Foamed core composite plate for use in trailer walls and doors

摘要

A novel composite plate (20) is used to form a wall (28, 30) or a door (32) of a vehicle, such as a trailer (22) or van. Each composite plate (20) used in the trailer (22) is formed from a pair of metal skins (40, 42), such as aluminum or steel, having a foamed thermal plastic core member (44) sandwiched therebetween. The skins (40, 42) are bonded to the core member (44) by a known flexible adhesive (46). The foamed thermal plastic core member (44) is resilient and may be made from foamed high density or foamed low density thermal plastic. The foaming of the core member (44) in the present invention reduces the weight of the composite plate (20) versus prior art solid plastic core composite plates and provides for an increase in the peel strength of the composite plate (20) versus prior art solid plastic core composite plates. Furthermore, foaming of the thermal plastic core member (44) in the present invention reduces the shear stress of the skin to core bond layer so as to reduce the potential of delamination of the metal skins (40, 42) from the thermal plastic core member (44) under changing temperatures which has been found to be a problem with solid core composite plates.