Flat-Storable Air Guide with Foldable Walls
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current air guides for vehicles are cumbersome to store and transport due to their volume and require significant labor and cost for assembly, as they consist of multiple parts.
Innovation Solution
An air guide with a fixing frame and integral walls that can be molded flat in one piece, allowing walls to pivot and fold for easy storage and assembly into a volume configuration, ensuring airtightness and crash test compliance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If air guide is formed by assembling several parts to create a volume configuration for guiding air, then the air guiding function is achieved, but the device becomes cumbersome for storage and transport
Solution Approach 1:
The air guide is designed with movable walls that can transition between a compact flat configuration for storage and a functional three-dimensional configuration for air guiding. The walls are articulated to allow folding and unfolding movements, enabling the structure to dynamically change its shape and volume based on operational requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The air guide structure employs a nested arrangement where walls are folded together in a compact manner during storage, with each wall element positioned within or adjacent to others to minimize overall volume. This nesting allows the complete air guide assembly to be stored in a space fraction of its operational volume.
2Device complexity
If air guide consists of several parts assembled together, then the air guiding function is achieved, but significant labor time and production cost are required
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple wall elements and structural components are merged into a single integrated molded piece. The air guide is manufactured as one continuous component with internal articulation mechanisms, eliminating the need for separate parts and assembly operations. This merging reduces manufacturing steps, labor requirements, and assembly complexity while maintaining the functional integrity of the air guiding structure.
3Reliability
If walls are made integral with frame for consolidated assembly, then airtightness is improved, but the structure may compromise crash test requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The structure implements different structural qualities in different regions: walls are made integral with the frame at critical sealing locations to ensure airtightness, while other portions maintain appropriate thickness and structural independence to absorb impact forces during crashes. This localized differentiation of structural properties allows simultaneous optimization of both airtightness and crash performance.
Data Source
Figure 1~3B
Figure 4~5
AI summary
The invention relates to an air guide intended to be integrated at the front of a vehicle between a front face of said vehicle and a heat exchanger of said vehicle which is characterized in that said air guide (A) has a fixing frame (1) defining a mean plane and a plurality of walls (2, 3, 4, 5) integral with said fixing frame to form a duct oriented along a component normal to said mean plane, said walls being molded flat in one piece with said fixing frame along said mean plane, so as to be able to erect said walls with respect to said mean plane to form said duct.