'Green' Door-Trim Panels Use PP & Natural Fibers.Automotive interior supplier Johnson Controls Johnson Controls, Inc. (NYSE: JCI) is a United States company, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, specializing in the design, manufacturing, and installation of automotive systems, automotive batteries (Optima[1] based in Denver, Colorado) and climate control systems. , Inc. of Plymouth, Mich., has started production of door-trim panels for the 2001 DaimlerChrysler Sebring convertible. These are the first to utilize Johnson Controls' new Eco-Cor material and process based on polypropylene reinforced with natural fibers. The compression molding Compression molding is a method of molding in which the molding material, generally preheated, is first placed in an open, heated mold cavity. The mold is closed with a top force or plug member, pressure is applied to force the material into contact with all mold areas, and heat process forms a low-cost door panel and bonds the film/foam cover in one step, eliminating the adhesives formerly used. Other benefits reportedly include reduced part weight, higher strength, improved acoustic properties, and reduced tooling cost. The natural fibers reportedly also contribute side-impact protection. The composite used for this application is a blend of 50% PP fiber, 25% kenaf Noun 1. kenaf - fiber from an East Indian plant Hibiscus cannabinus deccan hemp bimli, bimli hemp, Bombay hemp, Hibiscus cannabinus, kanaf, kenaf, Indian hemp, deccan hemp - valuable fiber plant of East Indies now widespread in cultivation fiber, and 25% hemp hemp, common name for a tall annual herb (Cannabis sativa) of the family Cannabinaceae, native to Asia but now widespread because of its formerly large-scale cultivation for the bast fiber (also called hemp) and for the drugs it yields. . A carding process combines the PP and natural fibers into a mat with very uniform fiber distribution. The mats are produced by Indiana Bio-Composites (IBC IBC International Building Code IBC Iraq Body Count IBC Institutional Biosafety Committee IBC Inflammatory Breast Cancer IBC International Business Company IBC Independence Blue Cross IBC Insurance Bureau of Canada IBC International Broadcasting Convention ) in Elkhart, Ind., which is part-owned by kenaf grower Kafus Bio-Composites, Inc. of Boston. IBC started producing the mats under the name Flexform last year. The mat is heated in an oven and then placed in a cold compression mold, where the melted polypropylene flows and wets out the natural fibers. The mat also melt-bonds in the tool to the cover stock of polyolefin foam with a PVC PVC: see polyvinyl chloride. PVC in full polyvinyl chloride Synthetic resin, an organic polymer made by treating vinyl chloride monomers with a peroxide. skin. JCI's new Warren, Mich., plant produces the door-trim panels for DaimlerChrysler. The Eco-Cor substrate weighs 3 lb and the complete panel weighs 2 lb less than the car company's target. DaimlerChrysler's four-door Stratus also uses Eco-Cor in the cloth-covered door-panel insert. Johnson Controls is currently developing door-trim panels of EcoCor with an all-TPO film/foam coverstock. |
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