Flexible Engine Air Supply Pipe Shaping and Collision Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge is to position an engine air supply pipe in a vehicle's safety volume while resisting internal depression, ensuring optimal air intake and safety during collisions, as traditional rigid pipes are difficult to install due to their rigidity and elastomeric materials' temperature-dependent mechanical properties.
Innovation Solution
A retractable engine air supply device with a partially flexible pipe, shaping means, and unlocking mechanisms that allow the pipe to maintain shape under internal depression for optimal air intake and deform upon collision to ensure safety, featuring a combination of flexible and rigid sections and removable half-collars for easy release.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a rigid air supply pipe is used, then the pipe can resist internal depression and maintain structural integrity, but the pipe cannot be positioned in the safety volume and installation becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The air supply pipe is divided into multiple sections: a first section with a first rigidity for installation flexibility, and a second section with a second rigidity for resisting internal depression. This segmentation allows each part to have optimized properties for its specific function.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the pipe have different rigidity properties tailored to their specific requirements. The first section has lower rigidity for ease of installation and positioning in the safety volume, while the second section has higher rigidity for withstanding internal depression during operation.
2Ease of operation
If an elastomeric air intake pipe is used, then the pipe can be positioned in the safety volume and is flexible, but the mechanical properties vary enormously with temperature and the pipe may become excessively rigid at low temperatures
Solution Approach 1:
The pipe uses different materials with different temperature characteristics in different sections. The first section uses an elastomeric material for flexibility during installation, while the second section uses a thermoplastic material that maintains adequate flexibility across a wide temperature range while resisting internal depression.
Solution Approach 2:
The air supply pipe is made of two different materials: an elastomeric material for the first section and a thermoplastic material for the second section. This composite construction combines the installation flexibility of elastomeric materials with the temperature stability and depression resistance of thermoplastic materials.
3Strength
If the pipe route is lengthened or section is reduced to avoid the safety volume, then rigid material can be used, but the pressure drops of the air intake line increase which is detrimental to engine power and efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The pipe is segmented into two sections with different rigidities, allowing the pipe to be installed directly in the safety volume without lengthening the route or reducing the section, thereby minimizing pressure drops while maintaining structural integrity where needed.
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
Enables the pipe to be positioned in the safety volume, resisting internal depression for efficient air intake and ensuring pedestrian safety during collisions by deforming to absorb impact forces.
Implementation Method 1
The pipe (2) is made of an elastomeric material chosen so that the pipe retains its flexibility over a wide range of temperatures
Implementation Method 2
the pipe can be crushed to guarantee the safety of a pedestrian struck by the vehicle
Data Source
Figure 1~2
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AI summary
The invention relates to an engine air supply device (1) for a vehicle comprising an engine and an engine hood (C) with a safety volume interposed between them. The device comprises (i) at least one hose (2), at least partially flexible, having a resting section (21a), (ii) hose (2) shaping means configured to constrain the hose (2) to adopt a functional section (21b), different from the resting section (21a), which allows air to be drawn into the hose (2), and (iii) unlocking means designed to release the shaping means when the hood (C) is moved within the safety volume, to allow the hose to adopt a deformed section (21c) in which the hose (2) does not encroach upon the safety volume.