Vehicle Door Pin Locking Mechanism for Side Impact Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing motor vehicle door locking systems fail to reliably maintain the door in a closed position during a side impact, such as the 20 mile per hour oblique pole test, which is a critical integrity test for door systems.
Innovation Solution
A locking device comprising a pin with a threaded first end and an enlarged head, which extends into a receiver on the rocker panel during a side impact, and bends to engage a continuous shoulder with a lip, ensuring the door remains locked regardless of the impact direction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional door locking system is used, then the door can be easily opened during normal operation, but the door fails to remain locked during side impact
Solution Approach 1:
The pin is pre-positioned in a retracted state within the door, ready to be deployed into the receiver upon impact. The continuous shoulder is pre-formed on the pin, and the receiver is pre-positioned on the rocker panel, so that upon side impact, the pin automatically extends and engages without requiring additional activation mechanisms. This preliminary preparation ensures reliable door locking during side impact while avoiding complex control systems.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the pin is made to engage the receiver only in a specific direction, then the locking mechanism is simpler, but it fails to capture the pin for oblique or multi-directional impacts
Solution Approach 1:
The pin features a continuous shoulder that extends around its entire circumference, creating an asymmetric engagement geometry. The receiver includes a corresponding continuous lip that receives the pin from any direction. This asymmetric continuous design allows the pin to engage the receiver whether the impact is perpendicular, oblique, or from multiple directions, ensuring the door remains locked during any side impact scenario without requiring multiple receivers or complex directional sensors.
3Reliability
If the pin diameter is increased to improve capture reliability, then the door locking is more secure, but the pin becomes harder to mount and may interfere with the door structure
Solution Approach 1:
The pin is designed with non-uniform diameter along its length, featuring a larger diameter head portion and a smaller diameter shaft portion. The head diameter is optimized to provide sufficient engagement with the receiver for reliable capture during impact, while the shaft diameter is reduced to facilitate easy mounting through the door structure and minimize interference with surrounding components. This local variation in diameter allows the pin to meet both reliability and manufacturability requirements simultaneously.
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 locking device effectively secures the door in a closed position by capturing the pin within the receiver, even under varying impact forces, ensuring the door remains latched during side impacts of sufficient force.
Implementation Method 1
subsequently bending the pin so that the shoulder on the pin engages with a lip of the receiver to thereby capture the pin and lock the door closed
Data Source
AI summary
A locking device is provided for a door of a motor vehicle. That locking device includes a pin having a first end fixed to the door and a second end including an enlarged head. The locking device also includes a receiver on a rocker panel of the motor vehicle. When the door is subjected to a side impact the pin extends into the receiver and is captured to lock the door closed. A related method is also disclosed.