Vehicle Door Torsion Bar Assembly Resists Elastic Deformation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle doors made from lightweight materials like resin are prone to elastic deformation under torsional forces, compromising their rigidity and leading to customer dissatisfaction.
Innovation Solution
A torsion bar assembly is coupled to the inner panel of the vehicle door, comprising a lateral bar and vertical bars that define an inner cavity and access hole, increasing the door's rigidity while minimizing weight and allowing for easy installation of accessory wires.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If vehicle doors are formed from lightweight materials like resin, then the overall vehicle weight is reduced and fuel efficiency is improved, but the door rigidity decreases and elastic deformation occurs under torsional forces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining lightweight resin material for the door panel with metal torsion bar assemblies for structural reinforcement. This composite approach allows the door to maintain low weight while achieving the necessary rigidity through the metal reinforcement elements that resist torsional deformation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the door structure into distinct functional components: the lightweight resin panel for weight reduction and separate metal torsion bar assemblies for rigidity enhancement. This segmentation allows each component to optimize its specific function without compromising the other, addressing the contradiction between weight and strength.
2Strength
If the door structure is reinforced to increase rigidity, then resistance to elastic deformation improves, but the overall weight of the door increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing reinforcement only in specific areas where rigidity is needed, rather than uniformly strengthening the entire door. The torsion bar assemblies are strategically positioned to address torsional stress points, allowing the majority of the door structure to remain lightweight resin material.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite materials combining lightweight resin with targeted metal reinforcement elements. This allows the door to achieve necessary rigidity through localized metal components while maintaining overall low weight through the predominant use of lightweight resin material.
3Strength
If solid bar structures are used to increase section modulus, then resistance to torsional forces improves, but the weight of the reinforcement structure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs thin-walled tubular structures for the torsion bars instead of solid bars. These thin-walled structures provide adequate section modulus and torsional resistance while significantly reducing the weight of the reinforcement structure compared to solid bar equivalents.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the reinforcement structure from solid to hollow/tubular configuration. This parameter change optimizes the strength-to-weight ratio by maintaining adequate section modulus while reducing material quantity and overall weight of the reinforcement assembly.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle door includes an inner panel formed from a resin and including an upper portion, and a lower portion positioned opposite the upper portion in a vertical direction, and a torsion bar assembly coupled to the inner panel, the torsion bar assembly including a lateral bar that extends across the upper portion of the inner panel in a lateral direction that is transverse to the vertical direction, a pair of vertical bars extending downward from the lateral bar, where the pair of vertical bars and the lateral bar define an inner cavity extending along the torsion bar assembly, and the lateral bar defines an access hole that provides access to the inner cavity.