F2008-04-018
Development of a Mass-Reduced Low-Cost Soft Instrument Panel for the Reduction of CO2 Emissions
The reduction of CO2 emissions is an important issue in automobile development. In order to reduce CO2 emissions, we have developed new production technologies and materials for a soft instrument panel and have achieved extreme reduction in the mass and production costs of instrument panels. The following is a report on our development. The product is formed with the PP substance and the laminated sheet that is composed of the TPO skin, the PP form and the olefinic adhesive. Cost reductions were achieved by substantially reducing the number of molding processes. In order to reduce the number of molding processes, we developed two technologies. The first technology is the development of a material and an airbag door structure with which we could eliminate the tear seam forming for the airbag unit surface. This enabled us not only to reduce the number of molding processes, but also to obtain excellent quality in the appearance of the air bag unit surface. The second technology is the development of a pre-coat adhesive, which enabled us to further reduce the number of molding processes. By pre-coating the adhesive onto the laminated sheet in its production process, it is possible to perform the vacuum forming of the laminated sheet and adhere it onto the PP substance at the same time in one process. In addition, the newly developed olefinic adhesive does not require surface treatment to adhere onto the PP substance. The reduction in mass is achieved by developing a low density all-olefin laminated sheet. This material gives the instrument panel a soft feel and can be formed into various shapes and designs. Furthermore, as this product is composed of only thermoplastic olefinic materials, it is easy to recycle. By adopting these instrument panel production technologies, we have succeeded in reducing the mass of the instrument panel by 20%, production costs by 20% and CO2 emissions during production by 70%, compared with the conventional products.
Session: Interior