Motor Vehicle Camera Housing Assembly Using Adhesive Tape
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing motor vehicle camera housing assemblies face challenges with alignment, sealing, and heat dissipation due to manufacturing tolerances and the use of materials like plastics and metals, which result in inefficiencies and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
A motor vehicle camera housing assembly using a sheet material, such as heat-resistant and adhesive tape, wound around housing parts to ensure alignment and sealing, eliminating the need for welding or screws, and improving thermal conductivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If metal housing parts are joined by laser welding, then joining strength is improved, but manufacturing cost and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical welding process with an adhesive bonding system. The adhesive layer is applied between housing parts and cured to create a strong bond, substituting the complex laser welding mechanism with a simpler chemical bonding process that reduces manufacturing cost and time while maintaining joining strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the bonding mechanism from mechanical (welding) to chemical (adhesive bonding). By selecting appropriate adhesive materials and curing parameters, the joining strength is maintained while the manufacturing process becomes more cost-effective and time-efficient.
2Ease of manufacture
If housing parts are made of plastics, then manufacturing cost decreases, but heat dissipation performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a composite construction where metal housing parts provide thermal conduction for heat dissipation, while adhesive materials bond these metal parts together. This composite approach maintains the thermal performance benefits of metal while enabling cost-effective manufacturing through adhesive assembly rather than expensive welding processes.
3Ease of manufacture
If screws or bolts are used to join housing parts, then manufacturing cost decreases, but sealing performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical screw or bolt fastening system with an adhesive bonding system. The adhesive layer creates a continuous seal between housing parts, eliminating the gaps and penetration points that screws or bolts would create, thereby maintaining sealing performance while reducing manufacturing cost and complexity.
4Strength
If welding material is added to join housing parts, then joining strength is improved, but assembly fitting problems increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces weld material addition with adhesive bonding that requires no additional material volume. The adhesive layer is applied in thin films between housing parts, maintaining joining strength without adding the bulk and fitting complications associated with weld material deposition.
5Manufacturing precision
If centering pads or guiding means are added for pre-alignment, then alignment precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical pre-alignment systems (centering pads, guiding means) with an adhesive bonding process that accommodates manufacturing tolerances. The adhesive layer's flexibility and conformability allow housing parts to be bonded without requiring precise pre-alignment, thereby maintaining alignment precision while reducing device complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a cost-effective, efficient, and reliable method for assembling camera housings with improved sealing and heat dissipation, reducing complexity and assembly time while ensuring proper alignment and preventing fluid ingress.
Implementation Method 1
The sheet material has a support layer and at least one adhesive layer arranged between opposite adhesive layers, wherein the adhesive layer is adhered to respective outer surfaces of the first and second housing parts for joining them together
Implementation Method 2
housing parts made of metal, for example aluminum as it is a good thermal conductor
Data Source
AI summary
The motor vehicle camera housing assembly comprises first and second housing parts that define an inner space and joining means for joining housing parts together including a sheet material wound more than one turn around the housing assembly. The sheet material has a support layer and at least one adhesive layer adhered to respective outer surfaces of the housing parts at least partially filling a gap formed in an overlapping portion defined by two edges of the sheet material when wound on the housing parts such that they are sealingly joined together.