Backlit Vehicle Badge Assembly With Selective Chrome Plating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle chrome components face issues with delamination and flaking, leading to increased manufacturing costs, time, and warranty problems, and lack integration of backlit lighting elements and light transmissive materials.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle badge assembly is designed with a first portion made of light transmissive material and a second portion made of plateable material, allowing selective chrome deposition only on the second portion, integrated with backlit lighting elements using multiple shot injection molding to reduce waste and enhance manufacturing efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If chrome is applied to all molded parts then painted, then complete coverage is achieved, but manufacturing cost and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies chrome only to specific portions of the badge that require it, rather than chroming the entire molded part. This is achieved through selective masking or selective plating techniques that deposit chrome only on designated areas, reducing material waste and manufacturing steps while maintaining the aesthetic requirements for chrome coverage where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The badge is divided into distinct functional zones: areas requiring chrome plating and areas requiring paint application. This segmentation allows different finishing processes to be applied selectively to different portions of the same component, optimizing both cost and appearance for each specific area.
2Manufacturing precision
If chrome is applied to all molded parts then painted, then complete chrome coverage is achieved, but labor and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
Chrome plating is applied only to the specific portions of the badge that require chrome finish, eliminating the need to chrome entire parts and then mask them. This localized approach reduces both the plating time and subsequent masking time, directly addressing the labor and time inefficiencies.
3Device complexity
If snap together design with no painting is used, then assembly complexity is reduced, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple finishing operations (chrome plating and painting) into a single integrated molding and finishing process. By incorporating both chrome-plated and painted portions in one badge component rather than using separate snap-together parts, the design maintains aesthetic quality while reducing assembly complexity and manufacturing cost.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution reduces chrome waste, lowers manufacturing costs and time, and enables integration of backlit lighting, providing an aesthetically pleasing and cost-effective vehicle badge solution.
Implementation Method 1
The plateable portion provides a chrome exterior of trim
Implementation Method 2
The first portion is formed from a first injection molded process of light transmissive material... where the light transmissive material is back lit with at least one lighting element
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a badge adapted for a vehicle that includes a first portion formed from a first injection molded process of light transmissive material and a second portion formed from a second injection molded process of plateable material. The plateable portion provides a chrome exterior of trim. The first portion provides a light-through decoration where the light transmissive material is back lit with at least one lighting element.