US 5,688,022 AGranted

Modular panel assembly

AssigneeDonnelly Corporation

InventorsEdward R. Adams, Douglas C. Ruch

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Abstract

A headliner for a vehicle is formed with accessories having clips for mounting the accessories and the headliner to the roof of a vehicle. The headliner is received within a tray that supports the headliner during shipping from the headliner manufacturing plant to the vehicle assembly plant. The tray further provides support for the headliner during installation of the headliner into the vehicle. Thus, the headliner can be manufactured without structural supports reinforced areas because the headliner is structurally supported by the tray during shipping and installation.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A system for transporting and installing headliners into a vehicle, the system comprising:

a plurality of modular headliner and support assemblies, each support assembly comprising:
a modular headliner comprising a sheet of deformable material adapted to be mounted beneath a roof of a vehicle, the sheet has an upper surface adapted to face a roof of a vehicle and a lower contoured surface adapted to face an interior of a vehicle when the headliner is mounted in a vehicle, the sheet further has at least one slot to accommodate an accessory fastener;
at least one accessory for mounting to a vehicle roof;
and
a support Way comprising an upper contoured surface shaped to substantially complement and support the lower contoured surface of the headliner for aligning the headliner with respect to the support tray and for protecting the headliner during transport and further shaped to complement the shape of the at least one accessory;
the modular headliner and the at least one accessory are positioned on the tray with the at least one accessory between the headliner and tray and in the vicinity of the at least one slot in the headliner;
and
a carrier including a plurality of supports holding the plurality of modular headliner and support assemblies in a prearranged orientation, such that the plurality of assemblies can be transported in the prearranged orientation;
whereby a plurality of said modular headliner and support assemblies can be assembled at a location remote from a vehicle assembly station, loaded in carrier in the pre-arranged orientation, and transported to the vehicle assembly station, wherein one of the modular headliners with the at least one accessory can be installed in a vehicle by removing one of the assemblies from the carder, inserting the assembly into the vehicle as a unit, securing the headliner and the at least one accessory to the vehicle roof, and subsequently removing the support tray from the vehicle.

6 more elements

A modular panel and support tray assembly comprising:

a modular panel formed of a sheet of deformable material adapted to be mounted to a structural frame, the sheet having an upper surface adapted to face a portion of the structural frame and a lower contoured surface adapted to face away from the portion of the structural frame when the modular panel is mounted to the structural frame, the sheet further has at least one slot to accommodate an accessory fastener;
at least one accessory having an accessory fastener for mounting to a structural frame;
and
a support tray comprising an upper contoured surface shaped to substantially complement and support the lower contoured surface of the sheet for aligning the sheet with respect to the support tray and for protecting the sheet during shipping and further shaped to complement the shape of the at least one accessory, the support tray has edges and at least one locator extending from at least one of the edges of the support tray for locating the support tray with respect to the vehicle for proper positioning of the headliner within the vehicle and for retaining the headliner in the tray during shipment;
the modular panel and the at least one accessory are positioned on the tray with the at least one accessory positioned between the modular panel and the tray with the accessory fastener extending through the at least one slot in the modular panel;
and
whereby the modular panel and the at least one accessory can be mounted to the frame by moving the modular panel, the at least one accessory, and support tray to and against the structural frame as a unit, securing the modular panel and the at least one accessory to the structnral frame and subsequently removing the support tray from the structural frame.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

patentgrep

Loading patent…

Abstract

A system for transporting and installing headliners into a vehicle, the system comprising:

a plurality of modular headliner and support assemblies, each support assembly comprising:
a modular headliner comprising a sheet of deformable material adapted to be mounted beneath a roof of a vehicle, the sheet has an upper surface adapted to face a roof of a vehicle and a lower contoured surface adapted to face an interior of a vehicle when the headliner is mounted in a vehicle, the sheet further has at least one slot to accommodate an accessory fastener;
at least one accessory for mounting to a vehicle roof;
and
a support Way comprising an upper contoured surface shaped to substantially complement and support the lower contoured surface of the headliner for aligning the headliner with respect to the support tray and for protecting the headliner during transport and further shaped to complement the shape of the at least one accessory;
the modular headliner and the at least one accessory are positioned on the tray with the at least one accessory between the headliner and tray and in the vicinity of the at least one slot in the headliner;
and
a carrier including a plurality of supports holding the plurality of modular headliner and support assemblies in a prearranged orientation, such that the plurality of assemblies can be transported in the prearranged orientation;
whereby a plurality of said modular headliner and support assemblies can be assembled at a location remote from a vehicle assembly station, loaded in carrier in the pre-arranged orientation, and transported to the vehicle assembly station, wherein one of the modular headliners with the at least one accessory can be installed in a vehicle by removing one of the assemblies from the carder, inserting the assembly into the vehicle as a unit, securing the headliner and the at least one accessory to the vehicle roof, and subsequently removing the support tray from the vehicle.

6 more elements