Wire mesh heat shield isolator
AssigneeACS Industries, Inc.
InventorGeorge Greenwood
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A substrate such as a heat shield for a vehicle is provided with a unitary compressed wire mesh bushing or isolator formed in place though a bore in the substrate. The bushing is formed by supporting an uncompressed or partially compressed wire mesh sleeve, optionally including a grommet or spacer, on a mandrel positioned within the bore; the mandrel is surrounded on either side of the bore by outer sleeves forming a molding cavity on each side of the substrate, and a slidable tamp is disposed in each outer sleeve and moved towards each other to compress the mesh within the bore and provide the unitary bushing.
Claims18
A substrate having two sides and a bore extending between the two sides, and a unitary compressed wire mesh isolator extending through the bore and having a flange on each of the two sides, each flange having a diameter larger than the diameter of the bore on the corresponding side.
A method for making a unitary wire mesh isolator in a bore of a substrate, comprising the steps of:
- positioning an uncompressed or partially compressed wire mesh sleeve on a mandrel within the bore, a portion of the wire mesh sleeve extending from each side of the bore;
- providing an outer sleeve on each side of the bore abutting the substrate to provide a mold cavity;
- providing a tamp within each sleeve;
- advancing the tamps towards each other to compress the wire mesh sleeve into an isolator having a compressed mesh flange larger than the bore on each side of the substrate.
An apparatus for making a wire mesh isolator in a bore in a substrate, comprising:
- means for supporting the substrate in a desired orientation;
- opposing upper and lower outer sleeves moveable coaxially towards and away from the bore along the axis of the bore;
- an upper tamp slidable within the upper sleeve along the same axis;
- a lower tamp slidable within the lower sleeve along the same axis and having a central bore along the same axis;
- and a mandrel slidable within the central bore of the lower tamp along the same axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.