Segmented Metallic Insert for Vehicle Weather Strip Weight Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional weather strips for motor vehicles face challenges in maintaining strong holding forces against flanges while reducing weight, leading to issues with flange separation and reduced sealing effectiveness due to decreased thickness and flexibility.
Innovation Solution
A weather strip design featuring a U-shaped trim portion with embedded band-shaped metallic inserts, forming slits and joining parts to enhance holding forces and flexibility, allowing for efficient production and attachment to curved surfaces, and reducing extrusion resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If the thickness of the insert is decreased to reduce weight, then the weight of the weather strip is reduced, but the holding force against the flange decreases and flange separation occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The insert is divided into multiple insert pieces joined by joining parts, creating a ladder-like structure. This segmentation allows the insert to maintain adequate thickness for strength while reducing overall material usage and weight. The joined structure provides multiple contact points with the flange, distributing the holding force across several locations rather than relying on a single thick section.
Solution Approach 2:
The weather strip combines the metallic insert with a rubber-like elastic body covering layer. This composite structure allows the metal insert to provide structural strength and holding force while the rubber layer provides sealing and flexibility. The combination enables weight reduction through optimized material distribution while maintaining the required holding force through the rigid insert framework.
2Weight of moving object
If the thickness of the side walls of the trim portion is reduced to reduce weight, then the weight is reduced, but the holding force and structural integrity decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The trim portion combines a metallic insert framework with a rubber-like elastic body. The metal insert provides the structural skeleton that maintains strength and holding force, while the rubber material can be used more thinly since it serves primarily for sealing and flexibility. This composite approach allows reduced wall thickness without compromising the structural integrity provided by the metal framework.
Solution Approach 2:
The trim portion is structured as a U-shaped configuration with the insert providing discrete structural support at key locations rather than requiring continuous thick walls. The segmented insert structure strategically placed within the trim portion provides holding force at critical points while allowing the overall wall thickness to be reduced for weight savings.
3Weight of moving object
If the joining parts are rolled greatly to reduce insert thickness, then the length of rolled portions increases, but the flexibility of the trim portion decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The insert is segmented into multiple pieces connected by joining parts, creating a ladder-like structure. This segmentation inherently increases flexibility compared to a solid piece, as the individual segments can move relative to each other. The joining parts serve as flexible joints that allow the insert to adapt to curved surfaces while maintaining structural integrity, resolving the contradiction between weight reduction and flexibility.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the insert pieces are separated to enhance flexibility, then the flexibility and adaptability improve, but the holding force and sealing effectiveness decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The insert is divided into multiple pieces that are joined but can be separated at specific locations. This segmentation allows flexibility where needed while maintaining structural integrity where required. The joined portions provide continuous support and holding force, while the ability to separate at designated points enables adaptation to curved surfaces and complex geometries, resolving the contradiction between flexibility and holding force.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the insert have different degrees of connection - some areas are joined to provide strength and holding force, while other areas are designed to be separable to provide flexibility. This local differentiation of structural properties allows the insert to simultaneously achieve both holding force and adaptability in different locations based on functional requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A weather strip having an insert and exhibiting a large holding force against a flange, includes a trim portion and a sealing portion. The trim portion has an outer holding lip formed to extend from an interior surface of an outer side wall, and an inner holding lip formed to extend from an interior surface of an inner side wall, and the insert is embedded in the trim portion. The insert is formed from a band-shaped metallic plate such that a large number of insert pieces, each having a rectangular configuration, extend in a width direction of the band-shaped metallic plate, and are joined in the vicinity of ends of the insert pieces with joining parts in a longitudinal direction of the band-shaped metallic plate into a ladder-shaped configuration. Slits are formed between adjacent insert pieces.