Composite Cargo Panel Recesses for Logistics Inserts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current trailer sidewall construction methods are inefficient in terms of material usage and structural integrity, particularly in over-the-road trailers, where panels joined at joints can lead to weaknesses and increased weight, affecting cargo capacity and safety.
Innovation Solution
A composite molded cargo body panel with a core, interior, and exterior skins, featuring recesses and pockets, where logistics inserts are attached to support surfaces, reducing core thickness at recesses and pockets, and a continuous exterior skin spanning the panel, enhancing structural support and cargo capacity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If panels are joined together at joints to construct trailer sidewalls, then the sidewall can be assembled from modular components, but the structural integrity is weakened and weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate components (skins, core, recesses, pockets, and inserts) into a single integrated molded panel. This eliminates the need for joints between panels while maintaining modular functionality through integrated features, thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a composite structure consisting of multiple materials (skins and core) molded together to form a unified panel. This composite approach provides both the strength of integrated construction and the manufacturing efficiency of molded components, addressing the contradiction between structural integrity and ease of manufacture.
2Ease of manufacture
If panel joints are used in trailer sidewall construction, then assembly is simplified, but the weight of the sidewall increases affecting cargo capacity
Solution Approach 1:
By combining multiple functions and components into a single molded panel, the invention eliminates the need for additional joint materials and fasteners that would increase weight, while the integrated design maintains assembly efficiency through single-piece installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the structural parameters by transitioning from multiple separate panels to a single molded panel with variable thickness (through recesses and pockets). This parameter change reduces overall material usage and weight while maintaining structural requirements, thereby resolving the contradiction between assembly simplicity and weight reduction.
3Loss of substance
If core thickness is reduced at recesses and pockets, then material usage is optimized and weight is reduced, but structural strength at those locations is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by varying the core thickness at specific locations (recesses and pockets) rather than maintaining uniform thickness throughout. This allows material to be removed where it is not needed while maintaining sufficient strength at critical areas, resolving the contradiction between material efficiency and local structural strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The logistics profile inserts are strategically placed at recesses to provide localized reinforcement where the core thickness is reduced. This local reinforcement compensates for the reduced material at those specific locations, maintaining structural strength while achieving overall material optimization.
4Strength
If a continuous exterior skin is used spanning the recesses, then structural integrity is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous exterior skin is achieved through composite molding where the skin and core are formed as an integrated structure. This approach provides the structural benefits of a continuous skin while the molding process handles the complexity of creating the integrated design, resolving the contradiction between structural integrity and manufacturing complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A composite molded cargo body panel including a core, an interior skin secured to a first side of the core having a thickness, and exterior skin secured to a second side of the core, and a plurality of recesses. The plurality of recesses are dispersed along a first direction at intervals in the interior skin, with the core thickness at each of the plurality of recesses being reduced compared to a maximum core thickness, and each of the plurality of recesses defines a support surface. A pocket is formed in each of the plurality of recesses, with the core thickness at the pocket being less than the core thickness at each of the plurality of recesses. A plurality of logistics inserts are attached to the respective support surfaces of the plurality of recesses so that, at each of the plurality of recesses, the logistics insert extends across the pocket.