Patent Application
20170136966
This disclosure relates generally to trim pieces for motor vehicles. More particularly, the disclosure relates to a trim piece including an interlocking feature for securing the trim piece about a vehicle element such as a decklid hinge.
Trim pieces are used to provide an attractive, finished appearance to certain areas of a vehicle, including open cargo areas such as in a sport-utility vehicle and also closed cargo areas such as trunk and decklid of a sedan. A variety of materials are known for fabricating such trim pieces, including various soft materials such as cloth/fabric, plastics or polymers, and combinations. Wiring, connections, latch mechanisms, bare metal surfaces, welds, etc. may be covered by the trunk trim piece or pieces, and by the decklid trim piece or pieces attached to the decklid.
In order to provide an acceptable fit, certain portions of the trim piece must be wrapped around certain vehicle elements during installation. For example, during vehicle manufacture a decklid trim piece must be wrapped around elements of the decklid/trunk such as the hinge elements connecting the decklid to the trunk cargo area. During installation, an operator must open the corners of the trim piece, begin installing the trim piece, configure any necessary wiring connections, wrap the open portions around the hinges, and close the open corners.
As shown in
With reference to
Accordingly, the present disclosure relates to an improved motor vehicle trim piece such as for a motor vehicle decklid or trunk area. Advantageously, the described trim piece incorporates an interlocking feature providing improved retention about certain motor vehicle features such as hinge elements.
In accordance with the purposes and benefits described herein, in one aspect of the present disclosure a trim piece for a motor vehicle is provided, comprising a cutout portion for receiving a vehicle member and an overlapping interlocking joint for securing the cutout portion around the vehicle member. The overlapping interlocking joint includes a flanged male portion and a cooperating female portion. The trim piece may be fabricated of a flexible material.
In embodiments, the cooperating female portion is defined on an edge of the overlapping interlocking joint. In alternative embodiments, the cooperating female portion is defined in an interior of the overlapping interlocking joint. In embodiments, the trim piece may be configured for attaching to a bottom surface of a decklid or to a trunk interior surface.
In another aspect, an overlapping interlocking joint for a motor vehicle trim piece is described.
In the following description, there are shown and described embodiments of the disclosed motor vehicle trim piece. As it should be realized, the trim piece is capable of other, different embodiments and its several details are capable of modification in various, obvious aspects all without departing from the devices and methods as set forth and described in the following claims. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions should be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
The accompanying drawing figures incorporated herein and forming a part of the specification, illustrate several aspects of the disclosed trim piece for a motor vehicle, and together with the description serve to explain certain principles thereof. In the drawing:
Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the disclosed improved trim piece for a motor vehicle, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawing figures.
To solve the foregoing and other problems, with reference to
The overlapping interlocking joint 204 includes a flanged male portion 208 and a cooperating female portion 210. The flanged male portion 208 includes a neck 212 and a head 214 including flanges 216 configured for engaging the cooperating female portion 210. In turn, the cooperating female portion 210 defines a receiver 218 for capturing the flanged male portion head 214. As will be appreciated, any suitable configuration for the head 214 and receiver 218 is contemplated, to provide a desired mating fit as will be described.
In the depicted embodiment, the cooperating female portion 210 may have an open configuration including a receiver 218 defined in an edge of the material of the trim piece 202. However, as will be appreciated, alternative embodiments are possible. As one non-limiting alternative example, as shown in
As shown in
Obvious modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. For example, the disclosed motor vehicle trim piece is described herein primarily in an embodiment associated with a trim piece for attachment to a bottom surface of a decklid or a trunk area interior surface. However, it will be appreciated that the trim piece is readily integrated into any motor vehicle surface having a feature to be received in the described cutout, for example a motor vehicle trunk interior surface, a vehicle surface adjacent a seatbelt attachment point, a vehicle surface adjacent a seat attachment point, and others. Therefore, the disclosure should not be taken as limiting in this respect. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly, legally and equitably entitled.
