Real Wood Sheet Press for Soft Vehicle Crash Pads
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional real wood skins for vehicles, produced through injection molding, offer a hard surface that fails to meet customer expectations for softness, despite providing an excellent visual and tactile experience.
Innovation Solution
A press apparatus and method utilizing a lower and upper press with slides to compress and wrap a real wood sheet around a core, incorporating a mesh and elastic layer for elasticity and a filament cross pad for cushioning, while maintaining the visual appeal of real wood, and using fixing ribs for preforming and compression processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If rear injection molding is applied to preformed real wood sheets, then visual and tactile quality is improved, but the product feels cheap and hard when pressed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the structure into multiple functional layers: a soft elastic layer (0.5-2mm) as the base, a mesh layer (0.2-0.5mm) for reinforcement, and a real wood sheet (0.1-0.3mm) for visual appearance. This segmentation allows each layer to fulfill its specific function - the elastic layer provides softness and cushioning, the mesh layer provides structural integrity, and the wood sheet provides aesthetic quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite structure combining three different materials with complementary properties: elastic material (polymer foam or rubber) for softness, mesh material (textile or synthetic) for reinforcement, and real wood material for visual appeal. This composite approach resolves the contradiction by integrating materials that collectively provide both softness and aesthetic quality.
2Manufacturing precision
If high-hardness real wood is used, then visual appearance is improved, but the product fails to satisfy customers seeking softness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different material properties to different layers of the product structure. The base layer uses soft elastic material for cushioning, the middle layer uses mesh for structural support, and the top layer uses real wood for visual appearance. This localized assignment of material qualities allows the product to simultaneously achieve softness and aesthetic appeal.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a thin real wood sheet (0.1-0.3mm) as a surface layer or shell over a softer elastic core. This thin film approach allows the wood to provide visual appearance while the underlying elastic layer provides the necessary softness and flexibility, resolving the contradiction between hardness and softness.
3Productivity
If conventional injection molding is used, then production efficiency is improved, but the product cannot provide both softness and real wood appearance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by preforming the real wood sheet into the desired shape and size before assembly, and by pre-laminating the elastic layer and mesh layer in a controlled sequence. This allows for optimized production efficiency while maintaining the complex multi-layer structure that provides both softness and aesthetic quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple manufacturing processes into a unified production system: the elastic layer is formed first, then the mesh layer is laminated onto it, and finally the real wood sheet is laminated onto the mesh layer. This combined approach maintains production efficiency while achieving the complex functional requirements of softness and visual appeal.
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 enables the production of a real wood skin that feels soft to the touch while maintaining the visual appearance of real wood, providing a certain degree of cushioning and improving surface quality, which is not achievable through conventional injection molding.
Implementation Method 1
the first slides being configured, after the compression process of the real wood sheet, to compress a rear surface of the real wood sheet while rising along the embossed part of the upper press
Implementation Method 2
a second slide configured to compress the real wood sheet located on the engraved part together with the embossed part of the upper press during the compression process of the real wood sheet
Implementation Method 3
the second slide is configured to compress the real wood sheet to an inner rear surface of a core while falling such that a portion of the real wood sheet bent inward of the engraved part is wound around the core
Data Source
AI summary
A press apparatus for vehicle crash pads including real wood sheets. The press apparatus includes a lower press including an engraved part, and a support part to support an upper press, the support part having a fixing protrusion, the upper press including an embossed part, first slides fixed to maintain a shape of the engraved part during a compression process of the real wood sheet, the first slides compressing a rear surface of the real wood sheet while rising along the embossed part, and a second slide to compress the real wood sheet during the compression process of the real wood sheet. During a wrapping process of the real wood sheet, the second slide compresses the real wood sheet to an inner rear surface of a core while falling such that a portion of the real wood sheet bent inward of the engraved part is wound around the core.