Upholstery system

Abstract

An upholstery system for a vehicle accessory includes a substrate with a u-shaped channel adjacent an edge and including alternately staggered apertures and slots in its floor. A trim member with alternately staggered pins and locking tabs compressibly holds an edge of upholstery material in the channel with the pins extending through the material and into the apertures and the tabs lockably holding the trim member by fitting into the slots.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to an upholstery system and particularly to an upholstery system for use in connection with a vehicle armrest.

There exists a variety of manners in which upholstery can be trimmed out in a vehicle to provide a clean appearing end product. In the past it has been common to glue and/or staple edges of upholstery tucked around a corner of a panel so as not to expose the edge of the material. In some applications, however, such as covered armrests, when the cover is opened, the free ends of the fabric are exposed and are unsightly when simply glued or otherwise fastened to the cover. U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,946 discloses a visor with an upholstery trim system in which flaps of material are compressively captured between the edges of a clam shell type visor. This general approach has also been employed for an armrest as disclosed in a continuation-in-part application of the above patent Ser. No. 184,957, filed Apr. 22, 1988 and entitled VEHICLE ARMREST.

In order to provide a finished appearance to an article such as an armrest and in particular a covered armrest therefore, it is desired to provide an upholstery system in which both a neat trim appearance is provided and one which is not expensive either in cost of labor in upholstering the product or parts employed.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The system of the present invention accommodates these goals and provides a readily assembled system in which the substrate to be upholstered includes a groove with alternately staggered apertures and tab receiving slots formed in the floor. The groove in the preferred embodiment is a generally U-shaped channel which extends around the periphery of the substrate. A trim ring shaped in the configuration of the U-shaped channel is inserted therein and includes upholstery piercing pins alternately staggered with interlocking tabs such that upholstery can be pressed into the U-shaped groove and held in place by the locking pins while the tabs interlock the ring within the U-shaped channel.

The resultant structure provides a mechanical means by which upholstery can be trimmed around the periphery of the substrate such as parts of a vehicle armrest and mechanically held in position in a secure fashion which is readily accomplished during assembly of the nlarged to those skilled in the art that various modifications to the preferred embodiment of the invention as defined herein can be made without departing from the spirit or scope thereof as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A vehicle accessory comprising a substrate having a generally u-shaped channel formed along an edge portion and including a plurality of alternately staggered apertures and slots formed in said channel for lockably receiving a trim member therein; and

a trim member including a plurality of pins and locking tabs which are alternately staggered and which align with said apertures and slots respectively of said u-shaped channel for securing upholstery material between said trim member and said u-shaped channel with said pins piercing the upholstery material and extending into said apertures and said tabs lockably securing said member within said channel.

2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said channel extends around the periphery of said substrate and said trim member is a trim ring.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said substrate comprises an armrest forming member.

4. A vehicle accessory comprising a substrate having a peripheral lip defining a generally u-shaped channel, said u-shaped channel including a plurality of alternately staggered apertures and slots for lockably receiving a trim member therein; and

a trim member including a plurality of pins and locking tabs which are alternately staggered and which align with the apertures and slots respectively of said u-shaped channel for securing upholstery material between said trim member and said u-shaped channel wherein said pins pierce said upholstery material and extend into said apertures and said tabs lockably secure said member within said channel.

5. The apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein said locking tabs are made of a resilient polymeric material and include an edge which overlies an edge of a mating slot into which the tab is inserted for locking the trim member in place within said channel.

6. The apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein a surface of said trim member opposite said pins is a generally smooth surface.

7. The apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein said channel extends around the periphery of said substrate and said trim member is a trim ring.

8. The apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein said substrate comprises an armrest forming member.

9. A vehicle armrest comprising an upper and a lower section in which at least one of said sections is defined by an open tray having a peripheral lip defining a generally u-shaped channel extending around the periphery thereof, said u-shaped channel including a plurality of alternately staggered apertures and slots for lockably receiving a trim member therein; and

a trim member including a plurality of pins and locking tabs which are alternately staggered and which align with the apertures and slots respectively of said u-shaped channel of said tray for securing upholster material applied to the outer surface of said tray within said u-shaped channel wherein said pins pierce said upholstery material and extend into said apertures and said tabs lockably secure said member within said channel.

10. The apparatus as defined in claim 9 wherein said locking tabs are made of a resilient polymeric material and include an edge which overlies an edge of a mating slot into which the tab is inserted for locking the trim member in place within said channel.

11. The apparatus as defined in claim 9 wherein a surface of said trim member opposite said pins is a generally smooth surface.

12. A vehicle armrest comprising an upper and a lower section in which at least one of said sections is defined by an open tray having a peripheral lip defining a generally u-shaped channel extending around the periphery thereof, said u-shaped channel including a plurality of spaced apertures;

a trim member including a plurality of pins which align with said apertures for securing upholstery material between said u-shaped channel with said pins piercing the upholstery material and extending into said apertures;

means for lockably receiving said trim member within said channel including slot means formed in one of said u-shaped channel and trim member;

tabs alternately staggered with respect to said pins and formed on the other of said u-shaped channel and trim member; and

said tabs being aligned with said slot means and received therein whereby said trim member is secured within said channel.

13. The apparatus as defined in claim 12 wherein said locking tabs are made of a resilient polymeric material and include an edge which engages an edge of a mating slot into which the tab is inserted for locking the trim member in place within said channel. 14. The vehicle armrest of claim 13 in which said slot means is formed in said u-shaped channel and said tabs are formed on said trim member. 15. The vehicle armrest of claim 12 in which said slot means is formed in said u-shaped channel and said tabs are formed on said trim member.