Motor Vehicle Door Lock Damping Stop Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Motor vehicle door locks with electric drives experience noise issues due to the impact of forces against stops, leading to structure-borne noise amplification in metal lock cases.
Innovation Solution
A damping stop is integrated into the electric drive, designed to absorb forces and decelerate movements, typically arranged radially on the driven wheel gear and made of plastic, cooperating with a housing stop to reduce noise and simplify design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the electric drive moves against stops in a metal lock case, then the locking mechanism can be opened or closed, but noise is generated and structure-borne noise is amplified
Solution Approach 1:
A damping stop made of plastic material is introduced as an intermediary element between the electric drive and the metal lock case. This plastic damping stop absorbs the impact forces and prevents direct transmission of noise to the metal case, thereby reducing structure-borne noise while allowing the locking mechanism to operate
Solution Approach 2:
The material parameter of the stop is changed from metal to plastic. The plastic material provides elastic deformation characteristics that allow the stop to absorb impact energy through deformation, converting mechanical impact energy into elastic potential energy and reducing noise transmission to the metal lock case
2Object-generated harmful factors
If a damping stop is added to absorb forces, then noise is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The damping stop is integrated directly onto the electric drive component (driven wheel gear), merging the stopping function with the existing drive structure. This integration eliminates the need for separate stop components and reduces overall device complexity while still providing noise reduction functionality
Solution Approach 2:
The plastic housing stop serves multiple functions: it acts as a structural support element for the lock case, provides a mounting surface for the damping stop, and functions as the actual stopping element that absorbs impact forces. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed
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
The solution effectively reduces noise levels by absorbing forces and ensuring low-noise operation, while maintaining a simple, cost-effective, and compact design for the motor vehicle door lock.
Implementation Method 1
the damping stop has an overall elastic design and ensures that the electric drive containing the damping stop cooperates in its end position or generally in a specified position with low noise or with practically no noise with the at least one housing stop, as the force or energy is absorbed by the housing stop
Data Source
AI summary
A method of forming a motor vehicle door lock includes arranging a lever, providing an electric drive that pivots the lever to place the motor vehicle door lock in an open state and includes a motor and a wheel gear that is driven by the motor and has a circumferential face, forming at least one damping stop on the wheel gear that protrudes axially from the circumferential face of the wheel gear and extends from the circumferential face toward a stop plane that is spaced from and parallel to an actuating plane in which the wheel gear and the lever are rotatable, providing a housing stop surface that is engageable by the damping stop along the stop plane in a rotational direction of the wheel gear, and forming the damping stop and the wheel gear as a single piece using a two-component injection molding process.