Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes – With severing – removing material from preform mechanically,... – Simultaneous severing and shaping – or severing while work...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-26
2003-02-25
Silbaugh, Jan H. (Department: 1722)
Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes
With severing, removing material from preform mechanically,...
Simultaneous severing and shaping, or severing while work...
C425S292000, C425S304000, C083S562000, C083S583000, C083S641000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06524506
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to tools for folding an edge of a molded or laminated panel for forming a panel rim, and cutting or trimming excess material from the rim. The tool is particularly suitable for use during the molding and laminating process for fabricating interior trim components for motor vehicles.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Interior trim panels for motor vehicles and the like are typically fabricated by laminating and molding a cover sheet material, such as a fabric, vinyl, imitation leather, or the like onto a supporting substrate, such as a substrate of plastic, synthetic composite, or a hybrid composite including natural materials as well as synthetic materials. Generally, the cover sheet and the substrate are thermo-formable, i.e. may be heated to a softening or molding temperature, are then molded into a desired contoured shape, and then rigidify to maintain the contoured shape upon cooling.
Due to tolerances and misalignments that arise during the molding and laminating process, and due to the stretching and molding deformation to which the cover sheet and the substrate are subjected, the cover sheet must typically be initially provided with oversized dimensions relative to the finished size of the resulting laminated panel. For this reason, it is necessary to cut or trim the excess cover sheet material along the edges of the cover sheet after the laminated and molded panel has been completed. Various apparatus and methods are known for automatically or semiautomatically carrying out such cutting or trimming of the excess cover sheet material along the edges of a molded panel. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,076,880; 4,923,539; 4,519,766 and 4,471,679 in this regard.
Generally, a stamping knife or cutting blade is carried by a tool holder which in turn is actuated by a piston cylinder device or the like. The piston cylinder device is actuated to press the cutting blade against the excess cover sheet material along an intended trimming line, in order to thereby stamp-cut the cover sheet material along this intended trimming line. The cutting blade may cooperate with a stamp cutting counter surface or anvil surface on the opposite side of the cover sheet material, in order to carry out the stamp cutting.
Even after the excess cover sheet material has been cut away around the edge or rim of the substrate and the finished laminated panel, there has been a demand for a higher quality finish at the edge or rim of the panel. Namely, the cut edge of the cover sheet is subject to fraying or delamination or the like if it is left exposed directly at the edge or rim of the panel, and in any event is not visually attractive if it can be seen from the decorative front side of the finished panel.
For these reasons, it has become known to fold the edge of the cover sheet material back around a rim of the substrate, or to fold back the cover sheet and the substrate together to form a rim of the panel. In this manner, the actual edge of the cover sheet is hidden and protected against fraying or delamination, because it is folded and laminated around the rim of the substrate onto a back surface thereof. In this context, please see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,718,791 and 5,324,384.
According to the general conventional practice and knowledge in the art, the cover sheet edge may be edge-folded by at least 90° around the panel rim, or the cover sheet and substrate may be folded back together by at least 90°, in order to cover and thereby hide the edge of the cover sheet. Once the finished panel is installed in the interior of a motor vehicle or the like, the rim of the panel will be securely held against other components of the motor vehicle, so that the back-folded edge of the cover sheet will be completely hidden and enclosed. The 90° edge-folding process can be carried out in substantially one working operation, or an immediate succession of steps in a single molding apparatus, whereby the cover sheet material and the substrate are laminated together, molded into the intended contoured shape, and then edge-folded to form the panel rim.
While the prior art has provided the edge cutting or trimming methods and apparatus as described above, as well as the edge-folding methods and apparatus as described above, the prior art has not provided a satisfactory manner of combining the edge-cutting and the edge-folding. Namely, after a cover sheet edge (either with or without the substrate) has been edge-folded back to form the panel rim as described above, there still exists an excess margin of cover sheet material along the edge of the cover sheet that has been folded back around the panel rim.
Thus, after the molded, laminated and edge-folded panel has been substantially completed, the excess margin material must be trimmed off in a subsequent manual or mechanical step. This requires considerable extra effort, even if the edge-trimming is carried out mechanically using a suitable stamp-cutting tool. Particularly, it is considerably difficult to properly align the molded and laminated panel in a mechanical cutting or trimming station and then to secure the panel into exactly the correct registered position so that the cutting blade or blades will accurately trim off the excess margin material along the intended trimming line. Even with great care being exercised in this step, unavoidable misalignment of the panel, and particularly the edge-folded rim thereof, relative to the cutting tool results in miscutting of some panels which must then be rejected and scrapped. The additional effort and steps required for carrying out the edge-cutting after the edge-folding also slow down the throughput of a panel forming apparatus, which in turn increases the cost of production. Furthermore, the provision of separate edge-folding and edge-cutting tools or work stations significantly increases the size, complexity and cost of the overall panel manufacturing apparatus.
Attempts have been made to combine an edge-folding plunger with a cutting blade in order to carry out the edge-folding and the edge-cutting in a single operation. However, such attempts have suffered substantial difficulties. For example, if the cutting blade is rigidly fixed to the edge-folding tool or plunger so as to form a single integral unit thereof, unsatisfactory results are obtained. During the pre-forming or molding process, the cover sheet and the substrate material are stretched, deformed, and placed under tension. If an edge-cutting blade and the edge-folding plunger are rigidly integrated into a single unit, as this integrated unit is pressed against the cover sheet edge to carry out the edge-folding and edge-cutting, the cutting blade will cut into the cover sheet material, which is under tension, as the edge-folding and molding process is carried out. The cutting blade will penetrate entirely through the tensioned material and cut it off in its tensioned state before the edge-folding process has been completed, i.e. before the edge-folding plunger has completely pressed the cover sheet and substrate material layers into their finished edge-folded condition. For this reason, the cover sheet would always be cut shorter than the substrate, since the cutting blade cuts through the cover sheet while it is under tension during or even before the edge-folding process has been carried out. When the integrated tool is retracted, the cover sheet, which was cut under tension, will have a tendency to shrink back, whereby the cut edge of the cover sheet might even shrink around the folded-back edge or rim of the substrate and be physically exposed at that location.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above, it is an object of the invention to provide an integrated or combined tool that can carry out edge-folding and edge-cutting of a panel rim of a laminated panel in substantially a single operation and a single work station. It is a further object of the invention to provide such a tool that can achieve a high quality edge-folded and trimmed panel rim of a laminated panel with a very simple and economical structure and o
Del Sole Joseph S.
Fasse W. F.
Fasse W. G.
R+S Technik GmbH
Silbaugh Jan H.
LandOfFree
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