IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,392,066
Granted Patent B2
US 12,392,066 · App. 17/898,072 · Granted Aug 19, 2025

Arrangement comprising a visible seam and a lighting apparatus, use thereof, and method for producing the arrangement

Inventors: Udo Kansteiner (Witten, DE); Frank Blockhaus (Velbert, DE); Julia Schmidt (Esslingen, DE); Holger Wagner (Duisburg, DE); Christoph Riethmueller (Leonberg, DE); Benjamin Pohl (Stuttgart, DE)
Assignee: INTEVA PRODUCTS EUROPE GMBH
D05B79/00B60Q3/54D01H7/00D02G3/26D02G3/446D05B15/00D05B85/00D05B93/00B60Q3/78
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,392,066
App. No.
17/898,072
Granted
Aug 19, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

The invention relates to an arrangement comprising a visible seam, which is arranged in a sheet material part. The arrangement also includes a lighting apparatus, which is arranged beneath an underside of the sheet material part. The visible seam has an upper thread and a lower thread. The lower thread extends along the underside of the sheet material part in a direction. The upper thread has first thread portions along the upper side of the sheet material part and is guided, at stitch holes formed during the sewing process, through said stitch holes via second thread portions. By means of the lighting apparatus, emitted light passes into the second thread portions, into the stitch holes, and from there into the first thread portions. Some of the light propagates along the first thread portions, starting from an adjacent second thread portion, whereas another portion of the light exits from the first thread portion. In this way, the upper thread of the visible seam is illuminated.

Claims (25)

1. A portion of a vehicle interior, comprising stitching and a lighting apparatus,

wherein the stitching comprises an upper thread and a lower thread, wherein the upper thread comprises first thread portions extending along an upper side of a sheet material part and second thread portions, which run through stitch holes through the sheet material part and which are each interlaced with the lower thread at an underside of the sheet material part beneath each stitch hole,

wherein the lighting apparatus comprises one or more light sources and is adapted to emit light at a plurality of light emission locations beneath the underside of the sheet material part,

wherein the lighting apparatus is adapted to couple the light emitted at the light emission locations into the second thread portions of the upper thread beneath the stitch holes, which light propagates along the second thread portions of the upper thread and, starting from the second thread portions propagates partially along the adjacent first thread portions of the upper thread and is diffusely emitted in part by the first thread portions, and

wherein the first thread portions of the upper thread form a first thread layer, and a second thread layer is provided on the first thread layer.

2. The portion of the vehicle interior according to claim 1 , wherein the upper thread and/or the lower thread are/is embodied as a multi-filament yarn or as twine.

3. The portion of the vehicle interior according to claim 2 , wherein, in a first step, a plurality of multi-filament yarns are produced by twisting filaments together, and the multi-filament yarns are twisted together in at least one further step to form the twine.

4. The portion of the vehicle interior according to claim 2 , wherein a twist of the upper thread embodied as a multi-filament yarn is less than a twist of the lower thread embodied as a multi-filament yarn or as twine.

5. The portion of the vehicle interior according to claim 2 , wherein a twist of the upper thread embodied as a multi-filament yarn or as twine lies in a range of 20 to 400 twists per meter.

6. The portion of the vehicle interior according to claim 2 , wherein a twist of the lower thread embodied as a multi-filament yarn or as twine lies in a range of 20 to 400 or up to 1000 twists per meter.

7. The portion of the vehicle interior according to claim 1 , wherein the upper thread has a smaller cross-section than the lower thread.

8. The portion of the vehicle interior according to claim 1 , wherein the sheet material part is sewn to a further sheet material part at a connecting seam, adjacently to the stitching.

9. The portion of the vehicle interior according to claim 8 , wherein the sheet material part and the further sheet material part have stitching adjacently to the connecting seam.

10. The portion of the vehicle interior according to claim 8 , wherein at least one shielding means is provided at or adjacently to the connecting seam and reduces or prevents the passage of light at the connecting seam of the sheet material part and the further sheet material part.

11. The portion of the vehicle interior according to claim 10 , wherein the at least one shielding means comprises a seam tape or is formed by a seam tape.

12. The portion of the vehicle interior according to claim 10 , wherein at least one supporting body is provided and supports the sheet material part at the underside or the further sheet material part at an underside.

13. The portion of the vehicle interior according to claim 12 , wherein the at least one shielding means comprises a seam tape or is formed by a seam tape and wherein the at least one shielding means is arranged or formed on the at least one supporting body.

14. The portion of the vehicle interior according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of light emission locations are each formed by a separate light source.

15. The portion of the vehicle interior according to claim 1 , wherein the lighting apparatus comprises at least one diffusely reflective delimiting face along the arrangement of the plurality of light emission locations.

16. A vehicle interior comprising the portion of claim 1 .

17. The portion of the vehicle interior according to claim 3 , wherein a twist of the upper thread embodied as a multi-filament yarn is less than a twist of the lower thread embodied as a multi-filament yarn or as twine.

18. A method for producing the portion of the vehicle interior according to claim 1 , comprising the following steps:

producing a visible seam, wherein the upper thread is pulled from the upper side of the sheet material part through a stitch hole formed by using a sewing needle, and wherein a cross-sectional area of the sewing needle is smaller than twice a cross-sectional area of the upper thread,

providing the lighting apparatus having the plurality of light emission locations beneath the underside of the sheet material part.

19. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the upper thread has a smaller cross-section than the lower thread.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 30, 2022
From: KANSTEINER, UDO; BLOCKHAUS, FRANK; SCHMIDT, JULIA; WAGNER, HOLGER; RIETHMUELLER, CHRISTOPH; POHL, BENJAMIN
To: INTEVA PRODUCTS EUROPE GMBH
Reel/Frame 061355/0625 →
Priority Claims (1)
DE 10 2016 114 843.1 · Aug 10, 2016 · national
Continuity (2)
Continuation 15673817 · Aug 10, 2017
Related Publication 20220411981A1 · Dec 29, 2022
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