Patent Application
20240042749
This nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to German Patent Application No. 10 2022 208 183.8, which was filed in Germany on Aug. 5, 2022, and which is herein incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to a method for producing a partition for the interior of a commercial or transport vehicle and to such a partition.
Commercial vehicles, which are used for parcel delivery, for example, transport parcels of different dimensions. For driver protection, a partition is provided for such delivery vehicles, which separates the cargo compartment from the passenger compartment. In the event of rapid vehicle deceleration, such as a frontal collision, the partition prevents parcels from being shifted forward into the passenger compartment.
A partition of the same type can be made of a deep-drawn sheet steel part, of plastics (PE, PP, . . . ), or of fiber composite plastics, which are reinforced by short or long fibers and can, for example, have glass fibers or the like.
The materials currently used in the manufacture of a partition all have a large CO2 footprint and a comparatively high density with a correspondingly high component weight. In addition, optical, acoustic, thermal and/or mechanical additional functions can often only be implemented through significant changes in the production process and/or through additional process steps that are complex in terms of manufacturing technology.
US 2021/0300161 A1 discloses a vehicle door with a support structure made of a recyclable environmentally friendly natural fiber. CN 111572647 A as well as DE 10 2018 120 190 A1 disclose vehicle components, which are made from a renewable raw material.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a partition as well as a method for producing such a partition, which can be produced in lightweight construction as well as with a reduced overall CO2 balance compared to the state of the art.
The invention is based on a method for producing a partition for the interior of a commercial or transport vehicle by means of which a passenger compartment can be separated from a cargo compartment. The partition can be designed as a multilayer composite component made of a renewable raw material, particularly of a wood-based material. The multilayer composite component can be produced by a forming process in a forming die under pressure and heat.
Through the use of wood-based materials in the form of laminated veneer lumber, strand-based (wood chip-based) semi-finished wood products, or a mixture of these two, as well as other renewable raw materials, the partition is produced according to the invention by a forming process in the forming die. During the forming process, the renewable raw materials, particularly wood-based materials, are modified if necessary (compacted, compressed, soaked with resin/adhesive, . . . ) and shaped as required with temperature and a suitable adhesive system (PU adhesive, epoxy adhesive, . . . ).
When using laminated veneer lumber, the property of the component can be specifically influenced by the arrangement and orientation of the veneers. This produces the necessary geometric stiffening elements in the component. It can be done both over a wide area and locally. In particular, it is possible to eliminate visually unappealing reinforcing beads, which were necessary in components made of plastic or steel, or to make them more visually appealing.
By constructing or combining the wood-based elements with each other and with additional materials/layers, various additional functions can be fulfilled. On the one hand, top layers made of impregnated/soaked wood can produce both visual (design/décor) and functional (scratch, moisture and/or chemical resistant) properties. Moreover, wood veneers can be used as cover surfaces to create visually appealing surfaces.
Furthermore, it is possible to produce thermal and/or acoustic insulation effects by building and/or introducing additional materials/layers in the composite. Local stiffening in the components can be achieved by partial compression or local thickening of the material.
After the forming process, the partition can be mechanically processed in a further process step and then given its final component contour. Cutouts or clearances can be inserted during this step if necessary.
The use of wood-based materials according to the invention in the form of laminated veneer lumber, strand-based (wood chip-based) semi-finished wood products, or a mixture of these two, as well as other renewable raw materials in a partition of a commercial and/or transport vehicle, is carried out while maintaining the mechanical requirements. In this context, the good mechanical properties of laminated veneer lumber, strand-based (wood chip-based) semi-finished wood products, or a mixture of these two and other renewable raw materials are of great importance. In addition, all composite structure and process-oriented aspects can be implemented in a central manufacturing process, so that the basic material/semi-finished product can be produced completely in a one-shot process.
In addition, the approach offers a systemic and highly flexible solution from a joining point of view, as screw-on and/or fastening points (e.g., metallic elements such as eyelets or hooks) can be placed freely and individually. This flexibility also applies to the actual installation of the partition in the vehicle structure. Metal eyelets can be used, for example, around the screw points to prevent the screws from tearing out of the partition and screw removers due to setting behavior. Furthermore, extensions can be attached to the partition at any point by means of a direct screw connection (by screwing into the wood). These screw locations can also be locally strengthened by partial compression or partial thickening of the material.
The one-piece or multi-part partition can be made from a renewable raw material as a laminated wood composite. Due to the multi-part structure, different model derivatives as well as special functions (through-loading feature, window patching, storage capacity, lashing devices, . . . ) can be realized. For this purpose, veneers of the appropriate size are glued, stacked and inserted into the forming die as a “stack.” The forming die was heated to a temperature (up to 150° C.) according to the requirements of the adhesive, so that the crosslinking of the adhesive can take place taking into account the cycle time. At the same time, the veneer stack is pressed, three-dimensionally formed and designed according to the requirements of the component in terms of rigidity, strength, and crash, as well as the ability to be mounted on the body of the vehicle.
The additional functions can be easily implemented by introducing additional layers/materials in the “stack.” For example, a film on the surface can take on the task of being moisture-repellent, chemical-resistant and/or scratch-resistant. Foam cores inside the layer composite can improve acoustics and/or thermal insulation. Additional components such as through-loading boxes can also be made of the same material in the process described above and connected to the partition (by screwing, snapping, etc.).
Subsequently, essential aspects of the invention are again highlighted in detail. For example, the multilayer composite component can be made of wood veneer layers and/or chips or strands made of renewable raw materials. Strands refers to large-scale chips, such as wood chips or shavings made from other renewable raw materials with optimized chip geometry (length-width-thickness ratio). For example, the wood veneer layers can be sheets of solid wood about 0.5 to 8 mm thick, which are separated from the log by various sawing and cutting methods.
In a preparatory process step, a binder can be applied to the chips and/or the wood veneer layers. In a downstream forming process step, the wood veneer layers and/or the chips are inserted into a mold cavity of the forming die. Subsequently, the forming process starts, in which the wood veneer layers and/or the chips are compressed and glued under pressure and heat to form the partition.
In a technical implementation, the binder-coated chips can be loosely inserted into the mold cavity of the forming die as bulk material, whereupon the forming process step starts. Alternatively, the binder-coated chips can be subjected to an upstream pressing step before the forming process step is performed. In this pressing step, the chips can be pressed into a flat semi-finished product. The flat semi-finished product can then be inserted into the mold cavity of the forming die for performing the forming process.
The component rigidity of the partition can preferably be increased in a simple manner as follows: For example, the partition can be made of wood veneer layers whose fiber orientations are aligned differently with each other. This results in a multilayer composite component with multidirectional fiber orientation, which is advantageous in terms of stiffness requirements. Alternatively, in the production of a chip-based partition, the chips can be arranged unoriented in a random position in relation to each other in the multilayer composite component.
The partition can be equipped with additional optical, acoustic, thermal and/or mechanical functions in a simple manner from a manufacturing point of view. For this purpose, at least one additional insert part can be inserted into the mold cavity of the forming die together with the wood veneer layers and/or the chips. The insert part is adapted to fulfill the desired additional function. By way of example, the additional insert part can form a top layer that is resistant to scratches/moisture/chemicals and/or that fulfills a decorative function. By way of example, the additional insert part can be a wood veneer layer impregnated with a plastic. Alternatively, and/or additionally, the insert part may have a thermal and/or acoustic insulating effect. In this case, the insert part can be a fabric, a non-crimp fabric, or a fleece, for example.
In addition, the partition according to the invention can be equipped with local stiffeners in a simple manner in terms of manufacturing. For this purpose, a partition reinforcement section can be formed by local compression. In local compression, the partition reinforcement section is locally compressed in the forming process due to increased forming pressure as compared to other partition sections.
Alternatively, such a partition reinforcement section can also be provided by local thickening. In the case of such local thickening, the partition reinforcement section can be formed with increased material input, i.e., with at least one additional layer of wood veneer and/or with additional chips, as compared to other partition sections.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes, combinations, and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitive of the present invention, and wherein:
In order to increase the component rigidity of the partition 1, the fiber orientations 11 of the wood veneer layers 9 layered on top of each other are aligned differently with respect to each other. In this way, the component rigidity of the partition 1 can be increased without the need for additional reinforcing beads or reinforcing ribs. The ribbing and/or beading required for conventional partitions can therefore be omitted, which increases the geometric degrees of freedom in the construction of the partition 1. In addition, by eliminating the need for ribbing and/or beading, the partition 1 can be made more visually appealing.
The partition 1 according to the invention is produced as follows: In a preparatory process step, the wood veneer layers 9 are coated with a binder. Subsequently, the binder-coated wood veneer layers 9 are inserted into a mold cavity 13 (
The multilayer composite component can have structure in which wood veneer layers 9 and chips 21 are layered on top of each other in any combination. Providing these stiffening measures results in considerably greater geometrical freedom in the design of the partition 1, wherein features such as reinforcing ribs or reinforcing beads can be eliminated (ribbing, beading, functional integration, visually appealing).
The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2022 208 183.8 | Aug 2022 | DE | national |
