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US 4,211,590 AGranted
Method of making perforated contoured trim panel
AssigneeInmont Corporation
InventorsRaymond G. Steward, Stuart G. Boyd, Frank P. Civardi
Life of this patent
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AssigneeInmont Corporation
InventorsRaymond G. Steward, Stuart G. Boyd, Frank P. Civardi
Estimating the term…
A process for making a smooth perforated contoured resilient panel of a type suitable for use as a decorative headliner in the passenger compartment of vehicles or the like. A thermoplastic composite laminar sheet comprising a pair of films tenaciously bonded to the opposed faces of an intervening thermoplastic foam core having closed cells containing air and residual blowing agent is perforated in flat sheet form whereafter it is heated to an elevated temperature to effect heat softening and expansion of the foam core resulting in localized dimpled recesses in the faces adjacent to the apertures or perforations. The heated expanded sheet is thereafter thermoformed between appropriately contoured mold surfaces to effect a contouring and compaction of the sheet to a thickness substantially equal to or less than the thickness of the dimpled or recessed sections forming a contoured sheet having substantially smooth exterior surfaces. The compacted and contoured smooth sheet thereafter is cooled to effect rigidification and retention of the contoured configuration thereof. The process further contemplates the application of a decorative layer to the sheet prior to or subsequent to the heating and molding operation.
The method of making a smooth contoured resilient panel comprising a composite laminar sheet consisting of a pair of thermoplastic films tenaciously bonded to the face surfaces of an intervening thermoplastic foam core having closed cells containing residual blowing agent and air which comprises the steps of providing a substantially flat section of said sheet, perforating said sheet to impart a plurality of apertures therethrough over at least a portion of the surface thereof, heating said sheet to an elevated temperature sufficient to effect a heat softening thereof and a post-blow and expansion of said foam core producing an expanded sheet incorporating local dimpled recesses in the faces thereof in the vicinity surrounding the apertures defining thin sections of reduced thickness relative to that of the adjacent non-perforated areas of said sheet, thermoforming the heated expanded said sheet between mold surfaces to effect contouring thereof and compaction of said foam core to a thickness of at least equal to the thickness of said thin sections forming a contoured sheet having substantially smooth exterior faces, and thereafter cooling the contoured compacted said sheet to effect rigidification thereof and retention of the compacted contoured configuration.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.