Joint Patenting By Big Three Automakers Enables Steel Parts to Replace Composite Parts In Cars
Joint patenting by the Big Three automakers – General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, has earned them their first joint patent to replace the parts of the car made of lighter-weight plastic composite materials with parts made of steel. According to a New York Times Report this step facilitates the improvement of the fuel economy.
The United States Council for Automotive Research had been started last year by the Big Three automakers and according to it, the patent symbolized the first time the automakers had produced an original technology. However, the US Council for Automotive Research further adds that it could take some years before the technology is applied to auto making. According to John Fillion, an engineer for the Chrysler Corporation, at present it is not possible to make one part every two minutes, though the engineers can make use of the technology to build a part of composite material in the laboratory.
The new technology enables composite parts to form around a hollow mold without a core – this reduces their weight to 10 percent or more.