Joint Housing Insertion and Welding for Vehicle Components
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for producing vehicle components with joint housings are complex and costly, often requiring additional coating removal, laser cutting for through-holes, and double-sided welding, which increases production costs and risks crevice corrosion.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the insertion of a joint housing into a structural component's through-hole with its housing bottom first, followed by a materially-merged connection, allowing for a simpler and less expensive production process, including the use of beam-welding for a gap-free connection and post-treatment for corrosion protection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If pre-coatings are removed before materially-merging joining to avoid defects, then connection quality is improved, but additional effort and complexity are required
Solution Approach 1:
The joint housing and structural component are pre-coated with corrosion protection before assembly. The coating is applied in advance to the entire surface, including areas that will later be welded, eliminating the need for post-weld coating application and complex coating removal procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of the conventional approach of coating after welding (which requires complex processes), the patent inverts the sequence by coating before assembly and welding. This allows the coating to be applied to the entire surface area in a single operation before the components are joined.
2Reliability
If through-hole is produced by laser cutting to avoid damaging surface coating, then corrosion protection is maintained, but production complexity and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The surface coating is applied to the structural component before the through-hole is created. This preliminary coating application ensures that the entire outer surface, including areas around the through-hole, receives corrosion protection in a single operation, eliminating the need for subsequent coating repairs or complex coating application processes after hole creation.
3Reliability
If double-sided weld is used to integrate joint housing, then connection reliability is improved, but equipment complexity and cycle time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The welding process is segmented into two sequential single-sided welds instead of one complex double-sided weld. The joint housing is first welded to the front side of the structural component, then flipped and welded to the rear side. This segmentation simplifies the equipment requirements while maintaining connection reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The joint housing is dynamically repositioned (flipped) during the assembly process to enable welding from both sides using simple single-sided welding equipment. This dynamic repositioning allows the use of less complex equipment while achieving the same connection reliability as double-sided welding.
4Manufacturing precision
If cold-forging process is used for joint housing to meet welding tolerances, then welding precision is improved, but manufacturing complexity and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The manufacturing process is segmented into two stages: first, the joint housing is produced by simple stamping without requiring tight tolerances; second, the housing is flipped and welded to the structural component. This segmentation allows the use of simpler, less expensive stamping processes while achieving the required welding precision through the assembly and welding stage.
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 method reduces production complexity and costs while preventing crevice corrosion by ensuring a complete and gap-free weld seam, enabling the application of conventional corrosion protection coatings.
Implementation Method 1
after the insertion the joint housing is connected to the structural component in a materially-merged manner
Implementation Method 2
including the use of beam-welding for a gap-free connection
Data Source
AI summary
A method for producing a vehicle component (10), in which a joint housing (1) is inserted in a predetermined insertion direction (13) into a through-hole (12) of a structural component (11). The insertion of the joint housing (1) into the through-hole (12) in the insertion direction (13) terminates when an stop element (6) of the joint housing (1) abuts against the structural component (11). After the insertion, the joint housing (1) is connected to the structural component (11) in a materially-merged manner. To reduce the complexity and/or the production costs, the method includes the joint housing (1) being inserted into the through-hole (12) with its housing bottom (4) first.