Vehicle Door Latch Impact Resistance via Projected Part Engagement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicle door latch devices lack sufficient impact resistance during vehicle collisions, leading to unintended deformation and potential release of the engagement between the striker and latch, compromising safety.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle door latch device design featuring a body with a striker advancing groove, a cover plate with a projected part, and a back plate with an engagement hole, where the projected part from the back plate fits into the engagement hole upon deformation from external forces, preventing the release of engagement and enhancing impact resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional door latch device structure is used, then the device is simple in structure, but the impact resistance is insufficient and unintended deformation occurs during vehicle collision
Solution Approach 1:
The door latch device is divided into multiple functional components: a body housing, a latch mechanism, a striker advancing groove, and a cover plate. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function while collectively providing enhanced impact resistance without excessive overall complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The striker advancing groove is formed on the surface of the body, creating a three-dimensional path for the striker. This dimensional feature allows the striker to advance along a controlled trajectory, improving engagement reliability and impact resistance while maintaining reasonable structural complexity.
2Reliability
If the latch structure is made more robust to prevent deformation, then the impact resistance improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The latch is pre-configured in a positioned state within the body, and the striker advancing groove is pre-formed to guide the striker's movement. This preliminary arrangement ensures that when impact occurs, the components are already in optimal positions for maintaining engagement reliability without requiring complex active control mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The body acts as an intermediary structure between the latch and the external environment. It houses and protects the latch mechanism while providing the striker advancing groove that mediates the interaction between the striker and the latch, thereby improving reliability without directly complicating the latch itself.
3Ease of operation
If the striker advancing groove is formed on the body surface, then the striker can advance properly for engagement, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The striker advancing groove is extracted as a distinct feature from the body structure, forming a dedicated path on the body surface. This extraction allows the groove to be optimized for striker advancement functionality while being integrated into the existing body, balancing ease of operation with structural simplicity.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle door latch device includes: a body which is provided in one of a door of a vehicle or a vehicle body, a striker advancing groove being formed on one surface of the body; a latch configured to be meshed with the advanced striker to hold the door at a closed position; a cover plate installed on the surface of the body on which the striker advancing groove is formed; and a back plate fixed to the cover plate with the body placed therebetween. One of the cover plate or the back plate includes a projected part which is projected in an inside-outside direction of the vehicle. Other one of the cover plate or the back plate includes an engagement hole into which the projected part advances.