Vehicle Seat Cladding Element Composite Structure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle seat cladding elements lack a high-quality visual and haptic impression, often appearing hard and plastic-like despite covering, and are difficult to produce in various forms while maintaining mechanical resilience.
Innovation Solution
A cladding element with a soft inner lining part, such as foamed material or soft plastic, combined with a cover element like textile or leather, fastened via seams, gluing, or welding, and using an adhesive fleece for bonding, allowing for lightweight, breathable, and easily producible components that can withstand mechanical loads.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a plastic cladding element is used to cover the seat frame, then the production is simple and cost-effective, but the visual and haptic quality is poor and it appears hard and plastic-like
Solution Approach 1:
The cladding element combines a soft inner lining part (foamed material or soft plastic) with a cover element (textile, artificial leather, or leather) to create a composite structure. This composite material approach allows the element to achieve both ease of manufacture and high visual/haptic quality, as each material contributes its advantageous properties to the final product.
Solution Approach 2:
The soft inner lining part acts as a flexible shell that provides cushioning and deformability, while the cover element serves as a thin film providing aesthetic appearance. This combination enables the cladding element to be compressed and deformed easily while maintaining a high-quality visual and haptic impression.
2Manufacturing precision
If a soft inner lining part combined with cover element is used, then the visual and haptic quality is high, but the production complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cladding element is divided into two distinct segments: the soft inner lining part and the cover element. This segmentation allows each part to be manufactured separately using optimized processes, then combined through fastening methods such as seams, gluing, or welding. This reduces overall production complexity by enabling specialized manufacturing of each component.
Solution Approach 2:
An adhesive fleece is introduced as an intermediary layer between the soft inner lining part and the cover element to facilitate bonding. This intermediary simplifies the joining process and enhances the mechanical resilience of the connection, making production easier despite the multi-component structure.
3Strength
If traditional fastening methods are used to attach the cover element to the soft lining part, then the connection is mechanically resilient, but the production efficiency is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
An adhesive fleece serves as a mediator between the soft inner lining part and the cover element, providing both strong mechanical bonding and production efficiency. This intermediary material enables reliable attachment while simplifying the manufacturing process compared to traditional mechanical fastening methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The adhesive fleece utilizes thermal energy to activate bonding, transitioning from an inactive state to an active bonding state through heating. This phase transition approach enables strong mechanical resilience while maintaining production efficiency, as the bonding process can be integrated into existing manufacturing workflows.
4Manufacturing precision
If the soft lining part is made from foamed material or soft plastic, then the haptic impression is high-quality and compressible, but the weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The soft inner lining part is designed as a thin flexible shell or film that provides the necessary haptic qualities and compressibility without excessive thickness. This approach maintains high-quality haptic impression while minimizing weight, as the functional properties are achieved through material selection rather than increased mass.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a high-quality visual and haptic experience, is mechanically resilient, and can be produced efficiently in various forms, including leather, vinyl, or fabric, with a reduced weight and cost, while maintaining a thin profile and high Shore A hardness.
Implementation Method 1
an adhesive fleece for bonding
Implementation Method 2
the soft lining part on the inside is preferably hot-formed, in particular hot-pressed and/or high-frequency-formed
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3A~3B
Figure 3C~3D
AI summary
The invention relates to a trim element (1, 10) for the side trim of a seat frame or seat section of a vehicle seat. According to the invention, an inner soft trim element and an outer cover element arranged thereon are provided. The invention further relates to a vehicle seat comprising a seat back and a seat section, wherein the seat section includes a seat cushion with a cover and a seat frame. According to the invention, a aforementioned trim element (1, 10) is provided.