Patent Application
20210354347
This application claims foreign priority benefits under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) to German Application No. 102020206028.2 filed May 13, 2020, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The present disclosure generally relates to a method for producing a support for a motor vehicle and further relates to a support for a motor vehicle, such as, a dashboard support which is arranged in the interior of a motor vehicle and serves, for example, for the attachment of a steering wheel.
In practice, various types of supports such as, for example, dashboard supports are employed on motor vehicles. The dashboard supports are usually made entirely of metal or are designed as metal-plastic hybrid components.
WO 2013/085723 A1 discloses a method for producing a composite article from unidirectional fiber-reinforced tape (UD tape). A self-contained preform of the article is produced by winding a plurality of layers of UD tape. The layers are secured on one another during the winding process. In a subsequent step, the stacked tape layers are heated and applied with pressure in a press mold in order to firmly connect the layers to one another. Finally, the preform can be overmolded.
It would be desirable to provide a method for producing a motor vehicle support at a reduced cost and a motor vehicle support which achieves a high mechanical rigidity of the support.
According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method for producing a support for a motor vehicle is provided. The method includes the steps of producing a core from a foam material, and at least partially surrounding the core with a unidirectional layer to form a reinforced core.
According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a method for producing a support for a motor vehicle is provided. The method includes the steps of producing a core from a foam material by injection molding, at least partially surrounding the core with a unidirectional layer to form a reinforced core, arranging additional elements on the reinforced core, and overmolding to secure the additional elements onto the reinforced core.
According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a support for a motor vehicle is provided. The support including a core made of a foam material, and a unidirectional layer at least partially surrounding the core to form a reinforced core.
These and other aspects, objects, and features of the present invention will be understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art upon studying the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.
In the drawings:
In the various figures, identical parts are always provided with the same reference numerals, so that such parts are generally also only described once.
After the foam material 16 has cured, the core 12 which has now been formed is removed from the injection mold 10 and wrapped with a unidirectional fiber-reinforced tape, such as UD tape 18, in accordance with the method step shown in
The disclosure provides a method for producing a support, in particular a dashboard support, for a motor vehicle. The method comprises the following steps of producing a core from a foam material, and at least partially surrounding the core with a unidirectional layer to form a reinforced core.
The production of the core from a foam material represents an inexpensive solution for initially creating a kind of “base element” for the support. Moreover, a core made of a foam material is particularly light in weight in comparison with cores or supports made of metal. The properties of the foam material can be varied over a wide range, thus enabling the core made of the foam material to be optimized for various applications and then, for example, to be adapted quickly and inexpensively for various vehicle types with requirements that differ only slightly from one another. Moreover, the core of foam material offers the possibility of integrating cavities or conduits therein.
Although the core itself already has a certain rigidity, in some examples, it may not be sufficient to meet the requirements of a support and in particular of a dashboard support for a motor vehicle. To improve rigidity, the core is at least partially surrounded by a unidirectional layer (UD layer). In this context, the unidirectional layer is a layer which has fibers that are all oriented parallel to one another and in one direction. Such layers have a particularly high rigidity in the direction of the fibers. Accordingly, a UD layer can be arranged in those selected regions of the core in which an increase in rigidity is required. Consequently, the use of material in the UD layer can be kept low, which also correspondingly permits lower production costs.
In one practical embodiment of the method, the unidirectional layer is a tape. In this context, a thin, elongate strip is referred to as a tape. A unidirectional fiber-reinforced (UD) tape of this kind is usually also referred to as a “UD tape.” The tape has, in particular, unidirectionally oriented fibers which are embedded in a matrix of a polymer. The tape offers the advantage that the tape is easy to make up and is likewise easy to apply to the core, particularly when the tape can be unwound from a roll. Moreover, such tapes are easy to overmold.
The tape can be arranged on the core in a simple manner. In particular, the tape can be laid on the core according to one example. In this example, the tape can be laid in one or more layers one on top of the other on the core. Alternatively or in addition to this example, the tape can be wound around the core in another example. In particular, the individual layers of the tape can be laid on top of one another with a slight overlap during winding. In particular, the tape may be applied in an automated manner by use of automated tape placing (ATP), which offers an efficient way of reinforcing the core with a UD tape. It should be emphasized once again that it is also possible for the core to be provided only partially with the UD tape, namely in the regions in which reinforcement of the core is required.
For better adhesion of the unidirectional layer to the core, the unidirectional layer can be adhesively bonded to the core. If the UD layer is in the form of a tape, one particularly advantageous possibility is for the tape to be self-adhesive. Alternatively, an adhesive can be applied to the core and/or the layer or the tape.
In a further practical embodiment of the method for producing a support for a motor vehicle, the foam material for the core is a polymethacrylimide (PMI). This material already has a sufficiently high compressive strength. In this embodiment, foams having a compressive strength in the range of from 0.8 MPa to 15.8 MPa can be produced. A PMI foam material which has a compressive strength of 3.5 MPa to 5 MPa may be used here. The density of the foam can be in the range of from 32 kg/m3 to 110 kg/m3.
In one embodiment, the core is produced by injection molding in an injection mold. It is considered particularly advantageous here if the core composed of the material PMI described above is produced by use of injection molding in an injection mold. In this context, injection molding represents a comparatively simple and inexpensive process. Machining and subsequent processing steps can be dispensed with to the greatest possible extent or even completely in some examples.
In a further practical embodiment of the method for producing a support for a motor vehicle, after the production of the reinforced core, additional elements are arranged thereon. The additional elements are, in particular, fastening structures, such as clamps or clips or inserts, which in turn are used to attach further functional elements, such as a steering wheel, an airbag, etc., to the motor vehicle support.
In particular, the additional elements may be secured to the reinforced core by use of overmolding, such as by use of a thermoplastic material. In particular, these functional elements may be inserted completely or partially into an injection mold and then overmolded as described above and thus secured on the reinforced core. Here too, overmolding with plastic represents a comparatively simple and readily adaptable step.
The disclosure likewise relates to a support for a motor vehicle, wherein the support has a core made of a foam material, and wherein the core is at least partially provided with a unidirectional layer. Further additional elements can be arranged on the support and secured with thermoplastic material.
Such a support for a motor vehicle can be produced particularly easily and also inexpensively, this being achieved above all by use of the core of foam material. The necessary reinforcement of the core to meet the component requirements with regard to rigidity and strength can then be brought about in a targeted manner by use of the unidirectional layer. Such a support offers a large amount of design latitude since both the core of foam material is easily modifiable and reinforcement with the UD layer can be varied.
The support may be a dashboard support for a motor vehicle, according to one example. The dashboard support may serve as a transverse strut in the vehicle interior. The dashboard support may serve especially for the attachment of a steering wheel, airbag and other vehicle equipment.
It is to be understood that variations and modifications can be made on the aforementioned structure without departing from the concepts of the present invention, and further it is to be understood that such concepts are intended to be covered by the following claims unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102020206028.2 | May 2020 | DE | national |
