GB2163645A

GB2163645A - Decorative button structure for a vehicle seat

Info

Publication number: GB2163645A
Application number: GB08516252A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Shigeki Kon
Original assignee: Tachikawa Spring Co Ltd
Current assignee: Tachi S Co Ltd
Priority date: 1984-06-28
Filing date: 1985-06-27
Publication date: 1986-03-05
Also published as: AU4369885A; JPS6113699U; FR2566757A1; GB8516252D0; JPH03160Y2; GB2163645B; DE3523300A1; DE3523300C2

Abstract

A structure for a decoration button for use in a vehicle seat is disclosed in which button material, (1), together with a reinforcing material, (2) is pressurized against the back side of a trim cover assembly (b) including a covering material, (b1) a wadding of foam material (b2) and a wadding cover, (b3) and the three elements of the assembly and the reinforcing material existing around the button material are welded integrally and collapsed in an annular manner to form the decorative button on the covering material side, so that the button material is covered with the three elements to prevent a strange feeling on sitting. The welding may be carried out by a high-frequency welding device. The button comprises a head portion (11) for placing against the wadding cover, and a leg portion (12) for attachment of a hang-in member (3) to fix the button to the body of the vehicle seat, and a piece of reinforcing material (2) surrounding the leg portion (12). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Decorative button structure for a vehicle seat The present invention relates to the structure of buttons provided in a trim cover assembly forming the surface of a vehicle seat in order to improve the appearance of the same.

Conventionally, buttons of this kind are provided for design purpose as mentioned above and they are also used to fix the trim cover assembly to the predetermined positions of a foam cushion member (a cushion member of foam material to be covered by the trim cover assembly). For the latter purpose, a hang-in member such as a string is secured to the leg portion of the button and is then hung into the bottom portion of the cushion member.

Also, in order to form such a button in the trim cover assembly including a covering material, a foam wadding and a wadding cover, a button material is interposed between the covering material and the wadding, and, with the button material being enclosed by the above-mentioned three elements, the three elements are pressed and heated by a highfrequency welding machine thus being integrally welded together so as to form a projection on the covering material which has a corresponding appearance to that of the button.

Since the button material is formed of a hard material such as a cardboard, metal plate or hard synthetic resin so as to be able to form the projection on the covering material and is covered with only a sheet of covering material, a seat with such buttons (as is a seat having buttons separately provided on the covering material) is uncomfortable to sit on. Also, as the button material is covered with the covering material and cannot be seen from outside, when the covering material, wadding and wadding cover around the button material are welded integrally, the working efficiency in welding is reduced.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a button structure giving an aesthetic appearance and good texture of a vehicle seat, is comfortable to sit on, and does not impair the working efficiency in welding.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of forming at least one button in a trim cover assembly of the vehicle seat, the trim cover assembly comprising a covering material forming the surface of the seat, a foam wadding, and a wadding cover, the method comprising pressing a button material against thye wadding cover in a predetermined position, securing it there by a thermally weldable reinforcing materialm and integrally welding the covering material, the wadding, the wadding cover and the reinforcing material enclosing the button material together.

Preferably the welding is carried out by a high frequency welding device.

Preferably the method includes forming a number of buttons at the- same time. Thus, since the buttom material is covered by three layers instead of one as in a conventional button, a seat having such buttons is much more comfortable to sit on.

Also, since the button material can be seen from the outside of the trim cover assembly prior to welding the button material can be properly located at the required predetermined position on the trim cover assembly.

Furthermore, the fact that the button material is not inserted into the trim cover assembly facilitates the whole button-forming operation.

According to the present invention there is further provided a button for forming in a trim cover assembly of a vehicle seat, said button comprising a button material having a head portion for placing against the wadding cover of the trim cover assembly in a predetermined position, and a leg portion for attachment of a hang-in member to fix the button to the body of the vehicle seat, and a piece of reinforcing material surrounding the leg portion of said button.

Preferably the head portion of the button material is made of hard synthetic resin.

Preferably the button material includes a portion of magnetic material to enable the button material to be attracted and secured to an upper mould of a high frequency welding device to be described below.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is also provided a device for effecting high frequency welding of the button and trim cover assembly, said device comprising an upper member including a plurality of recesses for receiving the leg portions of the buttons, and a lower member including an equal number of corresponding recesses for receiving the head portions of the buttons, said head portions being adjacent the wadding cover of the trim cover assembly. The upper member being closable on top of the lower member to enclose the trim cover assembly and buttons therein, the device being capable of pressurizing the materials contained therein and applying high frequency waves to them to effect welding.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a vehicle seat having a trim cover assembly, the trim cover assembly including buttons, wherein each button comprises a head portion for placing against the wadding cover of the trim cover assembly in a predetermined position, and a leg portion for attachment of a hang-in member to fix the button to the body of the vehicle seat, and a piece of reinforcing material surrounding the leg portion.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle seat having a button in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a section view of a button in accordance with the present invention; Figure 3 is a section view illustrating a method of forming a button in accordance with the present invention; Figure 4 is a section view illustrating a state in which a button of the invention has been just set to an electrode of a welding device in accordance with the present invention; and, Figures 5 to 7 are section views, respectively illustrating other embodiments of the invention.

Referring first to Figure 1, there is illustrated a vehicle seat provided with a plurality of buttons a, constructed in accordance with the invention, with the buttons a being formed integrally with a trim cover assembly b as shown in Figure 2. The trim cover assembly b comprises a covering material b1 formed of a vinyl chloride film or the like, a wadding b2 of foam material such as urethane foam, and a wadding cover b3 of an unwoven fabric or the like. All of these three elements are fusible or weldable under high-frequency waves, and thus, when the high-frequency waves are internally applied thereto, they can be welded to form an integral laminated body.

In the illustrated embodiment, the abovementioned three elements b1, b2 and b3 are integrally welded together at the same time as the button a is formed, and the button a is produced by applying a button material 1 to the wadding cover b3 and then securing it integrally to the trim cover assembly b by a reinforcing material 2. The above-mentioned button material 1 comprises a head portion 11 formed of (hard) synthetic resin and a leg portion 12 for attachment of a hang-in member 3, with a magnetic material 13 being attached in the bottom of the head portion 11 of the button material 1 shown in Figure 2. The reason the head portion 11 is formed of synthetic resin is to prevent occurences of sparks during high-frequency welding.

Referring now to Figure 3, there is shown the method of forming the decorative buttons a and, in this figure, numeral 20 designates a base in a high-frequency welding machine, and 30 stands for an electrode in the upper mould of the welding machine. In the base 20, there are provided two lower mould electrodes 21, 21 annularly shaped and having respective recessed hollows slightly greater than the outside diameter of the head portion 11 of the button material 1, while, in the positions of the upper mould 30 corresponding to those of the lower mould electrodes 21, 21, there are formed through-bores 31, 31 through which the leg portion 12 of the button material 1 is inserted.

Also, the elctrodes of the upper mould 30 are located onto the base 20 by a coil spring 32 and magnets 33, 33 are provided along the peripheral edges of the upper mould through bores 31, 31 facing to the electrodes 21, 21.

Now, the above-mentioned three elements, that is, the covering material bl, wadding b2 and wadding cover b3 are laminated onto the lower mould electrodes 21, 21. Then, the leg portion 12 of the button material 1 is inserted through the respective through bores 31, 31 in the upper mould 30, and the magnetic material 13 of the head portion 11 is attracted to the electrode of the upper mould 30, with the thermally fusible reinforcing material 2 being inserted into the leg portion 12 of the button material 1. the reinforcing material 2 is formed of synthetic resin (e.g. vinyl chloride as with the covering material b 1) greater than the outside diameter of the button material 1 so that the button material 1 can be welded to the trim cover assembly b.If the welding property of the synthetic resin is found insufficient, then other weldable material (such as a thermally weldable unwoven cloth) may be used.

The upper mould 30 containing the button material 1 with the reinforcing material 2 is superposed on the lower mould electrodes 21, 21 and then the button material 1 is pressurized and heated (by means of high-frequency internal heating), so that the button a as shown in Figure 2 is formed. In Figure 2, c designates an annularly collapsed, welded portion, and the head portion 11 of the button material 1 is now covered with the covering material b1, the collapsed wadding b2 and the wadding cover b3.

The hand-in member designated by 3 is attached in place after the button material 1 is fixed to the trim cover assembly b.

Figures 5 to 7 respectively illustrate other embodiments in which the leg portions 12a, 12b, 12c are rotatably secured to the head portions 1 1a thereof repsectively so as to facilitate the attachment of the hand-in member 3 to the button material 1 as well as the enhance the efficiency of the operation necessary to assemble the trim cover assembly to the cushion member. In other words, in the embodiment of Figure 5, the top portion of the leg portion 12a is staked so that the leg portion 1 2a can be rotated. In the embodiment of Figure 6, the leg portion 12b is formed to be rotatable in a similar way to Figure 5, but a magnetic material 13b is exposed unlike a magnetic material 13a in the former embodiment which is embedded in the head portion 1 1a. In Figure 7, a magnetic material 13c is formed with a through bore and a projection formed in the head portion 1 1a is inserted through the through bore. After then, the projection is collapsed to fix the magnet material 13c.

As described herein before, according to the invention, the covering material, the foam wadding and the wadding cover are piled up on the button material to form the decorative button. Thus, although the button material is formed of a hard material, the decorative button of the invention will never cause discomfort as in the conventional ones so that the seat with such decorative buttons is more comfortable to sit on over the prior art seats.

In addition, the invention can be formed more accurately and efficiently than those which are formed by inserting a button material into a trim cover assembly. That is, the button material can be attached by the magnet to the electrode separately provided from the electrode on which the trim cover assembly is laminated for high-frequency welding. During such welding, the covering material and other elements can be set in a simple manner and also the button material can be accurately welded to the predetermined position in the trim cover assembly.

Claims

1. A method of forming at least one button in a trim cover assembly of a vehicle seat, the trim cover assembly comprising a covering material forming the surface of the seat, a foam wadding, and a wadding cover, the method comprising pressing a button material against the wadding cover in a predetermined position, securing it thereby a thermally weldable reinforcing material, and integrally welding the covering material, the wadding, the wadding cover, and the reinforcing material enclosing the button material together.

2. A method according to Claim 1 in which the welding is carried out by a high-frequency welding device.

3. A method according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein a number of buttons are formed at the same time.

4. A button for forming in a trim cover assembly of a vehicle seat, said button comprising a button material having a head portion for placing against the wadding cover or the trim cover assembly in a predetermined position, and a leg portion for attachment of a hang-in member to fix the button to the body of the vehicle seat, and a piece of reinforcing material surrounding the leg portion of said button.

5. A button according to Claim 4 which is made of hard synthetic resin.

6. A button according to Claim 4 or Claim 5 in which the button material includes a portion of magnetic material to enable the button material to be attracted and secured to an upper mould of a high-frequency welding device.

7. A device for effecting high frequency welding of a button and trim cover assembly, said device comprising an upper member including a plurality of recesses for receiving the leg portions of the buttons, and a lower member including an equal number of corresponding recesses for receiving the head portions of the buttons, said head portions being adjacent the wadding cover of the trim cover assembly, and the upper member being closable on top of the lower member to enclose the trim cover assembly and buttons therein, the device being capable of pressurizing the materials contained therein and applying high-frequency waves to them to effect welding.

8. A vehicle seat having a trim cover assembly, the trim cover assembly including buttons wherein each button comprises a head portion for placing against the wadding cover of the trim cover assembly in a predetermined position, and a leg portion for attachment of a hang-in member to fix the button to the body of the vehicle seat, and a piece of reinforcing material surrounding the leg portion.

9. A method according to Claim 1 and substantially as herein described.

10. A method of forming at least one button in a trim cover assembly of the vehicle seat substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

11. A button as claimed in Claim 4 and substantially as herein described.

12. A button for forming in a trim cover assembly of a vehicle seat substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.