Automotive interior material and method of manufacturing the same

Abstract

An automotive interior material with high appearance quality and a method of manufacturing the same in the following configurations and steps: A door trim 1 (automotive interior material) has a flat portion 11 (main-body portion) covering a door panel and an armrest 12 protruding into the vehicle compartment. Molten resin material added with foaming agent is supplied into a cavity CV 1 formed between a pair of molds 2, 3 . Then, opening of the pair of molds 2, 3 by a predetermined amount causes the molten resin material in the cavity CV 1 to foam. An upper surface 14 (vertical wall portion) of the armrest 12 is connected to the flat portion 11 and extends in a thickness direction of the flat portion 11 . A surface of the upper surface 14 facing outward from the vehicle compartment is formed with a recessed portion 15 . During a vehicle collision, an object in the vehicle presses the arm rest 12 formed on the door trim 1 . Then the door trim 1 is broken and deformed in the recessed portion 15 , so that the armrest 12 is crushed, thus absorbing an impact by a collision.

1 . A method of manufacturing automotive interior material,
 the automotive interior material being mounted on a vehicle body inside the vehicle compartment and having a recessed portion of a thin-wall shape in cross section on a surface facing outward from the vehicle compartment,   the automotive interior material being pressed by an object in a vehicle and deformed by the recessed portion so as to absorb an impact during a vehicle collision and   the automotive interior material including a main body covering the vehicle body and a vertical wall portion connected to the main body and extending in a thickness direction of the main-body portion,   the method comprising the steps of:   providing a protrusion portion on a portion that forms the vertical wall portion of a mold and supplying molten resin material added with foaming agent into the mold;   opening the mold by a predetermined amount in a main-body thickness direction after supplying the molten resin material into the mold to foam the molten resin material and to form the main body with a predetermined thickness; and   forming the recessed portion for the vertical wall portion by the protrusion portion.   
   
   
       2 . The method of manufacturing automotive interior material according to  claim 1 , wherein the automotive interior material is a door trim mounted on a vehicle door panel. 
   
   
       3 . An automotive interior material manufactured using the method of manufacturing automotive interior material according to  claim 1 . 
   
   
       4 . The automotive interior material according to  claim 3 , wherein the automotive interior material is a door trim mounted on a vehicle door panel. 
   
   
       5 . The automotive interior material according to  claim 4 , wherein the vertical wall portion constitutes an upper surface of an armrest of the door trim.