Patent ID: 7625004

Claim:
A motor vehicle trim element having weakened areas for an airbag deployment opening, the trim element comprising: a carrier layer; a spacer layer laminated to the carrier layer; and a decorative layer on the side of the spacer layer facing away from the carrier layer; wherein each of the carrier layer, the spacer layer, and the decorative layer comprises a weakened area whereby at specific locations of each layer, material has been removed or displaced so as to selectively provide the weakened areas as predetermined breaking points, whereby these points where material has been removed or displaced terminate in front of the outer surface of the decorative layer and are not, therefore, visible from the outside; wherein between the inner surface of the decorative layer and the adjacent surface of the spacer layer, in each case in contact with the surface of both layers, is disposed a thin additional layer of material which has at least one area where material has been removed or one area where material has been displaced in the same weakened location, the additional layer of material, the additional layer of material being a plastic film that is thinner than the spacer layer and the decorative layer; wherein the weakened area in the decorative layer and the weakened area in the additional layer of material are disposed offset to one another.