Removable car seat cover having a predetermined pre-weakened failure zone of a known bursting strength for facilitating reliable airbag deployment
A removable car seat cover for a car seat having an integral side airbag including a side panel having a predetermined pre-weakened failure zone that is pretreated by controlled laser ablation of the side panel. The pre-weakened failure zone is located at or adjacent to an airbag deployment area of a car seat when the car seat cover is installed on the car seat, and is in the form of an elongate strip extending along the side panel. The pre-weakened failure zone has a known bursting strength to thereby facilitate reliable deployment of the side airbag from the car seat as a result of tearing of the pre-weakened zone when the removable car seat cover is installed thereon.
1. A removable car seat cover for installation over an upholstered car seat having an integral side airbag, the car seat cover comprising:
a side panel having a predetermined pre-weakened failure zone pretreated by controlled laser ablation of the side panel;
wherein the pre-weakened failure zone defines an elongate strip extending along the side panel and is arranged such that the pre-weakened failure zone will be located at or adjacent to an airbag deployment area of a car seat when the car seat cover is installed on the car seat;
the pre-weakened failure zone having a known bursting strength to thereby allow for reliable deployment of the side airbag from the car seat as a result of tearing of the pre-weakened failure zone when the removable car seat cover is installed thereon.
2. The removable car seat cover of claim 1 , wherein the pre-weakened failure zone comprises at least one of:
a width of approximately 7 mm; or
a length of approximately 740 mm.
3. The removable car seat cover of claim 1 , wherein the pre-weakened failure zone comprises at least one of:
a laser-etched dot pattern; or
a series of parallel laser-etched lines.
4. The removable car seat cover of claim 3 , wherein:
the laser-etched dot pattern has a dot color of K40 and a dot density of 400 dpi; or
the laser-etched lines are spaced about 0.5 mm apart, and at a 45 degree angle to an edge of the pre-weakened failure zone.
5. The removable car seat cover of claim 1 , wherein the pre-weakened
failure zone is positioned less than 15 mm from a front edge of the car seat cover when the car seat cover is installed on the car seat.
6. A removable car seat cover of claim 5 , wherein the pre-weakened failure zone has a lower end positioned less than 100 mm from a bottom edge of the car seat cover when installed on the car seat.
7. The removable car seat cover of claim 1 , wherein the pre-weakened failure zone has a bursting strength of approximately 200 kPa.
8. The removable car seat cover of claim 1 , wherein the side panel is made from a knitted polyester fabric.
9. The removable car seat cover according to claim 8 , wherein the polyester fabric has a weight of 100 grams per square meter, and is 100 denier polyester yarn with 38 filaments in one yarn.
10. A method of producing a removable car seat cover for installation over an upholstered car seat having an integral side airbag, the method comprising:
obtaining a removable car seat cover having at least one side panel; and
pretreating the at least one side panel by controlled laser ablation to thereby form at least one predetermined pre-weakened failure zone in the form of an elongate strip extending along the at least one side panel and having a known bursting strength;
the pre-weakened failure zone arranged on the at least one side panel such that pre-weakened failure zone will be located at or adjacent to an airbag deployment area of a car seat when the car seat cover is installed on the car seat.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein pretreating the at least one side panel includes pretreating an area comprising at least one of:
a width of approximately 7 mm; or
a length of approximately 740 mm.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein pretreating the at least one side panel comprises laser etching at least one of:
a dot pattern; or
a series of parallel lines.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
the laser-etched dot pattern has a dot color of K40 and a dot density of 400 dpi; or
the laser-etched lines are spaced about 0.5 mm apart, and at a 45 degree angle to an edge of the pre-weakened failure zone.
14. The method of claim 10 , wherein pretreating the at least one side panel comprises includes pretreating an area such that at least one of:
the pre-weakened failure zone is positioned less than 15 mm from a front edge of the car seat cover when the car seat cover is installed on the car seat; or
the pre-weakened failure zone has a lower end positioned less than 100 mm from a bottom edge of the car seat cover when installed on the car seat.
15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the pre-weakened failure zone has a bursting strength of approximately 200 kPa.
16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the side panel comprises a knitted polyester fabric.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the polyester fabric has a weight of 100 grams per square meter, and is 100 denier polyester yarn with 36 filaments per yarn.