Removable Cargo Panels for Co-Planar Load Surfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
In vehicles with SUV or hatchback designs, the cargo area floor is often lower than the rear seat uprights when they are folded, making it difficult to secure long cargo items as they do not make contact with the floor, leading to inefficient use of space.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle cargo area structure featuring a forward panel and a rearward panel that can be removably positioned in multiple orientations, allowing the seat back surface, forward panel surface, and rearward panel surface to be co-planar, creating an elongated flat surface for cargo reception, with the panels designed to fit over the cargo area floor and adjust to different configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the cargo area floor is made lower to accommodate folded rear seats, then the rear seat assembly can be folded down, but long cargo items cannot make contact with the floor for secure placement
Solution Approach 1:
The cargo area floor is segmented into the original vehicle floor and removable panel assemblies. The panels can be positioned in multiple orientations - creating a co-planar flat surface when needed for long cargo items, or being removed/positioned differently to accommodate folded rear seats, thus resolving the contradiction between seat folding capability and cargo securing capability
2Adaptability or versatility
If the cargo area floor is made lower to accommodate folded rear seats, then the rear seat assembly can be folded down, but the flat surface for long cargo items is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The panel assemblies are designed with dynamic positioning capability, allowing them to be moved between different orientations. When a flat surface is needed for long cargo items, the panels are positioned to create co-planar surfaces with the seat backrests. When seats are folded, the panels can be repositioned or removed, dynamically adapting the cargo area configuration to maintain both seat folding capability and flat surface continuity as needed
3Ease of operation
If panels are added to create a flat surface, then long cargo items can be secured, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The panel assemblies are designed as multi-functional components that serve multiple purposes: they create flat surfaces for long cargo items, provide structural support, and can be integrated with the rear seat assembly. By making the panels universal components that perform multiple functions simultaneously, the complexity is justified by the consolidation of functions rather than adding separate systems for each function
Data Source
AI summary
A forward panel is removably positionable in a first orientation within a cargo area in which a first surface faces upward and a support wall contacts an upwardly facing surface of the cargo area defining a concealed space between the upwardly facing surface and an opposite second surface of the forward panel, with an edge between the first and second surfaces abutting a rear seat assembly. The forward panel is positionable in a second orientation with the second surface facing upward with the support wall extending upward from the second surface. A rearward panel is removably positioned along the upward facing surface in a third orientation in which a first surface of the rearward panel is co-planar with the first surface of the forward panel with the forward panel in the first orientation.