The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 30, 2002
Filed:
Apr. 28, 2000
George B. Byma, Haar, DE;
Brian A. Cristea, Royal Oak, MI (US);
Richard Mühlbacher, Grassau, DE;
Lear Corporation, Southfield, MI (US);
Abstract
The present invention involves a method and system for manufacturing a multiple density substrate for impact energy absorption with a mold having a mold cavity of a predetermined shape. The multiple density substrate is integrally formed by the method comprising providing a first set of unbonded pre-expanded beads having a first density and a second set of unbonded pre-expanded beads having a second density, loading a portion of the mold with the first set of unbonded beads at a predetermined location in the mold sufficiently to leave a void in the mold, and separately injecting the loaded mold portion with a sufficient second set of unbonded beads into the void. The method further includes bonding the first and second sets of beads together with heat to define a molded set of bonded beads having the predetermined shape and cooling the molded set of bonded beads sufficiently to define the multiple density substrate.