Vehicle Inner Lining Groove Design for Smooth Decorative Layer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing inner lining parts for motor vehicles fail to provide a high-quality, visually appealing and haptically pleasing solution for covering three-dimensionally curved surfaces with grooves, as they often result in local thickness changes and projections on the decorative layer when applied to curved carrier parts.
Innovation Solution
The inner lining part features a carrier part with a longitudinal groove and a decorative layer that covers the groove, forming a smooth surface by extending as a single-piece layer over the groove and its inner surfaces, with additional depressions to accommodate folds and prevent them from being visible, allowing for a seamless, curved design without local thickness changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If a decorative layer is applied to a three-dimensionally curved carrier part with a groove, then the carrier part can be covered, but local thickness changes and projections form on the decorative layer
Solution Approach 1:
The groove is formed in the carrier part before the decorative layer is applied. This preliminary groove structure allows the decorative layer to be laid flat without forming projections or local thickness changes, as the groove accommodates any potential folds or excess material from the curvature application process
Solution Approach 2:
The groove acts as an intermediary structure between the curved carrier part and the decorative layer. It mediates the transition by providing a recess that absorbs the dimensional discrepancies caused by applying a flat decorative layer to a three-dimensionally curved surface, thereby maintaining surface smoothness
2Area of stationary object
If the decorative layer is stretched over the curved carrier part, then coverage is achieved, but folds and thickenings form on the visible surface
Solution Approach 1:
The groove introduces a vertical dimension (depth) to accommodate the folds and thickenings that inevitably form when stretching a flat decorative layer over a curved surface. By moving the excess material into the third dimension (into the groove recess), the visible surface remains flat and smooth
3Adaptability or versatility
If a groove is formed in the carrier part, then structural design is enabled, but the decorative layer cannot lie smoothly over it
Solution Approach 1:
The groove, which initially appears to be a harmful feature that disrupts the smoothness of the decorative layer, is converted into a beneficial element. The groove's recess is specifically designed to receive and hide any folds or thickenings, thereby maintaining the smooth appearance of the visible surface while preserving the structural and aesthetic benefits of the groove design
Data Source
AI summary
An inner lining part for the interior of a motor vehicle, wherein the inner lining part has a carrier part, which comprises a curvature section, with a curvature running along a longitudinal direction of the carrier part. The curvature section includes a carrier part groove running in the longitudinal direction. A decorative layer overlies a first surface of the carrier part and forms a visible face of the inner lining part. The decorative layer covers the carrier part groove, thereby forming a decorative layer groove on the visible face of the inner lining part. Recesses in one or more portions of the carrier part at the carrier part groove receive folds or thickenings of the decorative layer to thereby permit the visible face of the decorative layer at the decorative layer groove to match the curvature of the curvature section at carrier side regions located adjacent the groove.