Hybrid Stabilizer Link Rod with Welded Metal Rings and Polymer Casing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing stabilizer link rods face challenges with high manufacturing costs, material wastage, and discontinuities in stress transmission due to material combinations, particularly in hybrid designs that attempt to balance weight and rigidity, often requiring complex and costly processes.
Innovation Solution
A hybrid stabilizer link rod design featuring a metal tube with welded metal rings at the ends, covered by a polymer casing, which houses articulations and provides a friction bearing for stress transmission, offering a simpler and cost-effective manufacturing process while maintaining high rigidity and strength.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If steel stabilizer link rods are used, then high strength and rigidity are achieved, but high weight, high manufacturing cost, and high material wastage occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a composite structure consisting of a metal tube (providing strength and rigidity) combined with polymeric material (reducing weight). This composite approach allows the stabilizer link rod to achieve the necessary mechanical properties while significantly reducing weight compared to solid metal construction.
2Strength
If steel stabilizer link rods are used, then high strength is achieved, but high manufacturing cost and high material wastage due to machining occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the manufacturing parameters by transitioning from solid metal machining to a composite construction method. The metal tube is manufactured with optimized wall thickness and dimensions, then combined with polymeric material through processes such as injection molding or adhesive bonding, eliminating the need for extensive machining operations and reducing material wastage.
3Weight of moving object
If polymeric material is used for stabilizer link rod, then weight is reduced and cost is lowered, but greater work volume is required to achieve equivalent rigidity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a composite structure where the metal tube provides the necessary rigidity and structural support, while the polymeric material fills the interior space. This configuration allows the polymeric component to add stiffness to the structure without requiring a large external volume, thus achieving equivalent rigidity to solid metal link rods with reduced weight.
4Weight of moving object
If hybrid metal and polymeric design is used, then weight savings and cost reduction are achieved, but discontinuities in stress transmission line occur causing non-optimal performance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary layer or transition zone between the metal tube and polymeric material that ensures continuous stress transmission. This may involve using adhesive bonding agents, mechanical interlocking features, or a gradient interface that smoothly transitions between the two materials, eliminating discontinuities in the stress path and ensuring optimal load transfer.
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 achieves significant weight savings, reduced production costs, and improved mechanical properties by eliminating material wastage and complex forming processes, while maintaining high rigidity and strength, thus offering an optimal balance between metal and polymeric solutions.
Implementation Method 1
If the articulations are spherical articulations, they usually incorporate a friction bearing between the sphere of the bolt and the central attachment body. This friction bearing has several functions, namely, to assure smooth sphere rotational movement, to transfer stresses from the spherical bolt to the body of the stabilizer link rod
Implementation Method 2
each attachment element comprises a metal ring welded directly on one of the ends of said metal tube
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a stabilizer link rod for a vehicle suspension, comprising a metal tube (1) including at its ends attachment elements (2) for housing articulations (3), and characterized in that each attachment element (2) comprises a metal ring (4) welded on one of the ends of said metal tube (1) and a polymer casing (5) covering said metal ring (4), the end of said metal tube (1) and the welding existing between both. The invention allows great weight savings, being comparable to a polymeric stabilizer, and its manufacturing processes are simple, fast and inexpensive.