Hinge Reinforcing Ribs Suppress Back Door Noise
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle back doors made of resin often produce noise during travel due to movement, and increasing the rigidity of these doors to suppress noise leads to increased weight, which is counterproductive for weight reduction efforts in vehicle design.
Innovation Solution
A hinge system with a vehicle body-side and back door-side hinge member, featuring a coupling portion with reinforcing ribs on both edges and a rotational support member, which improves bending and twisting rigidity without increasing sheet thickness, thereby reducing noise and maintaining lightweight design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the rigidity of the back door is increased to suppress noise, then noise occurrence is reduced, but the weight of the back door increases
Solution Approach 1:
The back door is divided into multiple components: a lightweight resin back door body, a separate hinge assembly with reinforcing ribs, and mounting brackets. The reinforcement is segmented into specific locations (coupling portion edges) rather than uniformly distributed, allowing noise suppression at critical joints without adding overall weight to the entire back door assembly
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge assembly uses composite construction combining resin material with strategically placed reinforcing ribs. The coupling portion integrates multiple materials or structures (resin base with reinforced edges) to achieve high rigidity-to-weight ratio, suppressing noise while maintaining lightweight characteristics of the back door
2Strength
If the sheet thickness is increased to improve rigidity, then bending and twisting rigidity are enhanced, but the weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
Reinforcing ribs are placed only at specific critical locations (both edges of the coupling portion in the width direction) rather than uniformly throughout the entire component. This localized reinforcement provides maximum bending and twisting rigidity where needed most, while keeping other areas lightweight and minimizing overall weight increase
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of increasing thickness in one dimension, the invention adds structural complexity in another dimension by incorporating reinforcing ribs that extend from the coupling portion edges. This dimensional approach (adding ribs rather than thickening the sheet) achieves enhanced rigidity without the weight penalty of increased thickness
Data Source
AI summary
A hinge includes: a vehicle body-side hinge member that includes a vehicle body attachment portion for attachment to a vehicle body; a back door-side hinge member that includes a door attachment portion for attachment to a back door and a coupling portion extending from the door attachment portion toward the vehicle body-side hinge member, the coupling portion including a reinforcing rib on both edges in a width direction intersecting an extension direction of the coupling portion; and a rotational support member that couples an end portion, at a side of the vehicle body-side hinge member, of the coupling portion together with the vehicle body-side hinge member, and that supports the vehicle body-side hinge member and the back door-side hinge member so as to allow relative rotation of the vehicle body-side hinge member and the back door-side hinge member.