Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes – Pore forming in situ – Composite article making
Patent
1997-10-20
1999-05-04
Kuhns, Allan R.
Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes
Pore forming in situ
Composite article making
249115, 264 464, 264255, 2642711, 264302, 425144, 425414, 425468, B29C 4406, B29C 4412
Patent
active
059001968
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The process of slush moulding plastisol or PVC powder or other thermoplastic, thermosetting, elastomeric materials is generally known. Such a slush moulding process includes the steps of filling a pre-heated metal mould with the polymeric material in powder or liquid form, removing the excess of liquid or solid material, and subsequently heating the mould in order to complete the gelation or melting and/or cross-linking of the material adhering to said mould. The mould is then cooled and the finished item is de-moulded.
DISCUSSION OF THE BACKGROUND
Obtaining imitation leather with two or more colours by slush moulding techniques is known as well, e.g., from the processes disclosed in European patent 476,742 and WO 94/12331 to the same Applicant.
In particular in the automobile industry, manufactured articles are known which display a surface which perfectly reproduces the surface of a natural leather, which are obtained in their desired end shape according to the designer's pattern, inside a suitable foaming mould, from foamed soft polyurethane, and a layer of said polyurethane is interposed between the imitation leather and a backing means. Such a backing means can be of steel, either thermoplastic or thermosetting resin, composite materials or still others.
The surface of the resulting article has a desirable, appreciated soft touch for articles for body trimming and furniture in general. Furthermore, the layer of foamed material dampens the impact against the finished article and consequently performs also a safety function.
The technique of obtaining, by calendering, a soft, flat imitation leather coupled with a foamed material, and, from said imitation leather, thermoforming the finished article, and, by using glues, applying it onto the backing means, or coupling it during the thermoforming step with the backing means, previously coated with heat activatable glues, is known as well. In the latter case, the heat contained in the thermoformed article is enough in order to cause the coupling to take place. However, the finished article produced by means of this technique will have regions with a drawn surface (including the foamed portion), and consequently liable to undergo shrinking, showing lower abrasion strength and different thickness values, and being thinner in critical regions.
The purpose of the slush moulding technique is to obtain such a kind of imitation leather of a soft type, in particular for coating dashboards and other parts of body trimming, without the drawbacks which affect the thermoforming technique, i.e., non-uniform thickness of the imitation leather and arising of congealed stresses and consequent shrinkage and cracking under high temperature conditions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The purpose of the present invention is of providing dashboards, doors or other automobile body trimming parts coated with imitation leather obtained by means of said slush moulding technique, with no need for having to foam the imitation leather on a suitable facility by using foamed polyurethane. Such an operation is in fact expensive and, besides generating scraps and wastes, it requires particular characteristics of mechanical strength and resistance of imitation leather, which increases the cost thereof.
In order to achieve such a purpose and other advantages which will become clearer from the following disclosure, the present invention proposes a process for forming such manufactured items as imitation leather, or the like, from thermoplastic materials, thermosetting materials or elastomers, having at least one foamed layer, characterized in that said process comprises the following steps: which will constitute the top layer, i.e., the visible layer, of the finished manufactured item, foaming material, on said first layer, gelation of said layers and foaming said second layer, by suitable means, in order to obtain predetermined thicknesses and shapes of said foamed layer, material being coupled, shapes of said foamed layer are constitute
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Buzzoni Giancarlo
Cittadini Paolo
Industrie Ilpea S.p.A.
Kuhns Allan R.
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