Cam-Driven Steering Light Holder for Fork Vehicles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle lighting systems for vehicles with fork steering are complex, heavy, and energy-intensive, often leading to inadequate illumination and potential dazzling of oncoming traffic.
Innovation Solution
A holder system that adapts the orientation of functional elements, such as lights or sensors, to the steering position of a vehicle with fork steering, using a mechanical design that includes a control element, a rotary element, and a holding element, allowing for efficient illumination of the road ahead while minimizing glare.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If additional electronics and components (prisms, mirrors, sensors, cables) are used to improve illumination alignment, then the illumination quality improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex electronic control systems with a purely mechanical solution. The holder device uses a cam mechanism with an inclined surface that mechanically couples the steering movement to the functional element orientation. When the vehicle steers, the cam follower travels along the inclined surface, automatically adjusting the functional element's angle through mechanical motion transfer, eliminating the need for sensors, motors, and control electronics.
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanical cam mechanism is self-regulating and requires no external power source or control system. The geometry of the cam's inclined surface is designed such that the follower's movement along the curve automatically produces the correct angular adjustment of the functional element in response to steering input, making the system self-adjusting without electronic intervention.
2Illumination intensity
If additional electronics and components are used to improve illumination alignment, then the illumination quality improves, but the weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates heavy electronic components (motors, sensors, control units, power cables) by using a lightweight mechanical cam mechanism. The cam and follower are simple passive components that can be made from lightweight materials, dramatically reducing the weight added to the vehicle while maintaining the illumination alignment function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and removes all electronic subsystems from the illumination alignment system, retaining only the essential mechanical function. By taking out the electronics entirely and replacing them with a simple cam mechanism, the weight burden is significantly reduced while the core function of aligning illumination with steering position is preserved.
3Illumination intensity
If additional electronics and components are used to improve illumination alignment, then the illumination quality improves, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces energy-consuming electronic actuators with a passive mechanical cam mechanism that uses the vehicle's existing steering motion as its energy source. The cam mechanism requires no electrical power, eliminating energy consumption for the alignment system entirely, while still achieving proper illumination alignment through mechanical motion transfer from the steering input.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is self-powered by the vehicle's steering motion itself. The cam mechanism converts the kinetic energy already present in the steering movement into the rotational motion needed to orient the functional element, requiring no additional energy input from batteries or power supplies.
4Illumination intensity
If additional components are used to improve illumination alignment, then the illumination quality improves, but the reliability decreases due to more potential failure points
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces unreliable electronic components (sensors, motors, control circuits, connectors) with a simple mechanical cam mechanism consisting of only two main parts: the cam body and the follower. This drastic reduction in component count eliminates multiple potential failure points, as the passive mechanical system has no electronics to fail, no moving parts other than the cam-follower interface, and no power supply dependencies.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts all electronic subsystems from the design, removing sensors, actuators, control units, and wiring harnesses that could fail. By taking out these complex components and retaining only the essential mechanical alignment function through a simple cam mechanism, the system's reliability is significantly improved due to the minimal number of potential failure points.
Data Source
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AI summary
A holder (118) is proposed for adapting the orientation (134) of a functional element (120) to be held to a steering position of a vehicle (110) with fork steering. The holder (118) comprises: - at least one control element (124), wherein the control element (124) at least partially comprises a steering tube (116) of the fork steering of the vehicle (110) or is directly or indirectly rigidly connectable to the steering tube (116); - at least one rotating element (126) rotatably arranged relative to the control element (124); and - at least one retaining element (128) connected to the rotating element (126) to which the functional element (120) to be retained can be attached, wherein the rotating element (126) and the control element (124) are arranged such that a rotational movement of the rotating element (126) caused by a steering movement of the control element (124) causes a movement of the retaining element (128) that reinforces the steering movement.Furthermore, a vehicle system (122) and a vehicle (118), each comprising the keeper (118), as well as a data carrier, a print data set and a computer program are proposed.