US5401449A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method of manufacturing a trim panel having a styling line
Assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
•
Filing: 1993-07-12
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Granted: 1995-03-28
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Expires: 2013-07-12
Abstract
Abstract An automotive door panel that has styling lines is made by laying a facing layer of soft trim material on a support surface of a mold part. The facing layer has a backing layer of open cell flexible foam that has gaps that expose strips on the back surface of the facing layer. A heat-sensitive adhesive barrier film is behind the flexible foam backing layer. The mold is closed by a mating mold part and a urethane precursor mixture is injected into the closed mold which is heated to generate a structural substrate. The generating substrate crushes the backing layer and activates the adhesive film to bond the structural substrate to the exposed back surface strips of the facing layer to provide the styling lines. These styling lines are enhanced when the foam backing layer recovers upon removal from the mold.
Inventors
- 👤 Timothy W. Hill
- 👤 Gerald J. Keller
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 14:46
CPC Classifications
B; B29; B29C; B29C44/00; B29C44/34; B29C44/56; B29C44/569; B29C67/00; B29C67/24; B29C67/246; B29C70/00; B29C70/04; B29C70/06; B29C70/08; B29C70/086; B29C70/68; B29C70/78; B60; B60R; B60R13/00; B60R13/02; B60R13/0237; B60R13/0243; B29C43/00; B29C43/02; B29C43/18; B29C2043/185; B29C2043/186; B29L; B29L2031/00; B29L2031/30; B29L2031/3005; B29L2031/3014; B60R2013/0281; B60R2013/0293
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 21
Claim 1
Independent Claim
197 words
A method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion comprising the steps of: providing a facing layer of soft trim material adjacent a backing layer of open cell flexible foam that has a gap, providing a heat sensitive adhesive barrier film adjacent the backing layer so that the gap exposes a back surface of the facing layer to the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film, laying the facing layer, the backing layer and the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film on a support surface in a mold, and injecting a urethane precursor mixture into the mold to generate a structural substrate for the trim panel, the generation of the structural substrate creating sufficient pressure to crush the backing layer so that the substrate is in intimate contact with the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film and the facing layer, and the generation of the structural substrate creating sufficient heat to activate the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film to bond the structural substrate to the back surface of the facing layer that is exposed by the gap of the backing layer to create a styling line in the facing layer.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
197 words
A method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion comprising the steps of: providing a facing layer of soft trim material adjacent a backing layer of open cell flexible foam that has a gap, providing a heat sensitive adhesive barrier film adjacent the backing layer so that the gap exposes a back surface of the facing layer to the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film, laying the facing layer, the backing layer and the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film on a support surface in a mold, and injecting a urethane precursor mixture into the mold to generate a structural substrate for the trim panel, the generation of the structural substrate creating sufficient pressure to crush the backing layer so that the substrate is in intimate contact with the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film and the facing layer, and the generation of the structural substrate creating sufficient heat to activate the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film to bond the structural substrate to the back surface of the facing layer that is exposed by the gap of the backing layer to create a styling line in the facing layer.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
61 words
The method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion as defined in claim 1 wherein the open cell flexible foam of the backing layer has unilateral stretch and good resiliency so that the backing layer recovers to enhance the styling line when the trim panel is removed from the mold.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
71 words
The method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion as defined in claim 1 wherein the open cell flexible foam of the backing layer has unilateral stretch and good resiliency so that the backing layer recovers to a minimum of about 80% of its original height to enhance the styling line when the trim panel is removed from the mold.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion as defined in claim 1 wherein the structural substrate generated by the urethane precursor materials is a semirigid foam.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion as defined in claim 2 wherein the structural substrate generated by the urethane precursor materials is a semirigid foam.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
57 words
The method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion as defined in claim 1 wherein the structural substrate generated by the urethane precursor materials is a low density semirigid foam having a molded density in the range of about 28 to 35 pounds per cubic foot.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
66 words
The method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion as defined in claim 1 wherein the mold that supports the facing layer, the backing layer and the heat-sensitive adhesive barrier film is heated to a temperature above 130° F. to increase the strength of the adhesive bond between the structural substrate and the facing layer.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
189 words
A method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion comprising the steps of: providing a facing layer of soft trim material adjacent a backing layer of flexible foam that has a gap, providing a heat sensitive adhesive barrier film adjacent the backing layer so that the gap exposes a back surface of the facing layer to the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film, laying the facing layer, the backing layer and the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film on a support surface in a mold, and injecting a foam precursor mixture into the mold to generate a structural substrate for the trim panel, the generation of the structural substrate creating sufficient pressure to crush the backing layer so that the substrate is in intimate contact with the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film and the facing layer, and creating sufficient heat to activate the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film to bond the structural substrate to the back surface of the facing layer that is exposed by the gap of the backing layer to create a styling line in the facing layer.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
189 words
A method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion comprising the steps of: providing a facing layer of soft trim material adjacent a backing layer of flexible foam that has a gap, providing a heat sensitive adhesive barrier film adjacent the backing layer so that the gap exposes a back surface of the facing layer to the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film, laying the facing layer, the backing layer and the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film on a support surface in a mold, and injecting a foam precursor mixture into the mold to generate a structural substrate for the trim panel, the generation of the structural substrate creating sufficient pressure to crush the backing layer so that the substrate is in intimate contact with the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film and the facing layer, and creating sufficient heat to activate the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film to bond the structural substrate to the back surface of the facing layer that is exposed by the gap of the backing layer to create a styling line in the facing layer.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion as defined in claim 8 wherein the flexible foam of the backing layer recovers to enhance the styling line when the trim panel is removed from the mold.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion as defined in claim 8 wherein the structural substrate generated by the foam precursor materials is a low density semirigid foam.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
57 words
The method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion as defined in claim 9 wherein the structural substrate generated by the foam precursor materials is a low density semirigid foam having a molded density in the range of about 28 to 35 pounds per cubic foot.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
60 words
The method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion as defined in claim 8 wherein the mold that supports the facing layer, the backing layer and the heat-sensitive adhesive barrier film is heated to increase the strength of the adhesive bond between the structural substram and the facing layer.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
179 words
A method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion comprising the steps of: providing a facing layer of soft trim material adjacent a backing layer of flexible foam that has a gap, providing a heat sensitive adhesive barrier film adjacent the backing layer so that the gap exposes a back surface of the facing layer to the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film, laying the facing layer, the backing layer and the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film on a support surface in a mold, and injecting a structural plastic into the mold to generate a structural substrate for the trim panel and crush the backing layer so that the substrate is in intimate contact with the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film and the facing layer, and creating sufficient heat to activate the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film to bond the structural substrate to the back surface of the facing layer that is exposed by the gap of the backing layer to create a styling line in the facing layer.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
179 words
A method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion comprising the steps of: providing a facing layer of soft trim material adjacent a backing layer of flexible foam that has a gap, providing a heat sensitive adhesive barrier film adjacent the backing layer so that the gap exposes a back surface of the facing layer to the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film, laying the facing layer, the backing layer and the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film on a support surface in a mold, and injecting a structural plastic into the mold to generate a structural substrate for the trim panel and crush the backing layer so that the substrate is in intimate contact with the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film and the facing layer, and creating sufficient heat to activate the heat sensitive adhesive barrier film to bond the structural substrate to the back surface of the facing layer that is exposed by the gap of the backing layer to create a styling line in the facing layer.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion as defined in claim 13 wherein the flexible foam of the backing layer recovers to enhance the styling line when the trim panel is removed from the mold.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion as defined in claim 13 wherein the structural substrate generated is a low density plastic.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
183 words
A method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion comprising the steps of: providing a facing layer of soft trim material, providing a backing layer of flexible foam adjacent only a portion of the facing layer, the backing layer having a gap, providing a heat-sensitive adhesive barrier film adjacent the backing layer so that the gap exposes a back surface of the facing layer to the heat-sensitive adhesive barrier film, laying the facing layer, the backing layer and the heat-sensitive adhesive barrier film on a support surface in a mold, injecting a structural plastic into the mold to generate a structural substrate for the trim panel and crush the backing layer so that the substrate is in intimate contact with the heat-sensitive adhesive barrier film and the facing layer, and creating sufficient heat to activate the heat-sensitive adhesive barrier film to bond the structural substrate to the back surface of the facing layer that is exposed by the gap of the backing layer to create a styling line in the facing layer.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
183 words
A method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion comprising the steps of: providing a facing layer of soft trim material, providing a backing layer of flexible foam adjacent only a portion of the facing layer, the backing layer having a gap, providing a heat-sensitive adhesive barrier film adjacent the backing layer so that the gap exposes a back surface of the facing layer to the heat-sensitive adhesive barrier film, laying the facing layer, the backing layer and the heat-sensitive adhesive barrier film on a support surface in a mold, injecting a structural plastic into the mold to generate a structural substrate for the trim panel and crush the backing layer so that the substrate is in intimate contact with the heat-sensitive adhesive barrier film and the facing layer, and creating sufficient heat to activate the heat-sensitive adhesive barrier film to bond the structural substrate to the back surface of the facing layer that is exposed by the gap of the backing layer to create a styling line in the facing layer.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
66 words
A method of manufacturing a trim panel having a soft cushion and a styling line combined with the soft cushion as defined in claim 16 wherein the facing layer comprises a first panel of soft trim material that has the styling line and a second panel of soft trim material that is attached to the first panel and the backing layer is adjacent the first panel.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1998-03-27 | 1998-09-26 | 1999-03-28 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2002-03-27 | 2002-09-26 | 2003-03-28 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2006-03-27 | 2006-09-26 | 2007-03-28 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |