Airbag chute-integrated crash pad assembly and method of manufacturing same

Abstract

An airbag chute-integrated crash pad assembly includes: a main core that includes a door portion expanding when an airbag expands, and a cover portion mounted on a dash board. In particular, the main core is formed with a reinforcement portion extending downward from a lower surface of the cover portion, and the door portion and the cover portion are separated by a hinge groove that is formed in a lower surface of the main core and forms an expansion line. The reinforcement portion is combined with an airbag accommodation body that accommodates a passenger airbag (PAB). Thus, process optimization can be realized by omitting a process of machining a score and fusing a PAB chute, and also a problem of damage to the PAB chute can be solved.

Claims

1. An airbag chute-integrated crash pad assembly comprising: a main core including: a door portion configured to expand when an airbag expands, and a cover portion mounted on a dash board, the cover portion corresponding to an outside region of the door portion; at least one reinforcement portion extending downward from a lower surface of the cover portion; and a scrim provided as a fabric woven from yarns, portions of the scrim being built into an inside, respectively, of the door portion, and the at least one reinforcement portion by injection for insertion, wherein the door portion and the cover portion are separated by a hinge groove that is formed in a lower surface of the main core, and the hinge groove is configured to form an expansion line, wherein the at least one reinforcement portion is combined with an airbag accommodation body that accommodates a passenger airbag (PAB), wherein the portions of the scrim are built into the at least one reinforcement portion so as to be parallel to a lateral surface of the at least one reinforcement portion and configured to make a right angle with respect to the portions of the scrim that are built into the door portion, wherein the portions of the scrim are built into the at least one reinforcement portion to have a parallelly extending part that is in parallel to the lateral surface of the at least one reinforcement portion and a sideways extending part that extends laterally from a lower end portion of the parallelly extending part, wherein the sideway extending part is formed closer to a bracket that is combined with the airbag accommodation body than the cover portion.

2. The airbag chute-integrated crash pad assembly of claim 1, wherein a hinge groove is additionally formed in a lower surface of the door portion and configured to extend across the door portion.

3. The airbag chute-integrated crash pad assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least one reinforcement portion is formed on the lower surface of the cover portion along a circumference of the door portion.

4. The airbag chute-integrated crash pad assembly of claim 3, wherein the at least one reinforcement portion includes a first reinforcement portion and a second reinforcement portion, and the first and second reinforcement portions are arranged to be spaced apart from each other.

5. The airbag chute-integrated crash pad assembly of claim 4, wherein the first and second reinforcement portions are configured to extend vertically downward from the lower surface of the cover portion.

6. The airbag chute-integrated crash pad assembly of claim 4, further comprising: a plurality of insert nuts formed between the first reinforcement portion and the second reinforcement portion, and arranged to be spaced apart from each other.

7. The airbag chute-integrated crash pad assembly of claim 6, wherein the plurality of insert nuts is integrally formed with the main core by injection for insert.

8. The airbag chute-integrated crash pad assembly of claim 7, wherein each of the plurality of insert nuts comprises: a head portion having an outside diameter that decreases increases toward a downward direction; a neck portion extending from a lower end of the head portion; a connection portion extending from a lower end of the neck portion and having an outside diameter that increases toward the downward direction; and a body portion extending from a lower end of the connection portion and having a space inside.

9. The airbag chute-integrated crash pad assembly of claim 8, wherein a lateral surface of the head portion and a lateral surface of the connection portion of each of the plurality of insert nuts make an angle of 605 with respect to each other, when viewed from side.

10. The airbag chute-integrated crash pad assembly of claim 3, wherein a portion among the portions of the scrim is built into an inside of the cover portion.

11. The airbag chute-integrated crash pad assembly of claim 10, wherein the portions of the scrim are built into the door portion and the cover portion, respectively, in such a manner as to be parallel to lower surfaces, respectively, of the door portion and the cover portion.

12. The airbag chute-integrated crash pad assembly of claim 3, wherein a pore is formed inside the main core by foaming injection.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) In order that the disclosure may be well understood, there will now be described various forms thereof, given by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a crash pad;

(3) FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an existing airbag system along line A-A on FIG. 1;

(4) FIGS. 3 and 4 are cross-sectional views illustrating a crash pad assembly along line A-A on FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

(5) FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a structure of a scrim of the crash pad assembly according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

(6) FIG. 6 is an enlarged view illustrating a box-like portion in FIG. 5 when the crash pad assembly is in operation (marked by an alternate long and two short dash lines) according to the present disclosure;

(7) FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a rear-surface shape of the crash pad assembly according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

(8) FIG. 8 is a view separately illustrating an insert nut illustrated in FIG. 7;

(9) FIG. 9 is a view illustrating a problem that may occur while a crash pad according to the present disclosure is manufactured;

(10) FIG. 10 is a photograph showing the problem in FIG. 9; and

(11) FIG. 11 is a photograph showing a cross section of the crash pad that is manufactured by a method of manufacturing the crash pad according to the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

(12) In order to get a full understanding of the present disclosure, operational advantages thereof, and the object thereof that is accomplished by desired embodiments thereof, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings in which the desired embodiment thereof is illustrated and the contents of the drawings.

(13) A well-known technology associated with the desired embodiment, when it makes the nature and gist of the present disclosure unnecessarily obfuscated, is briefly mentioned, and a description of a constituent element according to the present disclosure is not redundantly repeated.

(14) FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a crash pad. FIGS. 3 and 4 are cross-sectional views illustrating a crash pad assembly along line A-A in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

(15) An airbag chute-integrated crash pad assembly according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure and a method of manufacturing the airbag chute-integrated crash pad assembly according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure are described below with reference to FIGS. 1, 3, and 4.

(16) The crash pad assembly according to the present disclosure is configured in such a manner that a passenger airbag (PAB) 200 accommodated inside the crash pad assembly is expandable according to an expansion signal. The crash pad assembly is manufactured in such a manner that an airbag chute is integrally formed, instead of employing an existing configuration in which a main core and the PAB chute are separated from each other.

(17) In other words, the crash pad assembly includes an insert nut 120 that couples an airbag chute-integrated main core 110 and an airbag accommodation body 210 to each other.

(18) A main core 110 may include a door portion 111 and a cover portion 112. The door portion 111 is provided inward in such a manner that it is coupled to the airbag accommodation body 210 accommodating the passenger airbag (PAB) 200 and expands as an airbag expands. The cover portion 112 corresponds to an outside portion of the door portion 111 and is mounted on a dash board. A reinforcement portion 113 that extends downward from a lower surface of the cover portion 112 is integrally formed with the main core 110.

(19) The door portion 111 and the cover portion 112 are separated by a hinge groove H formed in a lower surface of the main core 110. The hinge groove H is also formed in a lower surface of the door portion 111, extending across the door portion 111. The hinge groove H corresponds to an expansion line and thus, the door portion 111 expands and is divided into two parts along the hinge groove H, which extends across the door portion 111.

(20) The hinge groove H may be formed in a lower surface of the crash pad assembly 100. Thus, there is no need for separate machining of a score.

(21) For supportive rigidity, a plurality of protrusions P may be formed in a lower surface of the door portion 111.

(22) In the crash pad assembly 100, the reinforcement portion 113 is integrally formed on the lower surface of the cover portion 112. In particular, the reinforcement portion 113 may extend downward from the lower surface of the cover portion 112. Thus, the reinforcement portion 113 substitutes for an existing chute, thereby eliminating the need for a fusion portion of the existing chute.

(23) In one embodiment, the reinforcement portions 113 in one pair are spaced apart from each other and are formed outside the door portion 111 along the circumference of the door portion 111.

(24) The reinforcement portion 113 may be formed in a manner that extends vertically downward from the cover portion 112.

(25) Furthermore, a plurality of insert nuts 120 is formed in a spaced manner into the reinforcement portions 113, respectively, that are formed in a spaced manner.

(26) As illustrated in FIG. 4, when the main core 110 is manufactured, the insert nut 120 is integrally formed into the reinforcement portion 113 by injection for insertion.

(27) In order to support that the door portion 111 that expands, a scrim 114 is formed into the main core 110 by the injection for insertion.

(28) FIGS. 5 and 6 are views that are referred to for description of a structure of the scrim 114.

(29) The scrim 114 is a fabric woven from yarns, and portions thereof are formed in a lower portion of the inside of the door portion 111, a lower portion of the inside of the cover portion 112, and a lateral portion of the inside of the reinforcement portion 113, respectively.

(30) Therefore, the portion of the scrim 114 that is formed within the cover portion 112 is in a straight line in parallel to the lower surface of the cover portion 112, and the scrim 114 within the door portion 111 and the portion of the scrim 114 that is formed within the reinforcement portion 113 make a right angle with respect to each other.

(31) For this shape, the scrim 114 is pre-formed in such a manner as to have a right-angle structure and is formed within the main core 110 by the injection for insertion.

(32) The reason for forming the scrim 114 having this structure is to prevent a phenomenon where the scrim 114 peels off when the door portion 111 expands. Since the main core 110 employs the structure where the portion of the scrim 114 that is formed within the door portion 111 and the portion of the scrim 114 that is formed within the reinforcement portion 113 make a right angle with each other, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the straight-line portion of the scrim 114 and the portion of the scrim 114 that is formed within the reinforcement portion 113 reel off in different directions. Accordingly, stress can be endured when the door portion 111 expands. Thus, the scrim 114 can be maximally suppressed from reeling off.

(33) To this end, it is desired that the portion of the scrim 114 that is formed within the reinforcement portion 113 maximally extends downward up to a lower surface of the reinforcement portion 113 (to form a parallelly extending part) and then extends sideways (to form a sideways extending part).

(34) FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a rear-surface shape of the crash pad assembly according to the present disclosure. FIG. 8 is a view separately illustrating the insert nut 120 illustrated in FIG. 7.

(35) The insert nut 120 is configured to include a head portion 121, a neck portion 122, a connection portion 123, and a body portion 124. A fastening bolt 130 passing through a bracket 220 that is combined with the airbag accommodation body 210 or with an upper end portion of the airbag accommodation body 210 and extends sideways is inserted into a space formed inside the body portion 124 for being fastened thereto.

(36) The head portion 121 has an outside diameter that decreases toward the downward direction. The neck portion 122 is formed in such a manner as to extend from a lower end of the head portion 121.

(37) The connection portion 123 is formed in such a manner as to connect the lower end of the neck portion 122 and an upper end of the body portion 124 to each other. The connection portion 123 has an outside diameter that increases toward the downward.

(38) Therefore, as illustrated, a lateral surface of the head portion 121 and a lateral surface of the connection portion 123 make an angle of 605 with respect to each other. The neck portion 122 may have, for example, a thickness of 1.5t, and one of six sides of the body portion 124 may have, for example, a width of 6t.

(39) In this manner, the head portion 121 of the insert nut 120 according to the present disclosure is undercut in order to sufficiently overcome a repulsive force that occurs when the PAB expands.

(40) With control of the angle and the thickness that result from the undercut head portion 121, resin is caused to flow into a mold cavity during injection, and at the same time, the repulsive force can be maximally overcome.

(41) Furthermore, because a slide core is not used in a mold, a design restriction can be minimized.

(42) As illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10, a sink may occur in the reinforcement portion 113 or the cover portion 112 due to deviation in cooling that results from a difference in the thickness of an injection material.

(43) In order to solve this problem, according to the present disclosure, a foaming plasticizer, along with resin for injection, is additionally foaming-injected. As can be seen from a cross section shown on FIG. 11, micropores are formed, and thus the deviation in cooling that results from the difference in the thickness of the injection material is reduced. Accordingly, a phenomenon where the number of the sinks is excessively large and where a surface is excessively uneven is improved.

(44) It is desired that the added foaming plasticizer accounts for 1 weight %0.2 weight % of the injection resin.

(45) The foaming plasticizer may be, for example, azodicarbonamide (ADCA) that is an organic forming agent. C.sub.2H.sub.4N.sub.4O that is the molecular formula of azodicarbonamide (ADCA) changes to N.sub.2+CO+NH.sub.3+CO.sub.2. The resulting gases are nitrogen, ammonium, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide, and are self-extinguishing and non-toxic.

(46) As described above, according to the present disclosure, a PAB chute is integrally formed with the C/PAD main core. Thus, process optimization can be realized, and a fusion process can be omitted. A fundamental problem of damage to the fusion portion that occurs when the door portion 111 expands can be solved.

(47) The desired embodiment of the present disclosure is described above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the desired embodiment. It would be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications and alterations of the desired embodiment may possibly be made within the scope that does not depart from the nature and gist of the present disclosure. The resulting modification or alteration examples should fall within the scope of the claims to the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure should be defined by the claims.