Hinge Spring Seat Pivoting to Reduce Coil Stress
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle door hinge constructions using coil springs experience increased stress and reduced lifespan due to lateral bending as the check arm moves, leading to complex stress and fatigue issues.
Innovation Solution
A hinge design featuring a first and second bracket with a hinge pin, an engaging member, a check arm with detents, and a spring seat that pivots to accommodate orientation changes, allowing the spring to maintain a straighter orientation and reduce stress, with a spring biasing the check arm into engagement with the engaging member.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a coil spring is positioned between a check arm and the second bracket with fixed orientation, then the spring can bias the check arm into engagement with the engaging member, but the spring is subject to lateral bending as the check arm moves causing increased complex stresses and fatigue
Solution Approach 1:
The spring seat is made pivotally mounted to the hinge pin, allowing it to dynamically adjust its orientation as the check arm moves. This dynamic adjustment enables the spring to maintain a straighter orientation and avoid lateral bending, thereby reducing complex stresses and fatigue while preserving the spring's reliability and lifespan.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring seat acts as an intermediary between the spring and the check arm. By introducing this intermediate component that can pivot independently, the system decouples the movement of the check arm from the orientation of the spring, allowing the spring to remain relatively straight while still transmitting the biasing force to the check arm.
2Duration of action of moving object
If the spring maintains a straighter orientation to reduce stress, then spring life increases, but the mechanism becomes more complex with the addition of a spring seat
Solution Approach 1:
The spring seat serves multiple functions: it provides a mounting point for the spring, acts as a pivot point to accommodate orientation changes, and transmits the spring force to the check arm. By consolidating these functions into a single component, the design achieves the desired spring orientation without proportionally increasing overall mechanism complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring seat combines the functions of spring mounting and orientation adjustment into a single integrated component. This merging of functions reduces the number of separate parts needed compared to having distinct mounting brackets and adjustment mechanisms, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while achieving the goal of extended spring life.
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
This design reduces complex stresses and fatigue in the spring, increasing its lifespan and allowing for the use of less expensive springs while maintaining effective engagement and movement between the brackets.
Implementation Method 1
a spring has one end engaging the spring seat and the other end engaging the check arm so as to bias the check arm into engagement with the engaging member
Implementation Method 2
At least one hinge pin pivotally connects the first and second brackets
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a hinge for connecting a panel to a body for movement between open and closed positions. The hinge comprises a first bracket constructed to be mounted to one of the body and the panel in an installed position of the hinge, and a second bracket constructed to be mounted to the other of the body and the panel in the installed position of the hinge. At least one hinge pin pivotally connects the first and second brackets. An engaging member is provided on the first bracket, and a check arm is movably connected to the second bracket. The check arm has an engaging surface with at least one detent. The engaging surface is engaged with the engaging member. A spring seat is pivotally mounted to the hinge pin, and a spring has one end engaging the spring seat and the other end engaging the check arm so as to bias the check arm into engagement with the engaging member. As the first and second brackets pivot relative to one another the engaging member and check arm move relative to one another with the spring biasing the check arm into engagement with the engaging member, and the spring seat pivots about the at least one hinge pin to accommodate a change in orientation between the check arm and the second bracket.