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A new material recycling technology for crosslinked rubber was developed using the continuous reactive processing method. In this process of producing reclaimed rubber, breakage of crosslinking points in the crosslinked rubber occurs selectively under the controls of shear stress, reaction temperature, and internal pressure in a modular screw type reactor. Deodorization during the process has also become possible by a newly developed method. The reclaimed rubber obtained from rubber waste generated from both automobile manufacturing products and post-consumer products shows excellent mechanical properties applicable to new rubber compounds. Furthermore, an enhanced rubber recycling process for producing thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) based on rubber waste has been established. The obtained TPE exhibits highly recoverable rubber elasticity and mechanical properties comparable to commercial TPE.

Two-layered surface materials composed of a thermoplastic olefin elastomer (TPO) skin and a cross-linked polypropylene (PP)foam are increasingly replacing the conventional PVC skin/PVC foam for interior trims. In the past, recycled material obtained by melt-blending TPO skin and PP foam could not be re-used for TPO skin because of its appearance. A new recycling technology using the reaction biaxial extruder with a reaction agent can decompose the network structure of PP foam. As a result, PP foam is dispersed into TPO uniformly and the recycled material has properties and an appearance similar to virgin TPO. These new properties may allow the application of the recycled material as a surface material.

Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc. has been conducting “Material Recycle Project” in order to develop fundamental technology for automotive plastics recycle. The project has developed the bumper to bumper recycle technology for the painted thermoplastic bumper. Toyota Motor Corporation has developed the recycle system based on the technology and started the post consumer bumper recycling. Furthermore, the project has been developing new technologies for polyurethane bumper recycling, rubber recycling, floor carpet recycling, and plastics discrimination. This paper describes briefly the achievements of the new technologies and proposed the key technology to the plastics recycling based on the reactive extrusion processing.

The legibility and usefulness of liquid crystal displays (LCD’s) in automotive applications depends entirely on the type and control of the illumination technique chosen. The use of a fluorescent indicator panel (FIP) as an illumination source from the backside of an LCD is proposed. The LCD surface brightness levels and legibility over a wide ambient lighting range are discussed. Three operational modes (transmissive, reflective, and transflective) of the FIP-LCD system are considered.