A housing for a vibration unit which can be arranged on a seat cushion of a vehicle seat and is intended to generate a haptically detectable signal at the vehicle seat. In order to enhance the driving experience of an occupant, in particular a driver, of a vehicle, the housing has an edge-free surface and at least one housing opening, which is permeable to sound waves.

A composite structural panel for use in bridge structures, and method of manufacturing same, comprises a top panel and a bottom panel separated by and attached to at least one, but preferably a plurality, of structural composite preforms which may be fabricated by a continuous manufacturing process and may be saturated by resin using a continuous wetting process. The composite preforms may take any cross-sectional shape but are preferably trapezoidal. The top and bottom panels may be fabricated from a plurality of layers of woven fabric layers and non-woven fabric layers which are saturated with a resin that is subsequently cured using cure processes known in the art. The composite structural panel of the invention is usable as a flat structural member for use as bridge decking, ramps, trestles, and any application requiring a structural panel.

A male touch fastener strip includes an elongated base and a field of male fastener elements each having a stem extending from a broad face of the base and a head for engaging fibers. The fastener element stems and broad face of the base together form a unitary mass of resin, such as a resin containing a magnetically attractable substance. Wings extend from respective longitudinal edges of the base and define discrete corrugations extending in a series along the fastener strip and forming corresponding undulations in the rear face of the strip along its longitudinal edges. The corrugated wings can also support a foam gasket.

A structural panel and method of fabricating and manufacturing same comprises a top panel and a bottom panel separated by and attached to at least one, but preferably a plurality, of structural composite preforms which may be fabricated by a continuous manufacturing process and may be saturated by resin using a continuous wetting process. The composite preforms may take any cross sectional shape but are preferably trapezoidal. The top and bottom panels may be fabricated from a plurality of layers of woven fabric layers and non-woven fabric layers which are saturated with a resin that is subsequently cured using cure processes known in the art. The composite structural panel of the invention is usable as a flat structural member for use as bridge decking, ramps, trestles, and any application requiring a structural panel.

The present invention provides an engine cover that can be manufactured easily and at a lower cost and has an attachment member that is high in quality and may not easily fall off. The engine cover has a cover body made of urethane foam, a skin layer disposed on a surface of the cover body, and an attachment member made of an elastic body and integrally molded with the cover body. The attachment member has a recess into which an attachment pin provided to project from an engine member is fitted, and a sealing portion that is provided to project at least one of the opening end surface of the recess and the side surface of the opening end part of the recess and that suppresses entry of a foamed urethane resin material that forms the cover body into the recess during integral molding.

A process for manufacturing products made of foamed polymeric material, comprising the following steps: generating, via software, a virtual model (M) of a product to be manufactured in a solid foamable polymeric material; performing a topological optimization via software of the virtual model (M) in order to obtain an optimized virtual model (MO) with areas of differentiated relative density; preparing the foamable polymeric material and inserting it in a mold (1); solubilizing, under pressure, at least one foaming agent in the foamable polymeric material placed in the mold (1) with a pressure profile of the foaming agent variable over time and/or space as a function of the topological optimization; releasing the pressure in order to obtain a product (S) made of foamed polymeric material provided with the above-mentioned areas of differentiated relative density; removing the product (S) made of foamed polymeric material from the mold (1).

Tooling for manufacturing a vehicle panel having a substrate, a foam layer, and a decorative covering. The tooling includes a tool base having a tool aperture, and an insert having a sealing projection. The insert is located at least partially in the tool aperture. The sealing projection is configured to create a seal between the substrate and the decorative covering at least partially around a substrate aperture in the substrate. The substrate aperture is at least partially smaller than the tool aperture so as to form an overlapping seal area between the sealing projection of insert and the substrate. A manufacturing method can create a foam-less region between the decorative covering and the substrate.

A surface skin with which a foamed body is integrally foam-molded and which covers the foamed body includes: a plurality of surface skin members; a first thread passing through at least a part of a needle hole extended through the surface skin members so as to sew the surface skin members together; and a second thread inter-looping or interlacing with the first thread so as to sew the surface skin members together in cooperation with the first thread. The first thread is threaded through an eye of a needle. The second thread is formed by warp weaving or braiding polyester or nylon fiber pieces and is stretchable enough to fill in the needle hole.

The invention relates to a method for creating a motor vehicle seat cushion. The inventive method provides for a cover having a format of a complex comprising a layer of covering material and a sublayer of elastically compressible foam, and for arranging on the sublayer a film based on thermoplastic polyurethane. The film has a melting point and a melt mass-flow index that breaks down under the action of the heat released during the formation of the foam. The film is provided with a reinforcing thin-film to form a two-layer barrier against the penetration of foam. The reinforcing thin-film is based on a thermoplastic polyurethane with a melting point higher than that of the film and has a melt mass-flow index lower than that of the film, to have greater strength than the film so that the reinforcing thin-film breakdown under the action of heat is delayed.

A composite structural panel for use in bridge structures, and method of manufacturing same, comprises a top panel and a bottom panel separated by and attached to at least one, but preferably a plurality, of structural composite preforms which may be fabricated by a continuous manufacturing process and may be saturated by resin using a continuous wetting process. The composite preforms may take any cross-sectional shape but are preferably trapezoidal. The top and bottom panels may be fabricated from a plurality of layers of woven fabric layers and non-woven fabric layers which are saturated with a resin that is subsequently cured using cure processes known in the art. The composite structural panel of the invention is usable as a flat structural member for use as bridge decking, ramps, trestles, and any application requiring a structural panel.