Pre-assembled Floating Floor Connectors for Rapid Vehicle Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for floating mounting of internal vehicle floors are time-consuming and require significant preparation, as they involve fixing elastic connection elements to the vehicle's frame structure, which can be fragile and difficult to access, leading to prolonged setup times and potential flatness issues due to the imperfect flatness of the frame structure.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves a connecting element with a lower and upper element separated by an elastic mass, where one of the elements is subdivided into movable parts linked by an incomplete mechanical connection, allowing for height adjustment without pre-equipping the frame structure, enabling pre-equipment of internal floor panels with connecting elements for rapid assembly and ensuring flatness independent of the frame structure's defects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If elastic connection elements are fixed individually to the frame structure floor, then vibration and noise damping is achieved, but assembly time becomes excessively long (5-12 hours for preparation alone)
Solution Approach 1:
The connecting elements are pre-assembled in sets of 4-6 elements on a support plate before installation. This preliminary grouping allows multiple elements to be installed simultaneously as a single unit, reducing the number of individual fixing operations from 200-300 separate operations to a much smaller number of set installations, thereby dramatically reducing assembly time while maintaining the vibration and noise damping function.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple connecting elements (4-6 elements) are merged into a single pre-assembled set mounted on a common support plate. This combining approach allows the entire set to be handled and installed as one unit, reducing the number of separate installation operations and the associated preparation time, while still providing the collective vibration and noise damping effect of all individual elements.
2Reliability
If connecting elements are fixed to the frame structure floor, then floating mounting is achieved, but the frame structure floor must be perfectly flat which is difficult to ensure
Solution Approach 1:
The support plate is made adjustable in height through threaded rods that can be rotated to change the height of the connecting elements. This dynamic adjustment capability allows the support plate to compensate for local height differences and imperfect flatness of the frame structure floor, ensuring that the connecting elements can be installed at the correct height regardless of the underlying surface irregularities, while still achieving reliable floating mounting.
3Measurement precision
If connecting elements are installed individually, then precise positioning is possible, but operators must navigate around fragile obstacles which slows down work
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple connecting elements are combined into a single pre-assembled set on a support plate, creating one larger, more robust installation unit. This reduces the number of separate fragile elements scattered across the floor, making it easier for operators to move around during installation while still achieving precise positioning through the adjustable height mechanism of the support plate.
4Reliability
If 4-6 connecting elements per square meter are installed, then adequate support is provided, but the number of elements (200-300 per cauldron) increases assembly complexity
Solution Approach 1:
Groups of 4-6 connecting elements are pre-assembled into sets on support plates before installation. This preliminary grouping reduces the complexity of the installation process by transforming 200-300 individual element installations into a much smaller number of set installations, while still providing the required support adequacy through the complete sets of elements.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple connecting elements are merged into pre-assembled sets, reducing the number of separate installation operations. The support plate serves as a common mounting base that holds multiple elements together, allowing them to be installed as a unit rather than individually, thereby reducing assembly complexity while maintaining the necessary support distribution.
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
This approach significantly reduces assembly time by allowing internal floor panels to be pre-equipped with elastic connection elements, enabling quick and efficient installation without the need for extensive preparation of the frame structure, ensuring perfect flatness and safety during the assembly process.
Implementation Method 1
an elastic mass arranged between said lower element and said upper element in such a way that said lower element and said upper element can perform limited displacements with respect to each other
Implementation Method 2
elastic connection elements damping vibrations and noises
Data Source
AI summary
The element (51) has a lower element (31) whose bearing wall (30) is fixed on a floor (1) of a structure-frame. An upper element (41) has a bearing wall (40) parallel to the wall of the lower element. An elastic mass (6) is set between lower and upper elements such that lower and upper elements are displaced with respect to each other. One of the parts (311, 312) is adjacent to a resilient body. Other part is attached with each wall. An external layer is adjacent to the wall of the upper element. The lower element has parts moved relative to each other in a direction (100) perpendicular to the walls. The external layer is made of neoprene and natural rubber. Independent claims are also included for the following: (1) a panel for an inner layer of a buoyant floor of a structure-frame, comprising a set of connection elements (2) a method for assembling a buoyant floor in an internal floor on a floor of a frame structure i.e. cauldron of railway vehicle.