Sensor Mounting Structure with Cover for Design Flexibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing sensor mounting structures for vehicles face challenges in maintaining design flexibility and reducing the number of sensor products due to signal attenuation and the need for custom-shaped sensors, which limits the degree of freedom in design and increases manufacturing costs.
Innovation Solution
A sensor mounting structure that features an opening wider than the detection surface, with a cover closing the space between the detection surface and the opening edge, allowing the detection surface to be exposed externally without matching the sensor shape to the opening, enabling the use of common sensors and maintaining design flexibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the detection surface is disposed at the opening of the fender panel and exposed to the outside, then sensitivity is improved, but the shape of the detection surface must match the opening shape, leading to increased product number
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the mounting structure into separate functional components: the sensor with its detection surface, the fender panel with opening, and the cover. This segmentation allows the detection surface to maintain its optimal shape for sensitivity while the opening and cover can have different shapes for design flexibility, resolving the contradiction between sensitivity and product variety.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover acts as an intermediary element between the detection surface and the opening. It allows the detection surface to be exposed for sensitivity while providing a separate shaping element that can match the fender panel opening without constraining the detection surface shape, thus preventing increase in product number.
2Measurement precision
If the opening is formed to conform to the shape of the detection surface, then the detection surface can be exposed, but the degree of freedom of design is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the mounting structure into separate components (sensor, opening, cover), the patent allows independent optimization of each element. The detection surface can be exposed for detection performance while the opening and cover can be designed with different shapes for aesthetic flexibility, resolving the contradiction between detection exposure and design freedom.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover serves as an intermediary that decouples the shape requirements. It allows the opening to have any desired shape for design freedom while still enabling the detection surface to be exposed for detection performance, thus resolving the contradiction between these two requirements.
3Reliability
If the cover is disposed at the opening to cover the sensor, then the sensor is protected, but signal attenuation occurs and sensitivity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The cover acts as an intermediary protective element that can be designed with appropriate transparency or signal transmission properties. It provides sensor protection while allowing the detected signal to pass through, resolving the contradiction between protection and signal transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover can have different properties in different regions: transparent or signal-permeable where the detection surface is exposed, and protective where needed. This local differentiation allows simultaneous achievement of protection and signal transmission.
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a sensor mounting structure for a sensor having a detection surface configured to detect information around a vehicle. The sensor mounting structure includes an exterior member of the vehicle provided with an opening that is provided to be wider than an outer shape of the detection surface, and a cover disposed around the detection surface to close a space between an outer peripheral edge of the detection surface and an opening edge of the opening. The opening is provided such that then opening edge of the opening is disposed around the detection surface with a space between the opening edge and the detection surface.