Vehicle Seat Pump Housing Structure With Plastic-Metal Coupling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pumping devices for vehicle seats are restricted by metal-based designs, leading to shape limitations, increased production costs, and difficulty in adopting new ideas due to the need for additional elements and post-processing.
Innovation Solution
The pumping device features a plastic housing with a metal housing cover, coupled through bending and fitting methods, allowing for increased shape freedom and efficient manufacturing, with the housing cover bolted or riveted to the seat frame.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If the housing is made of metal material, then the structural strength is sufficient, but the degree of freedom of shape is restricted and manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is made of plastic material and the housing cover is made of metal material, forming a composite structure. This allows the housing to achieve complex shapes through injection molding while the metal cover provides necessary strength, resolving the contradiction between shape freedom and manufacturing cost
Solution Approach 2:
The housing structure is divided into multiple parts: the plastic housing body and the metal housing cover. This segmentation allows each part to be manufactured using optimal processes for its material, with the plastic housing providing shape freedom and the metal cover providing structural integrity
2Adaptability or versatility
If all elements are designed based on metal, then the structural integrity is maintained, but the design flexibility and mass production efficiency are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The material parameter of the housing is changed from metal to plastic, enabling injection molding processes that provide greater design flexibility and fewer shape restrictions, while reducing the need for additional elements and post-processing
3Ease of manufacture
If the housing cover is made of plastic material, then the manufacturing cost is reduced, but the coupling strength with the seat frame decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The housing cover is made of metal material to provide sufficient coupling strength with the seat frame, while the main housing body is made of plastic to reduce manufacturing cost. This composite material approach resolves the contradiction between cost and strength
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 configuration enhances manufacturing flexibility, reduces production costs, and improves operational stability and luxury feel by minimizing joint friction and clearance, while allowing for mass production and customization for various vehicle types.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of bending parts at an edge thereof such that the bending parts may be bent toward the housing to achieve coupling between the housing cover and the housing
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A pumping device for a vehicle seat is proposed. The pumping device includes: a housing made of plastic, including a bottom surface having a through hole, a side wall arranged along an outer circumferential surface of the bottom surface, and an open upper surface, with a clutch device and a brake device, and a lever being connected to the housing at an outside of the bottom surface through the through hole so that the housing is configured to transmit drive force from the lever to the clutch device; and a housing cover made of metal, including a first side surface covering the open upper surface of the housing, a plurality of bending parts at an edge thereof such that the bending parts are bent toward the housing to achieve coupling between the housing cover and the housing, and a second side surface coupled to a seat frame.