Door Panel Retainer Bush With Elastic Gasket for Variable Sheet Thickness
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing retaining devices for vehicle door panels suffer from noise and potential fatigue due to axial play when used on varying metal sheet thicknesses, as they are not adequately adaptable to different thicknesses, leading to undesirable movements and damage.
Innovation Solution
A retaining device with a bush featuring elastically deformable teeth and a sucker-like annular gasket with axial projections, made from a softer material, which accommodates varying thicknesses by compensating for axial play through elastic deformation, ensuring secure fixation without noise or vibration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If retaining devices are designed to accommodate maximum metal sheet thickness, then thicker sheets can be fixed, but axial play is created when used on thinner sheets causing noise and vibration
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining device incorporates an elastic element that dynamically adjusts to different metal sheet thicknesses. The elastic element can deform elastically to accommodate varying thicknesses within a range, maintaining constant engagement without axial play. This dynamic adaptation eliminates the need for fixed-depth recesses while preventing noise and vibration through continuous elastic contact.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical state of the engagement mechanism by introducing elasticity. The elastic element's deformation parameter varies continuously with metal sheet thickness, transforming the rigid fixed-depth engagement into a flexible variable-depth engagement that eliminates axial play across different thicknesses.
2Adaptability or versatility
If retaining devices use fixed-depth recesses for maximum thickness accommodation, then all thicknesses can be fitted, but axial play occurs on thinner sheets
Solution Approach 1:
The elastic element provides dynamic adjustment, allowing the retaining device to maintain reliable engagement across varying thicknesses. The continuous elastic deformation ensures constant contact pressure and eliminates relative movements that would cause fatigue damage, while still accommodating the full range of thicknesses.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic element acts as a pre-designed cushioning mechanism that absorbs potential gaps and relative movements before they can cause damage. By incorporating elastic deformation capacity in advance, the device prevents fatigue damage from axial play while maintaining reliable engagement.
3Ease of manufacture
If standardization is applied to retaining devices, then manufacturing is simplified, but they cannot adapt to varying metal sheet thicknesses
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining device achieves universality by incorporating an elastic element that enables a single standardized design to function across multiple thickness variations. The elastic component allows the same device structure to adapt to different conditions, providing multi-functionality without requiring multiple specialized designs.
Solution Approach 2:
The standardized retaining device uses parameter changes in the elastic element's deformation to adapt to different thicknesses. This allows one standardized design to cover a range of applications by varying the elastic deformation parameter rather than requiring multiple fixed designs.
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 provides a reliable, noise-free, and vibration-free fixation of vehicle door panels to varying thicknesses, ensuring secure attachment and preventing potential fatigue issues by effectively accommodating different metal sheet thicknesses.
Implementation Method 1
A retaining device with a bush featuring elastically deformable teeth and a sucker-like annular gasket with axial projections, made from a softer material, which accommodates varying thicknesses by compensating for axial play through elastic deformation
Implementation Method 2
said gasket being co-moulded onto the flange with the main aim of elastically cooperating with the body or door frame so as to ensure a liquid-tight closure of the through-seat or hole formed therein
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4
AI summary
Retaining system (1) including a through-hole (8) in a body element (3); a seat (14) in a functional component (2); and a retaining device (1) including a bush (7) which can be engaged with the through-hole by means of opposite teeth (9) and a pin (4) having a head (5) which can be engaged with the seat and a shank (6) which can be snap-engaged inside the bush; the bush including a flange (15), a sucker-like annular element (18) co-moulded onto the flange and shoulder elements (19) arranged facing the teeth, configured to cooperate with the body element and arranged to form with the teeth radial recesses (20) having a height such as to be able to accommodate body elements of varying thickness; wherein the soft sucker-like element (18) is provided with a plurality of axially projecting, elastically deformable projections (21) with a length such as to face the recesses (20) so as to cooperate with the body element compensating for any play when body elements (3b;3c) of varying thickness are present.