SOFT SKIN TECHNIQUES

Spray Urethane skins

Aliphatic vs Aromatic Spray Urethane
Vacuum Formed skins
Male vacuum forming
Female vacuum forming
Slush & Rotocast skins
Slush molding
Rotocast molding
Foam In Place for Soft IPs

SPRAY URETHANE PROCESS

Spray Urethane Description

Spray Process Flow
Spray PU Benefits
Spray PU vs Alternative Skin Technologies
Spray PU Validation Test Results

SPRAY URETHANE PROCESS

SprayPUistheprocessofsprayingpolyurethaneontoatooltoformasoft
skinforanautomotivepart.
Theurethaneistypicallytwocomponents:isocyanate+polyolwhichreactin
thetoolormixingheadtoformonepolyurethaneskin.
TypicalAutomotiveproductsinclude:
InstrumentPanels
DoorPanels
FloorConsoles
Seats,SeatBacks,andHeadrests
Headliner&PackagingTrays
CarpetlessFlooring

VACUUM FOAMED SKIN

Vacuum Forming Process Flow

Male vs Female Vacuum Forming Description
Vacuum Forming Tooling & Equipment Requirements
Material Options
Design & Tooling Guidelines

SLUSH MOLDING PROCESS DESCRIPTIONS

A heated tool, usually of electroformed nickel construction
is coated on the interior cavity with a thermoplastic material
which is subsequently cooled and peeled from the tool. The
resulting skin is molded in a separate tool using the
conventional F.I.P. process.

2004 Cadillac XLR Instrument Panel

Process: Slush Molded Skin, Foam In Place
Material: Thermoplastic Urethane

SLUSH MOLDING PROS AND CONS

Pro
Use less material per part than Rotocasting (more uniform
skins, thinner skins)
Process accommodates undercuts in part design better than
spray urethane. (Does not require line of sight)
Can be molded to color (no paint)

Con:
Tool life can be shorted due to thermal shock (depend on
product design)
Texture definition inferior to spray urethane (PVC)
Environmental performance of PVC less than spray urethane

SLUSH MOLDING W/HOT AIR PROCESS

SLUSH MOLDING PROCESS STEPS

Nickel Tool is heated to 400 500oF depending on material. (Tool

heated by Forced Air, Hot oil or Hot (Fluidized Bed) Sand.

Heated Nickel Tool is attach to the Powder Box.

Rotating Tool Box as needed, then return to Original Position.

Separate Nickel Tool Box and Powder Box.

Reheat to cure skin.

Cool Tool to 120o10oF.

De-mold Skin and Clean the tool.

can be

SLUSH MOLDING TOOL

Nickel Tooling is used in Production Application Almost

Exclusively. This tooling is made by electroforming or nickel vapor deposition.
Both processes will be described in a separate documents. Lear has electroforming
capability in house.

2004 Subaru Legacy/Outback

TPU Skin with Nickel
Tool

2004 Subaru Baja

PVC Skin with Nickel Tool

SLUSH MOLDING HEATING METHODS

Heat as fast and consistent as Possible
Forced Air Tools mounted on carts are moved through an oven built of
several zones, each one at a controlled temperature, the last zone to fine-tune
the exact temperature for slush powder contact.
Hot Oil Self Contained Modules are built that provide the
heating and cooling oil to tubing circuits soldered to the
backside of
the tool. The typical cycle takes 4-5 minutes,
button to button.
Hot Sand (Fluidized Bed) By heating with sand the heating
time is the shortest and it provides even heat. But mold life expectancy is can
be less than other methods.

SLUSH MOLDING HEATING OWEN

Hot air circulates evenly and consistently

SLUSH MOLDING POWDER BOX

High Temp.
Silicone Seal
follows trim
line

2004 Subaru Powder Box by Heartland

ISSUES IN SLUSH MOLDING

Low Temp at Powder Contact with Tool Results in Pin Holes on skin surface
Non-uniform temperature across tool surface Pinholes, thick-thin areas, torn
skins.
Tool Cracks caused by stress in tool aggravated by rapid cooling.
Glossy Skins usually result from build-up of plasticizer on tool surfaces and
excessive release agent. Tool must be cleaned to reduce gloss.
Torn Skins Skins that are too thin or under cured are too weak to withstand
de-molding stress.
Contaminated Powder in Powder box Foreign material, typically lumps of
partially-cured powder that fall back into the powder box and reappear on the
surface of subsequent skins. Sieving the powder in the box minimizes this problem.

Rotational Molding

ROTATION MOLDING PROCESS DISCRIPTIONS

Rotational Molding, Rotocasting, is a process that is used to

make seamless products from a variety of plastics by the
controlled application of heating, rotation and cooling of steel, nickel, or
aluminum tooling.

ROTATIONAL MOLDING PROS AND CONS

Pro
Tooling cost per tool significantly less than injection molding.
Compared to injection and blow molding, the capital investment is less.
Hollow parts can be formed (difficult with injection molding)
The plastic is lower stress than injection molding because the plastic shape is
not formed under pressure.
Con:
Molding cycles are very long compared to other process
The mold is usually assembled/disassembled manually, so it is a labor
intensive process
The process is not very energy efficient

ROTATION MOLDING PROCESS FLOW

Cycle Time

ROTATIONAL MOLDING PROCESS STEP 1

Tool cavities mounted in frames supported by a rigid arm are

charged with plastisol (Liquid) or drysol (Powder) and the charging opening (Lid) or
dual cavities are sealed. This set of
tools is indexed into a forced air oven.
The arm is equipped with gears that allow independent rotation of the tool
frames on both axes. Rotation ratio is a term describing the quotient of the
revolutions per minutes on each axis.
Rotating the tools in the manner allows the plastic to flow evenly against the side
walls of the tools. rotation ratio is adjusted until no centrifugal force is applied to the
material (which adversely affects even distribution).

ROTATIONAL MOLDING PROCESS STEP 2

After a few minutes (typically 5-8), the plastic has been
distributed onto
the side walls and the arm is indexed into the
cooling zone.
Forced air and spray mist of water is typically applied to cool the
tools
and frame for safe de-molding. After (5-8) minutes, this arm is indexed into the
de-mold station.
The lids (or tool cavities) are separated and the product is demolded by peeling.

ROTATIONAL MOLDING MATERIAL OPTION

There are many factors that affect the feasibility of the using a resin
in rotomolding. Polyethylene is by far the most common used in 90% of
applications. Other materials are PVC, ABS, Nylon, PC, high impact
polystyrene, acetal, and crosslinked polyethylene.

Foam In Place

FOAM IN PLACE TOOLING AND CAPITAL

EQUIPMENT

Tooling:
Cast Aluminum Tool base
CNC Cut Part Model from RenWood or other prototype material
use Model + Cast Aluminum base to epoxy cast final Aluminum Foam Tool
Repeat for other of final foam tool.
CNC cut auxiliary Aluminum tooling inserts.

Capital Equipment:
Carousel style line: operators are stationary, line moves.
stand alone Foam machines: one operator typically walks back & forth between
2 machines.
Carousel Foam Line
Inject PU FoamCure Foam

Load IP Skin
Demold Finished Part
& Substrate& Prep Tool
Carousel Foam Line in Iowa City

Stand Alone Foam Machine

Foam in place edge seal off options

Typical sections of edge sealing off with beads water jet cutting

Plastic
substrate
foam
Tpo Skin

Plastic
substrate

foam

Tpo Skin

Foam flow is sealed off with beads on the

edges and run off will be trimmed later by
water jet cutting

Foam in place edge seal off options

edge sealing off with inflatable seal
Typical construction

Foam flow sealed off with

inflatable seal

Inflatable seal

Various foam pouring alternatives

7 hole pattern

25

6.35mm holes in
a 25mm diameter

cross Gate

Cylinder with
inner dia 25 , with
cross ribs the
hight is 3.5mm

Foam in place edge seal off options

Typical sections for Foam and skin section with

tighter radii condition and seal of with the tooling.
Executions for foam and skin undercut in the foam
tool.