Hinged Vehicle Load Floor Assembly With Simplified Engagement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing load floor assemblies for motor vehicles are complex to manufacture and assemble, and they are expensive due to intricate engagement mechanisms, compromising ease of opening and load-bearing capacity.
Innovation Solution
A load floor assembly design with continuous engagement surfaces along the vehicle width, facilitated by textile hinges, allows for easy pivoting and enhanced rigidity, reducing manufacturing complexity and cost while maintaining high load-bearing capacity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If multiple teeth are provided on end faces of floor sections to ensure easy opening and high load bearing capacity, then the load bearing capacity and ease of opening are improved, but the manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the engagement function from complex multi-tooth mechanisms and concentrates it into a single rounded portion on the end face of the floor section. This rounded portion engages with a corresponding recess in the support structure, providing both easy pivoting and load bearing capacity without requiring multiple teeth or complex engagement surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the engagement surface by providing a rounded portion instead of multiple discrete teeth. The rounded shape with specific radius allows for easy manual pivoting while maintaining structural integrity and load bearing capacity, simplifying both manufacturing and assembly.
2Ease of operation
If multiple teeth with rounded portions are provided on end faces to facilitate easy opening, then ease of operation is improved, but the manufacturing complexity and assembly difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the pivoting function from complex multi-tooth mechanisms and concentrates it into a single rounded portion on the end face of the floor section. This rounded portion engages with a corresponding recess in the support structure, providing both easy pivoting and load bearing capacity without requiring multiple teeth or complex engagement surfaces.
3Strength
If a complex engagement mechanism with multiple teeth is used to ensure high load bearing capacity, then load bearing capacity is improved, but the manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the engagement function from complex multi-tooth mechanisms and concentrates it into a single rounded portion on the end face of the floor section. This rounded portion engages with a corresponding recess in the support structure, providing both easy pivoting and load bearing capacity without requiring multiple teeth or complex engagement surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a simple rounded portion geometry that can be easily manufactured using standard molding or forming processes, replacing expensive multi-tooth mechanisms. The simplified design reduces manufacturing steps, tooling requirements, and assembly operations, thereby lowering production costs while maintaining functional performance.
Data Source
AI summary
A load floor assembly for a motor vehicle (2) has a rigid floor element (10) with a covering (20) for covering a trunk recess (18) and bearing surfaces (32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42). The bearing surfaces are connected to contact surfaces that enclose the trunk recess (18). The floor element (10) includes a first floor section (14) connected to a second floor section (16) by a hinge (12) for pivoting about a transverse axis of the vehicle. End faces (48, 50) of the floor sections (14, 16) that face one another have engagement surfaces (52, 54) with reduced heights so that the floor sections (14,16) engage in one another while the cross-sectional height of the floor element (10) remains unchanged. The first engagement surface (52) is above the second engagement surface (54) and has a rounded end portion (56) that faces the second engagement surface (54).