Kia has been granted a patent for a vehicle undercover made from a high-elasticity, high-rigidity needle-punched nonwoven fabric. The multi-layer structure incorporates PET fibers to enhance tensile strength, reduce weight, and improve durability, while ensuring safety and workability during manufacturing. GlobalData’s report on Kia gives a 360-degree view of the company including its patenting strategy. Buy the report here.
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According to GlobalData’s company profile on Kia, Battery management systems was a key innovation area identified from patents. Kia's grant share as of June 2024 was 50%. Grant share is based on the ratio of number of grants to total number of patents.
Vehicle undercover with high elasticity and rigidity
The granted patent US12043186B2 describes an innovative undercover for vehicles, constructed from a needle-punched nonwoven fabric. This fabric is created by needle-punching a first nonwoven fabric layer, which consists of one or more felt layers, with a second nonwoven fabric layer that also comprises one or more felt layers. Each felt layer is composed of a fiber web containing approximately 1 to 40% by weight of first polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fiber and 60 to 99% by weight of low-melting-point PET fiber. The patent specifies that the tensile strength of both types of fibers is about 3 to 4 g/De, and the needle-punched nonwoven fabric undergoes about 20 to 80 needle punches per square centimeter.
Further claims detail the structural characteristics of the undercover, including the arrangement of fibers in the first and second nonwoven fabric layers, which can be randomly mixed in both horizontal and vertical alignments. The weight per unit area of these layers is specified to be between 300 to 750 g/m², with the possibility of creating a multilayer structure consisting of three to five layers. Additionally, the patent outlines the melting points and fiber lengths for both types of PET fibers, with the first PET fiber having a melting point of 240 to 270°C and the low-melting-point PET fiber ranging from 105 to 180°C. The overall weight per unit area of the needle-punched nonwoven fabric can vary from 600 to 1,500 g/m², indicating a robust and versatile material suitable for vehicle undercovers.
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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData Patent Analytics tracks bibliographic data, legal events data, point in time patent ownerships, and backward and forward citations from global patenting offices. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
