Decorative material composite that can be backlit, in particular for the interior fittings of motor vehicles

Abstract

The invention relates to a decorative material composite (10), in particular for the interior fittings of motor vehicles, comprising a flat decorative material (11), which is permeable to light, and a visible side (14) and a rear side (13) opposite the visible side (14), wherein a printable diffuser (20) is arranged on the rear side (13) of the decorative material (11), wherein, in a sub-region, a layer (30) at least substantially impermeable to light is applied, and in particular printed, onto the side of the diffuser (20) facing away from the decorative material (11), wherein the regions (31) left blank by the layer (30) impermeable to light depict information, patterns or symbols, wherein the decorative material composite (10) serves to be backlit with an illumination device (40) and to allow a part of the light of the illumination device (40) to pass through the regions (31) left blank to the visible side (14) of the decorative material (11).

The present invention also relates to its use and a production method.

Claims

1. Decorative material composite comprising a decorative material layer, which is permeable to light, and having a visible side and a rear side opposite the visible side, wherein a diffuser is arranged on the rear side of the decorative material layer, wherein the diffuser is a transparent foil or a transparent adhesive film which is printed substantially over its entire surface with a diffuser layer, wherein, in a sub-region of the diffuser, a layer at least substantially impermeable to light is applied, onto a side of the diffuser facing away from the decorative material layer, wherein regions left blank by the layer substantially impermeable to light depict information, patterns or symbols, and wherein the decorative material composite is backlit with an illumination device and a part of the light of the illumination device passes through the regions left blank to the visible side of the decorative material layer.

2. Decorative material composite according to claim 1, wherein the layer at least substantially impermeable to light is printed onto the side of the diffuser facing away from the decorative material layer.

3. Decorative material composite according to claim 1, wherein the diffuser is white or bright or coloured or the same colour as the decorative material layer, or is printed with a coloured layer which is white or bright or the same colour as the decorative material.

4. Decorative material composite according to claim 1, wherein the decorative material layer is a soft decorative material made of at least one selected from leather, artificial leather, alcantara, plastic decorative foil and a textile.

5. Decorative material composite according to claim 1, wherein the layer impermeable to light comprises printing ink or pigments or metallic particles or is black.

6. Decorative material composite according to claim 1, wherein a filler layer is applied on the diffuser at least in the regions in which the layer impermeable to light is not applied.

7. Decorative material composite according to claim 1, wherein the decorative material composite is adhered to a haptic layer with its side of the layer impermeable to light facing away from the decorative material and, where necessary, with the filler layer.

8. Decorative material composite according to claim 1, wherein a transparent carrier is arranged below the layer impermeable to light and/or the filler layer or the haptic layer.

9. Method for producing a decorative material composite that can be backlit, which comprises the following steps: a) providing a decorative material layer with a visible side and a rear side opposite the visible side; b) applying a printable diffuser onto the rear side of the decorative material layer; c) printing a layer that is substantially impermeable to light on a sub-region on a side of the diffuser facing away from the decorative material layer.

10. Method according to claim 9, wherein the layer substantially impermeable to light sub-region is applied by means of laser printing, inkjet printing, silkscreen printing or digital printing.

11. Use of a decorative material composite according to claim 1 as an interior design part of a motor vehicle or for the interior fittings of motor vehicles.

12. Decorative material composite according to claim 1, wherein the diffuser is a polyurethane on an ester basis foil with an adhesive coating or a hot-melt adhesive foil or a thermoplastic adhesive film.

13. Decorative material composite according to claim 12, wherein the hot-melt adhesive foil is based on polyurethane on an ester basis.

14. Decorative material composite according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the decorative material layer is between 0.5 mm and 2.5 mm.

15. Decorative material composite according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the decorative material layer is between 0.8 mm and 1.5 mm.

16. Decorative material composite according to claim 1, wherein the illumination device is arranged behind a carrier.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0060] FIG. 1 a schematic sectional depiction of the decorative material composite,

[0061] FIG. 2 the decorative material composite from FIG. 1 with a haptic layer and a transparent layer,

[0062] FIG. 3 a variant of the decorative material composite according to the invention,

[0063] FIG. 4 a schematic sectional depiction of the decorative material composite with filler layer,

[0064] FIG. 5 a variant of the embodiment according to FIG. 4,

[0065] FIG. 6A a schematic view of the visible side in the day design, and,

[0066] FIG. 6B a schematic view of the visible side in the night design.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0067] The decorative material composite 10 in FIGS. 1 to 5 points upwards into the interior of the vehicle with the visible side 14 of the decorative material 11.

[0068] In a first exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 1, the decorative material 11 with its rear side 13 is adhered all over to the diffuser 20. The diffuser 20 is a white foil which is adhered onto the rear side 13 of the decorative material 11.

[0069] In sub-regions, the layer 30 impermeable to light is printed onto the rear side of the diffuser 20. Here, regions 31 are left blank which are visible with through-illumination, i.e. in the night design, on the visible side 14 as a piece of information (see FIG. 6).

[0070] In this embodiment, the layer 30 regionally impermeable to light consists of toner. However, the layer 30 impermeable to light can also be applied with other printing methods. In such cases, the layer 30 regionally impermeable to light then consists of the printing inks used in these printing methods.

[0071] In the embodiment according to FIG. 2, the decorative material composite 10 is adhered to a haptic layer 26 with the side of the layer 30 regionally impermeable to light facing away from the decorative material 11. The haptic layer 26 is either a knitted spacer fabric or a foam. This composite can then be adhered to a carrier 25, for example a door panel, via the underside of the haptic layer 26. Of course, the haptic layer 26 can also firstly be adhered to the carrier 25 and then adhered onto the decorative material composite 10. Similarly, with the layer construction, the haptic layer 26 can also be omitted and the decorative material composite 10 applied directly onto the carrier 25.

[0072] An illumination device 40 is arranged behind the carrier 25.

[0073] The haptic layer 26 and the carrier 25 are permeable to light.

[0074] In a variant depicted in FIG. 3, the diffuser 20 is bipartite. The diffuser 20 comprises a transparent foil 21 which is adhered to the decorative material 11 over the entire surface and is printed with a coloured layer 22. For this, the common printing methods can be used, such as laser printing or inkjet printing, for example. If laser printing is used, then the coloured layer 22 is a layer made of toner.

[0075] The coloured layer 22 is white, such that incident light is scattered from the visible side 14 of the decorative material 11 outwards. Light arriving at the coloured layer 22 from the illumination device 40 (not depicted in FIG. 3), arranged below the layer 30 regionally impermeable to light, through the regions 31 left blank, is partially scattered by the coloured layer 22. A majority of the light reaches through the foil 21 and the decorative material 11 to the visible side 14.

[0076] The same effect is also achieved by the monobloc diffuser 20 from the first exemplary embodiment.

[0077] In a further variant, the regions 31 left blank are filled with a transparent filler layer 32 (FIG. 4). Here, these can be printing inks, lacquer or a foil, for example. However, the filler layer 32 is optional and can be used in order to avoid marks to the regions 31 left blank as a result of the height difference.

[0078] Alternatively, the transparent filler layer 32 can also extend all-over across the layer 30 impermeable to light and into the regions 31 left blank (FIG. 5).

[0079] If no light is provided by the illumination device 40, then the surroundings light which reaches through the decorative material 11 from the visible side 14 is scattered by the diffuser 20. This leads to the layers lying below the diffuser 20 not being visible from the visible side 14. In a “day design,” a viewer, for example an occupant in a vehicle, only sees the surface of the decorative material 11, as depicted in FIG. 6A. The day design is thus determined by the surface properties of the decorative material 11.

[0080] If the illumination device 40 is now switched on, then the light provided passes through the regions 31 left blank of the layer 30 impermeable to light. It reaches through the diffuser 20, is scattered diffusely and passes through the decorative material 11 to the visible side 14. The “night design” is now visible to a viewer on the visible side 40 (FIG. 6B). Symbols, letters or switching surfaces appear on the visible side 14. These through-illuminated surfaces illuminate and correspond exactly in terms of their shape to the shape of the regions 31 left blank.