Polygonal Vehicle Accessory Support Element for Easier Attachment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicular support elements with tubular configurations face challenges in ease of removably attaching accessories, inefficiencies in packaging, and incompatibility with different cross-sectional profiles, leading to increased shipping costs and mechanical property variations.
Innovation Solution
A support element with a polygonal cross-sectional profile, specifically an irregular octagonal configuration, featuring uniform wall thickness and symmetrical faces, allowing for efficient attachment of accessories and reducing dead-space during packing, while maintaining equivalent mechanical properties to circular cross-sectional tubes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional circular cross-sectional support elements are used, then manufacturing is simple, but attachment of accessories is difficult and packaging efficiency is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The support element transitions from a symmetric circular cross-section to an asymmetric polygonal cross-section with flat faces and angled surfaces. This asymmetry provides flat attachment surfaces for accessories while maintaining manufacturability through standard forming processes, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing simplicity and attachment ease.
Solution Approach 2:
The support element features localized flat faces and angled surfaces at specific locations rather than changing the entire structure. These localized geometric modifications provide attachment surfaces where needed while keeping the overall structure simple and manufacturable, addressing both manufacturing ease and attachment requirements.
2Strength
If conventional circular cross-sectional support elements are used, then structural integrity is maintained, but packaging efficiency decreases due to increased dead-space
Solution Approach 1:
The circular cross-section is replaced with a polygonal cross-section that has flat faces and angled surfaces. This asymmetric geometry allows support elements to be packed more efficiently with reduced dead-space between components while maintaining structural integrity through optimized face orientations and thickness distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The support element geometry is modified in the cross-sectional dimension, transitioning from a circular profile to a polygonal profile with multiple flat surfaces. This dimensional change enables better stacking and packing arrangements in three-dimensional space, reducing packaging dead-space while preserving load-bearing capacity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If support elements with differing mechanical properties are designed for different portions, then functional requirements are met, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support element incorporates varying wall thicknesses at different locations and orientations, with thicker sections at faces requiring higher strength and thinner sections where less load is expected. This localized variation in thickness provides different mechanical properties at different portions of the same component without requiring multiple parts or complex assembly, maintaining design simplicity while achieving functional adaptability.
Data Source
AI summary
The present technology generally relates to an attachment mechanism connectable to a support element, the attachment mechanism comprising: a first member having a first portion configured to engage the support element; and a second member pivotally connected to the first member, the second member being pivotable between a first position and a second position and being configured to engage the support element. When the attachment mechanism is disposed on the support element and the second member is pivoted to the closed position, the attachment mechanism is configured to fixedly connect to the support element.