Protective cover

Abstract

To provide a protective cover hardly causing wrinkles over the whole and hardly causing deviation from a proper sticking position.SOLUTION: This protective cover 1 is stuck to a locker protection cover 2 and a door trim 3 of a vehicle, and is composed of two kinds of polygonal seal members 11,11,., 12,12,. Since each of the seal members 1112 and is relatively small, it has good followability to the upper surface of the rocker protection cover 2 and the surface of the door trim 3, and the sticking work is easy. Therefore, the seal member 11,12 is less likely to be wrinkled, and is also less likely to be displaced from the proper attachment position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a protective cover, and more particularly to a measure for realizing a protective cover that has a good appearance when attached. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, protective covers have been known for protecting vehicle interior materials, etc. Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which a single protective cover is attached to the entire lower part of a vehicle door trim, in consideration of the possibility that the door trim may be damaged if an occupant's foot hits the door trim when getting in or out of the vehicle. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-30784 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the protective cover disclosed in Patent Document 1 is attached so as to cover a wide area of ​​the door trim (the entire lower part of the door trim) in one piece, which makes it difficult to attach the protective cover over the entire surface without wrinkles or to attach it in the correct position without misalignment.

[0005] In other words, the work of attaching the protective cover requires aligning the outer edge of the large protective cover with the outer edge of the appropriate attachment position on the door trim, and then attaching the inner part of the protective cover along the door trim, which makes it easy for wrinkles to form on this inner part.In addition, the area of ​​the adhesive surface on the back side of the protective cover is large, making the attachment work difficult, and as a result, there is a high possibility that the protective cover will be misaligned from the appropriate attachment position.

[0006] For this reason, there has been a demand for a protective cover that is less likely to wrinkle overall and is less likely to shift from the correct attachment position.

[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and its object is to provide a protective cover that is less likely to wrinkle throughout and is less likely to shift from the correct attachment position. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The solution of the present invention for achieving the above object is based on a protective cover that is attached to a region to be protected on the surface of a member to be protected, thereby protecting the region to be protected. The protective cover is characterized by being made up of a plurality of sealing members formed in a polygonal or circular shape so that they can be attached to the region to be protected while being close to or in contact with each other.

[0009] The term "proximity or contact" as used here refers to a concept that includes all cases in which adjacent sealing members are close to each other with a predetermined distance between them, in point contact, in line contact, and in surface contact.

[0010] According to the above-mentioned specific features, when the protective cover is attached to the protection target area on the surface of the protection target member, multiple seal members are attached in close proximity to or in contact with each other in the protection target area. Therefore, each seal member can be made sufficiently small compared to the size of the protection target area. Because the seal members are relatively small, they have good conformability to the surface of the protection target member and are easy to attach. Therefore, the seal members are less likely to wrinkle and are less likely to shift from their proper attachment position. Because the protective cover is formed by attaching multiple such seal members to the protection target area on the surface of the protection target member, it is possible to apply a good-looking protective cover to a relatively wide protection target area without shifting from its proper attachment position.

[0011] The member to be protected is an interior material of a vehicle, and the area to be protected is a predetermined area on the surface of the interior material where there is a risk of contact by an occupant.

[0012] This allows areas where there is a risk of contact by an occupant (for example, areas that are likely to be damaged by an occupant's feet) to be protected by the multiple seal members, thereby providing good protection for these areas.

[0013] More specifically, the area at risk of contact by an occupant is the upper surface of a rocker protection cover or the surface of a door trim.

[0014] The upper surface of the rocker protection cover and the surface of the door trim are areas that are likely to be damaged by the feet of occupants when getting in and out of the vehicle. This solution protects these areas with multiple sealing members, thereby preventing damage to these areas.

[0015] The plurality of sealing members are of two or more types having different shapes.

[0016] This makes it possible to apply the protective cover to areas to be protected of various shapes (for example, areas to be protected of complex shapes or areas to be protected that are curved), thereby expanding the versatility of the protective cover.

[0017] Furthermore, when attached to the area to be protected, the pair of adjacent polygonal sealing members have adjacent corners whose sum of interior angles is 180°.

[0018] This configuration allows the sides of a pair of adjacent polygonal seal members to be aligned on the same straight line. For example, if the outer edge of the area to be protected is linear, combining the pair of polygonal seal members allows the direction of extension of the outer edge of the area to be protected to be parallel to the direction of extension of one side of each seal member. In other words, each seal member can be positioned without part of the seal member not following the outer edge of the area to be protected (part of the seal member extending beyond the outer edge of the area to be protected), resulting in a more attractive protective cover. [Effects of the Invention]

[0019] In the present invention, the protective cover is made up of a plurality of sealing members formed in a polygonal or circular shape, which makes it possible to provide a protective cover that is less likely to wrinkle overall and is less likely to shift from the correct application position. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a protective cover is attached to an interior material of a vehicle according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing some of the multiple seal members attached to the top surface of the rocker protection cover according to the embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. [Figure 4]FIG. 10 is a diagram showing some of a plurality of sealing members attached to pillars of a house in a modified example. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a view equivalent to FIG. 2 showing a modified example of a protective cover made of one type of sealing member, showing an example of attachment of the protective cover. [Figure 6] 2 showing a modified example of a protective cover made of a plurality of types of sealing members, and showing an example of attachment of the protective cover. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0021] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a protective cover is attached to a resin cover (hereinafter referred to as a rocker protection cover) that covers the upper side of a rocker as an interior material of a vehicle, and to a door trim. In other words, the upper surface of the rocker protection cover 2 and the surface of the door trim 3 are the surfaces of the members to be protected in the present invention.

[0022] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a protection cover 1 is attached to each of a rocker protection cover 2 and a door trim 3, which are interior materials of a vehicle, and a door 4 is open.

[0023] Here, we will explain the case where the protective cover 1 is attached to the rocker protection cover 2 and door trim 3 on the front right of the vehicle (for example, on the driver's seat side), but the same configuration will be used when the protective cover is attached to the rocker protection cover and door trim on the front left, rear right, and rear left of the vehicle.

[0024] -Protective cover that can be attached to the rocker protection cover- First, we will explain the protective cover 1 attached to the rocker protection cover 2. As shown in Fig. 1, the protective cover 1 made up of a plurality of sealing members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, ... is attached to the upper surface of the rocker protection cover 2.

[0025] The multiple sealing members 11, 12 attached to the upper surface of this rocker protection cover 2 consist of two types: a first sealing member 11 having an approximately regular hexagonal shape and a second sealing member 12 having an approximately equilateral triangular shape, and these sealing members 11, 12 are attached alternately along the extension direction of the rocker protection cover 2 (the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle body).

[0026] In this embodiment, the sealing members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, ... are not attached to the entire upper surface of the rocker protection cover 2, but are attached only to areas that are likely to be hit by the feet of an occupant when getting in or out of the vehicle. In other words, they are attached to the minimum area necessary to protect the upper surface of the rocker protection cover 2. This minimum area on the upper surface of the rocker protection cover 2 corresponds to the protected area (area at risk of contact by an occupant) referred to in this invention. This area that is likely to be hit by the feet of an occupant is determined based on experiments and simulations.

[0027] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing some of the multiple sealing members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, ... attached to the upper surface of this rocker protection cover 2. The left-right direction in Fig. 2 corresponds to the front-rear direction of the vehicle body. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in Fig. 2.

[0028] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first seal member 11 has a generally regular hexagonal shape as described above. As shown in FIG. 3, the first seal member 11 includes a genuine leather seal member main body 11a and a double-sided tape 11b attached to the back surface of the seal member main body 11a. The material of the seal member main body 11a is not limited to genuine leather and may be made of a resin such as PVC (polyvinyl chloride). More specifically, the shape is a regular hexagon with curved corners. By making the corners curved, peeling force is dispersed when a peeling force acts on the corners, thereby preventing peeling of the first seal member 11. In particular, when an occupant gets in or out of a car, the foot of the occupant is likely to come into contact (bump) with the rocker protection cover 2 from a direction close to horizontal. This makes it easy for a peeling force to act on the corners of the first seal member 11. Therefore, by making the corners curved, peeling is effectively prevented.

[0029] The color of the first seal member 11 (particularly the color of the seal member main body 11a) is not particularly limited, but if it is desired to make the presence of the first seal member 11 difficult to see, it is preferable to use the same color or a similar color as the rocker protection cover 2. A transparent material may also be used for the first seal member 11. On the other hand, if it is desired to use the first seal member 11 to create a distinctive look inside the vehicle cabin, it is preferable to use a color that differs in brightness or saturation from the color of the rocker protection cover 2. It may also be the same color or a similar color as the vehicle body color (the color of the vehicle body).

[0030] Then, in the process of attaching the first sealing member 11 to the top surface of the rocker protection cover 2, the release paper (not shown) covering the surface of the double-sided tape 11b of the first sealing member 11 before attachment is peeled off to expose the double-sided tape 11b, and the first sealing member 11 is attached so that the double-sided tape 11b is overlapped on the top surface of the rocker protection cover 2.

[0031] On the other hand, the second seal member 12 is formed in a substantially equilateral triangular shape as described above, and although not shown, it includes a genuine leather seal member body and double-sided tape attached to the backside of the seal member body. The material of the seal member body of the second seal member 12 is not limited to genuine leather, but may also be made of resin such as PVC. More specifically, the shape is an equilateral triangle with curved corners. This prevents the second seal member 12 from peeling off.

[0032] The color of the second seal member 12 (particularly the color of the seal member main body 11a) is not particularly limited, but can be appropriately set in the same way as the first seal member 11 depending on the case where it is desired to make the presence of the second seal member 12 difficult to see or to create a visual effect inside the vehicle cabin using the second seal member 12. In addition, the color of the second seal member 12 does not necessarily have to be the same color as the first seal member 11.

[0033] Like the first seal member 11, the release paper for this second seal member 12 is peeled off and attached to the upper surface of the rocker protection cover 2. In Fig. 2, when separately describing the pair of second seal members 12, 12 arranged in the vehicle width direction, the one arranged on the inner side in the vehicle width direction (upper side in Fig. 2) will be referred to as the inner second seal member 12A, and the one arranged on the outer side in the vehicle width direction (lower side in Fig. 2) will be referred to as the outer second seal member 12B.

[0034] 2, the first seal member 11 is attached to the top surface of the rocker protection cover 2 so that two opposing (parallel) sides 11e, 11f of the outer edge of the first seal member 11 are parallel to edges 21, 22 (extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body) of the rocker protection cover 2. The second seal members 12A, 12B are attached to the top surface of the rocker protection cover 2 so that sides 12a, 12a of the second seal members 12A, 12B are adjacent to sides 11c, 11d (sides inclined at 120° with respect to sides 11e, 11f) continuing from sides 11e, 11f of the rocker protection cover 2 (so that sides 11c, 12a, 11d, 12a are parallel to each other with a predetermined distance D between them). The distance D is set to, for example, 3 mm. However, this value is not limited to this.

[0035] The interior angle θ1 of one corner of the first seal member 11 is 120°, while the interior angle θ2 of one corner of the second seal members 12A, 12B is 60°, so the sum of the interior angles of the adjacent first seal member 11 and second seal members 12A, 12B is 180°. Therefore, the side 11e located on the upper side of the first seal member 11 in Figure 2 (the side located on the inner side in the vehicle width direction) and the side 12b located on the upper side of the inner second seal member 12A in Figure 2 (the side located on the inner side in the vehicle width direction) form a straight line along the inner edge 21 of the rocker protection cover 2 in the vehicle width direction.

[0036] Similarly, the edge 11f located on the lower side of the first seal member 11 in Figure 2 (the edge located on the outer side in the vehicle width direction) and the edge 12b located on the lower side of the outer second seal member 12B in Figure 2 (the edge located on the outer side in the vehicle width direction) are straight lines that run along the outer edge 22 in the vehicle width direction of the rocker protection cover 2.

[0037] This allows the sides 11e, 11f, 12b of each of the sealing members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, ... to be arranged so as to follow the respective edge portions 21, 22 of the rocker protection cover 2. In other words, the sealing members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, ... can be attached to the rocker protection cover 2 in a lined-up state without the outer edges of the sealing members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, ... not following the respective edge portions 21, 22 of the rocker protection cover 2 (the outer edges of the sealing members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, ... protruding beyond the respective edge portions 21, 22 of the rocker protection cover 2). This makes it possible to protect a relatively wide area of ​​the top surface of the rocker protection cover 2 while maintaining a good appearance of the protective cover 1.

[0038] More specifically, in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 1, four first seal members 11 are arranged at predetermined intervals along the extension direction of the rocker protection cover 2, and two second seal members 12A, 12B (a pair of second seal members 12A, 12B arranged in the vehicle width direction) are arranged at three locations between these first seal members 11, 11, ...

[0039] -Protective cover that can be attached to door trim- Next, we will explain the protective cover 1 attached to the door trim 3. As shown in Fig. 1, the protective cover 1 made up of a plurality of sealing members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, ... is also attached to the lower region of the surface of the door trim 3 (the surface facing the interior of the vehicle when the door 4 is closed).

[0040] The multiple seal members 11, 12 attached to the surface of the door trim 3 are made of two types: a first seal member 11 having a substantially regular hexagonal shape and a second seal member 12 having a substantially equilateral triangular shape, and these seal members 11, 12 are attached alternately in the extension direction of the door trim 3 (the front-to-rear direction of the vehicle body when the door 4 is closed). The seal members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, ... are not attached to the entire surface of the door trim 3, but are attached only to areas that are likely to be hit by the feet of occupants when getting in and out. In other words, they are attached to the minimum area necessary to protect the surface of the door trim 3. This minimum area on the surface of the door trim 3 corresponds to the protected area (area at risk of contact by occupants) referred to in the present invention.

[0041] The configuration of each of the seal members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, ... attached to the door trim 3, their arrangement on the surface of the door trim 3, and the work required to attach them to the door trim 3 are all substantially the same as those of each of the seal members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, ... attached to the rocker protection cover 2. Specifically, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 , three first seal members 11 are arranged at predetermined intervals along the extension direction of the door trim 3 (the front-rear direction of the vehicle body when the door 4 is closed), and two second seal members 12, 12 (a pair of second seal members 12, 12 aligned vertically) are arranged at two locations between these first seal members 11, 11, 11. This allows the protective cover 1 to protect a relatively wide area of ​​the surface of the door trim 3 while maintaining a good appearance.

[0042] In this embodiment, two first seal members 11 are arranged vertically at one end (the rear side in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body when the door 4 is closed) of each of the first seal members 11 attached to the surface of the door trim 3. In other words, the lower first seal member 11 can protect the lower region of the door trim 3.

[0043] -Effects of the embodiment- As described above, in this embodiment, the seal members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, ... can be made sufficiently small compared to the size of the area to be protected (protected area) on the upper surface of the rocker protection cover 2 and the surface of the door trim 3. Because the seal members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, ... are relatively small in this way, the seal members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, ... have good conformability to the upper surface of the rocker protection cover 2 and the surface of the door trim 3, and are easy to apply. Therefore, the seal members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, ... are less likely to wrinkle and are less likely to shift from the correct application position.

[0044] The likelihood of wrinkling varies not only depending on the size (area) of the sealing members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, ... but also on the material, thickness, etc. Therefore, these parameters are appropriately selected based on experiments and simulations to ensure that wrinkles are unlikely to occur. As an example, in the case of genuine leather of a typical thickness, the width dimension of the first sealing member 11 (dimension T1 in Figure 2) is set to about 50 mm, and the width dimension of the second sealing member 12 (dimension T2 in Figure 2) is set to about 23 mm. These values ​​are not limited to these.

[0045] Since the protective cover 1 is formed by attaching multiple such sealing members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, ... to the area to be protected, it is possible to apply a good-looking protective cover 1 to a relatively wide area (area to be protected) without any deviation from the appropriate attachment position.

[0046] Furthermore, the technology of Patent Document 1 described above has a configuration in which a single protective cover is attached to the entire lower part of the door trim. Since the shape of the door trim varies depending on the vehicle model, the technology of Patent Document 1 requires that a protective cover be made specifically for that vehicle model. In other words, multiple types of protective covers must be made for each vehicle model, which increases manufacturing costs.

[0047] In contrast, the protective cover 1 according to this embodiment is made up of a plurality of sealing members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, ..., and therefore can be applied to various locations on various vehicle models by combining the sealing members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, .... This makes it highly versatile and provides a high degree of freedom without being restricted by vehicle model or attachment position. It also allows for reduced manufacturing costs.

[0048] -Other embodiments- The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and all modifications and applications within the scope of the claims and equivalents thereto are possible.

[0049] For example, in the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the protective cover 1 (plurality of sealing members 11, 11, ..., 12, 12, ...) is attached to both the rocker protection cover 2 and the door trim 3, which are interior materials of the vehicle. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the protective cover 1 may be attached to only one of the rocker protection cover 2 and the door trim 3, or the protective cover 1 may be attached to an interior material of the vehicle other than the rocker protection cover 2 and the door trim 3. Furthermore, the protective cover 1 may be attached to a member (a member to be protected) other than the interior material of the vehicle.

[0050] For example, Figure 4 shows some of the multiple sealing members 13, 13, ... attached to the pillars of a house. In Figure 4, multiple rectangular sealing members 13, 13, ... are attached to the pillars of the house at predetermined intervals. These sealing members 13, 13, ... also have curved corners.

[0051] In the case of the seal member 13 shown in Figure 4, the interior angle θ3 of one corner of the seal member 13 is 90°, so the sum of the interior angles of adjacent seal members 13, 13 is 180°. As a result, the sides 13a, 13a of adjacent seal members 13, 13 are positioned on the same straight line, allowing them to fit along the outer edges of the pillars of the house, thereby protecting the pillars while maintaining a good appearance. For example, this can prevent damage to the pillars caused by wheelchairs or people touching them indoors.

[0052] As an example of the dimensions of the third seal member 13, the height dimension (dimension T3 in FIG. 4) is set to about 30 mm, and the width dimension (dimension T4 in FIG. 4) is set to about 70 mm. These values ​​are not limited to these.

[0053] Furthermore, such rectangular sealing members 13, 13, . . . can be applied not only to pillars of houses but also to various members to be protected, including interior materials of vehicles.

[0054] In the above embodiment, the protective cover 1 is formed of two types of seal members 11, 12: the first seal member 11 having a substantially regular hexagonal shape and the second seal member 12 having a substantially equilateral triangular shape. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the protective cover 1 may be formed of one type of seal member, or may be formed of three or more types of seal members.

[0055] Figures 5(a) and 5(b) are modified examples of the protective cover 1 consisting of one type of sealing member (the second sealing member of the embodiment described above) 12, 12, ..., and are equivalent to Figure 2 and show an example of how the protective cover 1 is attached.

[0056] The protective cover 1 shown in Figure 5(a) is constructed by arranging the second seal members 12, 12, ... so that the positions of the vertices of the equilateral triangle shape are alternated (the second seal members 12 whose vertices are located on the upper side of the figure and the second seal members 12 whose vertices are located on the lower side of the figure are alternately arranged).

[0057] Moreover, what is shown in FIG. 5(b) is a protective cover 1 in which the second seal members 12, 12, . . . shown in FIG. 5(a) are arranged in two tiers, one above the other.

[0058] 6(a) and 6(b) are diagrams equivalent to FIG. 2 showing modified examples of the protective cover 1 made of a plurality of types of sealing members, and showing examples of how the protective cover 1 is attached.

[0059] 6(a) shows a protective cover 1 configured with a substantially regular pentagonal seal member 14, a substantially isosceles triangular seal member 15, and a substantially rectangular seal member 16. The interior angle θ4 of one corner of the substantially regular pentagonal seal member 14 is 108°, while the interior angle θ5 of one base angle of each of the substantially isosceles triangular seal members 15, 15 located on either side of the substantially regular pentagonal seal member 14 is 36°. The interior angle θ6 of one corner of the substantially rectangular seal member 16 closer to the seal member 14 is 72°. Therefore, the sum of the interior angles of the seal members 14, 15, 15 and the sum of the interior angles of the seal members 14, 16 are both 180°. Therefore, the bases of the substantially isosceles triangular seal members 15, 15 located on either side of the substantially regular pentagonal seal member 14 can be aligned on the same straight line. Furthermore, one side of the substantially regular pentagonal seal member 14 and one side of the substantially rectangular seal member 16 can also be positioned on the same straight line.

[0060] 6(b) shows a protective cover 1 configured with circular seal members 17, 17, ... having a relatively large diameter and circular seal members 18, 18, ... having a relatively small diameter compared to the seal members 17. In other words, the relatively large-diameter circular seal members 17, 17, ... are attached to the surface of the member to be protected with the outer edges of these seal members 17, 17, ... in point contact with each other, and a relatively small-diameter circular seal member 18 is placed in contact with the outer edges of the pair of seal members 17, 17 and attached to the surface of the member to be protected.

[0061] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment and each of the modified examples, the cases where adjacent seal members 11, 12, (13, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18) are attached to the surface of the member to be protected while being close to each other with a predetermined gap (see FIGS. 1, 2, 4, and 5), or are attached to the surface of the member to be protected while being in point contact (see FIG. 6) have been described. The present invention is not limited to this, and the cases where adjacent seal members are attached to the surface of the member to be protected while being in line contact (with the sides of polygonal seal members being in line contact) or while being in surface contact (with portions of adjacent seal members overlapping) are also included in the scope of the technical idea of ​​the present invention. [Industrial Applicability]

[0062] The present invention is applicable to a protective cover that is attached to an interior material of a vehicle to protect the interior material. [Explanation of symbols]

[0063] 1 protective cover 2 Rocker protection cover (protected parts) 3 Door trim (protected parts) 11 First sealing member (sealing member) 12 second seal member (seal member) 13~18 Sealing material

Claims

1. A protective cover that is attached to a protection target area on a surface of a protection target member to protect the protection target area, A protective cover characterized by comprising a plurality of sealing members formed in a polygonal or circular shape so as to be attached to the area to be protected while being in close proximity to or in contact with each other.

2. The protective cover according to claim 1, The protective cover is characterized in that the member to be protected is an interior material of a vehicle, and the area to be protected is a predetermined area on the surface of the interior material where there is a risk of contact by an occupant.

3. The protective cover according to claim 2, The protective cover is characterized in that the area at risk of contact with an occupant is the upper surface of a rocker protection cover or the surface of a door trim.

4. The protective cover according to claim 1, 2 or 3, A protective cover characterized in that the plurality of sealing members are of two or more types having mutually different shapes.

5. The protective cover according to claim 4, A protective cover characterized in that, when attached to the area to be protected, a pair of adjacent polygonal sealing members have a sum of the interior angles of each adjacent corner of 180°.

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