Method of manufacturing an in-mold laminate component

Abstract

A method is provided for manufacturing a painted plastic component such as painted air bag covers, side cladding or exterior bumpers, which includes a painted film sheet and a one-piece thermoplastic elastomeric structural carrier. A bottom contact surface of the film sheet bonds with a front contact surface of the structural carrier by diffusion between the contact surfaces thereof within a mold cavity of an injection mold separate from the mold cavity of a vacuum mold which is utilized to vacuum-mold the film sheet to form the desired painted plastic component.

1 . A system for manufacturing a molded plastic component, the system comprising an injection mold configured to accept a pre-painted film sheet vacuum molded to define a pre-form, the injection mold further configured to receive a thermoplastic elastomer injected, at a pressure of 50 psi to 15,000 psi, into a mold cavity of the injection mold to generate a structural carrier for the pre-form, the generation of the structural carrier creating sufficient pressure and heat to bond the structural carrier to a bottom surface of the pre-form to form the molded plastic component, the pre-painted film sheet including a film sheet selected from the group consisting of polyester, polycarbonate, and polyurethane, a layer of acrylic color, a layer of polyvinylidine fluoride and an acrylic clear coat.