[001] The present invention relates generally to a luggage carpet of a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a luggage carpet having better stability.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[002] In a major passenger vehicles, the spare wheel or tire is stored on the floor panel in the luggage compartment which is further covered by a luggage carpet so as to provide even floor surface for further use e.g. to keep luggage and also to hide said spare tirefor better appearance.
[003] Fig. 1 discloses the top view a floor panel in majority of the passenger vehicles wherein said tire resting area (102) is sandwiched between floor panel areas (101).
[004] Fig. 2a represents the A-A section of Fig. 1 where in it seen that a tire (202) is resting on the floor of the vehicle and is covered by luggage carpet (207). Pads (201) are used to fill the gap between said tire (202)&said luggage carpet (207) to help minimize the deflection of said luggage carpet during loading and unloading of luggage as well as during the vehicle is in motion specially on a bumpy road. A layer of felt material (203) is also provided between said pads (201) and beneath said luggage carpet (207). The length of pads (201) may differ from each other and it depends on the distance between said luggage carpet (207) and said floor panel (101) or said tire (202).
[005] Generally, PE pads are provided to encounter the gap between said luggage carpet (207) and said tire (202) and also to minimize deflection during loading, unloading and running of the vehicle.
[006] It is the easiest and the convenient way to fill the gap as well as provide enough strength to the part to minimize deflection in case of loading. However, it comes with a problem of Pad fall off during repeated assembly and disassembly of

the part over the period of time. Also, in few cases it leads to the noise problem where the PE pads hit the floor panel during sudden rise and fall of the part, when the vehicle passes over a bump.
[007] Fig. 2a representing the A-A section of the vehicle in idle or no motion state. Said PE pads (201) are in 100% contact with said floor panel (101) and said luggage carpet (207). However when the vehicle is in motion, ref Fig, 2b, due to the movement of the vehicle and bumps in the road, said PE pads (201) move up and down and generate noise (206) while hitting said floor panel (101). This results in the falling off of said pads (201). The falling of said pads (201) results in the decrease in the stability of said luggage carpet (207) which in turn increases said noise (206) while the vehicle is in motion.
[008] Further, since said pads (201) are uncovered, usually they also fall off during the assembly of said luggage carpet (207) since said carpet is slid over said floor panel (101). Also said pads (201) interfere with the sheet metal panel of the vehicle and fall off during the assembly. During this process due to friction and sliding, said PE pads (201) fall off.
[009] Further, PE pads are typically used which when pasted together with luggage carpet having a high curing time and tend to fall off easily.
[0010] Several solutions have been tried to overcome the problem of falling of said pads and to reduce the noise in the vehicle when in unloaded state.
[0011] One of the solution of prior art is a tire fixing unit for fixing a spare tire of a vehicle, capable of preventing noise and vibration. The tire fixing unit which is coupled to the temporary tire on which the luggage board is placed. None of the conventional waystalk about the methods to effectively minimize luggage area deflectionusing the different pads and incorporating a structure to prevent falling of those pads with minor cost and noise reduction being an added advantage.

[0012] Hence there is a need for a new vehicle luggage carpet with better stability and in which the pads do not fall off.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[0013] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle luggage carpet with better stability.
[0014] Another object of the present invention to provide a vehicle luggage carpet with better stability and better bonding ability with the pads.
[0015] Yet another object of the present invention to provide a vehicle luggage carpet with better stability which help in noise and vibration reduction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0016] In a typical luggage floor, the luggage carpet makes lot of noise when a vehicle passes over any bump on the road. This is due to use of PE Pads between the spare tire/floor panel and luggage carpet. Also, since the PE pads are less compressible and have less sticking property, they usually fall off while assembly of the luggage carpet and hence in turn the luggage carpet produces lot of noise and vibrations. To minimize the noise and vibration of a vehicle in the moving state especially an unloaded vehicle, the present invention discloses a luggage carpet with better stability comprising of felt pads covered by an overlapping felt.
BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
[0017] The above brief description, as well as further objects, features and advantages, of the present invention can be fully appreciated by reference to the following detailed description. These features of the present invention will become more apparent upon reference to the drawings, wherein:
[0018] Fig. 1: Top view of floor panel of a vehicle with tyre resting area (Prior Art)

[0019] Fig. 2a: Cross section view of A-A section while the vehicle is in idle or stop state (Prior Art)
[0020] Fig. 2b: Cross section view of A-A section while the vehicle is in moving state (Prior Art)
[0021] Fig. 3: Cross section view of A-A section with new pads and luggage carpet according to the present invention.
DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0022] The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to
an embodiment as shown in the drawing. [0023] The present invention provides a luggage carpet with new pads which
provides better stability to the carpet and helps in prevention of noise and
vibration when the vehicle is in the moving state.
[0024] Ref to Fig. 3, the present invention discloses a luggage carpet (207) wherein a number of pads (301) are covered with an overlapping felt (203).
[0025] Instead of PE pads (as used previously), said felt pads (301) are used which have better compressibility and better bonding property. A needle punch felt pad is used for the purpose of this invention however any pad made up of a felt material having compressibility up to 30-40% may be used.
[0026] The challenge from the prior art is to replace PE pads with Felt Pads in such a way that the pads provide enough strength to the part during loading as well as prevent falling of the pads during repeated assembly and disassembly of the part.
[0027] According to the present invention, using a pneumatic press, said overlapping felt (203) and said felt pads (301) are combined in such a way that said overlapping felt (203) covers said felt pads (301) from all sides and the

desired shape of the combination is achieved with very less curing time. Since felt pads (301) have better compressibility, which are used for the purpose of present invention, they do not tear said overlapping felt (203) while combination.
[0028] Said overlapping felt (203) is typically made from synthetic fibre, however it can be made from thermoplastic material, cotton fibre or any felt material having compressibility of 60-90%.
[0029] The combination of overlapping felt (203) and felt pads (301) is highly advantageous because since said overlapping felt (203) covers said felt pads (301), during assembly of said luggage carpet (207) said felt pads (301) do not fall off from said luggage carpet (207), hence providing better stability. Also, it results in substantial decrease in noise and vibration when the vehicle is in moving state especially when the vehicle is unloaded. Also, at high temperatures (around 60° -80°C) said felt pads (301) do not fall of due to high strength combination of said felt pads (301) with said overlapping felt (203). Also, the manufacturing and maintenance cost of said felt pads (301) is less than that of PE or PU pads.
[0030] It should be noted that the description and figures merely illustrate the principles of the present subject matter. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present subject matter. It should also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that by devising various assembly that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter and are included within its spirit and scope. Furthermore, all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly to be for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the present subject matter and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the present subject matter, both as to its organization and method of operation,

together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures.
[0031] These and other advantages of the present subject matter would be described in greater detail with reference to the following figures. It should be noted that the description merely illustrates the principles of the present subject matter. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter and are included within its scope.
[0032] It will be further appreciated that functions or structures of a plurality of components or steps may be combined into a single component or step, or the functions or structures of one-step or component may be split among plural steps or components. The present invention contemplates all of these combinations. Unless stated otherwise, dimensions and geometries of the various structures depicted herein are not intended to be restrictive of the invention, and other dimensions or geometries are possible. In addition, while a feature of the present invention may have been described in the context of only one of the illustrated embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of other embodiments, for any given application. It will also be appreciated from the above that the fabrication of the unique structures herein and the operation thereof also constitute methods in accordance with the present invention. The present invention also encompasses intermediate and end products resulting from the practice of the methods herein. The use of "comprising" or "including" also contemplates embodiments that "consist essentially of or "consist of the recited feature.
[0033] Although embodiments for the present subject matter have been described in language specific to structural features, it is to be understood that the present subject matter is not necessarily limited to the specific features described. Rather,

the specific features and methods are disclosed as embodiments for the present subject matter. Numerous modifications and adaptations of the system/component of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and thus it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and adaptations which fall within the scope of the present subject matter.

WE CLAIM:

1.A luggage carpet with better stability, said luggage carpet comprising:
A number of felt pads (301); and
An overlapping felt (203)
characterized that said overlapping felt (203) covers entire bottom of said luggage carpet including said felt pads (301) to provide said luggage carpet with better stability.

2. The luggage carpet as claimed in claim 1, wherein said overlapping felt (203) and said felt pads (301) are combined using pneumatic press.

3. The luggage carpet as claimed in claim 1, wherein said felt pads (301) are made from needle punch felt material or any felt material having compressibility of 30-40%.

4. The luggage carpet as claimed in claim 1, wherein said overlapping felt (203) is made from synthetic fibre, cotton fibre, TP or any felt material having compressibility of 60% to 90%.

5. The luggage carpet as claimed in claim 1, wherein said felt pads (301) do not have sharp edges.
, Description:FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[001] The present invention relates generally to a luggage carpet of a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a luggage carpet having better stability.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[002] In a major passenger vehicles, the spare wheel or tire is stored on the floor panel in the luggage compartment which is further covered by a luggage carpet so as to provide even floor surface for further use e.g. to keep luggage and also to hide said spare tirefor better appearance.

[003] Fig. 1 discloses the top view a floor panel in majority of the passenger vehicles wherein said tire resting area (102) is sandwiched between floor panel areas (101).

[004] Fig. 2a represents the A-A section of Fig. 1 where in it seen that a tire (202) is resting on the floor of the vehicle and is covered by luggage carpet (207). Pads (201) are used to fill the gap between said tire (202)&said luggage carpet (207) to help minimize the deflection of said luggage carpet during loading and unloading of luggage as well as during the vehicle is in motion specially on a bumpy road. A layer of felt material (203) is also provided between said pads (201) and beneath said luggage carpet (207). The length of pads (201) may differ from each other and it depends on the distance between said luggage carpet (207) and said floor panel (101) or said tire (202).

[005] Generally, PE pads are provided to encounter the gap between said luggage carpet (207) and said tire (202) and also to minimize deflection during loading, unloading and running of the vehicle.

[006] It is the easiest and the convenient way to fill the gap as well as provide enough strength to the part to minimize deflection in case of loading. However, it comes with a problem of Pad fall off during repeated assembly and disassembly of the part over the period of time. Also, in few cases it leads to the noise problem where the PE pads hit the floor panel during sudden rise and fall of the part, when the vehicle passes over a bump.

[007] Fig. 2a representing the A-A section of the vehicle in idle or no motion state. Said PE pads (201) are in 100% contact with said floor panel (101) and said luggage carpet (207). However when the vehicle is in motion, ref. Fig, 2b, due to the movement of the vehicle and bumps in the road, said PE pads (201) move up and down and generate noise (206) while hitting said floor panel (101). This results in the falling off of said pads (201). The falling of said pads (201) results in the decrease in the stability of said luggage carpet (207) which in turn increases said noise (206) while the vehicle is in motion.

[008] Further, since said pads (201) are uncovered, usually they also fall off during the assembly of said luggage carpet (207) since said carpet is slid over said floor panel (101). Also said pads (201) interfere with the sheet metal panel of the vehicle and fall off during the assembly. During this process due to friction and sliding, said PE pads (201) fall off.

[009] Further, PE pads are typically used which when pasted together with luggage carpet having a high curing time and tend to fall off easily.

[0010] Several solutions have been tried to overcome the problem of falling of said pads and to reduce the noise in the vehicle when in unloaded state.

[0011] One of the solution of prior art is a tire fixing unit for fixing a spare tire of a vehicle, capable of preventing noise and vibration. The tire fixing unit which is coupled to the temporary tire on which the luggage board is placed. None of the conventional waystalk about the methods to effectively minimize luggage area deflectionusing the different pads and incorporating a structure to prevent falling of those pads with minor cost and noise reduction being an added advantage.

[0012] Hence there is a need for a new vehicle luggage carpet with better stability and in which the pads do not fall off.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[0013] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle luggage carpet with better stability.

[0014] Another object of the present invention to provide a vehicle luggage carpet with better stability and better bonding ability with the pads.

[0015] Yet another object of the present invention to provide a vehicle luggage carpet with better stability which help in noise and vibration reduction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0016] In a typical luggage floor, the luggage carpet makes lot of noise when a vehicle passes over any bump on the road. This is due to use of PE Pads between the spare tire/floor panel and luggage carpet. Also, since the PE pads are less compressible and have less sticking property, they usually fall off while assembly of the luggage carpet and hence in turn the luggage carpet produces lot of noise and vibrations. To minimize the noise and vibration of a vehicle in the moving state especially an unloaded vehicle, the present invention discloses a luggage carpet with better stability comprising of felt pads covered by an overlapping felt.
BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
[0017] The above brief description, as well as further objects, features and advantages, of the present invention can be fully appreciated by reference to the following detailed description. These features of the present invention will become more apparent upon reference to the drawings, wherein:

[0018] Fig. 1: Top view of floor panel of a vehicle with tyre resting area (Prior Art)
[0019] Fig. 2a: Cross section view of A-A section while the vehicle is in idle or stop state (Prior Art)

[0020] Fig. 2b: Cross section view of A-A section while the vehicle is in moving state (Prior Art)

[0021] Fig. 3: Cross section view of A-A section with new pads and luggage carpet according to the present invention.
DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0022] The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to an embodiment as shown in the drawing.
[0023] The present invention provides a luggage carpet with new pads which provides better stability to the carpet and helps in prevention of noise and vibration when the vehicle is in the moving state.

[0024] Ref. to Fig. 3, the present invention discloses a luggage carpet (207) wherein a number of pads (301) are covered with an overlapping felt (203).

[0025] Instead of PE pads (as used previously), said felt pads (301) are used which have better compressibility and better bonding property. A needle punch felt pad is used for the purpose of this invention however any pad made up of a felt material having compressibility up to 30-40% may be used.

[0026] The challenge from the prior art is to replace PE pads with Felt Pads in such a way that the pads provide enough strength to the part during loading as well as prevent falling of the pads during repeated assembly and disassembly of the part.

[0027] According to the present invention, using a pneumatic press, said overlapping felt (203) and said felt pads (301) are combined in such a way that said overlapping felt (203) covers said felt pads (301) from all sides and the desired shape of the combination is achieved with very less curing time. Since felt pads (301) have better compressibility, which are used for the purpose of present invention, they do not tear said overlapping felt (203) while combination.

[0028] Said overlapping felt (203) is typically made from synthetic fibre, however it can be made from thermoplastic material, cotton fibre or any felt material having compressibility of 60-90%.

[0029] The combination of overlapping felt (203) and felt pads (301) is highly advantageous because since said overlapping felt (203) covers said felt pads (301), during assembly of said luggage carpet (207) said felt pads (301) do not fall off from said luggage carpet (207), hence providing better stability. Also, it results in substantial decrease in noise and vibration when the vehicle is in moving state especially when the vehicle is unloaded. Also, at high temperatures (around 60o -80oC) said felt pads (301) do not fall of due to high strength combination of said felt pads (301) with said overlapping felt (203). Also, the manufacturing and maintenance cost of said felt pads (301) is less than that of PE or PU pads.

[0030] It should be noted that the description and figures merely illustrate the principles of the present subject matter. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present subject matter. It should also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that by devising various assembly that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter and are included within its spirit and scope. Furthermore, all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly to be for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the present subject matter and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the present subject matter, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures.

[0031] These and other advantages of the present subject matter would be described in greater detail with reference to the following figures. It should be noted that the description merely illustrates the principles of the present subject matter. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter and are included within its scope.

[0032] It will be further appreciated that functions or structures of a plurality of components or steps may be combined into a single component or step, or the functions or structures of one-step or component may be split among plural steps or components. The present invention contemplates all of these combinations. Unless stated otherwise, dimensions and geometries of the various structures depicted herein are not intended to be restrictive of the invention, and other dimensions or geometries are possible. In addition, while a feature of the present invention may have been described in the context of only one of the illustrated embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of other embodiments, for any given application. It will also be appreciated from the above that the fabrication of the unique structures herein and the operation thereof also constitute methods in accordance with the present invention. The present invention also encompasses intermediate and end products resulting from the practice of the methods herein. The use of “comprising” or “including” also contemplates embodiments that “consist essentially of” or “consist of” the recited feature.

[0033] Although embodiments for the present subject matter have been described in language specific to structural features, it is to be understood that the present subject matter is not necessarily limited to the specific features described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as embodiments for the present subject matter. Numerous modifications and adaptations of the system/component of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and thus it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and adaptations which fall within the scope of the present subject matter.