GB2173168A

GB2173168A - Method of forming vehicle body panel

Info

Publication number: GB2173168A
Application number: GB08604538A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gordon Frederick Belleau; Michael Joseph Jelcin; William A Malopolski; Charles Frederick Verga
Original assignee: General Motors Corp
Current assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
Priority date: 1985-03-28
Filing date: 1986-02-24
Publication date: 1986-10-08
Also published as: GB2173168B; GB8604538D0

Abstract

To form a pair of vehicle body panels which have an irregular configuration, resin-impregnated filamentary material is wound about a pair of back-to-back mandrels (22) which conform to the desired configuration and is then enclosed between the mandrels (22) and associated moulds (56, 58) to cause the filamentary material to conform to the shape of the mandrels (22).

Description

SPECIFICATION Method of forming vehicle body panel Technical field This invention relates to a method of forming a filament-wound vehicle body panel.

Background The technology for forming structures from windings of filamentary material has been applied to a variety of products. To form a filament-wound product, fibres of either thread-like or ribbon-like filamentary material impregnated with a resin are wound about a mandrel and cured to create a product having a strong, lightweight structure.

Summary of the invention This invention provides a method of employing the filament winding technology to form a vehicle body panel which has an irregular configuration.

In accordance with this invention, a vehicle body panel is formed by repeatedly winding filamentary material about a mandrel having a shape conforming to the desired configuration and then closing the wound filamentary material between the mandrel and an associated mould to cause it to conform to the shape of the mandrel.

The details as well as other features and advantages of a preferred embodiment of this invention are set forth in the remainder of the specification and are shown in the accompanying drawings.

Summary of the drawings Figure 1 is a schematic view of a filament-wound truck underbody unit formed according to this invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic plan view of a platen supporting eight mandrels employed to form filament-wound truck underbody units according to this invention.

Figure 3 is a schematic side elevation view of the platen and mandrels of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a schematic view of a filament winding machine winding a flange about each of the truck underbody units.

Figure 5 is a schematic side view of a filament winding machine winding a first layer of filamentary material for each of the truck underbody units.

Figure 6 is a schematic end view of the Figure 5 machine.

Figure 7 is a schematic side view of a pair of moulds causing the first layer of filamentary material to conform to the shape of the mandrels.

Figure 8 is a schematic view of Figure 5 machine winding a second layer of filamentary material for each of the truck underbody units.

Figure 9 is a schematic view of the Figure 7 moulds causing the second layer of filamentary material to conform to the shape of the mandrels.

Figure 10 is a schematic view of the Figure 5 machine winding a third layer of filamentary material for each of the truck underbody units.

Figure 11 is a schematic view of the Figure 7 moulds causing the third layer of filamentary material to conform to the shape of the mandrels.

Figure 12 is a schematic sectional view of a mould providing an alternative method of forming a flange about each of the truck underbody units.

To better illustrate the equipment preferably employed in this method of forming a vehicle body panel, the layers of filamentary material covering the mandrels have been omitted from the schematic views of Figures 5-11.

The preferred embodiment This invention may be employed to form a vehicle body panel having an irregular configuration, such as a truck underbody unit 10 shown in Figure 1. Underbody unit 10 has a generally flat floor pan 12, an angled toe board 14, and a raised driveline tunnel 16 with a transmission linkage access opening 18 and is surrounded by a depending flange 20.

Referring next to Figures 2 and 3, eight mandrels 22 conforming to the shape of underbody unit 10 are mounted in back-to-back relationship on a platen 24 so that eight underbody units may be formed simultaneously.

The machine illustrated in Figure 4 may be used to wind flange 20 in the fashion of a picture frame about the edge of each mandrel 22. It has a plurality of creels 25 carried on a wheel 26. Wheel 26 is suspended from a carriage 28 guided on a horizontal track 30, and track 30 is supported for horizontal and vertical movement. Movement of wheel 26 and track 30 will combine to pull filamentary material such as continuous glass fibre 32 from creels 25 through a resin bath 34 and a forming band 36 and wind it about each of mandrels 22 with the desired tension to form a flange 20 for each underbody unit.

The apparatus shown in Figures 5-11 may be used to wind filamentary material about mandrels 22 to form the floor pan 2, toe board 14 and driveline tunnel 16 of each underbody unit 10. It has a platen drive 38 and a dead centre 40 which are advanced along tracks 42 and 44 and received in one of four sets of diametrically located recesses 46 in platen 24. Drive 38 rotates platen 24 about a horizontal axis, and rotation of platen 24 pulls filamentary material such as resin-impregnated continuous glass fibre 48 from creels 50 supported in horizontally movable beds 51 (Figure 6) through forming bands 52 and winds it about mandrels 22 with the desired tension to form a first layer of the underbody units 10.

After the first layer of filamentary material is wound about mandrels 22, a lift 54 raises a lower fibreglass mould 56 to engage the filamentary material wound about mandrels 22 and thus suppport platen 24 and mandrels 22, drive 38 and centre 40 are retracted along tracks 42 and 44 to disengage platen 24, and as shown in Figure 7, an upper fibreglass mould 58 is lowered to engage the filamentary material wound about mandrels 22. The filamentary material is thus closed between mandrels 22 and moulds 56 and 58 which, like mandrels 22, conform to the shape of underbody unit 10, and the filamentary material is thereby caused to conform to the shape of mandrels 22.

Upper mould 58 is then lifted, and drive unit 54 raises lower mould 56 with mandrels 22 and platen 24 and indexes them about vertical axis to align a second set of platen recesses 46 with drive 38 and centre 40. Drive 38 and centre 40 are advanced along tracks 40 and 42 to engage in the second set of recesses 46, lift 54 lowers mould 56, and as shown in Figure 8, drive 38 rotates platen 24 about a horizontal axis to wind filamentary material in a second direction about mandrels 22 with the desired tension to form a second layer of the underbody units 10.

After the second layer of filamentary material is wound about mandrels 22, lift 54 again raises lower mould 56 to engage the filamentary material wound about mandrels 22 and thus support platen 24 and mandrels 22, drive 38 and centre 40 are again retracted along tracks 42 and 44 to disengage platen 24, and as shown in Figure 9, upper mould 58 is again lowered to engage the filamentary material wound about mandrels 22. The filamentary material is thus again closed between mandrels 22 and moulds 56 and 58, and the second layer of filamentary material is thereby caused to conform to the shape of mandrels 22.

Upper mould 58 is again lifted, and drive unit 54 again raises lower mould 56 with mandrels 22 and platen 24 and indexes them about a vertical axis to align a third set of platen recesses 46 with drive 38 and centre 40. Drive 38 and centre 40 are again advanced along tracks 40 and 42 to engage in the third set of recesses 46, lift 54 again lowers mould 56, and as shown in Figure 10, drive 38 again rotates platen 24 about a horizontal axis to wind filamentary material in a third direction about mandrels 22 with the desired tension to form a third layer of the underbody units 10.

After the third layer of filamentary material is wound about mandrels 22, lift 54 again raises lower mould 56 to engage the filamentary material wound about mandrels 22 and thus support platen 24 and mandrels 22, drive 38 and centre 40 are again retracted along tracks 42 and 44 to disengage platen 24, and as shown in Figure 11, upper mould 58 is lowered to engage the filamentary material wound about mandrels 22. The filamentary material is thus again closed between mandrels 22 and moulds 56 and 58, and the third layer of filamentary material is thereby caused to conform to the shape of mandrels 22.

The steps of winding filamentary material about mandrels 22 and then closing the filamentary material between mandrels 22 and moulds 56 and 58 may be repeated to form layers wound in other directions and additional layers wound in the same directions until the desired thickness is achieved in the underbody units 10.

Once this desired thickness is achieved in the underbody units, the resin-impregnated filamentary material of these units is allowed to cure, and the completed underbody units 10 are removed from the respective mandrels 22.

it will be appreciated that the filament winding machine shown in Figure 4 could be employed to wind the underbody unit flanges after the floor pans, toe boards and driveline tunnels have been formed rather than before they are formed.

As an alternative, the moulds may include rims, such as the rim 60 of mould 58' shown in Figure 12, which surround mandrels 22 and push the filamentary material 48 down over the edges of mandrels 22 to form underbody unit flanges 20'.

Further, in addition to or in place of forming flanges 20', rims 60 may include cutting formations 62 which co-operate with platen 24' to cut the filamentary material about mandrels 22 and thus separate each of the eight underbody units 10 from its mandrel 22.

The moulds also may include cutting formations which co-operate with platen 24 or 24' to form a transmission linkage access opening 18 in each underbody unit 10.

Claims

1. A method of forming a vehicle body panel having an irregular configuration, which method includes the steps of: providing a mandrel and a mould both conforming to the shape of the body panel, winding a first layer of resin- impregnated filamentary material in one direction about the mandrel; enclosing the first layer of filamentary material between the mandrel and the mould to cause the first layer of filamentary material to conform to the shape of the mandrel, removing the mould from the mandrel and the conformed first layer; winding a second layer of filamentary material in a second direction about the conformed first layer on the mandrel, and enclosing the first and second layers of filamentary material between the mandrel and the mould to cause the second layer of filamentary material also to conform to the shape of the mandrel.

2. A method of forming a pair of vehicle body panels having irregular configurations, which method includes the steps of: providing a pair of mandrels positioned in back4o-back relationship with one another, and upper and lower moulds, all of which conform to the shapes of the body panels; winding a first layer of resin-impregnated filamentary material in one direction about the mandrels; enclosing the first layer of filamentary material on the mandrels between the moulds to cause the first layer of filamentary material to conform to the shapes of the mandrel; removing both the moulds from the mandrels; winding a second layer of filamentary material in a second direction about the conformed first layer on the mandrels, and enclosing the first and second layers of filamentary material on the mandrels between the moulds to cause the second layer of filamentary material also to conform to the shapes of the mandrels.

3. A method of forming a vehicle body panel having an irregular configuration according to claim 1, in which the method includes the steps of winding a length of resin-impregnated filamentary material about the perimeter of the mandrel to form a flange for the body panel.

4. A method of forming vehicle body panels having irregular configurations, substantially as hereinbefore particularly described with reference to Figures 1 to 11 of the accompanying drawings.

5. A method of forming vehicle body panels having irregular configurations, substantially as hereinbefore particularly described with reference to Figures 1 to 11, as modified by Figure 12, of the accompanying drawings.