JPH04308739A - Production of air bag receiving pad - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify molding equipment and a molding process, in the air bag receiving pad mounted on a steering wheel, by molding a reinforcing mem ber superposed so as to avoid a breaking part and subsequently replacing one of molds to mold a soft pad. CONSTITUTION:After the core mold 11 and cavity mold 12 of an injection mold are clamped, a soft resin material such as a polyester elastomer is injected in the mold under pressure to mold a reinforcing net 13. Next, the cavity mold 12 is detached in such a state that the reinforcing net 13 is mounted on the core mold 11 to be replaced with a foaming mold 4 and this mold 14 is combined with the core mold 11 to clamp both molds 11,14. Then, foamable urethane or a soft resin having the same hardness as said urethane is injected in the core mold 11 to be foamed to form the soft pad 15 of the air bag receiving pad 17 having a predetermined shape integrated with the reinforcing net 13. By this method, the molding equipment and molding process of the soft pad can be simplified.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an airbag storage pad for use in a steering wheel of an automobile.

0002

[Prior Art] The conventional structure of an airbag storage pad that covers an airbag stored in an airbag storage section formed in the center of a steering wheel will be described first, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIG. 1, a reinforcing net 1 made of cloth is created, and then this reinforcing net 1
is set in a mold for insert molding a pad, then a foamable urethane resin is press-fitted into the mold, and then the foamable urethane resin is foam-molded to form an airbag storage pad to which the reinforcing net 1 is attached. 2 is formed.

Airbag storage pad 2 thus obtained
A thin broken part 3 is formed so that the airbag storage pad 2 can be easily opened when an airbag (not shown) is inflated by impact, and the reinforcing net 1 is The storage pad 2 is buried so that the resin pieces of the pad will not be scattered when the storage pad 2 is opened due to an impact force, and the broken portion 3 can be avoided.

0004

However, when manufacturing such a conventional airbag storage pad 2, cutting equipment and a cutting process are required to cut the reinforcing net 1 made of cloth into a predetermined shape. It is necessary to insert the cut reinforcing net into a foam mold to foam-mold the pad, and to set the reinforcing net inside the foam mold, which increases the cost of the two airbag storage pad products. Naturally, there was a problem with the lack of productivity.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art.The present invention has been made by making the reinforcing net into a resin, and by adopting a two-color molding method, the reinforcing net is integrated with the above-mentioned resin reinforcing net. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing an airbag storage pad that reduces equipment costs, improves productivity, and further improves economic efficiency by performing pad molding.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be explained in detail below based on the embodiments shown in FIGS. 3 to 6.

In FIG. 3, 11 is the core mold of the injection mold, and 12 is the cavity mold thereof. After closing both molds, a soft resin material such as polyester elastomer is press-fitted into the mold. , a reinforcing net 13 made of resin as shown in FIG. 4 is injection molded. This reinforcement net 13
When molding the reinforcing net, a resin material having sufficient flexibility and strength to prevent resin pad fragments from scattering, which will be described later, is selected as the material for injection molding the reinforcing net.

After the reinforcing net 13 is injection molded, the cavity mold 2 is removed with the reinforcing net 13 still attached to the core mold 11, and the foam mold 14 is replaced with the cavity mold.
The reinforcing net 13 is combined with the core mold 11 holding the reinforcing net 13 and the mold is closed. Next, foamable urethane or a soft resin (for example, an elastomer resin) having the same hardness as the foamable urethane is press-fitted into the core mold 11, and this soft resin is further foamed to form a predetermined area integral with the reinforcing net 13. The soft pad 15 of the airbag storage pad 17 in the shape can be created. Note that reference numeral 16 indicates a thin broken portion formed in the soft pad 15.

As described above, the airbag storage pad 17 according to the present invention is manufactured by molding the reinforcing net using an injection mold, and then replacing the cavity mold of the injection mold with a foam mold, that is, by adopting a two-color molding method. Soft pad 1 of airbag storage pad integrated with primary molded reinforcing net
5 is formed by foam molding, it is possible to omit the cutting process of the core material (reinforcement net) and the equipment used in the conventional example. Furthermore, the reinforcing net 13 made of resin is molded by two-color molding means, and the core mold is then used as a part of the foaming mold to form the soft pad 15 integrated with the reinforcing net. The molding equipment and molding process of the soft pad 15 are simplified,
An airbag storage pad 17 with excellent productivity and economy can be obtained.

0010

As described above, the present invention provides a foamed molded part that covers an airbag installed in a vehicle, and in which a thin walled part 16 that ruptures in response to the expansion of the airbag is formed in a part; In the method for manufacturing a soft pad 15 having a reinforcing member 13 that is polymerized while avoiding the breaking portion, a first step of molding the reinforcing member 13 from a soft resin material using a pair of molds; A second step in which the molded product in the step is exchanged with the other mold while being set in one of the pair of molds, and a soft pad 15 having a hardness different from that of the reinforcing member 13 is molded by both molds. Since this is a manufacturing method of an airbag storage pad in which the reinforcing member and the soft pad are integrally molded, the reinforcing net 13 made of resin is molded by two-color molding means, and then the core mold is formed into a foam mold. Since the soft pad 15 is formed integrally with the reinforcing net, the molding equipment and molding process for the soft pad 15 are simplified, and the air bag storage is highly productive and economical. pad 1
7 can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional reinforcing member.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an airbag storage pad manufactured by a conventional manufacturing method.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a mold used in the method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a reinforcing member according to the method of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the molding process according to the method of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an airbag storage pad completed by the method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11: Core type
12: Cavity type 13: Reinforcement net
14: Foam type 15: Soft pad
16: Thin wall fracture part 17:
airbag storage pad

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A foam molded part that covers an airbag installed in a vehicle and has a thin wall part (16) partially formed therein that ruptures in response to inflation of the airbag, and a foam molded part that avoids the rupture part. In the method for manufacturing a soft pad (15) having a reinforcing member (13) polymerized by
) is molded from a soft resin material using a pair of molds, and the molded product in the first step is exchanged with the other mold while being set in one of the pair of molds, and both molds are molded. A method for manufacturing an airbag storage pad, characterized in that the reinforcing member and the soft pad are integrally molded by a second step of molding a soft pad (15) having a hardness different from that of the reinforcing member (13) using a mold. .