Ventilated Molded Covers For Seating Applications

A ventilated vehicle seat, said ventilated vehicle seat comprising:

• a foam base pad including an air channel passing through at least a portion of said foam base pad;
• a fan fluidically connected to said air channel and configured for directing airflow through said air channel;
• a ventilated seat trim cover formed by compression-molding an upper textile layer of one or more of a fabric, perforated vinyl, and/or perforated leather, an air permeable thermo-moldable polyurethane cellular foam interlayer formulated to be thermo-moldable between about 104° C. and about 127° C., a first thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) film, and a scrim backing layer of a woven or non-woven textile in a 3-dimensional mold at about 150 psi to about 250 psi compressive force while at least a portion of said foam interlayer is heated to a temperature of about 104° C. to about 127° C. to compression mold said foam interlayer into a 3-dimensional shape;
• said first TPU film including a passageway through said first TPU film;
• and
• said ventilated seat trim cover being assembled with said foam base pad such that said passageway in said first TPU film is fluidically coupled with said air channel;
• wherein when said fan directs airflow through said air channel, airflow passes between said air channel and said foam interlayer through said passageway in said first TPU film, and airflow passes between said foam interlayer and through said upper textile layer.

A method of forming a 3-dimensional ventilated trim cover for a vehicle seat, said method comprising:

• forming a stacked assembly of an upper textile layer, an air permeable thermo-moldable foam interlayer, a first thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) film, and a scrim backing layer, said air permeable thermo-moldable foam interlayer compression moldable with a compressive force in a range of about 150 psi to about 250 psi and a temperature in a range of about 104° C. to about 127° C., said upper textile layer comprising one or more of a fabric, perforated vinyl, and/or perforated leather, said scrim backing layer comprising a woven or non-woven textile, and said first TPU film including at least one air passageway through said first TPU film;
• placing said stacked assembly between a lower 3-dimensional mold tool and an upper 3-dimensional mold tool;
• lowering said upper 3-dimensional mold tool towards said lower 3-dimensional mold tool and applying compressive pressure in a range of about 150 psi and 250 psi on said stacked assembly to compression mold said stacked assembly;
• heating at least a portion of one or more of said mold tools to a temperature range of about 65° C. to about 160° C. for about 90 seconds to about 10 minutes to form said 3-dimensional ventilated trim cover from said stacked assembly;
• removing said upper 3-dimensional mold tool from said formed 3-dimensional ventilated trim cover;
• and
• removing said formed 3-dimensional trim cover from said lower 3-dimensional mold tool.