Motor Vehicle Rear Tailgate Control for Slope Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automatically controllable tailgate systems in vehicles often cause user inconvenience by unexpectedly opening or closing both tailgates during overlap, and there is a risk of payload sliding out due to inadequate control over longitudinal inclination.
Innovation Solution
An electronic control unit evaluates the vehicle's longitudinal inclination and prevents complete opening of the tailgate(s) upon receiving an opening command if the inclination exceeds a certain threshold, allowing user configuration of the threshold and opening commands through a user interface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the tailgate arrangement is automatically controllable to improve convenience, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to unexpected opening/closing behavior and payload sliding risk
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit continuously receives feedback from the inclination sensor about the vehicle's longitudinal inclination and automatically adjusts tailgate operation accordingly. This closed-loop feedback mechanism prevents payload sliding by detecting inclined positions and blocking tailgate opening when necessary, while maintaining automatic convenience during normal operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary detection of vehicle inclination before allowing tailgate opening. By evaluating the longitudinal inclination in advance through the sensor unit, the control unit can prevent opening commands from being executed when the vehicle is on a slope, thereby preventing payload sliding before it occurs.
2Reliability
If the control unit prevents complete opening to avoid payload sliding, then reliability is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to restricted user control
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit dynamically adjusts its behavior based on real-time inclination sensor data. When the vehicle is on a slope exceeding the threshold, the control unit restricts tailgate opening to prevent payload sliding. When the vehicle is on level ground, full opening is permitted. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by making the restriction conditional rather than fixed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameter of tailgate opening based on the inclination parameter detected by the sensor. When inclination exceeds a predetermined threshold, the opening parameter is modified to prevent complete opening, thereby preventing payload sliding while maintaining user control during normal conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
A motor vehicle has an automatically controllable rear-tailgate arrangement, which either is comprised of a single pivotable tailgate or a pivotable lower tailgate and a pivotable upper tailgate. An electronic control unit for the motorized control of the pivotable tailgates is associated with the rear-tailgate arrangement assembly. In particular, the control unit is designed to perform the following functionality by an appropriately programmed function module: the control unit evaluates information of a sensor unit for sensing the longitudinal tilt of the motor vehicle; after an opening command by an operating person, the control unit prevents complete opening either of the single rear tailgate or at least of the lower rear tailgate at least in the case of a rearward longitudinal tilt exceeding a defined threshold.