Head-Rest Branch Sheath Wedge Structure for Vibration Damping
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing head-rest systems in vehicle seats suffer from significant play between the bushing and sheath, leading to noise, vibration, and jolting due to manufacturing tolerances, which compromises user comfort.
Innovation Solution
A sheath with integrated wedges is designed to be housed in a bushing, where the wedges are compressed between the bushing and the head-rest branch, damping jolts and reducing vibrations and noise by being articulated to the sheath wall and featuring a rigid tab with a compressible elastomer stud.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If receiving sheaths are housed in a bushing with standard manufacturing tolerances, then the device is simple to manufacture, but significant play exists between the bushing and sheath leading to noise, vibration and jolting
Solution Approach 1:
A wedge-shaped element is introduced as an intermediary component between the sheath and the bushing. This wedge fills the gap created by manufacturing tolerances and absorbs the harmful vibrations and noises, preventing them from propagating through the system while maintaining the simplicity of the overall manufacturing process.
Solution Approach 2:
The wedge is constructed as a composite structure with a rigid tab portion and a compressible elastomer stud portion. This composite design allows the wedge to simultaneously provide structural support and vibration damping, effectively reducing noise and vibration while maintaining ease of manufacture through molding processes.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If wedges with compressible studs are added to the sheath, then vibration and noise are damped, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The wedge is merged with the sheath structure through articulation at the window, creating an integrated vibration damping system. The rigid tab is molded in one piece with the sheath, while the elastomer stud is molded onto the tab, forming a unified component that reduces vibration without requiring separate assembly steps or additional complex structures.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the wedge thickness is greater than the sheath wall thickness, then the wedge can be compressed between the bushing and branch to damp jolts, but the sheath wall becomes relatively thinner
Solution Approach 1:
The wedge is positioned locally at the window in the sheath wall rather than requiring the entire wall to be thicker. This localized approach allows the wedge to be compressed between the bushing and branch to damp jolts while maintaining the overall structural integrity and strength of the sheath wall.
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 dampens vibrations and noise, enhancing user comfort by compensating for play between the sheath, bushing, and head-rest branch, while being simple and cost-effective to produce and use.
Implementation Method 1
the wedge includes a rigid tab and a compressible stud fixed rigidly to the tab; and possibly the stud is of elastomer
Implementation Method 2
the wedge is compressed between the bushing and the branch... such that the vibration, the noise and the jolting due to the play are limited
Data Source
AI summary
The sheath for receiving a head-rest branch includes at least one wedge disposed in a window formed in a wall of the sheath and adapted to be disposed between the bushing and the branch, said wedge having a thickness greater than that of said wall so that, when the sheath is housed in the bushing and the branch is received in the sheath, the wedge is compressed between the bushing and the branch.