Motor vehicles – Power – With means to guide and/or control combustion air for power...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-05
2003-09-23
Johnson, Brian L. (Department: 3618)
Motor vehicles
Power
With means to guide and/or control combustion air for power...
C180S068600, C296S182100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06622808
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resin molding for vehicle use and a manufacturing method thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to a resin molding for vehicle use, and a manufacturing method thereof, preferably applied to a front end panel which is arranged on the front end side of a vehicle and into which a heat exchanger such as a radiator is incorporated.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-129935, there is provided a front end panel on which a panel body, into which a radiator is incorporated, and a guide duct section provided on the front side of a vehicle are integrally molded into one body. In this connection, the guide duct section is a duct-shaped member for guiding cooling air, which flows past a running vehicle, to the radiator.
However, according to the invention described in the above unexamined patent publication, the panel body and the guide duct section are simply integrated into one body with each other. Therefore, for example, in the case of a light collision of a vehicle, there is a high possibility that the panel body section is damaged together with the guide duct section.
When the panel body section is damaged, the entire front end panel must be replaced with a new one. Therefore, the repair of the vehicle is very expensive and must be paid for by the vehicle owner.
In this connection, when a gap exists between the heat exchanger and the panel body section, a portion of air guided by the guide duct to the heat exchanger such as a radiator flows onto the downstream side in such a manner that a portion of the air makes a detour in the periphery of the heat exchanger. Therefore, the quantity of air passing through the heat exchanger is decreased. As a result, the radiating capacity (heat exchanging capacity) is lowered.
In order to solve the above problems, it is possible to consider a means for tightly closing the gap between the heat exchanger and the panel body section with foaming resin such as urethane foam. However, this means is disadvantageous in that the number of parts and the cost of assembly increase.
In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, on the forward end side of the guide duct section of the panel body section made of hard resin, there is provided a flexible section made of a flexible soft material, the mechanical strength of which is lower than that of the hard resin, integrally molded together with the guide duct section.
However, conventionally, in the case of forming an insert resin molding made of soft material such as elastomer, as shown in
FIG. 14
, the soft material member
1
is set in the cavity
5
formed between the upper metallic mold
3
and the lower metallic mold
4
, and the molding resin
2
is introduced into this cavity
5
by means of injection molding, and then the thus molded object is picked up so as to provide a resin molding made of the soft material
1
. According to this conventional method, the following problems may be encountered. The plane direction of the soft material member
1
to be inserted and the plane direction C of the molding resin
2
coincide with each other as shown in FIG.
14
. Therefore, a strong resin pressure of the melt resin is given to the inserted soft material member
1
. Therefore, the soft material member
1
is compressed and deformed in the metallic mold, and further the melt resin gets into the soft material member
1
as shown in FIG.
14
. When the melt resin gets into the soft material member
1
as shown in
FIG. 14
, the soft material member
1
of the insert resin molding is partially deformed as shown in FIG.
14
.
In the case where a resin molding of a soft material is formed by the method of multi-color injection molding in which two types of materials, the colors or materials of which are different from each other, are respectively and successively charged into a metallic mold, as shown in
FIG. 15
, the soft material member
1
adhering to the molding resin
2
is restricted by the molding resin
2
, so that contraction of the soft material member
1
is suppressed. However, an end portion of the soft material member
1
is not restricted. Therefore, the end portion of the soft material member
1
is greatly contracted. Since the contraction is not uniform, the soft material member
1
is deformed.
Further, according to the common manufacturing method (multi-color injection molding method) of manufacturing a resin molding made of resin materials of not less than two types, for example, as described in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 2-8572, a boundary face of resin is flat.
Therefore, the following problem may be encountered. Since a contact area of resin on the boundary face is small, it is difficult to increase the joining strength of the resin.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present has been accomplished to solve the above problems. It is a first object of the present invention to prevent damage to a panel body section and guide duct section by absorbing an impact force and reducing collision energy acting on the panel body when a flexible section is deformed even if the impact force acts on a bumper section, in the case of a light collision of a vehicle.
The aforementioned problems are caused because resin molding pressure is given in the plane direction of a soft material member to be inserted in the insert molding of a soft material member. From the above viewpoint, a second object of the present invention is established. It is a second object of the present invention to prevent the deformation of a flexible material section of a soft material member of a resin molding by not applying the molding resin pressure in the plane direction of the soft material member to be inserted.
In the resin molding of a soft material member conducted by the method of multi-color injection molding, a great deformation of the soft material member is caused by a difference between the contraction of an adhesion section of the soft material member with the molding resin and the contraction of an end section in which the soft material member is open. The present invention has been accomplished in the above viewpoint. It is a third object of the present invention to prevent the deformation of a flexible material section of a soft material member of a resin molding by decreasing this contraction force.
It is a fourth object of the present invention to increase a joining strength of resin on a boundary face.
In order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a front end panel arranged on the rear side of a bumper section (
520
) to absorb an impact force acting on the front side of a vehicle, into which at least a heat exchanger (
21
) is incorporated, comprising: a panel body section (
450
) made of resin into which the heat exchanger (
100
,
200
) is incorporated; a guide duct section (
451
) integrally molded on the front side of the panel body section (
450
) of the vehicle and protruded onto the front side of the vehicle so as to guide air into the heat exchanger (
100
,
200
); and a flexible section (
452
) arranged on the forward end side of the guide duct section (
451
) and integrally molded together with the guide duct section (
451
), the flexible section (
452
) being made of flexible material, the mechanical strength of which is lower than that of the panel body section (
450
).
Due to the above structure, even if an impact force (collision force) acts on the bumper section (
520
), the collision force can be absorbed when the flexible section (
452
) is deformed. Accordingly, an intensity of collision energy acting on the panel body (
450
) can be reduced. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the panel body section (
450
) and the guide duct section (
451
) from being damaged in the case of a light collision. Therefore, it is possible to decrease the cost of a repair which must be paid by the owner of the vehicle.
In this connection, the front end section of a vehicle is compo
Maeda Noriaki
Ozawa Ikuo
Sasano Norihisa
Sugiyama Toshiki
Campbell Kelly E
Denso Corporation
Harness Dickey & Pierce PLC
Johnson Brian L.
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