Skin for automotive air bag cover panel formed by casting different plastic materials

摘要

A skin for an automotive interior panel has a main body portion for covering most of the panel and an air bag cover portion for covering the panel portion that the air bag deploys through. Casting a first plastic material against a first portion of a heated mold surface forms the main body skin portion. Casting or spraying a plastic material against a second portion of the heated mold surface forms the air bag cover skin portion. The mold surface portions may be confined from one another by a partition or by masking one portion while casting against the other. The main body and air bag cover skin portions include adjacent edges that extend along the air bag cover portion periphery. The two skin portions are joined together along their adjacent edges while still on the heated mold. An air bag deployment tear seam is formed by first casting a tear seam gap in the cover portion then spraying or casting a relatively weaker material into the gap. Alternatively, a heated engraving tool or laser may be used to form a tear seam groove in the back side of the air bag cover skin portion, or a cutter device may open the cover upon air bag deployment.