Vehicle Door Cable Damper for Noise Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing door apparatuses for vehicles experience abnormal noise and potential damage due to collisions between the inner cable and actuator unit components during operation, particularly when transmitting driving forces through the cable unit.
Innovation Solution
The door apparatus incorporates a cable unit with a flexible outer tube, an annular member, and a damper positioned between the supported portion and the actuator, along with suppressing portions to prevent collision between the inner cable and the actuator unit, ensuring stable force transmission and reduced mechanical strength requirements for the supporting portions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the inner cable is allowed to move freely within the cable unit, then the cable unit has simpler structure and easier operation, but the inner cable collides with actuator unit components causing abnormal noise and potential damage
Solution Approach 1:
A damper is introduced as an intermediary component between the inner cable and the actuator unit. The damper absorbs shocks and prevents direct collision between the inner cable and actuator components, thereby maintaining reliability while allowing the cable unit to operate freely.
Solution Approach 2:
The damper is positioned in advance to counteract potential collisions before they occur. By providing preliminary resistance against the inner cable's movement, the damper prevents harmful collisions with actuator unit components during normal operation.
2Strength
If the supporting portions are designed with high mechanical strength, then collision damage is prevented, but the actuator housing becomes larger and more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The damper serves as a protective intermediary that reduces the impact forces transmitted to the supporting portions. This allows the supporting portions to be designed with lower mechanical strength while still preventing damage, thereby reducing the actuator housing volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The damper provides beforehand cushioning by absorbing collision energy before it reaches the supporting portions. This preliminary cushioning effect reduces the required mechanical strength of the supporting portions, allowing for a more compact actuator housing design.
3Reliability
If the inner cable is constrained to prevent collision, then reliability is improved, but the cable unit structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The damper acts as a simple intermediary component that prevents collision without requiring complex constraint mechanisms. The damper's passive damping structure maintains reliability while adding minimal complexity to the cable unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The damper is a simple, inexpensive component that can be easily replaced if needed. This approach prevents collision through a simple, low-cost element rather than complex, expensive constraint mechanisms, maintaining reliability without significantly increasing device complexity.
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
This configuration effectively suppresses shaking and collision between the inner cable and actuator unit components, preventing abnormal noise and damage, while allowing for a compact actuator housing design by minimizing the mechanical strength needed in the supporting portions.
Implementation Method 1
the annular member includes a damper which is positioned between the supported portion and the actuator, and is in contact with respective opposing surfaces of the pair of suppressing portions
Data Source
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AI summary
A door apparatus (10) for a vehicle includes: an actuator unit (40) including an actuator (46) that generates a driving force for driving a vehicle door for opening or closing an opening portion formed in a vehicle body by relatively moving to the vehicle body or a driven body (20) that is a locking device built in the vehicle door and is configured to hold a state where the vehicle door closes the opening portion, and an actuator housing (70) that accommodates at least a part of the actuator; and a cable unit (75) connecting the driven body and the actuator unit to each other, and transmits a driving force of the actuator to the driven body, The cable unit includes a flexible outer tube (76), an annular member (79), and a flexible inner cable (87), the supporting portion includes suppressing portions (59, 68), and the annular member includes a damper.