Textron Automotive Company Inc.

Davidson Textron Inc.

Fred Rheinlander

Kevin Logeman

John D Gray

Richard D Rhodes, Jr

Jim Rogers

Michael Gorman

A skin for an automotive interior panel has a main body portion for covering most of the panel and an air bag cover portion for covering the panel portion that the air bag deploys through. Casting a first plastic material against a first portion of a heated mold surface forms the main body skin portion. Casting or spraying a plastic material against a second portion of the heated mold surface forms the air bag cover skin portion. The mold surface portions may be confined from one another by a partition or by masking one portion while casting against the other. The main body and air bag cover skin portions include adjacent edges that extend along the air bag cover portion periphery. The two skin portions are joined together along their adjacent edges while still on the heated mold. An air bag deployment tear seam is formed by first casting a tear seam gap in the cover portion then spraying or casting a relatively weaker material into the gap. Alternatively, a heated engraving tool or laser may be used to form a tear seam groove in the back side of the air bag cover skin portion, or a cutter device may open the cover upon air bag deployment.

Skin for automotive air bag cover panel formed by casting different

An interior trim panel for a motor vehicle has an opening for deployment of an air bag and a discrete air bag door that is attached to the interior trim panel for closing the opening and for being opened by an air bag when it is deployed. The door includes a retainer that hinges the door to the trim panel and a covering that includes a frangible flap at an end of the retainer that holds down an end of the door and breaks away when the air bag is deployed. An alternate interior trim panel has another discrete air bag door that includes a bracket attached to the retainer for establishing the location of the hinge line. Another alternate interior trim panel arrangement has an integrated or invisible air bag door that includes a bracket attached to the retainer for establishing the location of the hinge line in an invisible door arrangement.

Trim panel having air bag door

An interior trim panel for a motor vehicle has an opening for deployment of an air bag and a discrete air bag door that is attached to the interior trim panel for closing the opening and for being opened by an air bag when it is deployed. The door includes a retainer that hinges the door to the trim panel and a covering that includes a frangible flap at an end of the retainer that holds down an end of the door and breaks away when the air bag is deployed. An alternate door has a bracket attached to the retainer that moves the hinge line rearward. The covers of the trim panel and the discrete air bag door retainers may be simultaneously attached to their respective retainers in two variations of a conjoined operation.

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Rochester Hills, MI, United States of America

Fred Rheinlander