TRIM PANEL ASSEMBLY HAVING AN INTEGRATED DOOR BUMPER AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE
In at least certain embodiments, the present invention relates to a trim panel assembly and a method of making the same. The trim panel assembly comprises a housing having a perimeter portion defining an opening. The housing comprises a housing panel and a housing skin covering at least a portion of the housing panel. The trim panel assembly further comprises a door moveable between a first position wherein the door closes the opening to a second position wherein the door provides access to the opening. The door comprises a door panel and a door skin covering at least a portion of the door panel. The trim panel assembly further comprises a bumper disposed between the housing and the door. The bumper and at least one of the skins are made during the same injection molding step.
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This application is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/852,276, filed May 24, 2004 and entitled “Trim Panel Assembly Having an Integrated Door Bumper and Method of Manufacture.”
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to trim panel assembly having an integrated door bumper and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Background Art
Trim panel doors have been used to close openings in vehicles. For instance, trim panel doors have been used to close openings in vehicle storage compartments, ash trays, and cup holders. A quite common example of such a use is the use of a trim panel door, such as a glove box door, to close a glove box opening. A glove box door is typically connected with a housing having an opening. The opening provides access to a glove box compartment. The door when in an open position provides access to the compartment and when closed covers the opening preventing access to the compartment.
To prevent rattling and undesirable noises associated therewith, elastomeric bumpers have been provided, typically placed on the housing perimeter forming the opening. These bumpers are typically separately manufactured and are press-fit into a small opening in the perimeter of the housing. This press fitting provides an extra step and an extra part during the manufacturing process, thus increasing cost and complexity of manufacture.
It would be desirable to provide a trim panel assembly having a door wherein the operability of a bumper is provided without having to provide an added part, such as a press-fit bumper.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn at least one embodiment, the present invention relates to a method for making trim panel assembly. The method comprises providing a housing comprising a housing panel having a perimeter portion defining an opening and a housing skin covering at least a portion of the housing panel. The method further comprises providing a door connectable with the housing which is moveable between a first position wherein the door closes the opening to a second position wherein the door provides access to the opening. The door comprises a door panel and a door skin covering at least a portion of the door panel. The method further comprises providing a bumper disposed between the housing and the door. The bumper and at least one of the skins are made during the same injection molding step.
In at least one embodiment, the bumper may be located on the door.
In at least another embodiment, the bumper may be located on the housing perimeter portion.
In at least another embodiment, an extension portion may extend between and connect the bumper and either the door skin or the housing skin.
In at least another embodiment, the extension portion may extend through the door panel or the housing panel.
In at least another embodiment, the extension portion may extend around an edge of the door panel.
In at least one embodiment, the bumper may comprise a first portion on the door and a second portion facing the first portion and being located on the housing.
In at least another embodiment, the door may be a glove box door and the housing may be a glove box compartment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein. However, it is to be understood that disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various alternative forms. The Figures are not necessarily to scale, some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural or functional details disclosed herein are not be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for the claims and/or a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
Moreover, except for otherwise expressly indicated, all numeral quantities in this description and in the claims indicating amounts or conditions are to be understood as modified by the work (about) in describing the broader scope of the invention. Practice within the numerical limits as stated is generally preferred. Also, unless expressly stated to the contrary, percents, “parts of,” and ratio values are by weight and the description of a group or class of materials as suitable or preferred for a given purpose in connection with the invention implies that mixtures of any two or more members of the group or class may be equally suitable or preferred.
Referring to
The instrument panel 10 includes a glove box, generally indicated at 20. The glove box 20 comprises a glove box door 22 connected, preferably hingedly connected in at least one embodiment, to a glove box compartment 24. The glove box compartment 24 has a housing portion 23 made of the substrate material (i.e. the housing portion 23 is part of the substrate 14). In at least one embodiment, the housing portion 23 comprises four side walls 23a and a back wall 23b, as best shown in
The glove box compartment 24 has a perimeter portion 32, shown in the
As best seen in
The instrument panel 10 includes at least one bumper 30. The bumper 30 provide a biasing effect between the glove box door 22 and the glove box compartment 24. The bumper 30 urges the door 22 away from the compartment 24 to prevent unwanted and unnecessary noise and rattling during vehicle operation. While only two bumpers 30 are shown, it should be understood that more or fewer bumpers 30 could be provided, as desired. As will be described further below, the bumpers 30 are made of the same material as either, or both, of the cover skin 16 and/or the door skin 28. The bumpers 30 can be made simultaneously with one of the skins 16 or 28 during a two-shot injection molding process, as will be described further below.
As shown in
In another embodiment, as illustrated in
In the embodiments illustrated in
In another embodiment, the bumpers 30 could be placed on the door 22 instead of on the glove box compartment 24. In one of these embodiments, as shown in
In yet another embodiment, as illustrated in
A method of forming the bumpers 30, 30a and/or 30b using a multi-shot or two-shot injection molding process will now be described. Such a process is generally described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/131,015, assigned to Lear Corporation, is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The process allows the manufacture of assembly of at least one bumper to be integrated with the manufacturer and/or assembly of a trim component to improve quality, reduce manufacturing complexity, and reduce costs.
In a two-shot injection molding process, a first type of material is injected into an injection molded mold to form either the door panel 26 or the instrument panel 10 with the glove box compartment 24. And a second type material is injected into the injection molding mold to form one of the cover skin 16 or door skin 28, along with the bumpers 30, 30a and/or 30b and the extension portions 36. The mold may include one or more cams or slides that are actuated to create relief cavities to which the second material flows. Alternatively, different mold cavities may be employed for the first and second shots. For instance, a portion of the mold having material from the first shot may be indexed to a second position and made into another mold portion having appropriate relief cavities before injecting the second type material.
While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is not intended that these embodiments illustrate and describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A method for making trim panel assembly, said method comprising:
- providing a housing comprising a housing panel having a perimeter portion defining an opening, and a housing skin covering at least a portion of the housing panel;
- providing a door connectable with the housing which is moveable between a first position wherein the door closes the opening to a second position wherein the door provides access to the opening, the door comprising a door panel and a door skin covering at least a portion of the door panel; and
- providing a bumper disposed between the housing and the door, where the bumper and at least one of the skins are made during the same injection molding step.
2. The panel assembly of claim 1 wherein the bumper is located on the door or the housing perimeter portion.
3. The trim panel assembly of claim 1 wherein an extension portion extends between and connects the bumper and the at least one skin, the extension portion and the bumper being made of the same material.
4. The trim panel assembly of claim 3 wherein the extension portion extends through the door panel.
5. The trim panel assembly of claim 3 wherein the extension portion extends around an edge of the door panel.
6. The trim panel assembly of claim 2 wherein an extension portion extends between and connects the bumper and the housing skin.
7. The instrument panel of claim 6 wherein the extension portion has at least a portion extending through the housing panel.
8. The trim panel assembly of claim 6 wherein the extension portion is on the housing perimeter portion.
9. The trim panel assembly of claim 3 wherein the extension portion and the at least one of the skins are made of a first material, at least one of the door panel and the housing panel being made of a second material more rigid than the first material.
10. The trim panel assembly of claim 1 wherein the bumper comprises a first portion on the door and a second portion facing the first portion and being located on the housing.
11. The trim panel assembly of claim 9 wherein the first material is an elastomer and the second material is rigid polymeric material.
12. The trim panel assembly of claim 1 wherein the door is a glove box door and the housing is a glove box compartment.
13. The trim panel of claim 1 wherein the bumper and the at least one skin are made of the same material.
14. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing an extension portion extending between and connecting the bumper and at least one skin with the bumper, the at least one skin and the extension portion being formed together within the same mold and being made of a first material which is less rigid than the material used to form at least one of the panels.
15. A method for making trim panel assembly comprising a housing panel having a perimeter portion defining an opening and a housing skin covering at least a portion of the housing panel, and a door connectable with the housing which is moveable between a first portion wherein the door closes the opening to a second position wherein the door provides access to the opening, said method comprising:
- injecting a first plastic material into an injection mold to form one of the housing and the door;
- injecting a second, less rigid, plastic material into the mold to form (i) one of the housing skin and the door skin, and (ii) a bumper disposed between the housing and the door, wherein the bumper and the one skin are made during the same injection molding step.
16. A method for making trim panel assembly, said method comprising:
- forming a housing comprising a housing panel having a perimeter portion defining an opening;
- forming a housing skin covering at least a portion of the housing panel;
- forming a door panel connectable with the housing which is moveable between a first position wherein the door closes the opening to a second position wherein the door panel provides access to the opening;
- forming a door skin covering at least a portion of the door panel; and
- forming a bumper disposed between the housing and the door panel, wherein the bumper and at least one of the skins are made during the same injection molding step.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the forming a housing step comprises injecting a first plastic material into an injection mold, the forming a housing skin step comprises injecting a second plastic material into the injection mold; and
- the forming a bumper step comprises injecting the second plastic material into the injection mold.
18. The method of claim 16, wherein the forming a door panel step comprises injecting a first plastic material into an injection mold, the forming a door skin step comprises injecting a second plastic material into the injection mold; and
- the forming a bumper step comprises injecting the second plastic material into the injection mold.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 25, 2005
Publication Date: Dec 15, 2005
Applicant: LEAR CORPORATION (Southfield, MI)
Inventors: Glenn Cowelchuk (Chesterfield Twp., MI), Randy Reed (Fair Haven, MI), Michael Schoemann (Waterford, MI), John Youngs (Southgate, MI)
Application Number: 11/162,010