Hybrid Plastic-Metal Pedal Support with V-Shaped Reinforcement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pedal supports for motor vehicles face challenges with weight, complexity, and cost in metal supports, and insufficient mechanical features in plastic supports, particularly in limited space situations.
Innovation Solution
A hybrid pedal support made of plastic with a metal reinforcement in a V-shaped geometry, providing minimal weight, improved mechanical features, and economic savings by using glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene for the body and steel for the reinforcement, which optimally transmits stress to the structural vehicle portion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If metal supports are used for coupling pedals to motor vehicle structural portions, then mechanical strength and rigidity are sufficient, but weight is high, manufacturing complexity increases, and cost rises
Solution Approach 1:
The support combines plastic material for the main body with metal reinforcement elements strategically positioned in high-stress zones. This composite structure provides sufficient mechanical strength where needed while maintaining overall lightweight characteristics, resolving the contradiction between strength requirements and weight reduction goals.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of making the entire support from heavy metal, metal reinforcement is applied locally only in critical areas where stress concentration occurs. This localized reinforcement approach maintains necessary strength at minimal weight penalty, addressing the contradiction between overall strength requirements and weight reduction.
2Weight of moving object
If plastic supports are used to reduce weight, then weight decreases and design freedom increases, but mechanical features become insufficient for high-stress zones
Solution Approach 1:
The support uses a composite construction with plastic as the base material for weight reduction and design freedom, supplemented by metal reinforcement elements in critical stress zones. This combination maintains lightweight advantages while providing necessary mechanical strength where required.
Solution Approach 2:
Metal reinforcement is strategically positioned only in high-stress zones such as the coupling area and fixing zones, rather than throughout the entire support structure. This localized approach provides necessary strength enhancement while minimizing weight increase, resolving the contradiction between overall weight reduction and localized strength requirements.
3Strength
If metal reinforcement is added to plastic body, then mechanical features improve, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The metal reinforcement elements are pre-positioned within the plastic body during the injection molding process itself, rather than being added as separate post-manufacturing steps. This integration of reinforcement placement into the primary manufacturing process minimizes additional manufacturing complexity while achieving the necessary structural strengthening.
Solution Approach 2:
The manufacturing process merges the creation of the plastic body and the positioning of metal reinforcement elements into a single integrated operation. The reinforcement elements are embedded within the plastic matrix during molding, combining two manufacturing steps into one and reducing overall manufacturing complexity despite the composite nature of the final product.
Data Source
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AI summary
Support suitable for coupling at least one pedal (4) to a structural portion of a motor vehicle, comprising a body (30) comprising at least one coupling where the pedal (4) is coupled through a shaft (6) and at least one fixing zone (34,) to the structural portion, and at least one reinforcement (20) fixed to said body (30). The body (30) is made of a plastic material and the reinforcement (20) is made of metal, the reinforcement (20) comprising a central body (22) fixed to the coupling, arms (23,24) extending from the central body (22) to fixing zones (34) of the body (30), the arms (23,24) together with the central body (22) forming a substantially V-shaped geometry, the central body (22) being arranged as the vertex of said geometry.