Abstract:
A profile ( 9 ) which can be connected to a cover ( 4 ) serves to fasten the cover ( 4 ) on a supporting body ( 2 ). According to the invention, it is provided that the profile has a recess ( 17 ) for receiving a connecting region, in particular a seam ( 6 ), of cover segments ( 5.1, 5.2 ) of an at least two-piece cover.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    None. 
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The invention relates to a profile, which can be connected to a cover, for fastening the cover on a supporting body, to a fastening arrangement comprising said profile, and a headrest provided therewith. 
       RELATED ART 
       [0003]    A profile of the type in question is disclosed in laid-open specification DE 199 16 542 C1 and serves to fasten a cover of a vehicle seat. The latter is provided with an encircling, U-shaped hook-in channel which has an essentially rectangular cross section. A latching lug which projects into said cross section is provided in order to engage behind a profile, which is inserted into the hook-in channel and is sewn to the cover, and to fix the cover in this way to the vehicle seat. The profile is overall of thin-walled design and its section which is engaged behind is formed in a curved manner, with that free end of the profile which points counter to the insertion direction therefore being supported on the latching lug. The cover has an overlapping region with the profile, through which the connecting seam is guided, and is deflected approximately at right angles at the associated end of the profile. 
         [0004]    Arrangements of this type are unsatisfactory both in respect of appearance and with regard to installation in particular for the fastening of stiff covers (for example made of leather), which are generally composed of a number of parts, on supporting bodies of complex shape. 
         [0005]    The invention is based on the problem of developing a profile of the type in question in such a manner that it is suitable for the fastening of multi-part covers of complex shape. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The problem is solved in the case of a profile which can be connected to a cover for fastening the cover on a supporting body, in that the profile has a recess for receiving a connecting region, in particular a seam, of cover segments of an at least two-piece cover. 
         [0007]    The profile preferably has a first section, which can be inserted in a latching manner into a channel of the supporting body, a second section, which adjoins said first section, for sewing the profile to the cover, and then a third section with the recess. According to a particular development of the invention, the first profile section which can be inserted in a latching manner into the channel of the supporting body is arranged in a rotationally fixed manner in the channel and is supported preferably at least in two mutually, for example diagonally, opposite corner regions of the polygonal cross section of the channel. An exact alignment of the profile in the channel is thereby obtained. The alignment is particularly precise if the first profile section essentially fills the assigned region of the channel. 
         [0008]    The second section is advantageously of thin-walled design in comparison to the first and third sections, thus facilitating sewing to the cover. 
         [0009]    The recess may be formed in a corner region of the third section, which corner region faces the supporting body, and therefore the seam of the cover segments is surrounded in a U-shaped manner by two mutually adjacent surfaces of the profile and a surface of the supporting body. 
         [0010]    In this case, the third section may be provided with a region, which is arranged between the recess and the second section, for deflecting the cover, for example by an angle of 90° to 130°. 
         [0011]    The profile may be advantageously manufactured from a foamed plastic, such as polyethylene or polypropylene, preferably in the form of an endlessly extruded plastic strand. This material is reasonably priced and, owing to its elastic properties, does not tend to break when the cover is sewn on. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    The figures illustrate an embodiment of the invention by way of example and schematically. 
           [0013]    In the figures: 
           [0014]      FIG. 1  shows a section through an upholstered body, which is provided with a cover, with the use of a profile designed according to the invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  shows a separate and enlarged section through the profile illustrated in  FIG. 1 ; and 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  shows the profile according to  FIG. 2  in its fitted state. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0017]    The upholstered body  1  illustrated in  FIG. 1  is part of a vehicle seat headrest and comprises a supporting body  2 , a foam part  3  and a cover  4 , for example made of leather, which covers the foam part  3  on the visible side. Owing to its complex design, the cover  4  is composed of an outer cover segment  5 . 1  and an inner cover segment  5 . 2  which are connected to each other by means of an encircling seam  6 . The seam  6  gives rise on the cover  4  to an inwardly projecting overlapping  7  of the cover segments  5 . 1  and  5 . 2 . 
         [0018]    The edge of the supporting body  2  forms a channel  8  which encircles it in a rectangular manner and in the manner of a frame and in which a profile  9  which is sewn to the inner cover segment  5 . 2  is latched. The profile  9  is not inserted into the channel  8  in a manner such that it encircles the entire circumference of the cover, but rather is arranged on the cover only in sections with the corner regions of the frame formed by the channel  8  being left out. The individual sections of the profile  9  are therefore only slightly bent in their longitudinal extent, if at all, upon insertion into the channel  8 . 
         [0019]    The profile  9 , which is manufactured from foamed polypropylene by extrusion, has, as is apparent from  FIG. 2 , a first rectangular section A, namely an approximately square section, with slightly rounded edges  10  (radii R 1 , R 2 ), which section is formed compactly, except for the pores of the foam structure, i.e. does not have any further cavities, and is therefore relatively deformation-resistant. This section A serves for the latching in the channel  8 . The section A is adjoined by a likewise compact, band-like section B, the one surface side  11  of which runs flush with the side surface  12  of the section A while the parallel surface side  13  of the section B has an offset  15  in relation to the other side surface  14  of the section A. The material thickness d in the region of the section B is therefore smaller than the material thickness D 1  in the section A. In the exemplary embodiment, the material thickness d is approximately 55% of the material thickness D 1 . 
         [0020]    As an extension of the section B, the profile  9  forms a section C, the side surface  16  of which initially constitutes an extension of the surface side  11  of the section B, but subsequently jumps back in relation thereto and forms a rectangular recess  17 . The latter is arranged in the manner of a step (side surfaces  16 ′,  16 ″) in the corner region of the section C, which corner region is assigned to the side surface  16 , the side surface  16 ″ running in the region of the recess  17  approximately as an imaginary extension of the surface side  13  of the section B. 
         [0021]    On the opposite side of the profile, the section C projects in relation to section B with a side surface  18  being formed which runs parallel to the opposite side surface  16  and is connected to the likewise parallel surface side  13  of the section B by an arrangement of a first concave radius R 3  and an adjoining, convex radius R 4 . The side surface  18  is offset outward, again in parallel, in relation to the side surface  14  of the section A, and therefore the maximum material thickness D 2  in the section C is greater than the material thickness D 1 . In the exemplary embodiment, the material thickness D 2  is approximately 1.3 times the material thickness D 1 . In the region opposite the recess  17 , the side surface  18  is adjoined by an oblique surface  19  which runs outward in the direction of the recess  17  and opens into the latter. The oblique surface  19  therefore lies opposite the end surface  20 , which connects the side surfaces  12 ,  14 , of the section A and runs at an inclination in relation to said end surface. The angle of inclination α is approximately 25°. The section C is also formed compactly, apart from the pores of the foam structure. 
         [0022]    The channel  8 , which is molded onto the end side of the supporting body  2 , preferably although not necessarily by injection molding, in order to receive the profile  9 , is of approximately U-shaped design, with a shorter limb  21  ( FIG. 3 ) being equipped with a latching lug  22  protruding inward into the channel  8 . The latching lug  22  engages behind the offset  15  of the profile  9 , with that part of the limb  21  which is located on this side of the latching lug  22 , and the base  23  and the other limb  24  of the U-shaped channel  8  nestling against the side surfaces  12 ,  14  and the end surface  20  of the profile  9  under a slight stress. Section A of the profile  9  fills the relevant, approximately square cross section of the channel  8  apart from its corner regions. By this means, the profile  9  is held both in respect of its insertion direction and in a rotationally fixed manner in the channel  8 . 
         [0023]    While the shorter limb  21  extends on that side of the latching lug  22  until over the section B of the profile  9 , the parallel, longer limb  24  still runs along the surface side  11  and the side surface  16  as far as the end of the section C. It is provided there with a bent portion  25  which runs in an oppositely curved manner from the profile  9  and peters out in the foam part  3 . The outwardly open recess  17  is therefore bounded by three mutually adjacent walls, namely the side surfaces  16 ′ and  16 ″ of the profile  9  and the limb  24  of the supporting body  2 . 
         [0024]    The inner cover segment  5 . 2  is sewn in the region of the section B to the profile  9 , the cover  4  bearing against the profile  9  and being spaced apart from the limb  21 . The foamed polypropylene of the profile  9  is not damaged in the process. The cover segment  5 . 2  is led out of the gap between section B and the limb  21  along the radii R 3  and R 4  and subsequently bears against the side surface  18  and the oblique surface  19  of the profile  9 . In this region, the cover  4  is deflected by an angle of around 115° in the direction of the foam part  3 . The seam  6  which connects the cover segments  5 . 1  and  5 . 2  to each other is arranged in such a manner that the overlapping  7  projects into the recess  17 . An annoying, outwardly protruding bead is therefore not formed in the visible region of the seam  6 , and therefore an attractive appearance is maintained even in the corner regions of the encircling frame formed by the channel  8 . Furthermore, ripples in the cover  4  are avoided by the fixing of the profile  9  in an essentially rotationally fixed manner (with elastic deformations being ignored). 
         [0025]    The foregoing invention has been described in accordance with the relevant legal standards, thus the description is exemplary rather than limiting in nature. Variations and modifications to the disclosed embodiment may become apparent to those skilled in the art and fall within the scope of the invention. Accordingly the scope of legal protection afforded this invention can only be determined by studying the following claims. 
       REFERENCE NUMBERS 
       [0000]    
       
           1  Upholstered body 
           2  Supporting body 
           3  Foam part 
           4  Cover 
           5 . 1 ,  5 . 2  Cover segment 
           6  Seam 
           7  Overlapping 
           8  Channel 
           9  Profile 
           10  Edge 
           11  Surface side 
           12  Side surface 
           13  Surface side 
           14  Side surface 
           15  Offset 
           16  Side surface 
           17  Recess 
           18  Side surface 
           19  Oblique surface 
           20  End surface 
           21  Limb 
           22  Latching lug 
           23  Base 
           24  Limb 
           25  Bent portion