HYBRID MANUFACTURING METHOD COMPRISING AN ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING STEP AND A PRODUCT RESULTING FROM SUCH A METHOD

Abstract

A hybrid manufacturing method comprising providing a base member, the base member comprising a metallic portion provided with a coating; providing a surface treatment to all or part of the coating, the surface treatment comprising a mechanical, a chemical and/or a physical treatment, to obtain a treated base surface; and forming an additional part onto the treated base surface by additive manufacturing.

Claims

1. A hybrid manufacturing method comprising: providing a base member, the base member comprising a metallic portion provided with a coating, the coating comprising resin; providing a surface treatment to all or part of the coating, the surface treatment comprising thermal or chemical treatment, to obtain a treated base surface to provide adhesive features to at least a portion of the coating; and forming an additional part onto the treated base surface by additive manufacturing.

2. The hybrid manufacturing method of claim 1, wherein the surface treatment comprises removing at least in part the coating.

3. The hybrid manufacturing method of claim 1, wherein the coating comprises an optional e-coat primer and a top-coat layer.

4. A hybrid manufacturing method comprising: providing a base member, the base member comprising a metallic portion provided with a coating, the coating comprising an e-coat primer and a top-coat layer; providing a surface treatment to all or part of the coating comprising removing all or part of the top-coat layer only, the surface treatment comprising thermal or chemical treatment, to obtain a treated base surface; and forming an additional part onto the treated base surface by additive manufacturing.

5. The hybrid manufacturing method of claim 1, wherein the surface treatment comprises a predetermined pattern.

6. The hybrid manufacturing method of claim 1, comprising, before forming the additional part, providing a layer of adhesive material onto the treated base surface.

7. The hybrid manufacturing method of claim 1, comprising, after forming the additional part, a post-treatment such as annealing at high temperature.

8. The hybrid manufacturing method of claim 1, wherein the additional part is made of polymeric material, for example thermoplastic, thermoset, or resin.

9. The hybrid manufacturing method of claim 1, wherein the base member is all or part of a vehicle chassis or of a vehicle body, and the additional part is a bracket, a fastener, a mounting part, an informative element such as a brand plate, logo, location marker, or the like.

10. A device obtained by the hybrid manufacturing method of claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] With reference to the appended drawings, below follows a more detailed description of aspects of the disclosure cited as examples.

[0017] FIG. 1 is an exemplary device obtained by a hybrid manufacturing method according to one example,

[0018] FIG. 2 is an exemplary vehicle, serving as an example of base member according to one example,

[0019] FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an exemplary hybrid manufacturing method according to one example, and

[0020] FIGS. 4A to 4E show examples of treated base surfaces.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] Aspects set forth below represent the necessary information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure.

[0022] A hybrid manufacturing method HMM and a device 100 obtained by such a hybrid manufacturing method HMM are described with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4E. FIG. 2 shows specific non limitative example of device obtained by such a hybrid manufacturing method HMM, such as a bracket 52A or an informative element 52B.

[0023] The hybrid manufacturing method HHM comprises a step SA of providing a base member 10, the base member 10 comprising a metallic portion 12 provided with a coating 14. In the present example, the coating 14 may comprise an optional e-coat primer 14A and a top-coat layer 14B.

[0024] The hybrid manufacturing method HHM comprises a step SB of providing a surface treatment to all or part of the coating 14, the surface treatment comprising a mechanical, a chemical and/or a physical treatment, to obtain a treated base surface S. For example, the surface treatment SB may comprise removing at least in part the coating 14. For example, the surface treatment SB may comprise removing all or part of the top-coat layer 14B only. This may help to reduce as far as possible manufacturing time and associated costs. In a variant, the surface SB may also comprise removing all or part of the e-coat primer 14A. For example, the treated surface S may be formed by a surface wherein all the coating 14 has been continuously removed as shown in FIG. 4A. In another example, the surface treatment may comprise a predetermined pattern. For example, the predetermined pattern may result from a removal of the coating 14 in accordance with a hatched pattern (see FIG. 4B, treated base surface S), a grid pattern (see FIG. 4C, treated base surface S), a staggered pattern (see FIG. 4D, treated base surface S), a pad pattern (see FIG. 4E, treated base surface S), etc. The pattern for the top-coat 14B may be similar to or different from the pattern for the e-coat primer 14A. For example, the coating 14 may comprise resin and the surface treatment SB may comprise thermal or chemical treatment to provide adhesive features to at least a portion of the coating 14. This may help to reduce as far as possible manufacturing time and associated costs.

[0025] The hybrid manufacturing method HHM comprises a step SD of forming an additional part 20 onto the treated base surface S by additive manufacturing. For example, the additive manufacturing SD may be a fused deposition modeling, also known as FDM. The additional part 20 may be made of polymeric material, for example thermoplastic, thermoset or resin. For example, the polymeric material may be a fiber reinforced polymer or thermoplastic.

[0026] The steps SA, SB and SD may be carried out in that order.

[0027] In the present example, the hybrid manufacturing method HHM may comprise an optional step SC, before the additive manufacturing step SD and after the surface treatment step SB, of providing a layer 16 of adhesive material onto the treated base surface S. In the present example, the hybrid manufacturing method HHM may comprise an optional step SE, after the additive manufacturing step SD, a post-treatment such as annealing at high temperature, for example 100 C.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 2, the base member 12 may be all or part of a vehicle chassis 50A or of a vehicle body 50B. For example, the additional part 20 may form a bracket 52A, or a not shown fastener, mounting part, etc., and may be formed either on the vehicle chassis 50A or on the vehicle body 50B. According to another example, the addition part 20 may form an informative element 52B such as a brand plate, a logo, a location marker, etc. and may be formed either on the vehicle chassis 50A or on the vehicle body 50B.

[0029] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms a, an, and the are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the term and/or includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms comprises, comprising, includes, and/or including when used herein specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

[0030] It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0031] Relative terms such as below or above or upper or lower or horizontal or vertical may be used herein to describe a relationship of one element to another element as illustrated in the Figures. It will be understood that these terms and those discussed above are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in addition to the orientation depicted in the Figures. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being connected or coupled to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element, or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being directly connected or directly coupled to another element, there are no intervening elements present.

[0032] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

[0033] It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the aspects described above and illustrated in the drawings; rather, the skilled person will recognize that many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the present disclosure and appended claims. In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed aspects for purposes of illustration only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the inventive concepts being set forth in the following claims.