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US 11,192,595 B2Granted
Overmolded brackets for composite shock tower
AssigneeFaurecia Emissions Control Technologies, USA, LLC
InventorsYang Cao, Pankaj Ghevarchand Bedmutha, Louis Moreau-Gentien
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of making a shock tower assembly includes forming a bracket from continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic, where the bracket has a load bearing portion and an overmolded portion. The method further includes placing the bracket in an injection tool, injecting a polymer composite material into the injection tool to surround the and overmolded portion of the bracket, and removing a finished component from the injection tool, wherein the finished component comprises the load bearing portion of the bracket extending outwardly from the finished component and the overmolded portion of the bracket that is surrounded by the polymer composite material.
Claims19
A method of making a shock tower assembly comprising:
- (a) providing a suspension assembly for a vehicle wheel by forming a bracket from continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic, the bracket having a load bearing portion and an overmolded portion;
- (b) placing the bracket in an injection tool;
- (c) injecting a polymer composite material into the injection tool to surround the overmolded portion of the bracket and protecting the load bearing portion from contact with the polymer composite material, and wherein step (b) includes completely enclosing the bracket within an internal cavity formed within the injection tool and step (c) includes sealing the load bearing portion within the internal cavity to prevent injected material from reaching the load bearing portion;
- and
- (d) removing a finished suspension component comprising a shock tower body from the injection tool, wherein the shock tower body mounts at least one second suspension component to a fixed vehicle structure and comprises the load bearing portion of the bracket extending outwardly from the shock tower body and the overmolded portion of the bracket that is surrounded by the polymer composite material.
2 more elements
A method of making a shock tower assembly comprising:
- (a) providing a suspension assembly for a vehicle wheel by forming a bracket from continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic, the bracket having a load bearing portion and an overmolded portion;
- (b) placing the bracket in an injection tool, wherein the injection tool includes a bottom tool and a top tool that cooperate to provide an internal cavity, and including placing the bracket in the injection tool to completely enclose the bracket within the internal cavity;
- (c) injecting a polymer composite material into the injection tool to surround the overmolded portion of the bracket and protecting the load bearing portion from contact with the polymer composite material, and including providing at least one location feature in the injection tool, inserting the bracket into the location feature during step (b), and applying pressure to opposing sides of the bracket to hold the bracket in place during step (c);
- and
- (d) removing a finished suspension component comprising a shock tower body from the injection tool, wherein the shock tower body mounts at least one second suspension component to a fixed vehicle structure and comprises the load bearing portion of the bracket extending outwardly from the shock tower body and the overmolded portion of the bracket that is surrounded by the polymer composite material.
2 more elements
A method of making a shock tower assembly comprising:
- (a) providing a suspension assembly for a vehicle wheel by forming a bracket from continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic, the bracket having a load bearing portion and an overmolded portion;
- (b) placing the bracket in an injection tool;
- (c) injecting a polymer composite material into the injection tool to surround the overmolded portion of the bracket and protecting the load bearing portion from contact with the polymer composite material, and including forming the bracket prior to inserting the bracket into the injection tool and subsequently heating the bracket prior to being placed into the injection tool or during step (c) to provide a heated bracket during injection of the polymer composite material to improve adhesion during injection molding;
- and
- (d) removing a finished suspension component comprising a shock tower body from the injection tool, wherein the shock tower body mounts at least one second suspension component to a fixed vehicle structure and comprises the load bearing portion of the bracket extending outwardly from the shock tower body and the overmolded portion of the bracket that is surrounded by the polymer composite material.
2 more elements
A method of making a shock tower assembly comprising:
- (a) providing a suspension assembly for a vehicle wheel by forming a bracket from continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic, the bracket having a load bearing portion and an overmolded portion;
- (b) placing the bracket in an injection tool;
- (c) injecting a polymer composite material into the injection tool to surround the overmolded portion of the bracket and protecting the load bearing portion from contact with the polymer composite material;
- and
- (d) removing a finished suspension component comprising a shock tower body from the injection tool, wherein the shock tower body mounts at least one second suspension component to a fixed vehicle structure and comprises the load bearing portion of the bracket extending outwardly from the shock tower body and the overmolded portion of the bracket that is surrounded by the polymer composite material, and wherein the suspension assembly directly receives road load inputs from the vehicle wheel, and wherein the at least one second suspension component comprises a strut for the vehicle wheel that dampens road load inputs, the strut having a spring and a shock absorber, and including forming the shock tower body to include a strut mount interface that comprises at least one mounting hole that receives at least one fastening element to mount the strut to the fixed vehicle structure.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.