A urethane and graphene interior trim panel is provided. In another aspect, the interior trim panel may be an automotive vehicle instrument panel, airbag cover, door trim panel, center console, knee bolster, seat mechanism cover, pillar cover or the like. A further aspect includes a graphene infused thermoplastic polyurethane compound and more particularly a TPU-graphene composition or mixture which can be ground, molded and then used in vehicle interior applications.

Provided is a method of producing a skin-covered product in which a skin is bonded to a base material, the method capable of performing a roll treatment by a robot to improve work efficiency and quality, and reducing the number of production steps for producing the skin-covered product by immediately performing a rolling step after trimming the bonded skin by vacuum molding.

The method of producing a skin-covered product in which the skin is bonded to the base material according to the present invention includes (1) an integration step of integrating the base material and the skin by vacuum molding while drawing the skin to the base material such that the skin is rolled on a back surface side, (2) a skin trimming step of cutting an extra portion around the skin rolled on a back side in accordance with a form of the base material, and (3) a rolled portion welding step of moving the skin, rolled by a horn tip of an ultrasonic welding machine manually or by a robot, to a skin end portion while sliding the skin on the back surface side of the base material, and then ultrasonically welding the base material and the skin by ultrasonic welding.

The skin (1) comprises at least an outer elastomeric layer (5) with an inner surface and an outer surface and at least one operating element (8A) which is adhered to the inner surface of the outer skin layer (5). The operating element (8A) is intended to be connected to an electric or electronic component to enable to control the operation of this component. In order to indicate the location of the operating element (8A) in the skin (1) with a minimal distortion of the visual appearance of the skin, the operating surface (9) of the operating element (8A) extends in a first area (11) of the visible surface of said skin (1), which first area (11) has a first surface texture which is different from the surface texture of the surrounding area (12) of the visible surface of the skin. Both textures may in particular produce a different gloss and the first area (11) may further be provided with surface relief elements (16, 17).

An over-molded interior trim method and system are provided. In another aspect, a method of manufacturing a trim panel includes: injecting a liquid substrate polymer between molds to create a substrate, injecting a liquid urethane polymer into a cavity directly against the substrate to create a skin or cover, flowing or wrapping in a mold the urethane polymer around at least one peripheral edge of the substrate, and extending the urethane polymer onto a backside of the substrate.

A decorative cover for a back-illuminated interior trim panel for a vehicle, said cover being a sturdy shell-structure including a transparent plate, forming the back side of the shell-structure, and a decorative component top layer including a trim material layer, which forms the outer surface of the decorative cover, wherein the trim material layer is formed from a trim material which is one from a group of materials consisting of a wood veneer, a metallic layer, a paper, a textile and a fabric, and wherein the laminate is configured to have a predetermined degree of translucency.

A mold cavity which is a mold die includes a die body and a plating layer provided on the surface of a mold surface. In this case, the mold surface has a leather-grain transfer surface for forming a grain pattern. The leather-grain transfer surface includes a first uneven-shape part and a second uneven-shape part formed at the surface of the first uneven-shape part and smaller in an uneven-shape width than the first uneven-shape part. The uneven-shape width falls within a range of 10 μm or more and less than 500 μm. The plating layer is an electroless-plating layer. A thickness of at least part of the plating layer falls within a range of 0.1 μm or more and less than 10 μm.

A trim element for a vehicle element, where the trim element comprises a shell with an inner surface intended to be oriented towards the interior of the vehicle element and an outer surface intended to form a rear surface of the vehicle element, and a pocket fixed to the outer surface of the shell, where the pocket comprises a panel which has a lower and lateral edges and at least one stiffening element arranged in the lower and lateral edges. The shell further comprises at least one groove in which are housed at least one from the lateral edges and/or the lower edge of the panel for assembly of the panel with the shell.

A composite molded cargo body panel including a core, an interior skin secured to a first side of the core having a thickness, and exterior skin secured to a second side of the core, and a plurality of recesses. The plurality of recesses are dispersed along a first direction at intervals in the interior skin, with the core thickness at each of the plurality of recesses being reduced compared to a maximum core thickness, and each of the plurality of recesses defines a support surface. A pocket is formed in each of the plurality of recesses, with the core thickness at the pocket being less than the core thickness at each of the plurality of recesses. A plurality of logistics inserts are attached to the respective support surfaces of the plurality of recesses so that, at each of the plurality of recesses, the logistics insert extends across the pocket.

A cushion having a fibrous foam architecture. The cushion has a trim cover and a number of fibrous layers attached to the trim cover. One or more structural properties of a fibrous layer can be controlled to differ from that of other layers.

A method for producing a component includes incorporating a molding compound into a tool for producing the component, where the molding compound includes an artificial resin as a matrix and a filler material embedded in the matrix. The method includes compressing the molding compound by the tool and by the compressing forming the molding compound to a green product. The method further includes providing the green product while disposed in the tool with a layer in a sub-region by incorporating a liquid material for producing the layer into the tool and applying the liquid material to the sub-region. The liquid material is a metallic material and the layer is an electromagnetic shielding on the green product.