Vehicle Cover Element With Integrated Handle
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cover elements on commercial vehicles, particularly those covering wiper systems, are difficult to assemble and disassemble, prone to damage due to misuse as grip strips, and lack reliable protection against uncontrolled force applications during maintenance or cleaning tasks.
Innovation Solution
A cover element arrangement with a handle connected directly or indirectly to the vehicle body through a fastening means, allowing easy access and support without applying force directly to the cover element, combined with a hanging and positioning web for simplified assembly and sealing, and oversize connections for thermal expansion compensation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the cover element is fixed using conventional screw connections at high level, then the cover element is securely attached to the vehicle body, but the assembly process becomes relatively complex and laborious for workers
Solution Approach 1:
The fastening system is divided into separate components: a fastening element with holding portion and engagement portion, and a corresponding receptacle structure. This segmentation allows for simpler assembly operations while maintaining secure attachment, as the cover element can be fastened through straightforward insertion and engagement rather than complex screw alignment procedures.
2Ease of operation
If the cover element is made accessible for maintenance work, then workers can service the wiper system, but the cover element becomes vulnerable to misuse as a grip strip and uncontrolled force application
Solution Approach 1:
The gripping function is extracted from the cover element and assigned to a separate handle structure. The handle is designed specifically to bear force loads and is connected to the vehicle body through the fastening element, while the cover element itself is relieved of this function and becomes purely a protective covering, thus preventing damage from misuse.
3Reliability
If a handle is attached to the cover element to prevent misuse, then drivers can pull themselves up without damaging the cover element, but the handle and cover element form a complex assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The handle and fastening element are merged into a single integrated structure. The fastening element serves dual purposes: it secures the cover element to the vehicle body and simultaneously provides the mounting structure for the handle. This merging simplifies the overall assembly by reducing the number of separate components while maintaining both the protective function and the gripping function.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3a~3b
AI summary
The arrangement (1) has a covering element (3) arranged in an area below a front disk and extending over a front end in a vehicle transverse direction. The covering element is detachably fixed to a body shell (2) of a vehicle in a detachable manner. A handle (35) is arranged in an area of the covering element and directly or indirectly connected with the body shell by a screw connection (38) that is guided by a covering element-sided passage opening. The handle is designed in U-shape, and a sealing element is arranged around the passage opening.