Apparatus and method for manufacturing crash pad

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9346199-B2
Application number	US-201313966783-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 14, 2013
Priority date	Dec 12, 2012
Publication date	May 24, 2016
Grant date	May 24, 2016

Abstract

An apparatus and method for manufacturing a crash pad with a foaming layer formed by injecting a foaming solution between a core and a skin are disclosed. The apparatus includes a first mold and a second mold used to form the skin by injecting molten resin of a skin material into a skin forming cavity when the first and second molds are combined. In addition, a third mold and the fourth mold form the core by injecting molten resin of a core material into a core forming cavity when the third and fourth molds are combined. The first mold has a vacuum aperture in an inner surface of the first mold to adsorb and fix a thread to implement a stitch before the forming of the skin, and the vacuum aperture exerts a vacuum suctioning force to absorb and fix via a vacuum pressure applied from a vacuum pressure providing unit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for manufacturing a crash pad with a foaming layer formed by injecting foaming solution between a core and a skin, the apparatus comprising:
a first mold and a second mold that form the skin by injecting molten resin of a skin material into a skin forming cavity when the first and second molds are combined; and
a third mold and a fourth mold that form the core by injecting molten resin of a core material into a core forming cavity when the third and fourth molds are combined,
wherein the first mold has a plurality of vacuum apertures formed along a longitudinal direction of a thread and formed on an inner surface of the first mold to adsorb and fix a thread for implementing a stitch before forming of the skin, and each of the vacuum apertures exerts a vacuum suctioning force for adsorbing and fixing by a vacuum pressure applied from a vacuum pressure providing unit,
wherein each of the vacuum apertures is disposed at a predetermined interval along the longitudinal direction of the thread such that a first portion of the thread is adsorbed and fixed by the vacuum suctioning force of the plurality of vacuum apertures to form an exposure part of the stitch in which the thread is exposed on a surface of the skin and a second portion of the thread is not adsorbed to the plurality of vacuum apertures to form a hidden part of the stitch in which the thread is buried in the surface of the skin.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first mold fixed with the molded skin and the second mold attached with the molded core are used as a foaming mold to form a foaming cavity between the skin and the core when the first mold and the second mold are combined.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a fixing groove is formed along a first portion of the inner surface of the first mold where the thread is seated and fixed, and a suctioning inlet of each vacuum aperture is disposed in the inner surface of the fixing groove.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the fixing groove has a depth or a width into which the first portion of the thread is inserted and a second portion of the thread protrudes to an exterior.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the vacuum apertures has a suctioning inlet disposed in the inner surface of the first mold, and the suctioning inlet has a circular shape or an oblong shape along the longitudinal direction of the thread.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the vacuum apertures has a suctioning inlet disposed in the inner surface of the first mold, and the suctioning inlet has a size and shape to be blocked by the thread to prevent the molten resin of the skin material from penetrating therein.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the suctioning inlet of each of the vacuum apertures has a diameter or a width smaller than a diameter of the thread.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprises:
a slide mold disposed within the first mold to form a portion of the skin forming cavity and moves to seal the skin forming cavity,
wherein the slide mold is configured to form the skin forming cavity corresponding to a shape of the skin, an edge portion of which is inwardly bent.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , further comprises:
a separate slide mold disposed within the second mold to form a portion of the skin forming cavity and moves to seal the skin forming cavity.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the slide mold of the first mold is movable forward and backward in a horizontal direction, and the slide mold of the second mold is movable forward and backward in an oblique direction.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the slide mold of the first mold and the slide mold of the second mold vertically engage with each other while maintaining a gap corresponding to a thickness of the skin when the skin forming cavity is sealed.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the slide mold of the first mold has a concave shape at a front end portion thereof that forms the edge portion of the skin that is inwardly bent.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the slide mold is configured to seal a foaming cavity by adhering the edge portion of the skin to an edge portion of the core when the first mold and the fourth mold are combined.

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Motors Corp

Inventors

• Kong Byung Seok
• Park Ji Min

Classifications

• B29C44/086 Primary

  and feeding more material into the enlarged cavity · CPC title

• Y10T428/2405

  Coating, impregnation, or bond in stitching zone only · CPC title

• B29C45/1642

  having a "sandwich" structure (B29C45/1603 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B29C44/1228

  Joining preformed parts by the expanding material · CPC title

• B29C33/36

  continuously movable {in one direction, e.g. in a closed circuit (B29C49/0021 takes precedence)} · CPC title