Patent ID: 7121578

Claim:
A trim panel for concealing an air bag, said panel comprising: a substrate; a cover over the substrate, the cover including a cover skin; a foam layer provided between the substrate and the cover skin; and a tear seam, the tear seam having at least a portion comprising a pattern of alternating residual wall thicknesses in the panel, wherein the pattern comprises spaced-apart bridges of foam having a length of 0.1–100 mm and a width of 0.05–5.0 mm to provide support to the cover skin, and wherein the alternating residual wall thickness comprises alternating first and second sets of holes, with the first set of holes having a first depth D 1 , and the second set of holes having a second depth D 2 , less than the first depth, with the holes of the first sets of holes not extending into the cover skin.