VEHICLE INTERIOR PANEL WITH LASER-FORMED TEAR SEAM

• US 20190093185A1
• Filed: 09/27/2017
• Published: 03/28/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Faurecia Interior Systems, Inc. (Forvia SE)
• Original Assignee: Faurecia Interior Systems, Inc. (Forvia SE)
• Inventors: Weissert, Ulrich
• Granted Patent: US 10,640,837 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 2103/34 Leather
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 26/0624 using ultrashort pulses, i.e. pulses of 1ns or less
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 26/364 for making a groove or trench, e.g. for scribing a break initiation groove
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 26/40 taking account of the properties of the material involved
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 13/0256 Dashboard liners
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/205 in dashboards
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/2165 characterised by a tear line for defining a deployment opening
• CPC Class Codes: C14B 5/00 Clicking, perforating, or cutting leather for shoe parts, e.g. soles, A43D; apparatus not specially adapted for leather B26D

Abstract

An upholstery layer of a vehicle interior panel includes an airbag tear seam formed as a plurality of blind cuts arranged along a tear seam pattern. Each one of the blind cuts is formed by laser material removal at a plurality of locations along the pattern. Laser energy is delivered to the upholstery layer in a series of ultra-short pulses to form the blind cuts, which are formed in the upholstery layer while separate from a substrate of the panel. This technique is particularly useful with leather upholstery materials, in which non-visible airbag tear seams have been proven difficult to form.

Claims

1. A method of forming an airbag tear seam in a vehicle interior panel comprising an upholstery layer disposed over a semi-rigid substrate, the method comprising the step of:

forming a plurality of blind cuts spaced apart along a tear seam pattern in a side of the upholstery layer opposite a decorative side before the upholstery layer is disposed over the substrate, wherein each one of the blind cuts is formed by removing material from the upholstery layer at a plurality of overlapping locations using a laser beam, each one of the blind cuts being formed with a non-uniform depth.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the material removed at each of the overlapping locations is removed by a discrete laser pulse.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of forming includes removing material from the upholstery layer at each one of the plurality of overlapping locations more than one time, each time by a discrete laser pulse.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a portion of each blind cut is formed before any of the blind cuts are complete.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of forming includes the steps of:

removing a first portion of material at each of the overlapping locations of each of the blind cuts in a first cutting pass with each first portion of material being removed by a discrete laser pulse; and

, subsequently,

removing a second portion of material at each of the overlapping locations of each of the blind cuts in a second cutting pass with each second portion of material being removed by a discrete laser pulse.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of forming is performed in a plurality of sequential cutting passes, a portion of each of the plurality of blind cuts being formed in each of the sequential cutting passes, and

wherein discrete laser pulses remove material from the upholstery layer at a plurality of spaced apart locations during at least one of the sequential cutting passes.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of forming includes the steps of:

forming a groove portion of each of the blind cuts in a first plurality of sequential cutting passes during which material is removed from the upholstery layer at a plurality of overlapping locations; and

, subsequently,

forming a finger portion of each of the blind cuts in a second plurality of sequential cutting passes during which material is removed from the upholstery layer at a plurality of spaced apart locations within each groove portion.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the upholstery layer comprises a layer of leather that provides the decorative side of the upholstery layer, each of the blind cuts extending partly through the layer of leather.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the upholstery layer is the layer of leather so that all of the material removed from the upholstery layer during the step of forming is from the layer of leather.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of forming comprises removing material from the upholstery layer using a plurality of discrete laser pulses each having a duration of less than one picosecond.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of forming is performed using a laser scanner configured to direct the laser beam from a static source location to a plurality of different locations along the tear seam pattern to remove material from the upholstery layer at the plurality of different locations while the upholstery layer is also static.

12. A vehicle interior panel for use over a deployable airbag, comprising:

a semi-rigid substrate configured for deployment of the airbag therethrough;

a layer of decorative material disposed over the substrate, the layer of decorative material having a decorative side that faces an interior of a passenger cabin of a vehicle when the panel is installed in the vehicle and an opposite side that faces the substrate; and

an airbag tear seam comprising a plurality of blind cuts formed in the opposite side of the layer of decorative material along a tear seam pattern,

wherein each blind cut is and spaced apart from an adjacent one of the blind cuts in a lengthwise direction along the tear seam pattern by a material bridge comprising uncut decorative material, each blind cut having a length greater than a length of the material bridge.

13. A vehicle interior panel as defined in claim 12, wherein each of the blind cuts has a non-uniform depth.

14. A vehicle interior panel as defined in claim 12, wherein the layer of decorative material has a grain pattern formed in the decorative side that provides the layer of decorative material with a non-uniform thickness, each of the blind cuts having a maximum depth corresponding to a maximum thickness of the layer of decorative material and a minimum depth corresponding to a minimum thickness of the layer of decorative material.

15. A vehicle interior panel as defined in claim 12, wherein the layer of decorative material is leather.