Decouplable Drive Housing and Shaft for Low-Force Door Motion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices with movable components, such as vehicle doors, require excessive manual force to operate without electrical assistance, particularly in scenarios like vehicle collisions, and generate undesirable noise due to high gear ratios and gearbox mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A device with a drive installation featuring a drive housing and shaft, coupled via an actuator, allowing for controlled relative movement between components, which can be decoupled for manual operation with reduced effort and noise reduction through magnetorheological brake and spindle unit designs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If a drive installation with electric motor and gearbox is used to enable controlled relative movement between components, then automated operation and comfort are improved, but manual operation requires excessive force
Solution Approach 1:
The drive installation is segmented into a drive housing and a drive shaft that can be decoupled from each other. The drive housing remains connected to the electric motor, while the drive shaft can be independently disconnected. This segmentation allows the system to switch between automated mode (both connected) and manual mode (drive shaft disconnected), resolving the contradiction by enabling both automated operation and easy manual operation depending on the situation.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection between the drive housing and drive shaft is made dynamic rather than fixed. An actuator enables the drive shaft to be coupled to or decoupled from the drive housing as needed. This dynamic reconfigurability allows the system to adapt its mechanical properties: when coupled, it provides automated controlled movement; when decoupled, it allows free manual movement without resistance from the motor and gearbox, thus resolving the force contradiction.
2Ease of operation
If a gearbox with high gear ratio is used to enable manual door operation, then movement control is improved, but noise increases
Solution Approach 1:
The drive shaft is extracted as a separable component from the drive housing containing the noisy gearbox and electric motor. When manual operation is desired, the drive shaft can be decoupled and removed from the drive housing, taking with it the function of transmitting motor power while leaving the noisy gearbox stationary and disconnected. This extraction eliminates the noise source from the manual operation path while preserving the ability to control movement when the drive shaft is coupled to the door.
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
Enables easy manual operation of movable components with lower force requirements and reduced noise, enhancing user experience and operational efficiency, particularly in premium vehicles.
Implementation Method 1
reduced noise through magnetorheological brake and spindle unit designs
Data Source
AI summary
A device has at least two components that can be moved relative to each other. A drive device is provided with a drive housing and a drive shaft in order to bring about a relative movement of a first component to a second component. If the drive shaft is coupled in a rotationally fixed manner to the second component, the drive housing is rotatably accommodated on one of the two components and can be coupled by an actuator in a rotationally fixed manner to the first component and can be decoupled therefrom. If the drive housing is coupled in a rotationally fixed manner to the second component, the drive shaft can be coupled by an actuator in a rotationally fixed manner to the first component and can be decoupled therefrom.