Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Methods – Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
Reexamination Certificate
1998-02-23
2001-11-27
Chen, Vivian (Department: 1773)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Methods
Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
C156S062800, C156S272200, C156S297000, C156S299000, C156S300000, C156S306600, C156S307700, C156S308200, C156S320000, C156S322000, C156S327000, C156S332000, C296S039100, C296S214000, C428S458000, C428S457000, C428S480000, C428S481000, C442S120000, C442S232000, C442S268000, C442S286000, C442S378000, C442S381000, C442S394000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06322658
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates to headliners for motor vehicles.
BACKGROUND ART
Prior headliners for motor vehicles include a batt of fiberglass impregnated with a thermosetting resin. The headliner is typically compression molded in a heated mold, and then cooled to attain the desired shape. Such headliners are self supporting, but are also relatively inflexible and brittle. As a result, they are easily broken or damaged during shipment and installation.
Other headliners have been proposed which are more flexible and resilient than fiberglass headliners. U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,832, for example, shows a headliner which is formed from a layer of polymeric fibers combined with a foam layer and a fabric surface layer. The layers are preheated together in an oven and then molded into a predetermined shape. Because the layers are simultaneously heated to approximately the same temperature, however, optimal compression of the different layers is difficult to achieve.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,910 shows a thermoformed laminate which is useful in headliners, and the laminate includes a layer of resilient sound absorbing material sandwiched between two layers of reinforcing materials. The method of making such laminates includes introducing the layers into a heated mold and thermoforming the layers together to achieve a desired shape. As with the previous example, however, optimal compression of the different layers is difficult to achieve because the layers are all heated to approximately the same temperature. Furthermore, because the reinforcing materials are different in composition than the sound absorbing material, the laminate is not recyclable as a unit.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is a unitary composite headliner adapted to be installed adjacent a motor vehicle roof. The headliner comprises at least two layers of polymeric material, one of the layers being configured to absorb sound and vibrations, and the other of the layers being configured to provide sufficient flexibility to the headliner to facilitate installation in the vehicle, while also providing sufficient rigidity to the headliner to enable the headliner to be self-supporting once installed in the vehicle. The layers are bonded together by differentially heating each layer to a predetermined temperature and compressing the layers together.
A method for making the headliner is also disclosed. The method comprises providing at least two layers of polymeric material, one of the layers being configured to absorb sound and vibrations, and the other of the layers being configured to provide flexibility and rigidity to the headliner; differentially heating the layers to predetermined temperatures; inserting the layers into a mold; and compressing the layers together to bond the layers and form the headliner.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved composite headliner which optimizes sound absorbing properties in combination with flexibility and structural rigidity.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved composite headliner which is entirely recyclable as a unit.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a method of making the composite headliner which includes differentially heating multiple layers of recyclable polymeric material and then compression molding the layers together to obtain optimal compression and bonding of the layers.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention are readily apparent from the following detailed description of the best modes for carrying out the invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
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Railway Engineer International, vol. 5, No. 3, May 1980, Bury St. Edmunds GB, p. 55-56 XP002034798; I F Coleby: “Honeycomb Sandwich Structures”.
English translation Corresponding to DE 93 02 870, May 1993.
Byma George B.
Gabrysiak John J.
Chen Vivian
Lear Corporation
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