Patent ID: 7572122

Claim:
An apparatus for preweakening an automotive interior trim piece having a thin compliant plastic outer cover layer, said preweakening extending along a predetermined generally U-shaped pattern overlying an air bag installation to be mounted behind said interior trim piece at a particular location, said preweakening pattern enabling formation of an air bag deployment opening in said trim piece by severing of said cover layer along said pattern by outward pressure exerted on said cover layer by an air bag deploying from said air bag installation mounted on the inside of said trim piece, said apparatus including: a laser beam scoring arrangement generating a laser beam and directing said laser beam at an inner surface of said cover layer and along said predetermined pattern so as to produce a preweakening scoring therein extending into said cover along said predetermined pattern; and scoring control programmed to cause said laser beam to produce said preweakening scoring of said plastic outer cover layer comprised of a series of repeating partial penetrations extending into the inside of said outer cover layer and spaced apart along said U-shaped preweakening pattern enabling formation of said deployment opening in said outer cover layer, said partial penetrations produced by said scoring control programmed to cyclically vary the intensity of said laser beam so as to form said series of repeating partial penetrations forming a varying depth scoring into said outer cover layer extending at least partially along said U-shaped pattern.