Vehicle Door Hinge Latch for Selective Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vehicles with removable doors face complexity in reattachment due to misplaced fasteners, which complicates the process of securing and removing the doors, especially when the vehicle is not in an upright position.
Innovation Solution
A hinge assembly with a latch that transitions between locked and unlocked positions, using a support feature and gravity to maintain the latch in a locked position when the vehicle is not upright, preventing the hinge pin from being withdrawn and thus blocking door removal when undesirable.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If fasteners are used on hinge pins to secure removable doors, then door attachment is achieved, but device complexity increases and fasteners may be misplaced during removal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the separate fastener components entirely and integrates the locking function directly into the hinge pin structure. The hinge pin itself becomes the securing element through its interaction with the latch mechanism, eliminating the need for additional fasteners that could be misplaced or add complexity to the system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the hinge pin and latch into a single integrated mechanism where the hinge pin's movement automatically controls the latch state. The longitudinal movement of the hinge pin both secures the door and triggers the latch engagement/disengagement, merging multiple functions into one component system.
2Ease of operation
If the latch remains unlocked when the vehicle is inverted, then door removal is easy, but accidental door removal may occur when the vehicle is not in upright position
Solution Approach 1:
The latch mechanism is designed to dynamically respond to changes in vehicle orientation. Gravity causes the latch to automatically transition between engaged and disengaged states based on whether the vehicle is upright or inverted, making the system adaptive to operating conditions without requiring active control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses gravitational force as a parameter change mechanism. When the vehicle orientation changes from upright to inverted, the direction of gravitational force relative to the latch mechanism changes, automatically triggering the latch to engage or disengage accordingly. This exploits the change in gravitational parameter to control door security.
3Reliability
If the latch automatically locks when the vehicle is inverted, then accidental door removal is prevented, but the latch mechanism complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The latch mechanism is designed to be self-actuating through gravity. No additional actuators, sensors, or control systems are needed - the latch automatically engages or disengages based on the vehicle's orientation relative to gravity. The system serves itself by using the environmental gravitational field as its actuation source.
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge pin serves as an intermediary element that transmits the effect of gravity to the latch mechanism. As the vehicle orientation changes, gravity causes the hinge pin to move longitudinally, which in turn triggers the latch to engage or disengage. The hinge pin mediates between the gravitational force and the latch action.
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
Facilitates easy removal of vehicle doors when the vehicle is upright by allowing the latch to unlock, while automatically locking when the vehicle is inverted, preventing accidental or unwanted door removal, thus simplifying the process and ensuring secure door attachment.
Implementation Method 1
A hinge assembly that facilitates removal of a vehicle door includes a latch that transitions between engaged and disengaged positions. The latch may be configured to automatically transition between the engaged position and the disengaged position in response to the hinge assembly being inverted.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle hinge assembly includes a door portion, a body portion, and a hinge pin movable between an engaged position where the door portion and the body portion are rotatably coupled and a disengaged position where the door portion and the body portion are configured to be decoupled from one another. A latch is moveable relative to the hinge pin between a locked position where the latch blocks movement of the hinge pin and an unlocked position where the latch allowed movement of the hinge pin. The latch is configured to be in the unlocked position when the vehicle hinge assembly is in a first substantially upright orientation, and the latch is configured to be in the locked position when the vehicle hinge assembly is in a second substantially upside-down orientation.