Degassing Box With Longitudinal Ribs For Snag-Free Installation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing degassing boxes for fluid storage installations, such as those in motor vehicles, face issues with damage and snagging during installation due to narrow passages and tight tolerances, particularly when larger equipment dimensions are required, leading to potential tearing and contact with sharp edges.

Innovation Solution

A degassing box with a longitudinally ribbed surface over its entire circumference, featuring a frustoconical shape with parallel longitudinal ribs, allowing it to slide smoothly over surrounding surfaces and avoid damage during installation, while maintaining a protective structure against contact with hostile environments.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If the degassing box dimensions are increased to increase filling rate, then the filling efficiency is improved, but the insertion tolerance decreases and the risk of snagging and tearing increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvefilling rateVSAvoidinstallation reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The degassing box employs a flexible pocket structure that can deform during installation to navigate narrow passages and avoid snagging on surrounding components. The flexible material allows the pocket to bend and conform to tight spaces, then maintain its structural integrity once installed, thus enabling larger dimensions without compromising installation reliability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #30Flexible shells and thin films

Solution Approach 2:

The pocket transitions from a collapsed state during installation to an expanded functional state after installation. During installation, the pocket remains collapsed to minimize its cross-sectional dimensions and avoid interference with surrounding components. After installation, it expands to provide the necessary degassing volume, thus dynamically adapting its dimensions to different operational phases.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

2Ease of operation

If the degassing box is made of flexible thin material to facilitate inflation, then the ease of installation is improved, but the susceptibility to tearing and damage increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of installationVSAvoidresistance to tearing
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSStrength

Solution Approach 1:

The pocket is constructed from composite materials that combine the flexibility needed for easy installation with enhanced strength to resist tearing. The composite structure may include multiple layers with different properties, such as a flexible outer layer for navigation and a reinforced inner layer for durability, thus achieving both ease of installation and resistance to damage.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #40Composite materials

Solution Approach 2:

The pocket design incorporates inherent structural features that provide cushioning and protection against tearing before damage can occur. This may include reinforced seams, rounded corners, and gradual thickness transitions that prevent stress concentration and reduce the likelihood of tearing during installation and operation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #11Beforehand cushioning (Prior cushioning)

3Object-affected harmful factors

If reinforcement is added to protect the pocket from contact with sharp edges, then the protection is improved, but the probability of reinforcement detachment increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprotection from sharp edgesVSAvoidattachment reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The protective reinforcement is merged with the pocket structure itself rather than being a separate attachable component. The reinforcement features are integrated into the molding of the pocket, creating a unified structure where the protective elements are inherently part of the pocket wall, thus eliminating the risk of detachment while maintaining protection against sharp edges.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The pocket uses composite materials that provide inherent protective properties without requiring separate reinforcement attachments. The composite structure may include embedded protective layers or surface treatments that resist damage from sharp edges while maintaining the pocket's flexibility and integrity, thus providing protection without the reliability issues of detachable reinforcements.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #40Composite materials

Data Source

PatentEP3374223B1Degassing unit
Publication Date: 2019.09.04 PSA AUTOMOBILES SA
  • EP3374223B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3374223B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4
  • EP3374223B1 patent drawingFigure 5a~5c

AI summary

The invention relates to a degassing unit intended to regulate a flow of fluid in a storage apparatus for said fluid, said unit (7) having a shape extending along a main axis (X'X), a transverse intermediate section having larger perimeter and at least one external surface portion (53a, 54a, 55a) extending longitudinally in order to form at least one frustoconical portion supported on the section having larger perimeter as a base. In said unit, the external surface portion (53a, 54a, 55a) is equipped with substantially parallel longitudinal ribs (8; 81, 82), advantageously regularly distributed and resting on at least one fraction of the section having larger perimeter.