Automotive Lamp Bracket With Tool-Required Locking Handle
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current lighting and signaling devices for motor vehicles face issues with lamp replacement costs, complex support shapes leading to high production expenses, and safety concerns due to easy manual dismantling of unconventional lamps, which complicate the production of electrical harnesses and increase the cost of replacement lamps.
Innovation Solution
A lamp holder with a support that features complementary mechanical assembly means with a grip handle allowing manual locking but requiring a tool for unlocking, along with a counterpart providing flexible contactors for secure electrical connection, enabling reversible assembly and safe lamp exchange without replacing the entire support.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of moving object
If unconventional lamps with reduced volume and longer lifespan are used, then lighting efficiency is improved, but manufacturing cost increases due to complex support shapes
Solution Approach 1:
The lamp assembly is segmented into separable components: the lamp itself and the support structure. This allows the lamp to be replaced independently without replacing the entire assembly, reducing maintenance costs while allowing the support to have optimized geometry for manufacturing
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of making the lamp permanently fixed to the support, the invention enables easy separation. The reversible assembly mechanism inverts the traditional approach where the lamp holder is designed to release the lamp readily, rather than the lamp being difficult to remove
2Reliability
If lamps are permanently fixed to support, then assembly reliability is improved, but replacement cost increases requiring entire assembly replacement
Solution Approach 1:
The connection between lamp and support transitions from static permanent fixation to dynamic reversible fixation. The support can be easily assembled and disassembled using the gripping handle mechanism, allowing reliable operation during use while enabling cost-effective replacement by separating just the lamp from the support
3Reliability
If support has complex shape for secure locking, then locking reliability is improved, but production cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The complex locking geometry is extracted from the main support body and concentrated in dedicated locking features (protrusions and recesses). This allows the majority of the support structure to have simpler, more manufacturable geometry while maintaining secure locking through specialized localized features
4Ease of operation
If manual dismantling is easy, then ease of operation is improved, but safety decreases due to accidental disassembly
Solution Approach 1:
A tool is introduced as an intermediary to perform the disassembly operation. The gripping handle is designed to accept external tools rather than being directly manipulatable by hand, ensuring that only deliberate tool-assisted actions can disassemble the connection, preventing accidental disengagement while maintaining controlled ease of operation
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
The bracket has a lamp (1) assembled at a case, and a base (13) comprising a gripping handle (50) composed of two ramp portions symmetrical with respect to a longitudinal axis defined by the bracket which is made of a plastic material. The ramp portions comprise respective helicoid portions and support surfaces (53, 54), which are oriented in a locking direction of the bracket. The helicoid portions provide a contact surface parallel to the locking direction, and the support surfaces permit to pivot the bracket around a rotation axis in the locking direction.