CN115957952A

CN115957952A - Method for customizing external plastic parts of motor vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN115957952A
Application number: CN202210757237.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 泽维尔·胡萨科
Original assignee: Plastic Omnium SE
Current assignee: Plastic Omnium SE
Priority date: 2021-10-13
Filing date: 2022-06-29
Publication date: 2023-04-14
Also published as: FR3127900A1; FR3127901A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for personalized customization of an external plastic part (2) of a motor vehicle, comprising at least one face (6) covered with at least a first varnish (12), comprising the following steps: -subjecting at least one area of the first varnish (12) to a surface treatment for increasing the surface energy, -realizing at least one decorative pattern (14) by depositing a colored ink (18) on at least a part of the area of the first varnish (12) subjected to the surface treatment, and-applying a second varnish (20) on the colored ink (18).

Description

Method for customizing external plastic parts of motor vehicle

Technical Field

The invention relates to a method for (personalizing) customising a motor vehicle exterior plastic part.

Background

"Motor vehicle exterior plastic part" means any motor vehicle plastic part, any part made of plastic that is mounted on the exterior of the vehicle and is therefore visible from the exterior of the vehicle. For example, it may involve: a body panel of the front or rear bumper type, or even a rear-view mirror housing.

More and more motor vehicle manufacturers desire to personalize these exterior plastic parts to improve the overall aesthetic appearance of the motor vehicle, so that they can be easily identified, or to provide different finishes (decorative finishes) of the same vehicle with different associated price ranges. It is therefore desirable to develop a solution that enables the implementation of decorative patterns that allow this personalization.

Such decorative patterns can be made by coating them on an outer plastic part. One possibility consists in modifying the known painting process (successive application of primer and of lacquer) in order to paint said one or more personalized elements during the painting process.

However, the protective varnish must cover the personalized elements in order to comply with the manufacturer's specifications in terms of resistance of the vehicle paint to external conditions (chipping resistance, corrosion resistance, etc.). Therefore, it is necessary to realize a decorative pattern before applying the protective varnish. Thus, the decorative pattern will be realized after painting the whole part, for example after applying the primer and the base paint, before applying the clear paint and before passing through the baking oven at the end of the painting chain (painting line) in order to obtain the baking of the paint cross-linking. This solution can be difficult to implement, since it requires additional steps in the painting chain and in particular a particularly targeted application (arrangement) to achieve a clear pattern in a very short time to maintain the production rhythm.

This therefore requires modifying the layout of all the plastic parts painting chains, while in fact, by default, the production of decorative patterns is actually carried out on only some of the parts. This leads to a complication of the painting chain for all external plastic parts, even those that do not require personalization.

One possibility would be to achieve a decorative pattern after painting and firing of the panel. The main problem is then that it is very difficult to make the paint adhere to the varnish of the part, it being in fact the varnish that has been developed to prevent this type of adhesion.

Moreover, none of the personalised painting devices used so far is very precise, with cloud phenomena of paint droplets occurring in the painting booth (known as "overspray" or overspray). These paint droplets drip onto the part in areas outside the target area involved in applying the paint. Therefore, masking of the area where the decoration is not provided is necessary before the decorative pattern is realized, which leads to implementation costs and consumables, and then the paint must be captured in the air and then disposed of again.

Disclosure of Invention

The aim of the present invention is to provide a painting method (process) which allows to customize certain external plastic parts of a motor vehicle without complicating the painting method (process) of all the plastic parts to be painted.

To this effect, the subject of the invention is a method for personalized customization of an external plastic part for a motor vehicle, the external plastic part comprising at least one face covered with at least a first varnish, the personalized customization method comprising the following steps:

-subjecting at least one area of the first varnish to a surface treatment for increasing the surface energy,

-realizing at least one decorative pattern by depositing a colored ink on at least a portion of the area subjected to the surface treatment of the first varnish, and

-applying a second varnish on the colored ink.

Thus, the decorative pattern is created only after painting the outer plastic part. Thus, there is no need to modify (change) the painting process for all painted parts, but only those parts that require personalization are reworked.

Further, although conventionally a varnish is prepared to prevent any outer cover from adhering on its surface, a surface treatment capable of increasing the surface energy of the area where the decorative pattern is to be realized allows adhesion of the colored ink.

Finally, achieving a decorative pattern by depositing colored ink enables an accurate decorative pattern to be achieved with reduced or no ink loss, which reduces or eliminates the need for any trapped paint in the air and the need to reprocess the trapped paint. The second varnish applied on the ink ensures protection of the decorative pattern against external attack.

According to the invention, the personalized customization method can adopt, alone or in combination, optional other features:

-the realization of the decorative pattern comprises the deposition of a primer on at least a portion of the first varnish that has been subjected to a surface treatment before the deposition of the coloured ink;

-depositing of the colour ink by colour ink jetting. This is a method that is accurate and does not lose colored ink;

-crosslinking the basecoat, the colored ink and the second clearcoat by ultraviolet irradiation. This results in a fast and less costly crosslinking by means of a proprietary way of exposing the decorative pattern to uv light.

-the basecoat, the color ink, and the second clearcoat are crosslinked after their respective depositions or after all depositions;

-the surface treatment is achieved by a method selected from: low temperature rotating plasma treatment or roasting treatment.

-applying a second varnish over a larger area than the coloured ink; and

-covering the motor vehicle exterior plastic part with a first primer, a basecoat and a first clearcoat before the surface treatment.

The subject of the invention is also an exterior plastic part for a motor vehicle, comprising at least one face covered with at least a first varnish, the first varnish being covered in at least one area with a decorative pattern, the decorative pattern being formed by a coloured ink and a second varnish.

According to the invention, the outer plastic part can adopt, alone or in combination, optional other features:

-the decorative pattern comprises a primer between the first varnish and the coloured ink;

the motor vehicle exterior plastic part is a body panel; and

-the face is covered with a first primer and a lacquer arranged below the first varnish.

Drawings

The invention will be better understood from reading the following description, provided purely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an exterior plastic part of a motor vehicle according to the present invention; and

fig. 2 is a diagram of the steps of a personalized customization method according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

Reference is now made to fig. 1, which shows an exterior plastic part 2 of a motor vehicle in a sectional view. This may for example relate to a body panel, for example a bumper skin. In any case, this may relate to any plastic part of the motor vehicle which is mounted on the outside of the vehicle and is therefore visible from the outside of the vehicle.

The plastic part is formed by a body 4 made of plastic material, for example thermoplastic material, for example made of a material selected from the following group of materials: polycarbonate (PC), polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), translucent Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate (ASA), acrylonitrile Styrene (SAN), mixtures of acrylonitrile styrene acrylate and polycarbonate, mixtures of polycarbonate and polyethylene terephthalate, amorphous polyolefins such as Cyclic Olefin Copolymer (COC) or Cyclic Olefin Polymer (COP), or even polypropylene (PP).

At least one face of the body 4 is painted, for example an exterior face 6 visible from the outside of the vehicle. This face is covered with at least a first varnish 12.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 1, it may be covered with a first primer 8, a base paint 10, and a first clear paint 12. This will be explained hereinafter. However, it may be covered with only the first varnish 12. The painting process of the face may be a conventional painting process known to the person skilled in the art and is not further described in this application. The same is true for the composition used to make the first basecoat 8, the basecoat 10, and the first clearcoat 12. However, it is noted that the painted surface of body 4 (e.g. exterior face 6) may be subjected to a surface treatment by baking prior to painting to facilitate adhesion of the paint to body 4. (thus, it can be said that the main body 4 is activated).

At least one region of the body 4 includes a decorative pattern 14. This may relate to any pattern (logo of the manufacturer's trademark, vehicle type marking, etc.) that the motor vehicle manufacturer desires to be visible from outside the motor vehicle. The pattern is formed by a coloured ink 18 deposited on the first varnish 12 (i.e. on at least a part of the area of the first varnish 12 that has undergone the surface treatment) and a second varnish 20 deposited on the coloured ink 18. Preferably, the second varnish 20 is applied over a larger (wider) area than the colored ink 18 to ensure complete coverage with colored ink 18 (see fig. 1). Alternatively, it may be applied only on the colored ink 18. Both the colored ink 18 and the second varnish 20 are preferably applied (deposited) by printing.

The decorative pattern 14 may also consist of a primer (this is a second primer 16 if the motor vehicle exterior plastic part 2 is covered with the first primer 8) deposited on the first varnish 12, i.e. on at least a part of the area of the first varnish 12 that has undergone the surface treatment. Thereby, the primer extends between the first varnish 12 and the colored ink 18. The use of a primer depends inter alia on whether the coloured ink 18 requires a primer due to its composition.

With regard to the method for the personalized customisation of motor vehicle exterior parts 2, this method first paints the motor vehicle exterior part 2 by applying a first primer 8, a lacquer 10 and a first varnish 12 (step 22 of fig. 2), or by applying only the first varnish 12; then, baking is carried out to cause cross-linking (step 24 of fig. 2), by means of a local surface treatment of one or more regions of the surface to be painted (for example the external face 6), with the aim of increasing the surface energy of the first varnish 12 (step 26 of fig. 2). In other words, the surface treatment enables adhesion of the second primer 16 or coloured ink 18 to the first varnish 12 by implementing a surface treatment only locally, so as to enable customisation after a standard painting process, while not affecting the portion of the motor vehicle exterior part that does not receive the customisation element.

The surface treatment may be achieved by a treatment method of low-temperature rotational plasma (plasma rota-tion) or the like. The plasma jet is ejected against at least one area of the first varnish 12 to enable future adhesion of the second primer 16 (or coloured ink 18) onto the first varnish 12.

Alternatively, firing (waving) the first varnish 12 at one or more areas where the decorative pattern 14 is to be realized may be carried out to locally increase the surface energy of the first varnish 12. The conditions for firing may be as follows:

-gas type: the concentration of the propane,

-air flow rate: 300NL/h of the total length of the pipe,

-gas flow rate: 14.6NL/h,

-burner height: 80mm; and

-speed of movement: 500 mm/sec.

After this surface treatment, the decorative pattern 14 may be realized (step 28 of fig. 2). This realization will be carried out by selecting a print head in accordance with the decorative pattern to be obtained and the various stages, in particular the polymerization stage, will depend on the composition used (crosslinking time, power of the energy source allowing crosslinking, etc.).

First, and if necessary, on the first varnish 12, at least a part of one or more areas subjected to the above surface treatment, a second primer 16 is locally applied.

After application, the second primer 16 may be crosslinked by ultraviolet irradiation. In other words, the second primer is exposed to ultraviolet radiation, such as ultraviolet lamps (e.g., LED lamps), in order to rapidly, locally and thus inexpensively crosslink the second primer.

After the second primer 16 is crosslinked, a colored ink 18 is deposited over the first primer 16. If no primer has been previously applied, the colored ink 18 is deposited directly on the first clear coat 12. The colored ink 18 may be deposited, for example, by inkjet (i.e., "inkjet") technology. It allows to achieve a decorative pattern 14 that is very accurate and without ink loss. Once the colored ink 18 is deposited, it can be crosslinked by ultraviolet irradiation, as with the second primer 16. The ink is distinguished from the lacquer significantly by the use of a polymeric resin which is different from the lacquer.

Finally, a second varnish 20 is applied on the coloured ink 18 to protect the decorative pattern 14 and thus to meet the manufacturer's specifications (chip resistance, corrosion resistance, etc.). The varnish is then cross-linked (step 30 of fig. 2), preferably also by ultraviolet irradiation, but more preferably by means of mercury lamps instead of LED lamps. The second varnish 20 may, for example, be a varnish that has been used in the case of application to motor vehicle headlamps. As mentioned above, the second primer 16, the colored ink 18 and the second clear coat 20 may be crosslinked at once after deposition of all layers, where possible.

List of reference numerals

2: motor vehicle exterior plastic part

4: main body

6: exterior face

8: first primer

10: base paint

12: first varnish

14: decorative pattern

16: second primer

18: colored ink

20: second varnish

22: painting at least one face of an external plastic part

24: roasting for thermal cross-linking

26: local surface treatment of varnishes

28: realizing decorative patterns

30: crosslinking of the second varnish.

Claims

1. A personalized customization method for an external plastic part (2) of a motor vehicle comprising at least one face (6) covered with at least a first varnish (12), characterized in that it comprises the following steps:

-subjecting at least one area of the first varnish (12) to a surface treatment for increasing the surface energy,

-by depositing a coloured ink (18) on at least a portion of said area of said first varnish (12) subjected to a surface treatment, to realize at least one decorative pattern (14), and

-applying a second varnish (20) over the coloured ink (18).

2. The personalized customization method of claim 1, wherein implementing the decorative pattern comprises depositing a primer (16) on at least a portion of the first varnish that has been subjected to a surface treatment prior to depositing the colored ink.

3. The personalized customization method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the deposition of the color ink (18) is effected by color ink jetting.

4. The personalized customization method of any of claims 2 and 3, wherein the basecoat (16), the colored ink (18), and the second clearcoat (20) are crosslinked by ultraviolet irradiation.

5. The personalized customization method of claim 4, wherein the basecoat (16), the colored ink (18), and the second clearcoat (20) are crosslinked after their respective depositions or after all depositions.

6. The personalized customization method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the surface treatment is achieved by a method selected from the group consisting of: low-temperature rotary plasma treatment or roasting treatment.

7. The personalized customization method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the second varnish (20) is applied over a larger area than the colored ink (18).

8. The personalized customization method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, before the surface treatment, the motor vehicle external plastic part is covered with a first primer (8), a lacquer (10) and the first clear coat (12).

9. Motor vehicle exterior plastic part (2) comprising at least one face (6) covered with at least a first varnish (12), characterized in that the first varnish (12) is covered in at least one area with a decorative pattern (14), the decorative pattern (14) being formed by a coloured ink (18) and a second varnish (20).

10. The motor vehicle exterior plastic part (2) according to claim 9, wherein the decorative pattern (14) comprises a primer (16) between the first clear coat (12) and the colored ink (18).

11. The motor vehicle exterior plastic part (2) according to any one of claims 9 or 10, wherein the motor vehicle exterior plastic part is a body panel.

12. The motor vehicle exterior plastic part (2) according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the face (6) is covered with a first primer (8) and a lacquer (10) arranged below the first clear coat (12).