Vehicle seating assembly with aesthetic leather trim cover assembly

• US 10,118,525 B2
• Filed: 09/28/2015
• Issued: 11/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lear Corporation
• Original Assignee: Lear Corporation
• Inventors: Kromm, Dorothy, Townley, Lisa, Welch, Jr., Thomas, Russo, Sara
• Primary Examiner(s): Gabler, Philip F
• Application Number:
  US14/867,763
• Publication Number:
  US 20160096462A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,135 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/5816 attachments thereof
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/7017 characterised by the manufacturing process; manufacturing upholstery or upholstery springs not otherwise provided for

Abstract

A vehicle seat is provided, in at least one embodiment, comprising a cushion and a leather trim cover assembly disposed over the cushion. In at least this embodiment, the trim cover assembly has a central trim panel assembly secured to at least one peripheral trim panel assembly, and the central trim panel assembly has a leather upper layer and a sub-layer assembly having at least one protruding design secured to the leather upper layer.

Claims

1. A vehicle seat assembly comprising:

a cushion; and

a leather trim cover assembly disposed over the cushion, the trim cover assembly having a central trim panel assembly secured to at least one peripheral trim panel assembly, the central trim panel assembly having a leather upper layer and a sub-layer assembly having a plurality of spaced apart resilient geometric shaped protrusions adhesively bonded to the leather upper layer.

2. The vehicle seat of claim 1 wherein the leather upper layer is secured to the sub-layer assembly such that the plurality of protrusions are pressed against the leather upper layer so that the leather upper layer protrudes in the area of the at least one protruding design.

3. The vehicle seat of claim 2 wherein the plurality of protrusions have a similar shape.

4. The vehicle seat of claim 3 wherein the plurality of protrusions includes at least two rows of evenly spaced protrusions, with each row having a plurality of protrusions.

5. The vehicle seat of claim 4 wherein the sub-layer assembly includes an underlay supporting the protrusions, with the protrusions being separate from each other, the underlay and the protrusions not being sewn to the leather upper layer.

6. The vehicle seat of claim 5 wherein the protrusions are made of foam and have a thickness of 0.5 to 10 mm and a width of 0.1 to 5 cm and a length of 0.1 to 5 cm.

7. The vehicle seat of claim 4 wherein the protrusions are integrally formed in the sub-layer assembly.

8. The vehicle seat of claim 7 wherein the sub-layer comprises a composite comprising a scrim layer, a mesh layer and a layer of monofilament extending between and connected to the mesh and monofilament layers.

9. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 7 wherein the sub-layer assembly comprises an air-permeable spacer layer.

10. The vehicle seat of claim 1 wherein the leather upper layer includes a first set of perforations and the sub-layer assembly includes a second set of perforations in fluid communication with the first set of perforations.

11. The vehicle seat of claim 1 wherein the at least one peripheral trim panel assembly includes a first leather trim panel sewn to a first side of the central trim panel assembly and a second leather trim panel sewn to a second side of the central trim panel assembly opposite the first side.

12. A leather trim assembly for a vehicle seat assembly, the trim assembly comprising:

at least one peripheral leather trim panel; and

a central trim panel assembly secured to the at least one peripheral trim panel to form a trim cover assembly securable over a cushion, the central trim panel assembly having a raised portion having at least one protruding design and a lower portion adjacent the raised portion, with the raised portion having a first thickness and the lower portion having a second thickness lower than the first thickness, wherein the central trim panel assembly includes a leather trim sheet having an upper surface facing away from the cushion and a lower surface facing the cushion, and a non-leather layer having at least one protruding design, the non-leather layer being adhered to the lower surface of the leather trim sheet.

13. The trim assembly of claim 12 wherein the leather trim sheet is secured to the non-leather layer such that the at least one protruding design is pressed against the leather trim sheet so that the leather trim sheet protrudes in the area of the at least one protruding design, the at least one protruding design comprising a plurality of protrusions having a similar shape spaced apart and supported on the non-leather layer.

14. The trim assembly of claim 12 wherein the at least one protruding design includes a plurality of protrusions having a similar shape arranged in at least two offset rows of evenly spaced protrusions.

15. The trim assembly of claim 14 wherein the non-leather layer includes an underlay, the protrusions being separate from each other and secured to the underlay, with the protrusions being pre-formed and made of foam.

16. The trim assembly of claim 14 wherein the protrusions are integrally formed in the non-leather layer via a press-forming operation.

17. The trim assembly of claim 16 wherein the non-leather layer comprises a composite comprising a scrim layer, a mesh layer and a layer of monofilament extending between and connected to the mesh and monofilament layers.

18. A method of making a vehicle seat assembly, said method comprising:

providing a cushion;

providing a trim cover assembly comprising a peripheral trim panel assembly and a central trim panel assembly secured to and disposed inward of the peripheral trim panel assembly, with the central trim panel assembly having a plurality of protruding designs, with each design being surrounded by an adjacent portion having a thickness less than the thickness of the protruding design, with the plurality of protruding designs not being formed by sewing the trim cover, the plurality of protruding designs being formed by disposing adhesive between a plurality of spaced apart shaped members and the central trim panel and adhesively bonding the shaped members via a plate having shaped openings to the central trim panel, the shaped openings having similar shapes as the shaped members; and

disposing the trim cover assembly over the cushion.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the central trim panel assembly comprises a trim panel disposed over, and secured to, the plurality of protruding designs and the adjacent portions.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the shaped members are made of an air permeable spacer material.