Automobile roof headliner
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorRasik N. Patel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An automobile roof headliner includes a relatively stiff molded backing sheet and a relatively deformable foam panel adhesively secured to the undersurface of the backing sheet. Marginal edge areas of the foam panel in contact with hard side rails on the roof are provided with resilent deformable foam inserts that prevent the hard side rails from interfering with the energy-absorption action of the foam panel.
Claims8
An automobile roof headliner adapted to span two spaced apart rails at marginal areas of the automobile roof, comprising:
- a backing panel having an upper surface, a lower surface and two side edges adapted to extend along the roof rails;
- two impact energy absorbing foam spacer strips extending along the lower surface of said backing panel proximate to the panel side edges;
- and
- an impact energy-absorbing foam panel covering the lower surface of said backiing panel and said spacer strips;
- said foam strips having a higher deformation resistance than the foam panel, whereby the deformation resistance of the headliner is greater along the marginal areas of the automible roof than in the area between said marginal areas.
An automobile roof headliner adapted to span two spaced apart rails at marginal areas of the automobile roof, comprising:
- a backing panel having an upper surface and a lower surface;
- said backing panel having marginal rail-seat areas extending downwardly at acute angles;
- two impact energy-absorbing foam spacer strips extending along the side marginal areas of said backing panel on the lower surface;
- said foam spacer strips having convex arcuate lower surfaces;
- and
- an impact energy-absorbing foam panel covering the entire lower surface of said backing panel and said spacer strips;
- said foam strips having a higher deformation resistance than the foam panel, whereby the deformation resistance of the headliner is greater along the marginal areas of the automobile roof than in the area between said marginal areas.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.