Vehicle Interior Door Handle With Two-Shot Decorative Surface
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing interior door handle arrangements for vehicles face challenges in achieving high-quality surfaces with design freedom while ensuring satisfactory resilience, particularly due to issues with chrome plating and surface defects in injection-molded plastics.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves using a two-component injection molding process to create an interior door handle arrangement with a carrier section made from a first plastic and a decoration section made from a second plastic, which are integrally joined. This allows for high-quality, visually appealing surfaces without the need for chrome plating and minimizes surface defects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If chrome plating is used on the actuating section, then high quality surfaces with metallic appearance are achieved, but health and environmental protection is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from chrome-plated plastic to a plastic with metallic look (MIMC - Mold In Metal Color). This parameter change achieves the desired metallic appearance and high surface quality without using harmful chromium VI, thereby resolving the contradiction between surface quality and environmental/health protection
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical chrome plating process with a molding process that integrates metallic appearance directly into the plastic material. This substitution eliminates the need for separate plating operations and avoids the harmful chemicals associated with traditional chrome plating
2Object-affected harmful factors
If MIMC plastic is used for the actuating section, then chrome-like appearance is achieved without plating, but surface defects such as flow lines and recesses occur due to material shrinkage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the actuating section into two distinct parts: a carrier section made from resilient plastic and a decoration section made from MIMC plastic. This segmentation allows each section to be optimized for its specific function - the carrier section provides structural integrity and resilience, while the decoration section provides the metallic appearance, thereby reducing surface defects
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by using different materials in different sections of the actuating section. The MIMC plastic is used only where metallic appearance is desired (decoration section), while the resilient plastic is used where structural properties are needed (carrier section). This localized material application minimizes surface defects by limiting MIMC plastic to areas where it is most beneficial
3Manufacturing precision
If MIMC plastic is used for the actuating section, then chrome-like appearance is achieved, but the material lacks sufficient resilience and required maximum breaking load
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the actuating section into a carrier section and a decoration section. The carrier section is made from resilient plastic with sufficient breaking load, while the decoration section uses MIMC plastic for appearance. This segmentation ensures that structural strength requirements are met by the carrier section while the decoration section provides the desired metallic appearance
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite structure by integrally joining two different plastic materials - resilient plastic and MIMC plastic. This composite approach combines the advantages of both materials: the resilience and strength of the carrier section plastic with the metallic appearance of the MIMC decoration section, thereby achieving both aesthetic and mechanical requirements
4Manufacturing precision
If the housing is made from MIMC plastic for visual quality, then metallic appearance is achieved, but the housing lacks sufficient resilience
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality to the housing by using MIMC plastic only for the decoration section where visual appearance is critical, while the carrier section uses resilient plastic. This localized application ensures that the housing achieves metallic appearance where needed without compromising overall structural resilience
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.