Motor vehicle trim element having weakened areas and methods for the manufacture thereof
AssigneeLisa Dräxlmaier GmbH
InventorsHubert Geltinger, Roland Friedberger, Henry Muller
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A motor vehicle trim element having weakened areas for an airbag deployment opening is provided. The layered construction of the trim element includes a carrier layer, a spacer layer laminated thereto and a decorative layer. A weakened area of the decorative layer is not visible from the outside. An additional layer of material, made of, for example, a plastic film, is located between the spacer layer and the decorative layer to reduce the likelihood of the weakened area becoming visible from the outside, even under thermal and/or mechanical stress. The additional layer of material may also include a weakened area.
Claims27
A motor vehicle trim element having weakened areas for an airbag deployment opening, the trim element comprising:
- a carrier layer;
- a spacer layer laminated to the carrier layer;
- and
- a decorative layer on the side of the spacer layer facing away from the carrier layer;
- whereby at specific locations within their area, material has been removed or displaced so as to selectively provide weakened areas as predetermined breaking points, whereby these points where material has been removed or displaced terminate in front of the outer surface of the decorative layer and are not, therefore, visible from the outside;
- wherein between the inner surface of the decorative layer and the adjacent surface of the spacer layer, in each case in contact with the surface of both layers, is disposed a thin additional layer of material which has at least one area where material has been removed or one area where material has been displaced in the same weakened location.
A method for the manufacture of a motor vehicle trim element, the method comprising:
- facing a spacer layer with an additional layer of material to form a pre-laminate;
- laminating the pre-laminate onto a carrier layer;
- weakening the pre-laminate to form a weakened area;
- and
- laminating a decorative layer onto the pre-laminate.
A motor vehicle trim element, the trim element adapted to cooperate with an airbag, the trim element comprising:
- a carrier layer;
- a spacer layer attached to the carrier layer;
- a decorative layer disposed on a side of the spacer layer facing away from the carrier layer;
- and
- an intermediate layer disposed between the spacer layer and the decorative layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.