Composite elastic padding structure

Claim 1

A padded-dashboard structure for an automotive vehicle comprising: a rigid support plate of molded synthetic-resin material formed with a pair of planar portions separated by a ridge and having a broad surface on on side of said plate; a facing sheet of polyvinylchloride spaced from but substantially coextensive with said surface, said sheet having planar portions juxtaposed with the respective planar portions of said support plate and a ridge portion spaced from the ridge of said support plate by a distance greater than that separating the planar portions of the sheet and the plate, said sheet being formed substantially over the entire area of its side facing said surface with a surface array of discrete deflectible spaced-apart elongate cylindrical rounded-tip studs molded integrally with the remainder of the sheet perpendicular to the latter side and reaching toward said surface, said studs having a length less than the distance between said sheet and said plate over said portion of said sheet but greater than the distance between said planar portions of said sheet and said plate over the planar portions of said sheet whereby said studs are deflected against said plate at said planar portions of said sheet but terminate short of said surface over said rigid portion of said sheet, said studs all being of a length substantially greater than the thickness of said sheet in regions between said studs; and a padding layer of resilient cellular polyurethane case in situ between said sheet and said plate and filling the space between them while embedding said studs, said studs anchoring said sheet to said padding layer while enabling said layer and said sheet to undergo differential thermal expansion without mutual separation and tearing of said layer.