Preformed Plastic Fleece Component for Vehicle Upholstery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for producing upholstery components, such as vehicle seat components, face challenges in air distribution during drying and require lengthy production cycles due to high water content and material rigidity issues, leading to inefficiencies in material usage and processing.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the preforming of a plastic fleece into a stiff semi-finished product, which is then shaped in a mold with applied fiber material, allowing for improved air distribution and reduced drying time, and decoupling fiber application and shaping steps to enhance production efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If conventional upholstery elements are produced without preforming the fleece, then the material remains flexible and easy to handle, but the drying time increases and air distribution becomes poor
Solution Approach 1:
The fleece is preformed into a stiff semi-finished product before fiber material application, creating an air-permeable structure in advance that enables improved air distribution and reduced drying time during subsequent processing steps
2Productivity
If fiber material is applied before preforming the fleece, then the process sequence is simpler, but the fiber material cannot be properly distributed and air distribution is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The fleece is preformed into a stiff semi-finished product with improved air permeability before fiber material is applied, ensuring that the fiber material can be properly distributed and that air distribution is optimized in the final component
3Strength
If more fiber material is used to compensate for poor air distribution, then the component structure is more robust, but the production cycle time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The physical state of the fleece is changed from flexible to stiff through preforming, which improves air distribution and reduces drying time without compromising component structural integrity
4Device complexity
If the fleece is not preformed, then less processing steps are required, but water content remains high and drying is inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The fleece is preformed into a stiff semi-finished product before fiber material application, creating an air-permeable structure that enables efficient water removal and reduces drying time in subsequent processing steps
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
This approach significantly reduces production time, minimizes material usage, and improves air distribution within the component, resulting in faster cycle times and enhanced component quality with reduced water content and material complexity.
Implementation Method 1
The preform fleece is preformed into the semi-finished product by heating the preform fleece so that it softens
Implementation Method 2
The semi-finished product then expediently cools down in such a way that it stiffens again and thus retains its preformed shape
Implementation Method 3
The air is forced over the preformed preform web, i. H. passed over the semi-finished product and through the semi-finished product
Data Source
Figure 1~2
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Figure 5
AI summary
Disclosed are a method for manufacturing a component (2), especially for a vehicle, and a component (2) manufactured by said method. A nonwoven preform (1) comprising a plastic material is preformed to obtain a rigid semifinished product (H), a fiber material (F) is applied to a planar face of the semifinished product (H), and the component (2) is shaped in a mold (W).