Vehicle Headlamp Breakable Structure for Pedestrian Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicle headlamps, due to their high strength and hardness, pose a risk of severe injury to pedestrians in collisions and do not meet pedestrian protection regulations, as they fail to disperse impact energy effectively.
Innovation Solution
A breakable structure for vehicle headlamps featuring a separable member with notches in the headlamp housing and lens, designed to separate and disperse impact energy through a rotation moment, incorporating a fastening unit with insert protrusions and depressions to distribute force evenly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the headlamp components are made with high strength and hardness to resist heat and impact, then the durability and heat resistance are improved, but the headlamp may severely injure pedestrians in collisions
Solution Approach 1:
The headlamp housing is divided into multiple separable members (first separable member and second separable member) that can detach from each other upon impact. This segmentation allows the structure to break into controlled pieces rather than remaining as a single rigid unit, reducing pedestrian injury while maintaining structural integrity during normal use
Solution Approach 2:
The separable members are designed with specific local properties - they have sufficient strength for normal operation but include predetermined weak points (notches) that allow controlled breaking. The first and second separable members have different geometric configurations (first with larger cross-section, second with smaller cross-section) to create progressive failure modes that disperse impact energy
2Stability of the object's composition
If the headlamp structure is made rigid to maintain structural integrity, then the structural stability is improved, but the impact energy cannot be dispersed effectively
Solution Approach 1:
The headlamp structure transitions from a static rigid structure to a dynamic system that responds to impact forces. The separable members are designed to remain intact during normal conditions but automatically separate when subjected to impact forces above a threshold, enabling the structure to adapt its rigidity based on loading conditions
Solution Approach 2:
The potential harm of structural rigidity causing severe pedestrian injury is converted into a benefit by designing controlled breakage paths. The notches and separable member geometry are engineered so that impact energy causes predictable separation rather than random fragmentation, transforming a harmful rigid structure into a protective breakable system
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 breakable structure absorbs and disperses impact energy, preventing focused force on any single point and meeting pedestrian protection regulations by partially breaking and deforming the headlamp, thereby reducing the risk of injury.
Implementation Method 1
the separable member is configured to break by a rotation moment of the impact force applied thereto
Implementation Method 2
when an impact force is applied to the headlamp, the separable member is separated from the junction of the headlamp housing and the headlamp lens
Data Source
AI summary
A breakable structure of a headlamp for vehicles is partially broken and deformed when an impact force is applied to the headlamp. The breakable structure of the present invention includes at least a separable member provided in the junction of the headlamp housing and the headlamp lens, the separable member being separated from the junction of the headlamp and the headlamp lens when an impact force is applied thereto.