First surface decorative element

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12249761-B2
Application number	US-202017767285-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 15, 2020
Priority date	Oct 15, 2019
Publication date	Mar 11, 2025
Grant date	Mar 11, 2025

Abstract

The invention is directed to a decorative vehicle element including a, preferably radio-transmissive, substrate having a first surface on a first side and a second surface on a second side; and a first surface, preferably radio-transmissive, decorative coating on the substrate, the decorative coating including a decorative layer consisting of a metal or consisting of an alloy including a metal; as well as a radar system including a radio wave transmitter, a radio wave receiver and a decorative element, especially radome.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A decorative vehicle element including:
a radio-transmissive substrate having a first surface on a first side and a second surface on a second side; and
a radio-transmissive decorative coating on the first surface of the radio-transmissive substrate, the radio-transmissive decorative coating including a decorative layer consisting of a metal or consisting of an alloy including a metal,
wherein the decorative layer has a sheet resistivity greater than 10 6 ohms per square (Ω/□).

2. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 1 , wherein an overall residual stress of the radio-transmissive decorative coating is greater than or equal to −120 MPa.

3. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 1 , wherein an overall residual stress of the radio-transmissive decorative coating is neutral or tensile.

4. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 1 , wherein the alloy including a metal further includes a metalloid.

5. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 4 , wherein metalloid is germanium or silicon.

6. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 5 , wherein the metal alloy comprises germanium, and wherein a concentration of germanium is at least 25 wt % germanium.

7. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 1 , wherein the decorative layer is up to 100 nm thick.

8. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 1 , wherein the decorative layer consists of an alloy including a metal selected from the group consisting of: aluminum, tin, indium, silver and chromium.

9. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 1 , wherein the decorative layer consists of a metal selected from the group consisting of: indium and tin.

10. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 1 , wherein the radio-transmissive decorative coating includes multiple layers.

11. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 10 , wherein the multiple layers of the radio-transmissive decorative coating include a stress controlling and/or bonding layer, wherein the stress controlling and/or bonding layer comprises at least one metal, at least one metal alloy and/or at least one dielectric layer.

12. The decorative vehicle element of claim 11 , wherein the stress controlling layer is between the substrate and the decorative layer, or the stress controlling layer is on the first side of the radio-transmissive decorative layer.

13. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 10 , wherein the multiple layers of the radio-transmissive decorative coating include at least one dielectric layer.

14. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 10 , wherein the multiple layers of the radio-transmissive decorative coating include at least one decorative layer between at least two dielectric layers.

15. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 1 , wherein the radio-transmissive decorative coating includes at least one protective hard coat layer, wherein the at least one protective hard coat layer at least partly comprises at least one light scattering additive.

16. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 15 , wherein an overall residual stress of the radio-transmissive decorative coating including the protective hard coat greater is than or equal to −120 MPa.

17. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 1 , wherein the radio-transmissive decorative coating includes a base hard coat layer provided on the first surface of the substrate.

18. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 1 , wherein a dielectric layer is provided between the decorative layer consisting of a metal or an alloy including a metal and the substrate.

19. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 18 , wherein a hard coat layer is provided between the decorative layer and the substrate.

20. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 15 , wherein a dielectric layer is provided between the decorative layer and the at least one protective hard coat layer.

21. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 15 , wherein the at least one protective hard coat layer comprises one or more abrasion resistant layers comprising a material selected from the group consisting of an organo-silicon, an acrylic, a urethane, melamine and an amorphous SiOxCyHz.

22. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 13 , wherein the dielectric layer is represented by the formula SiO x or is silicon dioxide.

23. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 1 , wherein the radio-transmissive decorative coating includes multiple dielectric layers and/or multiple decorative layers consisting of a metal or consisting of an alloy including a metal.

24. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 1 , wherein the radio-transmissive substrate is selected from the group consisting of: Acrylonitrile Ethylene Styrene (AES), Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA), Polyamide (PA), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), Polycarbonate (PC), Polyethylene (PE), Polyethylene Teraphthalate (PET), Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), Polyoxymethylene (POM), Polypropylene (PP), Polyurethane (PU), PolyVinyl-Chloride (PVC), high-flow AES, acrylonitrile-(ethylene-propylene-diene)-styrene (AEPDS), blends of thermoplastics, and PC-ABS blended thermoplastic.

25. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 1 , wherein the decorative element includes a heating element.

26. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 25 , wherein the heating element includes a resistance wire.

27. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 26 , wherein the resistance wire is molded within a polymer.

28. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 27 , wherein the resistance wire is molded in a polymer film provided between the radio-transmissive substrate and the radio-transmissive decorative coating.

29. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 27 , wherein the heating element is within a polymer selected from the group consisting of: Acrylonitrile Ethylene Styrene (AES), Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA), Polyamide (PA), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), Polycarbonate (PC), Polyethylene (PE), Polyethylene Teraphthalate (PET), Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), Polyoxymethylene (POM), Polypropylene (PP), Polyurethane (PU), Poly Vinyl-Chloride (PVC), high-flow AES, acrylonitrile-(ethylene-propylene-diene)-styrene (AEPDS), blends of thermoplastics, and PC-ABS blended thermoplastic.

30. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 25 , wherein the heating element is provided in the radio-transmissive substrate.

31. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 1 , wherein the decorative element has a radio wave signal attenuation less than 4 dB (two way) and/or less than 1.5 dB (one way) across a signal path.

32. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 1 , wherein the decorative element has a radio wave signal attenuation less than 2 dB (two way) and/or less than 1 dB (one way) across a signal path.

33. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 1 , wherein the radio-transmissive substrate is between 2 mm and 2.6 mm thick.

34. The decorative vehicle element according to claim 1 , wherein the radio-transmissiv

Assignees

• Motherson Innovations Co Ltd

Inventors

• Caruso Dean
• Field Simon David
• Stoehr Bastian
• Edwards Scott

Classifications

• H01Q1/3233 Primary

  particular used as part of a sensor or in a security system, e.g. for automotive radar, navigation systems · CPC title

• H01Q1/422 Primary

  comprising two or more layers of dielectric material (H01Q1/425 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01Q1/44

  using equipment having another main function to serve additionally as an antenna {, e.g. means for giving an antenna an aesthetic aspect}(H01Q1/27 - H01Q1/34 take precedence) · CPC title