Concave Coupling Housing for Tractor Trailer Maneuverability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle combinations face challenges in maneuvering and coupling trailers with minimal space requirements, particularly in confined areas, due to limited mobility and stability during rotational movements.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle combination design featuring a towing vehicle with a coupling housing that forms a concavely curved stop surface extending at least half a revolution around its vertical axis, allowing for high relative mobility and rotational movement, including a coupling piece with wheels for force-free relative movement, and an autonomous towing vehicle capable of independent positioning and coupling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a conventional coupling design is used, then the coupling between trailer and towing vehicle is simple, but the maneuverability and rotational movement capability are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling housing incorporates a stop surface that extends along a concavely curved arc line, forming a cavity that guides the coupling piece through rotational movement. This curved geometric design enables the towing vehicle to rotate relative to the trailer around its vertical axis, providing enhanced maneuverability in confined spaces such as narrow warehouse aisles and tight curves
2Ease of operation
If the coupling allows high rotational movement, then the maneuvering space required is reduced, but the coupling stability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The stop surface extends along a concavely curved arc line that is at least partially closed, forming a cavity that receives and guides the coupling piece. This curved design enables rotational movement while maintaining stable coupling through the geometric constraint of the cavity
Solution Approach 2:
The coupling system is divided into separate functional components: a coupling housing with a defined cavity and stop surface, and a coupling piece with wheels. This segmentation allows independent optimization of each component - the housing provides stable mounting and guidance, while the coupling piece enables force-free relative movement through its wheel mechanism
3Reliability
If the coupling housing is closed, then power transmission is secure, but the coupling piece cannot be inserted or removed
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling housing is designed to be movable between two states: an open position where the housing is displaced to allow insertion and removal of the coupling piece, and a closed position where the housing encloses the coupling piece to transmit power reliably. This dynamic design enables the housing to adapt its state based on operational requirements
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a vehicle combination comprising a towing vehicle and a trailer, wherein the towing vehicle has a coupling housing forming a cavity, and the trailer has a coupling piece, wherein the coupling housing can assume an open and a closed state, and wherein the coupling housing forms a stop surface, which stop surface extends at least sectionally along an arc line, and in a section normal to the arc line delimits the cavity in a horizontal direction away from the towing vehicle, and which arc line is concavely curved with respect to a vertical axis of the towing vehicle and extends over at least half a revolution around the vertical axis of the towing vehicle, and in which cavity the coupling piece can be arranged or is arranged.