Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

Mohammed Alawadi

Nora Arellano

A headliner reinforcement for ensuring the proper placement of a wire harness at a location above a headliner in a motor vehicle is provided. The headliner reinforcement includes a member having a top side and a bottom side, the bottom side being adjacent to the headliner and the top side being adjacent to a roof of the motor vehicle. The top side includes at least one clip attachment operable to accept at least one clip. In some instances, the top side can include at least two spaced apart clip attachments separated by a predetermined distance and operable to accept at least two spaced apart clips separated by the same predetermined distance on the wire harness. The predetermined distance between the spaced apart clip attachments and the spaced apart clips can be unique among other clip attachments on the motor vehicle and thereby prevent the installment of an undesirable wire harness above the headliner of the motor vehicle. In addition, the predetermined distance between the spaced apart clip attachments and the clips can be unique for the particular model of the motor vehicle, and thereby prevent the installation of a wire harness designed for a different motor vehicle model.

Molded headliner reinforcement

A headliner assembly covers an inner surface of a motor vehicle roof having a sunroof opening. The headliner assembly includes a dimensionally stable substrate having a first edge extending along the sunroof opening. The substrate has an upper surface facing the inner surface of the motor vehicle roof. The substrate further has a bottom surface opposite the upper surface. A molded reinforcement is fixedly secured to the upper surface of the substrate. The reinforcement has a second edge extending along the sunroof opening. The second edge of the reinforcement has a contoured portion that extends further inwardly toward a center of the sunroof opening relative to the first edge of the substrate. A trim cover has a third edge extending along the sunroof opening. The trim cover is disposed along the bottom surface of the substrate and extends around the contoured portion of the reinforcement so that the third edge of the trim cover is disposed between the upper surface of the substrate and the inner surface of the motor vehicle roof.

Headliner having a sunroof opening

A headliner assembly covers an inner surface of a motor vehicle roof having a sunroof opening. The headliner assembly includes a dimensionally stable substrate having an upper surface facing the inner surface of the motor vehicle roof and an opposite bottom surface. The headliner assembly also includes a molded reinforcement disposed along the upper surface of the substrate. The molded reinforcement has a main wall and a box-shaped attachment structure supporting a fastener for attaching the headliner assembly to the inner surface of the motor vehicle roof. The attachment structure has spaced apart pair of side walls extending between the main wall and the inner surface of the motor vehicle roof. The attachment structure has a top wall extending between tie side walls of the attachment structure. The attachment structure also includes a reinforcing wall extending between the top wall and the side walls. The reinforcing wall contacts the substrate to control the distance between the substrate and the molded reinforcement.

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Plymouth, MI, United States of America

Mohammed Alawadi