An air bag chute assembly for an automotive instrument panel is injection molded to form an integral deployment chute, door, and attachment flange, The flange attaches to the instrument panel around an aperture in the instrument panel. The tubular chute extends interiorly from the flange to a lower end configured to receive an inflating air bag from an air bag module and defines a deployment path along a longitudinal axis. A door flap is disposed in an upper end of the chute rotatable from the flange to emerge through the aperture. The flap has an interior side impacted by the inflating air bag carrying a plurality of raised strengthening ribs. The flap has at least one closed-section hollow channel protruding from the interior side to a channel height extending beyond the strengthening ribs formed by gas-assist injection molding.

A vehicle interior trim assembly such as an air bag cover assembly having an illuminable emblem is provided. The assembly includes a vehicle interior trim part and an illumination module having a light source configured to generate visible light rays when energized. A lens includes at least one layer molded in a molding process from an optical-grade material. The lens has a pattern of light-extracting deformities to extract light rays from an interior of the lens at a set of surface-defining areas of the lens. The surface-defining areas are sized, shaped and arranged laterally relative to each other in an emblem pattern. A decorative emblem has reflective surfaces overlying and spaced away from the surface-defining areas by an air gap. The extracted light rays traveling across the gap are reflected by the reflective surfaces to generate light in the emblem pattern about peripheral surfaces of the decorative emblem.

An airbag door for a vehicle including: a suit case installed in an instrument panel; a door panel coupled to the suit case so as to cover an opening of the suit case; and a scrim member coupled to the door panel so as to support the door panel deployed from the suit case, and fixed to the suit case.

The present disclosure relates to a method of producing a composite skin-foam-carrier component for a motor vehicle, including the steps of injection-molding a carrier having one or more airbag flaps delimited by a hinge area and by a predefined tear line, wherein a raised contour with a groove-shaped cross-section is created along a segment of the tear line, producing a foam layer between a skin and the injection-molded carrier, producing gaps in the raised contour by guiding a tool over the raised contour after the production of the foam layer, and removing a portion of the raised contour. The present disclosure also relates to a composite skin-foam-carrier component for a motor vehicle.

A vehicle interior component is disclosed. The component may facilitate deployment of an airbag and may comprise a panel comprising fibers. The panel may comprise a notch formed as a depression in a first side of the panel and at least one feature adjacent the notch. A second side of the panel may comprise a substantially planar surface opposite the notch. The panel may comprise at least one of a resin, a thermoplastic resin, polypropylene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polycarbonate. The notch may direct deployment of the airbag through the panel. The feature may comprise a protrusion to provide a relief for the notch. The component may comprise a rib formed on the panel adjacent the notch comprising resin. The rib may comprise a resin portion comprising resin and a fiber portion comprising fibers of the panel. The component may comprise a trim panel, an instrument panel, a door panel.

Provided are a resin molded component, a method for producing the resin molded component, and a method for producing a welded resin-molded article which ensure appropriate welding at a portion to be welded, without causing insufficient strength. A resin molded component 1 includes a body portion 10 and a rib 11 integrally molded with each other, the rib 11 protruding from the body portion 10 and configured to be infrared welded to a predetermined resin component 2, the resin molded component 1 having a foamed layer 12 formed at least in the body portion 10. A leading end portion of the rib 11 of the resin molded component 1 has a thinned remainder 11b which has been thinned relative to a root portion of the rib. For example, the rib width of the thinned remainder 11b of the rib 11 is smaller than the rib width of the root portion.

The present invention relates to a flexible molded skin as part of a composite structure for an airbag cover, and to a composition for producing such a skin using slush molding. The composition and flexible molded skin have a thermoplastic plasticized vinyl polymer, and a tear promoting agent selected from the group of one or more particulate blowing agents, inorganic mineral materials, organic filler materials and microspheres or a mixture of two or more of the afore mentioned materials. The particles of the particulate tear promoting agent have an average particle size of between 0.005 and 50 m, preferably between 0.005 and 40 m.

A vehicle interior trim assembly such as an air bag cover assembly having an illuminable emblem is provided. The assembly includes a vehicle interior trim part and an illumination module having a light source configured to generate visible light rays when energized. A lens includes at least one layer molded in a molding process from an optical-grade material. The lens has a pattern of light-extracting deformities to extract light rays from an interior of the lens at a set of surface-defining areas of the lens. The surface-defining areas are sized, shaped and arranged laterally relative to each other in an emblem pattern. A decorative emblem has reflective surfaces overlying and spaced away from the surface-defining areas by an air gap. The extracted light rays traveling across the gap are reflected by the reflective surfaces to generate light in the emblem pattern about peripheral surfaces of the decorative emblem.

A facial image capture system may capture images of a face of a person while the person is moving. A video camera may capture sequential images of a scene to which the video camera is directed. A marker-based location detection system may determine and generate information about the location of a marker worn on or close to the face of the person. A camera control system may automatically adjusts both the horizontal and vertical direction to which the video camera is directed so as to cause the sequential images of the camera to each be of the face of the person while the person is moving, based on the information about the location of the marker from the marker-based location detection system.

A vehicle interior component is disclosed. The component may be a trim component configured to support an airbag module providing an airbag configured to be deployed through an opening into the vehicle interior. The trim component may comprise a panel comprising a first material and providing a front side and a back side; and a structure formed from a second material molded on the back side of the panel. The panel may comprise a compression-formed component. The compression-formed component may be configured to provide the opening through a door established upon deployment of the airbag to facilitate deployment of the airbag. The structure may be configured to support the airbag module and to direct the airbag toward the door during deployment of the airbag. The compression-formed component may comprise a feature formed within the panel configured to establish the opening at the door to be created by the airbag at the feature upon deployment of the airbag from the airbag module so that the airbag will deploy through the panel at the opening. A method of manufacturing a vehicle trim component is also disclosed. The method includes disposing a fiber panel within a mold cavity and aligning an airbag chute assembly with the fiber panel and compressing the fiber panel within the mold cavity to form the fiber panel into a desired shape. At least a portion of the fiber panel is compressed between a surface of the mold cavity and a surface of the airbag chute assembly.