Vehicle Component Mold with Movable Frame for Coating Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for producing vehicle loading decks and backrests with aesthetic coatings, such as long-pile fabric or leather, face challenges in achieving high mechanical and thermal strength while minimizing weight and production costs, often resulting in crushed coatings and poor aesthetic appearance due to high pressure in injection molding processes.
Innovation Solution
A multi-step mold and process using a thermoplastic mixture of polyamide or polypropylene with long glass fibers and a long-pile synthetic fabric or leather coating, injected at lower pressures (200-600 bar) with movable frames to distribute material evenly and a cutting edge for partial coating adjustment, allowing for solidification and folding to enhance aesthetic and mechanical properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If high pressure injection molding is used to produce loading decks, then the mechanical strength is improved, but the coating is crushed and aesthetic appearance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The mold is divided into two independent parts: a fixed part and a movable part. The movable part can move relative to the fixed part along the injection direction, allowing the coating to be applied to the movable part before injection, then protected during the high-pressure injection process while still achieving complete mold filling.
Solution Approach 2:
The coating is applied to the movable part of the mold before the injection process begins. This preliminary coating application ensures that the aesthetic surface is already in place and protected before the high-pressure injection occurs, preventing crushing of the coating during molding.
2Weight of moving object
If cardboard material is used for loading decks, then the weight is reduced, but the mechanical strength is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses a composite material system consisting of a thermoplastic base material (polyamide or polypropylene) reinforced with long glass fibers. This composite provides both the necessary mechanical strength and the ability to be molded into complex shapes while maintaining reasonable weight, overcoming the limitations of pure cardboard.
3Strength
If plastic material is used for loading decks, then the mechanical strength is improved, but the weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the physical and chemical parameters of the plastic material by incorporating long glass fibers as reinforcement and using expanding agents. These parameter changes allow the material to achieve higher strength-to-weight ratio, providing both the required mechanical strength and reduced weight compared to conventional plastic materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The use of expanding agents creates a porous or cellular structure within the plastic matrix. This porous structure reduces the overall density and weight of the loading deck while maintaining adequate mechanical strength through the reinforced composite material system.
4Weight of moving object
If expanding agents are added to plastic mixture to reduce weight, then the weight is reduced, but the high pressure required for molding crushes the coating
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the mold into fixed and movable parts that can move independently, the system allows the coating to be applied to the movable part before injection. This segmentation enables the use of expanding agents in the plastic mixture without compromising coating integrity, as the coating is already in place and protected during the lower-pressure injection process.
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 process produces components with improved mechanical strength, resistance to high temperatures, and reduced weight by using polyamide or polypropylene with long glass fibers, and a lighter product through the addition of expanding agents, while maintaining a superior aesthetic finish.
Implementation Method 1
a predetermined amount of a thermoplastic mixture is injected into the interspace of the mold which is still semi-open... waiting for a solidification time of the thermoplastic polymer and new opening of the mold
Implementation Method 2
the introduction of expanding agents into the plastic mixture is not always possible due to the pressure that must be developed in the mold
Data Source
Figure 1(a)~2
Figure 3
AI summary
Mold (100) for producing a coated component of a vehicle, comprising: - an upper portion (110) of the fixed side (101) on which an injection nozzle (105) and a removal device (106) are arranged; said injection nozzle (105) being suitable to introduce, into the interspace (120) of the mold (100), a predetermined amount of a thermoplastic mixture suitable to constitute the load-bearing structure of said loading deck or of said backrest; said removal device (106) being suitable to allow the detachment of the element, solidified by now, from the fixed side (101) of the mold (100) once the molding is completed; - at least a movable frame (150) suitable to uniformly distribute the thermoplastic mixture at each point of the interspace (120) before the closure of the mold (100).