Encapsulated plastic panel and method of making the same

Abstract

An economical method of manufacturing a plastic glazing panel having an encapsulation for aesthetic purposes and to enhance the sealing of the glazing panel to the vehicle is presented. This economical method includes the steps of forming forming a plastic panel having an A-side and B-side; printing an opaque border from an ink with the border being in contact with the B-side of the panel and substantially encircling the perimeter of the panel; curing the ink of the opaque border; applying a weatherable layer on the printed border and the plastic panel; curing the weatherable layer; depositing an abrasion resistant layer on the weatherable layer; placing the plastic panel into a mold having a soft gasket; injecting an elastomeric material to form an encapsulation that substantially encircles the perimeter of the plastic panel and encompasses the A-side; B-side and edge of the plastic panel; and removing the plastic panel from the mold.

1 . A plastic glazing panel for use as an automotive window or sunroof, the glazing panel comprising:
 a substantially transparent plastic panel having an A-side, B-side, and an edge;   an opaque border in contact with the B-side of the plastic panel and that substantially encircles the perimeter of the plastic panel;   a weatherable layer in contact with the opaque border and the plastic panel;   an abrasion resistant layer in contact with the weatherable layer; and   an encapsulation in contact with the abrasion resistant layer and that substantially encircles the perimeter of the plastic panel.   
     
     
         2 . The plastic glazing panel of  claim 1 , wherein the encapsulation encompasses the A-side, B-side, and edge of the plastic panel. 
     
     
         3 . The plastic glazing panel of  claim 1 , wherein the encapsulation is one selected from the group of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), thermoplastic elastomers, urethanes, and thermoplastic olefins. 
     
     
         4 . The plastic glazing panel of  claim 1 , further comprising a plastic film in contact with the opaque border and the B-side of the plastic panel. 
     
     
         5 . The plastic glazing panel of  claim 4 , wherein the plastic film is in contact with the weatherable layer. 
     
     
         6 . The plastic glazing panel of  claim 1 , wherein the plastic panel is made from a thermoplastic or thermoset polymeric resin. 
     
     
         7 . The plastic glazing panel of  claim 6 , wherein the polymeric resin is one selected from polycarbonate, acrylic, polyarylate, polyester, polysulfone, and a copolymer or mixture thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The plastic glazing panel of  claim 1 , wherein the opaque border is an ink that includes a binder selected as one from a polyester-based, polycarbonate-based, and acrylate-based binder. 
     
     
         9 . The plastic glazing panel of  claim 1 , wherein the weatherable layer is one selected from silicones, polyurethanes, acrylics, polyesters, epoxies, and a copolymer or mixture thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The plastic glazing panel of  claim 9 , wherein the weatherable layer uses ultraviolet absorbing (UVA) molecules to protect the plastic panel from UV radiation. 
     
     
         11 . The plastic glazing panel of  claim 9 , wherein the weatherable layer is made up of a primer and a topcoat. 
     
     
         12 . The plastic glazing panel of  claim 1 , wherein the abrasion resistant layer is one selected from aluminum oxide, barium fluoride, boron nitride, hafnium oxide, lanthanum fluoride, magnesium fluoride, magnesium oxide, scandium oxide, silicon monoxide, silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxy-nitride, silicon oxy-carbide, hydrogenated silicon oxy-carbide, silicon carbide, tantalum oxide, titanium oxide, tin oxide, indium tin oxide, yttrium oxide, zinc oxide, zinc selenide, zinc sulfide, zirconium oxide, zirconium titanate, and a mixture or blend thereof. 
     
     
         13 . The plastic glazing panel of  claim 12 , wherein the silicon oxy-carbide abrasion resistant layer has a composition ranging from SiO x  to SiO x C y H z . 
     
     
         14 . A method of manufacturing a plastic glazing panel for use as an automotive window or sunroof, the method comprising the steps of:
 forming a plastic panel having an A-side and B-side;   printing an opaque border from an ink with the border being in contact with the B-side of the panel and substantially encircling the perimeter of the panel;   curing the ink of the opaque border;   applying a weatherable layer on the printed border and the plastic panel;   curing the weatherable layer;   depositing an abrasion resistant layer on the weatherable layer;   placing the plastic panel into a mold having a soft gasket;   injecting an elastomeric material to form an encapsulation that substantially encircles the perimeter of the plastic panel; and   removing the plastic panel from the mold.   
     
     
         15 . The method of manufacturing a plastic glazing panel of  claim 14 , wherein the step of injecting an elastomeric material forms an encapsulation that encompasses the A-side, B-side, and edge of the plastic panel. 
     
     
         16 . The method of manufacturing a plastic glazing panel of  claim 14 , further comprising the step of applying an adhesion promoter on top of the abrasion resistant layer encircling the B-side perimeter of the plastic panel prior to placing the plastic panel into the mold to form the encapsulation. 
     
     
         17 . The method of manufacturing a plastic glazing panel of  claim 16 , further comprising the step of heating the plastic panel on the A-side and B-side of the plastic panel in close temporal proximity to activate the adhesion promoter without substantially distorting the shape of the window. 
     
     
         18 . A method of manufacturing the plastic glazing panel of  claim 14 , wherein the step of forming the plastic includes a method selected from injection molding, blow molding, compression molding, thermal forming, vacuum forming, and cold forming. 
     
     
         19 . A method of manufacturing the plastic glazing panel of  claim 14 , wherein the ink printing step includes a method selected from screen printing, pad printing, or ink jet printing. 
     
     
         20 . A method of manufacturing the plastic glazing panel of  claim 14 , wherein the ink curing step uses a method selected as one of air drying, UV absorption, thermal absorption, condensation addition, thermally driven entanglement, cross-linking induced by cationic or anionic species, or a combination thereof 
     
     
         21 . A method of manufacturing the plastic glazing panel of  claim 14 , wherein the step of applying the weatherable layer uses a method selected as one of flow coating, spray coating, curtain coating, dip coating, or spin coating. 
     
     
         22 . A method of manufacturing a plastic glazing panel of  claim 14 , wherein the step of curing the weatherable layer includes a mechanism selected as one of air drying, UV absorption, thermal absorption, condensation addition, thermally driven entanglement, cross-linking induced by cationic or anionic species, and a combination thereof. 
     
     
         23 . A method of manufacturing the plastic glazing panel of  claim 14 , wherein the step of depositing an abrasion resistant layer uses a vacuum deposition technique. 
     
     
         24 . A method of manufacturing the plastic glazing panel of  claim 22 , wherein the step of depositing an abrasion resistant layer uses a vacuum deposition technique selected from plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), expanding thermal plasma PECVD, plasma polymerization, photochemical vapor deposition, ion beam deposition, ion plating deposition, cathodic arc deposition, sputtering, evaporation, hollow-cathode activated deposition, magnetron activated deposition, activated reactive evaporation, thermal chemical vapor deposition, and any known sol-gel coating process. 
     
     
         25 . A method of manufacturing the plastic glazing panel of  claim 14 , wherein the steps of printing an opaque border from an ink and curing the ink on the plastic panel is replaced with the steps of
 printing an opaque border from an ink on to a plastic film;   curing the ink on the plastic film; and   forming and adhering the opaque border and the plastic film to the B-side of the plastic panel so that the opaque border substantially encircles the perimeter of the plastic panel.