APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR FORMING AN INTERIOR PANEL FOR A VEHICLE

摘要

An apparatus for forming an interior panel for a vehicle door includes mandrels which hold rolls of vinyl laminate and fiberglass reinforcing mat and from which sheets of vinyl laminate and reinforcing mat are pulled in overlying relation with respect to each other. The vinyl and mat sheets are tacked together, cut to a predetermined length by a cutting mechanism, and moved into a heater by a pin-chain conveyor system. In the heater, the vinyl and mat are heated until the vinyl, which is supported at its edges by the pin-chain conveyor, sags a sufficient amount to indicate that the vinyl is sufficiently softened. The heated vinyl and mat are then moved to a vacuum mold part and thereafter a vacuum is applied to draw the vinyl to a molding surface of the vacuum mold part. A vacuum assist, carried on a carrier, engages the mat and heated vinyl within the vacuum mold part to press the mat into the heated vinyl to partially embed the mat into the vinyl to secure the mat to the vinyl. Thereafter, a foamable and curable urethane substrate material is poured into the formed vinyl and mat. A cooperating opposed mold part engages the vacuum mold part and applies heat and pressure to form the urethane substrate material and to cure th e substrate material into a relatively rigid substrate which is reinforced by the mat.