Appeal No. 94-4094
Application 07/900,769
11. A method of fabricating, within a vehicle body
assembly line, a floor panel of a vehicle body having a honeycomb
sandwich structure including a first plate, a second plate and a
honeycomb core sandwiched between said first plate and said
second plate, said second plate being an integral part of a
structural panel of said vehicle body, said honeycomb sandwich
structure being composed of a pre-formed sub-honeycomb panel with
a predetermined shape and including said first plate connected to
a first surface of said honeycomb core, said method comprising
the steps of:
strengthening said second plate by connecting said
structural panel to a strength member, said second plate being
integral to said structural panel, and said strength member being
a part of a vehicle body framework;
pressing said pre-formed sub-honeycomb panel against
said second plate with an adhesive layer therebetween to thereby
connect a second surface of said honeycomb core to said second
plate, said second surface of said honeycomb core being
oppositely located to said first surface, wherein said honeycomb
core is made of paper having permeability, wherein said step of
pressing said sub-honeycomb panel against said second plate
occurs immediately after a drying step conducted after washing of
a painting stage of said vehicle body to thereby prevent said
honeycomb core from getting wet, wherein said step of pressing
said sub-honeycomb panel includes the step of releasing pressure
formed within said sub-honeycomb panel by said pressing step to
thereby prevent damaging said sub-honeycomb core due to pressure
inside a plurality of cells in said sub-honeycomb as a result of
the pressing thereof onto said strengthened second plate.
The references of record relied upon by the examiner are:
Barenyi 2,757,447 Aug. 7, 1956
Kaller et al. (Kaller) 4,728,383 Mar. 1, 1988
Vogt et al. (Vogt) 2,115,753 Sep. 14, 1983
(UK Patent Application)
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