Vehicle interior panel and method of manufacture
AssigneeFaurecia Interior Systems, Inc.
InventorKurt Mardyla
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle interior panel and method of making a vehicle interior panel having a substrate that can be used in either a seam-based or seamless application. The vehicle interior panel includes a substrate having a seam ditch, a first retaining step adjacent a first side of the seam ditch, and a second retaining step adjacent a second side of the seam ditch. The vehicle interior panel includes a bridging support member situated in the seam ditch at least partially between the first retaining step and the second retaining step in the substrate. A decorative covering is situated over the bridging support member, the decorative covering having a continuously contoured seamless surface that extends over the seam ditch.
Claims12
A vehicle interior panel, comprising:
- a substrate having a seam ditch, a first retaining step adjacent a first side of the seam ditch, and a second retaining step adjacent a second side of the seam ditch;
- a bridging support member situated in the seam ditch at least partially between the first retaining step and the second retaining step in the substrate, wherein the first retaining step holds a first shoulder of the bridging support member and the second retaining step holds a second shoulder of the bridging support member, and wherein the first retaining step and the second retaining step open inward toward the seam ditch or the first retaining step and the second retaining step open outward away from the seam ditch with each of the first retaining step and the second retaining step being adjacent a vertical wall that is at least partially separate from an edge of the substrate;
- and
- a decorative covering situated over the bridging support member, the decorative covering having a continuously contoured seamless surface that extends over the seam ditch.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.