Modular Tubular Console for Customizable Vehicle Interiors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern motor vehicle consoles are typically designed as fixed structures, failing to accommodate user-specific needs and preferences for customization of functional and convenience features.
Innovation Solution
A modular motor vehicle console design featuring a pair of exposed parallel tubular members operably coupled with the floorboard and instrument panel, allowing for customizable configurations through interchangeable accessories and adjustable components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a fixed preconfigured console structure is used, then structural integrity and manufacturing simplicity are maintained, but user customization capability and adaptability are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The console is divided into multiple independent tubular member segments that can be individually configured and assembled. Each tubular member can be separately manufactured and then combined to form different console configurations, enabling user customization while maintaining manageable manufacturing complexity through standardized components
Solution Approach 2:
The tubular members are designed with universal coupling mechanisms that allow them to serve multiple functions and be configured in various arrangements. The same basic tubular component can be used in different positions and orientations to create customized console layouts, providing adaptability without requiring entirely different structures for each configuration
2Adaptability or versatility
If a modular tubular member design is implemented, then user customization and configurability are enabled, but manufacturing complexity and assembly difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the console into standardized tubular members, each component can be manufactured independently using efficient processes. The segmentation allows for specialized manufacturing techniques to be applied to each segment while maintaining overall system integration through standardized coupling mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The tubular members are designed with adjustable parameters such as length, orientation, and coupling positions that can be modified during manufacturing or assembly. This allows for customization through parameter variation rather than requiring entirely different components, simplifying the manufacturing process while maintaining configurability
3Ease of operation
If fixed console features are used, then manufacturing precision and structural stability are maintained, but ease of operation and user convenience are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The console incorporates dynamic elements that allow users to adjust and reconfigure features according to their needs. The tubular members can be repositioned or reconfigured without compromising the underlying structural stability, providing ease of operation while maintaining reliability through a stable base structure
Solution Approach 2:
Coupling mechanisms serve as intermediaries between the fixed structural elements and the adjustable user-facing features. These intermediaries allow for easy reconfiguration of console features while maintaining secure structural connections, bridging the gap between structural stability and user convenience
Data Source
AI summary
A motor vehicle console comprises a mount and a pair of exposed parallel tubular members. Each of the tubular members has a forward horizontal section, an intermediate section extending rearwardly in at least partially an upward direction, and a rearward horizontal section, wherein each forward horizontal section is disposed at an elevation horizontally below the rearward horizontal section and each forward horizontal section is operatively coupled with the mount.