PASSENGER COMPARTMENT CARPET ASSEMBLY, AND METHOD FOR ASSEMBLING SUCH AN ASSEMBLY

Abstract

The invention relates to a passenger compartment carpet assembly for a vehicle comprising a packing piece (10), a passenger compartment carpet (20) and expandable material (30) injected into a volume present in particular between said packing piece (10) and said passenger compartment carpet (20), the passenger compartment carpet having a lower surface (25) facing towards an upper surface (15) of said packing piece (10). The passenger compartment carpet assembly according to the invention is characterized in that the upper surface (15) of the packing piece (10), when in contact with the lower surface (25) of the passenger compartment carpet (20), includes a first plurality of channels (11) configured in such a way that said channels (11), when injected with expandable material (30), cause the formation of strips of dried expandable material ensuring that the passenger compartment carpet (20) is retained on the packing piece (10).

Claims

1. A passenger compartment carpet assembly for a vehicle comprising: a packing piece, a passenger compartment carpet, and expandable material injected into a volume present in particular between said packing piece and said passenger compartment carpet, the passenger compartment carpet having a lower surface facing towards an upper surface of said packing piece; and wherein the upper surface of the packing piece, in contact with the lower surface of the passenger compartment carpet, includes a first plurality of channels configured in such a way that said channels, when injected with expandable material, cause the formation of strips of dried expandable material ensuring that the passenger compartment carpet is retained on the packing piece.

2. The passenger compartment carpet assembly for a vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upper surface of the packing piece includes a second plurality of mutually parallel channels, forming a non-zero angle with the channels of the first plurality of channels, said channels of the first plurality of channels being mutually parallel.

3. The passenger compartment carpet assembly for a vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the expandable material is a polyurethane foam.

4. The passenger compartment carpet assembly for a vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the packing piece is made of expanded polystyrene.

5. The passenger compartment carpet assembly for a vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the packing piece is made of plastic.

6. The passenger compartment carpet assembly for a vehicle as claimed in claim 5, wherein said packing piece forms an integrated support structure for the passenger compartment carpet.

7. The passenger compartment carpet assembly for a vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the packing piece includes, on an upper surface, intended to face towards a lower surface of the passenger compartment carpet, a plurality of channels intended to permit the formation of strips of dried expandable material by expansion of the expandable material injected into the interior of said channels.

8. The passenger compartment carpet assembly for a vehicle as claimed in claim 7, wherein said channels are substantially mutually parallel.

9. A method of assembly of a passenger compartment carpet assembly as claimed in claim 1, comprising: a stage of grooving the upper surface of the packing piece, said upper surface being intended to face towards the lower surface of the passenger compartment carpet, in order to form channels on said upper surface; a stage of positioning the passenger compartment carpet on the upper surface of said packing piece; and a stage of injection of expandable material into the interior of said channels, such that said expandable material, as it is propagated into said channels, forms, as it dries, strips of dried expandable material capable of ensuring that said passenger compartment carpet is retained in position on said packing piece-.

10. The method of assembly as claimed in claim 9, wherein the injected expandable material is a polyurethane foam.

Description

[0030] Other characterizing features and advantages of the invention will become evident from a perusal of the detailed description of the embodiments of the invention, which are provided solely by way of example, and with reference to the drawings, in which:

[0031] FIG. 1 depicts the schematic representation of a passenger compartment carpet assembly comprising a packing piece, in accordance with the present invention,

[0032] FIG. 2 depicts the schematic representation of a packing piece, of which an upper face comprises channels, in accordance with the present invention,

[0033] FIG. 3 depicts the schematic representation of a transverse section of an example of a passenger compartment carpet assembly, in accordance with the invention,

[0034] FIG. 4 depicts the schematic representation of a transverse section of packing piece for a passenger compartment carpet assembly, in accordance with the invention.

[0035] The embodiments described below refer more specifically to an implementation of the invention inside the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle. However, any implementation of the present invention in a different context, that is to say in any type of vehicle, is also covered by the present invention.

[0036] It should be noted, furthermore, that the present invention proposes a passenger compartment carpet assembly composed of a passenger compartment carpet and a support, also referred to here as a packing piece, as well as an expandable material injected into the volume existing between the packing piece and the passenger compartment carpet. It should also be noted that the expression passenger compartment carpet must be interpreted in a broad sense and relates both to a false floor, a foot support, a trim element or a floor covering adorning a passenger compartment of a motor vehicle.

[0037] FIG. 1 thus depicts a passenger compartment carpet assembly of a vehicle 1. This passenger compartment carpet assembly comprises a passenger compartment carpet 20 and a packing piece 10.

[0038] With reference to FIG. 2, according to the invention, the packing piece 10 comprises a plurality of channels 11, which are preferably mutually parallel, cut on an upper surface 15 of the packing piece, said upper surface 15 of the packing piece 10 being intended to face towards a lower surface 25 of the carpet 20.

[0039] More specifically, the carpet 20 of the carpet assembly 1 is supported, via its lower surface 25, on the upper surface 15 of the packing piece 10.

[0040] In the method according to the invention, the channels 11 are produced by grooving on the upper surface of the packing piece 10. These channels 11 thus form ducts between the upper surface 15 of the packing piece 10 and the lower surface 25 of the carpet 20 when said passenger compartment carpet 20 is positioned on said packing piece 10, in such a way that the carpet 20 rests on the packing piece 10, the lower surface 25 of the carpet being in contact with the upper surface 15 of the packing piece 10.

[0041] In a stage of the method of assembly according to the invention, involving the injection of an expandable material, such as foam 30 of the polyurethane type, into the volume existing around the packing piece 10 and, in particular between said packing piece 10 and the carpet 20, the packing piece and the carpet are positioned in a foam mold, the under surface of the passenger compartment carpet 20, that is to say its lower surface 25, being in contact with the upper surface 15 of the packing piece 10.

[0042] With reference to FIG. 3, the propagation of the foam 30 takes place between the packing piece 10 and the carpet 20. In particular, the injected foam is propagated in the ducts formed from the channels 11, between the upper surface 15 of the packing piece 10 and the lower surface 25 of the carpet 20.

[0043] The channels 11 facilitate the propagation of the foam 30, which is conventionally made of polyurethane, while minimizing the volume of foam 30 injected.

[0044] The method of assembly of the packing piece 10 with the passenger compartment carpet 20 is thus implemented by the expansion of the foam 30 into the interior of the channels 11.

[0045] At the end of the operation for the injection of the foam and the expansion of the latter, the passenger compartment carpet 20 is retained on the packing piece 10 by means of strips of foam corresponding to the ducts formed from the channels 11.

[0046] It should be noted that the same principle, according to which channels arranged in the packing piece permit the passenger compartment carpet to be retained, is applicable to the context of a packing piece supporting a passenger compartment carpet at the level of a foot rest.

[0047] In summary, the present invention relates to a passenger compartment carpet assembly comprising in particular a packing piece 10 as depicted in FIG. 4. The packing piece 10 exhibits, on its upper surface 15, in contact with the lower surface 25 of the carpet 20, channels 11 adapted to permit the propagation therein of an injected expandable material, such as polyurethane foam, in such a way as to form strips of foam capable of retaining said carpet 20 in position.

[0048] It should also be noted that the present invention is not limited to the examples described above and lends itself to numerous variants that are familiar to a person skilled in the art.

[0049] In particular, as mentioned previously, the method of assembly is applicable in particular to a false floor, positioned on an integrated supporting packing piece covering a portion of the vehicle body, or to a trim element, supported by an integrated supporting packing piece, in the interior of a vehicle passenger compartment.