Faurecia Interior Systems, Inc.

Nicholas Natale

Maxime Salandre

Brett Schnur

Brad Kusky

A vehicle interior panel includes a thermoelectric air conditioner capable of providing conditioned air locally within a passenger cabin of the vehicle. Air is drawn from the passenger cabin through an intake port in the panel, conditioned locally along a back side of the panel by a thermoelectric device, and discharged back into the cabin through a discharge port in the panel. Additional air flows along a waste side of the thermoelectric device and can be discharged outside the passenger cabin. The panel can be an interior door panel from which the waste side air is discharged within a B-pillar of the vehicle body.

Vehicle interior panel with thermoelectric air conditioning

A door module is equipped with an inflatable bladder configured to move an interior trim panel away from the door and toward a vehicle occupant in the event of a collision. The result is reduced occupant movement, additional absorption of kinetic energy, and distribution of remaining energy over an increased surface area. The bladder can have an accordion-like configuration that unfolds when changing from a deflated state to an inflated state, and more than one bladder can be used to control which portions of the trim panel move relative to each other.

Deployable vehicle interior door panel

A cupholder assembly for storing waste in a vehicle. The cupholder assembly includes a cup compartment having a cup supporting surface configured to support a cup stored in the cup compartment. The cup supporting surface includes an opening area which provides access to a storage compartment for waste. The storage compartment is slidably stowable beneath the cup compartment. The storage compartment can include a waste bag attachment mechanism for convenient storage and removal of waste. The cupholder assembly may be integrated with a vehicle center console.

Cupholder assembly

A decorative covering for a vehicle interior panel is made from two sheets of material joined together at a seam. The sheets of material have matching alignment features along respective edges to aid in visual alignment during the joining operation. The alignment features are spaced along the edge of a decorative layer, and cutouts are formed along a corresponding edge of an attached backing layer such that each alignment feature is visible through one of the cutouts when viewed from the back side. The cutouts are larger than the alignment features and formed before the two layers are laminated together, effectively increasing allowable tolerances during lamination. This construction is particularly useful with leather, which is often subjected to cut-and-sew operations and used with a backing layer.

Growing community of inventors

Sterling Heights, MI, United States of America

Nicholas Natale