Door trim panel with integral soft armrest pad and process for manufacturing same
US6821465B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 3, 2003 |
| Grant date | Nov 23, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 3, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB60R2013/0293
- WIPO fieldOther special machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A process for manufacturing a door trim panel with an integral soft armrest pad is provided which includes providing male and female steam chest mold halves, loading and restraining a cover material onto the female mold half, closing the male mold half to a fill position to form a cavity, inserting a divider into the cavity to separate the cavity into a low density volume and a high density volume, filling the high density volume with first polymeric material, filling the low density volume of the mold cavity with second polymeric material, withdrawing the divider from the mold cavity, and heating the first and second polymeric materials such that the first and second polymeric materials are melt bonded together, including at positions where particles from the first polymeric material contact particles from the second polymeric material. The low density volume creates the soft armrest pad.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.