Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Visteon Global Technolgoies, Inc.

Ford Motor Company Limited

Other

Jeffrey Alan Kinane

David Robert Collins

Paul Earl Pergande

Grigoriy Grinberg

Matthew John Zaluzec

Jim Welniak

Armando Mateo Joaquin

Deborah Rose Pank

Rick Thomas Heaman

Charles Chen

An instrument panel for an automobile passenger compartment comprises a substrate with a pre-weakened outline formed therein defining a panel door. A chute is mounted to the substrate and a support door with a hinge portion and a door portion is mounted to the chute. The hinge portion is attached to the chute and the door portion is pivotally attached to the hinge portion. The door portion is further attached to the panel door by a plastic inner door panel that is vibration welded to the panel door through apertures within the door portion of the support door.

Seamless door system for an airbag

A method of spray forming a weldable metal deposit. The method comprises (a) providing a ceramic spray forming pattern, (b) heating the spray forming pattern to a sustained temperature sufficient to prevent internal stress formation in deposited carbon steel having a carbon content of less than about 0.3 weight percent when deposited on the heated spray forming pattern, (c) spraying metallic particles onto the spray forming pattern heated to the sustained temperature, and (d) allowing the sprayed metallic particles to cool to form a metal deposit. The metallic particles have a carbon content which is sufficient to result in metal particles having a carbon content of less than about 0.3 weight percent when deposited on the heated spray forming pattern. The resulting deposit has a carbon content of less than about 0.3 weight percent.

Method of spray forming readily weldable and machinable metal deposits

The present invention relates to a method of making a molding tool comprising a core die and a cavity die. The method comprises (a) providing a first metal deposit comprising one of the cavity die or the core die, the first metal deposit having a die face, (b) providing a spray forming pattern on a portion of the die face of the first metal deposit,(c) spraying metal particles onto the first metal deposit and the spray forming pattern to form a second metal deposit comprising the other of the cavity die or the core die, and (d) removing the spray forming pattern from the first and second metal deposits.

Method of making tools having a core die and a cavity die

A method of integrating wear plates into a spray formed rapid tool includes the steps of making a model of a desired tool and constructing a ceramic pattern as the inverse of the model. The method also includes the steps of locating at least one wear plate on the ceramic pattern and thermally spraying a metal material against the wear plate and ceramic pattern to form the desired tool and embedding the wear plate into the desired tool.

Method of integrating wear plates into a spray formed rapid tool

A method of making a spray formed rapid tool includes the steps of making a model of a desired tool and directly constructing a sand pattern as the inverse of the model. The method also includes the steps of thermally spraying metal material against the sand pattern to form the desired tool.

Method of making a spray formed rapid tool

A method of reducing distortion in a spray formed rapid tool includes the steps of making a model of a desired tool and constructing a ceramic pattern as the inverse of the model. The method also includes the steps of building a thermal model of the desired tool from a solid model of the ceramic pattern and applying thermal boundary conditions to the thermal model based on known conditions. The method also includes the steps of running the thermal model to produce a temperature distribution of the desired tool and determining any temperature deviations in the temperature distribution above a predetermined value. The method further includes thermally spraying a metal material against the ceramic pattern to form the desired tool if there are no temperature deviations in the temperature distribution above the predetermined value.

Method of reducing distortion in a spray formed rapid tool

A spray forming pattern of a first metal having a melting point at a first temperature is formed. The spray forming pattern has a surface defining a cavity that has the shape of a master pattern. Steel particles having a carbon content in the range of 0.01-0.9% by weight are sprayed onto the spray forming pattern to form a deposit on the spray forming pattern. The deposit has a thickness of at least 0.5 inches and the temperature of the steel particles increases as the thickness of the steel deposit increases. The spraying conditions are controlled so that the steel particles coming into contact with the spray forming pattern results in a surface temperature of the spray forming pattern of less than about 80.degree. C. The deposit and the spray forming pattern are heated to a second temperature, which is higher than the first temperature, to melt the spray forming pattern from the deposit. The resulting deposit has the general shape of the master pattern.

Method of spray forming metal deposits using a metallic spray forming

Method of making a mask assembly by providing a heat resistance mask substrate having an exposed surface with a surface smoothness less than 2000 micro inches, uniformly spraying a thermoset epoxy organic coating onto such exposed surface in one or more layers to provide a coating having (e.g., a thickness equal to or less than about 0.005 inches), a smoothness characterized by an average profilometer reading (Ra) of no greater than 1.5 micrometers, said coating being devoid of pores that exceed about 0003 inch in size, and flame polishing all or a portion of such coating to effect a surface finish of about 1.0 micrometers. A mask assembly which is useful in masking areas from thermal spray particles, comprising a heat resistance substrate presenting an exposed grit blasted surface having a smoothness of less than 2000, and a thin thermoset epoxy coating bonded to said exposed surface and having a surface smoothness characterized by an average profilometer reading (Ra) no greater than 1.5.

Making and using thermal spray masks carrying thermoset epoxy coating

A method of integrating detailed features into a spray formed rapid tool includes the steps of making a model of a desired tool and constructing a ceramic pattern as the inverse of the model. The method also includes the steps of locating at least one detailed feature insert on the ceramic pattern and thermally spraying metal material against the detailed feature insert and ceramic pattern to form the desired tool and embedding the detailed feature insert into the desired tool.

Method of integrating detailed features into a spray formed rapid tool

Method of sprayforming bulk metal deposits that replicate a master pattern: (i) casting and solidifying ceramic about a master pattern to form a spraying pattern; (ii) after removing the spraying pattern from the master pattern, heating the ceramic spraying pattern to a sustained temperature to effect an isothermal diffusion dependent microstructural transformation; (iii) while in such heated condition, thermally spraying allotropic metal particles onto the heated spraying pattern to form a deposit having a bulk thickness, the particles impacting the spraying pattern, or previously deposited particles, at a temperature above the sustained temperature of the spraying pattern; (iv) holding the deposit on the heated spraying pattern sufficiently long enough to allow the particles of the deposit to undergo a diffusion reaction that relieves internal stresses due to deposition and solidification; and (v) thereafter gradually cooling the deposit to room temperature to produce a unitary article with essentially no distortion relative to the spraying pattern.

Sprayforming bulk deposits of allotropic metal

A method of depositing a dielectric coating, comprising the steps of forming an unroughened or roughened, as-cast or wrought substrate surface to receive the coatings; and flame spraying a single premixed thermoplastic epoxy/hardener powder onto the surface, the resultant in-flight heated powder being chemically activated to impact the surface and form a chemically adhering coating, the coating being cured in-situ to be dielectric and thermally conductive.

Growing community of inventors

Birmingham, MI, United States of America

Jeffrey Alan Kinane