AIRBAG COVER MATERIALS FOR LASER SCORING

• US 20120315446A1
• Filed: 06/13/2011
• Published: 12/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Faurecia Interior Systems, Inc. (Forvia SE)
• Original Assignee: Faurecia Interior Systems, Inc. (Forvia SE)
• Inventors: Wisniewski, Aaron, Barr, Mathew, Vander Sluis, Daniel R.
• Granted Patent: US 9,358,767 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 428/195.1
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2262/101 Glass fibres
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2305/028 Hollow fillers; Syntactic material
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2309/10 linear, e.g. length, distance, width
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2309/105 Thickness
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2310/0843 using laser
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2605/003 Interior finishings
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 27/20 using fillers, pigments, thixotroping agents
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 38/0004 Cutting, tearing or severing, e.g. bursting; Cutter details cutting in general B26D; laminating combined with punching or perforating B32B38/04; removing all or part of the layers B32B38/10; cutting in combination with laying up and registration B32B38/185 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/2165 characterised by a tear line for defining a deployment opening
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/1082 Partial cutting bonded sandwich [e.g., grooving or incising]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24802 Discontinuous or differential coating, impregnation or bond [e.g., artwork, printing, retouched photograph, etc.]

Abstract

A panel for use over a vehicle airbag includes a skin layer with a tear seam formed therein. The skin layer is made from a material that includes a polymer matrix and one or more transmissivity-reducers in the form of microflake fillers or fillers having a monomodal particle size distribution. The transmissivity-reducers are included in an amount that reduces the transmissivity of light through the material to reduce variation in laser scoring processes and also in an amount that does not substantially alter the mechanical properties of the polymer matrix. Skin layers made from these materials can be used in laser scoring processes of TPO coverings that are thinner than previously known.

Claims

1. A panel for use over a vehicle airbag, comprising:

a substrate having an outer surface; and

a covering comprising a decorative skin layer disposed over the outer surface of the substrate, the skin layer having an inner surface with a tear seam formed therein and that faces toward the outer surface of the substrate;

wherein the skin layer is formed from a material that comprises a resin matrix and a filler material in the form of microflakes distributed through substantially the entire thickness of the skin layer.

2. A panel as defined in claim 1, wherein the skin layer material comprises polymeric and non-polymeric components and the polymeric components define the resin matrix, the resin matrix including a percentage elongation at break that is at least 200%.

3. A panel as defined in claim 1, wherein the microflakes are arranged in the resin matrix so that most of the individual microflakes have a major surface in the same orientation as the nearest portion of the substrate outer surface.

4. A panel as defined in claim 1, wherein the microflakes include talc microflakes.

5. A panel as defined in claim 1, further comprising an inner layer disposed between the substrate and the decorative skin layer, wherein at least one of the substrate, the inner layer, or the decorative skin layer is constructed from an olefin-based material.

6. A panel as defined in claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the tear seam is formed at an angle of about 85 degrees or less with the inner surface of the covering.

7. A material composition for use in a laser scoring process, the material comprising:

a resin matrix comprising a plurality of olefinic resin components that together are the major constituent of the material; and

one or more transmissivity-reducing components other than carbon black dispersed within the resin matrix in a total amount that does not substantially alter at least one of the stiffness or the hardness of the resin matrix.

8. The material composition of claim 7, wherein the resin matrix is a thermoplastic olefin.

9. The material composition of claim 7, wherein the one or more transmissivity-reducing components includes talc or microflakes.

10. The material composition of claim 7, wherein the one or more transmissivity-reducing components includes a filler material having a substantially monomodal particle size distribution.

11. A material composition for use in a laser scoring process, the material comprising:

a polymer matrix;

talc; and

two or more transmissivity-reducing components, wherein the total amount of non-polymeric constituents is less than about 10 wt %.

12. The material composition of claim 11, wherein the transmissivity-reducing components include calcium carbonate particles and colorant particles.

13. The material composition of claim 11, wherein the talc is in the form of microflakes and present in an amount ranging from about 0.5 wt % to about 5 wt %.

14. A method of making a panel for use over a vehicle airbag, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a covering that includes a decorative skin layer formed from a material that includes a transmissivity-reducing component other than carbon black;

(b) attaching the covering to a substrate; and

(c) laser cutting an angled tear seam in the panel, the tear seam extending from an inner surface of the substrate and into the skin layer.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein step (c) is performed with laser light at two or more different power levels.