Coating of parts or objects and method for obtaining it

Abstract

A coating of structures or elements or parts made of plastic material obtained by molding includes a finish layer; a reinforcement layer coupled to the finish layer, from the opposite side to the exposed face, to form a sandwich; and a heat-sealable film coupled in its solid form to the reinforcing layer, wherein this sandwich is suited to be coupled to a support part in a plastic material obtained by molding, and wherein this coupling occurs during the molding of the support part by way of the heat-sealable film suited to be activated at the molding temperature.

Claims

1. A coating (1) of structures, elements, or parts (11) made of a plastic material obtained by molding, comprising: at least one finish layer (2) adapted to be secured to a support part (6) made of a plastic material and produced by molding, said at least one finish layer having at least one exposed face (21) intended to remain visible; at least one reinforcement layer (3) directly or indirectly coupled to said at least one finish layer (2), at least at an opposite side (22) of said exposed face (21), to form a sandwich (5); and at least one heat-sealable film (4) directly or indirectly coupled in solid form at least to said at least one reinforcement layer (3), wherein said sandwich (5) is adapted to be coupled to said at least one support part (6) made of said plastic material, and wherein said coupling takes place during the molding of said at least one support part (6), by way of said at heat-sealable film (4) activated at a molding temperature.

2. The coating (1) according to claim 1, wherein said at least one finish layer (2) is a sheet of burl wood or a wood veneer.

3. The coating (1) according to claim 1, wherein said at least one finish layer (2) is made of leather, imitation leather, stone or derivatives thereof, or natural or synthetic fabrics.

4. The coating (1) according to claim 1, wherein said at least one reinforcement layer (3) is a fabric or other layer made of a flexible material and adapted to be coupled to said at least one finish layer (2) and said at least one heat-sealable film (4).

5. A structure, element, object or part (11) made of plastic and at least partially coated, comprising: at least one support part (6) made of a plastic material obtained by molding; at least one finish layer (2) coupled to said at least one support part (6); and at least one reinforcement layer (3) directly or indirectly coupled to said finish layer (2) to form a sandwich (5), wherein said at least one support part (6) is made of the plastic material obtained by molding, and wherein said at least one support part (6) is bound at least to said at least one reinforcement layer (3) of said sandwich (5) by way of at least one heat-sealable film (4) directly or indirectly coupled at least to said at least one reinforcement layer and configured to be activated at a molding temperature.

6. A process for production of a coating (1) with at least one finish layer (2) on at least one support part (6) made of a plastic material obtained by molding, comprising: preparing said at least one finish layer (2); laminating said at least one finish layer (2) with said at least one reinforcement layer (3), producing at least one sandwich (5); applying at least one heat-sealable film (4) in solid form on at least one reinforcement layer (3); inserting said sandwich (5) coupled to said heat-sealable film (4) in at least one mold to form said at least one support part (6) made of the plastic material, with said heat-sealable film (4) facing an interior of the mold; and molding said at least one support part (6) made of the plastic material, wherein at a molding temperature, said heat-sealable film (4) is activated, ensuring a stable coupling between said sandwich (5) and said at least one support part (6) made of the plastic material.

7. The method, according to claim 6, further comprising at least one conformation and/or shaping step of said sandwich (5) coupled to said heat-sealable film (4) before insertion in said mold, wherein said conformation and shaping is a function of type, size, and shape of the coating (1) to be obtained and the mold.

8. The method, according to claim 7, wherein said shaping step comprises a compression provided by rollers and/or a heat treatment of said sandwich (5) coupled or not coupled to said heat-sealable film (4) to form single or multiple curves, curvatures, and/or bending of edges, and deformations.

9. The method, according to claim 7, wherein said shaping step comprises punching or cutting of said sandwich (5) coupled or not coupled to said heat-sealable film (4).

10. The method, according to claim 6, wherein said molding step comprises injecting, and wherein said plastic material is a polycarbonate, PC/ABS, ABS, or a combination thereof having predetermined mechanical, chemical, and physical characteristics.

Description

[0036] FIG. 1 shows a section of a plastic object or part (11) partially coated, according to an illustrated and exemplified embodiment.

[0037] FIG. 2 shows the layering of the new coating (1) comprising the sandwich (5), formed by the coupling of a finish layer (2) and a reinforcement layer (3), with a heat-sealable film (4) applied on the reinforcement layer (3).

[0038] FIG. 3 shows schematically, for example, the center console (12) of a vehicle (1), with a coating (1) with a (21) quality finish (21).

[0039] The new coating (1) comprises in its main parts at least one finish layer (2) with at least one face (21) intended to remain in view and an opposite face (22) not in view, at least one reinforcement layer (3) directly or indirectly coupled at least to the face (22) opposite the finish layer (2) to form a sandwich (5), and at least one heat-sealable film (4) of the dry type, is in turn coupled with said reinforcement layer (3) of said sandwich (5)

[0040] The object (11) in FIG. 1 comprises at least one support part (6) made of plastic material obtained by molding, and where that at least one support part (6) is secured to the reinforcement layer (3) of said sandwich (5) by means of said at least one heat-sealable film (4).

[0041] Said heat-sealable film (4) is suited to be activated at the molding temperature, so as to obtain the stable coupling between said sandwich (5) and said support part (6) made of plastic material.

[0042] Said coating (1), comprising said sandwich (5) coupled with said heat-sealable film (4), can be variously curved (7) or contoured or shaped in general before its insertion in the mold for the formation of the support part (6), as a function of the shape and dimensions of the mold and as a function of the type, shape and size of the coating (1) to be obtained.

[0043] Therefore, with reference to the preceding description and the attached drawing the following claims are made.