referring now to fig1 - 3 , there is shown a wedge and striker assembly having a wedge device 10 and a striker member 12 . the latter is a rigid hollow element of molded material , such as a thermoplastic , having a suitable web - like reinforcing structure and exhibiting high compressive and tensile strength . one face of the striker member defines a flat plane or sidewall surface 14 that may have a flange portion 16 , as shown , although the shape or perimeter of the surface 14 is not critical , so long as the surface is flat and fits snugly against a vertical surface of a side pillar of the automotive frame ( see fig4 ). two apertures 18 are provided for receiving suitable bolts , not shown , for attaching the striker member to a side pillar , again as shown in fig4 . an upwardly facing flat surface 20 forms the striker surface itself , which cooperates with the wedge device 10 . as shown in fig1 - 3 , the wedge device 10 , constructed from the same material as the striker member , features a flat sidewall surface 22 ( see fig2 ) which will fit snugly against a vertical surface , that is , a side pillar of an automotive door ( see fig4 ). two apertures 24 are provided for receiving suitable bolts , not shown , for this purpose . adjacent to the sidewall surface 22 and facing generally downwardly is a generally flat surface 26 having a pair of flange walls 28 that extend the length of the surface 26 and that have respective slots therein 30 ( see fig3 ) that are parallel to surface 26 . a slide element 32 having a pair of cam members 34 which respectively fit into the slots 30 is adapted to slide in a linear fashion between the flange walls 28 . near one end of the flange walls 28 , the slots 30 terminate and so provide a terminus for the cam members 34 and hence the slide element 32 . at the other end of the flange walls 28 there are provided stop extensions 36 which act as a stop for the slide element at that end of the wedge device by virtue of their engagement with members 38 extending laterally from a front face of the sliding element 32 . a spring 40 is provided for biasing the slide element 32 towards one end of the wedge device 10 , namely the end of the member that faces the direction of closure for the door upon which the wedge device is mounted . thus , spring 40 has one end suitably secured to a fixed element , such as a post located at one end the wedge device 10 , whereas the other end of the spring is affixed to a suitable support or post disposed within the interior of the slide element 32 ( see fig2 ). looking at fig1 the arrow shows the direction of closure , and the slide element 32 , it will be seen , is biased towards that direction . the wedge and striker assembly shown in fig1 - 3 correspond to an assembly mounted on the right side of an automotive door and door frame , such as the right - hand assembly shown in fig4 . it is to be understood that a left - hand assembly would form the mirror or reverse image of the right - hand assembly and would be marked as such ( as the right - hand assembly would be ) for assembly on the left - hand side of the door and door frame . as shown in fig5 two assemblies , according to the invention , could be placed on a sliding door and door frame , as shown , with the striker member 12 being positioned on the vertical pillar of the door frame , and the wedge device 10 being positioned on the vertical pillar of the door . while the preferable arrangement of two assemblies are shown mounted in respectively upper and lower areas , it is conceivable that only one assembly could be used , either in an upper or a lower area , or in a central area . referring again to fig2 it will be noticed that the striking surface 20 of striker member 12 is not horizontal when the member is mounted to the door frame ; rather , striking surface 20 is inclined with respect to the horizontal at an angle of between 5 and 20 degrees . the slope of striking surface 20 declines from the horizontal in the direction of door closure . also the downwardly facing surface 26 of the wedge device 10 is seen to be inclined to the horizontal but more steeply than the surface 20 , just described . the inclination of surface 26 is in the range of 20 to 35 degrees and the decline of the slope faces the direction of closure in the same manner as just described for surface 20 . the steeper incline for surface 26 , however , serves to augment or reinforce the bias of the spring 40 against which the slide element 32 is moved along the surface 26 by the striker surface 20 when the two devices , wedge and striker , engage upon closure of the door within the door frame . thus , the slidable element 32 has to move up the relatively steep incline of surface 26 during door closure . once closure is completed , the wedge device and striker member will be firmly biased one against the other , owing to the biased position of the slide element 32 wedged between the two inclined surfaces 20 and 26 . it has been found that because of the aforementioned inclined surfaces 20 and 26 and their wedge - like engagement on the slide element 32 , there is an intense and localizing force set up between door and door frame at the critical left and right locations of each wedge and striker assembly , as in the tail gate arrangement shown in fig4 . this localizing force is a compound force having both vertical and lateral components , as shown by the arrows a , b and c , with a and b being the vertical and lateral components of the compounded or resultant force c . further , it should be emphasized that the inclined surfaces of the striker member and the wedge device , respectively , are not parallel but rather inclined with respect to each other as well as the horizontal , so that the compounding force acting on the slide element from each of these surfaces has both vertical and horizontal components ; that is , there is always a tendency for these two forces to &# 34 ; square off &# 34 ; the door with respect to its door frame when closure is obtained and thereby prevent misalignment from occurring between them . in effect , a localizing rigidity is set up by the wedge and striker assemblies , according to the invention , every time the door and door frame are brought to closure . in the case of the tail gate door in fig4 a door 42 is shown to be pivoted on the horizontal . in fig5 a sliding door 44 is shown . such doors when swung or moved can develop a tremendous amount of torque , especially along their width dimensions , that over time can develop into destructive forces that weaken the hinges or points of connection for such doors , if not eventually the doors themselves . with the use of the wedge and striker assembly , according to the invention , such doors are given strong support at crucial or critical points along the vertical surfaces between the door and door frame , so that misalignment is prevented over the life of the vehicle in which they are used . the foregoing relates to a preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention , it being understood that other embodiments and variants thereof are possible within the scope of the invention , the latter being defined by the appended claims .