Method for manufacturing a cover for air conditioning device for vehicle
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air conditioning device covers for vehicles, particularly those for railway vehicles, face challenges with high weight due to stainless steel plates and angle bars, low productivity due to welding and bonding requirements, and high costs associated with thermal processing and curved molding dies for fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) sandwich panels.
Innovation Solution
A cover for air conditioning devices using a foamed material core with heat insulating properties, covered by a fiber-reinforced plastic surface member, where the core is elastically deformed into a curved shape using a molding die, eliminating the need for additional heat insulating materials and reducing manufacturing steps and costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a stainless steel plate with angle bars is used as the cover structure, then the structural strength is ensured, but the total weight becomes large
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a composite structure consisting of a foam core material (providing strength and stiffness) combined with a skin layer (providing surface integrity and heat insulation). This composite sandwich structure achieves high structural strength with significantly reduced weight compared to solid stainless steel plates, as the foam core provides excellent strength-to-weight ratio while the skin layers maintain structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs foam core material with a porous cellular structure that provides high strength-to-weight ratio. The foam structure inherently provides both mechanical strength and heat insulation properties, eliminating the need for separate heat insulation layers while maintaining lightweight characteristics.
2Strength
If reinforcing members are fixed by welding and heat insulating material is bonded onto the plate, then the structural integrity is improved, but productivity becomes low
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions into a single integrated structure. The foam core material simultaneously provides structural strength, stiffness, and heat insulation properties. The skin layers are integrally formed with the foam core in a single molding process, eliminating separate welding and bonding operations. This integration dramatically improves productivity while maintaining structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated composite sandwich structure is manufactured as a single piece through molding, where the skin layers and foam core are formed together. This eliminates the need for post-assembly operations such as welding reinforcing members and bonding heat insulation materials separately, thereby significantly improving manufacturing efficiency and productivity.
3Shape
If thermal processing or cutting work is performed on the core material to obtain a curved shape, then the required curved shape is achieved, but productivity becomes low and costs run up
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates the curved shape directly into the foam core material before the skin layers are applied. The foam core is pre-formed with the required curved geometry through molding, eliminating the need for subsequent thermal processing or cutting operations. This preliminary shaping action improves productivity and reduces manufacturing costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The foam core material is molded into the desired curved shape before assembly, and the skin layers are then formed to match this pre-established curvature. This approach avoids the need for expensive curved molding dies and thermal processing equipment, as the curved shape is achieved through the foam core's inherent moldability rather than post-processing of the skin layers.
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 results in a lightweight cover with improved productivity and increased withstand load, achieved through elastic deformation of the core under its own weight, eliminating the need for thermal processing and costly curved molding dies, thus reducing production costs while maintaining heat insulating and mechanical properties.
Implementation Method 1
a core made of a foamed material having heat insulating property
Implementation Method 2
the core is elastically deformed into a curved shape
Implementation Method 3
impregnating the fibers with the resin by injecting the resin into a sealed space formed between the molding die and the core by vacuuming
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~5
Figure 6
AI summary
A cover (10) for an air conditioning device for a railway vehicle is a cover for an air conditioning device for a vehicle, which covers an air-conditioner main body. The cover (10) includes a core (11) made of a foamed material having heat insulating property, and a surface member (12) made of a fiber reinforced plastic, which covers entire surfaces of the core (11). The core (11) is deformed into a curved shape by elastic deformation.