Inflatable Bellow Door Guard with LIDAR Impact Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicles suffer from superficial damage to doors due to accidental contact with adjacent cars, and existing solutions fail to prevent such damage effectively while also providing situational awareness and display functionality.
Innovation Solution
A vehicular apron with accordion bellow strips or piles that inflate upon detection of nearby objects using LIDAR, coupled with magnetizable materials and hook clips for secure attachment, offering protection and display capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a traditional door guard is used, then it provides basic protection against minor contact, but it cannot effectively prevent superficial damage from accidental contact and can be easily removed by car wash brushes
Solution Approach 1:
The door guard transitions from a static structure to a dynamic inflatable structure. The bellow strip remains collapsed during normal operation and only expands when inflation valves are activated upon detecting potential impact, providing protection only when needed while maintaining ease of operation during normal use.
Solution Approach 2:
The physical state of the door guard changes from collapsed to inflated through parameter change (volume expansion). This allows the same structure to provide different levels of protection based on the situation, effectively preventing damage during potential impact while remaining unobtrusive during normal operation.
2Reliability
If a fixed protective structure is used, then it provides continuous protection, but it increases device complexity and cannot provide situational awareness
Solution Approach 1:
The LIDAR sensor performs preliminary detection of potential threats before impact occurs. The system prepares for protection by detecting objects in proximity and activating inflation valves in advance, allowing the bellow strip to expand before actual contact happens, thus providing protection without requiring a permanently deployed structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces a purely mechanical protective structure with an integrated sensor-actuator system. LIDAR sensors detect potential threats and trigger pneumatic actuators (inflation valves) to deploy the protective bellow strip, substituting continuous mechanical protection with intelligent, on-demand protection.
3Reliability
If the bellow strip is always inflated, then it provides maximum protection, but it increases energy consumption and creates constant obstruction
Solution Approach 1:
The bellow strip inflates periodically or on-demand based on LIDAR detection rather than remaining continuously inflated. The system monitors the environment and activates protection only when potential threats are detected, reducing energy consumption while maintaining adequate protection levels through periodic deployment.
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 absorbs impact, reduces repair expenses, and lessens anxiety by providing situational awareness through LIDAR, while preventing unintentional removal and allowing for message display.
Implementation Method 1
LIDAR determines ranges (variable distance) by targeting the object with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver
Implementation Method 2
measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver
Implementation Method 3
The bellow elements inflated in the expanded condition can absorb the possible impact
Implementation Method 4
one or more magnetizable material along the vehicle-facing surface; a hook clip at each end of the bellow strip, wherein each hook clip has a compression clip along an inner surface of a hook portion of the hook clip, wherein each hook clip has a magnetizable material along an inner surface of a hook portion of the hook clip
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicular apron system is provided. The vehicular apron is dimensioned and adapted to extend the length of a door of the vehicle at its outward-most portion, thereby absorbing damage that would otherwise be imparted into the underlying door. The bellow elements have accordion sidewalls which facilitates their movement between a uninflated condition and an expanded condition for absorbing impact. The LIDAR situational awareness functionality is operatively associated with the inflation valves fluidly coupled to the bellow elements, wherein these bellow elements are automatically urged to an expanded condition in response to an object within the vicinity of the vehicle. The LIDAR situational awareness functionality provides video output to be used as evidence in cases of theft or contested accidents.