Vehicle seating assembly with aesthetic trim cover assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11247593-B2
Application number	US-201816119074-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 31, 2018
Priority date	Oct 3, 2014
Publication date	Feb 15, 2022
Grant date	Feb 15, 2022

Abstract

According to one or more embodiments, a vehicle seat assembly includes a cushion and a leather trim cover assembly disposed over the cushion. The leather trim cover assembly includes a leather upper layer and a foundation layer secured to the leather upper layer at radio-frequency weld points. The radio-frequency weld points define at least one design boundary adjacent a raised portion of a protruding design in the leather trim cover assembly.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle seat assembly comprising:
a cushion; and
a non-synthetic leather trim cover assembly disposed over the cushion, the leather trim cover assembly having a leather upper layer and a foundation layer secured to the leather upper layer at radio-frequency weld points, the leather trim assembly having a plurality of spaced apart raised and resilient pre-defined geometric shaped protrusions bonded to the leather upper layer, the radio-frequency weld points defining a plurality of design boundaries, each design boundary adjacent a corresponding geometric shaped protrusion in the leather trim cover assembly.

2. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the leather trim cover assembly has a first thickness at the radio-frequency weld points and a second thickness at the raised portion, the second thickness being greater than the first thickness.

3. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein an adhesive layer bonds the bottom surface of the leather upper layer to the upper surface the foundation layer at the radio-frequency weld points.

4. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the leather upper layer is not adhered to the foundation layer at the raised portion.

5. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the leather upper layer is adhered to the foundation layer at the raised portion.

6. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the foundation layer is a spacer layer having an air permeability of at least 50 cubic feet per minute.

7. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the foundation layer is a foam layer.

8. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the radio-frequency weld points have a width of 0.05 to 50 mm.

9. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the radio-frequency weld points provide a bond strength of at least 2 N per 5 cm.

10. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the radio-frequency weld points comprise 1% to 80% of a surface of the leather trim cover assembly.

11. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 9 , wherein the geometric shaped protrusions are adhesively bonded to the leather upper layer.

12. A vehicle seat assembly comprising:
a cushion; and
a leather trim cover assembly disposed over the cushion, the leather trim cover assembly having a leather upper layer and a foundation layer secured to the leather upper layer at radio-frequency weld points, the leather trim assembly having a plurality of spaced apart raised and resilient pre-defined geometric shaped protrusions bonded to the leather upper layer, the radio-frequency weld points defining a plurality of design boundaries, each design boundary adjacent a corresponding geometric shaped protrusion in the leather trim cover assembly,
wherein an adhesive layer is disposed between and bonds the leather upper layer and the foundation layer at the radio-frequency weld points; and
wherein the leather upper layer is not adhered to the foundation layer at the raised portion.

13. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 12 , wherein the adhesive layer comprises a sheet of glue.

14. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 13 , wherein the adhesive layer comprises a sheet having similar length and width dimensions as the leather upper layer.

15. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 12 , wherein the radio-frequency weld points have a width of 0.05 to 50 mm and provide a bond strength of at least 2 N per 5 cm.

16. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 12 , wherein the radio-frequency weld points comprise 1% to 80% of a surface of the leather trim cover assembly and the geometric shaped protrusions are adhesively bonded to the leather upper layer.

17. A vehicle seat assembly comprising:
a cushion; and
a leather trim cover assembly disposed over the cushion, the leather trim cover assembly having a leather upper layer, an adhesive layer, and a foundation layer secured to the leather upper layer at radio-frequency weld points, the leather trim assembly having a plurality of spaced apart raised and resilient pre-defined geometric shaped protrusions bonded to the leather upper layer, the radio-frequency weld points defining a plurality of design boundaries, each design boundary adjacent a corresponding geometric shaped protrusion in the leather trim cover assembly;
wherein the foundation layer is a spacer layer having an air permeability of at least 50 cubic feet per minute; and
wherein the adhesive layer is disposed between the leather upper layer and the foundation layer and bonds the leather upper layer and the foundation layer at the radio-frequency weld points.

18. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 17 , wherein the adhesive layer comprises a sheet of glue.

19. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 17 , wherein the adhesive layer comprises a sheet having similar length and width dimensions as the leather upper layer, wherein the radio-frequency weld points have a width of 0.05 to 50 mm and provide a bond strength of at least 2 N per 5 cm, and wherein the radio-frequency weld points comprise 1% to 80% of a surface of the leather trim cover assembly and the geometric shaped protrusions are adhesively bonded to the leather upper layer.

20. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein each design boundary has a first portion connected to a second portion with the first portion extending in a first direction and the second portion extending in a second direction, the second direction being different than the first direction.

Assignees

• Lear Corp

Inventors

• Townley Lisa
• Korycinski Thomas
• Severinski Paul S
• Patterson Louella Ann
• Welch Jr Thomas
• Russo Sara
• Kromm Dorothy

Classifications

• B23K13/00 Primary

  Welding by high-frequency current heating · CPC title

• B60N2/72

  Attachment or adjustment thereof · CPC title

• B60N2/5891

  characterised by the manufacturing process; manufacturing seat coverings not otherwise provided for · CPC title

• B60N2/7017 Primary

  characterised by the manufacturing process; manufacturing upholstery or upholstery springs not otherwise provided for · CPC title

• B23K13/02

  Seam welding · CPC title