Protective Sleeve Assembly for Impact-Resistant Sensor Harnessing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing protective sleeves for sensors in automotive applications face challenges in secure and removable attachment, as well as inadequate protection against impact forces and cut-through due to their soft nature and reliance on adhesives or frictional fits, which are unreliable in harsh engine compartment environments.
Innovation Solution
A semi-rigid, multi-layer protective sleeve assembly with a resilient end cap and a textile outer tube, featuring an inner tubular wall with energy dissipating features and ribs to enhance impact resistance and cut-through protection, allowing for secure and removable installation around electrical members.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If adhesive attachment is used to secure the sleeve to the sensor, then the attachment reliability is improved, but the ease of removal for servicing deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The protective sleeve is divided into modular components: a reusable sleeve body and a disposable adhesive-backed end cap. The end cap segments the attachment function from the protective covering, allowing the sleeve to be removed and reused while the end cap remains attached to the sensor. This resolves the contradiction by enabling reliable attachment through the adhesive end cap while maintaining ease of removal through modular design.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the sleeve is made soft and flexible for comfort and vibration damping, then the vibration damping capability is improved, but the protection against impact forces and cut-through deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The protective sleeve employs a composite structure combining a soft textile outer layer for vibration damping with a semi-rigid inner tube providing impact and cut-through resistance. This multi-material composite approach resolves the contradiction by allowing each layer to specialize in its primary function: the textile layer absorbs vibrations while the semi-rigid core provides mechanical strength against impacts and sharp objects.
3Strength
If the sleeve is made semi-rigid for impact protection, then the protection against impact forces is improved, but the ease of assembly and disassembly deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The protective system is segmented into a semi-rigid inner tube for impact protection and a separate resilient end cap for easy assembly. The end cap's resilient fingers can compress to allow the semi-rigid tube to be inserted, then expand to lock it in place. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by allowing the semi-rigid portion to provide impact protection while the separate resilient cap provides ease of assembly and disassembly.
4Ease of repair
If tape and friction fits are used for attachment, then the ease of removal is improved, but the attachment reliability under heat and vibration deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment function is segmented into a reusable sleeve body and a disposable adhesive-backed end cap. The end cap concentrates the attachment reliability requirement in a single component designed specifically for secure mounting under heat and vibration, while the sleeve body remains easily removable. This resolves the contradiction by placing the reliable attachment mechanism in the dedicated end cap rather than relying on tape or friction on the entire sleeve.
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
The sleeve assembly effectively minimizes impact transmission, enhances cut-through resistance, and provides reliable protection against contamination and vibration, while allowing for easy assembly and disassembly, addressing the limitations of existing attachment methods and improving durability.
Implementation Method 1
The at least one finger is resiliently flexible in opposite axial directions to allow assembly and disassembly of the protective sleeve assembly about the electrical member being protected
Implementation Method 2
The inner tube has a semi-rigid tubular wall including energy dissipating features that act to minimize the transmission of impact forces to the electrical member
Implementation Method 3
The outer tube is a textile tube disposed about the inner tube to provide cut-through resistance and resistance to abrasion to the protective sleeve assembly
Data Source
AI summary
A protective sleeve assembly for protecting an electrical member and a wire harness extending therethrough and method of construction thereof are provided. The sleeve assembly includes a multi-layer tube extending longitudinally along an axis between opposite ends. An end cap is disposed over one of the opposite ends. The end cap has an opening through which the wire harness extends to allow assembly and disassembly of the protective sleeve assembly along the wire harness and about the electrical member. The multilayer tube includes an inner tube and an outer tube. The inner tube has a semi-rigid tubular wall including radially extending energy dissipating features to minimize the transmission of impact forces to the electrical member. The outer tube is a textile tube disposed about the inner tube.