Adaptable Shock Tower System with Braces and Adhesive
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current vehicle body structures, particularly in light-duty vehicles, face challenges in achieving optimal stiffness and strength due to the lack of a separate load-carrying internal frame, especially when adapting to different body-variants such as coupes and convertibles, which require specific structural reinforcements to handle varying loads and constraints.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle body-variant adaptable shock tower system is introduced, featuring shock towers and caps with adjustable braces and adhesives, along with fasteners, to reinforce the vehicle body structure. This system includes high-integrity aluminum die-casting components with specific geometric configurations and material properties to enhance stiffness and strength, accommodating different vehicle body types by varying the number and angle of braces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a separate body and frame structure is used, then ease of manufacture is improved, but structural rigidity and strength deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the body and frame into a unified load-carrying structure where the body panels and structural members work together as an integrated system. This integration allows the body structure itself to bear loads, eliminating the need for a separate traditional frame while maintaining or improving structural rigidity.
Solution Approach 2:
The body structure is designed to serve multiple functions simultaneously: it provides the exterior shell, supports the powertrain, carries cargo, and bears structural loads. This multi-functionality allows a single structure to replace what would traditionally require separate body and frame components.
2Strength
If an integral body structure is used, then structural rigidity is improved, but adaptability to different body-variants deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The integral body structure is divided into modular components and subassemblies that can be selectively configured. This segmentation allows the same basic platform to be adapted into different body-variants (such as pickup trucks, SUVs, or cargo vehicles) by reconfiguring or adding specific structural members and panels.
Solution Approach 2:
The body structure incorporates dynamic design elements that allow it to be adapted for different configurations. This may include removable panels, adjustable structural members, or modular sections that can be repositioned or removed to create different body styles while maintaining structural integrity.
3Strength
If additional structural members are added to reinforce the body, then strength is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of uniformly reinforcing the entire body structure, the patent applies additional structural members and reinforcement only in specific locations where loads are concentrated or where structural strength is most needed. This localized approach provides necessary strength while minimizing the overall number of components and structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The design uses partial reinforcement strategies, adding structural members only where absolutely necessary to meet strength requirements, rather than over-reinforcing the entire structure. This selective approach optimizes the balance between strength and complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle body-variant adaptable shock tower system for a vehicle body structure having an axis, a vehicle frame rail arranged along the axis, a bulkhead arranged orthogonally relative to the frame rail. The system includes a shock tower spaced apart from the bulkhead and fixed to the frame rail. The system also includes a shock tower cap defining a plurality of receivers and a plurality of braces, wherein the number of braces corresponds to the body-variant. Each brace extends from the shock tower through a respective one of the receivers to the bulkhead, and is fixed to the shock tower and the bulkhead. The system additionally includes an adhesive applied between the shock tower cap, the plurality of braces, and the shock tower to thereby bond the shock tower cap, the braces, and the shock tower to each other and reinforce the vehicle body structure.