Lear Corporation
Vehicle trim assembly for use with heating and cooling of a vehicle seat

Abstract:

A vehicle trim assembly comprises a foam bun, an electrically insulative top finish layer above the foam bun, a thermal gradient assembly under the finish trim layer, and a thermal enhancement layer between the thermal gradient assembly and the finish trim layer. The thermal gradient assembly is adapted to generate a thermal gradient when receiving an electric current and has an electrically conductive top layer, an electrically conductive bottom layer, and a semiconductor layer having first and second semiconductor regions between the top and bottom layers. The thermal enhancement layer has a thermal conductivity adapted to direct thermal energy transfer between the thermal gradient assembly and the finish trim layer.