Press-Hardened Trailer Coupling Support Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Carrier arrangements for trailer hitches and load carriers need to balance rigidity for load-bearing capacity with flexibility to absorb impact forces, particularly in rear-end collisions, while minimizing material usage and weight to reduce fuel consumption.
Innovation Solution
The carrier arrangement employs a base body that is hot-formed and quenched during press hardening, allowing for localized differences in hardness to distribute force homogeneously, with reinforcement bodies like rib structures or technical foams integrated to enhance rigidity and resilience, and a multi-component design that combines different materials and manufacturing processes for optimal strength and lightness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the base body is made uniformly rigid throughout, then load-bearing capacity is improved, but flexibility to absorb impact forces deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The base body is press-hardened in sections to create local differences in hardness. Specifically, the central region (transverse center area) is press-hardened to high strength for load-bearing, while peripheral regions remain softer for flexibility. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by providing both rigidity where needed and flexibility where required.
2Strength
If more material is used to increase rigidity, then load-bearing capacity is improved, but weight increases leading to higher fuel consumption
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of uniformly increasing material throughout the base body, the invention applies press-hardening locally to specific regions that require enhanced rigidity. This selective strengthening achieves the necessary load-bearing capacity while minimizing overall material usage and weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The base body exhibits a composite structure with regions of different material properties - press-hardened high-strength regions and non-press-hardened lower-strength regions. This composite approach allows optimization of both strength and weight by placing material only where structurally necessary.
3Strength
If the base body is press-hardened in sections with different hardness, then homogeneous force distribution is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pressing tool is designed with locally differentiated pressing elements that apply different pressures to different regions of the base body during formation. This allows section-specific hardness control in a single manufacturing step, achieving homogeneous force distribution without requiring multiple separate manufacturing operations.
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 approach results in a high-strength, lightweight carrier arrangement that effectively absorbs forces and moments, providing both rigidity and flexibility, while minimizing material usage and production costs, thus enhancing safety and fuel efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
heating boron steel to 880-950°C, then hot forming it and cooling it in the die so that it is hardened
Implementation Method 2
the base body is hot-formed and then cooled, in particular quenched
Implementation Method 3
heating boron steel to 880-950°C, then hot forming it and cooling it in the die so that it is hardened
Data Source
Figure 1~4
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Figure 9~11
AI summary
The invention relates to a support arrangement (10; 110; 210; 310) for a trailer coupling (1) or a load carrier (L), comprising a cross member (11; 111; 211; 311) and side carriers (12, 112; 212; 312) connected to the cross member (11; 111; 211; 311) for mounting on a rear of a vehicle body (F), and at least one bracket (15; 215; 315) arranged on the cross member (11; 111; 211; 311) for a trailer coupling (1) or for a coupling part (M) of a load carrier (L). It is provided that the support arrangement (10; 110; 210; 310) has at least one supporting component (50-350) which has a base body (16; 116; 216, 316) produced entirely or at least partially by press hardening.