Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Maciej Bednarek

Michael James Freeman

Steven Frank

Chienhom Lee

Aakash Patel

Jesús Alfredo Mendoza González

James Yoos

The present disclosure describes a vehicle including an inner wheelbase panel, a first panel, a second panel and a pillar that is coupled to the wheelbase panel. The pillar includes a wall, a first flange, a second flange, and a tunnel. The wall defines an inner cavity and an outer cavity. The first flange extends outwardly from the wall and the second flange extends inwardly from the wall. The vehicle includes baffle which extends through the tunnel and is sized and shaped to seal both the inner cavity and the outer cavity.

Vehicle pillar pass through for sealing baffle

A plug for a body aperture in a vehicle body includes a base, a locating surface and a lip portion of the base. The base is shaped and sized to completely overlap the aperture. The locating surface is disposed on a first side of the base, extending substantially normal to the base. The locating surface is complementary in shape to the aperture for receipt thereby. The lip portion connects the locating surface with an outer perimeter of the base. A receiving groove is disposed in the lip portion.

Body aperture plug and body conversion

A vehicle joint assembly may include a lower housing, an upper housing, an expandable material, first and second vehicle components, and a fastener. The lower housing may define a first cavity. The upper housing may define a second cavity and may be sized for partial disposal within the lower housing. The expandable material may be disposed within the second cavity. The first and second vehicle components may each include contact surfaces. The fastener may extend through through-holes defined by the lower and upper housings to secure the first and second vehicle components to one another. Subjecting the expandable material to heat may move the upper housing to contact one of the contact surfaces. The expandable material may be configured to expand when subjected to heat from a paint oven of a vehicle assembly process.

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Windsor, CA, United States of America

Maciej Bednarek