Amphibious Vehicle Wheel Hatch Locking Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Amphibious vehicles with retractable wheels face challenges in securely locking hatches to prevent water ingress during aquatic operations due to complex and susceptible locking mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a hatch system where the wheel itself serves as a locking element, abutting against the hatch to secure it in the closed position, utilizing a movable part with a rim that fits into a cradle and a manoeuvring system with grooves and activation mechanisms to ensure watertight sealing without additional intermediate elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a complex locking mechanism is used to secure the hatch, then the hatch can be locked in the closed position, but the mechanism has little resistance to swell and may cause the hatch to open when the amphibious vehicle is moving on water
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the wheel (handling device) with the locking function by making the wheel itself serve as the locking element. The wheel's rim directly engages with the hatch's cradle to secure it, merging the movement function and locking function into a single integrated component rather than using separate complex locking mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The wheel serves multiple functions: it supports the amphibious vehicle on land, enables movement, and simultaneously acts as the locking element for the hatch when in the locked position. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for dedicated locking mechanisms while maintaining reliable hatch security
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the wheel is disposed inside the chassis in the retracted position, then drag is limited when moving on water, but the hatch must be securely locked to prevent water ingress
Solution Approach 1:
The hatch is locked in the closed position before the wheel is retracted into the housing. The locking action using the wheel's rim against the cradle is performed preliminarily to ensure watertight integrity is established before the wheel enters the housing, preventing water ingress during the retraction process
Data Source
AI summary
The invention concerns an amphibious vehicle (100) comprising:a chassis (102) having a housing (106a) having an opening (202) having edges,for said housing (106a), a handling device (108a) having a fixed part (210) fixed to the chassis (102) and a movable part (104a) mounted so as to be able to move on the fixed part (210) and comprising among other things a wheel (104a), the movable part (104a) being able to move between a running position wherein the wheel (104a) is outside the housing (106a), and a retracted position wherein the wheel (104a) is in the housing (106a), anda hatch system (204) having a hatch (206), designed to adopt alternately an open position in which it does not close off the opening (202) or a closed position in which it comes into abutment against the edges of the opening (202) and closes it off at least partly,the movable part (104a) being designed to be moved into a locking position in which a locking element (104a) of the movable part (104a) locks the hatch (206) in the closed position by abutment thereof against the hatch (206).