Folding Top Cloth Lateral Frame Link Connection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing folding top designs for vehicles, such as convertibles, face limitations in kinematic freedom and sealing efficiency due to direct connections between the top cloth and roof frame, which restrict the folding mechanism and lead to potential jamming and reduced sealing performance under wind loads.
Innovation Solution
A folding top design where the top cloth is at least partially connected laterally to a frame link, allowing for more flexible kinematics and independent movement of frame parts, which guides the top cloth into its storage position and maintains sealing integrity by securing it to the frame link via screws, rivets, or adhesive bonding, reducing micromovements and enhancing seal tightness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the top cloth is connected directly to the roof frame, then sealing tightness is improved, but kinematic freedom is restricted and folding is predetermined
Solution Approach 1:
The system is segmented into three main components: the roof frame, the frame link, and the top cloth. The frame link acts as an independent intermediary component that is neither rigidly fixed to the roof frame nor directly connected to the top cloth in a restrictive manner. This segmentation allows each component to move independently according to its own kinematic requirements while still maintaining functional connectivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The frame link serves as an intermediary element between the roof frame and the top cloth. It mediates the interaction between these two components by providing a connection point for the top cloth while maintaining independent movement capability relative to the roof frame. This intermediary role allows the top cloth to be guided during folding without being constrained by the roof frame's kinematics.
2Reliability
If the top cloth is connected to two adjacent frame parts, then sealing is improved, but translatory displacement is prevented and top kinematics are simplified
Solution Approach 1:
The connection system is segmented such that the top cloth connects to the frame link rather than directly to multiple frame parts. This segmentation allows the frame link to serve as a single mobile connection point that can accommodate complex kinematic movements while still providing adequate sealing through its connection to both the roof frame and top cloth.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection system is made dynamic through the frame link, which can change its position and orientation during the folding process. Rather than having fixed connection points on the roof frame, the frame link moves dynamically with the top cloth, allowing the system to adapt to different configurations during operation while maintaining sealing integrity.
3Manufacturing precision
If frame parts are moved individually, then sealing precision is maintained, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The frame link combines multiple functions into a single component: it connects to the roof frame, guides the top cloth during folding, and provides a connection point for the top cloth. By merging these functions into one element, the system achieves the necessary sealing precision without requiring multiple individual actuators or complex control mechanisms for each frame part.
Data Source
AI summary
A folding top for a vehicle comprises a roof frame which comprises at least one front frame part and one rear frame part, a top cloth and a frame link, which is coupled kinematically to the roof frame, for moving the roof frame from a storage position, in which the top is put away in a receiving space, into a closed position, in which the top spans a passenger compartment. The top cloth is at least partially connected laterally to the frame link.