Dynamic Pillars for Vehicle Rollover Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vehicle body structures are inadequate in protecting passengers during rollover accidents, as they fail to effectively distribute the vehicle's weight away from the glass dome, which can shatter under impact, leading to potential injury or egress difficulties.
Innovation Solution
The integration of extendable dynamic pillars secured to the vehicle body near the glass dome, activated by a controller in response to imminent rollover conditions, which extend upward to bear the vehicle's weight and prevent the glass dome from bearing it, thereby enhancing passenger safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If a glass dome is used to cover the cabin, then visibility and aesthetic appearance are improved, but structural strength and resistance to impact are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle body structure is segmented into static pillars and dynamic pillars. The dynamic pillars are positioned to support the glass dome specifically during rollover events, allowing the glass dome to maintain its transparent aesthetic properties while the structural support function is separated and provided by the deployable dynamic pillars.
Solution Approach 2:
The dynamic pillars are pre-positioned within the static pillars and can be rapidly deployed before the glass dome collapses under rollover impact. This preliminary positioning allows the system to transition from a lightweight glass-supported structure to a reinforced structure with extended support points, preventing glass failure while maintaining aesthetic appearance during normal operation.
2Device complexity
If static pillars alone are used to support the vehicle body, then structural simplicity is maintained, but protection during rollover accidents is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle support structure transitions from purely static pillars to a hybrid system incorporating dynamic pillars. These dynamic pillars remain retracted during normal operation to maintain structural simplicity, but extend automatically during rollover events to provide enhanced protection, thus adapting the structural complexity to the operational requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The dynamic pillars are nested within the static pillars, allowing the more complex protective mechanism to be concealed within the simpler existing structure. This nesting arrangement maintains the appearance and basic functionality of the original static pillar structure while incorporating advanced rollover protection capabilities.
3Device complexity
If the glass dome bears the vehicle weight during rollover, then no additional structural components are needed, but the glass dome may shatter causing injury
Solution Approach 1:
The dynamic pillars act as intermediary support elements between the vehicle body and the glass dome during rollover events. By extending to contact the glass dome and bearing the vehicle weight, they prevent the glass dome from experiencing catastrophic loads that would cause shattering, thus eliminating the harmful effect while maintaining the glass dome's presence for visibility and aesthetics.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle includes a body, door, glass dome, and dynamic pillars. The body defines a cabin and has first and second static pillars. The door that accesses the cabin, is secured to the body, and is disposed between the first and second static pillars. The glass dome is secured to the body over the entirety of the cabin. The dynamic pillars are extendable in an upward direction and are secured to the body proximate to an outer perimeter of the glass dome.