VEHICLE HEADLINER MATERIAL

Abstract

A vehicle headliner material includes a stiffening layer for reinforcing each side of a thermoplastic resin layer so that the material satisfies required bending stiffness while having lighter weight and thus can prevent safety accidents that may occur due to increasing of headliner material weight. In particular, by using a glass mat, with a thermoplastic resin sheet on each side thereof, that constitutes a part of each stiffening layer to reinforce structural stiffness of the material, the vehicle headliner material has improved formability, improved flexural strength, and direct adhesion without an additional adhesive or the like. Also, by not using polyurethane foam to prepare the vehicle headliner material, problems such as generation of dust derived from processing polyurethane foam into sheets can be eliminated, and safe and pleasant working environments can be provided for workers.

Claims

1. A material for a vehicle headliner, the material comprising: a thermoplastic resin layer; and a stiffening layer disposed on each side of the thermoplastic resin layer, wherein each stiffening layer includes: a glass mat as a middle layer; and a thermoplastic resin sheet on each side of the glass mat.

2. The material according to claim 1, wherein the thermoplastic resin layer has a thickness of 3 to 5 mm and an areal density of 150 to 250 g/m.sup.2.

3. The material according to claim 1, wherein the thermoplastic resin layer is prepared using at least one selected from the group consisting of vinyl chloride resins, polystyrene (PS) resins, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, acrylic resins, polyethylene (PE) resins, nylon resins, and polyacetal resins.

4. The material according to claim 1, wherein the stiffening layer has a thickness of 1 to 2 mm and an areal density of 100 to 500 g/m.sup.2.

5. The material according to claim 1, wherein the glass mat has an areal density of 50 to 200 g/m.sup.2.

6. The material according to claim 1, wherein the thermoplastic resin sheet has a thickness of 20 to 250 m.

7. The material according to claim 1, wherein the thermoplastic resin sheet consists of at least one selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), PS, polypropylene (PP), PE, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

8. The material according to claim 1, wherein the material has an overall thickness of 3 to 7 mm and an areal density of 700 to 900 g/m.sup.2.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the described embodiments will become more apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0038] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle for showing a position of a headliner installed in the vehicle;

[0039] FIG. 2 is a top plan view for illustrating the entire shape of a conventional headliner;

[0040] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view for illustrating a layer structure of a material for a conventional headliner; and

[0041] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view for illustrating a layer structure of a headliner material according to the described embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

[0042] Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to accompanying drawings. Moreover, terms and words used in this specification and claims should not be interpreted as being limited to commonly used meanings or meanings in dictionaries and should be interpreted with meanings and concepts which are consistent with the technological scope of the present invention based on the principle that the inventors may appropriately define concepts of terms in order to describe the invention in the best way.

[0043] Therefore, since the embodiments described in this specification and configurations illustrated in drawings are only exemplary embodiments and do not represent the entire technological scope of the invention, it is understood that the described embodiments cover various equivalents, modifications, and substitutions at the time of filing of this application.

[0044] (Configuration)

[0045] As shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle headliner material according to an exemplary embodiment includes a thermoplastic resin layer 10, and a stiffening layer 20 attached to each side of the thermoplastic resin layer 10.

[0046] In particular, since the thermoplastic resin layer 10 consists of a thermoplastic resin and each stiffening layer 20 includes a glass mat 21 and a thermoplastic resin sheet 22, the vehicle headliner material may have a simple and thin layer structure, be lightweight, and have desired flexural strength.

[0047] In this case, the stiffening layer 20 is configured to include the glass mat 21 to improve formability and structural stiffness of the headliner material to enhance bending stiffness while enabling the formation of a headliner with a complex shape. Also, the thermoplastic resin sheet 22 included in the headliner material provides adhesion for gluing the thermoplastic resin layer 10 and stiffening layer 20 together without using an additional adhesive or the like.

[0048] Hereinafter, the configuration of the headliner material will be described in more detail. Here, the headliner material according to an exemplary embodiment may be one among many layers constituting a layer structure of a headliner, or the headliner material itself may represent the entire layer structure of a headliner.

[0049] The thermoplastic resin layer 10 as shown in FIG. 4 refers to a layer prepared by shaping a thermoplastic resin into a sheet to enhance noise dampening performance of a headliner and for making a lighter headliner material. In this case, at least one selected from the group consisting of vinyl chloride resins, polystyrene (PS) resins, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, acrylic resins, polyethylene (PE) resins, nylon resins, and polyacetal resins may be used as the thermoplastic resin.

[0050] Therefore, the thermoplastic resin layer 10 is expected to possess certain bending stiffness and structural stiffness, thus being capable of preventing safety accidents related to headliner sagging or/and deforming, or sagging and eventually falling to the floor of the vehicle.

[0051] In consideration of noise dampening performance and weight increase, the thermoplastic resin layer 10 is preferably configured to have a thickness of 3 to 5 mm and an areal density of 150 to 250 g/m.sup.2.

[0052] The stiffening layer 20 as shown in FIG. 4 is disposed on each side of the above thermoplastic resin layer 10 to prevent moisture or the like from entering the thermoplastic resin layer 10 and is configured for gluing layers together as a single entity. For this purpose, each stiffening layer 20 is prepared by attaching a thermoplastic resin sheet 22 to each side of a glass mat 21.

[0053] In this case, the glass mat 21 has excellent formability and can be easily shaped into a complex shape. In particular, the glass mat 21 provides stiffness to the headliner material of the exemplary embodiment to enhance flexural strength of the headliner material so that the headliner does not easily sag or deform. For sufficient bending stiffness and to minimize weight increase, it is preferable that the glass mat 21 be configured to have an areal density of 50 to 200 g/m.sup.2.

[0054] The thermoplastic resin sheet 22 as shown in FIG. 4 is attached to each side of each glass mat 21 to provide adhesion and prevent moisture penetration when a stiffening layer 20 is bonded to a thermoplastic resin layer 10.

[0055] Any thermoplastic resin that serves as an adhesive may be used to prepare the thermoplastic resin sheet 22. For example, at least one selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), PS, polypropylene (PP), PE, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) may be used as the thermoplastic resin.

[0056] In particular, for using the thermoplastic resin sheet 22 as an adhesive component, it is preferable that the thermoplastic resin sheet 22 be prepared with a minimum possible thickness that can promote adhesion between the thermoplastic resin layer 10 and stiffening layer 20. For this purpose, the thermoplastic resin sheet 22 is preferably configured to have a thickness of 20 to 250 m.

[0057] Meanwhile, the stiffening layer 20 of the exemplary embodiment prepared as thus is preferably disposed on each side of the thermoplastic resin layer 10 as shown in FIG. 4. Also, the stiffening layer 20 is preferably prepared with a minimum possible thickness and weight to promote adhesion with the thermoplastic resin layer 10 while not adding too much weight to the headliner material. Therefore, the stiffening layer 20 is preferably configured to have a thickness of 1 to 2 mm and an areal density of 100 to 500 g/m.sup.2.

[0058] In addition, the headliner material according to the exemplary embodiment is preferably configured to have a thickness of 3 to 7 mm and an areal density of 700 to 900 g/m.sup.2 to minimize moisture penetration and weight of the headliner material itself at the same time. In this case, the headliner material is preferably configured to have a flexural strength of 2.15 to 2.55 kg/cm.sup.2.

[0059] By including a stiffening layer on each side of a thermoplastic resin layer for reinforcement as described above, the headliner material of the described embodiments can satisfy required bending stiffness with a simple layer structure and still be light for fuel efficiency improvement.

[0060] Also, by including a glass mat and thermoplastic resin sheets in each stiffening layer, the headliner material of the described embodiments can attain improved bending stiffness and be adhered without requiring an additional adhesive and used.

[0061] In addition, by not using polyurethane foam to prepare a headliner material, the described embodiments are expected to contribute to improving working environments and reducing health risks that may be caused by dust or the like generated while processing polyurethane foam into sheets.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOL

[0062] 10: THERMOPLASTIC RESIN LAYER [0063] 20: STIFFENING LAYER [0064] 21: GLASS MAT [0065] 22: THERMOPLASTIC RESIN SHEET