Foam-in-place interior panels having integrated airbag doors including multi-shot injection molded airbag chute-door assemblies for motor vehicles and methods for making the same

An interior panel having an integrated airbag door for a motor vehicle, the interior panel comprising:

• a substrate having an outer surface, an inner surface, and an opening extending therethrough;
• a multi-shot injection molded airbag chute-door assembly mounted to the substrate, wherein the multi-shot injection molded airbag chute-door assembly comprising:
• a chute wall at least partially surrounding an interior space and configured to direct passage of an airbag through the interior space towards the opening during deployment of the airbag;
• a door flap portion pivotally connected to the chute wall and at least partially covering the opening;
• a perimeter flange extending from the chute wall away from the interior space, the perimeter flange having a flange section overlying the outer surface of the substrate, wherein the chute wall, the door flap and the perimeter flange comprise a first polymeric material;
• and
• a molded-in lip feature that extends from the flange section and contacts the outer surface to form a seal between the flange section and the substrate, wherein the molded-in lip feature comprises a second polymeric material, wherein the molded-in lip feature has a lip portion and a bulb portion that extends from the lip portion towards the outer surface of the substrate, wherein the substrate has an inner perimeter edge portion that defines the opening and that defines a channel that substantially surrounds the opening, and wherein the bulb portion is disposed in the channel;
• a skin covering extending over the substrate;
• and
• a foam disposed between the skin covering and the substrate.

A method of making an interior panel having an integrated airbag door for a motor vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:

• mounting a multi-shot injection molded airbag chute-door assembly to a substrate such that the multi-shot injection molded airbag chute-door assembly at least partially covers an opening in the substrate and that a molded-in lip feature extends from a flange section of a perimeter flange of the multi-shot injection molded airbag chute-door assembly to contact an outer surface of the substrate forming a seal between the multi-shot injection molded airbag chute-door assembly and the substrate, and wherein the perimeter flange comprises a first polymeric material and the molded-in lip feature comprises a second polymeric material;
• positioning a skin covering extending over the outer surface of the substrate;
• and
• dispensing a liquid foam forming material between the skin covering and the substrate and allowing the liquid foam forming material to form a foam, wherein the flange section has a stepped distal edge portion including a back side distal step edge that is adjacent to the outer surface of the substrate and a front side cover distal edge section that extends outwardly past the back side distal step edge and that is adjacent to the foam and spaced apart from the outer surface of the substrate, and wherein the molded-in lip feature extends outwardly from the back side distal step edge.