Flush-Closing Window Assembly with Removable Fasteners
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current flush-closing window designs for vehicles are difficult to disassemble for glass replacement, requiring removal of the frame and securing structures, which can be damaged and necessitate repainting, and existing guide tracks are inflexible, limiting window configurations and increasing manufacturing costs.
Innovation Solution
A flush-closing window assembly with removable fasteners allowing internal disassembly of sub-assemblies and an adjustable guide track system with modular sections that can be secured with removable fasteners, enabling convenient maintenance and multiple slide travel lengths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of repair
If the frame and clamp ring are removed from the vehicle body to disassemble sub-assemblies, then the sub-assemblies can be separated from the frame, but the clamp ring and frame are ruined or defaced and require painting or replacement
Solution Approach 1:
The window assembly is divided into separable components: the frame remains permanently installed on the vehicle, while the sub-assemblies (fixed and sliding) can be independently removed and reinstalled. This segmentation allows maintenance without removing the frame or clamp ring, preventing damage to these components.
2Reliability
If a single-piece guide track is used for the window frame, then the window can be secured, but multiple slide travel lengths are not possible and tooling costs increase for each window configuration
Solution Approach 1:
The guide track is divided into multiple modular sections that can be connected together. This allows the guide track system to be configured in different lengths and arrangements to accommodate various window sizes and slide travel requirements, while maintaining reliable window securing through the modular connection system.
3Device complexity
If the guide track is integrally cast with the window frame, then the window structure is simplified, but radius-cornered windows cannot be outfitted with a track guide for square-cornered windows
Solution Approach 1:
The guide track system uses separate, modular sections that can be independently configured and assembled. This allows different track sections (e.g., straight sections for square corners, curved sections for radius corners) to be combined to match various window geometries, providing configuration compatibility without requiring integral casting for each window type.
4Ease of operation
If standard slide pins are used in the track, then the sliding mechanism functions, but tolerance stack-up causes window fit and function problems and pins wear over time
Solution Approach 1:
The slide pin assembly incorporates an adjustable mechanism that allows the pin position to be modified after assembly. This dynamic adjustment capability compensates for tolerance stack-up in the manufactured components, ensuring proper window fit and function. The adjustable design also accommodates wear over time, maintaining operational precision throughout the product lifecycle.
Data Source
AI summary
A multi-pane flush closing window assembly for a vehicle that has a body enclosing a passenger compartment is secured in an opening in the vehicle body by a clamp ring fastened to the interior wall of the vehicle body. The improved window assembly includes at least one fixed sub-assembly and at least one sliding sub-assembly supported by a frame. The fixed sub-assembly has a sash, and removable fasteners extend through the peripheral edge of the sash into the interior side of the frame so that the fixed sub-assembly can be independently disassembled from the interior of the vehicle without removing the frame or the clamp ring. The sliding sub-assembly is removably secured to the frame by an improved multi-piece guide track and slide pin assembly that allows removal of the sliding sub-assembly without removing the frame. The slide pins are removably secured to opposite sides of the sliding sub-assembly.