Dow Global Technolgoies LLC

Kousay M Said

David G McLeod

Frank V Billotto

Mark P Allen

Christopher Anthony Brewster

Steve B Swartzmiller

Paul E Juras

Gary Lawrey

The present invention is an article comprising a shaped rigid foam part; a heat activated foamable adhesive applied directly to at least a portion of the outer surface of the shaped foam part and an integral locating means. A second aspect of the invention is a method of forming a foam filled vehicle hollow member comprising, (a) inserting into a vehicular hollow member a rigid foam part comprised of a rigid foam having a heat activated foamable adhesive on at least a portion of the rigid foam insert and at least one integral locating means extending from a surface of the rigid foam, (b) engaging the locating means with the hollow member to locate the rigid foam part within the hollow member, and (c) heating the hollow member having the rigid foam part therein to a temperature and for a time sufficient to activate the heat activated expandable adhesive to form the foam filled vehicle hollow member.

Vehicular structural members and method of making the members

The present invention is a structural reinforcement part for use in automobile assembly comprising a molded shell substantially filled with a structural filler material and an expandable adhesive in contact with the exterior of the molded shell; wherein the structural filler material does not undergo or require any chemical reaction or expansion, after part installation or during automotive assembly. This simplified structural reinforcement part does not require the in-situ foaming process of the prior art and produces a strong lightweight structural member which can be adhered to the automotive skeleton via the expandable adhesive upon exposure to heat during automotive assembly. This structural member offers easy installation, since no bulk systems, pumps or additional equipment is required.

Structural reinforcement parts for automotive assembly

Growing community of inventors

Birmingham, MI, United States of America

Kousay M Said