Reinforcement assembly for vehicle panels

In a bracket for supporting a heat expandable sealer block arrangement which, upon being thermally activated to a predetermined temperature, provides a foamed stiffener operative for reinforcing a panel secured to an automobile vehicle body substructure having a mounting aperture formed therein, said panel supported on the substructure such that a variable tolerance dimensional space is defined between the substructure and the panel inner surface, the improvement in said bracket comprising:

• a one-piece thin-walled plastic box-like bracket enclosed on four sides having a base panel, a pair of opposite upright identical side panels secured to said base panel at the lower edges thereof, and an upright rear panel extending between and secured to said side panels, said four panels forming between them an open-fronted open-topped cavity sized for receiving the heat expandable sealer block;
• said base panel having front and rear longitudinal edges, an oblique shield panel being flexibly connected along said base panel front longitudinal edge such that said shield panel is inclined upwardly and outwardly therefrom at a predetermined obtuse angle with said base panel;
• said rear panel having a lower longitudinal edge thereof spaced a predetermined dimension vertically upwardly from said base panel rear longitudinal edge so as to define an elongated opening therewith, said rear panel formed with a pair of longitudinally spaced apart mirror image flexure fingers adapted to extend a distance into the substructure mounting aperture, each said finger having an integral locking prong comprising a ramp and a shoulder, each said prong ramp adapted to coact with the substructure mounting aperture in a manner to deflect said pair of fingers inward upon insertion through the aperture and thereafter returning to their normal state wherein each said prong shoulder lockingly engages an associated edge of the substructure aperture;
• said side panels having its upstanding pair of forward edges thereof being respectively provided with opposed vertically extending rails disposed parallel to said rear panel, said rail members spaced a predetermined dimension from said rear panel slightly greater than said sealer block width dimension thereof, said pair of rails defining a vertically disposed plane that includes the open-front of said bracket cavity;
• said side panels having their opposed inner surfaces formed with opposed mirror image integral retention members adjacent their associated upper transverse edges adapted to coact with the sealer block upper surface thereof in a manner to deflect said side panels outward upon insertion of said sealer block through the opened-top of said bracket cavity and thereafter upon said sealer block having a bottom surface thereof supported on said base panel each said side panel returning to its normal state, wherein each retention member lockingly engages an associated upper end edge of said block upper surface and each said side panel rail member engaging an associated opposed block front surface portion thereof capturing said block in said bracket cavity;
• and
• said sealer block adapted upon being heat activated to a predetermined expanding temperature to foam-in-place in a predetermined directed manner by said side, rear and guide panels thereby defining a foamed stiffener bridging the space between the body panel and the substructure so as to sealing engaging both inner opposed surfaces thereof providing a high compressive resistant foam stiffener bridge therebetween.