Automotive Power Receiver Arm Rotation to Cut Road Protrusion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automotive power receiving devices protrude from the vehicle's lower surface, increasing the risk of damage from road unevenness or obstacles, and require a larger dimension to maintain contact with power feeders.
Innovation Solution
A power receiving device with a coupling mechanism that includes a support arm swingable about a swing shaft center, allowing lateral rotation to suspend the power receiver horizontally during contact and vertically during storage, reducing the device's vertical dimension and enhancing stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the automotive power receiving device protrudes from the lower surface of the vehicle body to maintain contact with power feeders, then power reception capability is improved, but the risk of damage from road unevenness or obstacles increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support arm is designed to be swingable about a swing shaft center, allowing the power receiver to dynamically adjust its position between a contact position (for power reception) and a stored position (retracted away from road hazards). This dynamic configuration enables the system to adapt to different operational states, reducing damage risk while maintaining power reception capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The support arm is formed with a larger dimension in the width direction than in the thickness direction, and can laterally rotate about a lateral rotation shaft center. This dimensional reorientation allows the thickness direction to align with the up-down direction in the stored position, minimizing vertical protrusion and reducing exposure to road unevenness while maintaining structural strength through the larger width dimension.
2Reliability
If the dimension of the automotive power receiving device in the up-down direction is increased to ensure contact with power feeders, then power reception stability is improved, but the protrusion amount on the lower side increases
Solution Approach 1:
The swingable support arm allows the system to achieve power reception stability during contact while minimizing protrusion during storage. The arm can extend to the contact position for stable power reception, then retract to the stored position with reduced vertical dimension, thus resolving the contradiction between stability and protrusion amount.
Solution Approach 2:
By reorienting the support arm's dimensions through lateral rotation, the larger width dimension provides structural stability for power reception, while the smaller thickness dimension (when aligned vertically in stored position) minimizes protrusion amount. This dimensional transformation enables stable power reception without excessive protrusion.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the dimension of the automotive power receiving device is suppressed to be small in the up-down direction, then damage risk from road obstacles is reduced, but the ability to maintain contact with power feeders is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The swingable support arm enables the system to maintain a compact vertical profile during storage (reducing damage risk) while extending to the contact position during power reception (maintaining contact capability). The dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction between compact dimensions and contact capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The support arm's lateral rotation allows the larger width dimension to provide contact capability while the smaller thickness dimension (when vertical) minimizes protrusion. This dimensional reorientation enables reduced damage risk without sacrificing contact capability, as the width dimension ensures adequate contact surface area.
Data Source
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AI summary
In an automotive power receiving device (10), a support arm (52) is formed to have a larger dimension (L1) in a width direction (X) than a dimension in a thickness direction (Y) of the support arm (52), and a coupling mechanism (43) is configured to cause the support arm (52) to laterally rotate about a lateral rotation shaft center (A3), to take, in a contact position, a position in which a power receiver (45) is suspended by the support arm (52) and a thickness direction (Y) of the support arm (52) is along a horizontal direction, and take, in a stored position, a position in which the thickness direction (Y) of the support arm (52) is along an up-down direction (Z).