Vehicle Lighting Sealing Structure Anti-Turn Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sealing structures for vehicle lighting units are prone to incomplete sealing due to the sealing member potentially turning during attachment, leading to water ingress, and existing solutions like anti-turn pins or double-faced tape increase costs and complexity.
Innovation Solution
A sealing structure featuring engagement protrusions and slits outside the sealing wall, providing a friction force to prevent the sealing member from turning, and a positioning pin to ensure proper alignment, eliminating the need for additional holes in the vehicle body panel and simplifying manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a pointed anti-turn pin is provided inside the sealing wall to prevent the sealing member from turning, then the sealing member is made difficult to turn, but it is necessary to form an additional hole in the lighting unit attachment wall portion to prevent interference, which increases manufacturing cost and complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The engagement protrusion is extracted from the sealing wall and positioned on the outer peripheral surface of the frame, separate from the sealing cavity. This extraction eliminates the need for additional holes in the lighting unit attachment wall portion, as the engagement mechanism no longer interferes with the sealing member's placement against the vehicle body panel.
Solution Approach 2:
The engagement protrusion is positioned in a different spatial dimension (on the outer peripheral surface of the frame) rather than inside the sealing wall. This dimensional change allows the engagement mechanism to function without interfering with the sealing member's attachment to the vehicle body panel, eliminating the need for additional holes.
2Reliability
If the end of the sealing wall is covered with double-faced tape to prevent turning, then the sealing member is made difficult to turn, but the cost is increased and additional troublesome tasks are required
Solution Approach 1:
The engagement protrusion on the frame and engagement hole in the sealing member form a self-aligning, self-securing mechanism. The engagement protrusion automatically guides the sealing member into the correct position and prevents turning through the mechanical interference of the engagement hole, eliminating the need for external adhesives like double-faced tape.
Solution Approach 2:
The chemical bonding mechanism of double-faced tape is replaced with a mechanical engagement system consisting of the engagement protrusion and engagement hole. This mechanical system provides turning prevention through physical interference rather than adhesive bonding, simplifying the manufacturing process and eliminating additional troublesome tasks.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the bulb socket hole is increased to cover the anti-turn pin position, then the anti-turn pin interference is prevented, but the stiffness of the vehicle body panel is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The engagement protrusion is extracted from the sealing wall area and positioned on the outer peripheral surface of the frame. This extraction eliminates the need to enlarge the bulb socket hole to accommodate the engagement mechanism, thereby preserving the structural integrity and stiffness of the vehicle body panel.
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
The solution effectively prevents the sealing member from turning, ensuring reliable sealing without increasing manufacturing costs or complexity, and allows for a simpler die structure during frame molding.
Implementation Method 1
an engagement hole through which the engagement protrusion extends to provide friction force between the engagement hole and the engagement protrusion
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle lighting unit sealing structure includes a continuous sealing wall protruding from a rear surface of a housing of a rear combination tail lamp so as to surround bulb sockets supported by the housing, an engagement protrusion positioned outside the sealing wall, the engagement protrusion protruding from the rear surface of the housing so as to extend substantially parallel to the sealing wall, a sheet-like sealing member attached to an end of the sealing wall so as to cover the sealing wall, the sealing member having a slit through which the engagement protrusion extends to provide friction force between the slit and the protrusion, and a stud bolt, positioned inside the sealing wall, temporarily retaining the sealing member. The sealing member is sandwiched between the sealing wall and a lighting unit attachment wall portion of a vehicle body panel to seal a space inside the sealing wall.