Vehicle Kick Sensor Placement in Closed Cross-Section Space
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle lower structures with kick sensors for automatic back door operation are prone to erroneous operations due to the entry of foreign objects like soil, rain, or snow, which can lead to incorrect detection and malfunction.
Innovation Solution
The kick sensor is placed within a closed cross-section space formed by the rear bumper cover and under cover, isolated from the outside, with a suitable placement surface for accurate detection and a detachable fixation mechanism using integrated locking hook-leg elements or clip portions, reducing the need for additional adhesion sheets and simplifying attachment and exchange processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the kick sensor is provided inside the rear bumper cover, then the convenience of automatic back door operation is improved, but foreign objects such as soil, rain, or snow may enter and cause erroneous operations
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor is divided into multiple sensor parts (e.g., three sensor parts) arranged in the width direction with specific spacing (10-20 cm) between adjacent parts. This segmentation allows the system to distinguish between a user's foot (which would trigger sensors at specific intervals) and foreign objects (which would not follow the expected spatial pattern), thereby maintaining reliability while preserving automatic operation functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
A protective structure is introduced as an intermediary element between the foreign environment and the kick sensor. This protective structure prevents foreign objects (soil, rain, snow) from directly contacting the sensor while still allowing the sensor to detect user feet through the protected opening, thus resolving the contradiction between protection and detection functionality.
2Ease of operation
If the kick sensor is placed on the rear bumper cover, then the automatic door function is enabled, but the placement surface requirements (length, inclination angle, smooth curved surface) may not be satisfied due to design constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The rear floor cover is designed to serve multiple functions: it acts as a structural component of the vehicle interior, provides a mounting surface for the kick sensor, and can be configured with appropriate geometric features (length, inclination angle, smooth curved surface) to satisfy sensor placement requirements. This multi-functionality allows the sensor to be placed in locations that meet both automatic door functionality and surface requirements without adding significant device complexity.
3Reliability
If multiple sensor parts are placed with spacing of 10-20 cm to reduce erroneous detection, then the reliability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple sensor parts are merged into a single integrated sensor assembly that is mounted on the rear floor cover. The sensor parts are arranged in a specific pattern (10-20 cm spacing) and connected through common mounting structures and signal processing circuits. This merging approach maintains the detection accuracy benefits of multiple sensors while reducing overall device complexity compared to having completely separate sensor units.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4A~5A
AI summary
A lower structure (20) of a vehicle (10) includes a rear bumper cover (40), a rear floor cover serving as an under cover (60) that is provided at a lower side, in an up-and-down direction of the vehicle (10), than a floor panel (30) of the vehicle (10) and at a front side of the vehicle (10) relative to the rear bumper cover (40), and a kick sensor (80) having a signal line (82, 84) which extends in a width direction of the vehicle (10) and a sensor part (86, 88) placed on the signal line (82, 84). The kick sensor (80) is placed inside a closed cross-section space (26) surrounded by a connected structure of the rear bumper cover (40) and the under cover (60) and formed on the side of the floor panel (30), isolated from an outside of the vehicle (10).