Modular Pipe Vehicle Body Structure for Cost Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing vehicle manufacturing processes require significant investment in facilities and have limited design freedom, leading to high production costs and long development times, especially when producing various types of vehicles or autonomous vehicles that do not require a driver, necessitating a more efficient and cost-effective manufacturing method.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle body structure composed of modularized components made from pipes, assembled through bolting or riveting, eliminating the need for pressing and welding processes, allowing for easy assembly, disassembly, and customization while reducing manufacturing costs and enhancing rigidity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional pressing and welding processes are used to manufacture vehicle bodies, then structural integrity and strength are improved, but manufacturing complexity and production costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle body is divided into multiple modular components (front body, rear body, side bodies, floor body) that can be manufactured separately and assembled together. Each module is formed by bending a single sheet of metal, eliminating the need for complex pressing processes while maintaining structural integrity through standardized connection structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces traditional welding processes with mechanical connection structures (connection holes, connection protrusions, and fastening mechanisms). This substitution eliminates the need for welding facilities and reduces manufacturing complexity while maintaining sufficient structural strength for vehicle assembly.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple molds are used to produce various types of vehicles, then design versatility is improved, but production costs and facility investment increase
Solution Approach 1:
The modular vehicle body design allows the same basic modules (front body, rear body, side bodies, floor body) to be used across different vehicle types. By varying the combination and configuration of these universal modules, multiple vehicle designs can be achieved without requiring separate molds for each vehicle type, thereby reducing production costs while maintaining design versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention enables flexible reconfiguration of vehicle body modules to adapt to different design requirements. The modular structure allows easy adjustment and recombination of components, providing design freedom without the need for expensive dedicated molds for each vehicle variant.
3Strength
If traditional vehicle body manufacturing processes are used, then structural strength is improved, but assembly time and development period increase
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle body modules are pre-formed by bending single sheets of metal into their final three-dimensional shapes, including pre-integrated connection structures (connection holes, protrusions). This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for time-consuming assembly operations and reduces overall assembly time while maintaining structural strength through the inherent design of the bent sheet structures.
Data Source
AI summary
A lower body for a vehicle includes front and rear main bodies each including pipes, a pair of first longitudinal members extending in a forward/rearward direction and spaced apart from each other in a transverse direction, a first transverse member extending in the transverse direction and connecting the first longitudinal members, and mounting parts each having an outer side to which the first longitudinal members and the first transverse member are coupled, and a pair of lower body main members connecting the outer sides of the mounting parts and two opposite sides of upper ends of the front and rear main bodies spaced apart from each other, the pair of lower body main members each having a pipe shape and extending forward and rearward to constitute upper side members of the front and rear main bodies and defining an overall length of the vehicle.