Two-Part Closing Plug for Automotive Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing closing plugs for car body openings are prone to corrosion and require high mounting forces, especially for small diameters, and often fail to provide sufficient protection against water ingress, leading to damage.
Innovation Solution
A two-part closing plug design with a bottom and top part, where the top part has a connecting section that inserts into a receptacle on the bottom part, utilizing holding means and hot-melt adhesive material to securely seal the opening, reducing production complexity and mounting forces while providing robust protection against corrosion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a closing plug with flanges and hot-melt adhesive is used to seal openings, then sealing performance is improved, but the rim of the body panel becomes susceptible to corrosion and high mounting forces are required
Solution Approach 1:
The closing plug is divided into two separate parts: a bottom part with a latching section that inserts into the opening, and a top part with a cover section. This segmentation allows the bottom part to provide structural anchoring while the top part provides sealing, distributing forces more effectively and reducing stress concentration at the rim that causes corrosion.
Solution Approach 2:
An annularly circumferential hot-melt adhesive material is introduced as an intermediary substance between the latching means and the opening edge. This adhesive material protects the opening rim from direct contact with mounting forces and environmental factors, preventing corrosion while maintaining sealing effectiveness.
2Reliability
If a closing plug with flanges and hot-melt adhesive is used to seal openings, then sealing performance is improved, but mounting forces and production complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The closing plug is divided into two separately producible parts (bottom part and top part) that can be manufactured independently using standard injection molding processes. This segmentation simplifies production tooling requirements compared to manufacturing a single complex piece with flanges, while still achieving effective sealing through the combination of latching means and hot-melt adhesive material.
3Area of stationary object
If closing plugs are designed for small opening diameters, then sealing of small openings is achieved, but mounting forces and production difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
For small opening diameters, the segmented design allows the bottom part to be compact and precisely fitted to the opening while the top part can be optimized separately for sealing. This avoids the need to manufacture complex small-scale flange structures, making production easier even for small openings.
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanical flange-based mounting system is replaced with a latching section that inserts into the opening and uses latching means with hot-melt adhesive material. This substitution eliminates the need for high mounting forces required by flange compression, making the system easier to manufacture and install for small opening diameters.
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 two-part design simplifies production, reduces mounting forces, and ensures high holding forces while effectively sealing the opening rim, even in the presence of slight liquid ingress, thereby protecting the susceptible component edge from corrosion and water damage.
Implementation Method 1
an annularly circumferential hot-melt adhesive material which, after heating, sealingly encloses the opening edge which delimits the opening in the state in which said latching means are latched at the opening
Data Source
AI summary
A closing plug for the sealed closure of an opening of a component of a car, wherein the closing plug includes a bottom part and a top part which can be connected to the bottom part, wherein the bottom part has a latching section with a connecting receptacle, which latching section can be inserted into the opening, and the top part has a connecting section which can be inserted into the connecting receptacle, wherein the connecting receptacle and/or the connecting section have/has holding means which hold the connecting section in the connecting receptacle, wherein, furthermore, the top part has a cover section which extends starting from one end of the connecting section, wherein latching means are provided on the latching section of the bottom part, with which latching means the latching section latches at the opening in the state in which it is inserted into the opening.