An active bolster for an automotive vehicle includes a plastic-molded outer trim panel with a welding track on an inside surface and a plastic-molded expandable bladder member with a welding flange along a peripheral edge with a first surface facing the trim panel inside surface and a second opposed surface. The welding track and the welding flange are joined by a hot weld to form a sealed chamber. A plurality of counterbores are distributed over the welding flange in order to form rivets that mechanically strengthen the weld. Each counterbore is comprised of a neck portion penetrating the first surface and a head portion penetrating the second surface. Each head portion includes an internal ledge extending laterally from the neck portion. The hot weld includes plastic-molded material that flows from the welding track through each neck portion and spreading onto the internal ledge in each head portion.
Active bolster with hot-weld rivets
2016-06-07
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
IPC: | B60R Fahrzeuge, Fahrzeugausstattung oder Fahrzeugteile, soweit nicht anderweitig vorgesehen , VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR / B29C Formen oder Verbinden von Kunststoffen , SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS / B29L INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASS B29C, RELATING TO PARTICULAR ARTICLES , Index-Schema für besondere Gegenstände in Verbindung mit Unterklasse B29C |
Active bolster stress relief vents for failsafe weld protection
European Patent Office | 2016
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