Invisible Molded Airbag Deployment Door with Pre-Weakened Hinge
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional scoring and pre-weakening techniques for air bag deployment doors in automotive vehicles often fail to create an invisible, strong, and properly opening deployment door, as they require post-processing steps and do not consistently ensure the door's visibility and structural integrity.
Innovation Solution
The method involves molding the hinge and tear seams into the instrument panel substrate during the manufacturing process using a mold with specific protrusions and configurations to define the deployment door, ensuring a constant thickness and strength while maintaining the door's invisibility from the outer surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional scoring and pre-weakening techniques are used to create deployment door seams, then the door can be weakened for opening, but the seams become visible and aesthetic quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The mold protrusions are installed beforehand in the molding tool to automatically create pre-weakened seams and hinges during the substrate molding process. This preliminary action eliminates the need for post-manufacturing scoring operations and ensures the seams are invisible from the outer surface while providing the necessary weakness for deployment.
Solution Approach 2:
The manual or post-processing mechanical scoring methods are replaced by integrating mold protrusions that create the weakened seams directly during the molding process. This substitution eliminates visible seams while maintaining the pre-weakening function through a different mechanical approach embedded in the mold itself.
2Strength
If post-processing scoring is used to create deployment seams, then the door can be weakened, but additional manufacturing steps are required and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate molding process and the seam pre-weakening operations are merged into a single integrated process. The mold protrusions create the weakened seams and hinges simultaneously with the substrate formation, eliminating separate post-processing steps and improving productivity while maintaining structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The seam weakening is performed preliminarily during the molding process itself rather than as a subsequent operation. This preliminary action reduces the total manufacturing cycle time while ensuring the door has the appropriate structural integrity for normal use and controlled deployment.
3Ease of operation
If thinning or cutting is used to weaken the substrate, then the door can open, but the structural strength and resistance to inward pressures decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The mold protrusions create localized weakened regions (seams and hinges) only where needed for deployment, while the rest of the substrate maintains its full thickness and structural strength. This local quality approach allows the door to open properly at specific points while retaining overall resistance to inward pressures.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of uniformly thinning or cutting the entire substrate, the mold protrusions apply partial action by creating weakened seams only in specific locations. This partial weakening is sufficient for deployment while preserving the structural strength needed for normal door function and pressure resistance.
4Shape
If laser scoring is used to create concealed deployment doors, then the seams can be less visible, but additional equipment and process complexity are introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The mold protrusions serve as physical copies or templates of the desired seam locations and geometries. By embedding these protrusions in the mold, the seam patterns are automatically replicated during each molding cycle without requiring complex laser positioning systems or additional concealment equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The complex laser scoring system is replaced by a simpler mechanical approach using mold protrusions. This substitution reduces device complexity while achieving the same effect of creating concealed, pre-weakened seams through a more straightforward molding process integration.
Data Source
AI summary
A cover panel for the air bag in an automotive vehicle with an invisible deployment door section defined by pre-weakened hinge and tear seam formed on the underside of the instrument panel base substrate during the base substrate molding process. The hinge and tear seams are formed into the underside of the base substrate by projections extending from a lower surface mold preform and are differently proportioned in size to provide sequentially operating functions during air bag deployment. Flowing the liquid substrate material into opposing sides of the mold allow for more even cooling and smooth upper surface over the reduced thicknesses of the invisible door hinge and seams.