Console Retainer Integrating Shifter Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Prior art console retainers for floor transmission shifters in vehicles require additional space for mounting brackets and tools, leading to inefficient packaging and reduced space for console features and air-conditioning ducts.
Innovation Solution
A console retainer with integrally formed lateral side walls that directly mount the shifter assembly without a separate bracket, using molded thermoplastic construction to eliminate bolt holes and provide efficient space utilization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a separate shifter bracket is used to mount the shifter assembly, then the shifter can be securely retained, but the packaging space within the console is reduced and access for tool installation is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the shifter bracket function directly into the console retainer structure. The lateral side walls of the console retainer are formed with integrated retention features including recesses and protrusions that directly engage with the shifter assembly, eliminating the need for a separate bracket component. This integration consolidates multiple functions into a single structure, improving packaging space while maintaining secure shifter retention.
2Ease of manufacture
If scallops are added to the console retainer walls for tool access, then the bracket can be installed, but the structural integrity and space for air-conditioning ducts are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing targeted access features only where needed for tool installation, rather than adding general scallops throughout the structure. The integrated retention features include localized recesses and protrusions that allow tool access through the lateral side walls at specific locations, maintaining structural integrity in other areas while enabling necessary assembly operations.
3Reliability
If space is provided below the console retainer for bolts, then the bracket can be mounted, but the area for air-conditioning ducts is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the mounting function into the lateral side walls themselves, which already extend below the main console retainer surface. The retention features are formed as integral parts of the molded thermoplastic structure, allowing bolt or rivet installation through the side walls without requiring additional vertical space beneath the console retainer, thus preserving volume for air-conditioning ducts.
Data Source
AI summary
A console retainer mounts to a floor of a motor vehicle and receives a floor transmission shifter assembly. The shifter assembly has a forward end and a rearward end. The console retainer includes a frame portion for coupling to the floor and configured to receive at least one console trim piece. A pair of lateral side walls are integrally formed with the frame portion as a molded thermoplastic unit, wherein the lateral side walls are substantially parallel to delimit a mounting space for the shifter assembly therebetween, wherein the lateral side walls each have a forward retention feature for fixedly retaining the forward end of the shifter assembly, and wherein the lateral side walls each have a rearward retention feature for fixedly retaining the rearward end of the shifter assembly.