Extruded Vehicle Header Beam with Continuous Load Paths
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle header beams formed through stamping processes generate significant scrap material and have structural integrity issues due to multiple attachment features, making it difficult to use lightweight extruded metal while maintaining safety standards and reducing costs.
Innovation Solution
An extruded vehicle header beam with a hollow interior and continuous front and rear legs that define uninterrupted box sections outside a central area, providing a consistent curvature for attaching the windshield and supporting the roof, while minimizing structural discontinuities and attachment features.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If stamping process is used to form steel header beams, then consistent curvature can be achieved for attaching the windshield, but significant amount of scrap material is generated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the manufacturing process from stamping to extrusion, fundamentally altering how the header beam is formed. The extrusion process allows the beam to be formed from a continuous profile with consistent curvature built into the extrusion die, eliminating the need for post-forming operations that generate scrap material while maintaining the required shape consistency for windshield attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The header beam is segmented into functional zones: uninterrupted box sections for structural integrity and load-bearing, and a central area with engagement apertures for attachments. This segmentation allows the beam to maintain consistent curvature in the uninterrupted sections while providing attachment points only where necessary, reducing overall attachment features and preserving structural integrity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple attachment features are added to header beams, then versatility for vehicle frame configuration is improved, but structural integrity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The header beam is divided into distinct functional zones: uninterrupted box sections that maintain full structural integrity for load-bearing, and a central area that contains engagement apertures for attachments. This spatial segmentation ensures that attachment features are concentrated in specific areas rather than distributed throughout the entire beam length, preserving the structural strength of the critical load-path sections.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the header beam have different properties: the uninterrupted box sections have full structural integrity with no openings, while the central area has engagement apertures to allow attachments. This local differentiation allows the beam to provide both high structural integrity where needed and attachment versatility where required, without compromising overall strength.
3Weight of moving object
If lightweight extruded metal is used for header beams, then weight is reduced and manufacturing efficiency is improved, but structural integrity becomes difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes from steel stamping to aluminum extrusion, fundamentally altering the material and forming process. The extrusion process allows for optimized cross-sectional geometry with hollow interiors and internal ribs that provide high strength-to-weight ratio, enabling the use of lightweight aluminum while maintaining or exceeding the structural integrity of traditional steel beams.
Solution Approach 2:
The extruded header beam is segmented into uninterrupted box sections that provide continuous load paths, and a central area with engagement apertures. This segmentation allows the lightweight extruded material to maintain structural integrity through continuous sections while providing attachment capability in the central area, achieving both weight reduction and structural performance.
Data Source
AI summary
A header beam couples between A-pillars of a vehicle frame. The header beam is formed from a generally straight beam segment that is extruded to have a hollow body portion with supportive legs extending within the hollow interior along the length of the beam segment, defining uninterrupted forward and rearward box sections for supporting continuous load paths on the header beam. The end portions of the beam segment are clamped and the beam segment is stretch bent to form a curvature between the end portions that remain generally straight. A front flange extends forward along the body portion and is struck proximate the end portions to form an edge that is parallel to the curvature formed between the end portions. The end portions are attached to the A-pillars and the edge of the front flange is attached to a windshield.