Glove Box Bin Stiffness Adjustment via Perforated Walls
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing glove box storage bin designs in automotive vehicles face challenges in adjusting stiffness to meet impact safety requirements without compromising structural integrity, appearance, or performance, often requiring iterative design changes and costly testing.
Innovation Solution
A composite glove box bin design featuring a molded substrate with perforated walls and substitution panels made of a lower durometer material, allowing for tailored stiffness adjustment through strategically placed gaps and locking surfaces, enabling precise control over impact performance while maintaining aesthetic and structural integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the bin wall thickness is reduced to lower stiffness, then impact safety is improved, but structural integrity and appearance deteriorate due to warping or sagging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by introducing stiffness-reducing gaps specifically in the front wall and side walls where impact forces are most likely to occur, while maintaining full wall thickness in other areas. This localized modification reduces overall bin stiffness for impact safety without compromising structural integrity in non-critical areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite construction by combining the molded substrate (hard plastic) with substitution panels (softer material) inserted into the gaps. This composite structure allows the bin to have both rigid structural areas and compliant impact-absorbing areas, resolving the contradiction between strength and impact safety.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If open slots are added to reduce stiffness, then impact safety is improved, but aesthetic appearance and structural integrity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The substitution panels act as intermediaries that fill the stiffness-reducing gaps. These panels are visually similar to the surrounding wall material, concealing the gaps from view while still providing the stiffness-reducing function. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining aesthetic appearance through the intermediary panels while achieving impact safety through the gap structure.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If support ribs are removed to reduce stiffness, then impact safety is improved, but manufacturing complexity and design iteration increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the bin walls by introducing gaps with specific dimensions and placements, and by selecting materials with appropriate durometer values for substitution panels. This parameter-based approach provides a systematic method for adjusting stiffness without requiring complex design iterations or removal of structural ribs.
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
The solution effectively reduces bin stiffness by up to 44% without introducing undesirable features, allowing for precise customization of impact performance and reducing reliance on trial-and-error design methods, while maintaining structural integrity and appearance expectations.
Implementation Method 1
A substitution panel comprising a resilient material having a second durometer less than the first durometer is molded into and closes the gap
Implementation Method 2
The combined first and second durometers provide a predetermined collapse in response to the impact load
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicular glove box bin has a molded substrate of a first durometer plastic material defining a concave body with bin sides, bottom, and open mouth. The sides include a front wall arranged to receive an impact load in a substantially normal direction, and at least one perforated wall substantially aligned with the normal direction which has at least one stiffness reducing gap. A substitution panel comprising a resilient material having a second durometer less than the first durometer is molded into and closes the gap. The gap and the substitution panel define locking surfaces for retaining the substitution panel. The combined first and second durometers provide a predetermined collapse in response to the impact load. The placement and sizes of gaps together with the selected durometers allow a designer to tailor the stiffness around various portions of the bin to match a desired impact performance.