Load floor assembly
A load floor assembly for a motor vehicle includes a core sandwiched between opposing hardboards. The core defines a slot with one of the hard boards that encircles a peripheral surface defined by the core and the opposing hardboards. A first fabric is adhered to the first hardboard and a second fabric is adhered to the second hardboard. The first fabric defines a first peripheral edge and a second fabric defines a second peripheral edge. Each of the first and the second peripheral edges are retained in the slot in an adhesive free manner.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/489,546 filed Jul. 23, 2003.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe subject invention relates generally to an interior vehicle component, which provides a structural surface. More particularly, the present invention relates toward decorative surface treatment of the interior component.
The interior of motor vehicles, such as, for example, sport utility vehicles and station wagons, have trended toward improved functionality while not negatively affecting the overall mass and aesthetics of the vehicle. One such example is the inclusion of additional storage compartments located in the floor of the sport utility vehicle or station wagon. These storage compartments are concealed by a removable load floor, which must provide structural integrity to support the mass of heavy objects while being transported in the rear of the vehicle. It is desirable to provide a load floor having two surfaces, one surface that may be easily and used for transporting dirty materials, and a second surface covered with a decorative material, such as, for example, carpet, to provide a more elegant appearance.
Previous attempts to provide such a functional/aesthetically pleasing load floor have resulted in a peripheral edge that is unfinished and visibly unattractive. Occasionally, an additional covering is provided and completely conceals the load floor from the passenger compartment. Therefore, it would be desirable to produce a lightweight, functional load floor at a low cost having a finished peripheral surface that is aesthetically pleasing. One preferred method of providing a peripheral surface having an aesthetically pleasing appearance requires that a first fabric or decorative material and a second fabric or functional material be mated at the periphery where the perimeter edge of each of the materials is concealed in a slot. This presents various technical difficulties that have resulted in costly manufacturing processes to provide the desired aesthetically pleasing peripheral edge. One such example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,002, Partition Plate for Automotive Vehicle, where a costly garnish molding is applied over the peripheral edge of an aesthetically pleasing fabric. Various other attempts have been made to provide an aesthetically pleasing peripheral edge to other components such as, for example, table top pads. U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,701 where adhesive is used to retain peripheral edges of a fabric covering a core within a slot. The application of adhesive in a narrow slot to retain fabric is known to be a difficult manufacturing process that is proven not viable due to the propensity of the adhesive to be spread over the visible surface of the table pad. Furthermore, forming a slot in a core material is known to require costly molding tools having sliding components, particularly for molded cores. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,701, the slot is cut into the core with a common table saw, which is not practicable when manufacturing high production volumes.
Therefore, it would desirable to provide an improved load floor for an automotive vehicle having the functional flexibility of a decorative surface and a functional surface while providing an aesthetically pleasing peripheral edge at a low cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA load floor assembly for a motor vehicle includes a core sandwiched between opposing hard panels. A core defines a slot with one of the hard boards encircling a peripheral surface defined by the core and the opposing hard boards. A first fabric adhered to the first hard board and a second fabric adhered to the second hard board provides a visible surface to the load floor. The first fabric defines a first peripheral edge and the second fabric defines a second peripheral edge. Each of the first and the second peripheral edges are retained in the slot.
The aforementioned load floor assembly provides the benefit of both a functional surface and a aesthetically pleasing surface while further providing an aesthetically pleasing peripheral edge at a low cost. Forming a slot between the core and the hard board produces the same effect as either molding a slot in the core or cutting a slot in the core, both of which is known to be cost prohibitive. Therefore, the inventive load floor assembly provides the benefit of an aesthetically pleasing perimeter surface at a low cost that has not previously been available.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring to
Preferably, the functional surface 12 is formed from a polymeric fabric 13 (
Referring now to
Referring now to
The core 20 and the first and second sheets of material 26, 30 define a peripheral surface 34 of the assembly 10. Preferably, the edges of the core 20 and the second and third sheets of material 26, 30 defining the peripheral surface 34 are generally in the same plane. However, it is not functionally necessary that the edges of the core 20 and the second and third sheets of material 26, 30 be in the same plane. It should be understood, that in one preferred embodiment, adhesive 32 is applied to the peripheral surface 34. However, it is not necessary that the adhesive 32 be applied to the entire peripheral surface 34 or to the peripheral surface at all.
The second sheet of material 26 forms a slot 36 with the perimeter surface 24 of the core 20. The preferred width of the slot 36 is generally less than the thickness of the functional surface 12 in combination with the decorative surface 14. It is preferred, and even desirable, to prevent the adhesive 32 from filling or coming into contact with the slot 36.
As best represented in
Referring now to
A forward rotating device 56 is slideably retained upon a forward rail 58, which is moveable in a generally perpendicular relationship to the tracks 48. The forward rotating device 56 rotatably supports a wheel 42 to tuck the peripheral edges 38, 40 of the functional fabric 13 and the decorative fabric 15 into the slot 36 along a leading edge of the assembly 10.
A rear rotating device 60 is disposed at rear end 62 of the frame 50. Typically, the rear end of the assembly 10 is contoured to match a rear end (not shown) of the vehicle interior. Therefore, the rear rotating device 60 preferably slides along a contoured track 64 designed to match the rear end of the assembly 10. The rear rotating device 60 supports a wheel 42 similar to as described above to mate with the slot 36 of the assembly for tucking the functional peripheral edge 38 and the decorative peripheral edge 40 therein. Of course, the forward end of the assembly 10 may also include a contoured shape, which will require the forward rotating device 56 to also move along a contour track.
As best shown in
The invention has been described in an illustrative manner, and it is to be understood that the terminology which has been used is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation.
Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, wherein reference numerals are merely for convenience and are not to be in any way limiting, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.
Claims
1. A structural assembly for a vehicle, comprising:
- a generally planar first sheet of material providing structural properties to said structural assembly;
- a generally planar second sheet of material having a first surface matable with said first sheet of material, wherein said first surface defines a stepped perimeter surface spaced from said first surface thereby defining a peripheral slot with said first sheet of material;
- a first fabric and a second fabric wrapped around said structural assembly, each of said fabrics including a fabric periphery folded into said peripheral slot, and
- wherein said peripheral slot retains said fabric periphery of said first fabric and said second fabric with frictional forces.
2. An assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said slot defines a slot width less than a combination of first thickness defined by said first fabric and a second thickness defined by said second fabric.
3. An assembly as set forth in claim 1, comprising a generally planar third sheet of material providing structural properties to said assembly and being mated to an opposite side of said second sheet of material from said first sheet of said material.
4. An assembly as set forth in claim 3, wherein said first sheet of material and said second sheet of material comprise hard board.
5. An assembly as set forth in claim 4, wherein said first, second, and third sheets of material each define a peripheral surface.
6. An assembly as set forth in claim 5, wherein said first fabric and said second fabric are adhered to said assembly with an adhesive.
7. An assembly as set forth in claim 6, wherein said adhesive is applied to said peripheral surfaces defined by said first, second, and third sheets of material.
8. An assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said first fabric comprises a durable material and said second fabric comprises an esthetically pleasing material.
9. An assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said second sheet of material is adhered to said first and said third sheets of material with an adhesive.
10. An assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said peripheral edge of said first fabric and said second fabric are retained in said slot without adhesive.
11. A load floor assembly for a motor vehicle, comprising;
- a core sandwiched between opposing hardboards, wherein said core defines a slot with one of said hard boards encircling a peripheral surface defined by said core and said opposing hardboards;
- a first fabric adhered to said first hardboard and a second fabric adhered to said second hardboard; and
- said first fabric defining a first peripheral edge and a second fabric defining a second peripheral edge, each of said first and said second peripheral edge retained in said slot in an adhesive free manner.
12. An assembly as set forth in claim 11, wherein said first fabric includes a first thickness and said second fabric includes a second thickness.
13. An assembly as set forth in claim 12, wherein said slot defines a width being thinner than a combination of said first thickness of said first fabric and said second thickness of said second fabric thereby retaining said peripheral edges of said first fabric and said second fabric therein.
14. An assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein an adhesive is applied to said peripheral surface defined by said core and said opposing hardboards thereby retaining said first fabric and said second fabric to said peripheral surface.
15. A method of assembling a load floor of a motor vehicle; comprising the steps of:
- providing a core being generally planar;
- providing a mating member being generally planar;
- adhering said core to said mating member thereby forming a peripheral surface defined by said mating member and said core;
- forming a slot between said mating member and said core;
- applying a first fabric and a second fabric to said assembly, each fabric defining a outer edge; and
- forcing first outer edge of said first fabric and said second fabric into said slot thereby retaining said first fabric and said second fabric in said slot in an adhesive free manner.
16. A method as set forth in claim 15, further including the step of applying an adhesive to said peripheral surface defined by said core and said mating member.
17. A method as set forth in claim 16, further including the step of forming a notch in said core thereby forming a first side of said slot.
18. A method as set forth in claim 15, further including the step of providing a wheel for inserting said peripheral edge of said first and said second fabric in said slot.
19. A method as set forth in claim 18, further including the step of rolling said wheel along said slot thereby forcing said peripheral edge of said first and said second fabric in said slot.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 23, 2004
Publication Date: Feb 10, 2005
Inventors: Michael Levesque (Cambridge), Steven Brown (Birmingham, MI), Guy Boitos (Bloomfield, MI)
Application Number: 10/897,946