Vehicle Door Linkage With Guide Groove for Closed-Position Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle door devices face instability when the door is near the fully closed position due to the alignment of first and second link arms, leading to difficulties in securely supporting the door.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle door device design featuring first and second link arms with specific rotation coupling points, a door-side engagement portion with an axial engagement portion, and a vehicle body-side engagement portion with a guide groove, where the axial engagement portion is positioned inside the guide groove at the fully closed position, ensuring stable support and regulation of door displacement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the door is located in the vicinity of a fully closed position, then the first and second link arms are brought closer to each other and linearly aligned, but it becomes difficult to stably support the door
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a guide rail and guide roller unit as intermediary components between the door and the link mechanism. The guide roller unit engages with the guide rail to provide lateral guidance and stabilization of the door during closing operation, preventing the door from becoming unstable when the link arms align linearly. This intermediary mechanism resolves the stability issue without fundamentally changing the link arm configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a lateral guidance dimension by introducing the guide rail extending in the vehicle width direction and the guide roller unit that moves along it. This creates a new degree of freedom constraint in the lateral direction, complementing the primary opening/closing motion controlled by the link mechanism. The door is thus constrained in both the opening/closing direction (by link arms) and the lateral direction (by guide roller), resolving the stability problem at the fully closed position.
2Ease of operation
If the link mechanism is used to support the door, then the door opening-and-closing operation is enabled, but the first and second link arms are more likely to be brought closer and linearly aligned near the fully closed position
Solution Approach 1:
The guide roller unit acts as a mediator that maintains proper engagement between the door and the link mechanism throughout the opening-and-closing operation. By providing continuous lateral guidance, it ensures that the door follows the intended trajectory and prevents abnormal alignment of the link arms, thereby maintaining both ease of operation and structural stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide rail and guide roller unit provide preemptive stabilization before the link arms reach the problematic linear alignment position. The lateral guidance begins early in the closing operation, preventing the door from deviating or becoming unstable when the link arms approach their aligned configuration, thus cushioning against the potential instability issue.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle door device includes: first and second link arms; a door-side engagement portion that is provided at a close-side end portion of the door that opens and closes a door opening of the vehicle; and a vehicle body-side engagement portion that is provided at a close-side end portion of the door opening that the close-side end portion of the door comes into contact with and separates from, in which one side of the door-side engagement portion and the vehicle body-side engagement portion includes an axial engagement portion extending in a vertical direction of the vehicle, the other side of the door-side engagement portion and the vehicle body-side engagement portion includes a guide groove having a pair of side wall portions, and the axial engagement portion is disposed inside the guide groove at an opening-and-closing operation position in the vicinity of a fully closed position of the door.