Multi-part Shroud Ventilation and Rain Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
In motorcycles, the space between the radiator shroud and housed components is not effectively utilized, leading to exposure of electrical components to rainwater due to inadequate ventilation and protection.
Innovation Solution
A saddle-type vehicle design where a vehicle component is positioned within the shroud's width direction, with a shroud having an opening for ventilation and additional shroud parts covering it from above, ensuring protection from rainwater, and separate inner and outer shrouds for improved manufacturing and geometry flexibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If an upward air vent opening is provided for ventilation, then ventilation for the vehicle component is improved, but the vehicle component is directly exposed to rainwater
Solution Approach 1:
The shroud is divided into multiple parts: a first shroud portion forming the main body, and a second shroud portion that selectively covers the opening. This segmentation allows the opening to provide ventilation when needed while being coverable to protect against rainwater, resolving the contradiction between ventilation and protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The second shroud portion is configured to be movable or selectively positionable relative to the opening. It can be positioned to cover the opening for protection or moved away to allow ventilation, enabling dynamic adaptation between the conflicting requirements of rainwater protection and ventilation.
2Productivity
If vehicle components are disposed in spaces within the shroud, then part disposition efficiency is improved and vehicle size is reduced, but the components become vulnerable to environmental exposure
Solution Approach 1:
Vehicle components are nested within the shroud structure, utilizing the internal space efficiently. The shroud acts as a protective container that houses these components while shielding them from environmental factors like rainwater, thus achieving both compact arrangement and protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The shroud serves as an intermediary structure between the vehicle components and the external environment. It provides a protective barrier that isolates the components from harmful environmental factors while allowing controlled ventilation through the opening when required.
3Ease of manufacture
If a single-piece shroud is used, then manufacturing is simpler, but geometry flexibility and manufacturing efficiency are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The shroud is segmented into multiple independent portions (first shroud portion and second shroud portion) that can be manufactured separately using different processes and materials optimized for their specific functions, then assembled together. This improves both manufacturing flexibility and geometric adaptability while maintaining ease of manufacture through modular production.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple shroud portions manufactured with different geometric flexibilities and manufacturing optimizations are combined into a unified shroud structure. This merging allows each portion to be optimized independently for its specific requirements while achieving the overall functionality of a complete shroud system.
Data Source
AI summary
In a saddle-riding type vehicle including a shroud, efficiency is achieved by disposing a vehicle component in a space shielded by the shroud, and the vehicle component is suitably protected from, for example, rainwater, while ventilation for the vehicle component is ensured. A regulator is disposed on a first side of the vehicle, at a position at which the regulator does not overlap a fuel tank as seen in a top plan view. The regulator is covered by a right shroud from above and from outside in the vehicle width direction. The right shroud has an opening formed therein at a portion where the regulator faces upwardly. The opening overlaps with, and is covered by from above by part of the right shroud that is different from the portion of the right shroud at which the opening is formed in a top plan view.