Integrated Plastic Tail Door Assembly for Lightweight Rear Closure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing plastic tail doors face issues with weight, appearance quality, and assembly complexity due to heavy windshields, poor sealing, and mismatched components, which compromise their attractiveness and reliability.
Innovation Solution
A high-integration-level plastic tail door design that integrates a spoiler, windshield, high brake light, and windscreen decorating member into a single, double-shot molded upper outer plate with transparent and non-transparent layers, featuring open holes and a metal reinforcing structure for improved assembly and sealing, and a metal reinforcing plate for enhanced stiffness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a traditional inorganic glass windshield is used, then the windshield provides good optical properties and durability, but the tail door weight increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter of the windshield from traditional inorganic glass to a plastic material with refractive index 1.5-1.7 and Abbe number 30-50, achieving weight reduction while maintaining optical properties. This parameter change allows the windshield to meet optical requirements with significantly lower density material.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite material design by combining plastic material with specific optical parameters to create a windshield that replaces heavy glass. The composite approach integrates structural support and optical functions in a single lightweight component, achieving both weight reduction and durability.
2Ease of manufacture
If the windshield is mounted after the spoiler with mounting clearance, then assembly is simplified, but the appearance quality and attractiveness of the tail door deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the windshield and spoiler into a single integrated component, eliminating the need for separate mounting and clearances. This integration achieves seamless appearance quality while the molded structure ensures proper assembly, resolving the contradiction between aesthetic continuity and manufacturing simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated windshield-spoiler component performs multiple functions simultaneously: it provides the windshield optical function, the spoiler aerodynamic function, and the structural support function. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate components and their associated mounting clearances, achieving both appearance quality and assembly simplicity.
3Strength
If the windshield is adhered to the tail door with adhesive, then the windshield is secured, but the assembly difficulty increases and sealing problems may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the windshield and spoiler into a single molded component, eliminating the need for adhesive bonding. This integration removes the sealing interface that would require adhesive, thereby reducing assembly difficulty and eliminating potential sealing problems while maintaining structural strength through the molded connection.
4Measurement precision
If the high brake light is mounted in a groove of the spoiler from front to back, then the high brake light is positioned, but the sealing performance and appearance effect become unsatisfying due to multiple sealing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the high brake light mounting structure directly into the molded tail door body, combining the positioning function and sealing function into a single integrated structure. This eliminates the need for separate grooves and multiple sealing interfaces, achieving precise positioning while improving sealing performance and appearance.
5Ease of manufacture
If the windscreen decorating member and tail door are assembled separately, then manufacturing is simplified, but the positioning difficulty increases and the clearance plane and appearance become unsatisfying
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the windscreen decorating member directly into the molded tail door body, combining manufacturing steps to eliminate separate assembly. This integration ensures precise positioning and perfect clearance planes are achieved through the molding process itself, while the decorating member maintains its aesthetic function, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing simplicity and positioning precision.
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 design enhances the appearance and reliability of the tail door, reduces weight and assembly complexity, ensures proper assembly clearance, and simplifies the design while saving materials and costs.
Implementation Method 1
the tail door upper outer plate has two layers and is formed by double-shot molding, with a first layer being a transparent layer and a second layer being a black non-transparent layer
Implementation Method 2
a hardened coating is arranged on an outer layer of the transparent layer
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a high-integration-level plastic tail door, comprising a tail door upper outer plate, a tail light, a tail door lower outer plate, an inner plate, and a high brake light, wherein the tail door upper outer plate, as a whole, is integrated with a spoiler, a tail door windshield, a windscreen decorating member, and a high brake light cover; the tail door upper outer plate is of two layers and is formed by means of double-shot molding, with a first layer being a transparent layer and a second layer being a black non-transparent layer; a first open hole is provided at the position of the high brake light in a black non-transparent layer area; a second open hole is provided in the middle of the tail door windshield; and a hardened coating is arranged on the outer layer of the transparent layer.