US2215973A

US2215973A - Method of forming trim panels

Info

Publication number: US2215973A
Application number: US110311A
Authority: US
Inventors: William C Osborn
Original assignee: Murray Corp
Current assignee: Murray Corp; Murray Corp of America
Priority date: 1936-11-11
Filing date: 1936-11-11
Publication date: 1940-09-24
Anticipated expiration: 1957-09-24

Description

yPatented Sept. 24, 1940 METHOD or FORMING TRIMPANELS n Cf OsbornQfDetroit, Michl, assignort i The kMurray Corporation' of America, Detroit, i kMich., acorporation of Delaware "i j Application Novemberil, 1936serial No. v110;:11

comme (C1.` '154;2)

Thisinventionrelates to innertrim panels. More particularly -it relates to ainovel and-improved method of` forming. innertrim panels, V which panels have ,novel andparticularly rornaf.l

`t mental surface.decorationsprovided thereon.`

It is a primary object of the present invention toprovide an inner trim panel having a decorated surface and one which isfnparticularly adaptedlfor the attachment and mounting ofa' l0 section of carpeting throughout the lower portion thereof in order to provide afsurface more resistant to wear in the lower portion of the trim panel. Trim panels of this generic type are primarily utilized for thepurpose of providing av decorative finish for the inner surface of vehicle doors beneath the window openings therein and.

incertain types of. panels it has been-.found desirable to cover the lower portionthereof 'withva section of carpeting or other suitable similar material in order that the inner surfacefof the door receiving themaximum of wear Will be adequately protected.

Innerr trim panels Vof the general rtypefwith which the present invention is primarilyconcerned include `a relatively ystii cardboard backing sheet having a layer of padding material -ad-r hesively secured thereto. This padding material is cut afterits application to the'backing sheety along predetermined lines to provide grooves in the surface thereof.. vA sheet of fabric finishmaterial is stretched over the surface of the padded backing sheet and is urged into and adhesively secured in certain of said grooves in order-to provide an ornamental surface conguration for the vide a type of surface decoration Aupon thepadding material such` that the fabric finish material subsequently applied theretomay easily and conveniently conform to the desired surface'conflgu ration, thus providing an' exceptionally uniform and attractive resultant product. Many other and further objects, advantages Y and features of the present invention will become clearly apparent from the Vfollowing specification when considered in connectionV with the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof. In the drawingl Y T `sprayed witha coating lBlof .liquid adhesive, such 'iFigure k1 is aperspective view of afcompleted .inner trimpanel manufactured inaccordance j withthe teachings of the-.presentinvention l y v [Figure v2'isa perspective view, similarL to Fig. l, showing apadded backing :sheet `and illustrating the manner inI which the padding thereon-,iscut toproduce the improvedinnei" 'trimpaneh Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on thel line y3--3 yof Figure 2, illustrating'the manner in whichthe pad-f` 10 ding material is cut. i Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view similar to FigurerB illustrating themanner in Whichthe fabric flnishimaterial is applied to the backing sheet showing the same prior to the 15 tensioning of the fabricfiinish material. v y, `Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional l view taken substantially'on.` the line `5,4-5 of Fig- A urel illustrating themanner in which the. `fabric l nish material is tensioned andY conformed to the 20 surface configurationy of the padding material.

Figure 6 is an" enlarged fragmentary sectional View vtaken substantially on the line 6i-6 of Figure 2 illustrating in detail the manner in which the padding material is` cut at the bottom portion 25 ofthe panel. v y

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Figure 6 showing the manner in which a por'- tion of thepadding material is removed in order to make roomfor the installation of the carpeting. 30

Figure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View taken Asubstantially on the line 8 8 of Figure 1 illustrating the mannerin which the carpeting 'and fabric finish material, are mounted upon'th'ej `panel adjacentv the bottom thereof.r y 35 vFiguregfis anenlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on the line 9-9 ofFigure 1 illustrating in detail the construction ofthe panel in one of the side portions thereof.

Figure l0 is a-perspective/fview of. a kpadded 40 backingsheet having the padding thereon ,cut ina modified manner. .f y

In manufacturing innertrim panels accordance with the method of the presentvinvention'a backingsheet I5l formed of cardboard or other 45 'v suitable relatively stiff material is blanked outto the configuration ofthe inner trim panel whichit is desired to produce. `This backing sheet is thenv for -example as latex, and then a relativelythick layer of non-woven loosely lfeltel fibrous material Il is'applied. thereto. yThisypaddin'g material IT is preferably formed of looselyfelted jute'fibers although many other similar. types of fibrous pad-Y ding material may be used as may be desired-,55

to its application to the backing sheet to a configuration substantially congruent with the backing sheet to which it is adheslvely secured.

While the adhesive material I6 which secures this padding materiali in position is still wet the padded backing sheet is placed in a press which has a plurality of V-shaped knives which knives engage the padding material and cut a plurality of grooves I8 therein which grooves in the form of the invention shown in the drawing are generallyA rectangular in form and which provide on the surface of the padded backing sheet a plurality of adjacently disposed concentric rectangles which, as will hereinafter be seen, produce a paneled effect upon the finished panel. In addition the press has knives which form a groove I9 extending along the upper surface of the trim v panel substantially parallelfto the uppermost of the grooves I8 and spaced slightly therefrom. The die of the press also forms a groove 20 which extends throughout the entire transverse width knives are V-shaped in cross section serves not only to form the padding material to provide rounded beads between the grooves but also serves to urge the ends of the fibers cut downwardly toward the backing sheet where these ends will come in contact `with the adhesive I6 which, as has been explained above, is still wet while the cutting operation is being performed, and will serve to'bond the ends of these fibers, thus permanently retaining the grooves in the desired configuration.

In the particular type of panel which is formed by the method of the present invention the lower portion of the panel is adapted to be composed of carpeting and this carpeting is of such thickness that it is essential that the padding material be removed from the lower portion of the panel. The groove or line of cut 20 serves to define the portion of the padding material to be removed and serves to provide a clean, neat edge against which the carpeting may abut when subsequently applied. After the cutting operation has been completed the padding material I1 beneath the liner of cut 20 is removed from the panel, as is clearly seenin Figure 7 of the drawing.

The fabric finish material which is used to cover the padded backing sheet thus provided preferably includes a section of woven cloth 22, the lower marginal'edge of which is stretched along the line 23 toa section of carpeting material 24 of a size and shape adapted to fill the lower portion of the trim panel from which the padding material has been removed as described above. The carpet material 24 has a strip of fabric material 26 projecting from the marginal edge thereof which, as will hereinafter bel seen, serves to aid in securing the fabric iinish'materi'al as a whole in position upon the padded backing sheet.

Prior to the application of the fabric finish material to the padded backing sheet latex or similar adhesive material is sprayed into the This padding material-is preferably formed prior bases of the grooves I8 and this may be disseminated through the adjacent fibrous material by means of a blast of air in order to prevent the latex material from saturating the cloth subsequently applied. The lower exposed surface of the backing sheet is sprayed with adhesive materialand the section of carpet is placed in position thereon. The marginal portions of the reverse side ofthe backing sheet I5 are sprayed with adhesive material and the fabric 22 is stretched over the surface of the padded backing sheet and has its marginal edges secured in position to the reverseside ofthe backing sheet. The `projecting -fabric material 26 which, as has been explained above, is secured to the carpet 24, and is folded around the marginal edge. of the backing sheet and secured thereto as is seen in Figure 8.

After the fabric finsh material has thus been applied to the padded backing sheet the whole trim panel isA placed ina pressv which has blades adapted to enter "the grooves`I8. Asthis press descends the fabric finish material will be tensioned uniformly throughoutthe surface of the trim panel and will be-urged 'into the grooves I8 where it will be retained by the adhesive mate- 'rial which has been applied in the bases of these grooves, thus conforming the fabric finish material tothe configuration of the padding material and providing the desired decorative effects on the surface thereof. It will be noted that the fabric finish material is stretchedjover the groove `I9 and is noturgedthereinto, consequently permitting slight Vlateral displacement of the tufts between the grooves I8 Withoutcausing Wrinkling or substantial deformation of the body of the padding material as a whole. The provision of this groove I9 is regarded as a particularly important feature of the present invention inasmuch as it permits the accurate conforming of the fabric finish material to the configuration of the padding material so that a neat and uniform resultant product is obtained.

In the modified formv of the invention shown in Figure l0,` substantially the same inventive principles are utilized. In this form of the invention a padded backing sheet 28 has alayer of fibrous padding material 29 'adhesively secured thereto. This padding material is cutalong lines 30 which define the surface decorations ultimately to be produced upon the finished trim panel and outside of these lines cuts 3'I are formed which serve substantially the same function as the cut I9 described above. In addition, the padding material is cut along the line 32 throughout its entire transverse extent to per mit the removal of the padding material from the bottom portion of the sheet, thus providin for the installation of the carpeting.

The above described embodiments of the invention are merely illustrative of the generic in'- ventive concept presented in this application. Many other and further modifications thereof falling within the scope `of thev invention as dened in the subjoined 'claims will be clearly apparent to those skilled in the art.

'What I claim is: y

l. The method of forming inner trim panels which includes adhesively securing a section of padding material to a backing sheet, 'cutting a plurality of grooves in saidv padding material, stretching fabric finish material over said padded backing sheet and urging saidfabric finish material into one of said grooves to tension the same over another of said grooves.

2. The method of manufacturing inner trim panels which includes adhesively securing a layer of padding material upon a relatively stiibackmentioned lines of cut, tensioning fabric finish material over the surface of said padded backing sheet and urging the same inwardly into said rst mentioned lines of cut. n

3. The method of manufacturing inner trim panels which includes adhesivelysecuring a layer of padding material upon a relatively stiff backl ing sheet,cutting said padding material along-f,

predetermined linesto form surface decorations therenrand at the same time cutting said padding material additionally adjacent said r'st mentioned lines of cut tensioning fabric finishl material over the surface of said padded back' ing sheet and adhesively securing ksaid fabric nish material in `the bases of said first mentioned-lines of cut, .said fabric finish material `being tensioned over said last mentioned lines of cut to provide for a uniform. distribution of said l `padding material.

`4. The method of manufacturing inner trim panels which includesfadhesively securing a layer of padding material to a relatively stiff backing sheet,'cutting said padding material along predetermined lines while thus secured, said cutting operation including a linel of cut extending throughout the entire transversey width of said panel adjacent the bottom thereof, removing the padding material below'said last mentioned line of cut, adhesifely securing a section of carpeting material to the area from which said padding has been removed, tensioning fabric nish material over the padded portion of saidpanel and urging said vfabric vnish material into the first mentioned lines of cut. l

' f C. OS'BORN.