Inflatable Weather Strip Sealing for Expandable Vehicle Docking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle-building docking systems fail to maintain airtightness and sealing performance when the internal space of a vehicle expands or contracts, leading to inflow of external dust and noise, and cause wear on weather strips due to repeated sliding.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle-building docking system with a lower and upper weather strip, coupled to respective door frames, and a sealing tube between them that inflates or shrinks to seal the gap, using a dielectric elastomer material for elasticity and controlled by an air pump and controller.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the weather strip is hermetically sealed to maintain airtightness, then sealing performance is improved, but the weather strip experiences repeated sliding and wear
Solution Approach 1:
The weather strip system is divided into multiple segments: a fixed lower weather strip coupled to the lower door frame, and a movable upper weather strip coupled to the upper door frame. This segmentation allows the lower strip to remain stationary and avoid wear, while the upper strip moves with the door frame to maintain sealing contact.
Solution Approach 2:
A sealing tube is introduced as an intermediary component between the lower and upper weather strips. The sealing tube inflates to seal the gap between the strips, preventing direct contact and sliding between the weather strips themselves, thereby eliminating wear while maintaining airtightness.
2Volume of moving object
If the internal space of the vehicle is expanded by raising the roof, then the usable space is increased, but the airtightness of the vehicle door cannot be maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing system is designed to be dynamic rather than static. The upper weather strip moves vertically with the door frame to accommodate changes in internal space, and the sealing tube dynamically inflates and deflates to maintain the seal regardless of the gap size between the weather strips.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes physical parameters to maintain sealing: the sealing tube changes its volume and pressure (inflating when the gap increases during space expansion) to compensate for the changing distance between the lower and upper weather strips, thereby maintaining constant airtightness.
3Reliability
If the sealing tube is constantly inflated to maintain airtightness, then sealing performance is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing tube operates periodically rather than continuously. It inflates when the upper weather strip moves away from the lower weather strip (creating a gap) and deflates when they are in contact or close proximity, reducing energy consumption while maintaining sealing performance when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback control where the controller monitors the position of the upper door frame and the state of the weather strips, and accordingly controls the inflation and deflation of the sealing tube. This feedback mechanism ensures the sealing tube only operates when necessary to maintain airtightness, optimizing energy usage.
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
Secures sealing performance and prevents wear on weather strips by maintaining airtightness and preventing dust and noise ingress, even during space expansion or contraction.
Implementation Method 1
A vehicle-building docking system with a lower and upper weather strip, coupled to respective door frames, and a sealing tube between them that inflates or shrinks to seal the gap, using a dielectric elastomer material for elasticity
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle-building docking system and a method of controlling the same include a lower weather strip coupled to a lower door frame, an upper weather strip coupled to an upper door frame and configured to slide upwards or downwards together with the upper door frame with respect to the lower weather strip, and a sealing tube provided between the lower weather strip and the upper weather strip and configured to inflate after the upper weather strip slides upwards or downwards to seal the gap between the lower weather strip and the upper weather strip.