Removable Door Compartment Cover for Debris Containment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Light objects such as paper waste are often lifted and blown around within vehicle door compartments when windows or sunroofs are open, causing annoyance and safety concerns due to the lack of effective containment solutions.
Innovation Solution
A customizable apparatus with downward projecting leg/guides and a removable cover that gently compacts and corrals contents within the door compartment, preventing wind from lifting items, and includes features like weights and a flexible flap for enhanced stability and ease of use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a removable cover is used to contain debris, then containment effectiveness is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The containment device is divided into a removable cover and a base structure with leg portions. The cover can be separately removed and reattached, allowing for easy cleaning and maintenance while maintaining containment effectiveness when installed.
Solution Approach 2:
The leg portions are designed to be flexible rather than rigid, allowing them to bend as the compartment fills with debris. This dynamic adaptation enables the device to maintain its containment function while accommodating varying debris volumes without requiring complex adjustment mechanisms.
2Adaptability or versatility
If leg portions are made shorter to fit in empty compartments, then adaptability is improved, but containment stability worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The leg portions are designed with flexible materials that allow them to bend and adapt their effective length based on the debris volume in the compartment. When the compartment is empty, the legs remain short to fit properly; as debris accumulates, the legs flex upward to maintain stable contact and containment stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The physical state of the leg portions changes from a fixed short length to a flexible, adaptable length that responds to the weight and volume of debris. This parameter change allows the same structure to provide both adaptability to different fill levels and stable containment when needed.
3Reliability
If weights are added to stabilize the apparatus, then containment effectiveness is improved, but ease of operation worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The weights are integrated into the leg portions rather than being separate components. This segmentation allows the weighting function to be combined with the structural support function, maintaining stability while keeping the overall device simple and easy to handle as a single unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The weighting function is merged with the leg portion structure. The weights are attached to or integrated into the legs, combining the stabilization function with the support function in a single integrated component that does not complicate insertion or removal operations.
4Reliability
If a flexible flap is added to cover openings, then containment effectiveness is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
A flexible flap made of thin, flexible material is used to cover openings in the containment device. This flexible membrane provides effective containment by closing gaps and openings while remaining simple in structure and easy to integrate into the existing device design without adding significant complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A removable cover for maintaining debris and other items in an inner door compartment of a vehicle. The removable cover can be removed from the door compartment and when in use prevents debris from blowing out of the door compartment. The removable cover has an opening with flexible flaps for allowing the user to place items in the door compartment during use. The removable cover can be used with a debris wall or dam that prevents debris from moving from a storage area of the door compartment to a drink holder area.