Injection-Molded Drive Wheel Hub Design for Weight Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing drive wheels for transmission drive devices have a high material requirement and weight due to the need for additional components like intermediate rings and reinforcing rings, which are not optimized for minimal weight while maintaining strength and friction properties.
Innovation Solution
The drive wheel design relocates the axial bearing point radially inward within the hub bore, eliminates the intermediate ring, and uses a conical intermediate region with reinforcing ribs to reduce weight while maintaining strength and improving friction properties through optimal material pairings and injection-molding processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If an intermediate ring is added to support the axial bearing point, then the strength and stability of the drive wheel are improved, but the weight and material requirement increase
Solution Approach 1:
The intermediate ring is merged with the hub region by forming it as an integral part of the injection-molded drive wheel. The bearing point is directly formed in the hub region without requiring a separate intermediate ring component, thus combining multiple functions into a single monolithic structure while maintaining strength requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The intermediate ring component is extracted/removed from the design. Instead of using a separate intermediate ring to support the axial bearing point, the bearing point is directly formed in the hub region of the injection-molded drive wheel, eliminating the additional material volume and weight associated with the intermediate ring.
2Reliability
If the axial bearing point is relocated radially inward into the hub bore region, then the friction properties are improved through smaller friction radius, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing point is relocated from the outer peripheral region to the inner hub bore region, changing the radial dimension of the bearing point position. This dimensional change reduces the friction radius and improves friction properties while the complexity is managed through integral molding.
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing point structure is merged with the hub region as an integral feature of the injection-molded drive wheel. The bearing point is directly formed in the hub bore region without requiring separate components or complex assembly, thus improving friction properties while maintaining relatively simple structural implementation.
3Weight of moving object
If the intermediate region is formed conically with varying wall thickness, then the weight is reduced, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The intermediate region is designed with conical geometry and varying wall thickness, where the wall thickness changes radially from the hub region toward the toothed-rim region. This local variation in geometry optimizes the weight by removing material where less structural support is needed while maintaining sufficient thickness in critical areas, and the conical form is well-suited to injection-molding processes.
Data Source
AI summary
A drive wheel (10; 100) wherein the drive wheel (10; 100) is formed by an injection-molding process, and has a longitudinal axis (11; 108), having a hub region (12; 102) with a hub opening (13; 102), having an annular toothed-rim region (17; 106) with a radially outwardly projecting toothing (18; 105), having a substantially disk-like intermediate region (15; 112) which is arranged radially between the hub region (12; 102) and the toothed-rim region (17; 106), wherein the drive wheel (10; 100) has two bearing points (31, 32), arranged concentrically with the longitudinal axis (11; 108), for radial mounting and two bearing points (33, 34; 121, 122), for axial mounting, and wherein the hub region (12; 102) has an extension (14; 103) that protrudes from the plane of the intermediate region (15; 112) in the direction of the longitudinal axis (11; 108).