For many years, industry and particularly the transportation industry, has been concerned with designing members for providing baffling, sealing, structural reinforcement or the like to automotive vehicles. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,755,486; 4,901,500; and 4,751,249, each of which is incorporated herein by reference, describe exemplary prior art devices for baffling, sealing or reinforcing. Such members typically include an expandable material, which may or may not be combined with other components for forming a seal, a baffle, a structural reinforcement or the like in a cavity of an automotive vehicle.
Often times, however, assembly of such members to the automotive vehicles or other articles of manufacture can present difficulties. Moreover, difficulties can be presented when designing a member that can applied to various locations of an article of manufacture or various different articles of manufacture. Thus, the present invention seeks to provide a member for baffling, sealing or reinforcing that overcomes one of these difficulties or provides other advantages, which will become apparent upon reading the detailed description of the invention.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds