Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Ford Motor Company Limited

Joseph Andrew Hickey

David Brian Glickman

Jeffery Lee

Linh Ngoc Doan

Bhavani Thota

Aaron Peter Klop

Irfan Sharif

Michael Williams

Michael Jon Gutowski

Jesus Miranda Lujan

Flondezi Godette

Robert T Babcock

Sandra Cristina Alvarado Gomez

Jodi Ann McGrew

A door trim assembly includes an armrest, a pull handle, including a receiver, and a bracket joining the armrest and the pull handle. The bracket includes a connection feature that engages with the receiver. The bracket is cantilevered to the pull handle and includes a second end with an abutment surface engaging the armrest.

Door trim assembly with bracket joining the armrest and the pull handle of that assembly

A tow hook seal assembly is provided for a motor vehicle. That tow hook seal assembly includes a housing and a tow hook seal held in the housing. Further the tow hook seal assembly includes a first bumper bolt opening and a second bumper bolt opening. In addition, the tow hook seal assembly includes a cover carried on the housing and enclosing the first and second bumper bolt openings when the cover is in the closed position.

Tow hook seal assembly with integrated bumper bolt cover

A component positioning device including at least one resilient structure that centers the component. For example, a spring that acts between a grille and a grille opening to center the grille within a grille opening. The spring generating a reaction force sufficient to self-adjust the grille within the grille opening wherein opposing springs are deployed on either side of the grill with the springs exerting a force on and moving the grill until the force exerted by the opposing springs reaches equilibrium.

Structure for positioning a trim component on a vehicle

A front bumper step for a vehicle includes a step portion and a gap seal configured to prevent a flow of air through a gap defined between a front bumper fascia of the vehicle and a front grille assembly of the vehicle. The gap seal may be provided as an integral unit with a step pad portion of the front bumper step portion. The vehicle may include an active grille shutter system, and the front grille assembly may be an upper grille assembly. The gap seal may be fabricated of a flexible material.

Body-on-frame bumper step pad with seal between bumper beam and radiator grill

A grille carrier for at least partially supporting a vehicle grille during installation is provided. The grille carrier includes a base, first and second walls extending from the base, and a top having an upper surface. The top is supported by a U-shaped support forming part of a stem attached to and extending from the base. The upper surface of the top includes a pair of projections for at least partially supporting the grille during installation. The projections are positioned at different distances away from a centerline each include a base and a head. The base is formed of four walls which are perpendicular to one another in one embodiment, and the head covers the base and forms a lip around its periphery. The lip prevents the partially supported grille from coming off during installation.

Grille carrier

A support for an automotive radiator grille that is supported from the hood assembly of the vehicle is formed of two major components, a support bracket and a rubber stop retained on the support bracket for engagement with the radiator grille when the hood is moved into the lowered, closed position. The rubber stop is formed in a circular configuration with a central projecting bumper that deflects into a cup formed by the support bracket to maintain contact with the radiator grille and provide self-adjusting positioning to accommodate build tolerances and variations in the hood assembly and mounted radiator grille. The rubber stop can be formed of multi-durometer elastomers to provide a tuning to the specific application for the radiator grille support. The rubber stop places a pre-load on the hood latch and closure mechanism through the spring-like deflection of the rubber stop into the cup.

Growing community of inventors

Rochester, MI, United States of America

Joseph Andrew Hickey