Deformable Cabin Air Deflector for Quiet Rear-Seat Ventilation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ventilation systems for motor vehicle passenger compartments, particularly those targeting the rear seats, face challenges in efficiently regulating airflow and noise reduction while maintaining a visually appealing design.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves a deflector body with a deformable face that integrates seamlessly into a surrounding surface, allowing for optimal airflow regulation and noise reduction. This deformable face can be formed by two interacting bodies or an elastically deformable flat body, such as a textile or elastomeric sheet, which can be actuated or magnetically deformed to control airflow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a deflector body is used to regulate airflow and reduce noise, then ventilation efficiency and noise reduction are improved, but visual design and integration into surrounding surfaces deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a deformable face made of flexible material that can be actuated to change shape for noise reduction, while in its neutral state it integrates seamlessly into the surrounding surface to maintain visual design. The flexible membrane allows the deflector body to adapt its configuration without compromising the aesthetic appearance when not in use.
Solution Approach 2:
The deflector body incorporates a dynamically deformable face that can change its shape and configuration in response to operational requirements. This dynamic capability allows the system to optimize airflow regulation and noise reduction only when needed, while maintaining a clean, integrated appearance during normal conditions.
2Shape
If a deformable face is integrated without a step into surrounding surface, then visual design is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The use of a flexible membrane or thin film as the deformable face allows for step-free integration into surrounding surfaces. This approach simplifies the manufacturing process compared to rigid structures, as flexible materials can be more easily formed and integrated without requiring precise machining or complex assembly of multiple rigid components.
Solution Approach 2:
The deflector body utilizes composite construction combining rigid structural elements with flexible deformable faces. This composite approach enables the integration of different manufacturing processes, where the rigid portions can be manufactured using conventional methods while the flexible face is attached to achieve the step-free visual integration, balancing manufacturing ease with aesthetic requirements.
3Productivity
If airflow regulation capability is enhanced, then ventilation efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a dynamically deformable face that can change its shape to regulate airflow. This dynamic approach allows a single component to perform multiple airflow regulation functions (deflection, division, expansion) by changing its configuration, thereby enhancing ventilation efficiency without requiring multiple separate mechanical components or complex control systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The deformable face utilizes parameter changes in its physical state (shape, curvature, position) to control airflow characteristics. By changing the geometric parameters of the deflector surface, the system can regulate airflow patterns, velocity distribution, and direction, thereby improving ventilation efficiency through simple geometric transformations rather than complex mechanical adjustments.
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 effectively achieves highly planar visual design while maintaining advantageous airflow conditions, including noise reduction and flexible airflow control, thereby enhancing the ventilation efficiency and passenger comfort.
Implementation Method 1
The elastically deformable flat body has ferromagnetic material portions and can be subjected to a magnetic field, by way of the action of force of which it can be deformed.
Implementation Method 2
a nozzle for the outlet of an air jet in the form of an open (free) jet, and having a deflector body which is arranged spaced apart from the nozzle and is provided to be flowed onto by way of the open jet and to change the air stream which is formed by way of the open jet, namely to deflect it and/or to divide it into a plurality of streams and/or to convert it into a wider, slower air stream.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus ventilates the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle. The apparatus has a source for producing an open or free jet of moving air, and a deflecting body, wherein the deflecting body is spaced apart from the source and one of the surfaces of the deflecting body is, according to the designated use, an impact face against which the open jet impinges, and the impact face is a deformable face which is integrated steplessly into a surrounding surface.