In-Mold Coating Enters Series Production on Lexus ES
Covestro announced that a large exterior component for the Lexus ES manufactured using an in-mold coating process has entered series production.
The trunk-lid component uses Covestro’s Makroblend UT235M polymer as its substrate and is produced using Toyoda Gosei’s in-mold coating technology.
The process combines injection molding and coating in an integrated production sequence, with the surface layer formed during manufacture of the component rather than through a separate downstream conventional coating process.
Covestro said the substrate was selected to meet exterior-part quality requirements and accommodate the in-mold coating process.
The company has previously promoted direct coating technologies for automotive parts, but the new development marks commercial series production on a large Lexus exterior component.
The application gives readers following automotive OEM coatings a production-scale example of coating and molding being integrated into a single manufacturing process for a large exterior part.
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