Elastically Compressible Cavity in Animal Cage Wall Element
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dog cages for vehicle luggage compartments lack sufficient crash safety, posing a risk of injury to animals in the event of an accident.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating an elastically compressible wall element with cavities, manufactured through blow molding or other methods, which reduces impact severity by compressing upon collision, combined with a mechanical connection system using metal inserts and extruded profiles for enhanced structural integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a rigid wall element is used in the animal cage, then structural strength is improved, but injury risk to the animal upon impact increases
Solution Approach 1:
The wall element incorporates elastically compressible cavities that are pre-designed to deform during impact, absorbing impact energy before it reaches the animal. This beforehand cushioning mechanism reduces the harmful impact forces while maintaining the overall structural integrity of the cage through the rigid extruded profiles.
Solution Approach 2:
The wall element changes its physical parameters during impact by compressing the elastically deformable cavities, transitioning from a rigid state to a compliant state during collision, then returning to its original form. This parameter change allows the structure to adapt to impact conditions, reducing injury risk while maintaining strength.
2Reliability
If the wall element is made completely rigid to ensure safety, then crash resistance improves, but impact energy absorption decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The wall element is segmented into multiple elastically compressible cavities within the plastic material, while the overall structure is segmented into modular components (wall elements fitted between extruded profiles). This segmentation allows localized energy absorption through cavity compression while maintaining overall structural reliability through the rigid aluminum profiles.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution combines different materials with complementary properties: the plastic wall element with elastically compressible cavities provides energy absorption, while the aluminum extruded profiles provide rigid structural support. This composite approach achieves both crash safety and impact energy absorption.
3Strength
If the wall element is designed with inward curvature to increase mechanical resistance, then impact resistance improves, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The wall element features inward curvature of its inner surface, which distributes impact forces more effectively across the structure, increasing mechanical resistance. The blow molding process naturally achieves this curvature, making the design efficient to manufacture despite the increased strength requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The complex curved geometry is achieved through a chemical/molding process (blow molding) rather than mechanical forming operations. This substitution of manufacturing method reduces complexity by using a single-step plastic deformation process during molding, avoiding the need for complex mechanical forming, welding, or assembly operations.
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 significantly enhances crash safety by reducing the severity of impacts and preventing injuries to animals, while meeting technical standards for safety and load securing.
Implementation Method 1
the elastically compressible cavity in the crash-resistant wall element... since the cavities in the wall element are elastically compressed, thereby reducing the severity of the impact
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a wall element (6) for an animal cage (1), particularly for a dog cage, particularly for housing an animal in the luggage compartment of a passenger-carrying motor vehicle. According to the invention, the wall element (6) comprises at least one elastically compressible cavity in order to increase the level of safety of said animal cage (1) in the event of a crash.