Soft touch cover and method of manufacture
US5968431A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 24, 1997 |
| Grant date | Oct 19, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 24, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB60R13/0256
- WIPO fieldOther special machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A composite finishing cover for a component such as a vehicle instrument panel is provided by extruding a parison of inner and outer layers of different recyclable plastics having different characteristics but which are from the same family of plastics. The parison is injected with low pressure gas when forming dies are being closed thereover so that the plastics will fully conform to the forming surfaces of the die tooling cavity. The closing force of the dies cause the heat softened inner layers of the first plastics material to join at their interface to form a relatively thick core or substrate providing structural support for the relatively thin and flexible outer layer of the cover, also joined at their interface. The outer layer provides a finishing surface that exhibits a soft feel as when the human hand lightly contacts and moves across the surface thereof. Importantly, in this invention the finishing cover can be readily recycled as a unit without the necessity of separating the different plastics layers from one another since they are from the same family.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.