Method of forming a heat expandable acoustic baffle
AssigneeNoble Polymers, L.L.C.
InventorFrederick P. Keller
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A lightweight expandable baffle for sealing a cavity of a vehicle body at a predetermined cross section of the cavity defined by cavity walls includes a rigid support plate having an outer periphery with a shape generally corresponding to but smaller than the shape of the cross section of the cavity, a heat expandable sealing material mounted only to the outer periphery of the rigid support plate and having an activation temperature range at which the material expands, the support plate being formed of a material having a higher melting point than the activation temperature range, and the sealing material, when activated, expands radially from the rigid support plate to fill the cross-sectional cavity between the rigid support plate and the cavity wall.
Claims19
A process for sealing an elongated cavity of a vehicle body at a predetermined cross section of the cavity defined by cavity walls, the process comprising:
- forming a relatively thin rigid support plate with a material which has a melting point above an activation temperature range and having an outer periphery with a shape generally corresponding to but smaller than the shape of the predetermined cross section of the cavity;
- integrally molding a heat expandable sealing material to the outer periphery of the rigid support plate, the heat expandable sealing material being adapted to expand in the activation temperature range;
- mounting the rigid support plate to the cavity walls in a generally transverse orientation with respect to a longitudinal axis of the cavity and leaving a small peripheral space between the sealing material and the cavity walls;
- heating the sealing material into the activation temperature range;
- and
- expanding the sealing material radially of the longitudinal axis of the cavity from the rigid support plate to fill the peripheral space between the sealing material and the cavity walls.
A process for sealing an elongated cavity of a vehicle body at a predetermined cross section of the cavity defined by cavity walls, the process comprising:
- forming a relatively thin rigid support plate with a material which has a melting point above an activation temperature range and having an outer periphery with a shape generally corresponding to but smaller than the shape of the predetermined cross section of the cavity;
- mounting a heat expandable sealing material only to the outer periphery of the rigid support plate, the heat expandable sealing material being adapted to expand in the activation temperature range;
- mounting the rigid support plate to the cavity walls in a generally transverse orientation with respect to a longitudinal axis of the cavity and leaving a small peripheral space between the sealing material and the cavity walls;
- heating the sealing material into the activation temperature range;
- and
- expanding the sealing material radially of the longitudinal axis of the cavity from the rigid support plate to fill the peripheral space between the sealing material and the cavity walls.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.