Vehicle PU composite component comprising a layered construction having a honeycomb structure

Abstract

A vehicle PU composite component having a layered construction having a honeycomb structure, the honeycomb structure being reinforced by PU material, and the layered construction or the component being formed from PU material and having at least one component elevation. The component elevation PU material forming the component elevation differs from the honeycomb structure PU material reinforcing the honeycomb structure, and in that the component elevation PU material has a higher foaming degree having lower material density as compared to the honeycomb structure PU material. A method for producing a vehicle PU composite component having a layered construction having a honeycomb structure.

Claims

1. A vehicle PU composite component with a layered construction having a honeycomb structure, wherein the honeycomb structure is reinforced with PU material, and the layered construction or the component is formed with at least one component elevation composed of PU material, wherein the component elevation PU material forming the component elevation differs from the honeycomb structure PU material reinforcing the honeycomb structure, and wherein the component elevation PU material has a higher degree of foaming with lower material density compared with the honeycomb structure PU material.

2. The component as claimed in claim 1, wherein the component elevation forms at least one of an areal elevation or a rib-like reinforcement of the component or a peripheral frame-like reinforcement of the component.

3. The component as claimed in claim 1, wherein the component elevation PU material is applied on the honeycomb structure PU material.

4. The component as claimed in claim 1, wherein, in a region of the honeycomb structure, said region being provided for the component elevation, the component elevation PU material is applied instead of the honeycomb structure PU material in order to reinforce the honeycomb structure and in order to form the component elevation.

5. The component as claimed in claim 1, wherein the component elevation is formed by spray application of the component elevation PU material.

6. The component as claimed in claim 1, wherein the component elevation PU material has a density in the range of 0.30 g/cm.sup.3 to 0.80 g/cm.sup.3.

7. The component as claimed in claim 1, wherein the component elevation PU material contains at least one of an additive, a blowing agent or a stabilizer.

8. The component as claimed in claim 1, wherein the honeycomb structure has at least one of an fiber-reinforced inner PU layer or a fiber-reinforced outer PU layer.

9. The component as claimed in claim 7, wherein at least one of the inner PU layer or the outer PU layer are formed, at least in the region of a component elevation applied thereon, of component elevation PU material.

10. A method for producing a vehicle PU composite component with a layered construction having a honeycomb structure as claimed in claim 1, comprising the steps of: a) providing a honeycomb structure which is provided or reinforced with PU material, b) applying a component elevation PU material which differs from the honeycomb structure PU material, onto the honeycomb structure in order to form a frame-like or rib-like component elevation.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the component elevation PU material is foamed with a higher degree of foaming at lower material density compared with the honeycomb structure PU material.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the component elevation PU material is foamed with addition of one of an additive, a blowing agent or a stabilizer.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the component elevation PU material is sprayed onto the honeycomb structure, and subsequently pressing the sprayed-on component elevation PU material, in a closed forming tool, into the form of the component elevation formed on the honeycomb structure.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the component elevation PU material is sprayed onto the honeycomb structure by a spray head of a spraying device.

15. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein, during the spraying-on of the component elevation PU material, the honeycomb structure is either arranged in the open forming tool or is arranged in a spray booth outside of the forming tool and is subsequently inserted into the forming tool with the sprayed-on component elevation PU material.

16. The component as claimed in claim 1, wherein the component elevation PU material has a density in the range of 0.30 g/cm.sup.3 to 0.70 g/cm.sup.3.

17. The component as claimed in claim 1, wherein the component elevation PU material has a density in the range of 0.30 g/cm.sup.3 to 0.50 g/cm.sup.3.

Description

[0039] The invention is explained in more detail below on the basis of one exemplary embodiment of a vehicle PU composite component according to the invention with reference to the drawing, in which:

[0040] FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of a detail of a PU composite component having a honeycomb structure reinforced with honeycomb structure PU material and having a component elevation formed thereon by applied component elevation PU material;

[0041] FIG. 2 shows a sectional view as per FIG. 1 of the honeycomb structure reinforced with honeycomb structure PU material and the component elevation PU material applied thereon prior to the shaping of the PU composite component in a forming tool; and

[0042] FIG. 3 shows a schematic illustration of a spraying device for applying PU material.

[0043] A vehicle PU composite component 1 (see detail illustration of FIG. 1), such as, for example, a part of a roof module or a cover of an openable roof such as a sliding roof or tilt and slide roof or the like, has a layered construction 2 with a central honeycomb structure 3 as core layer and with top layers 4 and 5, composed of PU material, on both sides, wherein said material reinforcing the honeycomb structure 3 is referred to as PU honeycomb structure material 6. The PU honeycomb structure material 6, which, during the production, may also have penetrated to a selectable depth into the honeycomb structure 3 in order to increase the strength, preferably contains fibers, such as, for example, glass fibers, basalt fibers, carbon fibers or natural fibers, in order to increase the strength of the top layers 4 and 5 and thus of the layered construction 2. In FIG. 1, by way of example, the upper component side with the top layer 4 is the inner side 7 of the component 1 and the lower component side with the top layer 5 is the outer side 8 of the component 1.

[0044] On the one or the upper top layer 4 of the honeycomb structure 3, there is formed a component elevation 9 which for example represents a reinforcement of the component 1 in the form of a rib or a frame part. The component elevation 9 is formed of a PU material which is referred to as component elevation PU material 10 and which has material properties that differ from those of the PU honeycomb structure material 6.

[0045] The component elevation PU material 10 has in particular a higher degree of foaming and thus a lower material density compared with the honeycomb structure PU material 6. The component elevation PU material 10 can thus have a density in the range of 0.30 g/cm.sup.3 to 0.80 g/cm.sup.3, preferably of 0.30 g/cm.sup.3 to 0.70 g/cm.sup.3 and in particular of 0.30 g/cm.sup.3 to 0.50 g/cm.sup.3.

[0046] The lower density of the component elevation PU material 10 brings about a lower weight of the component elevation 9 formed therefrom in comparison with the production of the component elevation 9 with the honeycomb structure PU material 6 used for the top layers 4, 5. The density is selected in such a way that the material and functional properties of the component elevation 9, such as for example of a frame or the like formed therefrom or of an areal elevation of the component 1, are not impaired or are impaired only to an insignificant extent.

[0047] FIG. 2 shows the layered construction 2 with the honeycomb structure 3 with the two top layers 4 and 5 formed of honeycomb structure PU material 6 as a semi-finished product prior to the shaping in a forming tool. A raised strip 11 composed of component elevation PU material 10 has been applied onto the upper or inner top layer 4, for example by means of a spray head of a PU-injecting or PU-spraying device 12 (see FIG. 3). During the application of the component elevation PU material 10, the layered construction 2 is located for example in an open forming tool or outside of a forming tool, for example in a spray booth. The component elevation PU material 10 expediently has a viscous consistency, such that a raised strip of this kind can be formed on the semi-finished product and substantially maintains its shape up to insertion into the forming tool.

[0048] The spraying device 12, shown in FIG. 3 in a simplified schematic illustration, for applying PU material contains a spray or mixing head 13 with a mixing chamber 14 into which isocyanate, on the one hand, is supplied via a first supply line 15 and polyol, on the other hand, is supplied via a second supply line 16, wherein a calibration block 17 is connected upstream of the second supply line 16, in which calibration block two different polyols or PU constituents, via supply lines 18 and 19, are mixed via a mixing valve 20 and conducted into the mixing chamber 14 via the supply line 16. A PU spray 22 for generating the component elevation PU material 10 exits via a spray opening 21 in the spray or mixing head 13.

[0049] The two different polyols or PU constituents have different properties, such that the targeted, controlled mixing thereof makes it possible to generate the component elevation PU material 10 in the respectively required composition and consistency for obtaining the respectively desired degree of foaming or the density.

[0050] In the present case, two different polyols are used, wherein, preferably, the one polyol has a normal free rise density and the other polyol has a free rise density which is reduced by half, and the mixing ratio of the two polyols can be selected as desired.

[0051] The component 1 present in the shape in FIG. 2 is brought into the form illustrated in FIG. 1 in the forming tool under forming or pressing pressure and with introduction of heat. In addition to the shaping of the component elevation 9, the layered construction 2 can be formed, and additionally also compacted, at least in a determined region 23 as a result of compression at least of the honeycomb structure 3.

[0052] The honeycomb or honeycomb structure is preferably produced from paper (paper honeycomb), from aluminum or from a plastic, such as, for example, phenol resin. Honeycomb is also understood to mean, for example, components which run in a wavelike manner or spacers, which run perpendicularly with respect to the outer surfaces of the honeycomb structure, or cell-like structures.

[0053] The directional indications “above” and “below”, and also “outside” and “inside”, included in the above description relate merely to the illustration of the exemplary embodiment in the figures and do not limit for example the arrangement of the top layers and of the component elevations.

[0054] The individual features of the invention which are disclosed in the description and with reference to the exemplary embodiment as well as in the figures can be combined in any desired technically expedient arrangements and configurations with the subject matter of the invention in its general form.

TABLE-US-00001 List of reference designations 1 Vehicle PU composite component 2 Layered construction 3 Honeycomb structure 4 Top layer 5 Top layer 6 PU honeycomb structure material 7 Inner side 8 Outer side 9 Component elevation 10 Component elevation PU material 11 Strip 12 Injecting or spraying device 13 Spray or mixing head 14 Mixing chamber 15 First supply line 16 Second supply line 17 Calibration block 18 Polyol supply line 19 Polyol supply line 20 Mixing valve 21 Spray opening 22 PU spray 23 Region