A plastic-metal composite automobile tailgate assembly according to claim 5, characterized in that, The reinforced structure (12) is provided in several intervals along the length direction of the thickened structure (11).

7. A plastic-metal composite automobile tailgate assembly according to claim 6, characterized in that, The extension directions of the reinforced structure (12) are arranged parallel to each other.

8. A plastic-metal composite automobile tailgate assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, The tailgate inner panel (1) is made of aluminum alloy or magnesium alloy.

9. A plastic-metal composite automobile tailgate assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, The tailgate outer panel (2) is made of modified polypropylene.

10. A car, characterized in that, Includes the vehicle tailgate assembly as described in any one of claims 1-9, wherein the vehicle tailgate assembly is mounted on the tailgate of the vehicle.

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