Vehicle Interior Door Handle With Metallic-Look Two-Shot Molding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing interior door handle arrangements in vehicles face challenges in achieving high-quality surfaces with design freedom and sufficient resilience, while avoiding the environmental and health issues associated with chrome plating, and the surface defects common in plastics with a metallic look.
Innovation Solution
The use of a two-component injection molding process to create an interior door handle arrangement with a carrier section made from a resilient first plastic and a decoration section made from a different material, which is integrally joined and visible, allowing for a metallic look without the need for chrome plating and minimizing surface defects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If chrome plating is used to achieve a metal appearance, then high quality surfaces are produced, but health and environmental protection is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces chrome plating with a plastic material that has a metallic look (Mold In Metal Color). This involves using specially formulated plastic compounds that can replicate the visual appearance of chrome without the harmful plating process, effectively substituting a harmful manufacturing process with a safer alternative material
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite plastic materials that combine the aesthetic properties of metal with the safety benefits of plastic. The actuating section is made from plastic with metallic look properties, creating a composite effect that achieves the desired surface quality without chrome plating
2Object-affected harmful factors
If plastic with metallic look is used in injection molding, then chrome plating can be avoided, but surface defects such as flow lines or recesses occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the injection molding parameters specifically for plastics with metallic look. This includes adjusting temperature, pressure, and injection rate parameters to minimize material shrinkage and prevent surface defects like flow lines or recesses, thereby achieving defect-free surfaces with metallic appearance plastics
3Adaptability or versatility
If plastics with metallic look are used, then design freedom is increased, but resilience and maximum breaking load are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the actuating section into different functional zones with different material properties. The visible decoration section uses plastic with metallic look for design freedom, while the carrier section or structurally critical areas use resilient plastic with high breaking load, allowing each section to be optimized for its specific function
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different material qualities to different parts of the actuating section. The visible surfaces have metallic look properties for aesthetics, while the structural portions have enhanced resilience properties, creating local optimization of material properties to satisfy both design and strength requirements
Data Source
AI summary
An interior door handle arrangement of a vehicle, includes a housing and an actuating section which is arranged on the housing, wherein the housing and/or the actuating section have/has a carrier section made from a first plastic and a visible section made from another, second material which is connected to the carrier section in an integrally joined manner. A method for producing such an interior door handle arrangement is also provided.