Outdoor Unit Casing Structure for Top Plate Stress Relief
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Solution Overview
Problem
The outdoor unit's top plate experiences stress concentration and deformation due to the load from support pillars, which are bent in shapes like squares or L-shapes, leading to potential impression or deformation during storage and stacking.
Innovation Solution
The support pillars have standing wall portions with substantially horizontal abutment portions that extend upward and contact the top plate, increasing the contact area and reducing pressure, while buffer portions between the standing wall and abutment portions ease impacts, and the abutment portions are integrated with the standing wall portions to minimize part count.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If support pillars with bent shapes (square or L-shape) are used, then structural strength and stability are improved, but stress concentration occurs at the contact parts of the top plate leading to deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The support pillar is segmented into multiple functional portions: standing wall portions for structural support, abutment portions for load distribution, and buffer portions for stress relief. This segmentation allows each portion to perform its specific function optimally, preventing stress concentration while maintaining structural strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The abutment portions act as intermediary elements between the standing wall portions and the top plate. These portions extend upward from the standing wall portions and contact the top plate with a larger surface area, mediating the load transfer and distributing stress evenly to prevent deformation.
2Ease of manufacture
If support pillars with small contact area are used, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but pressure on the top plate increases causing deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The abutment portions are integrated with the standing wall portions as a unified structure, eliminating the need for separate components. This merging maintains manufacturing simplicity while the abutment portions extend upward to increase contact area with the top plate, thereby reducing pressure without adding complex assembly steps.
3Reliability
If buffer portions are added between standing wall portions and abutment portions, then impact absorption is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The buffer portions are formed by curving the border portions between the standing wall portions and abutment portions into a round shape. This curvature provides elastic deformation capability for impact absorption while maintaining a simple, continuous structure that does not require additional components or complex assembly procedures.
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
This configuration reduces stress concentration on the top plate, prevents deformation, and simplifies the buffer member, lowering storage costs by distributing loads effectively and reducing the need for a thick buffer member.
Implementation Method 1
a contact area of the support pillars with the top plate can be increased, and a pressure that the top plate receives from the support pillars can be reduced as far as possible
Implementation Method 2
buffer portions for easing an impact received from the top plate side are provided between the standing wall portions and the abutment portions
Data Source
AI summary
A casing of an outdoor unit includes support pillars, each of the support pillars having standing wall portions arranged along the up and down direction, and a top plate mounted on upper ends of the support pillars. Substantially horizontal abutment portions extending upward from at least a part of the standing wall portions and being brought into surface contact with a lower surface of the top plate in a state where the top plate is floated up from upper ends of the standing wall portions are provided in the upper end of each of the support pillars.