TAPE-REINFORCED PLASTICS CLADDING PART AND PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF

Abstract

A plastics cladding part for a motor vehicle includes a support component which has a fastening side facing toward a body of the motor vehicle and a visible side facing away from the body, and at least one clip housing. The clip housing is configured integral with the support component on the fastening side thereof for the reception of a fastening clip. The clip housing and the support component are mechanically stiffened with a reinforcing tape. An injection molding process is also described for the manufacture of the tape-reinforced plastics cladding part.

Claims

1. A plastics cladding part for a motor vehicle, comprising a support component, having a fastening side oriented toward a body of the motor vehicle and a visible side facing away from the body, and at least one clip housing, said clip housing being configured integral with the support component on the fastening side thereof for reception of a fastening clip, and wherein the clip housing and the support component are mechanically stiffened with a reinforcing tape.

2. The plastics cladding part as claimed in claim 1, wherein said reinforcing tape includes at least one first reinforcing tape and a second, separate reinforcing tape being respectively connected to walls of the plastics cladding part in order to locally stiffen said walls.

3. The plastics cladding part as claimed in claim 1, wherein a first polymer of the reinforcing tape is fused with a second polymer of the clip housing.

4. The plastics cladding part as claimed in claim 3, wherein side walls of the clip housing and the support component are of equal thickness.

5. The plastics cladding part as claimed in claim 4, wherein the visible side is an A Class surface.

6. The plastics cladding part as claimed in claim 1 wherein a first polymer of the reinforcing tape is fused with a second polymer of the support component.

7. The plastics cladding part as claimed in claim 1 wherein a first polymer of the reinforcing tape is fused with a second polymer of the clip housing and the support component.

8. An injection molding process for manufacture of a tape-reinforced plastics cladding part for a motor vehicle, having a support component and a clip housing for reception of a fastening clip, comprising: opening of injection molding tool having at least one first mold portion for the support component and a second mold portion for the clip housing in order to integrally form the tape-reinforced plastics cladding part; fixing of one or more reinforcing tapes at stiffening positions within the injection molding tool; closing of the injection molding tool; overmolding of the one or more reinforcing tapes, wherein the injection molding tool is filled with a thermoplastic plastic and the thermoplastic plastic is fused with the one or more reinforcing tapes; curing of the thermoplastic plastic; and opening of the injection molding tool and removing of the tape-reinforced plastics cladding part.

9. The injection molding process as claimed in claim 8, including arranging a continuous reinforcing tape within the first mold portion and the second mold portion.

10. The injection molding process as claimed in claim 9, including chemically foaming the thermoplastic plastic during the injection molding process.

11. The injection molding process as claimed in claim 9, including physically foaming the thermoplastic plastic during the injection molding process.

12. The injection molding process as claimed in claim 9, including chemically and physically foaming the thermoplastic plastic during the injection molding process.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

[0025] Further advantageous embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the following description of the figures, wherein:

[0026] FIG. 1 shows a plastics cladding part, as known from the prior art, in a perspective view.

[0027] FIG. 2 shows a clip housing of the plastics cladding part according to FIG. 1 in a perspective view.

[0028] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a fastening clip according to the prior art.

[0029] FIG. 4 shows an exemplary embodiment of a new and improved plastics cladding part incorporating a new and improved clip housing.

[0030] FIG. 5 shows in detail a clip housing of the new and improved plastics cladding part illustrated in FIG. 4.

[0031] FIG. 6 shows a flow chart of an injection molding process for the manufacture of the new and improved plastics cladding part illustrated in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] In the different figures, same parts are always provided with the same reference symbols, for which reason these are generally also only described once.

[0033] In FIG. 1, a plastics cladding part 100 as known from the prior art, comprising a support component 110 and various fastening elements 120, is represented in a perspective view. The support component 110 has a visible side 130 (not evident in the representation) and a fastening side 140. In the installed state, the fastening side 140 faces in the direction of a motor vehicle body, whereas the visible side 130 in the interior of the vehicle or on the exterior of the vehicle, apparent to the observer, faces away from the motor vehicle body. On the fastening side 140, three clip housings 200 are arranged integral with the support component 110.

[0034] From FIG. 2, the clip housing 200 according to FIG. 1 can be seen in enlarged representation. The clip housing 200 is constructed in a manner which is known per se and has a top wall 210 having a receptacle or mounting 220 for a fastening clip 250 (see FIG. 3), and side walls 230, which project at right angles from the fastening side 140 of the support component 110. The receptacle 220 is disposed roughly centrally within the top wall 210 and has a receiving opening 221, into which the fastening clip 250 (see FIG. 3) can be introduced such that this is fixed or detained by the receptacle 220. To ensure that no sink marks are formed on the visible side 130 of the support component 110, the side walls 230 of the clip housing 200, along their connection to the support component 110, are constructed with reduced wall thickness. Since particularly high forces act on the connection between clip housing 200 and support component 110, along the side walls 230 are configured stiffening ribs 231, which are connected both to the clip housing 200 and to the support component 110. In FIG. 3, a well-known fastening clip 250, as is usually used in the prior art, is represented in perspective view.

[0035] FIG. 4 illustrates the new and improved plastics cladding part 300, having a support component 310 and various fastening elements 320. The support component 310 has a visible side 330 (not evident in the representation) and a fastening side 340. In the installed state, the fastening side 340 faces in the direction of the motor vehicle body, whereas the visible side 330 in the interior of the vehicle or on the exterior of the vehicle, apparent to the observer, faces away from the motor vehicle body. On the fastening side 340, three clip housings 400 are arranged integral with the support component 310.

[0036] FIG. 5 represents schematically an exemplary embodiment of a new and improved clip housing 400 for the new and improved plastics cladding part 300 according to this document, having a first reinforcing tape 510 and a second reinforcing tape 520. The clip housing 400, which is formed by the top wall 410 and the side walls 430, has within the receiving opening 421 clamping jaws 422, which are configured as a snap-action mechanism for the fixing of the fastening clip 250 (see FIG. 3). The side walls 430 are constructed with constant wall thickness. The wall thickness corresponds to the reduced wall thickness, as known from the prior art. Within the clip housing 400 are disposed, connected at right angles to the side walls 430, a first transverse web 441 and a second transverse web 442 for the inner stiffening of the clip housing 400. The first transverse web 441 has guide rails 443, which facilitate the reception and introduction of a fastening clip 250 (see FIG. 3). The first reinforcing tape 510 and the second reinforcing tape 520 run respectively along the fastening side 340 of the support component 310, along one of the side walls 430 and along an outer region of the top wall 410 of the clip housing 400. By virtue of the high flexibility of the reinforcing tapes 510, 520, these can exactly follow the course of the walls and be fitted into the angles present in the transition region, for instance between the fastening side 340 of the support component 310 and one of the side walls 430.

[0037] FIG. 6 shows a flow chart of a process, in particular an injection molding process, for the manufacture of a tape-reinforced plastics cladding part 300 for motor vehicles.

[0038] In a first process step 610 (provision and opening of an injection molding tool), an injection molding tool having at least one first mold portion and a second mold portion is provided. The first mold portion serves for the formation of the support component 310, and the second mold portion for the formation of the clip housing 400. Further mold portions can be provided, for instance for the formation of additional fastening elements 320. The first and the second mold portion are connected to each other in order to manufacture the plastics cladding part 300 integrally. The mold portions are constructed, in a manner which is known per se, as a negative to the shape to be formed. Usually an injection molding tool comprises two halves, wherein one of the halves is moved away from the other for opening purposes.

[0039] In a second process step 620 (arrangement and fixing of reinforcing tapes within the injection molding tool), two reinforcing tapes 510, 520 are inserted into the injection molding tool. The reinforcing tapes 510, 520 are fixed at stiffening positions. The stiffening positions correspond to the walls 410, 430 or portions of the plastics cladding part 300, which are intended to be stiffened by means of the reinforcing tapes 510, 520. The reinforcing tapes 510, 520 are placed within the corresponding mold portions, wherein a reinforcing tape 510, 520 is preferably arranged running both along the first mold portion and along the second mold portion.

[0040] In a third process step 630, the injection molding tool is closed.

[0041] During a fourth process step 640 (overmolding of the reinforcing tapes with thermoplastic plastic), the reinforcing tapes 510, 520 which are present within the closed injection molding tool are overmolded with a thermoplastic plastic. Depending on the way in which the reinforcing tapes 510, 520 are arranged within the injection molding tool, these can at the same time, or alternatively, also be insert molded or back-molded. For the actual injection molding operation, a thermoplastic plastic, which is usually present as a granulate, is heated and melted. By means of a nozzle, the plastics melt is injected, preferably under high pressure, into the injection molding tool or the cavities of the mold portions. If the hot plastics melt comes into contact with the reinforcing tapes 510, 520, the polymer matrix thereof at least partially melts. Preferably, the reinforcing tapes 510, 520 and the thermoplastic plastic have a similar or identical polymer matrix, so that a fusion, or even a welding together, of the two materials takes place. In this way, a strong physical connection between the reinforcing tapes 510, 520 and the clip housing 400 or the support component 310 of the plastics cladding part 300 is able to be created. Alternatively, the plastics melt within the injection molding tool can be foamed chemically, by the addition of a gas-forming substance, and/or physically, by gas feed.

[0042] A curing of the thermoplastic plastic takes place in a fifth process step 650. To this end, the plastics melt is cooled until it solidifies. During the cooling, the volume contraction described in the introduction materializes, which can have an adverse effect on the surface quality, for instance through the formation of sink marks. In order to avoid sink marks, the clip housing 400 and the support component 310 are manufactured with preferably uniform, or at least similar, wall thickness. According to a sixth process step 660, the so-called demolding, the injection molding tool is opened and the cured, tape-reinforced plastics cladding part 300 is removed or ejected.