Truck Bed Cover Door Velocity Monitoring for Obstruction Safety

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing automatic bed cover systems for pickup trucks lack safety features to prevent injuries or damage from the cap door moving between open and closed positions, as they do not effectively monitor and respond to deviations in velocity that may indicate obstructions.

Innovation Solution

A sequencer system is integrated into the automatic bed cover drive assembly to monitor the velocity of the cap door's movement and detect any variance outside a predetermined range, triggering corrective actions such as stopping or reversing the motor to prevent potential hazards, ensuring safe operation by cyclically checking for deviations from expected velocities.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If automatic bed cover systems operate without velocity monitoring, then device complexity is reduced, but safety is compromised due to inability to detect obstructions

Engineering Contradiction:

ImprovesafetyVSAvoiddevice complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The sequencer continuously monitors the velocity of the cap door during operation and compares it against predetermined safe velocity ranges. When velocity deviations are detected that indicate potential obstructions, the system provides feedback to stop or reverse motor operation, preventing injury or damage while maintaining automated operation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces complex mechanical safety mechanisms (such as physical obstruction sensors or mechanical stops) with an electronic velocity monitoring system. The sequencer uses motor velocity data to infer obstruction conditions, substituting direct mechanical detection with electronic control based on motion parameters.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Object-affected harmful factors

If velocity monitoring and corrective actions are implemented, then safety is improved by detecting obstructions, but device complexity increases due to additional monitoring and control mechanisms

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinjuries and damageVSAvoiddevice complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The sequencer continuously monitors the velocity of the cap door during operation and compares it against predetermined safe velocity ranges. When velocity deviations are detected that indicate potential obstructions, the system provides feedback to stop or reverse motor operation, preventing injury or damage while maintaining automated operation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The system monitors its own operational parameters (motor velocity) to detect unsafe conditions and automatically corrects them by stopping or reversing operation. This self-monitoring and self-correction capability eliminates the need for separate safety systems while maintaining protection against injuries and damage.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

3Reliability

If the sequencer continuously monitors velocity deviations, then safety reliability is improved, but use of energy increases due to continuous monitoring operations

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesafety reliabilityVSAvoiduse of energy

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The velocity monitoring operates continuously during door movement to ensure constant safety oversight. The sequencer maintains continuous observation of motor velocity parameters throughout the operational cycle, ensuring that any obstruction is detected immediately regardless of the door's position or speed.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #20Continuity of useful action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces complex mechanical safety mechanisms (such as physical obstruction sensors or mechanical stops) with an electronic velocity monitoring system. The sequencer uses motor velocity data to infer obstruction conditions, substituting direct mechanical detection with electronic control based on motion parameters, thereby reducing overall system energy consumption.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Data Source

PatentUS20240410217A1Automatic Bed Cover Door Systems for a Truck

Publication Date: 2024.12.12 TRUCK ACCESSORIES GROUP INC

AI summary

A truck is provided that includes a bed section located rear of a cab section. The bed section is bounded on each side by opposing first and second upward-extending sidewalls, respectively. The truck also includes a truck bed cover that sits over the bed section on at least the first and second upward-extending sidewalls, and includes a door portion to create selective accessibility to the bed section of the pickup truck. The door portion is movable with respect to the first and second upward-extending sidewalls between open and closed positons via an automatic bed cover drive assembly that moves the door portion between open and closed positons according to a plurality of velocities within a predetermined variance.