Chrysler Corporation

Jerry F Loughlin, Jr

Alfred A Bien

Mark E Gleason

Thomas C Odette

Joseph E Kubina

Richard F Biermacher

Todd H Wludyka

Patrick M Harney

Craig S Montie

Daniel J House, Jr

Alfredo N DiMichele

There is disclosed herein a fluid containment device secured to, or integrated within a vehicle cowl or louvered panel serving to divert water or windshield washer fluid 'run-up' away from the operator's line of vision. Such run-up of fluid tends to occur in the vicinity of the ends of a wiper blade at the end of its final or intermittent downward stroke. The fluid containment device is formed to include a ramped lead-in front surface and a vertically oriented trailing surface, creating a high pressure, low velocity space adjacent the rear surface thereof, causing a turbulent airflow to circle downwardly and spiral laterally. The result is to urge the fluid downward toward the base of the louvered panel, and laterally toward the outboard sides of the windshield.

Fluid containment device

An improved one-piece plastic bracket for supporting a sealer block of heat expandable reinforcement material on the substructure of a vehicle. The sealer block is adapted, upon being heated during an assembly line operation, to form a closed cell foam stiffener bridging a tolerance varying space between the substructure and an exterior panel. The one-piece bracket provides an initial function of readily supporting the sealer block in a snap-action manner on the vehicle substructure. Additionally, the bracket is operative to precisely guide the heat activated sealer into a predetermined foamed-in-place configuration wherein it sealingly bonds to both the substructure and the opposed inner surface of the panel.

Reinforcement assembly for vehicle panels

A vehicle plastic panel is mounted by means of a one-piece molded screw anchor on a substructure member in a bi-directional tolerance compensating manner. The screw anchor is adapted for snap-in capture in a substructure elongated rectangular aperture enabling it to slide along the aperture major axis. Upon the insertion of a self-tapping screw in a panel circular opening overlying the screw anchor, the screw tip enters the anchor upper lead-in chamber. If the screw and anchor are misaligned, the screw tip contacts a subjacent one of a pair of opposed anchor ramped side surface portions whereby the anchor is cammed for limited adjustment along the aperture major axis. The anchor ramped surface portions terminate in a lower, elongated channel extending transverse to the major axis. The anchor base wall is adapted to be threadably engaged upon driving the screw at a piercing point in vertical alignment with the panel opening.

Snap-in floating screw-anchor

Growing community of inventors

St. Clair Shores, MI, United States of America

Jerry F Loughlin, Jr