Door Handle Tolerance Adjuster for Flush Sheet Metal Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge in manufacturing hidden vehicle door handles is ensuring flush alignment with exterior sheet metal due to installation dimensional errors from welding, necessitating repeated gap checks, which wastes installation time.
Innovation Solution
A tolerance adjuster with a housing, fastener, and centering structure is used to align the hidden vehicle door handle with the interior sheet metal, allowing for easy and reliable mounting by adjusting the distance between the handle and the interior sheet metal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If welding process is used to fasten interior sheet metal, then installation speed is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to dimensional errors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a tolerance adjuster as an intermediary component between the interior sheet metal and the hidden door handle base. This adjuster includes a housing with adjustable length that mediates the connection, allowing the welding process to remain fast while the adjuster compensates for dimensional errors to achieve precise flush alignment with the exterior sheet metal.
2Manufacturing precision
If tolerance adjuster is used to adjust installation dimensional error, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tolerance adjuster is segmented into distinct functional components: a housing with adjustable length, a fastening portion for mounting to the interior sheet metal, and a positioning structure. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently, making the overall system manageable despite the added complexity, and enabling precise adjustment of the gap surface difference.
3Manufacturing precision
If repeated gap checks are performed during installation, then manufacturing precision is maintained, but loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tolerance adjuster enables preliminary action by allowing the installer to pre-adjust the housing length to compensate for anticipated welding dimensional errors. This preliminary adjustment eliminates the need for repeated gap checks during installation, as the adjuster is designed to accommodate variations before the final assembly is completed.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides a tolerance adjuster, including a housing, a fastener and a centering structure. The housing is a vertically through cylindrical body and includes an inlet and an outlet that are opposite to each other, and the housing defines a channel. The fastener is arranged partially in the channel. The centering structure is cooperatively connected to the fastener and the housing such that the fastener is movable axially back and forth in the channel and the fastener is kept substantially on a central axis of the housing. A hidden vehicle door handle can be mounted to an interior sheet metal of a vehicle door after the hidden vehicle door handle is aligned with an exterior sheet metal of the vehicle door, such that the hidden vehicle door handle can be mounted easily and reliably. The centering structure is cooperatively connected to the fastener to prevent the centering structure from being disengaged from the fastener after radial movement of the fastener, such that the centering structure does not need to be reassembled.