Vehicle interior panel with sculpted surface
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of making a vehicle interior panel, comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a rigid substrate and a cold-forming tool surface facing toward the substrate;
(b) supporting a generally flat sheet of decorative material between the substrate and the cold-forming tool surface, said sheet of decorative material having a decorative side facing toward the cold-forming tool surface;
(c) disposing a curable adhesive between the substrate and the generally flat sheet of decorative material;
(d) cold-forming the sheet of decorative material into a three-dimensional sheet by simultaneously;
1) pressing the sheet of decorative material onto the cold-forming tool surface, and2) pressing the curable adhesive against the decorative material with the rigid substrate before the adhesive cures; and
(e) moving the cold-forming tool surface and substrate away from each other after the adhesive is sufficiently cured, wherein the cured adhesive forms an intermediate layer that bonds the substrate and the decorative material together and holds the three-dimensional sheet in a shape that is complimentary to a contour of the cold-forming tool surface,wherein the sheet of decorative material supported between the substrate and the cold-forming tool surface in step (b) and cold-formed in step (d) does not include a pre-formed foam layer so that the intermediate layer is a continuous layer formed as a single element with the same material, andwherein the sheet of decorative material is secured to elastic fixing elements at locations outside the perimeter of the substrate in step (b), the elastic fixing elements being configured to allow decorative material located outside the perimeter of the substrate in step (b) to flow inside the perimeter of the substrate during step (d) to thereby increase the amount of decorative material that is within the perimeter of the substrate during and after step (d).
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Abstract
A vehicle interior panel includes a fabric layer with a sculpted feature in the visible decorative surface. The sculpted feature is formed in a cold-forming process, which can produce sharp features in the fabric layer similar to sharp features formed in polymer films by thermoforming. The cold-forming process includes pressing a flat sheet of decorative material that includes the fabric layer onto a curable adhesive before the adhesive cures. After curing, the adhesive holds the decorative sheet of material in a new three-dimensional shape, which can have features that are not attainable by traditional wrapping methods.
17 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of making a vehicle interior panel, comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a rigid substrate and a cold-forming tool surface facing toward the substrate; (b) supporting a generally flat sheet of decorative material between the substrate and the cold-forming tool surface, said sheet of decorative material having a decorative side facing toward the cold-forming tool surface; (c) disposing a curable adhesive between the substrate and the generally flat sheet of decorative material; (d) cold-forming the sheet of decorative material into a three-dimensional sheet by simultaneously; 1) pressing the sheet of decorative material onto the cold-forming tool surface, and 2) pressing the curable adhesive against the decorative material with the rigid substrate before the adhesive cures; and (e) moving the cold-forming tool surface and substrate away from each other after the adhesive is sufficiently cured, wherein the cured adhesive forms an intermediate layer that bonds the substrate and the decorative material together and holds the three-dimensional sheet in a shape that is complimentary to a contour of the cold-forming tool surface, wherein the sheet of decorative material supported between the substrate and the cold-forming tool surface in step (b) and cold-formed in step (d) does not include a pre-formed foam layer so that the intermediate layer is a continuous layer formed as a single element with the same material, and wherein the sheet of decorative material is secured to elastic fixing elements at locations outside the perimeter of the substrate in step (b), the elastic fixing elements being configured to allow decorative material located outside the perimeter of the substrate in step (b) to flow inside the perimeter of the substrate during step (d) to thereby increase the amount of decorative material that is within the perimeter of the substrate during and after step (d). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of making a vehicle interior panel, comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a rigid substrate and a cold-forming tool surface facing toward the substrate; (b) supporting a generally flat sheet of decorative material between the substrate and the cold-forming tool surface, said sheet of decorative material having a decorative side facing toward the cold-forming tool surface; (c) pouring a curable adhesive onto the generally flat sheet of decorative material; (d) cold-forming the sheet of decorative material into a three-dimensional sheet by simultaneously; 1) pressing the sheet of decorative material onto the cold-forming tool surface, and 2) pressing the curable adhesive against the decorative material with the rigid substrate before the adhesive cures; and (e) moving the cold-forming tool surface and substrate away from each other after the adhesive is sufficiently cured, wherein the cured adhesive forms an intermediate layer that bonds the substrate and the decorative material together and holds the three-dimensional sheet in a shape that is complimentary to a contour of the cold-forming tool surface. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification