Vehicle interior panel with compressible layer of non-uniform thickness

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10232802-B2
Application number	US-201715667276-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 2, 2017
Priority date	Aug 2, 2017
Publication date	Mar 19, 2019
Grant date	Mar 19, 2019

Abstract

A vehicle interior panel includes an elastically compressible layer between a substrate and a decorative skin layer. The compressible layer has a non-uniform thickness along which voids are formed within the thickness of the panel. A center console can be equipped with the panel in the form of a tambour door that opens to access a storage space in the console and closes to serve as a cushioned armrest. The compressible layer can be formed from a foam material molded directly onto the decorative layer and shaped as a series of projections that are attached to flexibly interconnected crossmembers of the substrate. Thin portions of the compressible layer between the projections facilitate reversible bending of the panel during movement along curved guides.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A panel for use in a passenger cabin of a vehicle, the panel comprising:
a substrate comprising a rigid member;
an elastically compressible layer coupled with the substrate and having an inner surface facing toward the substrate and an oppositely facing outer surface, wherein the elastically compressible layer has a thickness defined between the inner surface and the outer surface; and
a decorative layer disposed over the elastically compressible layer and having a visible surface facing an interior of the passenger cabin when the panel is installed in the vehicle,
wherein the thickness of the elastically compressible layer varies along a lengthwise direction of the panel between a first thickness and a second thickness that is less than the first thickness,
wherein a void is formed between the substrate and the decorative layer and outside of the elastically compressible layer at a region of the panel comprising the second thickness, and
wherein the panel is configured such that, when a force is applied to the visible surface of the decorative layer by an occupant of the passenger cabin in a direction toward the substrate, the elastically compressible layer is elastically compressed at a location of the first thickness and the void decreases in size.

2. A panel as defined in claim 1 , wherein the panel is configured for use as a door that is moveable between an open position and a closed position when installed in the vehicle, the rigid member of the substrate being coupled with a frame of an interior component of the vehicle so that an area of the interior component within the frame is concealed when the door is in the closed position and revealed when the door is in the open position.

3. A panel as defined in claim 2 , wherein the substrate is slidingly coupled with the frame so that the door is a sliding door that slides along the frame in the lengthwise direction between the open and closed positions.

4. A panel as defined in claim 2 , further comprising guide followers at each opposite end of the rigid member, wherein each guide follower engages a guide of the interior component at opposite sides of the frame to couple the substrate to the frame so that the door follows a shape of the guide when moved between the open and closed positions.

5. A panel as defined in claim 4 , wherein the shape of each guide comprises a curve along which the panel is guided when moved between the open and closed positions, the panel being sufficiently flexible to allow the panel to reversibly bend when guided along the curve.

6. A panel as defined in claim 1 , wherein the rigid member is one of a plurality of rigid members of the substrate, each rigid member extending between opposite ends in a widthwise direction of the panel and being flexibly interconnected with another of the plurality of rigid members, whereby the panel resists bending about an axis lying in the lengthwise direction but is free to bend about an axis lying in the widthwise direction.

7. A panel as defined in claim 1 , wherein the rigid member is one of a plurality of elongated crossmembers each extending along a crossmember axis between opposite ends, the substrate comprising a web layer and the plurality of elongated crossmembers, each crossmember being attached to the web layer at a location spaced apart from and parallel with an adjacent crossmember with each crossmember axis being oriented in a widthwise direction of the panel.

8. A panel as defined in claim 1 , wherein the elastically compressible layer is formed from a foam material.

9. A panel as defined in claim 1 , wherein the elastically compressible layer comprises a plurality of projections formed along the inner surface, the second thickness of the elastically compressible layer being at a base of at least one of the projections and the first thickness of the elastically compressible layer being at a distal end of at least one of the projections with the void being located between adjacent projections.

10. A panel as defined in claim 1 , wherein the panel is configured for use as an armrest when installed in the vehicle.

11. A panel as defined in claim 1 , wherein the panel is configured as a tambour door of a storage compartment and moveable between an open position and a closed position when installed in the vehicle, a storage space of the storage compartment being accessible when the door is in the open position and inaccessible when the door is in the closed position.

12. A panel as defined in claim 11 , wherein a majority of the tambour door is in a horizontal orientation when in the closed position and in a vertical orientation when in the open position.

13. A center console for use in the passenger cabin of the vehicle and comprising the panel of claim 1 , the center console further comprising:
a frame configured for attachment to a floor of the vehicle and at least partly defining a storage space having an open top end; and
a pair of guides in a fixed position with respect to the frame and located on transversely opposite sides of the storage space, each guide having a first end, an opposite second end, and a curved portion between the first and second ends, wherein each first end is at the same transverse position as the respective second end but at different vertical and longitudinal positions as the corresponding second end,
wherein the panel is a tambour door with guide followers on opposite sides of the door that are engaged with the pair of guides for movement between an open position, in which the storage space is accessible from the top end, and a closed position, in which the storage space is an inaccessible closed storage space, and
wherein at least a portion of the door is guided along the curved portion of the guide during movement between the open and closed positions, the door being sufficiently flexible to bend when at the curved portion of the guide and unbend when moved away from the curved portion of the guide.

14. A center console as defined in claim 13 , further comprising a pocket that is separate from the storage space and sized to accommodate a thickness of the tambour door, wherein the first end of each guide is located along the storage space and the second end of each guide is located along the pocket such that at least a portion of the pocket is empty when the door is in the closed position and occupied by the door when the door is in the open position.

15. A panel as defined in claim 1 , wherein the void is between the substrate and the inner surface of the elastically compressible layer.

16. A panel as defined in claim 1 , wherein the rigid member is one of a plurality of rigid members and the substrate further comprises a web layer, each rigid member being attached to the web layer at a location spaced apart from and parallel with an adjacent rigid member, wherein the void is between the web layer than the inner surface of the elastically compressible layer.

17. A panel as defined in claim 1 , wherein the elastically compressible layer includes a plurality of projections formed along the inner surface so that a plurality of voids is defined between the substrate and the inner surface of the elastically compressible layer.

18. A panel as defined in claim 1 , wherein the elastically compressible layer includes a plurality of projections formed along the inner surface, a distal end of each projection is affixed to one of a plurality of rigid members of the substrate, and the void is between adjacent rigid members.

19. A panel as defined in claim 1 , wherein th

Assignees

• Faurecia Interior Systems Inc

Inventors

• Boinais Olivier

Classifications

• B60N2/793 Primary

  for use as storage compartments · CPC title

• B60R2011/0007

  Mid-console · CPC title

• B60R2011/0094

  characterised by means for covering after user, e.g. boxes, shutters or the like · CPC title

• B60R7/04

  in driver or passenger space {, e.g. using racks (B60R7/005, B60R7/08 take precedence)} · CPC title

• B60R13/0262 Primary

  Mid-console liners · CPC title