Casted Vehicle Component Guiding Structure Without Holes or Pins
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing guiding systems for vehicle part assembly, such as battery packs, often require holes and pins, leading to high costs, complexity, and increased risk of leakage, especially in fluid-tight applications like batteries.
Innovation Solution
A casted component with a guiding section featuring a groove and a protrusion, which provides a leakage-proof guiding mechanism without the need for holes and pins, allowing for precise positioning and tight tolerances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If holes and pins are used for guiding components during assembly, then the guiding function is achieved, but the manufacturing cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the guiding function from separate holes and pins and integrates it directly into the component wall through a recess structure. The recess is formed by removing material during casting to create a cavity that receives a guiding element, eliminating the need for separate guiding components while maintaining the guiding function.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges the guiding function with the component wall by integrating the recess structure directly into the casting. The recess and its receiving cavity are combined features that work together to provide guiding, eliminating the need for separate guiding pins or holes and reducing overall assembly complexity.
2Reliability
If holes are introduced in components for guiding, then the guiding function is achieved, but the risk of leakage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces a recess structure as an intermediary between the component wall and the guiding function. Instead of creating holes that penetrate through the component, the recess provides a controlled cavity that receives a guiding element while maintaining the fluid-tight integrity of the component wall.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the harmful penetrating holes and replaces them with a recess structure that does not compromise the fluid-tight barrier. The recess is a controlled void space formed by removing material during casting, which provides guiding functionality without creating leakage paths through the component.
3Manufacturing precision
If additional manufacturing steps are added to achieve tight tolerances, then the guiding precision improves, but the manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention performs the guiding structure formation during the initial casting process itself. The recess is created by removing material from the mold cavity before the final casting, so the guiding structure is built-in from the beginning rather than requiring subsequent machining or finishing operations to achieve the required tolerances.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges the guiding structure formation with the casting process by creating the recess as an integral feature of the mold cavity. This integration eliminates the need for separate manufacturing steps to create the guiding structure, reducing both cost and complexity while maintaining precision.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure relates to a component for use in a part of a vehicle. The component comprising a guiding section configured for guiding the component relative to a sleeve when positioning the component inside the part of the vehicle, the guiding section comprising at least one guiding structure provided at a guiding side of the component, the at least one guiding structure comprising a groove extending at the guiding side and at least one protrusion directly adjacent to the groove and protruding away from the groove, the groove and the protrusion are extending substantially in parallel to each other along at least a portion of the guiding side.