Abstract:
A method of producing a composite plastic molded article having at least one layer of web material and a plastic body, includes placement of the web material between mold halves of an injection mold and deforming the web material through closing of the mold. Subsequently, negative pressure is applied on one side of the web material and/or excess pressure is applied on its other side, so that the web material bears upon a mold half. Plastic mass is then introduced into the opening mold in such a way that the feed rate of the plastic mass and the opening speed of the injection mold are coordinated with each other. Once a certain opening gap has been reached, the mold is closed and the plastic article is embossed.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of prior filed copending PCT International application no. PCT/EP99/06974, filed Sep. 21, 1999. 
    
    
     This application claims the priority of German Patent Application Serial No. 198 43 921.0, filed Sep. 24, 1998, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing composite plastic molded articles having at least one layer of web material (sheets, laminates, fabrics, generally flat materials) and a plastic body, with the composite plastic molded articles being made by injection molding. 
     Such molded plastic articles are currently used, for example, for articles of furniture, household appliances etc. and in the automobile industry for lining the inside of doors, dashboards, trunk linings, visors etc. The coated areas of the molded plastic articles form hereby the visible surfaces, when mounted, and, for esthetic reasons, carry decors and/or have particular surface characteristics, such as color design, surface texture or tactile properties, such as, for example, “soft-touch”, i.e. a certain surface resiliency, oftentimes realized by foamed plastic materials. In the following description, coated materials of this type, including sheets, foamed plastics, decorative materials etc. are denoted in general as web materials. Such web materials react oftentimes very sensitive to deformations and heat so that in an injection molding tool embossment paths of up to 150 mm have been used during back injection of web materials in order to reduce the stress on the web material. 
     For example, EP-0333198 B1 describes a so-called “vertical machine”, having an injection mold with mold halves traveling in vertical position for making a composite molded plastic article. Web material is placed on one mold half of the open injection mold, and subsequently the mold is closed, with plastified plastic mass being introduced into the mold during the closing operation. In this way, damage to the web material is supposed to be prevented, when the plastic mass is introduced. 
     DE-19531143 C2 proposes a different path while also relating to a vertical machine for injection molding molded plastic articles. Web material is placed into the open injection mold, the mold is closed again, thereby deforming the web material, and plastified plastic mass is introduced during the subsequent opening operation into the opening mold. After introduction of the plastified plastic mass, the mold is closed and the plastic mass is formed through pressing within the mold cavity. 
     A so-called horizontal machine, in which the mold halves move in horizontal direction is known from DE-OS-2548318. Heated web material is placed between the mold halves and negative pressure is applied on one of the mold halves so that the web material rests upon the inner wall surface of the mold half. After closing the mold, except for a remaining gap, plastified plastic mass is injected into the thus slightly enlarged cavity. Finally, the mold is completely closed to allow the plastic mass to spread in the mold cavity. 
     Conventional wisdom assumed that greater embossment paths cannot be realized in a horizontal machine because the injected plastic mass cake flows downwardly as a consequence of gravitation and thus will not spread in a desired manner. 
     It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved method for producing composite plastic molded articles, to obviate prior art shortcomings and to realize great embossment paths and yet being applicable in vertical machines as well as horizontal machines. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to one aspect of the present invention, a web material is first placed between the mold halves of an open injection mold, the mold is closed as the web material deforms, negative pressure is applied on one side of the web material and/or excess pressure is applied on the other side of the web material, so that the web material bears snugly against one mold half, plastified plastic mass is introduced in controlled amounts into the mold cavity of the injection mold, as opening of the injection mold is carried out in a controlled fashion until reaching a predetermined position, the injection mold is fully closed, and subsequently, the finished molded plastic article is withdrawn from the mold. 
     To support pre-forming, the web material may be heated either across the entire area or locally, before placement into the mold or shortly before closing of the mold halves. 
     The above-referred notion that great embossment paths cannot be realized in horizontal machines or in vertical machines, when the mold flanks are very steep, is based on the thinking that the plastic mass is quenched on the mold wall during injection molding of the plastic mass so as to form a “cold skin” which does not adhere to the mold wall surface and thus slides off the steep mold wall surfaces. 
     In contrast thereto, the invention is based on the surprising recognition that through injection of plastic mass, the so-called mass cake, to the back of web materials does not result in a formation of a cold skin, but rather results in an adhesion of the plastic mass to the web material, thereby preventing a falling off of the plastic mass. In conjunction with the controlled opening speed of the mold and the respective introduction of the plastic mass at a controlled feed rate, very large mold gaps can be realized in accordance with the invention, even when the mold flanks are very steep or in horizontal machines are involved. 
     According to another feature of the present invention, the feed rate of the plastic mass and opening and closing movements of the injection mold are so selected in dependence on one another and on the shape of the molded plastic article that the pressure of the plastic mass on the web material is substantially minimized and the plastic mass migrates essentially radially with respect to the point of injection and a swell flow is maintained across the entire injection process. 
     The point of injection of the plastic mass is implemented via a sprue channel or several sprue channels, depending on the configuration of the molded plastic article. 
     To further support the swell flow, further plastic mass may be fed during closing of the mold halves. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent upon reading the following description of a preferred exemplified embodiment of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: 
     FIG. 1 shows a flow chart of making an composite plastic molded article in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIGS. 2 a  to  2   h  show various process phases of the injection molding process according to the present invention; and 
     FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the relationship of components of the injection mold. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Throughout all the Figures, same or corresponding elements are generally indicated by same reference numerals. 
     Turning now to the drawing, and in particular to FIG. 1, there is shown a flow chart illustrating in schematic illustration a cycle of the injection molding process according to the invention with reference to a graph which plots the closing path of the mold halves of an injection mold, i.e. the size of the mold gap (left ordinate) against the time (abcissa) in a continuous line, and the screw path (right ordinate) against the time in a broken line. The individual phases of the injection molding process are designated by numerals 1 to 12 and will be described in detail hereinafter. 
     In a phase zero (not represented in FIG.  1 ), a suitable web material (decorative material, foamed plastic material etc.) is cut to size and heated across the entire area or only in predetermined section to provide the web material with an elasticity commensurate with the molded article and to suit it to the process. The thus received web material is then placed between the mold halves of the injection mold. 
     In the phases  1  and  2 , the mold  100  is subsequently closed, and a pressure source  16  applies negative pressure on one side of the web material  40  and/or excess pressure on the other side of the web material  40  to conclude the pre-forming stage of the web material at the end of the phase  3 . In the phases  4  to  7 , the mold  100  is opened again, while plastic mass is fed at the same time. The closing movement of the mold begins in phase  8  and is maintained until the end of the phase  11 , whereby plastic mass is continuously being fed also during the phase  8 . After the mold is completely closed and after a possible cool-down period (not shown), the mold is opened again in phase  12 , the molded plastic article is removed, and a new cycle starts. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 2 a  to  2   h , there are shown illustrations of the injection mold in various process phases of the injection molding process according to the present invention. The injection mold is, generally designated by reference numeral  100 , is of the horizontal machine type and includes a mold half (male mold)  10  and a mold half (female mold)  20 . As is generally known and therefore not described in detail, one of the mold halves, here the mold half  20 , is stationary and mounted onto a stationary support  25  and has an inner mold surface  22 , and the other one of the mold halves, here mold half  10 , is able to travel in horizontal direction toward the mold half  20 . The mold half  10  is hereby mounted onto a moving support  15  and has a sprue channel  50  for supply of plastic mass. Of course, the mold half  10  may have more than one such sprue channel  50  if desired. However, the following description refers to only one sprue channel  50  for sake of simplicity. The sprue channel  50  terminates at an inner mold surface  12  of the mold half  10 . When the injection mold  100  is closed, the inner mold surfaces  12  and  22  form the cavity for formation of the molded plastic article. 
     As shown in FIG. 2 a , a web material  40  which has been cut to size and heated, for example with an infrared radiator, is placed, for example by means of a, not shown, gripping robot, onto a clamping frame  30  on the mold half  10  of the open mold  100  and held in place on the clamping frame  30  by, not shown, conventional means, such as clamping elements, gripping elements or negative pressure. If desired, the infrared radiator may also be held in position there. This concludes the above-stated process step  0 . 
     In the subsequent process step  1 , as shown in FIG. 2 b , the mold  100  is closed until the clamping frame  30  presses the web material  40  against a contact surface of the confronting mold half  20 . 
     Next, as shown in FIG. 2 c , the mold half  10  is further advanced, thereby realizing a mechanical pre-forming of the web material  40  between the opposing mold surfaces  12 ,  22  of the mold halves  10 ,  20  until the mold  100  is fully closed. Support elements  35  of the clamping frame  30  can hereby retract into the mold half  10  to such an extent commensurate with the required closing path. As the coamping frame  30  bears on the contact surface of the mold half  20 , wrinkle formation of the web material  49  is prevented. 
     When the mold  100  is fully closed, the web material  40  does not fully fill out the cavity of the mold as plastic mass is yet to be introduced at a later stage. Therefore, a pneumatic pre-forming is carried out in the above-stated process step  3 . During the closing operation (up to  2 ) or when the mold  100  is fully closed (up to  3 ), excess pressure is applied via one or more air channels  14  from one side and/or negative pressure is applied via vacuum nozzles (not shown) from the other side, in order to support the preform operation, thereby allowing the web material  40  (depending on the requirements) to be pressed completely upon the inner mold surface  22  of the cavity. This is shown in particular in FIG. 2 d . FIG. 2 e  shows by way of an enlarged scale the remaining free space available for subsequent introduction of plastic mass. The permanent deformation of the web material  40  is set by the time period of the process steps  2  to  3 . In case an elastic deformation is required only, the time period of the process steps  2  to  3  may be reduced to a minimum. 
     Following the process steps  2  to  3  are the process steps  4  to  7  according to the flow chart of FIG. 1, during which plastic mass is introduced into the opening mold  100 . This is schematically illustrated in FIG. 2 f , which shows additionally the provision of an extruder  60  with an extruder screw  62  in which the plastic material is plastified and accumulated in a collecting space  64 , and subsequently injected via a nozzle  66  into the sprue channel or sprue channels  50  of the mold half  10 . Commencement of the process step  4  initiates the injection process of the plastic mass while the injection mold  100  is opened by a predetermined distance (up to process step  5 ), employing a control unit  18  containing a suitable program to freely set the opening speed of the moving mold half  10 . The plastic mass is injected through one or more injection points in controlled amounts via the sprue channel(s)  50 , so that one or more mass cakes are formed. The size of the mass cakes is defined by the opening period of the injection points. Metering of the mass is suited to the molded article. This process is implemented because the incoming mass cake must be held early enough by the adhesive effect on the web material, and the pressure load on the web material as a consequence of the opening movement should be minimized. 
     The different ascents of the graph of the closing path in FIG. 1 in steps  4 ,  5 ,  6  and  7  indicate that the speed of the mold opening varies, though the feed rate of the plastic mass remains constant, as indicated in FIG. 1 by broken line, representing the constant ascent of the graph of the screw path. This means, the mold opening speed is relatively great in the phase  4 , decreases in the phase  5  and is zero in the phases  6  and  7 . This is based on the availability of a steadily increasing cavity in flat workpieces for the expanding plastic cake with increasing radius from the injection point. 
     This process control ensures that the plastic mass adheres to the web material  40 , on the one hand, and to the mold half  10 , on the other hand, and expands to all sides radially with respect to the injection point so that a falling off of the plastic cake is prevented and swell flow is maintained. 
     Of course, it is also possible to keep constant the mold opening speed and to accordingly control the injection rate through the sprue channel  50 , or to change both parameters together. Metering should hereby carried out in such a manner that the plastic mass spreads out essentially radially with respect to the injection point. In practice, further parameters enter into the control/adjustment of a machine, for example, viscosity of the plastic mass, concrete shape of the cavity etc. Suitable values for the various, mutually dependent parameters are, therefore, determined during the break-in phase of a machine through test runs and/or calculations. 
     In process step  8  of FIG. 1, plastic mass is injected into the closing mold  100 . This means, embossment of the mass cake(s) with defined embossing speeds and embossing pressure commences already during injection of the plastic mass. In this way, the flow fronts in the cavity are kept continuously in motion with the objective of establishing a speed of the flow fronts as constant as possible. FIG. 2 g  shows the state of the tool at the end of the process step  8 . 
     In the process steps  9  and  10 , a mold embossing operation is executed as the mold  100  is further closed until the cavity is completely filled, as shown schematically in FIG. 2 h , whereby a residual opening gap a (cf. FIG. 1) remains. 
     Elimination of shrinkage is carried out in process step  11 . By means of the further acting embossing force and the remaining residual opening gap a, material shrinkage is equalized. Towards the end of process step  11 , the mold  100  is almost or just about closed and can be opened (cf. FIG. 2 h ), optionally after a cool-down period. 
     Finally, the mold  100  is opened again in process step  12 , the formed molded plastic article is removed, a new web material  40  can be introduced, and the cycle begins anew. 
     The method according to the invention realizes cycle times of about 60 sec., whereby the plastic mass has, for example, a temperature of about 200° C. and the web material may be heated to a temperature of, for example, 40° C. Through this heating, the web material can be better shaped and thus conform better to the contours of the inner mold surface. This does not necessarily mean that a deep drawing process is involved here, in which the web material is solidified directly after being pressed against the inner mold half and remains in this mold. Depending on the case of application, the web material may be heated to other temperatures in the range of 40° C. to 60° C. up to, for example, 200° C., so that in an extreme case the web material is subject to plastic deformation in step  3 . 
     As already set forth above, the method according to the invention is advantageous in particular for thermally insulated web materials, for example, for foamed plastics. It is also not necessary that the web material is a single-layer material. Also, composite material of several layers may be used as web material. Hereby, it is conceivable that the web material may have a decorative layer combined with another layer such as a thermally insulated layer to thereby improve the inventive effect. 
     The chart of FIG. 1 shows by way of example closing paths of up to more than 160 mm. Depending on the used materials, other closing paths, greater (up to above 200 mm) or smaller, may, however, also be used. 
     While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a method of producing coated molded plastic articles, and injection mold, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. 
     What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.