Vehicle Seat Side Shield Alignment Tower Guide
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Solution Overview
Problem
The installation of outer panels on vehicle seats is challenging due to obstructed sight lines to connection points, often resulting in concealed attachment points, making the assembly process difficult.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle seat design featuring a side shield with an integrally formed attachment tower that extends from its inward surface to a receiver end with a wide opening and a tapered transition, allowing for a vision-free guide to align and secure the attachment flange, enabling a 'blind' installation method.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If the side shield is installed to conceal the attachment tower and flange, then the aesthetic appearance and structural integrity are improved, but the installation process becomes difficult due to obstructed sight lines
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary alignment guide structure that extends from the attachment tower to provide a visible reference for installation. This guide acts as a mediator between the concealed attachment points and the installer's line of sight, enabling accurate positioning without exposing the hidden flange and tower connection points.
Solution Approach 2:
The alignment guide extends in a dimension perpendicular to the main attachment interface, projecting outward to create a visible reference point. This dimensional extension allows the installer to align the side shield from a different spatial perspective, overcoming the obstruction caused by the concealed attachment points.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the attachment points are concealed from view, then the structural integrity and clean appearance are improved, but the manufacturing and assembly precision becomes difficult to ensure
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment guide serves as an intermediary reference structure that does not compromise the concealed attachment points. It provides external visual cues for precise positioning while the actual attachment remains hidden, maintaining both structural integrity and assembly precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The attachment system is segmented into two functional parts: the concealed attachment tower and flange for structural integrity, and the external alignment guide for positioning precision. This segmentation allows each component to fulfill its specific function without interfering with the other.
3Strength
If the attachment tower extends integrally from the side shield, then the structural strength is improved, but the complexity of the side shield structure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment tower is merged integrally with the side shield structure, eliminating the need for separate attachment components. This consolidation strengthens the connection while the added complexity is minimized by the tower's straightforward geometric form that also serves as the alignment guide.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle seat includes a seat base, a side shield coupled to the seat base and defining inward and outward surfaces and an attachment tower extending from a central portion of the inward surface to an attachment flange of the seat base. The side shield conceals the attachment tower and the attachment flange, and the attachment tower defines a guide for connecting the attachment tower and flange.